Cigarette Tax

Section 1: â€Å"Cigarette tax hike sparks panic buying† By Ashley Hall Updated Thu Apr 29, 2010 What is the main issue presented in the media report? Discuss what has actually happened: In the year of 2010, the Federal Government raised taxes on cigarettes by an extra 25 per cent, resulting in an increase price of $2. 16 to every pack of 30 cigarettes. A proclamation stated by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the crackdown on Internet advertising of cigarettes was mentioned. Mr. Rudd also affirmed ‘the government will spend $27. million on an anti-smoking campaign (Hall, 2010) This media report outlines the publics impulsive buying of cigarettes upon the government’s mention of the very rapid increase in taxes, thus resulting in an upward increase in price. It mentions the dismays retailers and tobacconists faced due to the tax hike. Further more, mentioning the concerns of philanthropists and other individuals. Highlight the reason for the issue being raised: This i ssue was one that arose quite soon after its announcement, as it impacted the country in its majority in numerous ways. The justification behind this issue was the government’s lack of planning. The release of the tax hike occurred only several hours before its prospected start of midnight that night, which ultimately left little or possibly even no time to adjust and prepare for the subsequent price increase. (Hall, 2010) Outline what possible impacts this change could have: The unexpected change posed many impacts on an abundant area of the population. The change impacted the consumers (smokers), the suppliers/producers, retailers/tobacconists, charity workers and the government. The sudden publication of the price increase would lead to a majority of smokers purchasing larger amounts of cigarettes than usual, in an attempt to purchase the product at a cheaper price rather than at its increased price. The retailers/tobacconists face the prospects of higher demands and physical impossibilities such as lack of stock and time to prepare. Although on the contrary as stated by the executive director of Quit Victoria â€Å"100,000 people will quit smoking as the result of the price increase and 250,000 children will not take up the habit†. (Hall, 2010) From another viewpoint, the rapid increase in tax had an immediate negative impact on the number of people seeking assistance. This is solely the case, as a widely held proportion of smokers come from low-income groups, â€Å"In fact, people from low-income groups are 13 times more likely to quit smoking in the face of a prime increase than those from higher income groups†. (Hall, 2010) Who are the key stakeholders that are impacted by the issue outlined in the report? The key groups that may be impacted by the issues raised in this report are ultimately the key stakeholders; i. e. he customers, suppliers, regulators and competitors. The customers (smokers) are faced with the increased price on packets of cigarettes. Which ultimately puts an excise burden on consumer’s income. The suppliers were faced with a rapid increase in demand in the hours before the implementation of the tax increase, and perpetual demand between the periods after the tax. This is due to the noti on that smokers are not willing to go cold turkey over night simply due to an increase of $2. 16, but ultimately the possible immediate decline in number of packets bought/sold in the event prior to the tax increase. Suppliers are also faced with the concern of consumers opting for substitute goods (This means a good's demand is increased when the price of another good is increased) for example replacing cigarettes with chewing gum (even considering that cigarettes are inelastic). (McTaggart, 2010) Regulators, which in this case are the Government, are faced with constant scrutiny regarding their decisions and lack of planning. However, this tax hike increased an extra $5 billion over four years, which the Government would put towards its health and hospitals overhaul (Hall, 2010). So evidently, back into the economy. An increase in people seeking assistance will also place possible strains on charity workers, as people will continue to spend money on cigarettes rather than necessities. Competitors are also faced with a possible increase in demand, as the price of one good is increased, the demand of the substitute good is increased (McTaggart, 2010). Students and groups of people from low socioeconomic status will be directly affected the greatest. For those who come from high-income classes, their wages are generally increasing as the 25 per-cent increment is implemented, which ultimately does not substantially affect their income as a whole. However, students and people from low socioeconomic status groups are giving up necessities of life to feed their smoking addictions. What economic theories can be dawn from this media report? Opportunity cost: Graph 1: The theory of Opportunity cost (Graph 1): the amount of other products that must be sacrificed to obtain an extra unit of any product. The opportunity cost refers to the benefit forgone from the best alternative use of resources. (McTaggart, 2010) As the economy moves from point B towards point C, it must give up successively larger amounts of good B to obtain the same equal increment in good C (Layton, 2009). In relation to cigarette tax, people from lower income groups are giving up the necessities in order to feed their smoking addiction. Demand, Supply and Elasticity: Graph 2: The demand for cigarettes increased during the period of the government’s announcement and until midnight when the price increase was implemented: i. e. a change in consumer’s expectations about future prices brings forward an increase in consumption. (McTaggart, 2010) Graph 3: Change in demand is where the demand has shifted to the left hand side. Rise in price will see a greater quantity supplied (quantity will rise), shift in supply curve. McTaggart, 2010), (Layton, 2009). From midnight the equilibrium shifted to the left side along the demand curve by the price increase. As the result, as it was mentioned above, the quantities demanded decreased, due to the tax increase. Result in consumer and producer paying the burden of the tax increase. (McTaggart, 2010) Section 2: â€Å"Apple Shares hit as iPhone sales Fall Short† Sky News Oct 19, 2011 What is the main issue presented in the media report? Apple, one of the leading technological companies in the world has recorded revenues uncharacteristically short of expectations. Wall street analysts predicted iPhone sales during their fourth quarter earnings to be ’20 million sales’, with a short fall of ’17 million sold’. With overall revenues recorded at $28. 3 billion, substantially short of expectations (Sky News, 2011). Apple new chief executive ‘Tim Cook’ does not seem concerned about the recorded short fall of the company since the passing of Co-founder Steve Jobs. Recorded losses in revenue for Apple fourth quarter could be significantly the result of many factors (Sky News, 2011). The main contributing factor, being the short after release of the iPhone 4s. Due to the release of the iPhone 4s, consumers were withholding from purchasing older models of the iPhone, with the thought ‘I would rather wait a litter longer to purchase a new and updated version’. Ultimately the thought of consumers’ posses’ greater opportunity for Apple sales in the future but resulted in revenue falling short in their fourth quarter. The recorded revenue had a negative impact on the company. With the actual versus predicted sales of the iPhone falling short, Apple shared dropped 5% upon the announcement (Sky News, 2011). A drop in share price negatively affected the company, especially since a drop in share price has now only occurred since the passing of co-founder Steve Jobs. A drop in share price could result in consumers questioning whether they should continue to purchase Apple products, or if the drop in share price is a signaling factor that there is a higher demand for substitute goods. This could be the case as many other leading technological companies are constantly trying to innovate new and improve models of phones, laptops and tablets to keep up with Apples constant improvements. For example Samsung release of their new tablet caused large amounts of disputes between themselves and Apple, as Apple saw a large opportunity for threat to sales of their iPad. Although this is the case, the new iPhone 4s has sky rocketing sales of four million in its first three days on the market. As new chief executive ‘Tim Cook’ said: â€Å"customer response to iPhone 4s has been fantastic, we have momentum going into the holiday season, and we remain really enthusiastic about our product pipeline. † (Sky News, 2011). Who are the key stakeholders that are impacted by the issue outlined in the report? The key groups that may be impacted by the issues raised in this report are ultimately the key stakeholders; i. e. the customers, suppliers, shareholders and competitors. The customers are ultimately those who predict they continuing success of the company, without customer sales Apple would not exist. The hit of Apple shares could negatively impact consumer sales. A decline in the share price could signal a train of though in consumers mind that possibly there is a need for greater innovative or the threat of higher competitors in regards to Apple products. If consumers are being told that a company is recording predicted short falls in their expected revenue consumer might be apposed to their products, resulting in customers opting for substitute goods. (McTaggart, 2010) The suppliers in this report are in fact Apple and all other retailers that stock Apple products. The short fall of iPhone sales resulted in a decrease in revenue. Which ultimately lead to a decrease in the price of Apple shares. A decrease in share price could lead to a decline in possible sales, which results in a supplier surplus. Suppliers have a greater number of products to sell in relating to consumers who are interested in buying their product (McTaggart, 2010). In the event of the release of the iPhone 4s, suppliers are faced with higher consumer demand, which could result in a shortage of iPhone 4s in relation to consumer demands. Apples brand name and reputation is a very important asset to the company, with this issue being raised, it could have an impact on one of their largest assets. Shareholders, are those individuals or companies who have financially invested an interest in Apple, a decrease in share price negatively impacts shareholders. Decline in the share price by 5% results in a decrease in the value of shareholders wealth. The final group that is impacted by issues of a decline in Apples share price is competitors. This could have a positive impact to competitors. Negative public announcement over such a large and dominant company could result in a substantial amount of consumers opting to purchase products competitors offer, simply due to the decisions of other individuals. A consistent pattern in the public shows, that if a product is negatively represented in more than one way consumers will be very reluctant to purchase that product. Resulting in a positive advantage for competitor’s products. The group that would be impacted the most would be the suppliers. They are the key foundation of the company, without continued success the company could face greater hardships and decline in sales leading to a decline in revenue and share price as which occurred in the month of October 2011. What economic theories can be drawn from this media report? Supply and Demand: Graph 1: Demand curve during period of Apple reporting shortfall of sales and decreased revenue in recording during their fourth quarter. The graph above is a representation of changes in demand. Apple change in demand during this period is caused by consumer expectations, tastes and preferences. Where the soon to be released iPhone 4s resulted in the decrease of current iPhone sales. (McTaggart, 2010), (Layton, 2009). Graph 2: The Above graph is a representation of the supply and demand curve during the first release of the iPhone 4s. The supple curve remains constant (from period before and after the release of the iPhone 4s). Where significant changes occurred in relationship to the demand curve. The increase in demand which resulted in a right ward shift of the demand curve was a direct result of ‘taste or preferences of consumers’ a key determinant in the changes in demand (Layton, 2009). This was the case as consumers withheld from purchasing older models of the iPhone with anticipation of purchasing the newer and improved version of the iPhone (iPhone 4s). This resulted in Apple experiencing greater quantities demanded as stated in the article â€Å"iPhone 4s has sky rocketing sales of four million in its first three days on the market†. Change in demand results in change in new equilibrium (Sky News, 2011). References: McTaggart, D. , Findlay, C. , and Parkin, M. (2010), Economics, Sixth Edition, Addison-Wesley, Sydney Lecture Slides, Blackboard, University of Technology, Sydney, Insearch (2011), Economics for Business Unknown. 2011, ‘Apple shares hit as iPhone sales fall Short’, Sky News, YAHOO, viewed 4 November 2011, http://news. yahoo. com/apple-earnings-hit-drop-iphone-sales-220800212. html Layton, A. , T. Robinson and I. Tucker (2009), Economics for Today, Cengage Learning Australia, Australia: South Melbourne. Faculty of Business (2010), Guide to Writing Assignments (3rd ed. ), Faculty of Business, University of Technology, Sydney

India Fashion

TABLE OF CONTENTS| | | Page| -| INTRODUCTION – India’s â€Å"design† leap forward? | 3| 1| INDIA’S UNIQUE ECONOMY – AN OVERVIEW| 4| 2| FACETS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY| | 2. 1| India in the last decade| | 2. 2| Infrastructure| | 2. 3| Bureaucracy and Corruption| | 2. 4| Import tariffs| | 2. 5| Engineering skills| | 2. 6| Entrepreneurship| | 2. 7| Trade imbalances and inflation| | 2. 8| Indian Political scene| | 2. 9| People| | 3| THE PATH FORWARD| | 4| INDIA’S FASHION INDUSTRY – TRULY GLOBALIZED? | | 4. 1| The Fashion Industry| | 4. 2| The Indian Fashion Industry| | 4. 2. 1| Factors driving growth| | . 2. 2| Local and Foreign players| | 4. 2. 3| Fashion design industry – an example of India’s design future| | 5| | | 5. 1| | | 5. 2| | | 5. 3| | | 5. 4| | | 5. 5| | | -| APPENDIX| | | | | INTRODUCTION India's ‘design' leap forward? Abstract India has always been a unique country and this is especially true of how its econo my has developed. Rather than aggressively pushing for export growth or attracting foreign direct investment like China and most others in Asia, India’s unique setting, resources and boundaries led it to develop the service sector instead. Was this an ‘accidental’ development or a purposeful push by the government? If purposeful in nature, what drove the Indian government to take such an approach? In fact, what are the key drivers (or should be the key drivers) on a macro-economic level that determine a country’s developing path? In our paper, we would like to explore three areas specifically: The Indian government and its policy making, given infrastructure and institutions and finally India’s political base to see if a conclusion can be made with regards to its economic development. With this macro environment understanding in place, we would then like to look from a micro-economic level and analyze how businesses can succeed within the India service industry given this framework. The latter question will be answered while evaluating the rapidly growing Indian â€Å"desi† fashion industry as an example of the design future for Indian, which has become very much about focusing on the taste and preferences of locals in terms of design. Is there a way that foreign design firms might be able then compete given that the local companies are so in tuned with the local culture and tastes, not to mention cheaper? Would there be a way to educate the local consumers to adopt a ‘brand conscious’ mindset as the economy develops and the affluent community increases in size? Or will the culture remain a loyal to a ‘Made in India’ concept for the years to come and hence be a waste of time for foreign firms to try and break that mold. With this paper we will try to address these issues to draw a conclusion and recommendation on how best to approach entering this unique and challenging market. 1. INDIA’S UNIQUE ECONOMY – AN OVERVIEW India, with 1. 189 billion people (July 2011), is the second largest country behind China. Though only 30% of the total population is living in cities, the urbanization is taking place at 2. 4% per annum. Only 6% of the population is above 60 years. However, due to longer life expectancy at birth of 66. 8 years (2011), this segment is constantly growing. The population below 15 years remains relatively constant because on average every Indian woman is giving birth to 2. 6 children but with an infant mortality rate of 5%. It is important to mention that the working population age 15 to 59 will increase dramatically in the next five years from 720 to 800 million, seeking jobs and enlarging the economy. The government is spending 3. 1% of GDP on education in order to increase literacy rate (only 61% of Indians above the age of 15 can read and write) in order to prepare a young workforce to enter the labour market [Data based on CIA fact book 2011]. India and China were the biggest economies until approximately 200 years ago because they had the biggest populations and size was a dominant factor in economic output. Once the industrial revolution commenced in England in 1800s, followed by the information revolution in the late twentieth-century, mere size mattered less. First the Europeans, and then the Americans leveraged technology to increase GDP in absolute terms and on a per capita basis. Now, India and China are developing fast, and are moving up in the world in GDP terms. In 2010, India’s GDP in purchase parity was $3. 92 trillion and listed as fourth-largest economy in the world after the US, China and Japan. . FACETS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY 2. 1India in the last decade It is interesting to note that while services now make up more than 50% of the GDP of India, it wasn’t that long ago that India was also embarking on the conventional path towards an advance economy through the typical agriculture to manufacturing route. After all, Japan, then Taiwan and South Korea, and now China have demonstrated that manufacturing can accelerate development because its output can be exporte d to rich countries. However, in India’s case, while export and trade rules were relatively lax at the time, the domestic market was one where there were massive protectionism laws in place, so much so it became known as a ‘license raj’. At that point in time, India had just gained independence and eager to boost export growth while still protecting local industries and expertise. The reality was however, that this strategy was a failure and led to a much slower growth rate than its neighbour leading it soon to a brink of bankruptcy in 1991, despite the ‘Green revolution’ and massive growth of its agricultural segment. Looking back however, this phase might have actually ‘saved’ India and probably served as the platform where India’s true growth began. The Prime Minister then Narashimha Rao and Finance Minister Mammohan Singh, with fresh money from the IMF and conditions of the loan, engineered sweeping economic reforms throughout India which included steps to remove the ‘license raj’ that it had became. In tandem with this, tariffs were reduced along with interest rates. Many public monopolies were also removed, markets were opening up and automatic approvals for foreign investment were granted into many areas (but not all). The results from these reforms have been impactful. As mentioned in the earlier section, India is now the 4th largest economy by purchasing power parity and has been experiencing an average GDP growth rate of 8. 5% since 2005, making it second only to China in terms of growing economies. Additionally, despite the global economic slowdown, for FY11, India is still expected to achieve at least 7. 5% growth for its GDP. This is partially due to the fact that its domestic consumption is extremely strong and this helps to insulate it from external shocks. Looking a bit closer at the GDP split, one would find that services now make up the bulk of it, accounting for 56% of the GDP while the industrial and agricultural sectors represent 29% and 15% respectively as of 2010, a sharp turnaround for India when compared to the 1970s where agriculture used to be the shining star of growth, contributing close to 42% of the overall GDP. In addition, the contribution from the industry sector only increased from 21% to 29% during the last 40 years, which is very unimpressive when compared to the services sector. Source: Worldbank With the various reforms also comes increased foreign investment into the country. This has amounted to some 178 billion USD between 2000 and 2010, a massive jump from 1991 where it was only averaging USD $200 million per year before in FDIs. Among some of India’s key investors include Mauritius, Singapore and USA which rank 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, with interests in such investment obviously gaining ground given India’s significant potential and prospects of high profitability. As discussed above, the strong domestic consumption has led to a lot of overseas investment into the country and the government has been doing its share to promote such FDIs, through the continued removal of investment caps across all the industries. There still remain an unfinished agenda of permitting greater FDI in politically sensitive areas such as insurance and retailing, though at least for retailing, some steps have recently been taken to open this market. A deep dive into where this foreign investment is going also reveals, not surprisingly, that a substantial amount or about 23% of total FDI equity goes into the services sector, followed then by the IT and telecommunication segments. 2. 2Infrastructure An important element to take note of is that India’s economic growth stands on a weak foundation as highways, bridges and airports are not up to international standards. Average speed on highways is only 20 miles per hour due to road congestions and generally its roads are of poor quality. Economic losses resulting from such poor infrastructure are estimated to be $6 billion per year according to the Federal Planning Commission. In India, highways or expressways constitute only about 67,000 km and while this makes up only 2% of all roads, they carry 40% of the road traffic! The government has been trying to resolve this by setting up a multiple stage National Highway Development Project (NHDP) with its signature project â€Å"Golden Quadrilateral†. The goal of this project is to connect the most populous cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. This has been partly completed in 2011 cutting the travel time on the 1335km route from Chennai to Mumbai from 90 hours to 48 hours (a significant 47% reduction). However, multiple check posts and mobile squads remain a source of corruption, not to mention traffic obstruction on highways and toll stations. Various entry restrictions into cities also slow down the transportation of goods. Since cargo traffic is estimated to grow by 15 – 18% annually, the Indian government is spending $78. 5 billion over the next five years and is additionally trying to attract foreign direct investments for road development projects, granting 100% income tax exemption for a period of 10 years to private investors. It is also disappointing that India’s vast railroad network of more than 60,000 km is not as effectively used for goods transportation as compared to China. One reason is a different standard of broad gauge (80%) and narrow auge (20%). The government has thankfully recognized this and is now investing $5 billion into building dedicated freight corridors in the Western and Eastern routes (Delhi – Mumbai and Delhi – Kolkata). More significantly, India has opened the freight transportation sector to competition erasing CONCOR’s previous monopoly of container movement by rail. Source: Worldbank database Power is another issue as many cities and economic zones suffer from unstable power supply along with shortages of fresh water. India is generating 122 Gigawatts of power from coal-fired plants (57%), hydro power (25%), gas (10%), nuclear power plants (3%) and 5% from renewable sources (wind, solar). There is a silver lining here though. While generation, transmission and distribution is in the hands of public sector companies or state electricity boards, the private sector companies and international players are increasingly investing in India’s energy sector (for example Tata Power has a capacity of 2,203 MW, China Light ; Power provides 655 MW). Unfortunately, despite these investments, there is still a large demand / supply gap of 7 to 12% according to Indian investment commission. It is also precisely because of its weak infrastructure that some foreign companies choose other countries in South East Asia, for example Thailand or Vietnam to set-up manufacturing sites. 2. 3Bureaucracy and Corruption Despite India’s best efforts to remove its ‘licence raj’ stigma, there still exists a fair amount of bureaucracy. The Indian Times summed it up aptly with an article it ran on 3rd June 2009, titled: India’s ‘suffocating bureaucracy’ worst in Asia! A survey by the Hong-Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) compared 12 Asian nations towards business friendliness.. Source: World Bank â€Å"Doing Business† Publication In the abovementioned article, 1,274 expatriates working in the 12 leading Asian nations found Singapore, Hong-Kong and Thailand to be the most efficient countries followed by South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and Indonesia. India came in last with its bureaucracy described as â€Å"suffocating† and interaction with civil servants perceived as a â€Å"slow and painful process†. This is a serious issue not just for its reputation to the outside world, but also domestically. According to World Bank figures, India ranks among the world's worst countries at encouraging entrepreneurs. India is ranked a lowly 166th out of 183 countries in terms of ease of starting a business and second last with regards to enforcing contracts. In addition to bureaucracy, India also suffers from an alarmingly high level of corruption. The 2011 Li-Na report reveals the following: Other organizations like Transparency International ranked India 73 out of the 102 countries in its Corruption Perception Index (2008) and the World Economic Forum positions India 44th amongst 49 countries surveyed. Over the past two decades since the end of the â€Å"license raj† in the 1990s, the Indian economy has gradually opened up along with the government’s relaxation on its tightly controlled policies. On the contrary, corruption in turn has become standard in most business processes. One would find the formal route of setting up a business extremely difficult in India and it is only through bribery that various processes can move or speed up. 2. 4Import Tariffs Despite steadily opening up its economy, India has however maintained high import tariffs, especially when compared with other countries. Before the 1990s, average tariffs exceeded 200% and quantitative restrictions on imports were extensive. Post 1990, India has been taking steps to cautiously reform tariffs and focus only on goods and services of highest necessity. This has resulted in India’s trade to GDP ratio increasing from 15% to 35% between 1990 and 2005 according to World Bank. Non-agricultural tariffs have fallen below 15% and quantitative restrictions on imports have been eliminated. However, that does not mean India is a completely free market as the government has maintained a degree of economic protectionism. For instance, agricultural tariffs remain between 30-40% and anti-dumping measures have been used to protect trade. There have also been numerous requests by the US to the Indian Ministry of Commerce to reduce tariffs on industrial goods, especially in key segments like commercial air lines. On the other hand, India has recently been pushing for a more liberal global trade regime, especially in services where it is strongest in. So India must find some way to reconcile the 2 issues here. 2. 5Engineering skills In 2008 approximately 350. 000 students graduated from college holding an engineering degree, 23,000 with a Masters degree in engineering and only 1,000 students were awarded with a PhD degree. These figures were estimates by Rangan Banerjee and Vinayak Purushottam Muley, both employed by the IIT in Bombay. The number of engineering graduates has been growing significantly over the last years and is now larger than in America. However quantity does not mean quality. According to a survey of local companies, only 4% of Indian’s engineers are immediately fit to work for software firms and only 18% are employable in the IT sector (McKinsey’s survey of international firms: 25% of graduates pass IT industry-specific requirements). Hiring companies need to put a lot of emphasis on training on the job in order to bring Indian engineers up to mark. 2. 6Entrepreneurship Author Raghav Bahl argues in his book â€Å"Super Power? † that the Indian entrepreneurship trumps the Chinese due to more private ownership, intense competition and high productivity in India. In his book he describes an interview with George Soros in December 2006, asking him about India’s competitive advantage over China. â€Å"Entrepreneurship! † was the answer. According to Soros, India had already brought up companies with world-class reputation (Tata, Infosys) which is something China lacks. According to the author â€Å"entrepreneurship is embedded in Indian genes† and he points to the communication industry which was liberalized approximately 15 years ago. Since then the number of TV channels and newspapers have exploded and the telecom industry has now 500 million customers and is adding 15 million per month under extreme competitive conditions. The tough competitive environment demands for high productivity. Since the private sector in India is footed on common law, entrepreneurs can act in a legal thus predictable framework without fearing expropriation. The result is that Indian’s private sector is booming and is only facing hindrances of the states bureaucracy and poor infrastructure. China, with its massive population, does have its fair share of entrepreneurs of course, but the business environment in China is even more challenging as compared to India. In China, the state and the numerous state-owned enterprises with their easy credit access, are the biggest enemies to the private sector. According to Marshall Meyer (Wharton Business School) â€Å"the government will always remain in control of the 100 largest firms in China†. The tight control limits competition and the drive towards higher productivity. 2. 7Trade imbalance and inflation Trade imbalance has always been a sore point for India where it has always suffered a trade deficit. Part of this can be explained by the strength of the domestic market and hence the reliance of the GDP growth on it. This trade deficit has however increased significantly over the years and currently stands at some USD $16 billion as of August 2011. Together with this, annual Inflation has also increased significantly and is currently standing at close to 10% in 2011, way above the generally acceptable levels of 6%. This rise in inflation is despite the India Central bank’s efforts to contain this through multiple interest rate hikes. However, India’s inflation is caused more by structural factors in the economy, including some discussed above like poor infrastructure, lack of skilled workers and low productivity in agriculture – which will require major policy reforms to tackle, rather than simply increasing interest rate. All these factors combined can pose a significant challenge for India moving forward. Inflation does not just affect the cost of goods for the domestic market and hence affordability. It also affects the strength of the Rupee, India’s national currency. The strength of the rupee has been steadily decreasing over the years compared against the dollar and this in the long term would affect India’s competitiveness. Granted, India is still very much a consumption led market. When compared with many Asian emerging economies, this advantage has narrowed down over the years, especially given the fact that India now imports almost two thirds of its oil requirements from overseas markets. Additionally, while the overseas debt has gone up to $306 billion at the end of March 2011 from $221 billion at the end of March 2008, the cushion of foreign exchange reserves was stable and decreased slightly to $305 billion from $310 billion over the same period, which is a worrying trend. The main reason why internal public debt has increased in India during in the last decades was the requirement of funds to finance various developmental programmes as both tax and non-tax revenues were totally inadequate to finance the government expenditure. The external public debt in India Increased significantly during 1961-2004 as it was utilized to make import payments and solve balance of payment problems. The tremendous rise in total public debt in India during 1991-2004 provides an alarming signal to Indian economy. 2. 8Indian Political scene India’s political scene has always been an interesting one. It is the world’s largest democracy where literally everyone has a voice and this has on more than one occasion, resulted in slow and costly decision making. While there is a central government in place comprising of the standard hierarchy of politicians and parliament, the states themselves also have their own legislative environment, which differ greatly from one another due to the significant autonomy that they continue to enjoy. In terms of political parties, there are 2 main coalitions: The Indian National Congress (current ruling party) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As such, it is unfortunate to note that while Indian National Congress has a majority in the current ruling government and even control some state assemblies, it has failed since to implement any significant reform programs. This is in part due to the complex nature of the Indian political scene, but more important than that is the amount of time and energy spent to manage several high profile corruption cases, the most significant of which (as discussed above) was for the 2010 Commonwealth games and the auctioning of the 2G wireless spectrum. As such, while India has built up a profile of being a hot bed for FDI, this volatile political scene has also detracted some countries like the UAE from investing as well. 2. 9People As a last part of India’s growth story, we also thought it be interesting to explore if the lives have improved over the years as well. After all, a key part of growth is to ensure the people’s standard of living goes up. There are bright spots of course. Gross income per capita has experienced astonishing growth, reaching USD $,219 in 2010, up from close to USD $400 back in 2000, in line with the growth of India to some extent. This represents almost 14% growth on average over the last 10 years. However, such massive growth is not without its problems. The middle class has exploded within India, reaching 32% of the overall population in 2010, and while the service segment has boomed, it only accounts for 20% of total employment in India. Majority of the people are still farmers by trade, working within the agriculture segment that is protected within India but now only accounts for 15% of its overall GDP. In addition, according to the registrar of India, the number of young adults aged between 15 and 50 years will reach 800 million by 2016. This means that the number of people entering the workforce will shoot up dramatically over the next few years. The question then is where are the new jobs going to come from? It is not a realistic expectation for the service segment to dramatically increase employment by another 20 points and the manufacturing segment isn’t growing fast enough to contain this population, which in China has taken on the main bulk of the employment. . THE PATH FORWARD As per the introduction, this paper will attempt to argue that India should look to develop another industry – the Design industry. Why such a specialized segment? What is critical for both India and its MNCs is the ability to build a global brand. There are 2 typical routes taken by companies to establish themselves are as shown below: Route A is the more conservative approach where a co mpany looks to develop a consistent revenue stream before embarking on its own brand. Route B, while more risky, brings much faster rewards should one be successful as seen from the likes of HTC and Giordano. The profits reaped however are quite significantly different. Just simply becoming an ODM, yields a 6% increase in terms of margin when compared to just being a simple OEM, primarily because of the additional value one can bring. Requires market and technology competencies Becoming a design hub would also enable India to grow its manufacturing segment at a much faster pace. India has the potential to become a complete solution provider – it is already strong in consultancy and services not to mention a big pool of engineers and scientists, and it has a lot of land available to set up manufacturing plants. Plus it has a large and still relatively low cost labour market. Hence, domestic players who are strong in the services piece can build up its manufacturing capabilities quite easily to up the ante. International firms who already have plants in India, can tap onto the big brain pool and potentially bring lots more R&D investment into India. So in terms of helping India grow both from a brand and FDI perspective, we felt that becoming a design hub is key. Additionally, design is really the driver of profits as it is the key differentiator for a lot of products, which in turn lead to higher price points and consumer willingness to pay. Apple and its iPhone is the perfect example of this. The great part about all this is that design innovation can cross all industries from automotive to design to FMCGs etc, which also means it is not a niche segment that will fizzle out after a period of time. The question is what should India do to develop this segment quickly and effectively, and the rest of the paper will be devoted to that using fashion as a case for analysis. 4. INDIA’S FASHION INDUSTRY – TRULY GLOBALISED? 4. 1The Fashion Industry The world’s fashion industry was born together with modernisation, even though fashion has been in existence for more than five thousand years. And with industrialisation, continuous technological advancements and global capitalisation from the 20th century onwards, the fashion industry has contributed to a significant share of the world’s output. A study on emerging fashion markets showed that India, amongst countries like South Africa, the UAE, Singapore, Russia and Brazil had emerged as a new and unique player in this global industry since year 2000. In many of these countries, one of the key growth drivers identified was actually government support. Others mentioned are factors such increased awareness of international brands and higher demand for fashion as countries globalised (Grial Research Sep 2009). For India, the government had not played any key role in its emergence in the fashion industry. We would want to explore what the key drivers are, and how they can be used to plot Indian fashion on the global success map. In Asia, China is the biggest apparel and fashion market with domestic clothing sales worth US$33. 1 billion in year 2008 (Price Waterhouse Coopers report). As the Chinese are relatively more brand conscious than most Asians, the high-end fashion market is actually dominated by key brand names of US, Europe, Japan and Korea in China. As for India, it is the third largest in apparel market after China and Japan ($31. 8 billion – Willy Barker. com) with US$5. 8 billion (PWC report). Refer to Chart A. With experts looking to the fashion industry in Asia for good growth potential, China and India are expected to have double-digit growth in sales in the next two years. 4. 2The Indian Fashion Industry In a McKinsey report on India’s fast-growing apparel market, India’s apparel sales was expected to reach an estimated US$25 billion by end of year 2010 (McKinsey Jun 2010). In fact, apparel is the second largest retail category (behind food and groceries), and this growth of double digits showed that the great potential of this industry will continue to see strong and positive expansionistic opportunities. With that we do expect to see faster growth in the Indian fashion industry. How true is that? In order to know whether it can be true, we will need to understand the underlying factors, key drivers and perhaps the ways of overcoming constraints of this industry. In addition, it is important to look from inside out as well as outside in and explore whether Indian fashion can be truly globalised and whether foreign industry players stand a chance in penetrating the Indian market. All in all, with potential growth in Indian fashion design, it will push its manufacturing requirements, and truly globalize Indian fashion as well as setting pace and example in an important industry for India to carry through from design innovation throughout all industries, just like fashion design is trying to do. . 2. 1Factors driving growth Indeed there are several key drivers which drove, and most of these will probably continue to drive the local domestic fashion industry to greater heights. These can be grouped into 3 key areas; mainly the increasing disposable income of Indians with economic growth driving GDP per capita from US$329 in 1991 (Wiki) to an expected US$2,110 by year 2016 (refer to Chart B); 1991 2016 2010 Indian youth’s behaviours and exp ectations of fashion; as well as Indian-Western fusion and influence. These are definitely interrelated and formed a powerful driving force which will continue to shape the Indian fashion industry, as well as how Indian fashion can be truly globalized. Figure A on the main growth drivers for Indian fashion industry Real average household disposable income in India has more than doubled since 20 years ago by about US$2,000 per household (Earthpulse). In addition, the middle class portion is expected to continue a significant growth rate and this will create a robust consumer market internally in India. With stronger purchasing power, fashion products will definitely see faster growth as such goods have been proven to be demanded as people become richer. Latest figures (refer to Chart C) show that comparing year 2007 through to year 2010, India’s gross and disposable income has grown by almost 50%, and with this comes prospering urban consumer lifestyle which push for stronger demand for fashion, given more social opportunities as Indians evolved to have richer tastes and improved social and work lives. At 29% of population residing in cities, India has one of the lowest urbanisation rates in the world (McKinsey report), and this shows the potential upward growth as Indians continue to stream into the urbanised cities to work and live, and with that will continue to demand strongly for new styles and fashions in order to stay relevant to the rest of the more developed societies, which is part and parcel of urbanization and changing cultures in growing ad developing countries. Also, with higher disposable income, it pushes more businesses, both foreign and local enterprises to expand in hope of being first movers in many areas and aspects of fashion such that they will be the preferred brands or choices as Indians grow richer by the day. As such, larger shopping malls are opening and many are focussing on apparels and other fashionable items. In addition, with the increase in the usage of credit cards with more Indians holding jobs in bigger companies, there is no doubt that this factor will continue to drive consumer demand, and definitely the fashion industry growth. The second driver is really the change in the demographics of the Indian population. With better education, younger age groups, more exposure to foreign ideas and stuff through growing internet users and all, the youthful Indian population (in comparison with aging societies of Japan and China) have refreshed the fashion and apparels market with fresh and new ideas, and as a result, even traditional costumes such as saris are modernised and being worn differently, and India has also seen many renowned designers on the international scene. Coupled with things like the launch of new programs and courses in various Indian schools, such as Indian School of Business launched â€Å"Business of Fashion: Strategic Brand Management†, there is much greater promotion of fashion and push of local designers and the industry to an international level. Rising affluence of the younger generation has also increased the brand awareness of Indian consumers, thus helping India moving closer to the Chinese standards of brand consciousness, giving rise to the vibrancy of the fashion industry. Hence, as India’s economy continues to grow stronger, and with the help of a sustainable youthful population, the Indian fashion industry can be boosted with much more international exposure and clientele, thus truly globalizing this industry to attract and promote Indian fashion products and output internationally to a greater level of competitiveness. Another important driver is really the fusion of Indian and Western tastes and perhaps some parts of culture, which has gradually influence the lives and lifestyles of Indian nationals. This can be attributed to several reasons such as the ever growing number of foreign multinational companies setting up branches and even regional headquarters in India; the â€Å"bombardment† of foreign television programs, all thanks to cable TV, as well as movies and the Internet which played a big role in educating and updating Indians of the latest global fashions and trends; many more Indians receiving education overseas as compared to previous 20 years. As a result, this mixing of the East and West has also provided a unique Indian fashion line and trend which has given foreign fashion lines a run for their money. Also, Indians themselves for opting for more Western, especially American and European styles of fashion as compared to traditional clothing, although it will still take many decades and generations to dilute the traditional Indian clothing. This fusion is essential for Indians to embrace the fast pace changes that we are seeing in the fashion industry globally, and enable them to quickly adapt and even be able to set trends for the future. 4. 2. 2Local and foreign players Being one of the oldest civilisations in the world, Indian fashion has combined tradition, culture and modernisation to become an emerging market since year 2000. Fusions of Indian and Western styles have dominated the catwalks of India’s various fashion weeks, which have become popular and saw strong demands locally and overseas. Since year 2000, India has organised an increasing number of fashion weeks, such as Delhi fashion week and Lakme India Fashion Week, which are annual events showcasing the works of the nation’s best fashion designers. This has attracted local and foreign purchasers, facilitating business opportunities as well as giving local talents the platform to globalise their designs. Lakme 13th India Fashion week which attracted many buyers both locally and abroad With recognition and the foresight of continuous strong growth, in year 2008, a group of established Indian designers founded the Fashion Foundation of India (FFI) and it aims to help all local designers and the fashion industry grow internationally. At a particular Delhi’s fashion week, about 70 out of 150 buyers came from abroad, and this numbers continues to grow as more overseas buyers recognized the popularity of Indian fashion. With the local scene doing well with their local product designs, given that more and more Indian grown companies are also moving into the fashion and apparels markets, such as ITC (Imperial Tobacco Company of India Ltd) creating Wills Lifestyle with 61 stores in 34 states, Trent, Reliance Retail, Indiabulls, etc. , the fashion and apparel sector are bound to see double digit growth for the next 5 to 10 years, and this is a boom for the apparel manufacturing industry indeed. In addition, India is attracting foreign investment in fashion as well. We see the country being a focus for Inditex, the Spanish clothing retailer which opened 25 Zara shops in year 2010 in partnership with the Tata group. Another international renowned fashion company who had made their debut in India since a few years ago opened its third store in Mumbai selling international as well as local designs which includes exclusive sari designs which sold for between USD $6,000 to $8,000 each piece, targeting at the expanding luxury market in India. Although Hermes (French) did not divulge whether their sari designers are locals, but from the design, it appeared obvious that Indian designers would definitely had played a key role. Hermes is definitely not the only company that had launched Indian collections. Other luxury brands like Tod’s (Italian) and Prada have gone into the market with the â€Å"Indian touch† of silk satin clutches, woven sandals and embroidered cotton dresses which are typically made in India! From the above, we can see that there is very strong foreign interest in Indian design and thereafter manufacturing in fashion products locally as most foreign players see the great potential of Indian consumer market given its strong growth in GDP per capita and other factors as already discussed earlier. The challenge for these global brands will be how they can translate the interest and investments into successes. One area is of course trade barriers which should see changes if the Indian government wish to liberalize this sector further. 4. 2. Fashion design industry – an example of India’s design future Confidence is for sure to be going the positive way as even the world’s leading fashion and style consultancy firm, WGSN, had set foot in India with the intention to partner with the Indian fashion industry to identify the opportunities and the process to become a global player. WGSN had planned to focus on the whole fleet which included fashion designers, m anufacturers and retailers by helping them move up the value chain to tap on more and bigger opportunities both in the local scene as well as in the global fashion design industry. As quoted in an Economist article on Indian fashion design future, it stated that â€Å"It is India's potential as a source of future design stars that attracts the foreigners†. Many foreign players are really looking for that â€Å"polished diamond†, i. e. designs or designers, which are able to combine Western cuts with India’s talent for embellishment and its famously fine textiles. However, many Indian designers also lack the organisational skills and infrastructure needed to handle large orders. But as Indian designers attract investors, their business skills will no doubt improve. And as discussed in the macro analysis earlier, there are many constraints atypical in hindering exponential growth which basically applies in impending the faster growth in the Indian fashion industry as well. These are constraints such as poor infrastructure, inflexible labour laws, even the difficulty of growing from small to big because of conservative banking systems, etc. We can see that more has to be done for the fashion design industry, which will be further elaborated in the next section of this paper. Depending on current fashion institutes, and push from Indian domestic designers such as Rina Dhaka, Anamika Khanna and Manish Arora who have gained some success in the international scene and are trying to push more for this industry through creation of associations like FFI (Fashion Foundation of India), this will still not be sufficient in growing faster unless the government re-look at their own strategies and is able to see the importance of the fashion design industry in driving both the fashion industrial and service sectors, as well as to put a name for India in international fashion arena. With this, we draw parallel to other Indian industries (IT, Healthcare, Higher-end consumables) which too can ride on design to bring about a positive and effective change in the value chain of India, and as such may bring India to the next level in climbing up the ladder of being the world’s main heavy weight in economic power in competition with China. An example which can show how many are envisioning this trend and are trying to ride on the bandwagon to perhaps have first mover’s advantage is the fact that IDEO, the world’s top design and innovation consultancy firm, has landed in India. It is pretty obvious that IDEO has recognised the potential of India and Indians being groomed to put design and innovation in their move to grow the economy exponentially All of IDEO’s work is done in consideration of the capabilities of our clients and the needs of their customers. As we iterate toward a final solution, we assess and reassess our designs. Our goal is to deliver appropriate, actionable, and tangible strategies. The result: new, innovative avenues for growth that are grounded in business viability and market desirability. Extract: IDEO’s website And it is truly what the Indian government can concentrate on, and that is to use design and innovation as key drivers in improving the performance of both the local industrial and service sectors, which will in turn improve the Indian economy tremendously and the lives of Indians with more jobs and economic stability, moving from Third World to First World country for all Indian humanity. 5. COMPARISON WITH CHINA The ancient Chinese strategist and philosopher, Sun Tze has once said â€Å"if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need to fear the result of a hundred battles†. This also applied for India in order to formula its strategy in developing the design industry. In the previous section, we have done the detailed analysis about Indian economic and the direction for its economic development direction, in this section we will discuss how should India compete in the global market. Firstly of all, we shall identify India’s main competitor in the individual industry. For the manufacturing industry, base on the market size, India’s main competitors are mainly China, Japan and Korea, which are mainly within the same geographical area. For the service industry, India’s main competitors are mainly USA, China. For the design industry, India’s main competitors are Italy, USA, China. As we can tell that, in each of the industry, China is the overall main competitor for India. Since China and India both are leaders in the emerging market countries, both are having similar competitive advantages (massive labor resource, cheap but high skill workers, high GDP growth etc), there are more and more competitions between the two. A further analysis shows that China has already made a leap in the development of its design industry. Referring to the Forbes global 2000 companies list, we can tell that there are few Indian companies in the product renovation relevant industry, the majority of the listed Indian companies are in the Banking industry, Steel Manufacturing Industry and Natural resource related Industry; however, there are many Chinese companies in the list are famous for their product innovation ; design, for example, Lenovo Group is the global leader in PC design ; manufacturing industry, ZTE is famous for its network equipment design ; innovation and TCL is famous for the electronic appliance innovation and design. In order for India to compete in the manufacturing with the leap of design industry, we think that it is reasonable for India to study how China developed its design industry, and base on the comparison, Indian may take some lesson learn from China. Chinese government recognizes the importance of design ; innovation in 1980s. Since then, the government has taking stepping in helping to develop its design industry. Basically, China takes 3 steps to develop its design industry. The first step is to establish the education system for the industry. In 1984, China setup the first design course in Hunan University, Since then, there are more any and more students graduated with major in industry design or fashion design. Till now there are nearly 10. 000 students graduated with major in industrial design from 400 colleges every year. This large talent pool provides an enhanced support for China to develop its design industry. This is also one of the major factor that many multinational design related companies are setting up its design innovation centre or R;D centre in China. The second step is to establish the design industry network across the country. China has established 34 design associations all over. There are more than 30 design festivals and nearly 50 seminars in China every year, many of these events are sponsored by the Chinese government. The government also encourage and promoting the design ; innovation by introduce country wide awards to motivate designers. For example, since 2005, the government established the honoured activities selecting â€Å"China Top Ten Outstanding Young Designers† every year. Also, since 2006, the government establish the national industrial design award â€Å"Red Star† annually. The third step is to support the Local companies and projects. The government has made plans to introduce national support to develop the fashion ; design industry by providing funding for design projects. There are also government policies to encourage design related firms to develop. Overall, China has achieved progressive result in developing its design industry. In 2009, Chinese government produced an advertisement of a international image promoting â€Å"Made in China† brand and aired on CNN Asia. This ad is deliberately made to rebuild and strengthen the â€Å"Made in China† reputation. However, it also shows that China has taking he product branding into a national level, the government may be is aiming for promote â€Å"Design in China† in the near future. 6. PATH TO VICTORY? India may take reference in Chinese government leading example in development its design industry. Base on the previous discuss, we think India should recognize the need for the country to development its design industry, at the mean time learn from its competitors and apply the strategies according to its own market needs. Referring to China’s strategies, there are four recommendations we think Indian may consider: The first recommendation is that Indian should support the design education. Although there are two global top design schools in India, however, there are not many schools offering design as a specialization. Even within the two top schools, there are reports shows that the facilities for design faculty are very limited and students do not have exposal to the international design industry. We think that Indian should recognize that in order to develop the industry, there must be enough talents available. Indian government may consider the following strategies to support the design education. 1. The government can identify several schools in each state to introduce to design course. The government should consider provide funds for the school to recruits staff either from the industry or from overseas. 2. The government should encourage the internal national design company to open branch office in India. This local operation of the overseas design company will generate the market demand for the design talents and attract more youngster to take the design related courses. 3. The government should establish international activities to provide international exposal to Indian schools and the students. The second recommendation is that India should consider establishing its design network across the country. India is also a big country; it should also consider establishing the design association in each state. We understand that for India, the local state government may have more resource and authority in local development; we recommend the central government to provide the policy to guide the local state government to encourage a close connection between design associations in each state. The third recommendation is that India should consider establishing a regional design centre. In this way, India may take the opportunity to link the work design industry with the design centre and spread to each state across the country. One city India can consider to label as the design centre is Bombay, since Bombay is named as the commercial ; entertainment capital. The fourth recommendation is that the India government should consider encouraging the local companies to develop its design and innovation strength. The government may provide the funding support for design projects. This will help the Indian companies to development a sustainable model. Price + Value In order for a business to sustain, there are basically four key factors: investment, productivity, human development and product quality. The education support in recommendation 1 will help to provide a sufficient high skill work force for the company to develop its design arm. The initial government funding will provide the investment for the company to develop the product design and innovation. The introduction of the new drive force for the product design ; innovation will contribute to the increased value in the product quality and increase the productivity. The business sustainability will also help to sustain the design industry to develop. APPENDIX for references 1) http://zeenews. india. com/news/nation/india-s-suffocating-bureaucracy-worst-in-asia-survey_536445. tml 2) http://www. li. com/attachments/EntrepreneursIndia2011. pdf 3) http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052970204479504576639233537716542. html#project%3DISTARTUP1011%26articleTabs%3Darticle 4) http://business-standard. com/india/news/us-wants-india-to-decrease-tariffsindustrial-goods/374667/ 5) http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTR IES/SOUTHASIA 6) http://www. forbes. com/2010/10/13/india-china-entrepreneur-markets-economy-raghav-bahl-book-excerpt. html 7) http://www. li. com/attachments/EntrepreneursIndia2011. pdf 8) http://en. wikipedia. org/ ) Grail research on Global Fashion Industry – Growth in Emerging Markets (Sep 2009) 10) http://www. merinews. com/ – Article on Indian fashion industry becomes global (2nd Mar 2008) 11) McKinsey ; Company reports a. India’s fast-growing apparel market (Jun 2010) b. Made in India – The next big manufacturing export story 12) http://blogs. wsj. com/indiarealtime/2011/10/12/hermes-goes-local-with-india-sari-launch/ 13) Forbes – Fast Fashion Zara in India (29th Jul 2010) 14) Price Waterhouse Coopers – Strong and Steady 2011 Outlook for the Retail and Consumer Products Sector in Asia 15) http://willslifestyle. om/Season21/lounge. html 16) http://www. earthpulse. com/ PARKING LOT Easy access to credits for the private sector i did not write anything about it! ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. forbes. com/global2000/ [ 2 ]. http://www. chinahush. com/2009/12/02/made-in-china-ad-campaign-and-its-secrets/ [ 3 ]. http://nitawriter. wordpress. com/2007/12/11/india-has-two-of-the-best-design-schools-in-the-world/

Curriculum Design Essay

Chapter 7 ASCD Yearbook Fundamental Curriculum Decisions, 1984 People cannot intelligently discuss and communicate with others about curriculum without first making very clear what their interpretation of a curriculum is. In this chapter, we will be thinking of a curriculum as a written plan for the educational program of a school or schools. Curriculum design them will consist of those considerations haying to do with the contents, the form, and the arrangement of the various elements of a curriculum. We distinguish between curriculum planning and instructional planning with curriculum planning being the antecedent task. Curriculum planners are forced to make design decisions almost from the outset of their work. The design decisions revolve around three important considerations: (1) the range of school levels and schools to be covered by the curriculum, (2) the number of elements to be included in the curriculum, and (3) the nature and scope of each of those elements. Each of these requires additional explanations. Decisions about the range of school levels and schools to be covered by the curriculum normally are mot very complicated, and the range usually coincides with the sphere of authority of the board of education. Districts may elect to plan a curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12; they may elect to plan one curriculum for the elementary schools and one for the secondary schools; or they may elect to direct each school unit to plan its own curriculum. Planning groups will have to decide about the number of elements to be included in the curriculum. Among the options for inclusion are: (1) a statement of goals or purposes, (2) a statement of document intent and use, (3) an evaluation scheme, and (4) a body of culture content selected and organized with the expectancy that if the culture content is judiciously implemented in classrooms through the instructional program, the goals or purposes for the schools will be achieved. To this list, some would add suggested pupil activities, instructional materials, and so forth, but these matters belong more rightfully in the domain of instructional planning and we will not consider them here. A few comments about each of these four elements will be helpful to the reader in understanding their import for curriculum decisions. Most curriculum writers would agree that it is desirable to include a statement of goals or purposes to be achieved by schools through the implementation of the planned curriculum. They may disagree as to what the goals ought to be, or they may disagree about the degree of specificity of the statements to be included. The most famous statement of goals or purposes for schools became known as the Seven Cardinal Principles of Education as formulated by the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Schools in 1918. They were health, command of the fundamental processes, worthy home membership, vocation, civic education, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character. There is less consistency among curriculum writers in terms of their insistence upon including a statement of document intent and use in a curriculum, and, in practice many curricula do not contain such statements. Curricula have, in the past, contained statements intended to reveal the philosophy or point of view of the planners but this is not what we mean by a statement of document intent and use. A statement of document intent and use should be forthright and direct about such matters as: (1) how teachers are expected to use the curriculum as a point of departure fur developing their teaching strategies, (2) the fact that the curriculum is the official educational policy of the board of education, (3) the degree of universality in expectancy with regard to the discretion of teachers in implementing the curriculum, and (4) the degree to which teachers are to be held accountable for the implementation of the curriculum. These are illustrative of the kind of statement that may be formulated, but each planning group will have to decide on the number and character of such statements. With the amount of emphasis put upon curriculum evaluation in recent years, some mandate with respect to the curriculum evaluation is a very reasonable option for inclusion in a curriculum. The most common method of pupil evaluation used in the past has been the standardized (norm referenced) achievement test. In most cases, there were no deliberate attempts to relate published curricula to the test batteries. Therefore, any leap in assumption about the directness of the relationship between curriculum content and whatever was measured by the tests was likely to be untenable. All the more reason for formalizing an evaluation scheme by including it in the curriculum. In one form or another, a curriculum must include a body of culture content that has been deemed by the planners and directing authorities to be important for schools to use in fulfilling their roles as transmitters of culture to the oncoming generations of young people. The basic curriculum question is, and always has been, that of what shall be taught in schools, and a major function of a curriculum is to translate the answer to that question into such forms that schools can fulfill their commitment and demonstrate that they leave done so. Most of the remainder of this chapter is devoted to discussion of this element of a curriculum; so we will leave it at this point. But it should be made clear that from these options as potential elements of a curriculum, there emerge two dimensions of curriculum design. One is the choice of and the arrangement of the elements to be included in the curriculum. The other is the form and arrangement of the contents of each of the elements internally. The design problem is greatest in the case of the form and arrangement of the culture content and it is the one most frequently discussed under the heading of curriculum design by curriculum writers past and present. . Culture Content-Knowledge-Curriculum Content A curriculum is an expression of the choice of content selected from our total culture content and, as such, it is an expression of the role of the school in the society for which the school has been established to serve. A word needs to be said here about the meaning associated with the expression â€Å"culture content.† Ralph Linton provided us with a classical and very useful definition of â€Å"culture.† He stated: â€Å"A culture is the configuration of learned behavior and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society† (1945, p. 32). The term â€Å"society† is ordinarily used to refer to a group of individuals who live together with common norms and shared frames of reference. Societies tend to generate their own culture and to transmit that culture to oncoming generations within that society. So long as societies and their cultures remained in a primitive state, their cultures were simple and could be transmitted to oncoming generations by direct contact between the young and the older members of the society. But as societies became more complex and the scope of their culture content increased so that the transmission of the culture content to the young could no longer be accomplished by direct contact in daily living, societies were forced to create institutions to take on the responsibility for all or part of the cultural transmission task. The school is one of those institutions. The church is another. Both of these institutions have unique roles to play in society, and they tend to transmit different culture content to the young. Parochial schools tend to do both. As Smith indicated in Chapter 3 of this Yearbook (not in this reading – JG), the culture content selected to be included in the curriculum of the school may be thought of as equivalent to the knowledge to which school students are to be exposed. In any case, it is critically important to be aware that not all culture content, or knowledge, accumulated by society comes under the purview of the school; curriculum planning is a process of selecting and organizing culture content for transmission to student by the school. The process is very complex, involving input from many sources, but the organized end-result of the process is the design of the curriculum. The most sophisticated mode of organization of culture content for purposes of teaching is reflected by the various disciplines such as history, chemistry, or mathematics. In addition to the established and recognized disciplines, school subjects have been created out of conventional wisdom m the applications of selected portions of the disciplines to applied areas of our culture such as vocational subjects, social studies, or reading and handwriting. In general, the separate subject organization of culture content has predominated in curriculum design. Another way of speaking about curriculum content is to refer to cognitive content, skill content, and value or attitudinal content. As Smith discussed more fully in Chapter 3, all three types of content represent knowledge in some from either in the form of direct knowledge or a knowledge base. The three forms have been used as a classification schema or a taxonomy for curriculum content formulation. Historic Curriculum Design Conflicts One must realize that tire basic curriculum question is, and always has been, one of what shall be taught in the schools. An immediate corollary to that question has been that of how shall what has been chosen to be taught in the school be organized so as to best facilitate the subsequent decisions about teaching and learning. Those two questions are the primary curriculum questions, and the organized decisions made in response to them culminate in a curriculum design. A few reflections about our curriculum past will illustrate settle of the conflicts in curriculum design that have taken place. In her study, Sequel observed that curriculum as we use the term today was not a subject of professional discussion until after 1890 (1966, p. 1). Rugg contended that decisions about curriculum content prior to the 20th century were decided primarily by textbook writers and textbook publishers (1926, Pp. Ill-11). It was not until 1918 that Bobbitt wrote the first definitive work on curriculum and since that time curriculum writers have directed their attention to the substance and organization of curriculum content (curriculum design) and to the processes of curriculum planning, implementing, and evaluating. By the early 1900, the stage had been set for the separate subjects organization of the culture content to be used in schools. In our very early elementary or primary schools, for example, pupils were taught to read, to write, and to compute; the subjects were called reading, writing, and arithmetic. Much later such subjects as geography, history, and civics were added to the curriculum. In our early secondary schools, pupils were taught a selection of subjects (disciplines) that were directly associated with the disciplines taught at the college or university. Even though the separate subjects organization of culture content was used before curriculum became an area of professional study, it is still with us. True, subjects have ben added and others altered, but it remains the dominant approach to curriculum design. The separate subjects mode of curriculum design has been significantly challenged only once in our history. That challenge came with the advent of the Progressive Education movement. A principal belief of the Progressive Education movement was its dramatic emphasis on the learner in school settings. A substantial portion of the Progressive emphasis on the learner was stimulated by John Dewey’s (1916) call for more active and less passive learning in schools. This focus on the learner when applied to the organization of curriculum content led to endeavors remove away from the separate subjects organization of tire curriculum content. The movemen away from the separate subjects organization (sometimes called subject-centered) was toward the integration, or fusion, of subjects under the assumption that such integration would not only facilitate learning on the part of pupils but would additionally make the knowledge, skills, and attitudes more easily available to the pupils in post-school life (the transfer problem). The basic process involved here was the fusion of the contents of two or more of the separate subjects into another organization in which the individual subjects lost their separate identities. As one might expect, names were associated with the various integration or fusion attempts. Figure 1 adapted from Hopkins (1941, p. 18) illustrates the variety of names associated with curricula resulting from integrative or fusion processes. Hopkins here polarized the subject curriculum and the experience curriculum. The broad fields curriculum was placed in the center so as to show that it had a reasonable num ber of the characteristics of the two extremes. Others as indicated on either side depending on emphasis. Space in this volume will not permit extensive description of curricula developed as part of the efforts to move away from separate subjects organization. The best we can do here is to identify some of them and cite sources for further investigation on the part of the reader. For example, in their hook The Child-Centered School, Rugg and Shumaker (1928) presented brief descriptions of the curricula of the Lincoln School, The Frances Parker School, and others of that time. In most cases, the curricula were built around child-centered units of work, but attention was focused as needed on such basic subjects as reading, mathematics, history, geography, and so forth. One of the most extreme departures from separate subjects organization was proposed by Stratemeyer and others (1957). The authors proposed the â€Å"persistent life situations† concept as a basis for dealing with the curriculum building issues of scope, sequence, continuity, balance, and depth. At the junior and senior high school levels, special mention should be made of the core curriculum. The core curriculum idea was to get away from nothing but the discipline-centered curriculum. Most core programs were organized around larger and more flexible blocks of time, and the content was generally centered on personal and social problems and problems of living. In many respects the core curriculum idea was an attempt to solve the general education problem in our upper schools. It is important to note that in practice in schools, curriculum design failed to get very far away from the subject- or discipline-centered design. The most lasting effect of the movement was the broad fields idea as represented by social studies, language arts, and general science, and they have persisted mostly in curricula for elementary and junior high schools. Contemporary Arguments About Curriculum Design Probably the most persistent movement in curriculum design in recent years has been the proposed use of specific behavioral objectives as a basis for curriculum organization. Curriculum writers have long proposed that curricula ought to contain statements of goals or objectives, but not as the only content of a curriculum. Some contemporary writers have proposed that curricula should be thought of in terms of the anticipated consequences of instruction, or intended learning outcomes. (For example, see Popham and Baker, 1970; Johnson, 1977). The culture content in such cases would either be implied in the objectives or be considered as an instructional decision. A distinct advantage of this type of curriculum design is that supervision of the implementation and of the evaluation of the curriculum is simplified and facilitated. Such proposals are in direct contrast to a proposal that a curriculum should he composed in four parts: (1) a statement of goals, (2) an outline of the culture content that has the potential for reaching the goals, (3) a statement of the intended use of the curriculum, and (4) a schema for the evaluation of the curriculum (Beauchamp, 1981, p. 136). They are in even greater contrast to those who would include instructional considerations such as suggested activities for learners and instructional materials to be used. Curriculum planners should be warned that the inclusion of all of these things produces fat and unmanageable curricula. With respect to the culture content of curricula, two organizational concepts persist both in the literature and in the practice of writing curricula. The first is the tendency to continue with the basic framework of the subjects, or disciplines, that are to be taught. The second is to break the subject areas down into three identifiable components: (1) cognitive, (2) inquiry and skill, and (3) affective (value, moral, attitudinal). Curriculum planners will probably wish to begin their thinking about design with the familiar, which will unquestionably be the conventional school subjects. They will consist of mathematics, social sciences (including social studies as a subject), the natural sciences, fine and applied arts, health and physical education, communications, and other languages. At the secondary school level, planners will add to these whatever vocational and technical subjects they may wish to offer. Some planners will wish to add an area that may be termed social problems, molar problems, or problems of living that may call for applications of elements learned in various conventional subjects. Curriculum planning is an educative process. For this reason classroom teachers should be involved in the undertaking. A very important reason for their involvement is that the process of curriculum planning presents an opportunity for them to engage in analysis of the culture content so that they may be more effective in their classrooms at the level of instruction. The analytic process of breaking down the culture content into cognitive, affective, and inquiry and skill components is one way that teachers may become mote knowledgeable about what they do. Also in this process of analyzing the culture content, the content is more specifically related to goals and at the same time it fosters better curriculum implementation. For these reasons, teachers’ participation in curriculum deliberations has been proposed frequently as a needed dimension of continuous teacher education. In Chapter 3, Smith raised the very important question of the utility of the culture content selected to be part of the curriculum content, and he posed several ways in which the utility of knowledge can be emphasized. In a more specific vein, Broody, Smith, and Burnett (1964) suggested on, potential uses of learnings acquired in school to he taken into consideration. They are the associative use, the replicative use, the applicative use, and the interpretive use (pp. 43-60). Very briefly, the associative use of knowledge refers to the psychological process of responding to a new situation with elements of knowledge previously acquired. The replicative use refers to situations that call for direct and familiar use of schooling such as when we read a newspaper, write a letter, or balance a checkbook . The applicative use occurs when an individual is confronted with a new problem and is able to solve the new problem by the use of knowledge acquired in the study of school subjects through previous experience in solving problems demanding similar applications. The interpretive use of schooling refers to the orientation and perspective the individual brings to new situations because the individual has acquired ways of conceptualizing and classifying experience. Much of the discussion about uses of schooling (especially use external to the school) is an elaboration of the transfer problem that has plagued educators ever since Edward Thorndike first set forth his theory of transfer through the existence of identical elements in 1908. The most easily explained is the replicative use as described above because of the direct similarity between the use external to the school and the mode of learning and practice in school. Take reading for example. Reading from school materials is directly similar to reading of materials outside the school. But when it comes to applying knowledge or making new interpretations or associations between knowledge required in school and life situations external to schools, a more complicated transfer situation exists. Unfortunately, many of the questions raised about utility and uses of schooling have not been answered through curriculum design. Nor are they likely to be because so much is dependent upon classroom teaching technique and the design of instructional strategies. The best efforts in curriculum design have been through the generation of new courses (subjects if you please) in which the content is purportedly more like life external to the school. Reference here is made not only to specialized courses such as technical, vocational, commercial and occupational courses but also to courses designed around molar problems, problems of living, and core programs. In many respects, the broad fields courses were designed for purposes of saving time during the school day and to facilitate the transfer of knowledge acquired. But whatever the curriculum design, if teachers are not aware of and sensitive to the kind of analyses of the content to be taught as we have been discussing it, the uses of schooling will not be maximized. All the more reason why teachers should be part of the curriculum planning effort and participate in the required dialogue. In summary, then, what courses of action with respect to curriculum design appear to be the most appropriate for today’s curriculum planners? The most important aspect of curriculum design is the display to be made of culture content once the content has been selected. The total amount of culture content is constantly growing thus making the problem of selection for curriculum content more difficult as time goes on. Unquestionably, the role of those schools (elementary and secondary) that operate under compulsory school attendance laws must constantly be examined in terms of what they should or should not offer in their curricula. The elementary school curriculum has always been designed with general education in mind. In our contemporary society, the secondary school seems to be moving in that same direction. Both, however, have seen fit to divide the content selected into realms or courses as appropriate. Scope and sequence have long been two major problems in curriculum design. The display of course content into topical outline is one way planners can watch for discrepancies in scope and sequence. It also helps with horizontal articulation among the various subjects. To help teachers generate greater insight into the content outline, it is desirable that the curriculum design reveal the expected cognitive, inquiry or skill, and affective outcomes. These are conventionally arranged in the design of the content in parallel with the topics in the outline. flow behaviorally the outcomes are to be stated is optional to the planners. These outcomes should also be thought of in terms of any goals or purposes that may be stated in the curriculum. What else to include in the design is optional to the plan. It has become quite conventional to think of goals or purposes first and then to select the content. Such procedure is quite arbitrary because all content is selected with some purpose in mind. Nonetheless, a statement of goals and purposes is a useful element in curriculum design. I would add to the topic outline and the expected outcomes a directive statement about the intended use to be made of the curriculum and a statement outlining a scheme for evaluating it.

Bioethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Bioethics - Essay Example The core point is that human life is a primary value in itself and that must be protected at all times. The basis of this reasoning can be derived from diverse grounds that include religion and ethics. Existence of human life is not a making of any other human being and this outrightly fails to justify artificial intervention meant to eliminate life (Paterson 44). The uniqueness that constitute each individual’s life makes it difficult to assign value and this means that no circumstance justify interference with human existence whether unborn, unconscious, sick or physically deformed. Use of concepts like relativism, skepticism, consequentialism, and utilitarianism tend to leave moral loopholes which at some point still lead to messing up with individual rights to life. The religious premise emphasizes the sanctity of life and that means the only moral duty assigned to humanity is to protect the life unless supernatural circumstances effects death or any form of infringement into the right to life(Paterson 57). Ethics has to do with doing what one would wish to be done against him. In regard to the Kant theory, the right thing is to give way to ones right to life irrespective of any utilitarian prospect and this sums up to stand for absolute respect of human

THE FEDERAL BUDGET PROCESS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

THE FEDERAL BUDGET PROCESS - Research Paper Example BODY 1. The History of the Federal Budget process A. Changes made to the process Prior to 1921 Changes made to the process entail how the federal budget process was prior to the three laws, which govern it today. To begin with, preceding the 1921 budget and Accounting Act, the federal budget process was at the discretion of the Congress. The Congress made decisions on how much it was willing to impose as tax, expenditures to be incurred, and if there was need to borrow funds. This bill was taking for presidential accent each year. The enacted federal budget process could then be transferred to the Executive branch that was bestowed with the responsibility of its execution (Fischer, 1975). Budgetary, fiscal, and economic evolutionary changes necessitated the need for a more coordinated federal budget process. This saw the birth of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 that was aimed at coordinating monetary policies, controlling money supply, and centralizing the regulation of the bankin g system (Anderson, Davis & Gullo, 2003). Budget and Accounting Act 1921 The Act necessitated the need for the President to tender a particular consolidated budget each year for consideration by the Congress in bid to developing a synchronized federal budget process. This Act also brought into implementation the Bureau of the Budget that was aimed at making the presidents’ means of generating a tender more efficient. Consequently, this Act brought to existence the General Accounting Office the aided in accountability checks of the Congress. In addition, this Act provided regulations that inhibited agencies from proposing for supplementary appropriations (Anderson, Davis & Gullo,... The paper tells that the federal budget process has four main functions: responsible for the development of the macro fiscal policy attained through the determination of the proportion of the federal surplus or deficit. Secondly, the federal budget process plays a role in setting priorities across the competing programs and projects requiring the allocation of the limited resources. Thirdly, the federal budget process plays a role in promoting the accountability of agencies responsible for the implementation of fiscal goals contained in the budget. Finally, the federal budget process has a function in promoting consideration of the impacts made by decisions accrued today as pertains to the budget, and economies of the prospect. Federal budget process has evolved with time to accommodate the challenging economic situations. On relevance is the social security benefit, which has attributed to the increase in government deficit. This is since the federal government ends up incurring mor e expenses financing the elderly and compensating retired workers who are not bringing any income to the nation. The Congress has come up with alternatives to the social security benefit like the Individualized Retirement Account and Universal Pensions. Deficits in the federal budget process can be corrected by cutting on the expenditure and increasing the GDP every fiscal year. The federal budget process in bid to cushion itself has also implemented the budget cuts where there is less money in circulation affecting the individual expenditure.

The rock'n'roll era and beyond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The rock'n'roll era and beyond - Essay Example The identity does not only include personal identity, but also regional, national, gender, ethnic and cultural identity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to briefly present an overview of how music can reflect a generation identity. It will also analyze two artists from different decades and how the two musicians connect to listeners at specific stage of life and finally. Finally, the paper will discuss what music reveals about the changes and continuities in the perception of that age identity. In discussing the identity in music, we need to ask ourselves whether it is true that everyone has a musical identity. Few people say that they lack interests in music or liking of the music whatsoever. Most have strong liking of music and dislikes depending on the type of music. Taste for music have always been shown to related to age, music training level and some aspects of cognitive style and personality. Most people listen to music of different levels of engagements to regulate th eir moods in different contexts while they are also involved in other activities. It may seem reasonable that in analyzing the musical identities to look at all the concepts of the people. The broad patterns of musical preferences among people and also the transitory likes and dislikes form the integral part of our music identities (Jennings 1991). It is widely believed that the taste and preferences in listening form the most important part of most people. However, this may not be so among other people in the society. Furthermore, domain music importance varies very much in self-identities. This level of variation may depend on the level of involvement such as the musicians themselves or the solo performers. One of the factors that play a role in teenager’s generation identity is music. They identify with artists and different musical styles to reflect their individual identity as a generation. Over many generations, you will find many parents lamenting on the type of music their young ones listen. Over a period of a hundred years ago, it was jazz, followed by big band, rock n’ roll, then funk, electronic music, rap and finally hip hop. The parents mostly complain about the noise that the young stars listen to hence refusing to listen or understand â€Å"that music.† It is true that music can connect us with each other if we open to listen, understand and receive it. Therefore, in finding identity, people of different age groups do tend to prefer particular type of music. In the 1950s in its last half, as rock ‘n’ roll of the Americans began to assume its hegemony over the airwaves and the habits of the young people of buying records across the whole of the industrialized world, this popular new brand of music began to be primarily perceived as a phenomenon for the youth. This perception was reinforced in the 1960s by the development of the youth movement, which expressed itself self-consciously through distinctive forms of p op and rock music. Many believed that this conjunction resulted to the success of the rock music. It was primarily due to the young stars articulation of their sense of identity mostly based on the idea of age and generation. In the word of Frith (1978), the sociology of rock cannot be separated to the sociology of the youth. In the 1970s, the youth to music relationship differed significantly along a number of dimensions especially in social class, ethnicity and gender (Murdock et al

INCIDENCE AND PREVALENCE REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

INCIDENCE AND PREVALENCE REPORT - Essay Example Therefore, it is clear that incidence is totally different from the rate of prevalence in the sense that the incidence rate aims to measure the possibility of developing new cases of disease within a given period of time whereas the prevalence rate aims to measure the percentage of population that has already been diagnosed with a specific disease (McGrath et al., 2008). As a type of chronic brain disease, there is no cure for schizophrenia but is highly treatable (Kahn & Fawcett, 2008, p. 383). Schizophrenia is often characterized by having a distorted speech, perception, and thoughts. For this reason, it is difficult to handle cases of schizophrenia not only on the part of the patients but also amongst their family members and caregivers. To give the readers a better idea with regards to schizophrenia, the first part of this report will purposely discuss basic information about schizophrenia including its signs and symptoms, common age affected by schizophrenia, and current treatments. The main purpose of this report is to gather, compare and contrast the incidence and prevalence rate of schizophrenia in Calgary (local city), Alberta (provincial), Canada (national), and the world (global). To gather up-dated information about the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia in these four (4) levels, a wide-range of online resources will be utilized in this report. Schizophrenia is a type of mental health problem that can equally affect both men and women (McGrath et al., 2004; Aleman, Kahn, & Selten, 2003). Even though Jablensky (2003, p. 212) strongly suggests that the incidence and prevalence rate of schizophrenia are comparable across populations, the research study of Goldner et al. (2002) proves otherwise. After conducting a systematic review of literature (between the 1st of January 1980 and the 31st of December 2000) with regards to the incidence and prevalence rate of schizophrenia, Goldner et al. (2002) found out that with a variation rates between

An Analysis of the Current Developments in International Advertising Essay

An Analysis of the Current Developments in International Advertising Regulations - Essay Example In their efforts to be competitive, international firms have emulated various strategies. Some of the notable marketing aspects include e-marketing, social media marketing, product diversification, repositioning of brands among others. In order to enhance product awareness and customer’s loyalty, global companies such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, General motors, Honda, Apple Incorporation, Pepsi among others have taken wide range of advertisements through satellite television, newspapers, internet and other avenues. This paper gives the analysis of the current developments in international advertising regulations and the impact on international marketing practise and consumption. International advertising International advertising involves spreading of messages that are related to a product or a service with an aim of propelling the demand from the existing customers or with the purpose of attracting new consumers. It is important to note that due to the cultural diversity and social aspects in various countries, the way customers perceive or react to an advertisement campaign differs. In this regard, international advertising entails the communicating process that takes into consideration the consumption patterns of the audience, multiple cultures and forms of communication. In the same way, international advertisement has been recognized by international agencies as a profitable business in terms of creating adverts on behalf of organizations. Development of international advertising One of the major causes of heated discussion among the advertising managers and academics is advertising standardization. According to the advertising managers, establishment of a comprehensive advertisement campaign entails the identification of local, intrinsic and firm factors that manipulate global advertising. In order to effectively serve the firms that were aimed at operating at an international level, advertising agencies established themselves in various countries. This was based on the high returns that they anticipated by treating the advertising campaigns as business practices. One of the major aspects that led to development of international marketing was the end of the communist regimes in 1990’s. As a result, companies who were eager to provide new products and attract large number of consumers positioned themselves in the Eastern Europe market. Based on the high number of firms that were scrambling for the available consumers, the global advertising became a priority. According to Grein and Ducoffe (1998), most organizations especially those from US emulated the services of advertising agencies leading to high advertising revenues. For instance, in 1991 the top ten advertising agencies in US earned more than 60% of their income from international billings. To find the solutions and share the plight that hindered advertising in the global market, companies that were focused at international advertising formed organizations such as Unit ed Kingdom Institute of Practitioners and US Association of National Advertisers. As companies progressed in their advertisement strategies, innovations in the information technology led to the enhancement of international marketing practice through the introduction of internet. This ensured that international companies targeting customers from various place in the world could now advertise their