Customer Relationship Strategy Case Study: Sainsburys

Customer Relationship Strategy Case Study: Sainsburys Research background: This research paper is focused strategy fallowed by Sainsbury to maintain customer relationship. In this research paper we will go through the different methods implemented by Sainsbury to gain relation with a customer. In todays global market relationship management had gained a lot of importance in every  business. The customer relationship is not confined with service industry, now a days  manufacturing industries too fallowing good relationship with their customers. The customer relationship management is applied by most of organizations because customer is the king in every business and he is the centre point to provide the revenue to a organization. Customer relationship management is a transparent wall between the customer and organization. Customer relationship will be measured based on the loyalty presenting by customer. So now going to discuss about the strategy fallowed by Sainsbury to maintain customer relationship 3. Organization background: Sainsbury is a super market which will operates its business in retail sector from the year 1869. Sainsburys is started by james and Mary Ann Sainsburys. The growth and development of the Sainsbury was increased rapidly and leads to one of the major player in the retailers of UK. It started from single shop and now grown up to 900 retail outlets in the UK. It performs its business operations with 180,000 employees. Sainsburys is the first supermarket which came in market with their own products like soft drinks, food materials and glossaries. It is one of supermarket which provides it services by online and the customer in the store is also given the chance to bill their products. The major competitors of the Sainsbury are TESCO and ASDA. In the part of business, store deals with different range of products for all class of people in the society. Sainsbury maintains good customer relations. Pest Analysis of Sainsbury Political Factors Taxation Sainsbury will get taxed based on their taxation code provided by the governing  bodies of taxation. Salary The employees are paid highly when compared to the other supermarkets.   Working hours They will give only 2 hours per school children and 20 hours for the  people aged above 18. They follow equal employment and wages act and they provide more health and safety to  employees. Economical Factors- Inflation Rates Unemployment Levels Income Labour laws Skill level of work force Social Factors Demographic Trends Level of education Culture living styles Lifestyles and Attitudes Technological factors Online shopping facility Self checkout tills Widespread availability and high speed broadband internet Electronic Data Interchange 4. Rational for the chosen topic: It is decided to research on the above topic, because of academic, personal and business perspectives. In academic carrier, research proposal study is very appropriate subject for course and my future purpose .This research paper is focused strategy fallowed by Sainsbury to maintain customer relationship. In this research paper we will go through the different methods implemented by Sainsbury to gain relation with a customer. In todays global market Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the important  tactics to gain the relation between consumer and organisation. Customer relationship  management will leads to the enhancement of popularity of the organization in the global  market. In todays market many of the organisations are implementing this customer  relationship management because customer is the centre point at every business. From the  past records organisation came to single opinion i.e. which organisation has good relation  with it customer will survive for long period in the market. 5. Literature review: According to (Mike Hoots), Customer relationship management is implemented by most of  organizations to know the potential customers of their business and their requirements  expecting from organization side. The organization position in the global market may defined by the customer relations and  their satisfaction. In todays scenarios customer is the king and he is one and only option for  generating the revenue to the business. Customer plays a key role in almost of all the  industries which are service and manufacturing. The organization which is having good  customer satisfaction and excellent customer relationship will gain the business from the  market and the growth of that particular organization will be more when compared with other  organizations which are giving less priority to customer relationship. 6. Research questions: According to the reviewed literatures, they all mentioned that the important of customer satisfaction programme and in which ways it is gained in an organisation. But they did not discover that how the customer satisfaction programmes and customer satisfaction draws a path to a organisation toward success. Thus, this research proposal proposes to analyse to answer these questions: 1. What are the key activities included into Customer relationship management? 2. What are the customer services provided towards customer satisfaction? 3. To what extent does the Customer relationship management contribute to Sainsbury financial success? 7. Research objectives: Objectives of this research paper are to present the evidence for some of the questions and to  gain theoretical knowledge on whats customer relationship management and its effects on  the business. Find out Sainsburys improvement in customer satisfaction and its relationship with existing customers? What are the best approaches to gain a relationship with a loyalty customer? What are the influences of customer relationship on the Sainsburys business and its  development? What are the important strategies implementing by Sainsbury in customer relationship  management to return to its old market position in the retail sectors? 8. Methodologies: Methodology Exploratory research method chosen for this research paper Exploratory research will present the relationship which is existing between two different  variables. Before starting with exploratory research we shall know about the advantages in  taking this kind of research method and how it is more helpful than the other research  methods. Exploratory defines the relationship between the two distinct factors and it will be more  convenient method for this research. This research method is very flexible for providing a  understanding during the decision problems and opportunities. This research method will  help in grabbing the strategy fallowed by sainsburys for gaining the relationship with the  existing customers and to attract the new customers from the global market Sainsbury and customer relationship management are the two distinct variables in this  research paper. This research will goes on what are the different strategies fallowed by  Sainsbury to maintain good customer relationship. Exploratory research will be comfortable  method to carry this research. Data is gathering from either sides of the organization. Inside of a organisation data is  collected from employees and from the customers of Sainsbury That to data is collected from  the employees who are involved in maintaining customer relationship management. Data is  gathered by introducing myself to the customer and explaining the objective of the project  and later had chat about the satisfaction and impression on the organization. Due to casual chat with customer and enquired by about some important things like cost, quality and services providing and finally collecting the information from employees about the customer number of visits to that particular shop Later i followed the passive style, in which i observed reactions of the customers for the  services providing by the employees in the Sainsburys. This research paper is mainly focused to gain a brief understanding about the customer  behaviour; this study was done more qualitative rather than quantitative research. Qualitative  method was carried based on three types which are mentioned below. Face to face interview Semi-structured interview Passive style Face to face Interview- The face to face interview was done with topic related employees in  the Sainsburys and later conducting a interview to a customer directly. This face to face  interview is also called as In-depth interview. Semi-structured interview this is same as face to face interview but i distributed the pre-questionnaire concerning about the interview. Passive style- Passive style is the process of observing the customers without informing them. The customers are identified secretly when the employees are providing service. Apart from the three methods, fallowed the survey method. In the survey method i went through the secondary data like, company website, news papers  and the articles related to the Sainsbury. In this research paper the data collected through both quantitative and qualitative methods. In  the quantitative method the data is in the form of numbers and which is collected by using the questionnaire. The qualitative data which provides the information in the form of description  which is collected by conducting the interview to customers and the employees of  Sainsburys. This research paper needs a detail study so sample questionnaire is supplied to the existing and new customers of Sainsbury and even collected the information orally by asking about the services provided by Sainsbury. Data collection: When conducting data collection, the un structured interviews will be used with Tescos employees and customers to evaluate customer loyalty programme and investigate the customer perspectives. The data concern with perspectives like thinking, satisfaction and believes. To collect these qualitative data, un structured interviews will be suitable than other methods. Because, we can not have predetermined questions for the perspective which might change for place to place as well as person to person. That is why it is decided to conduct un structured interviews. The data will be collected with selected sample units by asking one or two opening questions and conversations for ten or fifteen minutes. The questions will interact with some matters, for example, why Tesco introduced loyalty card?, why the customer prefer often to shopping in Tesco?, how the customers fell when using loyalty card in Tesco?, what are the other services provided to customer? Is the loyalty programme useful to customer? At the mean time, do Tesco achieve its purposes by that programme? This interview will be conducted once a week for five weeks in the Tesco in London. Every time will choose different areas for research; this is because the answers of customers will vary from place to place. And 3 sample units will be selected to investigate each time. 6. Data Analysis: The collected data from fifteen sample units by interviews, will be analysed to accomplish the objective of research proposal. The obtained qualitative data such as opinions, satisfaction and believes will be analysed to decide that really the customer loyalty programme brings customer satisfaction as well as customer satisfaction brings financial success for Tesco within competitive market in UK. References Alan Bryman Emma Bell,2007, Business Research Methods, second edition, Oxford  University press, UK. Mc Burney White, 2007, Research methods, eighth edition, wadsworth cengage learning,  USA. John gill and Phil Johnson, 1991, Research methods for managers, first edition, paul chapman  publishing ltd, UK. AD Jankowicz,2000, Business Research projects, third edition, Thomson learning, UK. Judith Bell, 2008, Doing your Research project, fourth edition, open university press, MC  Graw hill education. UK. www.sainsburys.co.uk, 2010, Sainsbury company overview, (Online), Available from URL   http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=12, Accessed on 27th -03-2010. www2.sainsburys.co.uk, 2010, customer and marketing, (Online), Available from URL-  http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/aboutus/recruitment/Store+Support+Centre/Custo mer+and+Marketing/Customer+and+Marketing+Overview.htm, Accessed on 01-04-2010.a www.thisislondon.co.uk, 2008, Sainsbury defies the City with yet more sales growth,  (Online), Available from URL-http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard- business/article-23496207-sainsbury-defies-the-city-with-yet-more-sales-growth.do, Accessed on 02-04-2010. www.oppapers.com, 2010, Customer relationship management, (Online), Available from  URL-http://w ww .oppapers .com/es s ays /Cus tomer- R elationship-Management/189988, Accessed on 07-04-2010. www.rgis.com, 2010, Sainsbury overview, (Online), Available from URL-  http://www.rgis.com/assets/pdfs/casestudies/Sainsbury_Case_Study.pdf, accessed  on 09th-04-2010. Corporate Strategy: Financial Strategy and Cultural Effects Corporate Strategy: Financial Strategy and Cultural Effects Introduction The objectives of this paper are two-fold: first, the paper looks at the role of financial strategy in an organisation, the risks faced by an entity and how these risks affect the financial strategy; second, the paper provides a discussion in relation to whether cultural factors have an impact on corporate strategy, as well as whether it is beneficial for an organisation to be ethical. The paper begins by looking at financial strategy and organisational risks. It will later consider cultural and ethical issues. The role of financial Strategy in an Organisation. Financial strategy can be defined as the practices adopted by a firm to achieve its financial objectives. (Harvey, 2004). According to Calandro and Flynn (2007) â€Å"financial strategy can be defined as an interdisciplinary methodology to more efficiently allocate resources within a firm to better or more economically satisfy customer preferences over time†. The later definition stresses the need for customer satisfaction indicating that shareholder value creation depends on customer satisfaction. Although an organisation’s overall objective is shareholder value maximisation, it can only achieve this through high levels of customer satisfaction because it is only through high levels of sales that profit can be generated and high levels of sales can only be achieved through high levels of customer satisfaction. The main financial objective of a profit-making entity is to maximise shareholder value. (Ogilvie, 2005). Shareholder value is measured by the returns shareholders receive each year, represented by the dividend received each year, plus the capital gains from capital appreciation, which is measured by the growth in the share price of the entity. In addition to maximising shareholder value an organisation may have other objectives such as satisfactory returns, high sales levels, high level of customer satisfaction, etc. (Ogilivie, 2005; Calandro and Flynn, 2007). Kaplan and Norton (1996) identify three different stages for a business and note that each of these stages has its own unique financial objectives. The three stages include: (1) rapid growth; (2) sustain; and (3) harvest. (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). At the rapid growth phase the financial objective will be to achieve sales growth, achieve sales in new markets and to new customers, achieve sales from new products and services, maintain adequate spending level for product and process development, establish new marketing, sales and distribution channels. At the sustain phase the organisation will emphasize traditional financial performance measurements, such as return on capital employed, operating income and gross margin. Standard discounted cash flows and capital budgeting analysis will be used to appraise investments although some companies may emphasise the use of more recent appraisal techniques such as economic value added and shareholder value added. At the harvest phase, the main financial objective will be to achieve sustainable levels of cash inflows, in which case any investment project must have immediate and certain cash paybacks. (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Financial strategy constitutes three main stages, which are temporarily linked in a financial feedback loop as shown in figure 1 below. These stages include: (1) strategy formulation; (2) resource allocation; and (3) performance measurement. An important aspect of strategy formulation is strategic planning, which according to Myers (1984) involves the process of deciding how to commit the firm’s resources across different lines of business. Based on the above discussion, one can observe that financial strategy plays an important role in an organisation. It enables the organisation to formulate its strategy, determine how to allocate its resources and enables the company to measure its performance. Financial strategy enables an entity to make an assessment of its financial needs, the sources of support required to meet its objectives and fulfil its mission while at the same time planning for growth and stability. Financial strategy is an indispensible prerequisite for the formulation and development of the budget. Organisations often face a number of risks. These include liquidity risks, interest rate risk, business risks, financial risks, etc. these risks may affect the financial strategy in a number of ways. Financial risk for example is the risk that the company may be unable to meet its commitments to repay interests and principal repayments on its long-term financial obligations. The effect of such a risk on the financial strategy is that the company will emphasise the use of internally generated funds and equity to finance long-term projects rather than issue bonds or other long-term debt securities. Interest rate risk may also affect the firm’s capital structure decision in that perceived high levels of interest rates on long-term debt may reduce the company’s motivation to use debt financing. Foreign exchange rate risk may affect the company’s prospects to expand production abroad, as well as the currency denomination of foreign contracts and sales. Liquidity risks may affect the company’s short-term borrowing. The presence of high liquidity risk may warrant the company to resort to a just-in-time inventory system, reduce short-term debtors by maintaining more strict short-term credit policies and factoring of accounts receivables. Effect of Cultural Factors on Corporate Strategy Andrews (1997: p. 52) defines corporate strategy as â€Å"the pattern of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purposes, or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of business the company is to pursue, the kind of economic and human organisation it is or intends to be and the nature of the economic and non-economic contribution it intends to make to its shareholders, employees, customers, and communities†. Corporate strategy in effect maps out the businesses in which an organisation intends to compete in a way that focuses resources to convert distinctive capabilities into competitive advantage. (Andrews, 1997). The definition of corporate strategies emphasises the need for the organisation to satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders if the organisation is to achieve is overall objective of maximising shareholder value. Stakeholders include employees, customers and the communities in which the organisation operates. Employees, customers and communities therefore have a significant impact on the success of the organisation and thus on the corporate strategy of the organisation. In formulating corporate strategy, organisations need to identify and priorities strategic issues, which involves scanning, selecting, interpreting and validating information. (Schneider, 1989) To properly formulate its corporate strategy, an organisation must assess its organisational strengths and weaknesses, as well as its environmental threats and opportunities, which will enable it choose among alternative courses of action. (Hofer and Schendel, 1984) cited in Schneider, (1998). This indicates that an organisation must perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis prior to formulating corporate strategy. A number of factors have been identified as having an effect on corporate strategy formulation: for example, Kets de Vries and Miller (1984) suggest that managerial personality and experience is an important determinant of the strategy formulation process; Janis (1972) considers group dynamics as an important factor affecting the formulation of corporate strategy while Frederickson (1984); Lyles and Mitroff (1985) suggest that organisational structure plays an important role in strategy formulation. Schneider (1998) citing Schein (1985) notes that National culture could play an important role in strategy formulation as it derives from assumptions regarding relationships with the environment as well as relationships among people. Schneider (1998) argues that these assumptions will influence how information is gathered and how that information is interpreted within the organization. The strategy formulation process can therefore not be considered ‘culture-free’ because information is embedded in social norms and acquires symbolic value as a function of a particular set of beliefs in a particular set of cultures. (Feldman and March, 1981). There are considerable differences in cultures across countries. Culture is defined as â€Å"a system of shared assumptions that has developed over time to solve problems of environmental adaptation and internal integration†. (Schneider,, 1998: p. 152) citing Schein (1985); Van Maanen and Barley (1983). Culture is expected to affect the process by which the environment is known and responded to because it is thought to influence the way people perceive, think, feel and evaluate. (Schneider,, 1998). There are two sets of cultural assumptions that are thought to be specifically relevant to the formulation of corporate strategy. These include external adaptation and internal integration. (Schneider, 1998). On the one hand, external adaptation refers to the relationship with the environment while internal integration on the other hand refers to the relationships among people. The forgoing indicates that cultural factors have a significant effect on corporate strategy and thus calls for a critical consideration of cultural differences especially for multinational companies that usually operate in a number of different countries with varying degrees of culture. A company therefore stands to gain a lot from being ethical. Companies that are perceived as being unethical may suffer from declining sales and thus declining profit margins. There are also differences as far as ethical issues are concerned. What may be considered unethical in one country may be considered ethical in another country. For example, Muslim communities do not eat pork meat and thus will consider a company that attempts to market pork related products as contravening their cultural believes. In addition there are considerable differences in relation to organisational hierarchy across countries. In countries where power distance is considered very important, information is likely to flow only from top to bottom and not from bottom to top. In addition, an autocratic form of leadership is likely to prevail in such societies. On the contrary, in a country where power distance is considered less important, there would be a two way flow of information and a democratic leadership style is likely to prevail. For example, Motorola faced a number of problems when it expanded its activities to South Korea. (Siegal et al., 2007). In like manner IKEA, the giant furniture dealer faced difficulties when it expanded its activities into the United States. (Grol et al., 1998). BIBLIOGRAPHY Andrews K. (1997). Resources and Strategy: A Reader, edited by Nicolai J. Foss. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198781792, 9780198781790 Calandro, J. Jr., Flynn, R. (2007). â€Å"On Financial Strategy†, Business Strategy Series, vol. 8, No. 6, pp. 409-417. Harvey G. (2004) â€Å"Financial strategy† available online at: http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Financial+strategy Grol, PC, Schoch, C, CPA. (1998). IKEA: managing cultural diversity. In Cases in International Organizational Behavior. Oddou G, Mendenhall M (eds.). Blackwell: Malden MA; 88-112. Janis, I. L. (1972) â€Å"Victims of groupthink†, Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1996), â€Å"Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy†, California Management Review, vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 53-79. Feldman, M. S., and J. G. March (1981) â€Å"Information in organizations as signal and symbol†, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 26, pp. 171-186. Fredrickson, J. W. (1984) â€Å"The comprehensive of strategic decision processes: extension, observations, future directions†, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 445-466. Kets de Vries, M. F. R., and D. Miller (1984) â€Å"The neurotic organization†. San Francisco : Jossey Bass. Lyles, M. A., and I. I. Mitroff (1980) â€Å"Organizational problem formulation:  an empirical study†. Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 25, pp. 102-119. Myers, S. C. (1984). â€Å"Finance theory and financial strategy†, INTERFACES, vol. 14 No. 1 pp. 126-137 Ogilvie, J. (2005). Financial Strategy, Butterworth-Heinemann ISBN 0750664894, 9780750664899 Schneider S. C. (1989), â€Å"Strategy Formulation: The Impact of National Culture†, Organization Studies, vol. 10, pp. 149-168. Siegel, J. I., Licht, A. N., Schwartz S H. (2007). Egalitarianism, Cultural Distance, and FDI: A New Approach available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=957306

Canada and The Great Depression of the 1930s Essay -- Canadian Histor

1929-1939- The Great Depression The depression years of 1929 - 1939 proved to be the worst, and some of the best years for Canada and Canadians. It was a time of extreme highs and lows socially, emotionally, and economically. It was a time that Canada came into her own being on the world wide stage. During the worst depression years in Canada, there were many people who tried tirelessly to get Canada out of the crisis she was in more quickly and efficiently. William Aberhart and his group of supporters had a plan that they were sure could help and even end the depression and its horrible effects. His theory was if a twenty-five dollar cheque was given monthly to each family, it would alleviate their financial fears and jumpstart the economy. Having confidence in his idea, he went to share it with both political parties. Unfortunately, both parties rejected the idea; saying money would only become more worthless. Even after running and being elected as Premier of Alberta, the resolution was not accepted because of the overwhelming responsibility towards the federal government. Even though Aberhart’s plan was not put into action, there were many others like him whose voiced opinions and ideas encouraged the end of the depression. William Lyon MacKenzie King was a main contributor towards leading Canada out of the depression. When the depression started, King was still in the position of Prime Minister; so when the election of the 1930’s came, King had a new opponent. His opponents name was Richard Bennett. Bennett suggested that tariffs should be raised, and that the wealthy and stable should give to the poor; while King was campaigning for lower tariffs, attempting to help those who were poor and needy without taking from ... ... and it was to operate just like any other kind of insurance, such as life or fire insurance. Premiums and benefits were to be carefully calculated and paid out to those who required assistance. The Act also created the National Employment Service to help the unemployed find work. Overall, the Great depression was a hard time for most Canadians, and the concept of unemployment insurance brought Canada to the world wide stage. Whether it is Prime Ministers opening relief programs, events which supported the upbringing of our country, the inventions which boosted our economy in giving us more trade, or the Depression in general, the whole period of time starting from the market crash to revival was the event which Canada showed the world that we are strong and not easily crushed. Therefore, the key event in this decade is the Great Depression and the acts towards it.

Individual, State and Society

This essay shall critically comment on two quotations. The first quote is by Margaret Thatcher who said: â€Å"There is no such thing as society, only individuals and their families† and the second quote is by David Cameron who said: â€Å"There is such thing as society: it’s just not the same as the state† To critically comment on these quotes that were stated in a political setting, references shall be made to the political ideologies the subjects held and the context they appeared in will be analyzed.Additionally different political basic ideologies will be named and outlined to give a broader understanding and contrast in the analysis. Furthermore, Plato’s The Republic (360BC) and existentialist Jose Ortega’s Man and People, (1957), shall attempt to lend their wisdom from their philosophical works, to shed some light and give meaning on the complexity of these two quotes. For clarity British conservatism’s history will be looked at closel y. Terms Individual, Society and State are briefly defined now. An individual is generally speaking a person separate from others, with his/her own needs, values and desires.The word originates from Latin in-dividuus, meaning indivisible, referring to a single human being, separate from a group. A society is made up by a collection of individuals. The etymology of the word originates in Latin societas, derived from socius which translates as comrade, friend or ally, indicating relations. It can for instance be such as a group of people, subject to law and political authority, or a group of like-minded people, sharing the same norms and values. Often, therefore, societies are formed, such as medical-, esoteric- or literary- for example.The word society always refers to relations between people – they may share a certain culture, territory, economic, political or social structure. The state can be called an organized, a political community under government: a sovereign state is a public, political entity, recognized in national law. Other words associated with state are machinery, a system, imposition/obligation and polity. Named and outlined below are various different political and social philosophies and ideologies: Communism Is a Latin word derived from communis and means -shared or -belonging to all.The terms communism and socialism are somewhat inter-changeable. These political ideologies followed communist philosopher Karl Marx’s 10-point communist Manifesto from 1845, he was quoted in saying; â€Å"Workers of the world, unite, you have nothing to loose, but your chains. † Marx was interested in building a free society without division or alienation. He believed this could only be achieved by a revolution seeking to overthrow capitalism and to have state ownership by the means of production –this in short meant the dictatorship of the proletariat.The aim in mind was for the working class to replace the exploiter class and to cr eate equality, a no-class system, abolishing privatization, with re-distribution of land and production. A good example of the workings of Communism, as efforts in co-operation, would be a Kibbutz, mirroring a microcosm of this ideology. Well known communist leaders and dictators of a serious nature and totalitarians, were Mao Zedong and Stalin for instance. Socialism Latin in origin, sociare translates as -to share.The older view of communism and socialism was built on 5 tenets: Stress on community, cooperation, equality, social class and common ownership. Marx had ideas about balancing the material and the moral and also said: â€Å"From each according to his ability to each according to his need. † Socialists are reformers and believe if the structure of society changes, things will change, similar to the beliefs held by Marxist Terry Eaglton. Socialism is about the group, having a collective, a solidarity and brotherhood, with no individual advantage.An evil in society to a socialist goes back to the structure of the society, rather than an individual. Socialists’ ideologies are concerned with outcome and what we can become, a somewhat utopian idea. Socialism and communism collapsed between 1989 and 1991. Nowadays socialism is democratic labourism; often associated with trade unions – seen defending workers’ rights. Liberalism Etymologically speaking the term derives from Latin liber- translating as -free. Liberals, next to favoring free market trade, also believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all.As an enlightenment movement it started in Europe with Gladstone in 1868 (first lib. PM) leading the revolution, seeking to reform and change, arguing we can all get to the top, by basing your conviction on your own reason. Liberals challenged the Monarchy holding all powers and money and this time became known as the age of reason, associated with the slogan â€Å" Don’t behold to class. â €  On the political ideology’s spectrum liberalism is somewhere in the middle between left, communism, and right, fascism.This ideology grew out of the collapse of communism and socialism, belonging to the post-modern (industrialist) era and is also known as Anarcho–Capitalism, marking middle ground between authority and liberty. Thereafter the middle-class was born. Democratic liberals stand for government action to achieve equal opportunity and support democracy. They maintain it is the government’s duty to alleviate social dysfunction and to protect civil liberties including individual and human rights.The liberal government’s policy should ideally ensure that no individual is in need and also if problems arise theirs is the duty to solve problems. Somewhat opposing this concept is their own policy that the state should not interfere in personal lives, as it needs to be a policy of individualism. Justice for a liberal means equal opportunity, like h ealth-care for instance. Additionally liberals are also committed to pluralism and multi-culturalism. Ideally tolerant, a liberal’s motto is; â€Å" I detest what you’re saying, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Liberals prime motivator is the pleasure of profit and the gathering of one’s own self-interest. Unlike Socialist, liberals see themselves separate from the state and are not primarily concerned with the common good or society. F. F. Y. said: â€Å"You can’t be a liberalist without being a capitalist. † John Locke defined 3 fundamental rights of Liberalism which are: Life, liberty and property and Stuart Mill remarked that this idea can become a license and that it can only be restrained if someone’s liberty is threatened.Hence Liberalism can easily dissolve into Egoism and severe greed, on a positive note, it may encourage the flourishing of an individual, though. Negative liberty, as reflected in European auster ity measures presently or Ireland’s Budget 2012 for example, would be freedom from the constraints of freedom. Here a list close to the values of a liberalism’s vision: Capitalism, no intervention/regulation in economy, anti-racism, anti-capital punishment, anti-weapon bearing, pro-environment, pro-euthanasia, pro- abortion, pro-immigration, pro U.N. , pro-War on Terror, pro-welfare. Fascism (is here listed before Conservatism, but follows Conservatism on the political spectrum from extreme left to extreme right) facses derives from Latin and means -bundle of rods, and symbolically speaking it depicts strengths of unity. Fascism is an anti-democratic, political system with a supreme leader exercising dictatorship. Hitler and Mussolini are examples of fascist leadership. Their ideologies are radical, authoritarian and nationalist in nature.The community is viewed as an organic entity and bonded by nationality, ancestry, culture and blood. As a state it is totalitarian, with only one party ruling. The leader holds sole power and oversees the fascist movement, government and other state institutions. Opposition is not tolerated and always suppressed. Fascists, in order to keep their ideologies running, anything out of their norm, such as ideas, people and systems undermining the norm or become, as they view it, the cause of decadence or degeneration, are purged and gotten rid off.Fascism promotes violence and war to overthrow other political systems, thus is militarism in nature. It’s almost anti everything, it opposes class based identity and society, is anti-bourgeois, anti-proletarian and anti- individualist based identity and society. In Nazi Germany, for instance, this system became known as â€Å"The Third Way†. Economically speaking, it therefore contests capitalism and socialism and is in policy a state directed-regulated economy against the power of money. Social welfare is not tolerated, as it would support â€Å" the weakâ € , as Hitler believed.Generally fascism holds dark, radical ideas on culture, sex and sexuality, also concerning abortion, eugenics and euthanasia. Virtues valued by fascists are action, discipline, hierarchy, spirit and will. It claims to seek positive transformation in society believes in education, spiritual renovation (anti-clerical) and fosters the will to dominate in a united national identity. (*Although a general outline of fascism was given, fascism’s ideology can be hard to define, as it mixes doctrines of left and right) Conservatism The term originates from the Latin word conservare, meaning -to preserve.Conservatism is a political and social philosophy with a belief that it is generally considered best practice in keeping traditional institutions and advocates changes in society in a gradual and slow manner. As Conservatives value stability and continuity by preserving things as they are, they tend to oppose modernism. Conservatism, though, can differ in poli cies depending which country or continent it is practiced in or on. Largely speaking, Conservatives support personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, and empowerment of the individual to solve problems to pursue their own goals.A list of their general policies looks like this: Anti-abortion, education according to ability, anti-racism, pro capital punishment, free market economy, privatization, school vouchers, support nuclear power and oil-drilling, prohibit euthanasia, non-belief in climate changes, pro-arm bearers, private healthcare, pro-homeland security screening, anti-immigration (only legal), pro-private property rights, oppose long-term welfare. For simplicity and relevance this essay shall stick with, and outline British Conservatism, as our quoted subjects in this essay, Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron, both belong to this party.Development of British Conservatism was as follows: Irishman Edmund Burke, a Wig at source (opposed to Monarchism) became kn own as the father of Conservatism (Tory Party – a hierarchal society/ ruling by divine right). The British Conservatives of the early 19th century were rural landowners of Anglican confession; they were royals by association, possessed property and adhered to their beliefs that were to follow an established social order and the existing conventions.However, a little time later the aristocracy’s belief-system was challenged, as the industrial elite, consisting of rich businessmen, called for revolution, sought power and thereby threatened the established social order. Negotiations followed and Robert Peel reconciled the two opposing parties in 1846 with the â€Å"Corn-law† repeal. The aristocrats, longing to return to their medieval ideas and the business class, favoring laissez-faire capitalism, managed to form a coalition, meaning the prior kept their status quo and the latter got their free trade policies.Now the Conservative party was made up of Royals, tradi tional landowners and industrialists. Prime, Benjamin Disraeli, a medieval romantic at heart, foresaw an alienated industrial proletariat with this new coalition and formed a new political ideology in form of the â€Å"One Nation† policy, which is still in practice today and supported numerous social reforms since. The idea behind the new policy was to return to an organic society whereby each and everyone should have duties towards other people or groups.Remarkably, Disraeli, who was a conservative, not a Marxist, aimed to unite the aristocracy, the middle and the working class, the latter he tried to shield from being exploited. The 1920’s saw the liberal movement collapse, as labour ascended. During WW2 the conservatives aligned with labour, however, it was more a pragmatic move to fight the war, than a love affair. From the 1950s to the mid 1970s in usage were progressive broadly pro-labour and semi- socialistic policies by successive British governments, including conservative ones.Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of the Conservative Party in 1979 and remained in office until 1990. With her leading the party, a dramatic shift occurred in British conservatism with a big movement towards free market economic policies. Privatization of state owned industries became commonplace during her time. She was described as a classical- radical- liberalist, inconsistent with the concept of conservatism in the U. K. – it is often believed her policies challenged and confronted traditional institutions and rocked philosophies of the elite and the old British, established social order in general.Her politics became known as Thatcherism, termed by Stuart Mill. Thatcher’s policies largely remained as they are until today and anti-trade union legalization is still in place. After various Prime Minister’s in the U. K. , David Cameron, known to be a neo-liberalist, heading the Conservative Party, is now Prime Minister and his party is in coalition with liberal-democrat’s Nick Clegg. Looking back, in terms of supply-side economics and many countries copying Thatcher’s then successful model of free market policies, Margaret Thatcher’s Thatcherism has its critics.On another note, some disagree strongly with the idea that she was a radical neo-liberalist, opposing the established, for they argued that she didn’t challenge the monarchy, but only recent additions to British politics instead, which were the trade unions. The mentioning of her name nowadays still remains in people’s minds with strong associations of this bit, â€Å"standing up to the trade unions. † Her opponents would comment she was a monetarist, controlling inflation, not unemployment – the latter doubled during her first 2 years in office.A possibly strong argument, as, during her term as prime minister, she ran a stern government/state, restraining labour movement, local authorities and trade unions. Thatcher also joined the House of Lords and was rather conservative regarding morality, as an anti-gay supporter, she was also known to have defended capitalism and free market policies by saying that we all had a choice and was once heard to have given a rather unsympathetic theological address at a religious ceremony where she cited St Paul by saying, ‘if a man will not work, he shall not eat’.At the end of her term, 30% of children were regarded as living below the poverty line. As prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher received many labels during her time but of all, she was never labeled something as sweet as â€Å"Queen of Hearts†, the title people loving, tragic Diana received for instance, and this following quote may explain why, as Mrs. Thatcher said: â€Å"There is no such thing as society, only individuals and their families† Unemployment in the U. K. post Thatcher had minimized for a while and more han 20 years later with David Cameron leading the conservatives as their Prime Minister nothing much has changed in political ideologies of the conservative party. While it was trade-union issues then, it’s become the middle-class issues now. Britain presently faces various issues it tries to tackle, such as stronger tax increases on the middle-class, over-dependency on the public sector, mass-unemployment and welfare concerns, budget deficits and the European crisis.However their likeable, observant new leader David Cameron, a Tory, is reputed to be much more of a people’s person than Thatcher was, delivering rhetorically fine and caring speeches for all. During the recent riots in London, Mr. Cameron commented in a news report that society was in trouble, by saying there were pockets of society not only broken, but sick and he further elaborated and explained that causes for the riots, as he saw it, were a complete lack of responsibility in our society and that he felt, people felt they are owed somethin g.Some are impressed by and praise Mr. Cameron’s passionate and determined involvement, despite being a Tory leader, on social issues, such as his recent project Big Society bank and others feel his recent proposal to privatize and save the NHS, by opening it up for private scientific investors to carry out patient research within, doesn’t add up, regarding his general display of sensitivity, warmth and care for pressing societal issues.This apparent division in policy and inconsistency in his actions, is also reflected in his speech when he said: â€Å"There is such thing as society: it’s just not the same as the state. † 20th century liberalist, existentialist philosopher and journalist Ortega might have had a minute of sympathy for Margaret Thatcher’s somewhat heartless, â€Å"-individuals-† remark and also for receiving such public criticism regarding the trade union issues, as he said in his Man and People, (1957): ‘There is striv e and struggle at the heart of all social relationships. Aristotle would have argued this and would have accused Mrs. Thatcher of acting unjust and unfairly regarding her single-minded political ideology, by trying to reason and appeal to her higher, contemplative nature, he might have attempted to convince her that man is a social animal and needs others. Ortega partly agreeing on contemplation, would have possibly come to Mrs. Thatcher’s defense by saying: â€Å"Man is naturally unsociable, man wants to leave, flee from it. † Plato would have grilled Mr. Cameron on the danger of having charitable Big Society ideas.Plato might have attempted to curb big-hearted, spirited Mr. Cameron a little, by indicating that heroism and self-sacrifice are dual and could lead to tyranny and anger at the sight of injustice. Ortega, regarding the incident with the rioters, which had upset Mr. Cameron in terms of lack of responsibility people nowadays have, would have maybe offered ano ther existentialist interpretation concerning irresponsible rioters, by suggesting that we all lived in our own world and wanted freedom from responsibility.Plato, the philosopher king and Socrates’s friend and pupil, wrote his own intellectual autobiography The Republic 2025 years ago. The booklet, written by Plato in disillusionment, after Athenian democracy failed, was to be the ideal blueprint for society, in the text Plato holds dialogues in form of Socrates with the sophists. The aim of Plato’s dialogues was to harmonize individual and city. The main themes occupying the dialogues are the questions: What is justice and how can we achieve happiness (eudaimonia) in the city.Plato was the first person in history to set up an academy in 386BC, as he was passionate teaching philosophy to statesmen, educating them. Surely Plato would not have been happy with Mrs. Thatcher’s and Mr. Cameron’s quotes. Had he been around, he might have helped them descend fr om their Toryian thrones and lead them down, down, down to the the low, low, low and mean streets of East London, to face their own daemons, in order to order their souls!As Plato in his dialogues argued that in order to give a transcendent vision, and he gave an analogy for this in The Republic symbolically speaking -from the Acropolis (heaven) to Piraeus (seedy harbor district of Athens’s), one needs to go down and descend into their dark, murky waters of the psyche to face and confront their own inner hell first and remove shackles of the past, as it is only then that one can ascend with a transcended vision to lead a polis (society). According to Plato, and psychoanalyst Freud (descend) and Franklin (ascend) would have agreed with him, only souls (individuals) that had gone through this particular ransformation process first, would make up a well functioning society – based on good mental health, consisting of truth, goodness and beauty. Regarding Mr. Cameron and M rs. Thatcher’s quotes then, instead of rhetoric (sophistry) Plato would have expected wisdom (sophia) and an ability to articulate a transcendent vision from the rulers of Britain’s Conservative party, as he may have otherwise suspected their political system to fail, just like the sophists Athenian democracy did, 2025 years ago.In The Republic, which he wrote in homage to Socrates, who died for truth and justice, Plato maintained that there is no justice to be expected, unless rulers become philosophers and philosophers become statesman. This essay attempted to critically comment on two quotes made by two of Britain’s Prime Ministers. An analysis of British conservatism’s ideology and their party’s history was drawn up and explained, and possible views to the meaning and interpretations of these two quotes, in the light of philosophy and politics, were offered. Terms and different political ideologies in general were also outlined. .

The Tale Heart, The Raven, And Young Goodman Brown

Ever since the invention of language, humans have been obsessed and intrigued with the aspect of storytelling. Each story, whether written or spoken, holds an important theme within its creative words and exciting plot. While each story is special and unique, over the course of history, different periods of literature have formed where authors tend to focus on similar themes and messages. One of which was the American Romantic era, where authors used their stories to challenge the boundaries of society, and delve deeper into what makes people inherently human, both the flaws and perfections. Some of America’s greatest works of literature were born in this period, like those of Poe, and Hawthorne. A very common literary theme during the romantic period was that of good versus evil, in both individual characters and society as a whole; this theme is especially evident in works such as The Tell Tale Heart, The Raven, and Young Goodman Brown. Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart is a perfect example of good versus evil in a romantic work. The story deals with and is told by a madman, who is taking care of a man that he plans to soon kill, as he cannot stand the man’s bulging eye. This theme of morality against sin comes up multiple times within the story, but is most evident when the narrator is debating whether or not to shut the old man’s eye once and for all. Every night the narrator goes and looks at the old man, but the eye is closed and without a motive, he fails toShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Great Gatsby 1416 Words   |  6 PagesEdgar Allan Poe, born in the year 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, was also a writer in Dark Romanticism. An orphan at a young age, Poe was going through a tough childhood. He took in gambling in his college years, and enlisted in the army. Struggling through poverty, he managed to win a contest with his short story, and he started devoting his life to writing. 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This changeRead MoreDifferent Co lors Of Darkness By Nathaniel Hawthorne And Edgar Allen Poe995 Words   |  4 PagesLiterature 2326 5 October 2014 Different Hues of Darkness At first glance, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe may appear as though they are two birds of a feather. Their stories are often dark and dismal, and an enduring despair runs through the tales as a common thread. However, their inspirations originate from opposite ends of the spectrum. Hawthorne’s works are the offspring of legalistic Puritan values and beliefs; on the other hand, Poe’s stories reflect godlessness. While the characters ofRead MoreEarly American Literature Essay1511 Words   |  7 Pages many at the time saw this as a divine sign that America and her people were destined for greatness. Greatness came with a strong nation and thousands of poems and stories that still shape our nation. The recent revolution greatly expressed the heart of the American people. 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