Example of Statement of the Problem in Research Paper

Example of statement of the problem in research paper is the description of a certain difficulty or lack that requires a solution or at least research, in order to see whether it can be properly solved. It can report on a condition that has to be improved, specific area of concern, or a problematic question existing in theory, in practice, or in the scholarly literature that needs meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. Example of statement of the problem in research paper usually comes at the research proposal and includes the outline of the basic facts of the addressing issue and an argument for its importance. Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Direct Investment Nowadays, the problem of intellectual property has turned into one of the most aggravated topics of the disputes among the modern society. The main factor promoting the friction around this issue is the globalization of the economic activities along with the expansion of the international transactions, which involve knowledge-intensive products. In particular, this concerns the FDI decisions, which relationship with the intellectual property rights lacks proper empirical evidence. The issue of the intellectual property is of great importance to the contemporary communities and can be identified as relevant to the global economy due to the number of pivotal reasons. First of all, as it has been mentioned above, the majority of the international transactions involves the knowledge-intensive products, which are considered as an intellectual property. These products mainly refer to the technologies and innovations, including databases and electronic information, transfer of which has become one of the main processes in the global economy. Among the range of the market-based channels of the technology transfer foreign direct investment (FDI) is the most significant one. Thus, in these terms, the decisions on foreign direct investment can be claimed to be closely related to the intellectual property rights. Secondly, the globalization of the economic activities has turned the attention of the regional as well as global trading arrangements to the problems of regulatory convergence with the considerable emphasis on the intellectual property rights. This can be explained by the fact that stronger intellectual property is believed to stimulate the innovation in developing countries, promoting their growth and providing greater choice to the consumers around the world. Moreover, despite the controversy that persists over the international means of protecting the main information technologies, there is a commitment among the world countries to achieving strong protection of the intellectual property rights. Thus, the international commitments have fostered a movement toward the increase of the standards of protection of the intellectual property at a worldwide level. As a result, a great number of developing countries have begun to reform their regimes of intellectual property rights protection in response to the domestic and external pressures. Hence, the long-term global reformation of the intellectual property rights allows to predict that IPRs are likely to become essential for the successful foreign direct investment decisions in near future. Consequently, the issue of the necessity of protection of the intellectual property rights and their relationship with the foreign direct investment decisions is of high importance and requires proper understanding and exploration. For this purpose would serve the following research, findings of which will help to explore IPRs influence on the global economy and suggest the possible solutions for the international disputes on this topic. References Branstetter, L. Saggi, K. (2011). Intellectual Property Rights, Foreign Direct Investment and Industrial Development. The Economic Journal, 121(555), 1161-1191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02440.x Kashcheeva, M. (2013). The role of foreign direct investment in the relation between intellectual property rights and growth. Oxford Economic Papers, 65(3), 699-720. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpt015 Liu, W. (2015). Intellectual Property Rights, FDI, RD and Economic Growth: A Cross-country Empirical Analysis. The World Economy, 39(7), 983-1004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/twec.12304 Pathak, S., Xavier-Oliveira, E., Laplume, A. (2013). Influence of intellectual property, foreign investment, and technological adoption on technology entrepreneurship. Journal Of Business Research, 66(10), 2090-2101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.035 Vanhonnaeker, L. (2015). Intellectual property rights as foreign direct investments. McGill University.

Justifying Murder Through Non-consequentialist Means

Killing one person to save the lives of millions seems easily justified from a utilitarian standpoint. However, I reject consequentialism and thus consider the highly desirable outcome insufficient to morally legitimate the murder, and thus hope to align myself more with a Kantian framework. It is right for the doctor to kill the president because the president has chosen to be responsible for the slaughter of millions, which separates him from the category of innocent people, demonstrates moral reasoning that justifies his death, and his willingness to lead people astray justifies some form of retribution. Briefly, utilitarianism holds that the consequences of an action determine its moral worth and that the relative balance of happiness†¦show more content†¦The reader may, having noted the primary importance I place upon the designation of a person as innocent or not regarding whether it could ever be permissible to take that person’s life, now justly find himself particularly inquisitive about why I designate the president as not innocent. After all, the president has not killed anyone yet. To address this concern, I would emphasize that the conceptual vacuum-like space of the scenario offers a luxury rarely afforded in real life, that of assurance. It is inevitable that he will carry out his choice unless prevented, and this assurance doubtlessly affects my judgment by circumventing many reasons for tenuousness in my speculation. The president fully intends to order the slaughter of millions and, even without the foreknowledge of what is going to happen, it would see m quite fair to state that he has made the decision already, he just has not had the opportunity to carry out his plans. A similar example of a decision that far precedes action could include someone deciding to murder their relative to collect insurance money, but waiting months until the right opportunity was presented. It is quite common to make a choice and not be able to carry it out immediately, but this does not diminish that it was a significant and heartfelt decision. A person, who genuinely intends, is prepared to, andShow MoreRelatedTheories of Punishment3436 Words   |  14 Pageswill consider what legal punishment is; it will draw a distinction between the two main categories.[3] It will focus on utilitarianism otherwise known as consequentialist theory of punishment, in particular a side constrained theory provided by Daniel Farrell.[4] It will look in particular at what it is Farrell is attempting to achieve through his modified theory.[5] It will consider the th ree questions[6] of justification put forward by Hart[7] in application to Farrell’s theory and finally itRead MoreBusiness Ethics Essay4857 Words   |  20 Pagesmorality or immorality of actions, and provide a basis for making claims about moral obligations...† (V Scholes, personal communication, 15 March 2009). Individually, they provide definitions, supported by reasoned arguments, laying claim to (and justifying) what is of fundamental importance in terms of what counts as an ethically correct action. They are mutually incompatible (The Open Poly, 2009). You can not logically question the morality/immorality of actions with reference to more than one theory

Describe a Few of the Interesting Characters in Your Class free essay sample

My class is full of wonderful characters that make all of us cheerful to study. There are twenty-two students in my class and only seven of them are boys. Our form teacher is Encik Azmi bin Nusi. We have a wonderful monitor who does every job given to her responsibly. She is Uma Devi a/p Nagiah and she never complains about doing jobs without an assistant. Most of the students are Malays. There are only four Indian girls and four Chinese students. Our class is one of the noisiest class because of the interesting characters we have. Uma Devi is chosen to be our monitor mainly because of her gutsiness to confront some of the rebellious students who are usually Azizi and Amin in our class. Were the students agreed? They definitely were. Hardly any objection was voiced to choose Uma as the monitor. With 170 centimetres tall and a loud voice that can crack any dreams, she is the perfect choice. Although this Indian girl is very strict, she also has a good sense of humour. That is why many of us cannot despise her for a long time. Moreover, she is very pretty with two long braided black hair and a smile, which is not very often she does. She seldom smile but when she does, it is just like a sun shining after down pouring rain. We will always feel very glad and relieved to see her smile. Her seriousness in doing her job is commendable and she is helpful too, to get a new dateline for our homeworks from the teacher. Due to that, we always admire and respect her. Describing the interesting characters in my class, I find it difficult to leave Rosmaliza behind. She is a very peculiar and interesting girl in our class. She is only 155 centimetres tall but she was slim with beautiful features. The sleepyhead in our class? She definitely is the one and only. We could not stop laughing when thinking about her embarrassing situations in our class. There was a time when Mr. Ling, our Additional Mathematics teacher was teaching in our class and dear Rosmaliza was sleeping. Mr. Ling noticed she was asleep and called out her name to wake her up and she did wake up. Waking up and mumbling incoherently, she suddenly stood up and towards the blackboard, thinking that Mr. Ling wanted her to complete some questions on the board. After some awkward silence, she returned to her seat looking red all over. All the classmates burst out laughing at her act. But she remained impassive, although her red face revealed what she felt. Another thing that we find funny is the way she laughed. It was loud and sounded like a cackle. That is so unforgettable and can be said as her ‘trademark’. The other character in my class that I found interesting is Fozie. He is quite a humorist with the loyal companion, Ja’far. Fozie is very funny and he could cause a hullaballoo with his spontaneous jokes. He is 162 centimetres tall and has a cute, mischievous face. However, he does not get into a lot of trouble with his mischief. He is quite adorable because of his helpfulness and politeness. He is surely the best guy in our class. Another thing that we found amazing about him is the way he mesmerized school’s juniors. Many students, especially girls from lower form adore and admire him. The reason? Maybe it simply because of his friendliness and some cute bangs over his forehead. However, he is a reliable guy that we could depend on to please some teachers whenever some of them are angry. All that I can conclude from these interesting characters is that they are wonderful to be with. Although some of them are weird, but the difference can only add up the speciality. Plus, they definitely bring colours of joy and mischief in our world as a student. Life in school would simply be so boring without them.

Julius Caeser - Brutus Essays - Ancient Rome,

Julius Caeser - Brutus Was Brutus a man of principle or a hypocrite? After reading the play Julius Caeser by William Shakespeare, I would conclude that Brutus was a man of principle and honor. Brutus, a servant and close friend to Caesar, has a strong relationship with Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its people. Brutus felt that Caesar was too ambitious. He would not allow Caesar to rise to power and then turn his back onto the people of Rome. He is also a noble man who was revered by many. Brutus had joined the conspiracy because he had the desire to help the commoners. He was a follower of idealism, where the Romans would possess peace, liberty and freedom. Brutus participated in the assasination of Caeser because he believed that Caeser would tyrn his back on the peopleof Rome. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus talks to Antony about Caesar's death. Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful; and pity to the general wrong of Rome.... Brutus says that Antony cannot see the hearts of the conspirators, which are full of pi ty. Again, this shows how Brutus loved Caesar but cared for the life of Rome and its people more. This is the only reason Brutus would conspire against Caesar. For Brutus says to himself, I know no personal cause to spurn at him...How that might change his nature.... Caesar's relationship with Brutus is also strong. Just allowing Brutus to speak to Caesar shows his respect for Brutus. Caesar feels that Brutus is noble to him and does the right thing regardless of personal danger. On the Ides of March, as Caesar was assassinated, Caesar's last line is: Et tu, Brute?--Then fall, Caesar. This shows that Caesar would not die without Brutus' stab. Caesar realizes that there must be a noble reason for his assassination if Brutus was in it. Shakespeare

fitness motivation essays

fitness motivation essays It fs a common problem. Motivation. Not just for getting to the gym or for working out correctly, but look at giving up smoking, reading more, writing your first book Ethe list is endless. Many people don ft realize what they can achieve because their mind just conveniently tells them that, but it is amazing what anyone can do beyond their conceptions. With good planning, education, encouragement and keeping an awareness of one fs own nutrition there is no reason why anyone cannot achieve specific targets. Achieving these targets leads to an improvement of the quality of life beyond many people fs dreams. When starting a fitness program, one of the greatest challenges is getting started and maintaining the interest. It is as much a challenge to the instructor as it is to the participants. It is very difficult to get people to adopt and maintain a physically active lifestyle even though research shows that exercise can have many positive side effects such as controllin g weight, improving health and helping persons "get the most out of life", where does the problem lie? Why do people start a fitness program, start to see it reap benefits, but somewhere down the road, perhaps 3 or 6 months later, drop out completely? Human behavior is complex and is not always easy to predict. One reason may be that the exercise interferes with a someone fs personal life, for example, many people enroll themselves in an aerobics program and will do well for about 5 or 6 months before they quit. Those early morning workout sessions just became too costly-not in terms of money, but on their social life. Because of the aerobic sessions, they had already missed a number of entertaining breakfast get-togethers with their friends. Eventually they will stop because they value their friendships over their aerobic sessions. Another reason may be that they Wanted results too fast an average guy may work out at the gym in the local youth center ...

Betrayal Loyalty

Betrayal Loyalty Introduction On December 7, 1941, American military men at United States naval base at Pearl of Harbor in Hawaii woke to a crude shock; the Japanese army had attacked them, something that invited the United States of America into World War II. Following this attack, the United States of America in retaliation, placed all Japanese Americans in internment camps popularly known as ‘War Relocation Camps.’Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Betrayal Loyalty specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nevertheless, the aftermath of this exercise presented one big irony of all the time; loyalty and betrayal co-existed and it was even difficult to differentiate between the two. Whilst the Japanese Americans remained loyal to the U.S. government, this government resorted to betrayal, assigning each family a number, which was used as surnames for the Japanese Americans in these camps among other ‘injustices’, only to incorporate them in military later on. Loyalty and Betrayal The Japanese Americans in the internment camps remained loyal to the U.S authorities albeit the harrowing experiences they went through in the camps. For instance, they lived in, â€Å"un-partitioned toilets, cots for beds, and a budget of 45 cents daily per capita for food rations† (Myer 1). The first act of loyalty came with the surrender of Japanese Americans to authorities. After President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, posters saying â€Å"All Japanese persons, both alien and non-alien, will be evacuated from the above designated areas by 12:00 oclock noon Tuesday, April 7, 1942†¦report for internment with bedrolls and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Weber 16). Being loyal to the authorities, the Japanese Americans responded to this order and reported at the said time. There is no one recorded time when the Japanese Americans became disloyal to the U.S. authorities save for some peaceful demonstrations; how ever, these were also allowed in the constitution; therefore, it was not an act of disloyalty. Japanese Americans submitted to denounce their religion, salute the U.S flag, and sing loyal songs; all in loyalty. Moreover, they swore allegiance to â€Å"one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all† (Weglyn 56). In loyalty, the Japanese Americans in these camps submitted to authorities and respected the constitution. This was ‘high-class’ loyalty; something that they carried on to World War II. In 1943, the U.S authorities gave some Japanese America prisoners chance to serve in the military on voluntary basis. â€Å"The War Department is offering you a chance to volunteer and to distinguish yourselves as Japanese-American citizens in the service of your country† (Sone 218). According to Broek, Barnhart, and Matson, one of the distinguished loyal Japanese American regiment was â€Å"the 442nd Regimental Combat Team† (98).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This team went on to become the most adorned combat regiment of the time and it served in the war across Europe. This echoes the loyalty that the Japanese Americans portrayed in the internment camps as prisoners. As part honoring them, the U.S authorities branded the 442nd regiment as, â€Å"the most highly decorated unit of its size and length of service in the history of the U.S. Army, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients† (Broek, Barnhart Matson 102). If it were not for patriotism, what else could motivate these ex-prisoners to defend a country that had subjected them to untold sufferings? The act of these ex-prisoners defended the U.S during World War II is an extension of loyalty practiced in the internment camps earlier on. Unfortunately, the U.S did not recognize this loyalty and they mistreated the Japanese Americans inside and outside the inter nment camps. As aforementioned, the white people mistreated the Japanese Americans before and after the way amounting to betrayal. Immediately after the attack at Pearl of Harbor, President Roosevelt, acting under pressure from the white people, signed Executive Order 9066. This meant that all the Japanese Americans were to be placed in internment camps. According to Weber, the rounding up exercise involved, â€Å"freezing of bank accounts; seizure of contraband; drastic limitation on travel, curfew, and other severely restrictive measures† (20). Moreover, the conditions in the camps were squalid with, â€Å"un-partitioned toilets, cots for beds, and a budget of 45 cents daily per capita for food rations† (Myer 1). As aforementioned, each family was given â€Å"Tags to be attached to each piece of baggage, and one to hang from our coat lapels. From then on, we were known as Family # 10710† (Sone 35). This was part of mistreatments and many people went though unt old sufferings as betrayal took the centre stage after the war. This betrayal was uncalled. It beats logic why a government for people by people would turn against its citizens. Moreover, the betrayal was at both state and citizen level. Betrayal was not only a task of the authorities but also the U.S citizens. After the war, the authorities started releasing Japanese Americans back to their homes. Unfortunately, their reception was cold and unwelcoming. For instance, Elsie Robinson, a newspaper columnist vowed to, â€Å"cut the throat of any evacuee who dared return† (Myer 23). On another account, Clair Eagle, the U.S representative in California made it clear that, â€Å"We dont want those Japs back in California and the more we can get rid of the better† (Myer 23). This was utter betrayal. Even after the loyalty that the Japanese Americans showed towards the constitution, authorities and the whites in general, people were not convinced that these ‘ex-prisoners ’ were people or rather human beings just like them. Sone posits that, after the war, â€Å"the West Coast was still off-limits, but we had access to the rest of the continent where we could start all over again† (111).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Betrayal Loyalty specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This shows that even though these Japanese Americans had proved their loyalty, the minds of many whites still held hatred and betrayal. The authorities had not accepted fully that these were loyal citizens and this explains the presence of no-go zones. Betrayal from the U.S side coupled with loyalty of the Japanese Americas, presented irony of all time as aforementioned. It is ironical that the U.S branded the Japanese Americans, â€Å"enemies’ only to allow them to be part of military and other governmental and societal structures. The U.S. authorities put the Japanese Americans into internment c amps as ‘enemies.’ Ironically, they incorporated the same enemies into the military to fight in the World War II. Moreover, they were allowed to enroll in schools and participate in any other national activity. What can explain such an intriguing incidence? Based on these events, it is apparent that the presence of the internment camps was illegal and unjustifiable in the first place. There is no way an enemy can become a close ally in such a short time. President Roosevelt acted under pressure to sign the Executive Order 9066. The truth will always stand and the Japanese Americans proved this very well. By remaining loyal to the constitution and submissive to the authorities, they went on to become the most distinguished regiment in the World War II. The fact is America’s betrayal of Japanese Americans coupled with the loyalty the latter showed the former, which resulted into incorporation of Japanese Americans into the U.S military, is one big irony. Conclusion After the Pearl of Harbor attack, the U.S retaliated swiftly, rounding most of the Japanese Americans living across the United States of America and sending them to internment camps. Conditions in these camps were squalid; however, the U.S reconsidered her decision and released these prisoners back to their homes after proving their loyalty. Some were incorporated in the army and other national institutions, the irony surrounding this loyal-betrayal saga between the Japanese Americans and the U.S authorities. Broek, Jacobus, Barnhart, Edward Matson, Floyd. â€Å"Prejudice, War and the Constitution.† California; University of California Press, 1968. Myer, Dillon. â€Å"Work of the War Relocation Authority, An Anniversary Statement.† The Harry S. Truman Library Museum, 1947. Web.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Sone, Monica. â€Å"Nisei Daughter.† Washington; The University of Washington Press, 1979. Weber, Mark. â€Å"The Japan Camps in California.† The Journal of Historical Review, 1980. 2(1); 16-30. Weglyn, Michi. â€Å"Years of Infamy; The Untold Story of Americas Concentration Camps. New York, 1976.

Evaluation the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Research Paper

Evaluation the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia - Research Paper Example It was extremely important for the international community to step in and secure justice for the citizens of Yugoslavia since order and justice were failing. The enforcement of human rights and establishing the foundation for effective conflict resolution and post-conflict development has been one of the guiding principles of the ICTY. The establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia by the United Nations was one of the precedents which paved the way for multilateral action by the international community and nation-states concerned about the declining administrative conditions of former Yugoslavia. However, there are a few shortcomings with the ICTY. One of the major shortcomings is that it is an organization which is ad hoc in nature, which in turn makes it a very problematic institution having a number of limitations. It might have some shortcomings; however, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages of The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. And the major advantage of having ICTY is that it lays the groundwork for international law and politics and helps in the establishment of the International Criminal Court or the ICC. The ICC serves as a permanent mechanism which enforces justice. Peter Radan(2002, p.201) states ‘With the exception of Bosnia- Hercegovina, for all the secessions of and within Yugoslavia’s republics, it was explicitly claimed that they were justified on the basis of the right of peoples to self-determination. This is apparent from the various declarations of independence and constitutions adopted by the seceding entities. Bosnia-Hercegovina was a special case due to the absence from that republic of a dominant national group. However, self-determination was still a significant factor.  

Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Japan - Essay Example The emperor had no political implications to the society but was portrayed a symbolism of the culture of Japan and some form of the historical continuity. The new leaders of the Meiji took the emperor to the national prominence and replaced the Buddhism as the religion of the nation (Mori and Rimer 20). The imperial line was associated with the Shinto at the time when the country had the oldest house that was ruling and the legendary symbol of powerful national unity. People were executing duties of the emperor without questioning anything as a way of respect, honor and to show the unity they had. The emperor never ruled, but a small group of advisers were the one responsible for deliberating on various issues that affected the people of Japan. The consultants were supposed to devise reforms and rule at the capacity of the emperor. In the same period, there was the abolition of the feudalism that marked some tremendous change to the social perspective. People were at liberty to choose any occupation of their choice and move everywhere without restrictions. The introduced a number of changes to the social systems (Mori and Rimer 28). These changes included the constitution and the national educational framework. These changes were done to enable the national growth and earn respect from the Western world. The country tried to amass support from the other neighbors, and the educational system brought a lot of popularity and it spread to a number of places. The government used the education system to educate its citizens on the need to acquire some basic knowledge and the necessary skills. By the end of the tutelage of Meiji period, many Japanese people had attended the compulsory and free public schools for not less than six years. The government monitored the schools carefully and made sure that the students got skills not only to the fields of mathematics or reading but also

Why Did Lloyd Gearge Fall From Power Essay Example for Free

Why Did Lloyd Gearge Fall From Power Essay How important were Lloyd Georges Attitudes and Antics in his fall from Power? After the First World War many countries faced major problems. These were extremely difficult economical problems, high levels of unemployment and most people were depressed as they would have lost someone they knew and loved in the war. Any prime minister that ruled Britain would have found it very difficult to lead the country in such post-war problems. A liberal named Lloyd George was the man to do so. He was head of a coalition which the conservatives were the majority. Lloyd George came into power in 1918 and lasted four incredibly difficult years until 1922. This was a massive achievement in itself as Britain was in such a vulnerable position in post war circumstances. Lloyd George was a very popular political leader as he appealed to many types of people especially the working class as he was the war time leader that guided Britain to victory and that he stated he wanted a fit country for heroes to live in and to make Germany pay the whole cost of the war; this is one reason why the conservatives allowed him to head the coalition. Another reason why the conservatives wanted him to head the coalition was that he would be the person that would take the blame if anything went wrong in such problematic times for Britain. Lloyd George responded to the needs of the people of Britain in a charming manor as he tried to do as much as he could for them. He demobilised troops by releasing holders of key civilian jobs first and ordinary rank officers last, this created some alarming protest. The Government then ingeniously changed its tactics by adopting a policy which was first in, first out. This worked very well as families that had not seen their relatives for a long period of time would get to see them before a troop that had been dispatched later for war and by the autumn of 1919 more than four million troops were back in the country. Most of them found jobs thanks to the post war boom. This was very encouraging for the new government Although Britain was on the rise, unemployment was the highest it had been for a very long time. This was in a sense due to the continuation of the slow decline of the British economy which had begun in the 1870s. Countries that wanted British goods had reverted to other means of receiving this as during was times it was hard to get them from Britain. After the war they did not come back to Britain to get the goods but kept on receiving them from other sources. Lloyd George then extended unemployment insurance which pleased many people as they were in financial difficulty after the war. He offered unemployment payments for no more than fifteen weeks in any one year and only to workers earning less than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250 a year. This enabled many families to eat as Britain was on the brink of starvation during the war. This added to Lloyd Georges popularity. In addition Lloyd George passed The Sex Disqualification Removal Act in 1919; this allowed women to stand in parliament. This added to his popularity with women, which was a very large percentage of the country as many men had been killed in the war. The Lloyd George government pledged to build `homes fit for heroes for the troops returning from the war and the 1919 Housing Act was passed to fulfil this pledge; under the Act government grants were available, subject to compliance with strict conditions, for houses for the working classes. On 12th June 1919 Dr. Addison, President of the Local Government Board and the minister responsible for implementing the government housing policy, cut the first sod at Stourton. This added to Lloyd Georges popularity even more as troop returning from war got new houses fit for heroes. Another problem that Lloyd George avoided was that the miners wanted to work a six hour day for a 30% increase in wages, the miners also wanted the government to keep control of the mines but the mine owners wanted the mines back. Lloyd George offered them a 7hour day and continued government control for the time being and in order to solve this issue a commission called the Sankey commission was set up. This commission was set up to try and negotiate a possible agreement between the miners and the mine owners. The miners accepted this offer. In 1921 the Sankey commission was unable to negotiate an agreement between the miners and the mine owners. This enabled Lloyd George to avoid permanent nationalisation of the mines and he gave control back to the mine owners on the 1st April. The mine owners told the miners that they would have to work more hours for less pay due to the slump in exports. This outraged the miners who formed a triple alliance between the railway, transport and general workers and themselves the miners. They threatened a General Strike but on the 15th April the miners allies abandoned the idea, the miners were furious and regarded this as betrayal. The miners continued their strike, which lasted three months, but without support they could not win on any of their fronts. They returned to work and soon afterwards workers in other trades faced wage reductions. Lloyd George had just solved the problem of a general strike but he was losing support rapidly from the workers. A reduction in government revenue due to the expense of unemployment benefits and a dip in business profits lead to a committee lead by Sir Eric Geddes, which recommended drastic cuts in government spending, was set up. The government took this advice and saved à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½64 million. This policy became known as the Geddes act. The government saved money by reducing expenditure on the army, navy, education, health services and council house buildings. Many believed that Lloyd George was doing the Conservatives dirty work for them as it was not really affecting the rich but was very damaging for the poor as they had many necessities damaged. On the other hand Lloyd George did make errors which led to his downfall as prime minister; one of these errors was when he sent in British troops into to help the anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian civil war. The Bolsheviks won the civil war and the British troops had achieved nothing from going into war, they were pulled out of the war soon after the Bolsheviks won. Many people resented Lloyd Georges intervention including the Russian Bolsheviks, and many among the working class who admired the Russians. Lloyd George was nervous and consequently an Anglo-Russian trade treaty was signed in March 1921. Another mistake Lloyd George made was at the Genoa Conference, which took place on Lloyd Georges initiative. The Germans were complaining that they would not be able to make the next reparations payments to France, and Lloyd George decided that he would hold a meeting to try and negotiate an agreement between the two. Other problems were also discussed there including the diplomatic relations between Russia and Europe war debts to USA. The conference fail horribly as France did not compromise at all and wanted the whole cost of the reparations payments from the Germans, the Americans refused to even attend the meeting and the new Russian government were insulted that they would have to repay debts from the previous Tsarist government. The Germans and the Russians withdrew from the meeting and signed their own treaty which consisted of the Germans officially recognizing the Russian government and both mutual debts being wiped off. This worried many nations as the two suspect states were now reconsolidated. The finger was pointed towards Lloyd George as he set up the conference. A major rift between English and Irish relations brewed immediately after the election, this called for Lloyd George to solve. This occurred when the 73 Sinn Fein MPs, who wanted Ireland as a separate country from Britain, organised their own parliament in Dublin, called the Dail. Sinn Fein proclaimed the Republic of Ireland. The IRA began a terrorist campaign against the police and the government retaliated by using the Blacks and Tans. Although Lloyd George found a temporary solution to the problem by partitioning Ireland he enraged many people as the conservatives were furious that the union between Ireland and Britain was destroyed, this was very problematic for Lloyd Georges coalition as he depended hugely on the conservatives support. The event that lost decided Lloyd Georges fate as prime minister was the Chanak incident. The Turks threatened to break the treaty of Sevres which had handed most of Turkeys European land over to the Greeks. The Turkish nationalists overthrew the Sultan for signing the treaty and were determined to overturn the treaty. The Greek army went in to overthrow the new nationalist government but were defeated by the Turks; the Turks then threatened the British forces occupying parts of Turkey. Lloyd George did not allow Britain to be bullied by the Turks as the Greeks had, he stated that if Turkey broke into the neutral zone then they would not only face war with Britain but the whole British Empire. Britain avoided warfare by agreeing that a new treaty should be signed called the treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Lloyd George made the fatal error of not consulting the other prime ministers of the commonwealth before promising them into a possible war. This outraged the conservative and was the last straw for them as they saw his unforgivable rashness as uncontrollable. From then on he had few days in charge. Lloyd Georges antics had been to blame for his fall in popularity as he had a reputation for sleeping around with other MPs wives, as u can imagine this enraged many MPs. Before his election as leader of the coalition he didnt have his whole liberal party supporting him as they deemed him untrustworthy. He used to sell Honours for his own personal fortune which was deemed unreasonable by many. He used to use his position to his advantage as he used to play the stock market to his advantage as he had inside knowledge because of his high position, this lead to him acquiring a small personal fortune due of his seedy antics and by abusing his position as leader of the country. The conservatives had used him to get Britain through the toughest few years after the war and now had no more use for him as they could replace him with Bonar Law becoming the leader and the conservatives taking full control. In conclusion I believe that Lloyd Georges attitudes and Antics were important but not very significant as the conservatives knew what they wanted to get out of him, and from day one his days were numbered as prime minister. If he averted some negative incidents then maybe he could have had another term in power but not much after that. I believe that the main incident that caused Lloyd George to fall from power was the Chanak crisis as it put the cherry on top for the conservatives. This was because Lloyd George lost much respect of many people.

Compare And Contrast On Characters Rayona And Pearl :: essays research papers

Compare and Contrast on Characters Rayona and Pearl Rayona and Pearl were two characters that were very alike in the stories. They are also somewhat different. They lived lives that were very troublesome. Rayona had to go through the tough times of her mother's sickness and the death of her brother. She lived away from most of it, but still had to live with it. Pearl had to go through the tough times of her mother Hester being charged with adultery, she also had to go through all of her trials.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayona and Pearl are similar in that they both went through the tough times of their mother's problems. Rayona lived with knowing her mother was very sick. Pearl had her mother's scarlet letter to live with. As children they didn't know who their fathers were, they were forced to guess. Rayona and Pearl were also similar because they both had a tough time getting along with the kids they had to go to school with. Neither of them were able to make friends very easily. Rayona's trouble was that she was part African American growing up in a Native American community. Pearl had trouble because of the fact that her mom committed adultery and the kids laugh at her. Both of the children were also social outcasts in their community. The community was different from them didn't accept them. Rayona and Pearl were also similar in another way. Through the tough times of their mothers they stood by their side and endured the same hardships.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayona and Pearl also have many differences. Rayona was of American Indian and Black decent while Pearl was of American decent. While Pearl had to live with her mother's troubles, Rayona lived away from them. There is a time when Pearl finds out her history and the things her mother went through. Rayona however never found out about her past or what her mother went through. Another difference between the two is that Rayona had a brother to grow up with and play with. Pearl only had her mother around the house. Rayona also had several people to look up to such as, Aunt Ida and Reverend Tom. Compare And Contrast On Characters Rayona And Pearl :: essays research papers Compare and Contrast on Characters Rayona and Pearl Rayona and Pearl were two characters that were very alike in the stories. They are also somewhat different. They lived lives that were very troublesome. Rayona had to go through the tough times of her mother's sickness and the death of her brother. She lived away from most of it, but still had to live with it. Pearl had to go through the tough times of her mother Hester being charged with adultery, she also had to go through all of her trials.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayona and Pearl are similar in that they both went through the tough times of their mother's problems. Rayona lived with knowing her mother was very sick. Pearl had her mother's scarlet letter to live with. As children they didn't know who their fathers were, they were forced to guess. Rayona and Pearl were also similar because they both had a tough time getting along with the kids they had to go to school with. Neither of them were able to make friends very easily. Rayona's trouble was that she was part African American growing up in a Native American community. Pearl had trouble because of the fact that her mom committed adultery and the kids laugh at her. Both of the children were also social outcasts in their community. The community was different from them didn't accept them. Rayona and Pearl were also similar in another way. Through the tough times of their mothers they stood by their side and endured the same hardships.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayona and Pearl also have many differences. Rayona was of American Indian and Black decent while Pearl was of American decent. While Pearl had to live with her mother's troubles, Rayona lived away from them. There is a time when Pearl finds out her history and the things her mother went through. Rayona however never found out about her past or what her mother went through. Another difference between the two is that Rayona had a brother to grow up with and play with. Pearl only had her mother around the house. Rayona also had several people to look up to such as, Aunt Ida and Reverend Tom.

Mm Theory and Jm Theory of Capital Structure Essay

In 1958, Modigliani and Merton Miller in their classical paper â€Å"The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance and the Theory of Investment†, talked something about capital structure as follow: Consider any company j and let Xj stand as before for the expected return on the assets owned by the company (that is, its expected profit before deduction of interest). Denote by Di the market value of the debts of the company; by Sj the market value of its common shares; and by V j = Sj + Dj the market value of all its securities or, as we shall say, the market value of the firm. Then, our Proposition I asserts that we must have in equilibrium: Vj = (Sj + Dj ) = Xj /Ï k, for any firm j in class k. That is, the market value of any firm is independent of its capital structure and is given by capitalizing its expected return at the rateÏ k appropriate to its class. This proposition can be stated in an equivalent way in terms of the firm’s â€Å"average cost of capital,† Xj / Vj, which is the ratio of its expected return to the market value of all its securities. Our proposition then is: Xj / (Sj + Di) = Xj / Vj =Ï k, for any firm j, in class k. That is, the average cost of capital, to any firm is completely independent of its capital structure and is equal to the capitalization rate of a pure equity stream of its class. This theory based on a perfect market assumption, which means: 1. No cost of capital market: no transaction costs, no government constraints can be traded freely, and capital asset can be divided. 2. Neutral personal income tax: no personal income tax or tax on dividends, dividends and capital gains are equal. 3. Fully competitive market: no matter how investors and the behavior of enterprises, enterprises can according to constant price convertible securities at any time; another enterprise cannot influence the market structure of interest rates. 4. Borrowing Equality: investors and companies can borrow, lend money and the issuance of securities. 5. The same expectation: everyone has the same expectations. 6. No information costs: enterprises and individuals can use the information is the same, but the information is no cost. No financial crisis cost: enterprises and individuals have occurred if the financial crisis or bankruptcy, no financial crisis cost (such as the liquidation expenses, enterprise restructuring charges, etc.) MM theorem laid the foundation of modern enterprise capital structure, from the enterprise operator’s target and the behavior of investors and the target and the behavior Angle, explore in certain market under the environment of the target and the behavior of the mutual conflict and consistent, is the history of the capital structure of a milestone. However, the MM theorem of perfect market hypothesis and the enterprise actual business environment difference, restricted its practical value, economists constantly relax assumptions, make it more close to reality, so as to promote the modern enter prise capital structure theory development.

Native Americans in the United States and Hardy Individualism Essay

Prompt: Although the development of the Trans-Mississippi West is popularly associated with hardy individualism, it was in fact largely dependent on the federal government. Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to western economic activities in the 19th century. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the idea of the far west captivated many. The chance to begin life anew attracted thousands of individuals and families alike to move out west and escape their current life, which was usually full of poverty and for some, full of discrimination. As the west expanded and grew into an important part of the United States, westerners found it somewhat difficult to survive with important resources going scarce. Although the development of the Trans-Mississippi west is mainly associated with hardy individualism, the westÂ’s development as a whole was largely the result of the aid of the federal government by constructing railroads, promoting and protecting the land, and removing the Indian tribes. Railroads were an integral part of the west; without them the West would not be successful. The distance of the west from the rest of the country was large and the only way to reach the west was through a long, tiresome journey by wagon. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 paved the way for the expansion of the railroads. The Act gave companies land to build railroads. The faster the company built the railroad, the faster they could get more land, which they usually sold for profit later on. The construction of the railroad benefitted many who were not living in the west, namely Chinese immigrants. With thousands of workers, railroad companies had to ensure their safety to prevent being sued and frowned upon by the public. To prevent that, railroad companies provided many necessities for their workers like shelter.

Saving Private Ryan Analysis of the first half-hour of the film and how it assaults our senses with horrifying noises and images Essays

Saving Private Ryan Analysis of the first half-hour of the film and how it assaults our senses with horrifying noises and images Essays Saving Private Ryan Analysis of the first half-hour of the film and how it assaults our senses with horrifying noises and images Paper Saving Private Ryan Analysis of the first half-hour of the film and how it assaults our senses with horrifying noises and images Paper Essay Topic: Film The assault The first half-hour of Saving Private Ryan is a massive attack of colours sound and horrifyingly realistic pictures. The first thing you see as the camera zooms into the old James Ryans eye after the war, at the memorial graveyard in France, is a dulled shaky image of a boat sailing the English channel. There is a storm rocking the boat wildly side to side containing a group of scared young men, vomiting, praying, and shivering with fear. This is so unlike other Hollywood films straight from the beginning, the colours are dulled very much like the style English dramas have adopted over the years, and won numerous awards for. It is filmed in a documentary style; it is a though the camera has gone out into the real world and brought back these shockingly realistic pictures that will horrify the mothers, wives and families of all those fighting the war at the time. The sound is shockingly realistic, as the bullets ping around on the speakers you realise the confusion the men on the beaches must have gone though on that day. The first half-hour makes you realise soldiers are not machines they are human beings with emotions such as fear and most definitely pain. Pain is projected to us in many ways in Saving Private Ryan The image of the young boy who must not have been over 20 with his guts pouring out on the beach, screaming for his mother, while men raced past him for cover. The man whos arm gets blown of by a German mortar and then picks it back up as though he does it every day, the shock must have played with his senses so he could not tell he was in an extreme amount of pain. The camera angles are also very realistic it is like the film crews were actually fighting on that day, the camera moves for cover and when the camera moves the picture is jerky and not smooth, the quality is gritty and grainy not like modern films. Also when a person gets shot or blown into pieces in front of the camera some blood splats on it, it is as though you are the camera and you have just been covered in blood and human remains. The director, Stephen Spielberg, adds many dramatic features to the film. The main one in the first half-hour, is the close up on Tom Hanks character (Captain Miller). When Captain Miller has just had a shock, e. g. where the shell land a few feet from him and knocks him to the ground. The sound is muffled the picture is slow, as are his reactions, he slowly remembers what he has been taught which is to keep his helmet on at all times. He picks up the helmet and places it on his head by this time so much blood had mixed with the seawater it had turned red. As he puts the helmet on the red water runs down his head. Then a solider shouts to him it took him about 30 seconds to understand what he was saying but when he did he was acting with efficiency and skill as he had been trained. It was as though that 30 seconds had been removed from his life with no after effects. The overall picture of war that Stephen Spielberg portrays in Saving Private Ryan is that war is not nice. People dont get killed honourably for their country, with bravery and courage; they are thrown into war, most of the soldiers die from a single bullet without even fighting back. This is very different from Hollywood films for example where a person gets shot, yet still chases the shooter, in Saving Private Ryan if you get shot you are dead or dying, crying for your mother with your last breath of air. The entire film is so realistic all the way through and to make his point, Spielberg kills Captain Miller. In a Hollywood film Captain Miller would have gone home to his wife pruned the rose bushes with her and lived happily ever after. Because Spielberg wants Saving Private Ryan to seem ultra realistic he kills the main character of the film. This is a huge shock for the people watching the film, in any normal Hollywood Blockbuster the main character would live to fight another day and maybe appear in a sequel to the original, Saving Private Ryan will never have a sequel. In my opinion no war film could ever match the quality, acting and camera work shown in Saving Private Ryan.

Get 6 Free Content Marketing Tips Right Now

Get 6 Free Content Marketing Tips Right Now So youre in deep with content marketing. Sometimes it feels like maybe youre in a little too deep. Wouldnt it be handy if each week, in the midst of scrambling to get things done, a helper arrived in your inbox, free of charge? Wouldnt you love to get free content marketing tips that werent overwhelming? Sign up for the free email courses right now.  Ã¢â€ â€™ The Trouble With Email Courses, Or, How We Changed Everything. Email courses are super handy, in theory. They show up automatically, right in your inbox where you are doing all of your work anyway. You dont have to go out and find them. But We got to thinking about email courses and how, too often, they are overwhelming. Mainly, they are too long. You dont have a lot of time to dwell on any one item in your inbox, and so the last thing you need is a huge email full of links, paragraphs, and distractions, ending with some action items that seem impossible in nature. A long email is an email with about 95 percent of the information causing your eyes to glaze over. And when youre on the 14th email in the series, you cant even remember what you read when the whole thing started all those weeks ago. We wanted to create an email course that was actually useful AND usable.  Our thought was this: how can we break down the core concepts of content marketing into six quick (and painless) tips? We wanted a few specific things from this email course: Brief and to the point. Customized for your content marketing focus. Easy action items for immediate sense of accomplishment. And this is where you come in. Choose which course track you want (or all of them!): Writer, Editor, Social Media Manager, or Marketer Sign up with your email. Thats it! Sign up for the free email courses right now. → Weve laid out four email courses that are built on six key foundational concepts you need to know if you want to be really great at content marketing. Each email is quick and to the point; they wont take more than a minute or two of your time. But heres the really cool thing:  Each course is targeted to the needs of specific people. Writers, youll find out how to get ideas, writing powerful headlines, and how to write copy that people actually want to read. Marketers, youll learn how to make content work for you, how to find and keep an audience, and how to create a content strategy that actually does something. Editors, youll learn how to manage your team, from tools to the actual nitty gritty of editing. Well give you a head start on planning content and keeping it on track. Social Media Managers can expect to learn how to keep on track with their content, and how to focus on customers and a specific audience to make all of their efforts not in vain. Plus, we throw in some great tips on using and curating content that your audience will love. I cant believe youre still here, reading. Surely youre itching to sign up for one and see what were talking about. Surely.

The Summary & Strong Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Summary & Strong Response - Essay Example It is also a fact that parents force their children to win in order to realize their ambitions to win. While it is important to have competitive skills in adult life, parents decrease the quality of childhood experiences. Statsky states that sport games are very selective and they do not let all children to participate. The fear of failure is supported by this selectiveness as all children become afraid of being worse than others. Finally, the author suggests that it is better to focus on skills to cooperate with other children until children are psychologically ready to compete. The article by Statsky touches upon very important issues, which exemplify how parents make their children grow up too quickly. Pieces of evidence she provides draw a comprehensive picture where childhood seems to different from what it should be. When a 7-year old boy makes himself vomit, children hit each other or fear to lose the game, it means that something is going wrong with sport activities they join. Basically, children are forced to compete instead of enjoying the process of playing and communicating with each other. Young children learn to meet the demands established by adults to master their performance in sports. Children have to face the ugly reality where the winner takes it all and it often makes them suffer. They need to show that they are the best to make their parents feel proud of them or demand rewards for their achievements. At the same time, they have to stand the fear and the stress after the communication with their coaches, which is not always friendly. Even though Statsky mentions that Little League coaches have to attend psychology workshops to regulate their ambitions and be more sensitive to children, the reality shows that they do not rush to follow those guidelines. In most Hollywood movies about sport competitions, coaches are depicted as irritated, shouting and strict people.

Critical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Critical analysis - Essay Example At the end of the story, we find two stances being provided to the presence of the girls in the store. Ironically, both Lengel and Sammy have been looking at the girls with the same male stare, but end up performing very different actions as a result. While Sammy stands up for the girls' rights, the manager falls back on a conventional disapproval of their attire and embarrasses them for it. In Faulkner's short story, the crime is not rape - in fact, Minnie's friends even wonder if she was actually raped at all. The crime is that the men believe that a black man dared to rape a white woman. While the men punish him by killing him, the women are seen as gossipy and wanting to know details about the rape rather than trying to provide their friend with comfort. Point of view may be used as a thematic device when the author or narrator of a short story seems more concerned with presenting a perspective on the themes of the text, rather than telling a story or drawing attention to conventional aspects of character or plot. Virginia Woolf revolutionized the technique of presenting points of view with her use of stream of consciousness and the interior monologue. In "Kew Gardens" the point of view is that of the flower bed, while the bed and the insects and other features in it are presented in sharp focus, we only see a 'slice' of the lives of the people who are walking by. The first couple's passing by shows that they are estranged from each other - he is walking several steps away from her. Even the traumatic memory of losing his first love is a fragmented one, as it is revealed that he can remember insignificant things about it much more distinctly than he can - or wants to - recall the event itself, where his girlfriend turned down his proposal of marriage. His wife and children and his whole life seem insignificant in comparison to the small, trivial details magnified in the story. Russell Smith's short story uses point of view to juxtapose what people are and what they want to be. His protagonist finds life in the urban world oppressive, and the narrative point of view seems sardonic about life in such metropolitan centers as Toronto, where superficiality is the norm and true meaning is often forgotten. #3. Discuss irony as a strategic element in the story "The Age of Lead" by Margaret Atwood and the story "The Gospel according to Mark" by Jorge Luis Borges. In Atwood's "The Age of Lead'' the irony seems to be that two people who did not want finality in their lives end up with nothing but death and a 'frozen' existence. The body of the dead sailor that is frozen and being talked about non television is a strong metaphor for the lives that the narrator and Vincent have been living. Of particular significance seems the fact that the sailor has been dead for long, but that his body is perfectly preserved since he died in the Arctic. The body exemplifies a dead existence where one remains stagnant and may as well be dead. Vincent dies of an unnamed disease at a relatively young age, signifying that

SQL&Security Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SQL&Security - Assignment Example The collection has a provision for checking and validating the typed parameters. 3). a). After using SQL injection, the table that had the users came up. These were the names of the field being referenced. The command that was used was ‘=’. Inputting this in the name field made the database to drop the able contents. The contents are valid because they came assigned with user ID’s. 3). b). When the characters ‘=’ are input in the username text box, the results is the contents of all the usernames that can access the system. The database responds to this entry by displaying all the contents for the field entered. The result for this is the display of the contents of the username table as shown below. ^(((((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9])\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[0-9])-(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9])\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[0-9]))|((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9])\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[0-9]))),)*)(((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9])\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1- b) Students numbers are predictable because they are sequential and are assigned according to faculty. This makes it easy to predict another student’s number, to beak this cipher an algorithm is created to subtract the cipher byte from the respective ascii equivalent of the number, after they have been converted to binary. An example Student ID number is

Silas Marner Essay Example for Free

Silas Marner Essay In the book Silas marner, George Elliot uses many themes to bring the book alive and also to grasp the reader’s attention. Silas marner is written by a woman who named herself George Elliot as a mean to publish her novels. Themes are used in this novel to portray what George Elliot was trying to show the readers. One of the themes in Silas marner is class; being centered on two households, marner’s cottage by the stone pit and the Cass marner, the red house, these two settings represent class extremes. The cottage is showed as the ramshackle abode of the lowest member of raveloe society; the manor is a beautiful home filled with gentry and a location for dances. Elliot shows many intersections between the two households. Dunstan Cass, who is a member of the upper class, enters marner’s home looking for money. Silas marner who is from the lowest class and miserable, raises a squire’s granddaughter as his own child, despise the fact that she is from an upper class family. The rainbow tavern and the church in raveloe are also places where class differences are present. The rainbow is a different place when the â€Å"gentles† are having a dance (ch. six). In these times, the lesser villagers like mr. Macey, reign over the rainbow, telling stories. Secondly, at the church, the higher members of society sit in assigned seats at the front of the church while the rest of the villagers sit in the back and watch. In both these places, although everyone recognizes the status differences between the lower and higher class, this doesn’t not seem to be a problem in raveloe. In raveloe, strict boundaries of class do not necessarily lead to greater happiness among the higher classes. Those with money or those who have a little money tend to be the most harned and corrupt characters, such as Dunstan, Godfrey and even silas, before he found Eppie. The person in silas Marner who is most oppressed by circumstances, is Godfrey Cass, who finds himself at the mercy of a lower class wife, who fails to have children of his own and ends up envying the bond of a lowly weaver and his daughter. Silas and Eppie, on the other hand, though they do not have status or wealth, seem to enjoy unmitigated happiness. Nevertheless, being in a higher class shows that when there is a crime or something goes amiss you are never suspected because you are in a higher class so you would never stoop to those standards. For example, when silas’s gold was stolen, even though it was Dunstan Cass who was from the higher class who stole it, he was never suspected because he was in a higher class. Instead they suspected Jem Rodney, a low class peddler. Why did they suspect him and not someone from a higher class? Because being in a higher class, no one ever thinks you would do something like steal from a miser. Only because the higher class portrays an image as to having it all and are happy and perfect. Dunstan Cass is a clear example that even though you are in a higher class, you have that one person who does not uphold the standards and stoop lower than a lower class person would. Another theme of silas Marner is the nature of chance, and perhaps the only inference one can make about chance as read in the novel is that chance cannot be trusted. Everyone has good or bad turns but we never know which is which until later in life. Take into consideration when silas loses his gold, he thinks it is the worst thing that could ever happen to him. When you think about this, you realize it was one of the best things to happen to silas because losing his gold gave him a clear space in his life to love and take care of Eppie like she was his own. Looking at godfrey cass, he believes the death of his first wife and marner’s subsequent adoption of his daughter, was an amazing stroke of good fortune, but as we read and realized it turns out to be horribly the worst in the end. He ends up wanting his daughter Eppie in his life more than he wanted Nancy. Godfrey realizes it was wrong to pretend that Eppie was not his child, which he paid for in the end. We realize that chance is not so random after all but guided by the author. The characters end up meeting their faith, the good were rewarded or ended up lucky, while the bad were unlucky or punished. For instance Godfrey stated that he â€Å"passed for childless once† because he wanted to and, unfortunately, he â€Å"shall pass for childless now against his wish†. Even so, the novel also reflects the complexity of reality, and chance serves this purpose as well. Near the book’s end, the wise Marner says, despite his perfect happiness, â€Å"Things will change, whether we like it or not; things won’t go on for a long while just as they are and no difference†. Which means pain will come, joy will come, and no one can learn from each revolution of the wheel fortune.

Economic Reform in Russia Essay -- Economics History USSR Essays

Economic Reform in Russia Formerly the preeminent republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Russia has been an independent nation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Because of its great size, its natural resources, and its political domination, the Russian Federation played a leading role in the economy of the Soviet Union. In the years preceding the disintegration of the union in 1991, the economy of Russia and the union as a whole was in decline. In 1992, immediately after the separation, the Russian government implemented a series of radical reforms. Price controls were abolished as the beginning of a transition from a centrally controlled economy to a market economy. An immediate series of sharp price increases caused extreme hardships for the Russian people. Inventor of the fictional five-year plan, the fake harvest, Russia introduced another novel economic concept in 1996. It was a society modeled after the capitalist society. High expectations of economic growth even with â€Å"shock therapy†--unemployment, social discontent and opportunities for corruption; influence of western politicians and the U.S. policy; and failing to completely reform the communistic system were some factors to why some became rich but led many to misery and an early death. Despite the huge infusions of Western money, millions of ordinary Russians struggled to survive in an economy neither capitalist nor communist, but something brand new and strange, which ultimately led to the failure of economic reform in Russia. In the fall of 1996, Boris Yeltsin won the presidential election in Russia. He was viewed as the personification of reform in Russia.... who had vanquished the Communist dragon during the hard-line coup attempt of August 1991 -- and the leader best placed to introduce democratic, market-oriented reforms. In the same year Yeltsin became the President of Russia, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Thomas R. Pickering, predicted by the fall of 1999, Russia would be one of America’s top trading partners. But in fact, three years after Pickering addressed his farewell speech to the American Chamber of commerce in Moscow, Russia ranked thirtieth in the list of American trading partners. In 1998, Russia’s gross national product plummeted by nearly fifty percent over the last decade. More than sixty million Russians, which is nearly half... ...d the International Monetary Fund assistance but the attempt at capitalist society was not successful. To the beleaguered people of Russia, certainties of old-style communism seemed attractive. A joke on the streets of Moscow, according to World Bank staffer John Nellis, was: "Everything the Communists told us about communism was a complete and utter lie. Unfortunately, everything the Communists told us about capitalism turned out to be true." The establishment of a free-market may require decades to accomplish since this quick attempt was not successful. The economy of Russia did not improve as speculated. Due to years of practicing communism, the Russian people experienced â€Å"shock therapy† when a free-market was in action. Another explanation was: because of constant U.S. influence, Russia was never at a state where they decided on the major decisions until the end. And finally, capitalism never worked in Russia because they did not fully let go of communism. After experiencing many hardships, the Russian people are confused as to what will work in their country full of resources yet lack of economic stability. Maybe the answer is a return to state controlled industries.

Notes of the state of virginia

Text 8 essay: Notes of the state of Virginia Thomas Jefferson University of Chicago press, 1784 When is no education ever good? There is less corruption in the U. S because of Lower levels of education which are often caused by poverty are seen as a factor which encourages corrupt government practices. With less amounts of education people are not informed as to how the government works or what rights they have under the government.It is easier for corrupt office-holders to conceal corrupt activities from a poorly educated public. Uneducated citizens are less likely to be aware of corruption in local governments or how to stop it, and therefore, corruption is able to remain and spread. Without some kind of political awareness, citizens will not know which candidates to elect that are honest or dishonest or other ways to prevent corruption from taking place in their local governments.This often leads municipalities to be continually governed by one or more corrupt local officials who use patronage or nepotistic practices to stay in office or keep influence in the government for long periods of time. When local political leaders are less educated, they will be less likely to find legitimate ways to make the municipality well-structured, productive, and successful. In his Notes, Jefferson recounted many of the policies he had initiated while at work in the Virginia Assembly during the late 1770s.Jefferson was vociferous in his claim for the primacy of agrarian interests against infringing manufacturing developments. To this end, he argued that whereas the farmer was truly healthy, all other occupations were at heart unsound. go to school anymore. Also in the notes it say This bill proposes to lay off every county into small districts of five or six miles square, called hundreds, and in each of them to establish a school for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic.The tutor to be supported by the hundred, and every person in it entitled to send their children thr ee years gratis, and as much longer as they please, paying for it. These schools to be under a visitor, who is annually to chuse the boy, of best genius in the school, of those whose parents are too poor to give them further education, and to send him forward to one of the grammar schools, f which twenty are proposed to be erected in different parts of the country, for teaching Greek, Latin, geography, and the higher branches of numerical arithmetic.Of the boys thus sent in any one year, trial is to be made at the grammar schools one or two years, and the best genius of the whole selected, and continued six years, and the residue dismissed. By this means twenty of the best geniusses will be raked from the rubbish annually, and be instructed, at the public expence, so far as the grammar schools go.At the end of six years instruction, one half are to be discontinued (from mong whom the grammar schools will probably be supplied with future masters); and the other half, who are to be ch osen for the superiority of their parts and disposition, are to be sent and continued three years in the study ot such sciences as they shall chuse† I think they should choose more than one leaving it unfair for everyone else. The quote above mean that after they pick one child out of every district the rest of the children's education is discarded and the chosen ones go to a nicer school and get a nicer education and

Distinctive Marketing, IT Capabilities, and Strategic Types: A Cross-National Investigation

Distinctive Marketing and Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types: A Cross-National Investigation ABSTRACT Keywords: strategic typology, firm capabilities, cross-national, Japan, China The authors examine the relationship between strategic type and development of distinctive marketing, market-linking, technology, and information technology (IT) capabilities to implement innovation strategy. They hypothesize that prospectors must build technical and IT capabilities, whereas defenders develop market-linking and marketing capabilities. The authors collect data from 709 firms across the United States, Japan, and China.They find support for their capability hypotheses, as well as for some of their cross-national hypotheses that are based on cultural and business environment differences among the three countries. In particular, they find support for the hypotheses that Japanese firms have greater technology and IT capabilities than U. S. firms of the same strategic type. Th ey conclude with implications for management. The strategic typology of Miles and Snow (1978) has received much attention in the marketing and management literature over the past two decades (e. g. Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; Dyer and Song 1997, 1998; Griffin and Hauser 1996; Gupta, Raj, and Wilemon 1986; McDaniel and Kolari 1987; McKee, Varadarajan, and Pride 1989; Parry and Song 1993, 1994; Ruekert and Walker 1987; Song and Xie 2000; Walker et al. 2003). Almost 30 years after its initial appearance in the literature, their typology is viewed widely as having stood the test of time and is still the most popular and commonly accepted model of strategic types in the management literature, having been applied in many different industry settings (DeSarbo et al. 005; DeSarbo et al. 2006; Hambrick 2003). Miles and Snow envision strategy as the patterns in the decisions by which a strategic business unit (SBU) aligns itself with its environment, and they categorize SBUs according to these patterns. The critical underlying variable in their typology is the rate of change in an SBU’s products or markets. Using an exploratory empirical study, Miles and Snow propose four strategic types—prospectors, analyzers, defenders, and reactors—and suggest that each of the first three types chooses a different competitive strategy ith respect to products and/or markets: Prospectors will innovate technologically and seek out new markets, analyzers will prefer a â€Å"second-but-better† strategy, and defenders will focus on maintaining a secure niche in a relatively stable Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto Journal of International Marketing  © 2008, American Marketing Association Vol. 16, No. 1, 2008, pp. 4–38 ISSN 1069-031X (print) 1547-7215 (electronic) 4 product or service area.Miles and Snow suggest that all three of these strategic types can be successful if the SBU matches its strategy to the competitive en vironment and develops and deploys appropriate capabilities. Capabilities have been broadly defined as â€Å"complex bundles of skills and accumulated knowledge that enable firms [or SBUs] to coordinate activities and make use of their assets† (Day 1990, p. 38). In this article, we examine the relationship between Miles and Snow’s (1978) strategic type and four capability constructs: technology, market linking, marketing, and information technology (IT).Day (1994) suggests that both technology and market-linking capabilities (or â€Å"insideout† and â€Å"outside-in† capabilities, respectively) are critical to sustained competitive advantage and superior performance (see also Day 1990; Day and Wensley 1988). Technology capabilities, which enable the organization to improve production process efficiencies and ultimately reduce its costs and increase its competitiveness, include financial management, cost control, technology development, logistics, manufact uring, and other processes with an internal emphasis.Market-linking capabilities, which enable the organization to use its technology capabilities to exploit marketplace opportunities, include market sensing, channel bonding, customer linking, technology monitoring, and spanning processes such as purchasing and new product development (Day 1994). Marketing capabilities, such as customer and competitive knowledge, skill in market segmentation and targeting, and effective marketing program design, should also be related to an organization’s performance. In a ioneering study, Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990) link marketing capabilities to the four strategic types and find that prospectors are superior in marketing capabilities. The marketing literature suggests that obtaining market and competitive information and diffusing it throughout the organization lead to better market orientation, better performance, and sustainable competitive advantage (Day 1994; Jaworski and Kohl i 1993). The literature also suggests that IT capabilities are increasingly important means to these ends.Research in both the marketing and new product streams has recognized the difficulty of communication across functional boundaries and has identified ways to improve both the quantity and quality of information (Dyer and Song 1997, 1998; Griffin and Hauser 1992, 1993, 1996; Montoya-Weiss and Calantone 1994; Parry and Song 1993, 1994; Ruekert and Walker 1987; Song, Thieme, and Xie 1998; Song and Xie 2000; Swink and Song 2007). All four capability constructs include significant marketing processes. The original, exploratory Miles and Snow (1978) research finds relationships between firm capabilities andInformation Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 5 strategic types in a limited number of industries. A subsequent study in this research stream empirically examines the relationships between marketing capabilities and strategic types and also validates a scale for assessing a business unit’s strategic type (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990). Two recent studies by DeSarbo and colleagues (2005, 2006) propose and empirically test models that include a range of capabilities in addition to marketing capabilities.DeSarbo and colleagues (2005) use SBU data from three countries (the United States, China, and Japan) to derive a descriptive strategic typology that improves on the Miles and Snow typology in terms of explanatory power; this study is extended by DeSarbo and colleagues (2006) to a predictive model that examines causalities between strategic capabilities and SBU performance. The first objective of the current study is to examine the relationships between an SBU’s strategic type and its development of the four distinctive organizational capabilities technology, market linking, marketing, and IT). This research extends the previously mentioned research stream (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; DeSarbo et al. 2005; DeSarbo et al. 200 6) in that we seek to quantify and to better understand these relationships. The second objective is to build and test hypotheses regarding cross-national differences and their effects on the relationships between strategic type selection and the capabilities, a topic in which no empirical work has been conducted so far. We gather empirical data from three countries: the United States, China, and Japan.As China and Japan are the two largest East Asian economies, and together with the United States make up the three largest economies worldwide as measured by purchasing power (World Bank 2000), it is important to examine how firms from these countries compare with respect to their capabilities and strategies. Although DeSarbo and colleagues (2005) use a three-country database to build their descriptive typology, the research does not use the extant international marketing and management literature to build or test hypotheses of cross-national differences.We believe that the cross-nati onal hypothesis testing constitutes a clear extension to the work of Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990) and DeSarbo and colleagues (2005, 2006). We first propose a set of four hypotheses relating an SBU’s relative capabilities to its selection of strategic type, as well as four additional hypotheses expressing expected crossnational differences in the magnitudes of the capabilities. We then test these hypotheses using a data set of 709 managers from the United States, Japan, and China. Our empirical results largely confirm these hypotheses. We conclude by 6 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C.Anthony Di Benedetto providing theoretical implications and some possible prescriptions for managers seeking to improve their organization’s strategy selection. In this section, we define the Miles and Snow (1978) typology and discuss the implication of the strategic selection. We then define the four capability constructs and develop four hypotheses relating the capability co nstructs to strategic type. The Miles and Snow (1978) strategic types differ in the rate at which they change products or markets in response to environmental change. According to Miles and Snow, prospectors are the leaders of change in their industry.They operate within a broad product-market domain that undergoes periodic redefinition (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; Dyer and Song 1997). They value being â€Å"first in† in new product and market areas as market pioneers even if not all these efforts prove to be highly profitable (Robinson and Fornell 1985; Robinson, Fornell, and Sullivan 1992). They often need to respond rapidly to early signals involving areas of opportunity, and these responses often lead to a new round of competitive actions. Nevertheless, prospectors may not maintain market strength in all the areas they enter.They compete principally through launching new products and meeting new marketplace opportunities. Consequently, they devote significant res ources to new product development, market research, and other marketing expenses (Hambrick 1983; McDaniel and Kolari 1987; Shortell and Zajac 1990; Walker et al. 2003). Prospectors also rely on close ties with the channel of distribution to anticipate customer needs and environmental changes (Walker et al. 2003). Sony’s audio products SBU, which is responsible for innovations such as the Walkman, is an example of a typical prospector organization.Defenders attempt to locate and maintain a secure niche in a relatively stable product or service area. They are less risk oriented than prospectors; typically they do not look outside well-defined product-market domains for new opportunities (McDaniel and Kolari 1987; Shortell and Zajac 1990). Rather than invest time in new product or market development, they tend to offer a more limited range of products or services than their competitors, and they focus on resource efficiency and cost-cutting process improvements to try to protect their domain by offering higher quality, superior service, lower prices, and so forth (Hambrick 1983).Defenders are normally not at the forefront of developments in the industry. Walker and colleagues (2003) distinguish between two defender strategies: price cutting and competitive differentiation. Unlike Sony’s audio SBU, Matsushita’s audio division, a typical defender organization, is likely to focus not on developing products but rather on cutting manufacturing costs (Lieberman and Montgomery 1988). HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT The Miles and Snow Strategic Typology Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 7 Analyzers show qualities of both defenders and prospectors.They attempt to maintain a stable, limited line of products or services, while moving out quickly to follow a carefully selected set of the more promising new developments in the industry (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; Dyer and Song 1997). Analyzers are seldom â€Å"first in† with new products or services. However, by carefully monitoring the actions of major competitors in areas compatible with their stable product-market base, they are frequently â€Å"second in† with a more cost-efficient product or service (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; Dyer and Song 1997).For example, they might develop a new product in a stable market domain or sell established products in new geographic markets or through new distribution channels. They can operate in different domains, perhaps one stable and one more turbulent (McDaniel and Kolari 1987). Miles and Snow (1978, p. 73) characterize analyzers as â€Å"avid followers of change,† always ready to pursue a promising, emerging product or market with a later-entrant, â€Å"second-but-better† strategy (Robinson, Fornell, and Sullivan 1992).They can initiate product and/or market development, but less often than prospectors; at the same time, they can focus on stability and efficiency, but to a lesser extent than defenders (Hambrick 1983). Reactors typically lack long-term plans and any consistent strategy, instead reacting to environmental pressures as necessary (McDaniel and Kolari 1987). Empirical study has suggested that prospectors, analyzers, and defenders all perform well (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; Miles and Snow 1978) and generally outperform reactors.We are interested primarily in the relative capabilities of the three potentially successful archetypal strategic types, so we do not explicitly include reactors in our hypotheses. We have gathered data from reactor organizations, however, and included them in our analysis section. To create economic value, sustain competitive advantage, and achieve superior profitability, an organization requires a wide range of capabilities. Although it would be impossible to list them all, certain categories of capabilities common to many organizations have been identified and used in prior research (e. . , Day 1994; DeSarbo et al. 2006). Technology capabilities—such as financial management, cost control, technology development, and logistics—enable an organization to keep costs down and to differentiate its offerings from those of competitors. Market-linking capabilities—such as sensing market trends, channel and customer linking, and technology monitoring—enable an organization to be responsive to changing customer needs and to use its technical capabilities effectively to exploit external possibilities (Day 1994). Marketing capabilities—such as skill in segmentation,Organizational Capabilities 8 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto targeting, pricing, and advertising—enable the organization to take advantage of its market-sensing and technological capabilities and to implement effective marketing programs (Song and Parry 1997a, 1997b). Finally, IT capabilities enable the organization to diffuse market information effectively across all rel evant functional areas so that it can direct new product development. Not all organizations will have all of these capabilities (Day and Nedungadi 1994; Day and Wensley 1988).Furthermore, organizations will solidify and even develop their particular capabilities through time according to their strategic type, as Miles and Snow’s (1978) classification posits. For example, prospectors tend to compete by anticipating new product or marketplace opportunities and by implementing technological innovation; continued, successful prospecting will have the effect of strengthening inside-out and IT capabilities. The subsequent sections explore the hypothesized relationships between strategic type and organizational capabilities.Market-linking and -sensing capabilities enable the organization to compete by sensing market changes effectively, anticipating shifts in the market environment, creating and retaining durable links with customers, and creating strong bonds with channel members s uch as wholesalers and retailers. These capabilities enable the organization to sense marketplace requirements before competitors and to connect its other capabilities to the external environment (Day 1994). Organizations of all strategic types need well-developed market-linking capabilities.For defenders, however, such capabilities are particularly critical because these organizations must correctly and quickly anticipate changes in the market and their customers’ needs if they are to maintain their prominence within their existing product-market domain (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990). Because defenders attempt to locate and maintain a secure niche in a relatively stable product or service area, they tend to offer a more limited range of products or services than their competitors, and they try to protect their domain by offering higher quality, superior service, lower prices, and so forth.To be effective in achieving these objectives, defenders must possess a high lev el of market-linking capabilities. Walker and colleagues (2003) also note that tracking changes in customer needs and competitive behavior is especially important to a differentiated defender strategy. They note that defenders should be strongest in business functions related to their competitive strategy, such as market sensing and linking. Although prospectors should also have good market-linking capabilities, their ability to sustain competitive advantage is more closely tied to the development of new products, markets, and technologies.Therefore, although Market-Linking Capabilities Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 9 market-linking capabilities are important to prospectors and analyzers, defenders will need them most. Our expectations about organizational strategy types and market-linking capabilities (relative to competitors) can be summarized as follows: H1: Along the prospectors–analyzers–defenders continuum, prospectors have the least rel ative marketlinking capabilities, nd defenders have the greatest. Technical capabilities involve the manufacturing processes, technology, new product development, production facilities, and forecasting of technological change in the industry. They are contained within the organization and activated by market, competitor, and external challenges and opportunities. By increasing efficiency in the production process, they can reduce costs and improve consistency in delivery and, therefore, competitiveness (Day 1994).Although technical capabilities are likely to be important for all strategic types, they should be most important to prospectors, which prosper in unstable, changing environments, especially those marked by rapid technological change such as biotechnology, medical care, and aerospace (Walker et al. 2003). Because prospectors use a first-to-market strategy and typically operate within a broad product-market domain that undergoes periodic redefinition (Robinson, Fornell, and Sullivan 1992), they must be able to develop new technologies, products, and markets rapidly (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; McDaniel and Kolari 1987).Walker and colleagues (2003) note that prospectors require strength in product research and development (R&D) and product engineering, and they perform best when the amount spent on product R&D is high. Because defenders typically locate and maintain a secure niche in a relatively stable product or service area, they tend to be less interested in developing new products and technologies and therefore will depend less on technical capabilities. Formally, H2: Along the prospectors–analyzers–defenders continuum, prospectors have the greatest relative technical capabilities, and defenders have the least.Marketing capabilities include knowledge of the competition and of customers and skill in segmenting and targeting markets, in advertising and pricing, and in integrating marketing activity. Conant, Mokwa, and Varadaraj an (1990) find that prospector firms have distinctive competencies in marketing planning, allocation of marketing resources, revenue forecasting, and control of marketing activities. However, although both prospectors and defenders require skills in Technical Capabilities Marketing Capabilities 10 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto arketing and market research to succeed (Song and Parry 1997a, b), certain marketing capabilities will be of most importance to defender firms because they are most concerned about protecting products and retaining customers (McDaniel and Kolari 1987). Walker and colleagues (2003) note that differentiated defenders must be able to communicate their products’ unique advantages so as to sustain customer satisfaction and loyalty. Low-cost defenders must be able to standardize effective marketing programs across all customer segments so as to reduce overall marketing costs.Thus, because both differentiated and low-cost defenders rely on marketing capabilities, they should develop them to a greater degree than should other strategic types. H3: Along the prospectors–analyzers–defenders continuum, prospectors have the lowest relative marketing capabilities, and defenders have the greatest. A firm active in product development must be able to gather technical and market information effectively and disseminate it throughout the organization (Jaworski and Kohli 1993; Kohli and Jaworski 1990; Narver and Slater 1990).These IT capabilities facilitate internal communication and cross-functional integration (Song et al. 2007). Better IT is associated with greater strategic flexibility and, ultimately, with better performance and greater organizational success (Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, and Konsynski 1999; Swanson 1994). Day (1994) notes that more creative use of IT should lead to better firm performance, and other researchers have found that better information transmission across functional areas leads to m ore successful new products (Griffin and Hauser 1992, 1993, 1996; Gupta, Raj, and Wilemon 1986; Moenaert and Souder 1996).As we discussed previously, prospectors typically operate within a broad product-market domain that undergoes periodic redefinition. They also rely on the rapid development of new products and new markets (Robinson, Fornell, and Sullivan 1992). Therefore, prospectors need relatively high IT skills to respond rapidly to early signals involving areas of opportunity. Miles and Snow (1978) note that prospectors tend to have the most complex coordination and communication mechanisms.Because of the technologically advanced nature of the products they develop, prospectors are also more likely to encounter conflicts among marketing, R&D, engineering, and possibly other functional areas (Dyer and Song 1997, 1998; Walker et al. 2003). This makes even more critical prospectors’ ability to communicate as effectively as possible and to ensure the free flow of informati on throughout the organization. In addition, prospectors might need greater strategic flexibility than other strategic types because they must constantly monitor and target emerging technology IT CapabilitiesInformation Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 11 and product opportunities; better IT contributes to greater strategic flexibility (Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, and Konsynski 1999). Formally, we propose the following: H4: Along the prospectors–analyzers–defenders continuum, prospectors have the greatest relative IT capabilities, and defenders have the lowest. CROSS-NATIONAL HYPOTHESES The cultural differences among Japan, China, and the United States are well documented in the literature (Hofstede 1980; Tse et al. 1988). Japanese and Chinese cultures are collectivistic and long-term oriented, whereas the U.S. culture is individualistic and short-term oriented. Japan and China emphasize group harmony and cohesiveness, whereas the United States values freedom of c hoice and competition (Hofstede 1980). The business environments in both Japan and China reflect these cultural tendencies. In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) encourages investment in key technologies and fierce competition among Japanese firms in selected industries (Kagono et al. 1985). These policies have helped strengthen Japan’s competitiveness in the global marketplace. In addition, METI’s olicies have recently encouraged new initiatives, such as growth in IT and support for environmentally friendly products (Elder 2000). The keiretsu, or interorganizational business groups, also strongly support technology development in Japan (Lai 1999; Lincoln, Gerlach, and Ahmadjian 1996; Miwa and Ramseyer 2002). A major manufacturer might work cooperatively with its suppliers and distributors (vertical keiretsu) or with other manufacturers (horizontal keiretsu) to perfect a new technology; consider, for example, the consortium of Japanese firms tha t worked with Sony in the development of the global positioning system (Campbell 1999).In addition to technology and IT capabilities, Japanese firms in many industries possess formidable marketing and marketlinking capabilities. Their cultural predilection toward group harmony and cohesiveness has led Japanese firms to value long-term relationships with their suppliers, distributors, and customers (Kagono et al. 1985; Kotabe et al. 1991; Smith, Peterson, and Wang 1996; Tse et al. 1988). These relationships enable Japanese manufacturers to link with their customer markets effectively and to develop appropriate marketing strategies and programs.Since the end of World War II, Japanese firms have closed the gap between themselves and their U. S. competitors in terms of marketing capabilities, in some industries surpassing them. As an example, Japanese carmakers are renowned for their excellence in customer research. Use of observational research techniques has enabled Toyota, Nissan, an d Honda to develop cars that are 12 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto ideally suited to the unique demands of the U. S. marketplace (Shirouzu 2001).Japanese carmakers were also among the first to use Quality Function Deployment techniques (e. g. , the House of Quality; see Hauser and Clausing 1988), which ensure that market needs drive all the subsequent steps in product development and manufacturing processes, including product engineering, process planning, and production (Griffin 1992). It was the U. S. carmakers that had to learn these techniques from Japanese carmakers to catch up (Dyer 1996). This literature suggests that Japanese firms are at least equal to their U. S. ompetitors in terms of marketing capabilities and, because of their cultural tendency toward group harmony and cohesiveness, could possess even stronger market-linking capabilities. The Chinese business environment differs from that of Japan, though the two countries share some cultural traits. Despite recent economic reforms, many Chinese firms remain state-owned enterprises, characterized by shared government and firm authority (Schermerhorn and Nyaw 1991). Since the 1970s, investment in technology and innovation has been supported strongly by government policy to stimulate Chinese economic growth and to boost global competitiveness.As decentralization has occurred, stateowned enterprises have increased their decision-making authority on issues such as products and prices (Henley and Nyaw 1986; Laaksonen 1988; Schermerhorn and Nyaw 1991), and smaller collective enterprises with even less government control have become more prevalent (Parry and Song 1994). Nevertheless, Chinese government policy continues to prioritize technology capability investment. However, our review of the literature on Chinese state-owned enterprises reveals little evidence that the Chinese government has prioritized or funded marketing, market-linking, or IT capabilities.In summary, the l iterature suggests that Japanese government and keiretsu policy favor technology and IT capability development, whereas Chinese government policy favors technology development. In addition, the marketing and marketlinking capabilities of Japanese firms are well established, whereas Chinese governmental policy has not supported the development of these capabilities On the basis of this evidence, we propose the following: H5: Japanese firms have greater market-linking capabilities than U. S. and Chinese firms of the same strategic type.H6: Japanese and Chinese firms have greater technology capabilities than U. S. firms of the same strategic type. Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 13 H7: Japanese and U. S. firms have greater marketing capabilities than Chinese firms of the same strategic type. H8: Japanese firms have greater IT capabilities than U. S. firms of the same strategic type. Note that H5–H8 can be tested for each of the four strategic types separa tely—thus the qualifier â€Å"of the same strategic type. † RESEARCH DESIGNInstrument Development and Cross-Cultural Validation Process Our constructs are defined using competitive capability theory (Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990; Day 1994) and must be operationalized using valid, reliable measures (Churchill 1979). We used a four-step instrument development procedure to develop new scales for market-linking, technical, marketing, and IT capabilities and to ensure crosscultural validity. (For a fuller discussion of the instrument development procedure, see DeSarbo et al. 2005. ) Step 1: Measurement Items for Each Capability Type.We identified relevant measurement scales from the marketing literature. We grouped the scale items derived from these scales into the four capability types. To this initial pool of items for each capability type, we added new items in instances in which we believed that not all the dimensions of the construct had been sufficiently covere d. To ensure content validity and appropriateness of items, we refined the scales through in-depth focus interviews in two SBUs. Managers at these SBUs were asked their opinions about salient issues in SBU capabilities.They were also asked to evaluate whether the theoretical model described their own experiences adequately. Next, managers commented on their perceptions of the relevance and completeness of the scale items drawn from the literature review and previous case studies. Finally, we tested and validated the Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990) strategic typology scale. Step 2: Scale Development. Following Churchill (1979), we assessed construct validity of the scales being developed and corrected any scale items that might still be ambiguous.Seven judges (two professors and five doctoral students with background in measurement development) sorted the items from the first step into the four capability scales, following Davis’s (1986) procedure. Construct convergence and divergence were examined by assessing interrater reliability (for assessment statistics, see DeSarbo et al. 2005). Step 3: Instrument Pretesting. Using the judges’ comments, we reexamined all scale items and eliminated inappropriate or ambiguous items or any that were inconsistently classified.We then combined the four scales into an overall instrument 14 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto for additional pretesting. We distributed the instrument to 32 managers in the two SBUs to further assess scale reliability and validity; two problematic items were deleted. Then, the instrument was distributed to 41 executive MBA students taking a new product development class. We subjected the results to factor analysis and assessment of reliability. (Factor loadings and reliability test results are available on request. We deleted two more items, which resulted in a questionnaire including all items judged to have high consistency and face validity. Step 4: Cr oss-Cultural Validation of the Research Instrument. To ensure that the translation was accurate and that the question meanings were not altered, we used a double-translation method to translate the questionnaire into Japanese and Chinese (Adler 1983; Douglas and Craig 2006; Sekaran 1983). After translation, we conducted field research in six Japanese firms and two Chinese firms in which we examined SBU capabilities and innovation strategies.The purposes of the field research were to establish the content validity of the concepts and the hypothesized relationships among the constructs; to establish equivalence of the constructs, concepts, measures, and samples; and to assess the possibility of cultural bias and response format bias (Douglas and Craig 2006). The field research studies were conducted over a ninemonth period with multiple visits to the companies. The field research studies were important for several reasons. First, they facilitated an assessment of construct (conceptual , functional, and category) equivalence.Second, they indicated that the measurement scales were appropriate for studying capability and strategic types in Japanese and Chinese context. Third, the field research results suggested that it is more appropriate to ask the respondents to rate their SBU on each of the capability scale items relative to their major competitors (for exact wording, see Appendix A). Appendix A provides a list of the final measure measurement items and the response format employed in the questionnaire. The following sections briefly summarize the four scales.Market-Linking Capabilities. We measured market-linking capabilities using several scale items derived from Day (1994). The items measure relative capability in creating and managing durable customer relationships, creating durable relationships with suppliers, retaining customers, and bonding with channel members. Technical Capabilities. We also measured technical capabilities according to a set of scale i tems derived from Day (1994). These items measure relative capabilities in the prediction ofInformation Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 15 technological change, technology and new product development, manufacturing processes, and production facilities. Marketing Capabilities. We measured marketing capabilities using a set of scale items derived from Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990). These items measure knowledge of customers, knowledge of competitors, integration of marketing activities, skills in segmentation and targeting, and effectiveness of pricing and advertising programs. IT Capabilities.We defined IT capabilities as the relative capabilities that help an organization create technical and market knowledge and facilitate intraorganizational communication flow. We developed items to measure the possession of IT systems for new product development, cross-functional integration, technology and market knowledge creation, and internal communication. We subjected th ese items to the measurement development procedure described previously. We obtained the data from a large-scale mail survey of the companies listed in Ward’s Business Directory, the Directory of Corporate Affiliations, and the World Marketing Directory.We drew a proportionate-stratified random sample of 800 firms from each country, using each industry as a stratum. The data collection consisted of three stages: presurvey, data collection on SBU strategies, and data collection on relative capabilities. In the first stage, we sent a one-page survey and an introductory letter requesting participation to all the selected firms and offered a list of available research reports to participating firms. The letter requested each firm to select an SBU/division for participation and provide a contact person in that SBU/division.Of the 2400 firms contacted, 392 in the United States, 429 in Japan, and 414 in China agreed to participate and provided the necessary contacts at the SBU/divis ion level. In the second stage, on strategic types, we contacted the designated SBU managers directly and mailed a questionnaire and personalized letter to each manager. We employed a three-wave mailing on the basis of the recommendations of Dillman (1978). We received data on the multi-item measures of the strategic types from 308 firms in the United States, 354 firms in Japan, and 352 firms in China.Two items at the end of the instrument assessed respondents’ confidence in their ability to answer the questions. Respondents with a low level of confidence (less than 6) were excluded from the final sample. In the third stage, on the four capabilities, we sent another questionnaire to the SBU managers, followed again by a three-wave mailing. This time, we received data on the rela- Data 16 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto tive capabilities from 216 U. S. firms, 248 Japanese firms, and 245 Chinese firms.These sample sizes represent response rates of 27. 0% in the United States, 31. 0% in Japan, and 30. 6% in China. The final sample includes the following industries: computer-related products; electronics; electric equipment and household appliances; pharmaceuticals, drugs, and medicines; machinery; telecommunications equipment; instruments and related products; air conditioning; chemicals and related products; and transportation equipment. The majority of participating SBUs/divisions had annual sales of $11 million–$750 million and 100–12,500 employees.Appendix A presents all of the measures used in this study. We asked respondents to rate their SBU on each of the capability scale items relative to their major competitors. We used an 11-point scale to elicit levels of agreement, with values ranging from 0 (â€Å"much worse than our competitors†) to 10 (â€Å"much better than our competitors†). We used the data collected in the second phase of the collection process to classify the SBU/division into the four strategic types. We adopted the 11-item scale from Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990).We classified the SBU’s strategic type (prospector, analyzer, defender, or reactor) using the â€Å"majority-rule decision structure† (for details, see Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan 1990) with the following modification: For an SBU to be classified as a prospector or a defender, it must have at least seven â€Å"correct† answers. Before testing our hypotheses, we performed principal factor analyses with Varimax rotation on all the variables measuring the four relative capabilities for all three countries. To assess measurement invariance, we examined factor structure similarity (Mullen 1995).We retained variables using the following criteria: (1) Each factor must contain the same scale items across all three countries, (2) each item’s factor loading must be comparable across all three countries, and (3) for each factor, the factor loading must exceed . 40. This procedure produced four factors and reduced the total number of variables to 21. We made comparisons among the factor structures of the three countries using visual inspection, the salient similarity index, and Pearson correlation of the factor loadings across the three countries. The factor loadings appear in Table 1.As indicated, all factors are distinguishable and well defined for all three countries. The percentage of the variance explained by the four factors is 72% for the United States, 71% for Japan, and 69% for China. The examination of the diagonal of the factor score covariance matrix indicates that all factors for the three Measures ANALYSIS AND RESULTS Factor Analysis of the Capability Scales Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 17 Table 1. Principal Component Factor Analysis: Rotated Factor Patterns United States Market-Linking Capabilities Market-sensing capabilities Customer-linking (i. e. creating and managing durable customer relationships) capab ilities Capabilities of creating durable relationships with our suppliers Ability to retain customers Channel-bonding capabilities (creating durable relationships with channel members such as wholesalers, retailers) Eigenvalue of this factor % variance explained by this factor Technical Capabilities Manufacturing processes Technology development capabilities Ability of predicting technological changes in the industry Production facilities New product development capabilities Eigenvalue of this factor % variance explained by this factor Marketing Capabilities Knowledge of competitors Effectiveness of advertising programs Integration of marketing activities Skill to segment and target markets Effectiveness of pricing programs Knowledge of customers Eigenvalue of this factor % variance explained by this factor IT Capabilities IT systems for facilitating crossfunctional integration IT systems for new product development projects IT systems for internal communication (e. g. , across diff erent departments, levels of the organization) IT systems for facilitating technology knowledge creation IT systems for facilitating market knowledge creation Eigenvalue of this factor % variance explained by this factor . 71 . 80 . 90 . 58 . 86 . 85 . 62 . 89 4. 22 20. 1 . 97 . 93 . 90 . 92 . 91 6. 10 29. 1 . 85 Japan .81 China .88 .80 . 81 . 79 .77 . 71 . 57 .79 . 66 . 70 .65 3. 04 14. 4 .44 1. 68 8. 0 .67 2. 64 12. 6 .79 . 78 . 78 . 77 . 71 2. 51 12. 0 70 . 81 . 69 . 73 . 78 4. 36 20. 7 .95 . 95 . 94 . 95 . 90 . 86 5. 69 27. 1 .95 . 86 . 94 . 93 . 83 . 83 5. 39 25. 7 .90 . 89 .83 . 80 .75 . 66 . 74 1. 66 7. 9 .85 . 65 . 57 5. 08 24. 2 .46 . 67 . 63 1. 75 8. 3 18 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto countries are internally consistent and well defined by the measurement items. We provide the final set of included measurement items in Appendix A and the construct reliabilities (as measured by Cronbach’s ? ) and item-to-total correlations in Appendix B. All 12 construct reliabilities (three countries ? four constructs) exceeded the . 70 level that Peter (1979) recommends.To test H1–H4 in each of the three country settings, we performed multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) to compare the scores on each of the four multi-item relative capability scales across all four strategic types using SAS general linear model procedure. For each capability scale, we obtained a multiple-item scale by a simple average of the items. As Table 2 shows, the MANOVA F-statistic was significant for all four relative capabilities and in all three countries, so we computed pairwise comparisons to examine the nature of the differences in relative capabilities among the four strategic types. We also include the t-test results of the pairwise comparisons in Table 2.The results in Table 2 provide support for H1–H4 in all three countries. (A hypothesis is supported if at least one pairwise comparison is significant and the direction is in t he hypothesized direction. ) As H1 hypothesized, the relative marketlinking capabilities of defenders and analyzers are significantly greater than those of prospectors in all three countries, though the difference between defenders and analyzers is not significant. For example, in the United States, mean scores on market-linking capabilities are 2. 69, 2. 35, and 1. 67 for defenders, analyzers, and prospectors, respectively. The F-statistic from the analysis of variance is 3. 52, which is significant at p < . 05.T-tests of the paired comparisons showed that both the defender mean and the analyzer mean were significantly larger than the prospector mean (D > P; A > P) at the p < . 05 level. We obtained similar results for the Japanese and Chinese samples. These findings are consistent with H1. Prospectors have lower market-linking capabilities than defenders and analyzers because the latter two strategic types rely primarily on their market-sensing and -linking abilities to serve thei r current markets with their current products and technologies. The results also support H2 (prospectors have greater technical capabilities than defenders) in all three countries.For the United States, the prospector and defender means were 3. 42 and 2. 25, respectively, significantly different at p < . 05. Both prospectors’ and analyzers’ technical capabilities are greater than those of defenders in Japan. The means for prospector, analyzer, and defender were 8. 75, 8. 47, and 7. 84, respectively; both prospector and analyzer means were significantly Tests of H1–H4: Possession of Capabilities by Different Strategic Types Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 19 20 Table 2. Analysis of Variance Results: Relative Capabilities and Strategic Types Strategic Type Prospector 1. 67 (1. 67) 3. 42 (2. 70) 1. 75 (1. 50) 7. 5 (1. 49) 6. 72 (1. 79) 5. 48 (1. 09) 5. 05 (1. 72) 2. 37 (1. 75) 3. 26 (1. 99) 1. 98 (2. 38) 2. 78 (2. 46) 2. 25 (2. 59) 2. 46 (2. 90) 2. 16* 7. 47** 31. 96** 2. 35 (1. 82) 2. 69 (1. 79) 2. 46 (2. 01) 3. 52** Univariate Defender Reactor F-Value Paired Comparisons Hypothesis (t-Tests)a D > P; A > P P>D D > A; D > P; D > R; A > P P > A; P > D; P > R; A > D; A > R Countries/Relative Capabilities Analyzer Supportedb Yes Yes Yes Yes United States Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities IT capabilities Japan 1. 03 (. 91) 8. 75 (1. 23) 3. 58 (2. 36) 9. 48 (. 87) 9. 00 (1. 01) 3. 9 (2. 88) 8. 47 (1. 20) 7. 84 (1. 35) 3. 68 (2. 73) 8. 72 (1. 09) 1. 96 (1. 12) 2. 07 (1. 19) 2. 51 (1. 56) 7. 42 (1. 42) 4. 82 (2. 29) 8. 46 (1. 28) 19. 17** 12. 02** 2. 24* 11. 28** D > P; A > P; R > D; R > A; R > P P > D; P > R; A > D; A > R R > D; R > A; R > P P > A; P > D; P > R; A > R Yes Yes No Yes Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto IT capabilities Strategic Type Prospector 1. 21 (1. 28) 8. 53 (1. 27) 2. 9 2 (2. 20) 8. 96 (1. 10) 8. 58 (1. 13) 7. 94 (1. 33) 7. 59 (1. 60) 13. 38** 3. 37 (2. 52) 3. 9 (2. 82) 4. 13 (2. 45) 2. 30* 7. 81 (1. 28) 7. 43 (1. 19) 6. 79 (1. 85) 15. 69** 2. 17 (1. 52) 2. 22 (1. 49) 2. 71 (1. 74) 11. 21** Univariate Defender Reactor F-Value Paired Comparisons Hypothesis (t-Tests)a D > P; A > P; R > A; R > P P > A; P > D; P > R; A > R; D > R D > P; R > P P > A; P > D; P > R; A > D; A > R Countries/Relative Capabilities Analyzer Supportedb Yes Yes Yes Yes China Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities IT capabilities Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types *p < . 10. **p < . 05. aSignificant differences at p < . 0 are reported. bA hypothesis is supported if at least one pair is significantly different in the hypothesized direction. Notes: Each cell shows the mean; standard deviations are in parentheses. P = prospector, A = analyzer, D = defender, and R = reactor. Table 2. Continued 21 higher than the defender mean at p < . 05. In China, prospectors scored higher than analyzers and defenders on this capability (prospector, analyzer, and defender means were 8. 53, 7. 81, and 7. 43, respectively; the prospector mean was significantly higher than the other two means at p < . 05). H3 was supported in the United States and China samples. For the U. S. ample, defenders had significantly greater marketing capabilities than analyzers, and analyzers had significantly greater marketing capabilities than prospectors. The defender, analyzer, and prospector means on relative marketing capabilities in the United States were 3. 26, 2. 37, and 1. 75, respectively, all significantly different from one another at p < . 05 according to the pairwise t-tests. For the Chinese sample, the only differences are the pair between defenders and prospectors and the pair between reactors and prospectors. However, for the Japanese samples, the hypothesis was not supported. The three â€Å"archetypal† strategic types we re insignificantly different and, notably, rather low.The reactors had significantly greater marketing capabilities than all other three strategic types. Finally, H4 was also supported in all three countries. Almost without exception, prospectors had greater IT capabilities than analyzers, which in turn had greater IT capabilities than defenders. For example, in the U. S. sample, the relative IT capabilities for prospectors, analyzers, and defenders were 7. 95, 6. 72, and 5. 48, respectively, all significantly different from one another at p < . 05. Similar results were found in Japan and China. In summary, our expectations, expressed in our hypotheses, were that prospectors would be strongest in technical and IT capabilities and defenders in market-linking and marketing capabilities.We find support for all these hypotheses in all three countries, and all significant findings were in the hypothesized directions. The next set of hypotheses involves expected cross-national differences in terms of the relationship between capabilities and strategic types due to cultural or business environment differences. Before discussing the direct empirical testing of these hypotheses, however, we explain some preliminary findings regarding cross-national differences using data from Table 2. Market-Linking Capabilities. Reactors had significantly greater relative market-linking capabilities than did other strategic types in both Japan and China, but not in the United States. Market-linking capability = 2. 51 and 2. 71 in Japan and China, respectively; in each case, this is the highest capability mean. ) Miles and Snow (1978) find that reactors Tests of H5–H8: Cross-National Similarities and Differences 22 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto did not implement strategies consistently and therefore did not fully develop internal capabilities that would enable them to compete successfully. Our results suggest that this expectation is not borne out in Japan or China, possibly because some firms in these countries have well-developed market-linking capabilities but choose to compete as reactors rather than defenders.That is, superior market-sensing skills enable these firms to act successfully as prospectors in certain markets and as adapters or defenders in others. This finding appears to be supported by the H3 results, at least for Japanese firms. Reactors in Japan have significantly greater relative marketing capabilities than all other strategic types. Leaders of a multinational organization doing business against a Japanese competitor should keep in mind that a firm apparently lacking a consistent strategy (i. e. , displaying reactive behavior) may be nonetheless highly skilled in marketing and market linking and, therefore, a surprisingly formidable opponent. Technical Capabilities.Although H2 was largely supported, it is worthwhile to note that across all four strategic types, managers from U. S. firms rated their technica l capabilities (relative to competitors) substantially lower than did their Japanese or Chinese counterparts. The means for the United States were 2. 2–3. 4 on a ten-point scale, and comparable means in Japan and China were 7–9. This finding suggests that in Japan and China, all strategic types (including defenders and reactors) have well-developed relative technical capabilities. Again, a U. S. firm in competition against, for example, a Japanese defender should not infer low technical capabilities from its competitor’s defensive posture. Marketing Capabilities.Finally, it was surprising to note that H3, which involves relative marketing capabilities, was not supported in Japan and only partially supported in China. As we noted previously, Japanese reactor firms have the greatest relative marketing capabilities; all other firms are insignificantly different on this capability. In China, defenders rate significantly higher than prospectors in this (as hypothesiz ed), but we found no other significant differences among the archetypal strategic types. Cross-National Differences. To test the cross-national hypotheses (H5–H8), we performed additional analyses to compare the means on each relative capability construct across countries for each of the four strategic types using SAS general linear model procedure.We used the same procedure described previously: a MANOVA followed by a series of pairwise t-tests to identify significant differences. As Table 3 shows, the F-statistic was significant for 13 of the 16 possible comparisons. Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 23 Consider first the technology and IT capability hypotheses (H6 and H8). Table 3 shows that across all four strategic types, Japanese and Chinese SBUs rate significantly higher than U. S. SBUs in relative technical capabilities. As an example, technical capabilities for prospectors were rated as 8. 75, 8. 53, and 3. 42 for Japan, China, and the United St ates, respectively (significant at p < . 05).This is directly supportive of H6. Japanese and Chinese SBUs also rated significantly higher than their U. S. counterparts in relative IT capabilities across all four strategic types; therefore, we find only partial support for H8. For prospectors, IT capabilities were 9. 48, 8. 96, and 7. 95 for Japan, China, and the United States, respectively (significant at p < . 05). High relative IT capability among Japanese SBUs was expected according to H8, but the high relative IT capability among Chinese SBUs was unanticipated and is worthy of further research. We found less support for the market-linking and marketing capability hypotheses (H5 and H7).Cross-national differences are not very pronounced in the case of relative marketlinking capabilities. As Table 3 shows, U. S. prospector SBUs rate significantly higher than their Japanese and Chinese counterparts, and U. S. defenders rate significantly higher than their Japanese counterparts. The se findings are contradictory to the expectations of H5. Given the evidence of Japanese market-linking expertise, it is surprising that Japanese SBUs rate significantly higher than U. S. or Chinese competitors in market linking only in the case of reactors. In addition, H7 is only partially supported. Japanese and Chinese prospectors and analyzers rate significantly higher than their U. S. ounterparts on relative marketing capabilities. For example, in the case of prospectors, marketing capabilities are rated as 4. 58, 2. 92, and 1. 75 for Japan, China, and the United States, respectively (significant at p < . 05). Although we expected high relative marketing capability for Japan, we did not expect the significantly lower marketing capabilities among U. S. SBUs. Nevertheless, consistent patterns appear with respect to the cross-national hypotheses and suggest directions for further research. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION According to the Miles and Snow (1978) typology, organizations ado pt certain mechanisms to respond to environmental changes.That is, they choose to be pioneers in product or market development or to protect existing positions within their niches, or they seek some kind of intermediate position between these two extremes. As a result, firms exhibit relatively consistent strategies, or patterns of product-market innovation decisions, in response to environmental shifts. Furthermore, a firm that pursues a given strategy develops certain capabilities that help it implement that strategy, thus increasing the likelihood that it will continue to use the same strategy in response to future environmental shifts. As Ham- 24 Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di BenedettoStrategic Types/ Relative Capabilities United States 1. 67 3. 42 1. 75 7. 95 9. 48 8. 96 33. 14** 3. 58 2. 92 13. 91** 8. 75 8. 53 202. 00** 1. 03 1. 21 4. 74** Country Japan China Univariate F-Value Cross-Country Comparisonsa U. S. > China; U. S. > Japan Japan > U. S. ; China > U . S. Japan > China; Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Japan > China; Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Prospectors Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities IT capabilities Analyzers 2. 35 2. 78 2. 37 6. 72 9. 00 8. 58 3. 59 3. 37 8. 47 7. 81 230. 38** 5. 46** 58. 07** 1. 96 2. 17 1. 16n. s. — Japan > China; Japan > U. S. China > U. S. Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Japan > China; Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities IT capabilities Defenders 2. 69 2. 25 3. 26 5. 48 8. 72 3. 68 3. 69 7. 94 7. 84 7. 43 2. 07 2. 22 2. 70* 163. 99** . 54n. s. 121. 94** U. S. > Japan Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. — Japan > China; Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types IT capabilities Table 3. Analysis of Variance Results: Cross-National Comparisons 25 26 Table 3.Continued Country Un ited States 2. 46 2. 46 1. 98 5. 05 8. 46 7. 59 4. 81 4. 13 7. 42 6. 79 2. 51 2. 71 . 17n. s. 38. 68** 7. 99** 28. 82** Strategic Types/ Relative Capabilities Japan China Univariate F-Value Cross-Country Comparisonsa Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. — Japan > China; Japan > U. S. ; China > U. S. Reactors Market-linking capabilities Technical capabilities Marketing capabilities IT capabilities Michael Song, Robert W. Nason, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto *p < . 10. **p < . 05. aSignificant differences at p < . 10 are reported. Notes: n. s. = not significant. brick (1983, p. ) notes, â€Å"prospectors tend to want to continue prospecting; defenders tend to want to continue defending. † Among the capabilities Miles and Snow investigate are technology, structure, management processes, and power distribution. As we noted previously, the Miles and Snow (1978) typology is, above all, a typology of innovation strategies. In this study, we mapped four ca pabilities of interest to innovating firms (market-linking, technical, marketing, and IT capabilities) onto the Miles and Snow strategic typologies. We hypothesized (in H1–H4) that prospectors, which typically pursue a first-mover strategy through product-market innovation, would need to build up technical and IT capabilities.Similarly, defenders, which are most concerned with preserving protected market segments with existing technology, must develop market-linking and marketing capabilities. We found supporting evidence for all these hypotheses in firms from all three countries. We then developed and tested a set of cross-national hypotheses (H5–H8), based on cultural and business environment differences existing among the United States, Japan, and China. Our development and empirical testing of these hypotheses represent a significant advance of the literature beyond the contributions of DeSarbo and colleagues (2005, 2006). We found clear support for one of the four hypotheses (H6), partial support for two others (H7 and H8), and no support for the last (H5).In general, the cultural and business environment prevalent in Japan and China has given SBUs in those countries relative advantages in technology and IT capabilities (H6 and H8), yet we did not observe anticipated advantages in market-linking and marketing capabilities (H5 and H7). This study has some implications for theory development and further research. In general, the results support the hypotheses that relative to other organizations, prospectors develop greater technical and IT capabilities so that they can pursue first-to-market initiatives and that defenders develop greater market-linking and marketing capabilities so that they can respond effectively to marketplace changes.These findings lend support to the Miles and Snow (1978) typology and to the contention that organizations tend to respond in certain, consistent ways to environmental change. Therefore, our findings can be i nterpreted as further empirical support of the Miles and Snow typology, originally conceived after an exploratory study of a limited number of industries but empirically supported in other settings (Hambrick 2003). Our findings are also consistent with Hambrick’s (1983) contention that prospectors want to keep prospecting and consequently develop the capabilities most closely related to Information Technology Capabilities and Strategic Types 27 prospecting more than do other firms. Because IT has evolved only in the past few years, further research should explore the impact of IT on strategic choices.Because no existing theories are sufficient to enable us to predict a priori the nature of cross-national differences in the relationship between the four capabilities and strategic types, further research also should examine further our preliminary results regarding cross-national differences in relative capabilities. In addition, note that our model provides evidence of the val idity of Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan’s (1990) 11-item scale for assessing strategic type in both Japan and China. We believe that this is the first application of this scale in China and one of the first in Japan (for an earlier Japanese application, see Dyer and Song 1997). There are several notable managerial implications. The Miles and Snow (1978) typology suggests that organizations must do a sincere internal and external assessment when planning strategic moves for future competition.The external assessment should include analysis not only of likely opportunities or developments in product, market, and technology but also of past moves by primary competitors classified by strategic type. In the internal assessment, the organization’s leaders must identify honestly the firm’s strengths and recognize its weaknesses in light of external challenges. They must then choose a strategic stance, deciding how it can best capitalize on the strengths and overcome th e weaknesses. Although this recommendation is hardly new, it is important in this context to recognize that there is a mutually complementary relationship between capabilities and strategies.Relative strengths in technology and IT capabilities might suggest that a prospector (or even an analyzer) strategy could be a more appropriate choice than a defender strategy. Consistent, successful pursuit of a prospector strategy over time should help a firm develop these relative strengths and enable it to retain its competitive advantage. This implicitly suggests also that a firm that recognizes itself as a reactor type should use its internal assessment to decide which â€Å"archetypal† strategic type it should strive to become. Cross-national differences in strategic type also carry managerial implications. Previously, we noted several