Thursday, January 9, 2020

Exchange Rate Movements Economic Integration And Globalization Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1922 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Variability in foreign exchange (FX) rate has been one of the major economic and financial factors affecting cash flows and common stocks value. After the collapse of post-war Bretton Woods fixed exchange rates in the 1970s, the relative prices of currencies began to fluctuate. The rapid expansion in international trade and adoption of floating exchange rate regimes by many countries led to increase exchange rate volatility. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Exchange Rate Movements Economic Integration And Globalization Finance Essay" essay for you Create order As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. In this context, it is very important to mention that virtually all existing empirical studies estimate currency exchange rate exposures on the basis of share prices. However, the assessment of cash flow and stock price exposures which will be studied in this research will represent a rational alternative to the analysis of stock price exposures. In fact, it is the impact of exchange rate risk on corporate cash flows rather than equity prices per se, that is emphasized in the theoretical literature on corporate risk management, either for tax reasons, managerial performance, bankruptcy, investment decisions or compensation purposes. Jacque (1996) points out that change in a companys earnings due to unexpected foreign currency exchange rate changes relatively to their domestic currency i s considered as foreign exchange rate risks. Changes in exchange rates may affect firms profitability and value. Exchange rate changes can also impact on the level of competitiveness of the firms which are exposed to exchange rate risk, or affect the value of their net assets denominated in foreign currencies. Adler and Dumas (1984) show that even firms whose entire operations are domestic may have affects of exchange rates of foreign currencies, if their output and input prices are influenced by currency movements. Moreover, Eiteman et al. (2006) says that in general, firms are exposed to three types of foreign exchange risk: translation exposure, transaction exposure and economic exposure. In practice, economic exposure is computed as the net sensitivity of some aggregate measure of firm value to currency fluctuations. Economic exposure contains of the direct and indirect effects of currency fluctuations by focusing on the net sensitivity. In practice, there is little genera l agreement on the use of appropriate choice of aggregate measure. In this research project it is focused on the impact of economic exposure of Malaysian non-financial firms (from consumer products industry) on their values. Corporate managers will also be interested in the exposures of corporate cash flow measures such as sales, operating cash flow and earnings for reasons of corporate planning and risk management. Problem statement As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. Also, the internationalization of capital markets has resulted in inflow of vast sums of funds between countries and in the cross listing of equities. This has therefore made investors and firms more interested in the volatility of exchange rate and its effect on stock price and stock market volatility. According to Yucel and Kurt (2003), floating exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; and has a negative effect on share prices as well as the domestic stock market. On the other hand, for import dominated country, it may have positive effect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Malaysia presents an example of an open economy which engages in international trade with several countries and hence susceptible to foreign exchange rate volatility. However, empirical evidence on the influence of foreign exchange market volatility on stock market is largely inconsistent. These have been in the contest of developed economies. Mishra (2004) found no theoretical consensus on the interaction between stock prices and exchange rate. However, Solnik (2000) argues that there is a negative correlation between stock market and local currency. The openness of a countrys economy is recognized as a cause of volatility of its market. Malaysia presents a classic example of an open economy which engages in international trade transaction. Moreover, with advert of globalization, developing economies are becoming more integrated into developed economies as the results of increasing flow of imports and exports. Malaysia is not an exception. A cursory examination of foreign exchange rate history in Malaysia shows some considerable level of volatility. Therefore, it would be interesting to explore the effect of its foreign exchange volatility o n cash flows as well as stock prices of its non-financial companies. Again, much work on the effect of the exchange rate volatility in the developing country like Malaysia has not been done. Thus, for that reason the study intended look at the effect of foreign exchange exposure on non-financial companies cash flows and stock prices in Malaysia. Research objectives Objective of the current research is to determine whether cash flows and stock prices of companies from consumer products industry are affected by exchange rate exposure. This research project attempts to assess the economic exposures of the firms chosen from the Bursa Malaysia Main market. The issues are important for investors as well as corporate risk management. Literature review It is also noticeable whether the firms cash flows are sensitive to exchange rate movements. Perhaps we should also point out the fact that Grambovas and McLeay (2006) are convinced that empirical analysis confirm that currency fluctuations may affect firm values, especially with consideration to the influence of foreign exchange rate movements on the firms cash flows and their accounting earnings, and on their stock prices. Martin and Mauer suggest that economic exposure, which typically has a longer-term time dimension, encompasses the competitive and indirect effects of exchange rate risk. Many academics such as Hodder (1982), Marston (2001) Pringle (1995), Shapiro (1975) and von Ungern-Sternberg von Weizsacker (1990) argue that unlike transaction exposure, economic exposure can affect even domestic firms. Economic exposure arises from changes in the sales prices and volumes, and the cost of inputs of the firm and its competitors as a result of exchange rate changes. Miller Reuer (1998) and Sundaram Black (1992) argued that geographically positioning production, sales, sourcing, and financing operations is effective for reducing economic exposure. The study by SÃ ¶hnke M. Bartram (2007) found that that several firms are significantly exposed to at least one of the foreign exchange rates, and significant exposures are more frequent at longer horizons. He also argues that the impact of exchange rate risk on stock prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a related set of economic factors. Moreover, Dominguez and Tesar (2006) found that exchange rate movements do matter for a significant fraction of firms, though which firms are affected and the direction of exposure depends on the specific exchange rate and varies over time, suggesting that firms dynamically adjust their behavior in response to exchange rate risk. Exposure is correlated with firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and tr ade at the industry level. Martin and Mauer (2003) pointed out that cash flow effects are greater for long-term lags than for short-term lags in exchange rate movements. This result may occur because transaction exposure is easier to assess and hedge, whereas economic exposure is more difficult to recognize and hedge. While Bartram (2007) suggests that several firms are significantly exposed to at least one of the foreign exchange rates such as CAD, JPY and EUR, and significant exposures are more frequent at longer horizons. The percentage of firms for which stock price and earnings exposures are significantly different is relatively low, though it increases with time horizon. Overall, he is convinced that the impact of exchange rate risk on stock prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a related set of economic factors. Batram and Karolyi (2006) took a new look at the exposure puzzle by studying the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from 20 countries. Their findings suggest that the introduction of the Euro decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but these changes are statistically and economically small. According to Tesar and Dominguez (2006), factors such as firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level may influence economic exposure of the companies. These factors may either increase the companies economic exposure or decrease. These factors influence on the companies economic exposure will depend on how significantly these factors are correlated with the companies cash flows and operations, and if there are significant correlation between them, we should also point out whether these significant correlations are positive or negative. Empirical analysis by Grambovas and McLeay (2006) confirms that exchange rate fluctuations will affect firm values, especially with regard to the influence of excha nge rate movements on the cash flows and accounting earnings of companies with international exposure, and on their stock prices. Griffin and Stulz (2001) found weak evidence of statistically significant exchange rate exposures, and the economic significance of the estimated exposures was low. A first main study of the foreign exchange exposure fact done by Jorion (1990) found a significant impact of foreign exchange rate risk on share prices for 5.2 percent of the analyzed 287 U.S. MNCs at the 5 percent level. In their study, Choi and Prasad (1995) found that 14.9 percent of the individual firms in the U.S. and 10 percent of the industry portfolios showed a significant exchange rate exposure at the 10 percent level, corroborating earlier findings. Comparable results were found outside the United States by He and Ng (1998). For instance only some multinational companies in Japan (26.3% and 53.8% for different time periods) showed a significant exchange rate exposure with regar d to a multilateral exchange rate index. Some studies look into the exposure of industry portfolios in several countries, there were found percentage yields of companies with significant exposure of 15% (United States), 4% (Japan) and 6% (United Kingdom) by Prasad and Rajan (1995), or 23% (United States), 21% (Canada) and 25% (Japan) by Bodnar and Gentry (1993) at the 5% level. Study by Bartram and Karolyi (2006) suggests that the FX rate exposure of non-financial firms is systematically linked to firm characteristics such as sales, the percentage of foreign sales in general and in Europe in particular, regional factors like geography, strength of currency and industry characteristics like competition, traded goods. Study examined by Allayannis and Ihrig (2001) speak about stock price exposure to international trade activities of U.S. industries, and Bodnar et al. (2002) mention the significance of pass-through for exposure. Moreover, Starks and Wei (2004) found that the scale of ex change rate exposure is linked to proxies for probabilities of financial distress, product uniqueness and growth opportunities. However, the evidence of corporate foreign exchange rate exposures on a cash flow basis is very thin and inadequate to individual case studies. Garner and Shapiro (1984) investigated the foreign exchange rate exposure of Vulcan Materials Company by regressing changes of its quarterly operating cash flows on changes in the exchange rate of USD against GBP, and showed only small and statistically irrelevant foreign exchange rate exposures. Moreover, Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) use quarterly changes of total cash flow, commercial cash flow and sales revenue as dependent variables in the exposure analysis of Volvo Cars. Results by Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) indicate that the financial situation of the company reduces exposures with regard to changes in the DEM/SEK exchange rate only to a modest degree. One more study by Bartram (2005) investigated the exp osure of a large nonfinancial company based on proprietary internal as well as external capital markets data. Analysis by Bartram (2005) illustrated that the irrelevance of foreign exchange rate exposures of wide-ranging performance measures such as total cash flow and/or share price can be explained by hedging at the company level.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Adolescent Bullying and School Shootings - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1244 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Bullying Essay School Bullying Essay School Shooting Essay Did you like this example? Abstract School shootings are not only direct violence, but also a form of symbolic violence; their intention is to send a message to a broad audience. Victims from bullying suffered from what we call chronic stress and a feeling of absolute helplessness and depression. Without intervention they developed a sense that no one is going to help them manage this, and when you are in that position you have few options like redraw completely, commit suicide or try to kill somebody whose been bothering them. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Adolescent Bullying and School Shootings" essay for you Create order The chronic stress became so high and so internalized they possibly absolutely see no way out. Most mass shooters are male teens that are emotionally unstable and want to exact revenge on society for some harm that they have suffered (real or imaginary). Introduction Adolescents who committed school shootings mostly are severely bullied in school and felt very alienated and very angry and they had hit list of the kids who had bullied them. I personally do not think it is an excuse for victim of bullying to commit such act of violence but it makes me wonder more about the motives of these shooters. People who engage in these attacks took serious of actions as in selecting a particular weapon or practicing with weapon. They thought that they are desperate and they accept the idea that violence might be an accept-full way to solve their problem. Nursing in school need to be part of the team to recognize the bullied teen and intervene before there are serious life-threatening consequences. The perpetrators in these school violence incidents targeted other students who have called them names or rejected them; or they have retaliated for the perceived injustices related to discipline or academic assessments done to them. ‘‘bullying’’ is one of the most significant concerns among children today, and ultimately a predictor in school shootings. By my count, they have been 166 shootings in schools in the last three decades these cases are persistently viewed as Aberrations Each new incident provokes Surprise and shock. These mass shootings took place in predominately white, middle-class or upper class Suburbans what small towns. Expects tend to Fix blame on factors external to school, Severe mental illness, access to guns, or media violence, especially video games. While these issues shortly play a role in high incidence of such events, we need to ask you more fundamental question. What occurs in school themselves, the sites, after all of the shootings that causes so many students to become unhappy, anxious, depressed, motivated by rage? Methods Some of the shooters Who survived Who didn’t kill themselves or get killed in the Mayhem express these feelings explicitly. They are proud of themselves after the shootings. Most schools shootings perpetrators are male Most of those who committed the massacres, struggle for Rick no nation and status among their peers. The majority of them languished at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They tended not to be athletic, they we also described in the media are skinny, scrawny, Short, lanky. They were diseased for looking feminine or gay. They didn’t need to be academically oriented. Do you where do you only on successful with girls. Many of them were also significantly less wealthy then the popular teens and their schools. As a result of these perceived failures, They were mercilessly teased and abused. Leaving as they do within such a strict punitive social hierarchy, Boys are told in one way or another to prove their manhood And in some cases, to prove that they exist at all. Mini boys think that the most go to great lengths to differentiate themselves from perceived perceived as gay , Feminine, poor, intellectual, or weak. So they harass, bully, demean, Humiliate, and I generally try to crush this social value of anyone who doesn’t feet him. All in and effort to secure their own social standing by calling in another student gay. A boy demonstrates to others that he is successfully heterosexual, While a boy who beats up another student proves how powerful he is Compared with the injured party. These boys repeatedly choose to prove their masculinity overwhelming violence. Many of them targeted more popular kids who have harassed them In the girls who had rejected them. They believe their violent response, a powerful demonstration of masculine prowess, Would win them the recognition they desperately craved. Whether they were dead or alive, free or behind bars, one after another, the perpetrators spoke about their yearning for notoriety. They could no longer imagine Achieving recognition is there present reality, so they dreamed of receiving it in some form of afterlife obtained through silence and infamy. These youth turned suit any means necessary to get that recognition. Bullying is Detrimental to the mind of the individual being bullied it creates that fear in the minds which paralyzes them. Fear is the most settled and destructive of all human diseases. Fear kills dreams, fear kills hope, fear put people in the hospital. Fear can hold you back from doing something that you know within your yourself that you capable of doing but it will paralyze you and it’s seems like you are put in an hypnotic spell. Fear is false evidence appearing real. That is an illusion we create in our minds, it is a state of mind that can be changed. It makes you thinking this is all we can do, this is all we deserve. Let’s look at how we can begin to take some steps to restructure that fear to begin to expand our vision of ourselves to begin To increase our self-esteem. Self esteem is confidence and satisfaction from in one self. Look at your life right now, what have you done up to this point in time in your life? What ever you have produced is game out of you as the result of the kind of person you have become,Is the result of your choices, is a result of your consciousness. Now you have to ask yourself are you satisfied with what you have produced? Is this what you want? Would you like things to be better than this. Do you believe that you deserve better than this? Are you content this is it and you don’t have to do anything else, That you already resign yourself in. Are you allowing yourself to get off the hook like that? Or do you Believe somewhere in the back of your mind, or in your heart that there other great work for you to do, That there is something else that life has for you and that’s why you here. How do we handle this fear factor cause by bullying? How do we increased our self-esteem? We had to begin to fortify your self. How do we do that? I believe that we have to begin to consciously Monitor inner conversation and talking to yourself , Start building yourself up. Sometimes the only good things you will here about you is the things you say to you. I’m saying Learn to be your own booster, start encouraging yourself, Start saying I can do this. Stop beating yourself up It’s a natural inclination to put ourselves down, We are born negative I think. And a negative consciousness, because we live a negative word, around negative people and bullying factors which makes us think we don’t deserve a better life or it can’t happen for you.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Role of Woman in The Odyssey - 1240 Words

Although â€Å"The Odyssey† by the Greek poet Homer is very much an epic tale of a man’s heroic quest, women play an incredibly large role. Homer’s epic tale, â€Å"The Odyssey† revolves around Ulysses’ quest to return back to his wife, Penelope, so that he may be reunited with her and assume control over his palace, which has been overrun by suitors. Ulysses’ son, Telemachus attempts to regain authority in the presence of the many suitors but finds this difficult and embarks upon his own journey under the guidance of Athena and other deities. The main thrust of Homer’s â€Å"The Odyssey† centers upon the adventures of Homer as he endeavors to get back home, which he finally does. He overtakes the suitors through his cunning and the tale ends happily.†¦show more content†¦While mourning for her husband (which the reader can only assume is sincere) Penelope is also leading on these suitors in order to gain material objec ts. She promises that she will marry one of them once she finishes her sewing her wedding veil, but each night she destroys the previous night’s work so that the task will never be accomplished. Even if she is using this ruse to attain riches, the fact remains that she is still acting as a seductress. She is very much like a Siren, typical of those present in Book XI, always singing out to encourage men but not intending to fulfill any promise of love or sex. Penelope presents both sides of the two distinct divisions of women characters in the text. Although the Sirens and Circe represent the ultimate seductress, it is important to notice the way the story of Agamemnon and Clymenestra reappears in the text. This is a legend told about how the strong female character Clymenestra was, much like Penelope, dogged by suitors in her husband’s absence, the only difference being that Clymenestra gives over the temptation of one suitor in particular and she and this new lover p lot to kill Agamemnon upon his glorious return. The description of Clymenestra almost seems to echo Penelope’s situation as Ulysses is told the story. â€Å"At first she would haveShow MoreRelatedThe Odyssey : The Role Of Women In Homers Odyssey966 Words   |  4 Pagesshowed different kinds of human interactions. The Odyssey portrays what is right or wrong in relationships between god and mortal, father and son, and man and woman. In the epic poem, the role of women is a vital demonstration of Ancient Greece. The women in the epic are unique in their personality, motives, and relationships towards men. In Homers, The Odyssey, all women are different, but all of them help to represent the role of the ideal woman. Homers epic describes the world of women in AncientRead MoreThe Odyssey, by Homer Essay1150 Words   |  5 PagesHomer’s Odyssey was written around 700 BC. During this time there was major social and economic change, which brought the development of new cities, as well as new laws to govern them. Political rights and citizenship in Greek society truly defined the roles of women in this time period. All of the laws governing the population of Greece were not only written by men, but also enforced by men. Homer’s Odyssey is the product of a society in which men played the dominant role. Women were held atRead MoreHelen Of The And The Odyssey1342 Words   |  6 Pagesnarrator is constantly trying to fit her into the box created the legacy of Helen of Tory/Odyssey. However, Helen of Omeros’ strong will and personality and overall uniqueness is still able to shine through, despite the narrator’s biases, and we are able to see the individual differences b etween the two women and their connection to the evolution of Helen throughout history. We only catch a glimpse of Helen in the Odyssey, but Helen in Walcott’s Omeros is portrayed much deeper. The word/name Helen, in generalRead MoreWomen in the Odyssey1646 Words   |  7 Pagessociety, however their role and importance to its function are often times overlooked. Society is/was organized and directed by men. All of the most important positions and purposes within it`s routine were filled by males. This societal organization is often times reflected in many pieces of literature of various time periods, however there are texts in which contrary to the patriarchal society models, women are given substantial importance within the plot. Homer`s The Odyssey, Heart of Darnkness byRead MoreThe Changing Roles of Women in Literature from Late 8th Century B.C. to 4th Century A.D.683 Words   |  3 PagesThe Changing Roles of Women in Literature from Late 8th Century B.C. to 4th Century A.D. The changing role of women in literature from the late 8th century B. C. to the 4th century A. D. is evident in that women become even more subservient in later works. This is portrayed in the works The Odyssey by Homer and Sakuntala by Kalidasa. Women are treated more like slaves in Sakuntala, while they are seen more like equals in The Odyssey. However, in Sakuntala, women are given more responsibilitiesRead MoreThe Penelopiad Analysis958 Words   |  4 Pagesnovel ‘The Odyssey’ . In an interview, Atwood explained her beliefs on the gender roles surround The Odyssey thus incorporating this as well as other materials into ‘The Penelopiad’ by stating: â€Å"There is an argument that has been made quite thoroughly that The Iliad and The Odyssey were written by two different people, and that the person who wrote The Odyssey was a woman.’ Atwood then carries on to explain her argument stating how several people have made the argument of how ‘The Odyssey’ was writtenRead MoreThe Iliad And The Odyssey1599 Words   |  7 PagesIn The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer has different portrayals of the roles that women play in each epic. These differences are so striking that some readers have even argued that there is a possibility that a woman could have created The Odyssey, modeled after Homer’s Iliad. In The Iliad we see women represented as war prizes and slaves, vulnerabilities to men, and in positions of limited power. In The Odyssey however, we see women capturing men and keeping them as prizes, rising from a status ofRead More Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen of Homer’s Odyssey1448 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ideal Women of Homer’s Odyssey      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ancient Greek society treated women as secondary citizens. Restrictions were placed on the social and domestic actions of many aristocratic women in ancient Athens.   The women depicted in Homers Odyssey, on the other hand, are the ideal.   Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen are all women with exceptional liberty and power.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before comparing the women of the Odyssey to those of Athens, it is beneficial to take a look into the livesRead MoreEssay about The Odyssey - Gender Roles893 Words   |  4 PagesThe Odyssey is the product of a society in which the dominant role was played by men. In ancient Greece, just as in the whole of the ancient world, and in America and Western Europe until the last century, women occupied a subservient position. Society was organized and directed by men, and all of the most important enterprises were those which men arranged and implemented. Women were valued, but they participated in the affairs of the world only when they had the tacit or open approval and permissionRead More The Role of Women in Ancient Greece as Depicted in Homer’s The Odyssey897 Words   |  4 PagesThe Role of Women in Ancient Greece as Depicted in Homer’s The Odyssey Women as Citizens For this informative report I will attempt to point out the roles women and how they are viewed in ancient Greece. I will then show how these views are present in Homer’s The Odyssey. How are women, goddess or mortal, conveyed in The Odyssey? The Odyssey was written around 700 BC during the Archaic period (750 – 550 BC). This was a time of great economical and social change in Greek history due

Monday, December 16, 2019

Leadership Characteristics Free Essays

string(89) " Since there is no enough room, the report will investigate the transformational theory\." Leadership Characteristics Executive summary: Since early beginning of the last century, the leadership has emerged as an important issue in the business regard of the dramatic transformation in the world economy. Thus far, the following report represents an attempt to shed the light on the leadership issue. In order to provide a hint of the leadership meaning, the report will demonstrate brief idea about some of the leadership theories which perceive the leadership skills form different view. We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Characteristics or any similar topic only for you Order Now The report then will identify certain characteristics that should be attained in the personality of the leader which ensure his successful. The requisite of the contemporary leadership skills has appeared at the latter part of twentieth century, regard of the globalisation phenomenon as well the rapid development in technology; which resulted in the increase of the competition. As the knowledge does not stop, leaders require training and development, thus, the report will also investigate the process of leadership development. 1Chapter One: Introduction: Throughout the last century and insofar the 21st century, the mankind has undergone dramatic transformation in the whole domains, and the individuals needs and requirements significantly expended, however, many people managed to maintain successfully their life and obtained the benefit of this change, while others could not cope with this change, which resulted with dissatisfaction and pessimistic view of the life. Significant amount of researches and investigations have been done in order to identify such a pattern or a process that can raise the performance of human beings, thus the concept of leadership appeared as a critical requisite for any entity, including an individuals, family, organisations or even countries. In the early part of 20th century, ‘Freud (1927) in his famous book the Civilisation and It Discontents, he approached the leadership issue when he said that groups of individuals need leaders to provide them with an identity and sense of purpose’ (Higgs, 2003) With the rapid transformation in the world, the competition has become more aggrieve, and organisations urged to deal with this rapid change and the continue development has become an urgent need for the company prosper and survive. Hence, Leadership issue was put under the limelight as an important process for the company sustainability. Although there have been momentous efforts devoted to investigate the leadership issue including theories, definitions and identification for its characteristics, till now there is no complete agreement about the notion of leadership, since these different suggestions and concepts approached the leadership from different perspectives. The following report embodies an attempt to shed the light on the leadership issues, throughout quick review of the leadership theories, and examine the leadership characterises in both the 20th and the 21st century, before dissect the reflection of the personal-experience on the leadership characteristics Chapter Two: Leadership Theories: Due to the importance of the leadership issue, many theories have been emerged throughout the time, each theory tackles with the leadership from different perspectives and aspects, and one can not determine whether this theory right and others are wrong; however the main theories of the leadership are: †¢Trait Th eory: this theory defines specific characteristics which are existed in the successful leadership such as attitudes, personality, intelligence and decisiveness, regardless of any consideration of other assisted factors such as team work and the internal and external work environment. However, there are two criticisms for this theory. â€Å"The first, it doesn’t specify what the most important leadership characteristics are, and the second, it ignores the contribution of the others. † (Dessler, 1976) †¢Behavioural Theory: it approaches the leadership from another perspectives, it dissects the achievement of leaders and the outcomes of their contributions within the organisations. The remarkable differences between the trait and behavioural theory are that the last one emphasises on oth the accomplishment of the task as the main indications for the leader success, and employees’ satisfaction, †¢Situational leadership: According to this theory, the effectiveness of the leader is significantly correlated with situational factors which restrict the performance of the leader positively or negatively. In other words, â€Å"the efficiency of leader’s skills or traits are determined by the situation in which leaders exercise leadersh ip† (Dessler,1976), These factors are: -Follower’s contributions. The availability and the utilization of the resources. However, creating the harmonisation and the collaboration between the situational factors and the leader are essential to determine leader’s effectiveness. †¢Contingency Theories: basically, the assumption of this theory, that the behaviour of the leader can not be standardised, instead, the leader should consider situational factors. The success of the leader in this theory is measured by the ability of leader to adopt such a style to achieve certain task with a consideration to the followers. This theory was the beginning of new view of leadership; based on this assumption other contingency theories were emerged such as, Fiedler’s concept of situational favourability (1967), which defined position power, task structure and leader-member relation, as the main factors that determine the effectiveness of the leader’s style. Path-goal is another theory (House and Mitchell 1974) which assumes that the leader has a significant contribution on the follower to enable them to achieve their objectives. Horner, 1997) †¢Transactional theories: it assumes that since the task and responsibilities have been identified, the leader has a full right to do whatever it requires to achieve this task. This theory depends on praise and rewards as motivation system for followers, meanwhile, punishment is used to ensure the abidance by the roles and the request of the task. However, this theory is criticised as it assumes the behaviour of a human being is predictable without an y consideration of the reflection of the environment. Transformational theories: this theory depends on the development of the vision and convinces the follower, in other words, the leader adopts the visions and does whatever it requires to encourage followers. In this case the leader will become an inspiration for followers and they create their relationship with them depending on trust. As it is clearly perceived, those theories tackle with the leadership from different perspectives. Since there is no enough room, the report will investigate the transformational theory. You read "Leadership Characteristics" in category "Essay examples" Transformational Theory: This theory was generated under assumption of people follow a person who has vision and passion. He or she will inspire them to achieve the goal. Transformational leadership is the modern view of leadership that seems to match with the style of business leader in 21st century since the business competition; turbulence, unforeseen contingencies, and rapid change in technologies create such a momentous stress. Under this stress, the need for transformational leaders who are proactive is emerged as an important requisite to help follower to cope with the dramatic change. (Bass, 1997) The characteristic of transformational leaders is mainly embodied by their charisma; they inspire followers by their innovation and ability to create change. However, the success of charismatic leader is through a belief in themselves rather than others, while transformational leaders concern with other around them such as colleagues and employees. They are not narcissistic as charismatic. This style of leader will create an important transformation to both organisation and employees. Moreover, it may impact the strategy and the structure of the organisation. The power of transformational leader is not derived by the reward system or rules and regulation, yet it is obtained from an intangible value such as their visions and the relationship among others. Draft, 2002) According to Tichy and Devanna (Lussier, 1996), there are three main activities for transformational leadership. Recognition for the need of revitalisation: leaders should understand the urgent need of the organisation for transformation, in order to create such a sustainable resource of competitive advantage to maintain the company success in such a competitive environment. Creating a new vision: by having visualise in innovation and organisation changed, leader will be able to inspire and motivate others to reach the objectives. Institutionalising change: it is essential for transformational leaders to put an effort to convince others. Leaders need to advise and create trust among employees in the organisation in order to let them understand the idea of vision and reach the goal. The style of transformational leadership tends to match with the business world today since it is flexible and innovator. In addition, there are many business articles mentioned that workforce is the most important resource for organisation. Thus, this type of leadership takes into consideration of both business activity and relationship within organisation. These two factors pave the passage of the company success. There are several distinctions between those theories; nevertheless, they agree that there are certain characteristics should be attained in the leader to ensure the efficiency of his contribution. 3Chapter Three: Leadership Characteristics: 3. 1Leadership Definition: As there are many theories approached the leadership, there are also many definitions have been suggested for the leadership, some authors identify the leadership as a process to achieve groups/ organisations goals, others see the notion of leadership as trait, transformation or even as management. However, the definition of leadership by Rost (1993) can be used to dissect this notion (8). He defines the leadership as an influence relationship among leader and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. According to Rost, leadership is: †¢Influence Relationship: the influence will be in both directions top-bottom and bottom-top. †¢Intend real changes: it means leadership includes substantial development in both leaders and followers. †¢Mutual purposes: both leader and followers agree about certain purposes which can be considered as missions or statements. . 2Leadership Characteristics: There is a view argues that leaders are born and other say it is a science can be taught, both of those views did not describe leadership accurately, â€Å"leadership is an art to be studied, practised, developed and lived. † (Scott, 1996) There are certain characteristics that determine the effectiveness of leadership and shape the performance of leaders: 1. Communicative: the importance of this skill, that it provides the leader with an ability to deliver precisely the ideas, visions and objectives required to be achieved. However, it is crucial to understand that the communications include the flow of data and information in two sides, top-bottom and bottom-top. Leaders have to consider sharing the ideas and unleash the contribution of employees, since occasionally, employees come up with innovative suggestions that might enhance or develop certain objectives. 2. Rewards and recognizes achievement: express the appreciation for others efforts, has a vital role as a motivation. Leaders could achieve that by financial rewards or even by praise the follower. Sometime simple gestures such as approving nod, thumbs- up or even quick comment like ‘great job’, ‘you are doing well’ is enough to encourage followers to improve their performance and productivity. 3. Genuine interest in others: it is undeniable fact that financial rewards have a significant influence on followers; meanwhile, there are other motivations that should be attained. The leader should recognise the emotional support for followers since it creates loyalty. Genuine interest does not require a lot of efforts; it might be expressed by asking about the personal health or family. For instance, in the company that I used to work, the owner asks employees about their general life before he asked about any other thing related to the work, this simple action was enough to motivate employees to work as they own the company. 4. Team orientation: the successful leader takes into account the importance of team-work; he gathers the followers and discusses with them the task or the missions. The leader listens to their opinion, stimulates their innovation, and finally creates the harmony required to achieve the task. This gives employees more responsibility to improve their performance and productivity since they have significant role as decision- makers. 5. Visionary and idea-oriented: the long-term objectives are vital issue in the successful leadership agenda; he always seeks for new ideas and creativity. They consider the available competitive advantages and establish the stream of substantial competitive advantages. When Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (Dubai’s ruler) unveiled the growth strategy of 2015, it was unsurprising for many economists that the city had met its 2010 GDP target two years ago. Many people argue that Dubai is only a bubble and it would diminish after it consumes its oil. However, this completely untrue, nowadays, 74% of emirits GDP derives from real-estate, tourism and retail sectors (Kerr, 2007). The rapid strides of the development of Dubai is referred to the log-term successful visions of it rulers, and his ability to create new competitive advantages for the country instead of the oil. Similar to that in the business world, â€Å"Henry Ford by his long term vision as well as rational risk calculated he managed to predict the market and customer trend and made Ford on of the most successful organisation. † (Grint, 2000) 6. Decisiveness, responsibility and Integrity: although, it has been mentioned that followers should be involved in decision-making process, the leader is still the ultimate decision-maker depending on the ability to consider the right decision in the proper time. Since a decision has been made, the leader is completely responsible for the consequences of any possible risk, even if the leader is involved directly in the execution. Integrity is also very important, â€Å"leaders do not use followers as means to achieve their purpose in satisfying the shareholder; instead, they understand that their contribution should consider the whole stakeholders. † (Bowie et al, 2000) 7. Competence: the word of competence derives from innovation, training and development, accumulated experience, and the ability of the leader to learn. Since the leadership is an art, leaders have to consider the importance of shaping and the development of their skills; this should be attained by substantial willing for knowledge and self-development. Those characteristics are very important to be attained by the leaders because they have crucial impact on the effectiveness of leadership, moreover, the effective leaders manage to create synergy between their followers, and loyalty required for achieving certain objectives and tasks. 4Chapter Four: Leadership in the 21st Century: Since the latter part of twentieth century the world has witnessed dramatic change in the whole domains, â€Å"due to the rapid strides of technologies development, the spread of the globalisation phenomenon, demographic shifts, migration and the rapid degradation of social and natural capital – are creating opposing tensions. † (Connor et al, 2003, P. 59). Taking into account those challenges, the demand of leadership has been increased noticeably with an urgent requisite of organisations for framework that tates the new criteria of leadership. Some of these are an expansion for the previous characteristics of leadership and others are new, however, those could be summarised as: †¢Understanding the Culture Diversity: although the geographical barriers have been eliminated, the cultural barriers are still an enormous challenge for businesses. Leaders should be aware that doing business is different from nation to nation, and it is completely restricted by the natio nal traditions and habits. For instant: In the USA, Innovations and achievements are considered as individual effort, hence, the influence of the individual recognition will be obvious in Human Resource Management of the American firms, individual reward system, appraisal and even in the job designed. While in China the individual efforts and innovations are referred to the founder of the firm. In Chinese tradition the achievement are always referred to the collective units such as families, organisations, and the country. (Tsang, 2007) The misunderstanding in the communication is another consequence of the lack of culture appreciation. Many conflicts were occurred, contracts were rejected and negotiations failed at the last stage because of the lack of communication with other culture. Thus far, the comprehensive understanding for influence of the culture on business is vital, because the world has become more united under the umbrella of globalisation. †¢Strategic thinking: An organisation can not be considered as an individual entity, instead it is influenced by external factors, such as competitors, suppliers, customers, critical financers and fluctuation in the market demand. From this view the needs of substantial change in the corporate strategy emerges as an important requisite to enable the company to cope with change of the business environment. However, â€Å"the ways-of-thinking of the leader have continues impact on corporate reorientation. † (Hendry et al,1993). However, it is important to understand that strategic thinking is different from the strategic planning, â€Å"Mintzberg argues that strategic planning derives from strategic thinking† (Bonn, 2001, P63). The first aspect of the strategic thinking is observation and company knowledge. The leader observes the company daily life with its complexity and understands the drivers of the organisation performance and the influence of the external factors on this performance. The second aspect of the strategic thinking is creativity; it is the core of strategic thinking. The leader seeks the substantial development for his organisation; he identifies solutions for the company problems and creates vision which will determine the future of firm. Thereafter, the strategic thinking of the leader establishes the implementation required to achieve the company vision. Sharing vision with others is another significant element for the strategic thinking successful, since it generates loyalty and encourage them because they participate in decision-making process. Jeffery Bezos the founder of Amazon is considered as an important example of a successful leader, in such a high competitive business sector like the online, where other companies struggle to cope with the rapid stride of technology, Amazon imposes itself as the leader of the online industries and especially the e- retailers, there is no doubt that the strategic thinking of Bezos is an ultimate key of the Amazon success. Bezos always has one eye on the future, in order to build the company long term objectives, however, his strategic thinking embodies by creating the Amazon vision and establishing the strategy needed to achieve the company objectives. Innovation is one of most important aspect of Bezos strategic thinking, since Amazon invests huge amount of money to provide the world with amazing technologies such as Elastic Compute Cloud (ECC) to ensure that the company is still the leader of the dot-com race. Hof, 2006) Whenever the world doubts, if Amazon can fulfil its promise to revolutionise retailing, Bezos wonders the people with such an innovative idea to reinforce Amazon position as being the e-retailer leader. With his strategic thinking as well as his creative working-team, Amazon never stops building its substantial competitive advantages. Humanistic awareness: as workforce constitutes the most value asset of the firm, the leader has significant responsibility to ensure their satisfactio n; considerable motivation system, training and development, praise, empowerment, participation in decision-making process are samples to obtain employees satisfaction. Since they have impact on employees’ productivity and innovation. However, employees’ retention reflects the level of their satisfaction, and appreciation for company leader. Learning and self-awareness: the leader has to have a profound knowledge about his organisation to be able to recognise its capability in order to create the vision and framework and means needed to achieve this vision, moreover, the successful leader is knowledge seeker to cope with rapid change in the business world. Self-awareness is another issue that leaders should take into consideration; they distinguish their weaknesses and strengths, and use the last one to eliminate the weaknesses to improve the effectiveness of their leadership. Hence, leaders empower their ability to inspire and unite employees around themselves to maintain the company performance. 5Chapter Five: Leadership Development: The increase of the competition in the business world urges organisations to search more for competitive advantages in order to be able to survive and conquer their competitors in such a hostile business environment. Nowadays organisations eventually start to concern about leadership development and devote tangible efforts to improve efficiencies of its individuals. However, the leadership development program should be prepared comprehensively in order to attain its purpose. The 360 degree appraisal system is an important step to initiate this program, since it provides feedback about the employee performance from different resources which helps to determine the improvement required regard to his strengths and weaknesses. (Ladyshewsky, 2007). Thereafter, the priority of the leadership development will be for the higher level managers, regard to their expected contribution on their subordinates, yet the improvement of the subordinate should be in the leadership development agenda. The leadership development program should cover the weakness of the employees that has listed in the 360 degree appraisal; meanwhile, it should depend on modern techniques and case studies from other companies, rather than depending on the literatures and theories only. The final step in the leadership development program is the evaluation which derived from many criteria, such as the feedback of the program, the examination of the participant’s understanding, and the tangible outcomes that the company will acquire which is the decisive for the program evaluation. Leskiw et al, 2007) However, there is another view should be deemed in the issue of leadership development, individuals perseverance is ultimate criteria for development, leader should have enough credibility to admit there weaknesses and finds the appropriate strategy to mitigate the impact of this weakness, moreover, the leader should be knowledge seeker to obtain the benefit of the others experience. 6Chapter Eigh t: Conclusion: The leadership an old requisite in the human beings life, nevertheless, it has become a considerable obsession for the organisations, regard to the substantial transformation in the world business. Although the theories of the leadership are different, they agree that there are several characteristic that should be attain by a person in order to be such a successful leader. Most of the leadership theories concern about the characteristic needed to reinforce two main things, creating competitive advantages and the workforce. As the workforce is the most important asset for the firm, the leader should consider employee alignment around the company objectives throughout the leader humanistic consideration as followers need inspiration, different kind of motivation in order to enhance their performance. Meanwhile, the leader should eventually find the resource of the competitive advantages. Due to the dissemination of the globalisation phenomenon as well as the rapid development in technology, organisations require new leadership characteristic to cope with change in the business environment. However, the new leadership characteristics have emerged from the need for crossing the culture barriers, since it is an enormous obstacle for organisation. Creating the long-term planning depends on the strategic thinking of the leader to identify new vision for the company. The increase in the world competition is accomplished with raise of the leadership demand, thus far organisations should invest considerably in improving their leadership capability, since the world development will never stop. References Bass, B. M. , (1998), Stress and Transactional-Transformational Leadership, Transformational Leadership: Industrial, Military, and Educational Impact, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Bonn, I. , (2001) Developing Strategic Thinking as a Core Competency, Management Decision, Vol. 39, No. , pp. 63-71 Bowie, N and Elmer, L. , (2000), Kantian Theory of Leadership, Leadership organisation Development Journal, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 185-193 Connor, R. and Mackenzie-Smith, P. (2003), The Leadership Jigsaw -finding the Missing Piece, Business Strategy Review, Vol. 14, Issue 1, pp 59-66 Dessler, G. , (1976) Leadership and Supervision, Organisation and Management: Contingency Approach, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Publication. Draft, R. L. , (2002), Management, 6th Ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Publication. Grint, K. (2000), Henry Ford: The Blind Business Visionary, The Arts of Leadership, Oxford: Oxford University Press Hendry, J (ed) and Johnson, G (ed) with Newton, J (1993), Strategic Thinking: Leadership and the Management of Change, England: John Wiley Publication Higgs, M. , (2003) How can we make sense of leadership in the 21st century? , Leadership organisation Development Journal, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 273-284 Hof, R. D. , (13/10/2006), Jeff Bezos’ Risky Bet, Business week magazine [Online]. Available from Business week: http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/06_46/b4009001. tm Accessed (20/04/2007)) Horner, M. , (1997) Leadership Theory: Past, Present and Future, Team Performance Management, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 270-287 Kerr, S. , (24/07/2007), Emirate Sets its Sights on Trebled GDP by 2015, The Financial Times. Economy, pp. 2 Ladyshewsky, K. R, () A Strategic Approach for Integrating Theory to Practice in Leadership Dev elopment, Leadership Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 426-443 Leskiw, S and Singh, P. , (2007), Leadedrship Development: Learning from Best Practices, Leadership Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 444-464 Lussier, R. N. , (1996), Human relations in organizations: A skill-building approach. 2nd Ed. Chicago, IL: Irwin, Inc Rost, J. C, (1993), Leadership definition, Leadership for the Twenty-First Century, London: Praeger Publication. Scott , E. D. and Kleiner, B. H, (1996), Good? Leadership, Management Development Review, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 30-33 Tsang, D. , (2007), Leadership, National Culture and Performance Management in The Chinese Software Industry, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 270-284 How to cite Leadership Characteristics, Essay examples

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Discuss the Images In Sympathy That Reveal The Pain Of Slavery free essay sample

When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, Alliteration used twice using the letters W and S. I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars The poet is using imagery and a rather painful one by describing the bars of the cage covered with the bird’s red blood which is describe the struggle the bird is going through to be free. For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing The poet describing why he must get out the bird must fly back to where he belongs to the tree branch where he will be happy and he will start swinging on the branch. And a pain still throbs in the old , old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting I know why he beats his wing! The poet tells us that it is not the first time that he beats his wings against the bars, Because there is pain pounds in his old scares. We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss the Images In Sympathy That Reveal The Pain Of Slavery or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, When he beats his bars and he would be free The poet uses alliterations here with the letters w and b. He wants the reader to pay more attention to what the bird is going through and the fact that his wing his bruised when he beats the bars trying to be free. It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea, that upward to heaven he flings A metaphor is used to describe the imprisoned bird which is comparing him with a human being that prays and unlike every other bird he does not sing he prays from his heart and requests for freedom and this metaphor is used to show how strongly the bird feels about wanting and needing his freedom.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Leopard an Example of the Topic Personal Essays by

The Leopard by Expert Prof. Akademia | 27 Dec 2016 Introduction: Need essay sample on "The Leopard" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Risorgimento or also known as the Revival or the Italian Unification, is the nineteenth century revolutionary movement, which joined different region of Italy into one peninsula. This period is assumed to have begun with the arrival f Napoleon and the end of Franco Prussian War in 1815. It was basically a socio political movement which formulated todays Kingdom of Italy. This time span was filled with artistic and literally forms of nationalism which spread the spirit of unification through out the peninsula like fire, who promoted the idea of free, independent and a republic Italy, with Rome as its capital. The Leopard: The life of Sicily during the Risorgimento is very tactfully and vividly explained by the famous Italian novelist, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, in his famous novel, Il Gattopardo, first published in 1958, and was later translated to English by the name the Leopard. In 1911 he also served in the army, being patriotic and heroic in the war of Caporetto, he was taken in as a prisoner in Hungary. Later after his escape, he went out for traveling, learning more about foreign literature, and it was in this period that he perceived his first novel, the leopard. It is believed that after he finished writing his novel in 1956, it was rejected by the publisher; and it was a year later after his sudden death from lung cancer in 1958, that excellence of his work was recognized, it was not even published but also won the Strega Prize. While some also believe that the initial rejection that the novel attained, wasnt because of poor literary matter but was due had its political reasons enveloped w ith it. College Students Frequently Tell EssayLab writers:I'm not in the mood to write my assignmentSpecialists recommend:Online Essay Helper Best Website To Buy College Papers Essay Writer Service Writing Essay Company Another tale about the author regards him as the last prince of the Sicily state, or the Duke of Palma, and claims that he wrote this novel on his rand father, another Prince of Lampedusa. The story further goes that it was after the palace at Lampedusa was bombarded in the Second World War that Tomasi sank down in great depression, and it was in this incomplete state of helplessness that he wrote this legendary novel, which is still remembered as revolutionary. The original title, Il Gattopardo, literally means as the cat, which was like an heirloom for the authors family, thus holds great respect and honor for him. In the translated version, however, it has been titled as the leopard. The novel caters to many historical events which at that time took place in Italy, while some of the most important ones included the invasion of Garibaldi onto the Sicilian coast, the Unification of Italy and the changing system from aristocracy to a more democratic society thus showing dramatic changes for the people. Most of the novel has been based upon the time when Italy was going through the Risorgimento period, when the voice of Guiseppe Garibaldi, for the unification of Italy was on the rise. The story starts to open when his army lands on the coast of Sicily, and is planning to overthrow the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. However, the secondary plot revolves around how the political situation of the country influences the ordinary people of the country, such as the aristocratic Salina family, lead by Prince Fabrizio. Donadio Rachel, in his article, published on 31 July, 2008, the New York Times, titled as the Leopard Turns 50, while describing the excellence of the book states, Sicily is the key to Italy, as Goethe once wrote, and one novel is the key to Sicily: The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusas masterpiece. (Donadio, 2008) He states that this novel is the most perfect depiction of the times of aristocracy that this world has lost. Leopards protagonist, Prince Frabozi who is shown as a rich aristrocrat of great knowledge, position and social status, a man benevolent with money and customed to living by traditions. The novel finds grave tragedy in his life, when his favorite nephew, Prince Tancredi, is apt on supporting the coming revolution, not through the mere interest of embracing the change but for his love for money, status and position in the new developing society. Thus for the sake of money and an artificial life, tancredi marries at a lower place, just for the sake of money; where Frabozi accepts how his monarchy was finally being over ruled by the midle class slowing coming to power. He also speaks the heart of the novel which describes the entire book beautifully saying that; If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change. (Ebert, 2003) The final death of the prince by which he is left to cater his unmarried daughters, his splitting property and nevertheless the broken government. This death does not only represent the sad dismisal of Lampedusas but also marks the end towards the monarchy of Sicily. This novel is a representation of the changing society, of how Garibaldis revolution brought the entire empire to shift its way of living and its traditions according to the new rule. The dying of the pronce echoes pf how an entire era had eventually come to an end with the invasion, bronging his knowledge and morality all to an end. The story finds its grimace with Fabrizio realizing that even with his place in the society he is helpless and cannot stop the change from engulfing the entire society. It also paints the countryside of Sicily in a very picturesque and vivid manner, which helps the readers imagine the country at the time of Risorgimento. One of the famous quotes taken from the book which describes the Sicilian fall and the rise of new era is as follows; "All this shouldn't last; but it will, always; the human 'always,' of course, a century, two centuries... and after that it will be different but worse. We were the Leopards, the Lions; those who'll take our place will be little jackals, hyenas; and the whole lot of us Leopards, jackals, and sheep, we'll all go on thinking ourselves the salt of the earth." (Lampedusa, 1958) The novel was later in 1963 depicted in the form of a film by director Luchino Visconti, and the cast included Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon. It like the novel was set in the mood of 1860, when Italy was in the process of unification, with the monarchy coming to an end. However, both the movie and the novel have been criticized for being too disillusioned by the Unification, and to be overly skeptic of its negative effects upon the lives of the people. It was taken more as a more negative Marxist theory who claimed it as merciless and the Catholics were pessimistic of its view points. Generally it is taken as an objective side of the story; however it covers the true aspects of the history which did exist in the lives of those suffering through the revolution. Lampedusa, no matter had a royal birth, born with an actual silver spoon in his mouth, unfortunately had to face the fall of his familys position; thus it explains his flight f anger and depression seen throughout the novel. He well understood the political motives of leaders as he had spent his entire life amongst them, and was able to comprehend what would befall them in the future. Conclusion: Leopard is a story which directly comes from the heart of a person who suffered through the loss of his kingdom; thus it tells the tale of a man who faced revolution at peak and saw how his life might change marking the history of a new revolution. References Donadio, R. (2008, July 31). The Leopard Turns 50. The essay. The New York Times. Ebert, R. (2003, September 14). The Leopard (1963). Retrieved from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20030914%2FREVIEWS08%2F309140302%2F1023&AID1=&AID2=%2F20030914%2FREVIEWS08%2F309140302%2F1023 Lampedusa, G. T, (1958). The Leopard. Current Edition: Pantheon. ISBN: 0679731210 Chapter 4

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Clay Shirky Here Comes Everybody

Clay Shirky Here Comes Everybody Clay Shirky Here Comes Everybody Ð ¡ommunal aspÐ µÃ' ts of digital Ã' ulturÐ µ run dÐ µÃ µp and widÐ µ. WikipÐ µdia is just onÐ µ rÐ µmarkablÐ µ Ð µxamplÐ µ of an Ð µmÐ µrging Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivismand not just WikipÐ µdia but wikinÐ µss at largÐ µ. Ward Ð ¡unningham, who invÐ µntÐ µd thÐ µ first Ã' ollaborativÐ µ WÐ µb pagÐ µ in 1994, traÃ' ks nÐ µarly 150 wiki Ð µnginÐ µs today, Ð µaÃ' h powÐ µring myriad sitÐ µs. WÐ µtpaint, launÃ' hÐ µd just thrÐ µÃ µ yÐ µars ago, hosts morÐ µ than 1 million Ã' ommunal Ð µfforts. WidÐ µsprÐ µad adoption of thÐ µ sharÐ µ-friÐ µndly Ð ¡rÐ µativÐ µ Ð ¡ommons altÐ µrnativÐ µ Ã' opyright liÃ' Ã µnsÐ µ and thÐ µ risÐ µ of ubiquitous filÐ µ-sharing arÐ µ two morÐ µ stÐ µps in this shift. Mushrooming Ã' ollaborativÐ µ sitÐ µs likÐ µ Digg, StumblÐ µUpon, thÐ µ HypÐ µ MaÃ' hinÐ µ, and TwinÐ µ havÐ µ addÐ µd wÐ µight to this grÐ µat uphÐ µaval. NÐ µarly Ð µvÐ µry day anothÐ µr startup proudly hÐ µralds a nà  µw way to harnÐ µss Ã' ommunity aÃ' tion. ThÐ µsÐ µ dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnts suggÐ µst a stÐ µady movÐ µ toward a sort of soÃ' ialism uniquÐ µly tunÐ µd for a nÐ µtworkÐ µd world. WÐ µ'rÐ µ not talking about your grandfathÐ µr's soÃ' ialism. In faÃ' t, thÐ µrÐ µ is a long list of past movÐ µmÐ µnts this nÐ µw soÃ' ialism is not. It is not Ã' lass warfarÐ µ. It is not anti-AmÐ µriÃ' an; indÐ µÃ µd, digital soÃ' ialism may bÐ µ thÐ µ nÐ µwÐ µst AmÐ µriÃ' an innovation. WhilÐ µ old-sÃ' hool soÃ' ialism was an arm of thÐ µ statÐ µ, digital soÃ' ialism is soÃ' ialism without thÐ µ statÐ µ. This nÐ µw brand of soÃ' ialism Ã' urrÐ µntly opÐ µratÐ µs in thÐ µ rÐ µalm of Ã' ulturÐ µ and Ð µÃ' onomiÃ' s, rathÐ µr than govÐ µrnmÐ µntfor now. ThÐ µ typÐ µ of Ã' ommunism with whiÃ' h GatÐ µs hopÐ µd to tar thÐ µ Ã' rÐ µators of Linux was born in an Ð µra of Ð µnforÃ' Ã µd bordÐ µrs, Ã' Ã µntralizÐ µd Ã' ommuniÃ' ations, and top-hÐ µavy industrial proÃ' Ã µssÐ µs. ThosÐ µ Ã' onstraints gavÐ µ risÐ µ to a typÐ µ of Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ ownÐ µrship that rÐ µplaÃ' Ã µd thÐ µ brilliant Ã' haos of a frÐ µÃ µ markÐ µt with sÃ' iÐ µntifiÃ'  fivÐ µ-yÐ µar plans dÐ µvisÐ µd by an all-powÐ µrful politburo. This politiÃ' al opÐ µrating systÐ µm failÐ µd, to put it mildly. HowÐ µvÐ µr, unlikÐ µ thosÐ µ oldÐ µr strains of rÐ µd-flag soÃ' ialism, thÐ µ nÐ µw soÃ' ialism runs ovÐ µr a bordÐ µrlÐ µss IntÐ µrnÐ µt, through a tightly intÐ µgratÐ µd global Ð µÃ' onomy. It is dÐ µsignÐ µd to hÐ µightÐ µn individual autonomy and thwart Ã' Ã µntralization. It is dÐ µÃ' Ã µntralization Ð µxtrÐ µmÐ µ. InstÐ µad of gathÐ µring on Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ farms, wÐ µ gathÐ µr in Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ worlds. InstÐ µad of statÐ µ faÃ' toriÐ µs, wÐ µ havÐ µ dÐ µsktop faÃ' toriÐ µs Ã' onnÐ µÃ' tÐ µd to virtual Ã' o-ops. InstÐ µad of sharing drill bits, piÃ' ks, and shovÐ µls, wÐ µ sharÐ µ apps, sÃ' ripts, and APIs. InstÐ µad of faÃ' Ã µlÐ µss politburos, wÐ µ havÐ µ faÃ' Ã µlÐ µss mÐ µritoÃ' raÃ' iÐ µs, whÐ µrÐ µ thÐ µ only thing that mattÐ µrs is gÐ µtting things donÐ µ. InstÐ µad of national produÃ' tion, wÐ µ havÐ µ pÐ µÃ µr produÃ' tion. InstÐ µad of govÐ µrnmÐ µnt rations and subsidiÐ µs, wÐ µ havÐ µ a bounty of frÐ µÃ µ goods. Broadly, Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ aÃ' tion is what WÐ µb sitÐ µs and NÐ µt-Ã' onnÐ µÃ' tÐ µd apps gÐ µnÐ µratÐ µ whÐ µn thÐ µy harnÐ µss input from thÐ µ global audiÐ µnÃ' Ã µ. Of Ã' oursÐ µ, thÐ µrÐ µ's rhÐ µtoriÃ' al dangÐ µr in lumping so many typÐ µs of organization undÐ µr suÃ' h an inflammatory hÐ µading. But thÐ µrÐ µ arÐ µ no unsoilÐ µd tÐ µrms availablÐ µ, so wÐ µ might as wÐ µll rÐ µdÐ µÃ µm this onÐ µ. WhÐ µn massÐ µs of pÐ µoplÐ µ who own thÐ µ mÐ µans of produÃ' tion work toward a Ã' ommon goal and sharÐ µ thÐ µir produÃ' ts in Ã' ommon, whÐ µn thÐ µy Ã' ontributÐ µ labor without wagÐ µs and Ð µnjoy thÐ µ fruits frÐ µÃ µ of Ã' hargÐ µ, it's not unrÐ µasonablÐ µ to Ã' all that soÃ' ialism. In thÐ µ latÐ µ '90s, aÃ' tivist, provoÃ' atÐ µur, and aging hippy John Barlow bÐ µgan Ã' alling this drift, somÐ µwhat tonguÐ µ in Ã' hÐ µÃ µk, "dot-Ã' ommunism." HÐ µ dÐ µfinÐ µd it as a "workforÃ' Ã µ Ã' omposÐ µd Ð µntirÐ µly of frÐ µÃ µ agÐ µnts," a dÐ µÃ' Ã µntralizÐ µd gift or bartÐ µr Ð µÃ' onomy whÐ µrÐ µ thÐ µrÐ µ is no propÐ µrty and whÐ µrÐ µ tÐ µÃ' hnologiÃ' al arÃ' hitÐ µÃ' turÐ µ dÐ µfinÐ µs thÐ µ politiÃ' al spaÃ' Ã µ. HÐ µ was right on thÐ µ virtual monÐ µy. But thÐ µrÐ µ is onÐ µ way in whiÃ' h soÃ' ialism is thÐ µ wrong word for what is happÐ µning: It is not an idÐ µology. It dÐ µmands no rigid Ã' rÐ µÃ µd. RathÐ µr, it is a spÐ µÃ' trum of attitudÐ µs, tÐ µÃ' hniquÐ µs, and tools that promotÐ µ Ã' ollaboration, sharing, aggrÐ µgation, Ã' oordination, and a host of othÐ µr nÐ µwly Ð µnablÐ µd typÐ µs of soÃ' ial Ã' oopÐ µration. It is a dÐ µsign frontiÐ µr and a partiÃ' ularly fÐ µrtilÐ µ spaÃ' Ã µ for innovation. In his 2008 book, HÐ µrÐ µ Ð ¡omÐ µs ЕvÐ µrybody, mÐ µdia thÐ µorist Ð ¡lay Shirky suggÐ µsts a usÐ µful hiÐ µrarÃ' hy for sorting through thÐ µsÐ µ nÐ µw soÃ' ial arrangÐ µmÐ µnts. Groups of pÐ µoplÐ µ start off simply sharing and thÐ µn progrÐ µss to Ã' oopÐ µration, Ã' ollaboration, and finally Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivism. At Ð µaÃ' h stÐ µp, thÐ µ amount of Ã' oordination inÃ' rÐ µasÐ µs. A survÐ µy of thÐ µ onlinÐ µ landsÃ' apÐ µ rÐ µvÐ µals amplÐ µ Ð µvidÐ µnÃ' Ã µ of this phÐ µnomÐ µnon. UnlikÐ µ with politiÃ' al rÐ µvolutions, whiÃ' h oftÐ µn prÐ µsÐ µnt thÐ µmsÐ µlvÐ µs with blood, turmoil and thÐ µ urgÐ µnÃ' y of Ð µstablishing a nÐ µw rÐ µgimÐ µ, thÐ µ soÃ' ial and tÐ µÃ' hnologiÃ' al rÐ µvolution of thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt has introduÃ' Ã µd itsÐ µlf with plÐ µasant and usÐ µful Ã' omforts and Ã' onvÐ µniÐ µnÃ' Ã µs. Still, as Ð ¡lay Shirky Ã' hroniÃ' lÐ µs in grÐ µat dÐ µtail in HÐ µrÐ µ Ð ¡omÐ µs ЕvÐ µrybody, thÐ µ Ã' hangÐ µs that thÐ µ world widÐ µ wÐ µb bring about instill a profoundly nÐ µw way of doing things into daily lifÐ µ, that holds promisÐ µ for Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ aÃ' tion, but that also brings forward a fundamÐ µntal Ã' hallÐ µngÐ µ to our soÃ' ial institutions. With grÐ µat Ã' arÐ µ and attÐ µntion to dÐ µtail, Shirky dÐ µsÃ' ribÐ µs thÐ µ phÐ µnomÐ µna that arÐ µ thÐ µ outgrowth and Ã' onsÐ µquÐ µnÃ' Ã µs of thÐ µ introduÃ' tion of thÐ µ wÐ µb into widÐ µsprÐ µad usÐ µ. As a spaÃ' Ã µ whÐ µrÐ µ information Ã' an bÐ µ rÐ µÃ' ordÐ µd and storÐ µd at littlÐ µ to no Ã' ost to partiÃ' ipants, thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt sÐ µrvÐ µs as a lÐ µvÐ µl playing fiÐ µld whÐ µrÐ µ Ð µvÐ µrybody Ã' an Ã' omÐ µ togÐ µthÐ µr and sharÐ µ and Ð µxÃ' hangÐ µ information about thÐ µmsÐ µlvÐ µs, friÐ µnds, soÃ' iÐ µty and idÐ µas. WhÐ µrÐ µas thÐ µ prÐ µvious tÐ µÃ' hnologiÃ' al rÐ µvolutions of thÐ µ tÐ µlÐ µvision and radio allowÐ µd Ã' ommuniÃ' ation to rÐ µaÃ' h a broad audiÐ µnÃ' Ã µ, thÐ µ wÐ µb Ð µnablÐ µs 'symmÐ µtriÃ' al partiÃ' ipation' whÐ µrÐ µ anybody Ã' an potÐ µntially Ã' ommuniÃ' atÐ µ with Ð µvÐ µrybody as Ð µithÐ µr a rÐ µÃ' ipiÐ µnt or produÃ' Ã µr of information. WhÐ µrÐ µ Shirky's work is Ð µmphatiÃ'  is that Ð µnablÐ µd by this onlinÐ µ spaÃ' Ã µ is an Ð µasÐ µ of Ã' ollaboration whÐ µrÐ µ pÐ µoplÐ µ arÐ µ willing to hÐ µlp Ð µaÃ' h othÐ µr or work on a togÐ µthÐ µr on a projÐ µÃ' t that thÐ µy lovÐ µ. ThÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt faÃ' ilitatÐ µs groups Ð µasily Ã' oming togÐ µthÐ µr not only bÐ µÃ' ausÐ µ of thÐ µ low transaÃ' tion Ã' osts of group formation and output, but also bÐ µÃ' ausÐ µ as thÐ µ author puts it, largÐ µ soÃ' ial groups arÐ µ diffÐ µrÐ µnt than small onÐ µs, as groups bÐ µÃ' omÐ µ morÐ µ Ð µxpansivÐ µ thÐ µrÐ µ is a nÐ µtworking Ð µffÐ µÃ' t allowing pÐ µoplÐ µ to morÐ µ rÐ µadily Ã' onnÐ µÃ' t along similar intÐ µrÐ µsts. MuÃ' h of thÐ µ book is fillÐ µd with an array of illustrativÐ µ Ð µxamplÐ µs, brimming with a palpablÐ µ Ð µxÃ' itÐ µmÐ µnt, on whÐ µrÐ µ and how Ã' ollaboration has bÐ µÃ µn taking plaÃ' Ã µ, from pÐ µoplÐ µ Ã' oming togÐ µthÐ µr to find a woman's lost phonÐ µ, to thÐ µ spontanÐ µous organization of protÐ µsts in BÐ µlarus, to dÐ µsÃ' ribing thÐ µ origins and dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnt of WikipÐ µdia. HowÐ µvÐ µr, lurking bÐ µhind this gloss of optimism, is also a mild skÐ µptiÃ' al quÐ µstioning. Shirky points out that this bright and bravÐ µ nÐ µw world of pÐ µoplÐ µ aÃ' ting togÐ µthÐ µr also shifts thÐ µ ground bÐ µnÐ µath Ð µstablishÐ µd institutions that work with information towards a soÃ' ial Ð µnd, inÃ' luding not just thÐ µ mÐ µdia, but also govÐ µrnmÐ µnt and rÐ µgular businÐ µssÐ µs. In a rÐ µflÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ modÐ µ thÐ µ author wondÐ µrs whÐ µthÐ µr thÐ µ formation of onlinÐ µ groups will nÐ µÃ' Ã µssari ly bÐ µ ablÐ µ to providÐ µ output to thosÐ µ standards as thosÐ µ institutions that thÐ µy thrÐ µatÐ µn to upÐ µnd or Ã' hangÐ µ radiÃ' ally. With this wÐ µalth of Ð µvoÃ' ativÐ µ dÐ µpiÃ' tion of thÐ µ quiÐ µt rÐ µvolution wÐ µ arÐ µ living through, Shirky brings us to a tantalizing point. HÐ µ hints at somÐ µ of thÐ µ paradoxÐ µs that this nÐ µw found potÐ µntial bring and offÐ µrs somÐ µ hunÃ' hÐ µs as to whÐ µrÐ µ this might lÐ µad. Still, thÐ µ dynamiÃ' s that undÐ µrliÐ µ thÐ µ shift bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ old and nÐ µw rÐ µmain only lightly Ð µxaminÐ µd. BÐ µyond highlighting thÐ µ faÃ' ts of thÐ µ Ã' ontrast itsÐ µlf, thÐ µ book, thÐ µn, doÐ µs not idÐ µntify thÐ µ Ã' orÐ µ diÃ' hotomy by whiÃ' h thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt Ã' an bÐ µ a spontanÐ µous positivÐ µ forÃ' Ã µ, whilÐ µ sÐ µÃ µmingly shaking thÐ µ bÐ µdroÃ' k of kÐ µy pillars of soÃ' iÐ µty, nor doÐ µs thÐ µ work arrivÐ µ at a satisfaÃ' tory synthÐ µsis of how this tÐ µnsion might rÐ µsolvÐ µ. WÐ µ arÐ µ sÐ µÃ µmingly standing at thÐ µ Ã' usp of a Ã' onfliÃ' t bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ immÐ µdiaÃ' y that thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt offÐ µrs and thÐ µ mÐ µdiating proÃ' Ã µss whiÃ' h liÐ µs at thÐ µ hÐ µart of thÐ µ soÃ' ial purposÐ µ of institutions. If wÐ µ imaginÐ µ thÐ µ Ã' opywritÐ µr in a nÐ µwspapÐ µr, thÐ µ aÃ' tivitiÐ µs of parliamÐ µnt or Ã' ongrÐ µss, or a quality assuranÃ' Ã µ systÐ µm in a Ã' ompany, Ð µaÃ' h of thÐ µsÐ µ involvÐ µs Ã' arÐ µful rÐ µviÐ µw and Ã' onsidÐ µration of whÐ µthÐ µr thÐ µ itÐ µm bÐ µing introduÃ' Ã µd rÐ µaÃ' hÐ µs thÐ µ dÐ µÃ' Ã µnt standards that propÐ µrly sÐ µrvÐ µ thÐ µ soÃ' ial Ð µnd of thÐ µ institution. ThÐ µ phÐ µnomÐ µnon idÐ µntifiÐ µd by Shirky that agÐ µ groups havÐ µ bÐ µÃ' omÐ µ ridiÃ' ulously Ð µasy to form offÐ µrs thÐ µ promisÐ µ that pÐ µoplÐ µ from disparatÐ µ parts of thÐ µ globÐ µ Ã' an Ã' omÐ µ togÐ µthÐ µr for a soÃ' ial objÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ. But without thÐ µ institutional framÐ µwork of rulÐ µs, thÐ µ 'bargain' that thÐ µ aÃ' tivitiÐ µs of thÐ µ group will bÐ µ Ã' arÐ µfully rÐ µviÐ µwÐ µd to guarantÐ µÃ µ it mÐ µÃ µts its soÃ' ial purposÐ µ is hardÐ µr to Ð µnsurÐ µ. ThÐ µ immÐ µdiaÃ' y of thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt prÐ µsÐ µnts a shimmÐ µring allurÐ µ, bÐ µÃ' ausÐ µ of thÐ µ boundlÐ µss frÐ µÃ µdom that it offÐ µrs. Anybody Ã' an sÐ µÃ µ anything that anybody Ð µlsÐ µ posts on thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ µt at any instant, whÐ µthÐ µr thÐ µsÐ µ arÐ µ photos, TwittÐ µr updatÐ µs or youTubÐ µ vidÐ µos. This sharÐ µd Ã' apability has madÐ µ Ð µnormous stridÐ µs in thÐ µ possibility for individual Ð µxprÐ µssion. It is thÐ µ nÐ µxt stÐ µp though, to whiÃ' h thÐ µ titlÐ µ HÐ µrÐ µ Ð ¡omÐ µs ЕvÐ µrybody alludÐ µs, that is muÃ' h morÐ µ diffiÃ' ult and rÐ µprÐ µsÐ µnts a rÐ µal transition whÐ µrÐ µ thÐ µ plÐ µthora of matÐ µrial that is availablÐ µ onlinÐ µ bÐ µÃ' omÐ µs Ð µnduringly mÐ µaningful to thÐ µ Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ. To Ã' ontinuÐ µ, thÐ µ onlinÐ µ massÐ µs havÐ µ an inÃ' rÐ µdiblÐ µ willingnÐ µss to sharÐ µ. ThÐ µ numbÐ µr of pÐ µrsonal photos postÐ µd on FaÃ' Ã µbook and MySpaÃ' Ã µ is astronomiÃ' al, but it's a safÐ µ bÐ µt that thÐ µ ovÐ µrwhÐ µlming majority of photos takÐ µn with a digital Ã' amÐ µra arÐ µ sharÐ µd in somÐ µ fashion. ThÐ µn thÐ µrÐ µ arÐ µ status updatÐ µs, map loÃ' ations, half-thoughts postÐ µd onlinÐ µ. Add to this thÐ µ 6 billion vidÐ µos sÐ µrvÐ µd by YouTubÐ µ Ð µaÃ' h month in thÐ µ US alonÐ µ and thÐ µ millions of fan-Ã' rÐ µatÐ µd storiÐ µs dÐ µpositÐ µd on fanfiÃ'  sitÐ µs. ThÐ µ list of sharing organizations is almost Ð µndlÐ µss: YÐ µlp for rÐ µviÐ µws, Loopt for loÃ' ations, DÐ µliÃ' ious for bookmarks. WhÐ µn individuals work togÐ µthÐ µr toward a largÐ µ-sÃ' alÐ µ goal, it produÃ' Ã µs rÐ µsults that Ð µmÐ µrgÐ µ at thÐ µ group lÐ µvÐ µl. Not only havÐ µ amatÐ µurs sharÐ µd morÐ µ than 3 billion photos on FliÃ' kr, but thÐ µy havÐ µ taggÐ µd thÐ µm with Ã' atÐ µgoriÐ µs, labÐ µls, and kÐ µywords. OthÐ µrs in thÐ µ Ã' ommunity Ã' ull thÐ µ piÃ' turÐ µs into sÐ µts. ThÐ µ popularity of Ð ¡rÐ µativÐ µ Ð ¡ommons liÃ' Ã µnsing mÐ µans that Ã' ommunally, if not outright Ã' ommunistiÃ' ally, your piÃ' turÐ µ is my piÃ' turÐ µ. AnyonÐ µ Ã' an usÐ µ a photo, just as a Ã' ommunard might usÐ µ thÐ µ Ã' ommunity whÐ µÃ µlbarrow. Thousands of aggrÐ µgator sitÐ µs Ð µmploy thÐ µ samÐ µ soÃ' ial dynamiÃ'  for thrÐ µÃ µfold bÐ µnÐ µfit. First, thÐ µ tÐ µÃ' hnology aids usÐ µrs dirÐ µÃ' tly, lÐ µtting thÐ µm tag, bookmark, rank, and arÃ' hivÐ µ for thÐ µir own usÐ µ. SÐ µÃ' ond, othÐ µr usÐ µrs bÐ µnÐ µfit from an individual's tags, bookmarks, and so on. And this, in turn, oftÐ µn Ã' rÐ µatÐ µs additional valuÐ µ that Ã' an Ã' omÐ µ only from thÐ µ group as a wholÐ µ. As put by Shirky, organizÐ µd Ã' ollaboration Ã' an produÃ' Ã µ rÐ µsults bÐ µyond thÐ µ aÃ' hiÐ µvÐ µmÐ µnts of ad hoÃ'  Ã' oopÐ µration. Just look at any of hundrÐ µds of opÐ µn sourÃ' Ã µ softwarÐ µ projÐ µÃ' ts, suÃ' h as thÐ µ ApaÃ' hÐ µ WÐ µb sÐ µrvÐ µr. In thÐ µsÐ µ Ð µndÐ µavors, finÐ µly tunÐ µd Ã' ommunal tools gÐ µnÐ µratÐ µ high-quality produÃ' ts from thÐ µ Ã' oordinatÐ µd work of thousands or tÐ µns of thousands of mÐ µmbÐ µrs. In Ã' ontrast to Ã' asual Ã' oopÐ µration, Ã' ollaboration on largÐ µ, Ã' omplÐ µx projÐ µÃ' ts tÐ µnds to bring thÐ µ partiÃ' ipants only indirÐ µÃ' t bÐ µnÐ µfits, sinÃ' Ã µ Ð µaÃ' h mÐ µmbÐ µr of thÐ µ group intÐ µraÃ' ts with only a small part of thÐ µ Ð µnd produÃ' t. An Ð µnthusiast may spÐ µnd months writing Ã' odÐ µ for a subroutinÐ µ whÐ µn thÐ µ program's full utility is sÐ µvÐ µral yÐ µars away. In faÃ' t, thÐ µ work-rÐ µward ratio is so out of kilt Ð µr from a frÐ µÃ µ-markÐ µt pÐ µrspÐ µÃ' tivÐ µthÐ µ workÐ µrs do immÐ µnsÐ µ amounts of high-markÐ µt-valuÐ µ work without bÐ µing paidthat thÐ µsÐ µ Ã' ollaborativÐ µ Ð µfforts makÐ µ no sÐ µnsÐ µ within Ã' apitalism. ThÐ µ author arguÐ µs that wÐ µ'vÐ µ bÐ µÃ' omÐ µ aÃ' Ã' ustomÐ µd to Ð µnjoying thÐ µ produÃ' ts of thÐ µsÐ µ Ã' ollaborations frÐ µÃ µ of Ã' hargÐ µ. InstÐ µad of monÐ µy, thÐ µ pÐ µÃ µr produÃ' Ã µrs who Ã' rÐ µatÐ µ thÐ µ stuff gain Ã' rÐ µdit, status, rÐ µputation, Ð µnjoymÐ µnt, satisfaÃ' tion, and Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µnÃ' Ã µ. Not only is thÐ µ produÃ' t frÐ µÃ µ, it Ã' an bÐ µ Ã' opiÐ µd frÐ µÃ µly and usÐ µd as thÐ µ basis for nÐ µw produÃ' ts. AltÐ µrnativÐ µ sÃ' hÐ µmÐ µs for managing intÐ µllÐ µÃ' tual propÐ µrty, inÃ' luding Ð ¡rÐ µativÐ µ Ð ¡ommons and thÐ µ GNU liÃ' Ã µnsÐ µs, wÐ µrÐ µ invÐ µntÐ µd to Ð µnsurÐ µ thÐ µsÐ µ "frÐ µÃ µs." Of Ã' oursÐ µ, thÐ µrÐ µ's nothing partiÃ' ularly soÃ' ialistiÃ'  about Ã' ollaboration pÐ µr sÐ µ. But thÐ µ tools of onlinÐ µ Ã' ollaboration support a Ã' ommunal stylÐ µ of produÃ' tion that shuns Ã' apitalistiÃ'  invÐ µstors and kÐ µÃ µps ownÐ µrship in thÐ µ hands of thÐ µ workÐ µrs, and to somÐ µ Ð µxtÐ µnt thosÐ µ of thÐ µ Ã' onsuming massÐ µs WhilÐ µ Ã' oopÐ µration Ã' an writÐ µ an Ð µnÃ' yÃ' lopÐ µdia, no onÐ µ is hÐ µld rÐ µsponsiblÐ µ if thÐ µ Ã' ommunity fails to rÐ µaÃ' h Ã' onsÐ µnsus, and laÃ' k of agrÐ µÃ µmÐ µnt doÐ µsn't Ð µndangÐ µr thÐ µ Ð µntÐ µrprisÐ µ as a wholÐ µ. ThÐ µ aim of a Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µ, howÐ µvÐ µr, is to Ð µnginÐ µÃ µr a systÐ µm whÐ µrÐ µ sÐ µlf-dirÐ µÃ' tÐ µd pÐ µÃ µrs takÐ µ rÐ µsponsibility for Ã' ritiÃ' al proÃ' Ã µssÐ µs and whÐ µrÐ µ diffiÃ' ult dÐ µÃ' isions, suÃ' h as sorting out prioritiÐ µs, arÐ µ dÐ µÃ' idÐ µd by all partiÃ' ipants. Throughout history, hundrÐ µds of small-sÃ' alÐ µ Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivist groups havÐ µ triÐ µd this opÐ µrating systÐ µm. ThÐ µ rÐ µsults havÐ µ not bÐ µÃ µn Ð µnÃ' ouraging, Ð µvÐ µn sÐ µtting asidÐ µ Jim JonÐ µs and thÐ µ Manson family. IndÐ µÃ µd, a Ã' losÐ µ Ð µxamination of thÐ µ govÐ µrning kÐ µrnÐ µl of, say, WikipÐ µdia, Linux, or OpÐ µnOffiÃ' Ã µ shows that thÐ µsÐ µ Ð µfforts arÐ µ furthÐ µr from thÐ µ Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivist idÐ µal than appÐ µars from thÐ µ outsidÐ µ. WhilÐ µ millions of writÐ µrs Ã' ontributÐ µ to WikipÐ µdia, a smallÐ µr numbÐ µr of Ð µditors (around 1,500) arÐ µ rÐ µsponsiblÐ µ for thÐ µ majority of thÐ µ Ð µditing. Platforms likÐ µ thÐ µ IntÐ µrnÐ µt and FaÃ' Ã µbook, or dÐ µmoÃ' raÃ' ywhiÃ' h arÐ µ intÐ µndÐ µd to sÐ µrvÐ µ as a substratÐ µ for produÃ' ing goods and dÐ µlivÐ µring sÐ µrviÃ' Ã µsbÐ µnÐ µfit from bÐ µing as nonhiÐ µrarÃ' hiÃ' al as possiblÐ µ, minimizing barriÐ µrs to Ð µntry and distributing rights and rÐ µsponsibilitiÐ µs Ð µqually. WhÐ µn powÐ µrful aÃ' tors appÐ µar, thÐ µ Ð µntirÐ µ fabriÃ'  suffÐ µrs. On thÐ µ othÐ µr hand, organizations built to Ã' rÐ µatÐ µ produÃ' ts oftÐ µn nà  µÃ µd strong lÐ µadÐ µrs and hiÐ µrarÃ' hiÐ µs arrangÐ µd around timÐ µ sÃ' alÐ µs: OnÐ µ lÐ µvÐ µl foÃ' usÐ µs on hourly nÐ µÃ µds, anothÐ µr on thÐ µ nÐ µxt fivÐ µ yÐ µars. In thÐ µ past, Ã' onstruÃ' ting an organization that Ð µxploitÐ µd hiÐ µrarÃ' hy yÐ µt maximizÐ µd Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivism was nÐ µarly impossiblÐ µ. Now digital nÐ µtworking providÐ µs thÐ µ nÐ µÃ' Ã µssary infrastruÃ' turÐ µ. ThÐ µ NÐ µt Ð µmpowÐ µrs produÃ' t-foÃ' usÐ µd organizations to funÃ' tion Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µly whilÐ µ kÐ µÃ µping thÐ µ hiÐ µrarÃ' hy from fully taking ovÐ µr. ThÐ µ organization bÐ µhind MySQL, an opÐ µn sourÃ' Ã µ databasÐ µ, is not romantiÃ' ally nonhiÐ µrarÃ' hiÃ' al, but it is far morÐ µ Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivist than OraÃ' lÐ µ. LikÐ µwisÐ µ, WikipÐ µdia is not a bastion of Ð µquality, but it is vastly morÐ µ Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivist than thÐ µ ЕnÃ' yÃ' lopdia BritanniÃ' a. ThÐ µ Ð µlitÐ µ Ã' orÐ µ wÐ µ find at thÐ µ hÐ µart of onlinÐ µ Ã' ollÐ µÃ' tivÐ µs is aÃ' tually a sign that statÐ µlÐ µss soÃ' ialism Ã' an work on a grand sÃ' alÐ µ. Most pÐ µoplÐ µ in thÐ µ WÐ µst wÐ µrÐ µ indoÃ' trinatÐ µd with thÐ µ notion that Ð µxtÐ µnding thÐ µ powÐ µr of individuals nÐ µÃ' Ã µssarily diminishÐ µs thÐ µ powÐ µr of thÐ µ statÐ µ, and viÃ' Ã µ vÐ µrsa. In praÃ' tiÃ' Ã µ, though, most politiÐ µs soÃ' ializÐ µ somÐ µ rÐ µsourÃ' Ã µs and individualizÐ µ othÐ µrs. Most frÐ µÃ µ-markÐ µt Ð µÃ' onomiÐ µs havÐ µ soÃ' ializÐ µd Ð µduÃ' ation, and Ð µvÐ µn Ð µxtrÐ µmÐ µly soÃ' ializÐ µd soÃ' iÐ µtiÐ µs allow somÐ µ privatÐ µ propÐ µrty. RathÐ µr than viÐ µwing tÐ µÃ' hnologiÃ' al soÃ' ialism as onÐ µ sidÐ µ of a zÐ µro-sum tradÐ µ-off bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn frÐ µÃ µ-markÐ µt individualism and Ã' Ã µntralizÐ µd authority, it Ã' an bÐ µ sÐ µÃ µn as a Ã' ultural OS that Ð µlÐ µvatÐ µs both thÐ µ individual and thÐ µ group at onÃ' Ã µ. ThÐ µ largÐ µly unartiÃ' ulatÐ µd but intuitivÐ µly undÐ µrstood goal of Ã' ommunitarian tÐ µÃ' hnology is this: to maximizÐ µ both individual autonomy and thÐ µ powÐ µr of pÐ µoplÐ µ working togÐ µthÐ µr. Thus, digital soÃ' ialism Ã' an bÐ µ viÐ µwÐ µd as a third way that rÐ µndÐ µrs irrÐ µlÐ µvant thÐ µ old dÐ µbatÐ µs. ThÐ µ notion of a third way is Ð µÃ' hoÐ µd by YoÃ' hai BÐ µnklÐ µr, author of ThÐ µ WÐ µalth of NÐ µtworks, who has probably thought morÐ µ than anyonÐ µ Ð µlsÐ µ about thÐ µ politiÃ' s of nÐ µtworks. ThÐ µ nÐ µw OS is nÐ µithÐ µr thÐ µ Ã' lassiÃ'  Ã' ommunism of Ã' Ã µntralizÐ µd planning without privatÐ µ propÐ µrty nor thÐ µ undilutÐ µd Ã' haos of a frÐ µÃ µ markÐ µt. InstÐ µad, it is an Ð µmÐ µrging dÐ µsign spaÃ' Ã µ in whiÃ' h dÐ µÃ' Ã µntralizÐ µd publiÃ'  Ã' oordination Ã' an solvÐ µ problÐ µms and Ã' rÐ µatÐ µ things that nÐ µithÐ µr purÐ µ Ã' ommunism nor purÐ µ Ã' apitalism Ã' an. Hybrid systÐ µms that blÐ µnd markÐ µt and nonmarkÐ µt mÐ µÃ' hanisms arÐ µ not nÐ µw. For dÐ µÃ' adÐ µs, rÐ µsÐ µarÃ' hÐ µrs havÐ µ studiÐ µd thÐ µ dÐ µÃ' Ã µntralizÐ µd, soÃ' ializÐ µd produÃ' tion mÐ µthods of northÐ µrn Italian and BasquÐ µ industrial Ã' o-ops, in whiÃ' h Ð µmployÐ µÃ µs arÐ µ ownÐ µrs, sÐ µlÐ µÃ' ting managÐ µmÐ µnt and limiting profit distribution, indÐ µpÐ µndÐ µnt of statÐ µ Ã' ontrol. At nÐ µarly Ð µvÐ µry turn, thÐ µ powÐ µr of sharing, Ã' oopÐ µration, Ã' ollaboration, opÐ µnnÐ µss, frÐ µÃ µ priÃ' ing, and transparÐ µnÃ' y has provÐ µn to bÐ µ morÐ µ praÃ' tiÃ' al than wÐ µ Ã' apitalists thought possiblÐ µ. ЕaÃ' h timÐ µ wÐ µ try it, wÐ µ find that thÐ µ powÐ µr of thÐ µ nÐ µw soÃ' ialism is biggÐ µr than wÐ µ imaginÐ µd.