Lit review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Lit review - Essay Example 000 as command center for the acquisition of equipment and supplies of all the armed services – RAF, Navy and ground forces – representing a major restructuring in defense culture and processes. This major command was created precisely to improve logistics acquisition by moving from a functional to a project-based organizational structure. Under the DLO, a total of 144 Integrated Project Teams were organized, one for each type of military equipment and supplies. Each IPT has its own set of assembly staff, logisticians, engineers, contractors and financial team, operating much like a business organization. Lysons, K. and Farrington, B. (2006)note that the Purchasing and Supply Chain Management (PSCM) concept was started in February 2001 to reduce costs as soon as possible and improve overall performance by addressing the following concerns: supplies concerns consumable items or those equipment components that can be easily repaired. Even in the US Air Force, the difficulty of finding cheap consumable parts is blamed for 40 per cent of aircraft downtime. To handle this specific problem, the IPTs created the positions of supply Range Managers (RMs) under its wing to exclusively attend to the problem of high procurement costs. In effect, the Range Managers were handed the decision-making task of finding the methods of procurement and selection of suppliers that would translate into cost-efficient defense spending. As decision-makers, the Range Managers are expected to formulate measures that would cut costs and make their organization more efficient and viable. But the task of making decisions for an organization is not as easy as it seems. Any organization is a technical instrument for mobilizing human energies and directing them toward set goals. Janczak, 2005. The main function of the organization is decision-making which entails planning, evaluating and implementing. These decision-making processes may be disrupted by petty politics and

Gender and Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender and Language - Essay Example The farmer did get his drink but with an enormous lecture on the benefits of self-help. Is there a meeting point where members of the opposite sex could meet and communicate intelligibly There is the possibility. However, the possibility could come with a heavy rejoinder. The woman may ask for complete modification before seeing the set. The problem does not lie with the woman or the man. The problem is the age-old communication that has different people saying different things but understanding little. The man hardly will say anything. The woman has said all she wanted and also ensured that the cake remain with her. The husband, a listless individual, said little or nothing and scarcely knew the cake that existed. The problem is not with the man who does not talk or the wife who has not only told her version but included her husband's as well. The problem is in understanding the genders. Man is made to say something or nothing. Woman, on the other hand, is made to talk her head off. It does not matter if the man is not listening. Women are primarily different from men. You can have a bunch of women all talking together. You would not know who is talking and who is listening. But the conversation goes ahead in full blast and nobody is tired. This is because women are attuned to each other in such a way that makes listening easier. Women are also more thorough and systematic. ... A woman will dive deep within the ocean to explore the seabed. The man will hardly scour the surface if he finds nothing of value in the ocean. Language By and large, women are soft spoken and observant. Comparatively, men are brash and may not even know what they are talking about. Consider this: Woman (to her child): Honey, did you have breakfast Child: No mum, not yet. Woman: What would you like to have Scrambled eggs or cheese sandwich Child: Cheese sandwich Woman: I will have it ready by the time you finish your bath Now let us have a man talk to the same child. Man: Good morning! Child: Good morning, dad! Man: Have you had breakfast Child: No! The conversation stops. The man knows the breakfast will be served by the child's mother. He does not bother carrying on with the conversation. Now let us go to a more aggressive scenario. This concerns a wife-beater and the victim. The victim is in a more advantageous position because her conscience is clear. Because her conscience is clear she is in better position to think and speak clearly. The wife-beater normally lacks sense and is laden with guilt. The victim has the option to face off. The wife-beater has no such option. In this scenario who is better of Is it the wife-beater or the victim Under the gaze of a third person, the wife is better of. The man will crouch for safety if his actions come under the glare of a third person. Gender and Language If seen in the right perspective, gender and language form fluent, complementary roles between the opposite sexes. It shows the man as the strong and caring personality as against the slender and dependent role of the woman. It is quite natural for man to be strong and supportive and for the woman to be

Business plan for the Proposed AfroCare Restaurant in Allerton, Essay

Business plan for the Proposed AfroCare Restaurant in Allerton, Liverpool - Essay Example The researcher states that the name of the proposed Afro-Caribbean Restaurant shall be AfroCare Restaurant. It will be based in the Allerton borough approximately 4.8 kilometres from the city centre of Liverpool. AfroCare Restaurant will specialize in the preparation of Afro-Caribbean dishes including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ideally, this business envisions a large market with mixed customer base incorporating mainly the British Afro-Caribbean community residing in the suburbs of Liverpool and its environs including the Hunt Cross and Calderstones Park. On the other hand AfroCare Restaurant will also incorporate a wide range of fast foods and customized drinks at affordable prices suitable for the vast majority of college students living around Allerton. While the business is set to roll out by the end of this year 2012, it looks forward to capture a market share of about 60% by the close of Year 1. The projection is based on the fact that there are no restaurants in Allerton wh ich have specialized in Afro-Caribbean dishes. However, it is prominently argued that the few that prepare Afro-Caribbean foods have recorded remarkable increase in customers and thus an improved attributable revenue performance. In terms of capacity, AfroCare Restaurant will be established in a spacious facility along the Allerton Road with an optimal sitting capacity of 200 heads. At full occupancy, the restaurant projects sales revenue of about  £9,000 per day. ?9,000 per day. This translates to an AfroCare annual return of ?3.24 million. If the business therefore realizes at least 60% customer base, it will manage an annual revenue performance of ?1,944,000 at the end of Year 1. To that end, the proponent of this venture has set aside a starting capital of ?300,000 with an estimated reinvestment rate of 10% on the cost of capital (Taylor and Brown, 2003). Thus, AfroCare Restaurant envisions the attainment of a full capacity by the second quarter of Year 2. The business and its Management Proper management is one of the core elements of every business especially when competition as a factor to consider. Guided by a realistic vision and SMART objective, the management of any enterprise defines the overall stricter and operational dynamics of the business as reiterated by (Toren and Adam, 2011). AfroCare Restaurant will basically be a sole proprietorship company with limited liability. As such, the manger will reserve exclusive authority of the operations of the business while taking into account the possibility of outsourced expertise in Food and Beverage Management in line with common practice in the modern world (Boone and Kurtz, D. (2010). With that in mind, AfroCare Restaurant endeavours to set an exceptional and unmatched standard in the provision of Afro-Caribbean dishes beyond the expectations of our customers. Therefore, its operations and service delivery shall always be inclined toward achieving the following vision and objectives. Vision Primari ly, a vision refers to the main goal that an organization seeks to achieve over a predetermined period of time. Whereas the vision governs the operational efforts of an enterprise, it keeps the business in focus at all times as postulated by (Liebig, 1994; Walters, 2011) The vision of AfroCare Restaurant is to be the best service provider of Afro-Caribbean foods across Liverpool and beyond. Mission According to Shane (2003), a mission refers to the basic philosophy on which the daily activities of an organization are

Jollibee Case Study Essay Example for Free

Jollibee Case Study Essay 1. Introduction Anil K. Gupta and Vijay Govindarajan argue in their article, â€Å"Knowledge flows and the structure of control within multinational corporations†, that mainly all previous research on strategic control within multinational companies (MNCs) has paid attention to why these choose to go abroad. They instead argue that for successful offshore business, one must understand how communication flows within the different sub-units of the organization. As Jollibee Foods Corporation considers whether they should establish a fourth store in Hong Kong, it faces several challenges. One of the main challenges regards knowledge transfer between its Filipino facilities and the newly established ones abroad. It is therefore relevant to look at the following research question: What consequences does the current â€Å"strategic control over its subsidiaries† have on the knowledge transfer between the Jollibee headquarters on the Philippines and the offshore Jollibee Food plants in Hong Kong? In answering the research question, we will start by explaining the framework of Gupta Govindarajan’s (1991) on different kinds of subsidiaries, with attention paid to knowledge transfer and their related control instruments. Further we will examine what kind of challenges Jollibee Foods Corporation is facing with its expansion to Hong Kong. Finally, the above analysis will provide us with information about the existing opportunities on the Chinese market and will enable us to suggest a reconstruction of the offshore business in Hong Kong to make it more successful. Jollibee meets several tasks in their offshoring project, but due to space limitation there will in this paper only be focus on two selected challenges, the challenges of adjusting to Chinese taste and their management structure. 2. Jollibee Foods Construction and its strategic control over its subsidiary in Hong-Kong Gupta and Govindarajan (1991) proposed that there exists a certain association between different types of subsidiary units and the strategic corporate control of that subsidiary. They defined four ideal types as; Implementor, Global innovator, Integrated Player and Local Innovator, based on the amount of knowledge that flows and the direction of this knowledge, between the subsidiary and the rest of the MNC. Upon Tingzon ´s arrival the main strategy of the offshore business has been â€Å"flag planting†. Flag planting aims at establishing a presence in each market before competitors, and so, emphasizing at implementing customer expectation, influencing taste and building brand (case p. 11). The initial plan in Hong Kong has been to become one of the major players in the market fast. The previous international strategy meant that the subsidiaries in Hong Kong functioned as implementors. An implementor is characterized by a high degree of knowledge inflow from the headquarters but with a low degree of knowledge outflow; hence mainly applying the strategy used in the parent company without any local adaption (Gupta and Govindarajan 1991). Functioning as an implementor has meant that the established Hong Kong stores have not been engaged in any knowledge creation, but simply followed instructions from the Filipino headquarters. Furthermore one can argue that Jollibee’s approach to Hong Kong has been to primarily implement the already existing practices from the Philippines. For example, the menu offered in Hong Kong is almost the same as the Filipino one, knowledge of what to sell has simply been brought in from headquarter (case page. 12) Further evidence arguing for that the Hong Kong subsidiary has been operating like an implementor can be seen in the management transfer of the CEO’s brother-in-law, from the parent company to the Hong Kong subsidiary (case page 12). In addition, the store-level managers were all Filipino while little crew were Chinese and staffing problems consequently grew. To solve the problem the Manila based Franchise Service Manager worked continuously with Hong Kong for more than six months, without success. In 1997 a dispute over discipline between the four Chinese Managers, and the five Filipino Managers, resulted in the Chinese Managers leaving Jollibee with only Filipino crew left (page 12). This points towards the subsidiaries in Hong Kong adapting the characteristic of an implementor, e.g. pure inflow of knowledge from the parent company and little outflow of knowledge from the Hong Kong subsidiary. Furthermore is the overall â€Å"flag planting† strategy of Jollibee very i ndicative of the skewed power balance between Jollibee and its subsidiaries. 3. Organizational Challenges Jollibee experienced the internal challenges of organizational culture clash between its implemented Filipino workers and the Chinese staff. Furthermore the implementation of the international menu was not as successful as expected (case p. 13). The strategy of focusing on Filipino expatriates in new markets, might has helped Jollibee’s entry to the Hong-Kong market, since they already had a distinguished costumer group of Filipinos. But as Tingzon asks in the case â€Å"might we risk boxing ourselves into a Filipino niche that prevents us from growing enough to support operations in each country?† (case p. 11). We found that the expatriate-led strategy have prevented further expansion of the company on the Hong Kong market. This is due to the local knowledge that resides in Chinese workers and managers are not exploited when only employing Filipino managers. As stated above, in the early entry into the Hong Kong market, Jollibee did also employ Chinese managers but due to their sole implementation of inflows from headquarters, clashes arose between the Chinese and the Filipino managers. Furthermore one major challenge to successfully establish a fourth store and gain more market share is to adapt the prevailing menu to the Chinese taste. The main challenge for Jollibee now is how to realize, and best use, the knowledge that resides in Chinese workers. 4. Altering the Strategy for the Hong Kong Subsidiary From the above section we can conclude that there exists several challenges of how the subsidiary in Hong Kong has previously been structured, for example has one of the sub-franchisees tried to suggest changes to the menu. To be able to attract more local costumers he proposed low fat chicken and Chinese tea, as he sensed a demand for these products among the Chinese people (case p. 12). He has tried to implement these changes for several of months but has not yet received a go-ahead from the headquarters. This indicates that Jollibee mainly sees its subsidiaries as implementors, without any outflow of local knowledge to the other subsidiaries. But for Jollibee to succeed in opening a fourth store and increase its market share on the Hong Kong market, reconstruction and adaption to the local market is crucial. The top management saw a high profit potential in Hong Kong, and therefore urged Tingzon to open the fourth store. But as the profit potential is high, the competition in Hong Kong for similar food companies, such as McDonalds, is also very intense. Jollibee Food Construction does not have the competitive advantage of a first mover and is not alone on the market. For example has their main competitor, McDonald’s, both stronger brand recognition in the Hong Kong market and they are stronger financially. Hence Jollibee has to take on a different subsidiary strategy than the â€Å"implementor†, in order to success (Hymer p. 61). With this in mind the strategy of the Hong Kong sub-division can become a successful sub-division if it adapts the characteristics of a local innovator instead of trying to be an implementor, with both low inflow and outflow of knowledge. One main challenge for Jollibee is to attract more local employees and as Gupta and Govindarajan’s proposition 3 states; under norms and administrative rationality will the composition of the top-management for the specific subsidiary consist of mainly locals if the division acts as a local innovator (Gupta and Govindarajan 1991). As an implementor has the possibility for autonomous initiative been low while it as a local innovator exists space to adapt to the local environment, e.g. for Jollibee to take on a more Chinese menu. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, as Jollibee decide whether or not to establish one more store in Hong Kong, they have to look over their strategic control over its subsidiaries. As examined above, the company has mainly viewed their subsidiaries as implementors. We found this international strategy insufficient, and that it hindered them to fully exploit the market potential in Hong Kong. The prevailing challenges for Jollibee now is how to realize and best use the knowledge that resides in Chinese workers. Due to limitations of the paper, it is only a fraction of possible explanations that have been highlighted and these revolve primarily around the importance of increasing the local engagement in the Hong Kong subsidiary, and increase the local innovation towards more local taste. Hence we argue for Jollibee’s subsidiaries in Hong Kong to adapt towards a local innovator role. 6. Bibliography Case: Bartlett, C. A. (2001). Jollibee Foods Corporation (A): International Expansion. Harvard Business School Gupta, A.K.,Govindarajan, V. (1991). Knowledge flows and the structure of control within multinational corporations. Academy of Management, Review 16(4) 768-792 Gupta, A.K., Govindarajan, V. (2000). Knowledge flows within multinational corporations. Strategic Management Journal 21, pp. 473-496. letto-Gilles, G. (2005). â€Å"Hymer ´s seminal work†, in Part III Modern Theories in Transnational Corporations and International Production. Academic Books, Copenhagen Business School. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. Schlegelmilch, B., Ambos, B., Chini, T. (2003/4). Are you ready to learn from your offshore affiliates? European Business Forum, 16

The Concept Of Research Design Information Technology Essay

The Concept Of Research Design Information Technology Essay In this chapter we will cover the research questions concerning the impact of CRM implementation on company performance. In the first section, we will explain the concept of research design and the different research designs types. In the second section, we will define the research design that we will use in our thesis. First, we will define the problem and explain the objectives of our studies. Second we will define the research method that we are using. Third, we will explain the different concept of scaling. Fourth, the will explain the design of the questionnaire and the sampling process. Section 1: The concept of research design In this section we will explain the different concept and methodologies of the research design in order to use the correct research design type in our thesis. 1. Research design The research design is defined as a framework with specific procedures for collecting and analyzing the necessary data from different sources, allowing the identification of the research problem (Emory and Cooper, 1991). The successful research design should cover the following tasks: it should define the research problem, select the required information when it is needed, specify the measurement and scaling procedures, make a pre-test questionnaire, define the sampling process and the sample size, select the correct plan for data analysis and tabulation, define the time and financial constraints and follow up on the completed research study ( Brierty and Al,1998). The Nature of the study defines which research method should be adopted. It exist three different types of research, the exploratory, the descriptive or the causal. 1.2 The exploratory Research type The objective of exploratory research is to help the researcher to understand the problem situation. The results of using this type of research are guidelines for a better comprehension of the problem and encouragement of the personal explanation and creativity of the researcher (Sudman and Blair, 1997). Usually the exploratory research is used for the following reasons: developing hypotheses, in case we dont know much information about the research issue, to isolate the variables and relationships for advanced examination, for positioning studies, familiarization with customers, to establish precedence for auxiliary research, getting new ideas, to describe process, to defines a problem more specifically and developing an approach to the problem. The exploratory research is necessary when the information is loosely defined that leads to unstructured working format. This type of research allows high flexibility in the research, since it allows changes in the procedures and protocols (Tull and Hawkins,1993). In addition the exploratory research can be divided into four categories: expert surveys, secondary data analysis, pilot studies. First, the expert surveys are conducted by consulting persons that have experience in a specific field, which help the researcher to collect technical data about the studied subject. Second, secondary data analysis is based on another research area which is economical and ready to use. Secondary data help the researcher to identify and define the research problem, to develop clear research design approach for the problem, to allow analyzing the primary data more astutely and to answers some research questions (Malhotra, 1996). Third, pilot studies are small scale exploratory researches that are used to understand the research problem setting (Zikmund, 2000). In general the exploratory research use the focus group , which is an interview conducted with a small group of respondent in a free-flowing manner. Focus groups have many advantages, since it is much quicker to collect information compared to interviewing individuals, the level of excitement increase when the topic stimulates the respondents, the discussion is usually recorded and the researcher can refer to it later, the moderator controls the discussion and he doesnt allow respondents to deviate the topic, respondents feel more comfortable in group discussions and they will express their personal ideas more freely which produce a wide range of information and ideas. In other hand, focus groups have some disadvantages, since they are difficult to moderate and sometimes they are misjudged , results can be misused and can be considered not to be representative of the whole population (Malhotra,1996). 1.3 The descriptive research type The descriptive research is used to describe a phenomena and it studies the relationship between variables (Churchill, 1998). The descriptive research should be the most accurate as possible allowing the understanding of the research problem. The results of successful descriptive studies can answer any question with high precision. The descriptive research is used for the following reasons: for define the perceptions of problem characteristics, to explain the decision making process and its impacts, to get specific predictions, to explain the characteristics of groups such as customers and organizations, and to determine the differences in needs among subgroups. The descriptive research is characterized by the formulations of explicit hypotheses, which leads to a research design more structured and contains several statistical methodologies. In addition, the descriptive research can be applied using four different methods: panels, secondary data, observational data and surveys. First, the panels are group of people that answers to a number of telephone interviews or mail or personal interviews for a period of time. The observation includes recording the behavior of the respondents in a methodical way to obtain the needed information about a proposed problem. Second, the surveys include interviews with a number of people by using a questionnaire about the studied subject (Tull and Hawkins,1993). 1.3 The causal research type The causal research type is to recognize the cause and effect relationship between the variables in the problem model. In general, the descriptive and the exploratory research lead the way for cause and effect relationship studies. The descriptive research allows examining the associations between variables, and the causal research explain the relation between those variables, for example a change in one variable affects the other variables. The causal research can be used in the following cases: to define which variables are the cause, the independent variables, and which variables is the effect, the dependent variables, of a phenomenon, and to explain the nature of relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. The causal research has a structured design and should be carefully planned. The design explain how several independent variables are manipulated to see its effect on the dependent variables in a well-defined environment (Malhotra, 1996). The causal research has some disadvantages, since it is expensive, difficult to administer, doesnt reflect the real population opinions (Walker et al., 1999). 2. Selecting the research approach In general, the nature of research and the researcher personal discretion defines which research design should be adopted in the study (Zikmund, 2000). The previous researches can direct the researcher to the right direction for choosing the correct research design. In general, it is always recommended to start the research design using the exploratory research if the research problem is of an ambiguous nature. Researchers use the descriptive research when they are aware of the research problem but they need more understanding of the different aspects of the problem. In case of the research problem is clearly defined, the researchers use the causal research method. The exploratory research allows forming hypothesis and the causal or descriptive research are used to statistically test the hypothesis. In order to choose the correspondent research approach it is very important to compare every approach characteristics, and to choose the research method based on logical examination of the research problem aspects. The purpose of our study is to determine the impacts of changes resulting from the implementation of the CRM solution on the Lebanese firms performance. In addition, we will use the exploratory research to formulate the hypothesis and the causal research since we will evaluate the effects of the CRM on the firm. In order to achieve the required results of the study, the researcher should define the stages of activity which must be worked through to achieve a reliable study (Johnson, 1994). Those steps are : establish the purpose of the study, identify the specific objectives of the study, define the research method, develop the research instrument and access, collect the required data, ordering the data, analyzing the data, writing results and conclusion. The measurement procedure is defined by assigning numbers to the different aspects of objects based on certain pre-defined rules, to produce accurate data (Malhotra, 1996). In our thesis, we use statistical numbers to analyze and communicate the responses of the employees and the customers. In addition, scaling allows the generation of a continuum upon which measured objects are located (Malhotra, 1996). Section 2: The research design In this section we will define the research design that we will adopt in our thesis. We will explain all the aspects of the adopted research design. 3. Problem definition: The research problem is divided into different interconnected steps allowing the researcher to deeply study the proposed subject and it defines the direction of the study. The challenge that researchers face in the research problem definition is that the defined should not be defined too broadly or too narrowly. The caution should be exercised when defining the problem to avoid defining a symptom instead of the real problem (Cravens, 2000). The purpose of our study is to evaluate the impact of changes brought by the implementation of CRM on the firm performance in the Lebanese market. Firms are implementing CRM to increase their competitive advantages. This implementation has several impacts on firm performance, such as financially (Profits and ROI), customer loyalty and employees productivity. From here we will study the impact of CRM implementation on firm performance. 4. The objectives. In order to achieve the required results from the study, researchers need to have clear understanding of the research purpose (Sigmund, 2000). The main objective of our research is to evaluate the impact of CRM implementation on the firm. The success of CRM process starts with the implementation phase, by including the entire firm departments in the implementation and by focusing on the processes re-engineering. The research objectives are defined as following: the importance of change management plan before implementing a CRM system, the importance of people in the CRM, the importance of customer satisfaction, the ROI of the CRM implementation and the productivity of the employees. The managers having experience with the implementation of CRM provides the research with the necessary background information and the employees working the CRM (customer service) solution provide us with the necessary operation information. 5. The Problem definition After the implementation of CRM in the firm, the managers in the Lebanese organizations cannot evaluate the impact of the CRM Solution on their organization performance. The evaluation of the CRM starts from the implementation phase before going to the after implementation phase. The managers cannot define clear criteria for controlling the results of CRM on the firm. Furthermore, the reason is that the impacts of CRM cannot be viewed directly and it requires a long period to see tangible results. In order to clearly define the problem researchers need to view the problem from different aspects. The first issue that we need to evaluate after the implementation of CRM is the success of the implementation. This can be evaluated by studying the change management strategy adopted. Based on our literature review, most of the projects failures are due to the absence of clear change management strategy. The second to evaluate is how the CRM affected the firm performance; this can be evaluated by studying the customer retention and satisfaction in addition to the employee productivity. In order to define all the dimensions of the problem, a questionnaire should be prepared. In the questionnaire we will include all the objectives of our study. First we will focus how to manage an information technology driven change in the firm from the change management perspective (change management strategy, planning and budget). Second, we will study the impact of CRM on people in the organization (Training, evaluating their productivity and rewarding) and resistance problem. Third, the questionnaire will include the importance of customers background and satisfaction in CRM implementation (Customers trends, and customers feedback). At the end, we will the study the Return on investment of CRM. Our research will evaluate different change aspects resulting from the implementation of CRM in the Lebanese firms. 6. Research methods In this section will explain the research method that we will adopt in our thesis. We will define the work field and the different aspects of the research methods. 6.1 Surveys The research method is the base of the research project, since it defines the methods to collect the necessary information for the project. The research method defines and justifies the methods to collect the required data, and to develop a questionnaire allowing us to obtain the required information. It also specifies the sampling of the respondents. The first step in the research method is to select the respondent for the survey, to allow the collection of the primary data. In our thesis the population is employees from Lebanese firms, and the respondents are managers and employees from three Lebanese organizations that have implemented CRM. The surveys have many benefits for the researchers, since it is low-cost and efficient to get the required information about the population. The surveys are simple to administer, it allows the researcher to have control on the sample, and the use of fixed responses decrease the variability in the results (Birks, 2003). It exist several forms of surveys such as emails and personal interviews (Zikmund, 2001). In our survey, we will use two methods, the email form and the personal interviews method. The personal interview is personalized and it allows direct interaction with the respondent, but it is time consuming for the researcher. Personal interviews assure high response rates, and better observation of the respondent behavior. The personal interview is based on the direct communication with respondent and the researcher asks the questions face to face. Personal interviews have many advantages for the researcher; he can change or adapt the questions depending on the interviewee reaction. In addition, personal interviews increase the response rates and increase the number of the participants in the surveys. The disadvantage of personal interviews is that respondents sometimes find difficult to answer face to face personal questions. In other hand, the online survey provides the researcher with instant feedback and it is inexpensive to distribute especially for large samples. However the main disadvantage of online surveys is the inaccurate data in the answers of the survey. Thus, online surveys depend on people to be honest especially about their personal information such as age, gender and location. The inaccurate data may affect the results of the study. 6.2 Survey research errors: The error is necessarily a part of any survey, and it exist different type of errors. The first error is associated with the respondents that answer the survey. This type of error occurs when the sample is drawn from larger population and there are chances that the sample differs from the total population (random sampling error). Furthermore, the way the sample is designed and selected can influence how much the sample shows the real characteristics of the population. The random variation from the real characteristics of the population should also be taken in consideration in the sampling process. In our thesis, the random sampling error is reduced since the target population is specifically selected. We will select number of firms that have implemented CRM, which operates in the Lebanese market. In addition, the sample should be representative of the Lebanese market. The second type of error is the systematic error that occurs from some mistakes in implementing the research. The systematic errors are non-sampling errors which are divided into two categories: the administrative error and the respondent error. First, the administrative error is caused by confusion or by neglecting some aspects of the survey or improper administration of the survey. The administrative errors are divided into four types: the data processing error, the interviewer error and cheating, and the sample selection error. In order to reduce this type of errors we will double check the data processing. Second, the respondent error depends on the respondents answers; if the answers are not accurate the results of the surveys will not be significant. The non-respondent error occurs when a number of respondents of the sample fail to answer the survey questions. Third, the response bias occurs when the respondent like to take a pre-defined direction for the answers and this doesnt represent the correct opinion of the interviewee. The respondent may give answers that differ from the way he really thinks. In order, to avoid the response bias we will use clear and well defined questions to minimize the ability of the respondent to direct the survey in a pre-defined way. 7. The concept of scaling A scale is considered a series of arranged items and every item is placed according to its quantification. The scale is divided into four types ordinal, nominal, ratio and interval. The ordinal scale type is ranking the data according to have more or less characteristic. The ranking have logical order. Furthermore, this type of scale allows the measurement the degrees of difference but not the specific amount of difference. The nominal scale, provide the respondent with series of possibilities in the objective of categorizing events or attributes. The nominal scale does not express any relationship between the variables. Furthermore, the only statistical operation that can be done by using the nominal type is the frequency run. It is important to include all the possible answers in the nominal scale, and it is important to provide the respondent with the choice to choose other. The ratio scale demonstrates growth relationships between items and time periods. It allows comparing items in the same graph, starting at different levels. In other hand, the interval scale is an advanced notion of ranking items, since the distance between adjacent points are equal. In order to determine if a scale is interval or not it is important to underlie intent regarding the equal intervals. For example, dates can be measured on interval scale because differences are measured in years and no ratio can be given to a ratio of times (Collins, 2003). In our thesis, we will use three interval scales, the nominal, ordinal and interval scales to explain and compare the different aspects of CRM impact on the firm. First, we will use the nominal scale to collect data concerning the demographic data concerning the respondents and the Lebanese firms. Second, we will use the ordinal scale to allow respondents (employees and managers) to rank the answers. This allows us to know which answer is the most important for the respondents. Third, we will use interval scale to identify the importance of the answers by using the Likert scale. In natural science, the validity and reliability of the research is essential to assure the integrity of the research and assure the achievement of the desired objectives. The reliability is concerned with consistency. The consistency has three aspects, the first aspect is when reproducing the study again, the same results are found. This is defined as stability over time. The second aspect is equivalence; this means that the study can be done elsewhere, for example in a different country. The third aspect is internal consistency which means that the results of one section is confirmed by the others sections (Bryman, 2001). Validity is concerned with accuracy and which method provides the most accurate answers which is the integrity of conclusions (Gorman and Clayton, 1997). The internal validity is when we assure that any causal relationships found are related to the variables and the external validity is that the result can be applied outside of the current research context. Furthermore, the face validity and criterion validity are necessary elements to assure the reliability, which means that the information fit the expected pattern, and assure the accuracy of findings by using a different method. In addition, to enhance the reliability and the validity each item in the survey is clear and easily understood, each item should be analyzed in the intended way, and the relation between the items and the objective of the study is clear (Suskie ,1996). In order to assure high reliability and validity of the collected data we address the questionnaire to managers and employees that are directly related to the CRM, in Lebanese firms. 8. Designing the questionnaire Designing a questionnaire is based on setting specific questions allowing the researcher to get the required information. The well designed questionnaire minimizes the response error and pushes the respondents to complete the questionnaire (Malhotra and Birks, 2003). The benefits of the questionnaire is to ensure comparability of the data , increase the speed and accuracy , and facilitate the data processing (Kotler, 2000). It is necessary to choose the right type of questions and the optimized ordering. In order to collect data related to our pervious hypothesis we prepared two questionnaires. The first questionnaire is addressed to the employees and managers in the Lebanese firms that are directly related to the implementation of CRM. The second questionnaire is addressed to customers that are buying from these firms. The questionnaires will be divided into two parts. In the first part, we will collect information about the background of the respondent and the profile of the company. In the second part, we will collect information about each of the research objectives. The questionnaire starts by asking general simple questions such as the respondent opinion about CRM and the firm. This will increase the will of the respondent to proceed with the questionnaire. In addition, we will ask the sensitive questions at the end of the questionnaire such as costs and ROI of the CRM project. The questions will be asked with third-person approach and we will use structured and unstructured questions. In addition, we will include open ended questions and structured questions. The structured questions provide the respondent with several alternatives for answering the question. In addition, structured questions take the form of dichotomous, multiple choice and scale. The open ended questions allow the respondent to provide personalized answers. For the firm employees and managers the questionnaire will include the demographic information about the respondent, attitude about the CRM system (Five point Likert scale), dealing with the implementation of CRM system, CRM implementation information and working with CRM system. For the customers, the questionnaire will also include the demographic information, attitude toward firms that have implemented CRM, general feeling about the relations with the firms that have implemented CRM, the will customers to pay more to gain more services, likelihood to keep dealing with the same firm, and wanting to have stronger relationship with the firm. After developing the questionnaires we will run pretests, to identify the problems in questionnaires directions and design. Furthermore, pretests are run with a small group of respondents. We will provide small sample of people (ten persons) with the questionnaires to evaluate the questionnaires direction and quality. The sample will include three middle line managers and three employees and four customers. After answering to the surveys questions we asked the respondent about their opinion and about the problems they found in the surveys. This helped us to improve some aspects in the surveys and adding some new questions. 9. Sampling Sampling process has to answer some basic questions: how should we select the sample? Second, which process should be used? What is the size of the sample? How can we adjust the non-response errors? In general, the more diversified sample assures an accurate research. The random sampling error varies depending on the sample sizes (Hawkins et al., 2000); with the increase of the sample size the results reliability decreases. In order to determine the sample size several factors should be taken into consideration such as the resource constraints, the variance of the population, the previous studies, and the confidence interval (Hawkins and Tull, 1993). The first step in the sample selection process is defining the target population; the collection of objects that the researcher considers having the necessary information is considered as the target population. The target population should be chose based on the sampling units, the time and the elements (Malhotra and Birks, 2003). The elements of our research are employees and customers of Lebanese firms that have adopted CRM .The extent of the survey is Lebanon, and the period is between December 2012 and January 2013. 9.1 The sampling technique In order to create the sample, we used the sampling without replacement technique. Adopting this sampling technique means that when an element is selected, it is removed from the sampling frame and it cannot be selected again. Furthermore, we adopted the non-probability technique in order to define the correspondent sample for our study. The non- probability depends on the personal opinion of the researcher and doesnt rely on chance to choose the sample elements (Malhotra and Birks, 2003). In addition, the convenience sampling technique is also adopted; the convenience sample is used to select a sample of correspondent elements that helps to achieve the objectives of the study. In general, the interviewer selects the convenient units (Malhotra and Birks, 2003). The convenience sampling is the least expensive in comparison to other sampling techniques, it is the least time consuming and all the sampling units are cooperative and accessible. In other hand, the convenience samples may not represent any definable population. 9.2 The sample selection The sampling design includes several criteria to select the correct sample, such as size and kind of sample. In our thesis, the firms studied are employees and customers of Lebanese firms that have implemented CRM which are considered the population. The respondents are the employees and managers that work with CRM. In addition, the customers sample is selected from the CRM database in the same firms. In our research, we chose three (3) Lebanese firms that have implemented CRM from different industries, and we selected three (3) managers from each company, and five (5) employees from each firm. In addition, we selected ten (10) customers that deal with these firms. Population Employees and customers of Lebanese Firms that have implemented CRM Sample Three (3) Lebanese Firms employees and customers Managers Nine (9) Employees Fifteen (15) employees Customers Thirty (30) customers Table 2: The population and the sample of the study 10. The Data collection The data collection for our thesis started in December 2012 till January 2013. We distributed the questionnaire by two ways, by email and personally. The respondent of the questionnaire were in general cooperative and most of them completed all the questions of the survey. The selection of three Lebanese firms in different industries allowed us to have a variety in the respondents perceptions.

Feminism and Cultural Relativism in Human Rights Discourse: Sex-determi

Feminism and Cultural Relativism in Human Rights Discourse: Sex-determination Test in India ABSTRACT: Feminists and cultural relativists are highly critical of human rights even if their criticisms have taken two diametrically opposed sides. This has created a conflict between the two groups. In this paper, I summarize the views of feminists and cultural relativists and then show that there are many similarities between them despite their differences, for they share a common ground concerning human rights discourse. Based on the similarities, I believe that both must work together on this matter by making changes in an inclusive way with regard to human rights violations. This is true not only at the international level but also at national levels. To demonstrate this, I analyze the issue of the sex-determination test in India and show that if feminists and cultural relativists joined hands, then the problem of aborting female fetuses in India (due to cultural conditioning and leading to the larger problem of adverse sex ratios) could be resolved. I conclude by proposing th at medical technology could be channeled in the direction of progress if feminists and cultural relativists work jointly for the promotion of women's rights by recognizing 'different voices' of women across race, class, age, culture, sexual orientation and wealth. Recently, during the world conferences organized by United Nations in Vienna, Cairo and Beijing, the human rights discourse has taken different forms and have created bitter differences among different camps. In these international conferences, feminists claim victory over cultural relativists as feminists were able to reaffirm women's human rights. (1) Feminists and cultural relativists are the... ... (5) See Claude Ake, "The African Context of Human Rights," Africa Today, Vol. 32, number 5 (1987) (6) Hilary Charlesworth, "What are Women's International Human Rights"?, Human Rights of Women, supra note 25, at 617. (7) See Shashi Tharoo, "The Universality of Human Rights and their Relevance to Developing Countries," Nordic Journal of International Law, Vol. 142 (1990 (8) See Radhika Balakrishnan, "The Social Context of Sex Selection and the Politics of Abortion in India," Power and Decision: The Social Control of Reproduction, by Gita Sen and Rachel C. Snow, 266-283; Amartya Sen, "The Economics of Life and Death," Scientific American, (May), 40-47. (9) See the growth of population chart in Amulya Ratna Nanda, Census of India, 1991, Series-1, Registrar General & Census Commisioner, India, Statement 2, 21. (10) Bombay Case Reporter, 20:3, (1988) 2-7.

Politics and Architecture: A Literature Review

Chapter Two:Methodology In this chapter the research methodological analysis used in the survey is described. Theoretical analysis, informations aggregation, interviews conducted as collaborative method and the information beginnings are clarified. 2.1 Literature Review In the undermentioned paragraphs I will exemplify the methodological inspiration I take to analyze the confrontation between formal planning and informal slums in Zhengzhou. In conformity to the research inquiries stated in the direction, the theoretical lenses I adopt could be categorized into three spheres. 2.1.1Power and Governmentality Space is a critical portion of the conflict for control and surveillance of persons ( Michel Foucault, 1988 ) , and urban planning is one of the important tools to put to death province control. The first analytical end of this thesis is to show a political analysis of urban programs based on a coexistent, feeder, and conflictual theory of power. Sing the assorted nature of power and the coexisting humanistic disciplines of authorities, intriguing parts have been made to the spheres of psychological science ( Rose,1998 ) , broad governmentality ( Barry, Osborne, & A ; Rose, 1996 ) , insurance and hazard direction ( O’Malley, 2002 ) and ecological administration ( Darier, 1999 ; Binkley & A ; Capetillo, 2010 ) . Foucault’s construct provides a wider spectrum of political phenomena than what is traditionally defined as â€Å"political† ( e.g. citizens, province, political representation, freedom, etc. ) , by including classically non-political phenomena like machines, air, H2O, animate beings, workss and infinite. He suggested that there are three types of power: crowned head, disciplinary, and biopolitical, which I intend to pull on to clear up some of the complex relationships of power operating at urban planning, particularly on the control over internal migrators. Their grade of strength, common dealing ss of convergence, and hostility will be analyzed in Chapter Four, but here I would wish to indicate out how the classification of crowned head, disciplinary, and biopolitical are relevant to the instance survey in China. Sovereignty, Foucault says, creates a territorial treaty, and the major map of it is vouching boundary lines. Sovereign power is so exercised within the boundary lines of a district ( M. Foucault, 2009 ) . The family enrollment system in China is an convergence of societal and geographic division, which creates an unseeable but rigorous boundary line between the rural and urban countries. Binary exclusion, territorial regulations and even penalty for boisterous migrators [ 1 ] were implanted to procure the urban district. The undertaking of subject is to enforce a breakdown grid within the inside of the district established by the crowned head and bring forth organic structures that are both docile and capable of holding their bodily motions directed ( Foucault, 1979 ) . In China, internal migrators are surveilled, supervised and reformed through disciplinary power so as to do them prevail, obedient and able to digest adversity. When a individual steps out of the rural country and enters the metropolis, he must be prepared to be expelled, to work without societal public assistance, to digest general favoritism and to be soundless in his endurance. More than a disciplinary mechanism that acts on persons, biopower Acts of the Apostless as a control setup exerted over a population as a wholeto achieve an optimum result in a multivalent and convertible model ( M. Foucault, 2009 ) . Architecture, or urban planning, in this regard, is a signifier of biopolitics. Reconstruction of the reinforced environment, street, rivers and even flora, has become political mechanisms for way or redirection of migratory organic structures. The configuration of political schemes can be explained through Foucault’s surveies, which contributes to the inquiry ofhowto command the migration of people. In seeking to understandwhyauthoritiess are seeking to â€Å"sedentarize† people, James Scott came to see these strategies as â€Å"a province ‘s effort to do a society legible, to set up the population in ways that simplified the authoritative province maps of revenue enhancement, muster, and the bar of rebellion† ( Scott, 1998 ) . Harmonizing to Scott fully fledged catastrophes of societal technology necessitate a combination of four elements: the discernability of a society, â€Å"high-modernist† political orientation that believes itself in command of nature and society, an autocratic province willing to utilize all its coercive power to implement these strategies, and an incapacitated civil society which is easiest to happen in times of war, depression, crises, or attempts at national rele ase. China still has a long manner to travel in developing a stronger civil society under the autocratic societal construction, hence when the province got excessively deep into a tunnel vision to accomplish Utopian alterations, catastrophes necessarily happened ( e.g. the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution ) . The family enrollment system, which dated back to the black fragments of Chinese history, is portion of the simplified narrow vision. Its negative impact on urban development and human rights protection needs to be to foster revealed before major alterations could take topographic point. 2.1.2 Segregation and Marginality One of the byproducts of the family enrollment system is urban small towns, which presently shelter the bulk of the migratory population in the metropolis, individually from the urban system. I intend to cast visible radiation on its effects upon the society and measure planning policies designed to cover with it though residential segregation analysis. Park presented the really first definition of residential segregation in 1926, as a nexus that exists between both the societal distance and the physical distance ( Park, 1926 ) . Since so assorted definitions have been contributed to a better apprehension of the residential segregation construct ( e.g. Timms, 1975 ; White, 1983 ; Jargowsky, 1996 ) , with the most influential one drawn by Massey and Denton, sing residential segregation as a multidimensional phenomenon based on five dimensions: evenness, exposure, constellating, centralization and concentration ( Massey & A ; Denton, 1988 ) . Over the decennaries, legion quantitative attacks have besides been proposed taking to measure the different indices and steps ( both spacial and non-spatial ) of residential segregation. As quantitative analysis will non be carried out in my thesis, delight refer to the researches below for more description: James and Taeuber ( 1985 ) , Massey and Denton ( 1988 ) , Wong ( 1993 ) , Anselin ( 1995 ) , Reardon and O’Sullivan ( 2004 ) , Echenique and Fryer ( 2007 ) . The thrusts of residential segregation can be classified into two groups: endogenous ( e.g. income and single penchant ) and exogenic ( e.g. public policy and existent estate market moral force ) . In this regard, Nightingale believes that there is basically no such thing as genuinely voluntary segregation, or â€Å"good segregation† ( Peach, 1996 ) ; and he argues that segregation Acts of the Apostless as a political agent to reenforce unequal power dealingss in metropoliss, assisted by popular support and sustained by the land and economic markets which benefit from it ( Nightingale, 2012 ) . In the instance of urban small towns, the causes come from both classs: societal and physical division was created by public policies in the first topographic point, so enhanced by the income disparity and societal inequality between the urbanites and the rural migrators, every bit good as their willingness to populate with equals. Sing effects, there has been no consensus reached by bookmans. Positive effects may look in the short term sing the migrants’ formation of societal capital and networking. At the same clip negative effects are good acknowledged, including joblessness, wellness, academic public presentation, criminalism, prolongation of poorness and bad income distribution. However, new findings ( chiefly informations from the Traveling to Opportunity programme ) have shown that residential segregation has about negligible effects on families well-being ( it is still an unfastened inquiry and a topic of argument ) . I believe the being of urban small towns, as a signifier of segregation, has mix effects in Chinese society, and its negative impacts will be examined chiefly through marginality theories. Marginality is by and large used to depict and analyse socio-cultural, political and economic domains, where disadvantaged people struggle to derive entree ( social and spacial ) to resources, and full engagement in societal life ( Andersen & A ; Larsen, 1998 ; Brodwin, 2001 ; Heikki & A ; etc, 1999 ) . Social marginality is by and big reflected on the implicit in societal conditions of people, represented by hapless support options ( deficiency of resources, accomplishments and chances ) , reduced or restricted engagement in public decision-making, less usage of public infinite, lower sense of community and low self-pride ( Brodwin, 2001 ; Larsen, 2001 ) . Marginalised people are normally discriminated against, stigmatized, ignored and frequently suppressed on the footing of race, gender, age, civilization, faith, ethnicity, business, instruction and economic system by the mainstream ( Larsen, 2002 ) . The dimension of spacial marginality is normally linked to the geographical farness of an country from major economic Centres ( location ) , and refers to countries that are hard to make in the absence of appropriate substructure and hence isolated from mainstream development ( Brodwin, 2001 ; Hurni, Wiesmann, Schertenleib, & A ; North-South, 2004 ) . InUrban OutcastsLoic Wacquantdraws on a comparative analysis of the black ghetto of Chicago and the deindustrializingbanlieueof Paris to show that urban marginality is non everyplace the same ( Wacquant, 2008 ) . In the same mode, this thesis intends to lend to the survey of urban marginality, by exemplifying the similar yet different state of affairs in Chinese urban small towns. How the root causes of inequality, exposure and exclusion in urban small towns are linked with spacial and social marginality and the convergence between the two will be farther elaborated in Chapter Four. 2.1.3 Resistance and the Right to the City In one of the most well-known quotation marks of Michel Foucault, he claims that â€Å"Where there is power, there is resistance† ( Michel Foucault, 2012 ) , which besides applies to the confrontation between formal planning ( public policies ) and informal slums ( urban small towns ) . As I indicated before, for a better apprehension of power it is necessary to beef up opposition surveies. The theoretical construct of â€Å"everyday resistance† was introduced James Scott, as a sort of opposition that is non as dramatic and seeable as rebellions, public violences, presentations, revolutions, civil war or other such organized, corporate or confrontational articulations of opposition. He besides argues that these activities are tactics that exploited people use in order to both survive and undermine inhibitory domination, particularly in contexts when rebellion is excessively hazardous ( Scott, 1985, 1992 ) . Based on this model, research has grown within legion Fieldss, including surveies related to specific societal infinites, such as the workplace ( Huzell 2005 ) and the household ( Holmberg & A ; Ehnander 2007 ) , and among specific groups of population, such as adult females, low-skilled workers, migrators, homosexual ( Myslik 1996 ; Campbell 2004 ) , minorities, and â€Å"new agents† ( e.g. white-power militants ( Simi & A ; Futurell 2009 ) ) . However, a job with the construct of â€Å"everyday resistance† is that it risks labelling many other looks of difference, divergence, or individualism as â€Å"resistance† . Therefore although the oppositional act from urban small towns is quiet, dispersed, disguised or apparently unseeable, whether it is or to what extent it is a signifier of â€Å"everyday resistance† demands to be discussed. Furthermore, this construct has besides been criticised of making a duality between the â€Å"disguised resistance† ( mundane opposition ) and â€Å"publicly declared resistance† . Asef Bayat, for illustration, prefers an instead construct of â€Å"quite encroachment† : â€Å"the silent, protracted but permeant promotion of the ordinary people on the property-owning and powerful in order to last and better their lives†¦marked by quiet, mostly atomized and prolonged mobilisation with episodic corporate action† ( Bayat, 2000 ) . The signifier of opposition can non be isolated from the power it counters. Resistance, be it hidden of â€Å"spectacular† ( Bhabha ) , is situated in certain clip, infinite and dealingss, and engages with different discourses. Therefore mundane opposition can go on between or at the side of unfastened opposition, and frailty versa. In the instance of Chinese urban small towns, there are occasions when the hidden mundane opposition becomes public, corporate and officially organized. It is of import to analyse the opposition of the urban small towns ( some of which they do non see as â€Å"resistance† themselves ) , but non necessary to find precisely when and where â€Å"everyday resistance† happens ; what is more important is to understand what they are seeking through their opposition. Originally proposed by Henri Lefebvre as both a â€Å"cry and a demand† , David Harvey describes the right to the metropolis as â€Å"a collective right which goes beyond simply accessing single urban resources, a freedom to do and refashion ourselves and our cities†¦the most cherished yet most neglected of our human rights† ( Harvey, 2012 ) . During rapid urbanisation, old parts of the metropolis is invariably being wiped off and the metropolis is going an foreign entity, or, as Harvey puts it, the infinite where excesss of capital are being generated. In this manic gait of alteration, the marginalized population, are being invisibilized and pushed out of the metropolis to its borders. As stated before, really frequently they try to entree physical infinite in the metropolis and other services in really quiet, ordinary and elusive ways, but Harvey suggests that the marginalized people should come together as a community and take control of the â€Å"surplusesâ₠¬  which are generated at the disbursal of the metropoliss. However, Harvey has been criticised of romanticising the metropolis as a governable entity, and neglecting to acknowledge the multiple mediums by which people try to negociate their entree to the metropolis. Beyond an abstract rights claim, what extremist public-service corporation does this construct of â€Å"the right to the city† have for the present state of affairs in China, and how might it go, as Harvey suggests it could, â€Å"both working slogan and political ideal† for the urban villagers ( Harvey, 2003 ) ? Could theaccess to the metropolis be conceptualized in footings of rights, or is it the infinites through which people develop belongingness and ownership that should be examined? These inquiries will be farther examined through instance survey in Chapter Three and Chapter Four. 2.2Case Study 2.2.1 Data Collection In order to analyze the confrontation between formal planning and informal slums, informations demands to be collected from both kingdoms. Official programs ( authorised by cardinal authoritiess ) and original paperss of public policies related to urban planning, building ordinance, migration direction and societal public assistances are collected to measure the relationships of power operating. Statistical information sing the redevelopment undertaking of urban small towns in Jinshui District, including continuance, size, developing manner, redevelopment program, and major obstructions ( if any ) besides belong to this kingdom. Geographic informations of urban small towns in Jinshui District and their surrounding environment, including transit system, substructure system, lodging monetary value in the existent estate market and distribution of public installations are collected to analyze the opposition of urban small towns, or in other words, their impact on the urban development. 2.2.2Interview Interviews referred to in Chapter Four were carried out by my confederate in China. Due to the bound of clip and location, I did non take the method of field work or questionnaire study. The interviews were conducted in an informal mode, with the purpose of supplying personal experience and positions, non official historical â€Å"truth† , to the empirical research. At the petition of the interviewees, personal information will non be provided. 2.3Data Beginning Geographical informations dated prior to 1984 were sourced form historical maps and paperss that belong to the private aggregation of a native Zhengzhou citizen, Mr. Niu. Geographical informations ( including official maps ) from 1984 onward were provided by the Mapping Institute of Henan ( a subordinate of the Surveying and Mapping Bureau of Henan ) . Data sing the four cardinal programs conducted in Zhengzhou were provided by the Urban and Rural Planning Bureau of Zhengzhou. Data sing the urban small towns and redevelopment undertakings in the Jinshui District were provided by the Urban Village Renovation Office of Zhengzhou. Other societal and economic informations referred to in this thesis was chiefly collected from the authorities web site, or provided by the Archive of Zhengzhou and the Urban Development Archive of Zhengzhou. All the written stuffs from the above mentioned beginnings were originally in Mandarin Chinese, and the interlingual rendition ( if any ) was conducted by myself ; some of the numerical informations were conjunct signifier Chinese units. Detailed information will be provided for each figure and tabular array. 2.4 Drumhead It could be concluded from the predating description that the research presented in this thesis is strictly qualitative. By pulling on the surveies of Foucault, Scott, Nightingale, Wacquant, Harvey and Castells, the theoretical model of this thesis consists of three parts: power and gavernmentality, segregation and marginality, opposition and the right to the metropolis. The urban development, particularly the issue of urban small towns in Zhengzhou will be examined under this model, taking to reply the research inquiries proposed in the direction.