Sustainable Public Procurement vs Green Public Procurement

Sustainable Public Procurement vs Green Public Procurement This section provides the background to the research and overview or outlines the overall framework of the dissertation. It describe the research process that include research problem, problem statement, aim, and objectives of the research, the scope of research being investigated, methodology adopted and finally the summary of the overall research structure undertaken. 1.0.2 Background Sustainability have become a widespread issue in developing countries as the effort to develop the country and conserving the Mother Nature at the same time increased. This effort is also due to the commitment agreed after United Nation Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 established Agenda 21. The Agenda 21 which contains blueprints on sustainability in 21st century was agreed by most of the governments to incorporate the sustainability concept in developments and economic area but still preserving the environment and natural resources. The construction industry is in no exception. Construction industry contributes 3.5 per cent to the countrys gross domestic product in 2011 (Jabatan Statistik Malaysia,2011) . These consist mainly of public sector projects under governments development programme. This indicates that the government have a big role to encourage the sustainability concept since they are the client with the biggest purchasing power. The sustainability developments by the Malaysian Green Technology Policy 2009 are the development of products, equipment and systems used to conserve the natural environment and resources, which minimizes and reduces the negative impact of human activities. While procurement is defined as a process that produces, manages and fulfils contract relating to various works such as construction, leasing properties, discarding properties or give permission for a project (Watermeyer,2004). The local government have the power to incorporate sustainability in its project through sustainable procurement. Sustainable procurement ensures that the project tendered by contractor have the element of sustainability incorporated inside the documents. By using their leverage to opt for goods and services that also respects the environment they can influence the contractor to include more energy efficient building system (Walker H., Brammer, 2009). This give a clear signal to the procurement parties to use environmental efficient technologies in the buildings as stated in the contract. Among the local government in other country that used sustainable procurement system is the Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs. Their agency, Senter Novem defined sustainable procurement as applying environmental and social aspects in all stages of the procurement process to ensure that it results in the actual delivery of product, service or work in line with such environmental and social aspects. It is also defined as construction that brings about the required performance with the least unfavourable ecological impacts while encouraging economic, social and cultural improvement at local, regional and global level. (Taipale, 2010) 1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT Sustainability is one of the five main areas of the Government Transformation Programme. Therefore, in order to achieve this, the policies need to be enforced. This is to ensure the implementation will take place and change can be seen. However, sustainable procurement is also important which are not well known in Malaysian construction industry. There is a need to know the level of awareness of this procurement so that it can help policy makers to do policies that are applicable to Malaysian environment. This is because Malaysia have a strong foundation in the sustainability issue but still lacking in implementation level. As stated by Perera et. al (2007), law and policies are not enough to change the usual traditional procurement system which are based on value for money rather than the whole life of value of the project. According to CIMP 2006-2015, road to sustainability is expected to come by 2015. However, 2015 is getting near and the changes are still yet to be seen. 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 AIMS This paper aims to discover the awareness of construction industry players of the sustainable procurement. It is can be used to discover the problems that hinder or cause the industry players hesitant to incorporate sustainability in procurement even though there are various policies available nowadays. By using natural materials in the design does not mean the building is sustainable. Everything that came from the Mother Nature does not necessarily sustainable to begin with. For example, tyres which made out of 100% natural ingredient which is rubber. Therefore, it is hoped that the understanding of sustainability itself and the ability to incorporate sustainable into procurement can be done. 1.2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES a. To identify the awareness of the construction industry players about sustainable procurement. b. To identify the problems in implementation level. c. To find appropriate recommendation to encourage the use of sustainable public procurement in public projects. 1.3 SCOPE OF RESEARCH The scope of this paper will limit on the procurements for public projects as the projects in Malaysia are mostly from the Government development programmes. The scope will limit for government projects in Sarawak only. 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology will explain how the objectives of this study can be achieved. This chapter will show the flow and the method used to gather the data and information to achieve the objective of study. The data and information will be adopted by specific approach depend on the nature of the investigation. It can be categorized into two stages: Data collection methods are an integral part of research design in any research. Data can be collected in variety of ways and in different setting. Data can be obtained from primary and secondary data. The primary data refer to information which gathered from first hand experiences in the specific of studies. Then, the secondary data is the data which are collected from the publish data or the data collected which are already existed. Primary Data Questionnaires Questionnaires will be given out to Quantity Surveyors, Engineers and other construction industry related job such as contract administrators and others. The questionnaires are intended to assemble all the information that needed to prove the objective of the research paper. Secondary Data The Literature Review was carried out to establish some general knowledge of the research topic. A clearer framework of the research was established for secondary data. These are all obtained from: Journals Articles Information from internet Dissertation Publisher research work Books 7.0 TENTATIVE CHAPTER HEADINGS Chapter 1: Introduction The introduction will discuss on issues relating to sustainable construction and sustainability in procurements. Other items included under this heading are problem statements, aim and objectives and scope of the study. This chapter will also line out the research methodology of the research paper and its significant to the construction industry. Chapter 2: Literature Review Chapter 2 will review on the sustainable procurement principles, the distinction between sustainable and green procurement. The chapter will also review the other countries that have taken steps to implement sustainable procurement in the public projects. The characteristics, benefits and the procurement practices in Malaysia will also be reviewed under this heading. Chapter 3: Sustainable Procurement This heading will further discuss on the integration of the sustainability into procurement. The chapter will also discuss the application of sustainable procurement in other countries such as United Kingdom. The National policies on sustainability issues will also be discussed in this chapter. This is to show that Malaysia have strong foundation on policy but lack in implementation. The roles of Government in implementing sustainable procurement will also be discussed. Chapter 4: Data Analysis And Findings This chapter will discuss on the data obtained and findings on the research. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations This chapter will conclude on the overall issues and recommend the suitable solution. CHAPTER 2:Â  LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION Nowadays, the consumption of goods and services causes the emission of chemical substances, mass use of natural resources and other activity generates waste and pollution. Sustainable procurement ensure the environmental, social and economic objective is achieved. The construction industry uses a lot of natural resources, waste and pollution. In order to control these problems, the solution must start from the procurement itself. Malaysian construction industry has no problem in adopting and implementing the sustainable practices however, due to lack of knowledge and due to financial constraints the progress are slow (Othman R., 2008). 2.1 SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT: AN OVERVIEW 2.1.1 Principle According to United Nation, sustainable principle is based on environmental, social and economic consideration. These three objective must be combined together to produce a sustainable procurement. The procurement strategy must consider the life cycle value of the project, social impact and the economic benefits. The life cycle value of the project does not means the value in terms of financial value only. The life cycle value of the project in sustainable procurement also means the project have lower environmental impact. This ensures that the building is not only green initially, but also after end of use. The building components must consist of materials that are Eco labelled. Among the energy rating label on product is Energy Star. Energy Star is an international recognized standard for electrical product. A procurement officer can check whether the product such as air conditioner have an Energy Star label. Other than that, the procurement officer can refer to the specification i n Energy Stars website. This is to ensure the product is energy efficient and have lower environmental impact. Sustainable procurement gives impact socially by supporting the local businesses. Supporting businesses by single mother is also considered helping the social level to progress. When support is given to these local businesses, their business will eventually grow and job opportunity created. Economically, if there is a demand for green innovative product the market will try to supply more of the similar products and probably more competitive price can be obtained from the market. This opens up a bigger market for sustainable products. More variety of products with reasonable price will be available. The assessment of economic sustainability considers not only the initial investment in land and construction, but also questions such as the cost of maintaining and operating a building over a longer period of time. Social and societal sustainability covers issues which are often closely linked with economic and environmental ones, such as access to basic services, upgrading poor housing conditions, creating decent jobs, fair trade of construction materials, transparency. of tenders for contracts., cultural values embedded in old buildings, and accessibility to buildings. (Taipale, 2010). 2.1.2 Sustainable VS. Green Although the term green and sustainability used interchangeably, there is a difference of green and sustainable construction. For green buildings (the middle-size box), common phases of the life cycle for the building are incorporated into construction. Indoor environmental quality is a variable added into the green building model compared to the conventional building model. In green building, the stage of incorporating green character of a building only started during design stage. While for sustainable, the concept are incorporated since the pre-design stage. During pre-design stage, all the design team, owners and all other parties involved need to establish and understand the objectives on sustainability. They also need to share their opinions on sustainability and agree on common priorities including the potential challenges on reusing and refurbishing the building. They need to learn lessons from best practices on other projects to examine possible changes or innovations for th e proposed building. (Taipale, 2010) In sustainable buildings (the bigger box), the numbers of variables and stages of the building life-cycle considered are even larger. Based on the figure 2.1, the concept of sustainability comprises of whole building life cycle value. Variable such as site selection, project planning and urban design, service quality, social and economic aspect and cultural and perceptual aspect are added to this model. In pre design stage, site selection is considered important. Selection of site must not give negative impacts to the surrounding environment. Impacts on groundwater, natural resources, decrease in accessibility, pollution to soil and orientation of sun and wind are several items that need to be considered for site selection. 2.1.2 Why sustainability need to be integrated with procurement? Through procurement that requires sustainability to be incorporated in the construction, the market will see a signal to supply more sustainable products to meet the criteria. This is because where there is demand, there will be supply. Laymans checklist shows that procurement is one of the issues that need to be taken account during construction of sustainable buildings. 2.1.3 Sustainable Procurement: A Global Issue Sustainable procurement is already enforced in New Zealand, United Kingdom..___. The Marrakech Project is a task force formed to do the framework on sustainable procurement as a result from Agenda 21. According to Marrakech Force, Japan According to Shohei Yamada from Ministry of Environment Japan, the key Japans success in green purchasing is due to the law in green purchasing that are strictly enforced and implemented in by Japans government. Switzerland Marrakech Task Force United Kingdom Sustainable Procurement Action Plan 2.2 National Policy On Sustainability Issue Malaysia had taken a step towards sustainability after Rio Summit in 1992. The summit requires various countries to commit on the sustainable development issue. There were 27 principles of sustainable development identified during the conference. During Rio Summit, there is also a guideline on sustainable development which is known as Agenda 21. After Rio Summit in 1992, Malaysian government introduced the Malaysian National Environment Policy. (elaborate) The development of various initiatives and policy of sustainable development in Malaysia started since the Kyoto Declaration in 2002 is signed by various countries. Benefits of Sustainable Procurement There are several benefits listed by Kennard (2006) for sustainable procurements. Among them are: Control costs by adopting a wider approach to whole life costing. When wider approach to whole life costing is adopted, the once considered expensive item will be seen as cost saving in long term. This is through the efficient use of the sustainable material and products. Several research and best practices proved that by evaluating the life cycle value of the building, positive social and environmental impact can be achieved. For example in choosing the type of bulb to be used in a building. The energy saving bulb initial cost is expensive. But it uses less energy which brings to less electricity current. The bulb also long lasting therefore it does not require change regularly. This reduces the maintenance cost of the building operation. Comply with environmental and social legislation. There are various tools implemented by the Government in environmental and social legislation to improve sustainability such as transforming Ministry of Communication, Water and Energy to Ministry of KETTHA. There are also guidelines in developing a sustainable development in National Urbanization Policy. Incentives are also given such as exemption from tax if a developer achieves the Green Building Index certificate. There is also a Green Technology Funding Scheme (GTFS) where the construction fulfils the criteria in Table 2.0. No. Criteria Elaboration Requirement 1 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy By using the building orientation as a method to optimise the consumption of energy. For example to get good natural lighting, the orientation of the building must be towards the sunlight. The building also need to use building services that use renewable energy, ensure proper testing made to the services and do regular maintenance. Minimum Energy Efficient Performance Compliance to minimum requirement of MS1525:2007 Renewable Energy 2 Indoor Environmental Quality Good indoor air quality, acoustics, visual and thermal comfort. This includes using a low volatile organic compound materials, use a quality air filtration system, proper control of air temperature, movement and humidity. Minimum IAQ Performance Minimum indoor air quality (IAQ) performance to enhance indoor air quality in building, thus contributing to the comfort and well-being of the occupants. Low indoor air pollutants, mould prevention 3 Sustainable Site Planning and Management Selecting appropriate sites with planned access to public transportation, community services, open spaces and landscaping. Avoiding and conserving environmentally sensitive areas through the redevelopment of existing sites and brownfields. Implementing proper construction management, storm water management and reducing the strain on existing infrastructure capacity. Environment Management Conserve existing natural area Restore damaged area to provide habitat Promote biodiversity Maximize open space by providing a high ratio of open space to development footprint to promote biodiversity. Earthworks Construction activity pollution control and Reduce social impact to surrounding. Public transportation access Reduce pollution and land development impacts from automobile use. Storm water design to limit the disruption of natural hydrology Reduce heat island effect. 4 Materials and Resources Use products that are from environmental friendly and recyclable source. Implement a proper waste management system, with storage, collection and reuse of recyclables and construction waste and formworks. Materials reuse and recycle content materials and construction waste management. Use of environmentally-friendly Refrigerants and Clean Agents. 5 Water Efficiency Practices rainwater harvesting, water recycling and water saving fittings Rainwater Harvesting to reduce potable water consumption. Water Recycling to reduce potable water consumption. Water Efficient Irrigation/ Landscaping Encourage the design of system that does not require the use of potable water supply from the local water reticulation. Water Efficient Fittings Encourage reduction in potable water consumption through use of efficient devices. Metering Leak Detection System Encourage the design of systems that monitors and manages water consumption. 6 Innovation Use an innovative design and initiatives in promoting energy efficiency that meets the goal of Green Building Index Innovation in design environmental design initiatives that contribute to reduce impact to the environment. Green building accredited facilitator To support and encourage the design integration required for green / sustainable building rated buildings and to streamline the application and certification process. Table 2.0 : Criteria and Requirements for obtaining Green Technology Funding Scheme (GTFS) (Source : http://www.gtfs.my/page/criteria-building-and-township-sector) There are also rebates for those who procure the air conditioning, refrigerator or chiller which are rated 5-star by Suruhanjaya Tenaga. The Government are encouraging the consumers to use energy efficient appliances by listing the 5-star rated products in the website. They also provide a savings calculator to show how much saving the consumer can get if they use an energy efficient electrical appliances. This is to help create a culture of efficient use of energy into consumers and business entities. Manage risk and reputation. In order to implement the sustainable procurement, an organization needs to fully change its policies and procedures. It is vital that the sustainability criteria are integrated into the management itself before it is applied to other areas such as procurement. The existing procurement practice and policies need to be evaluated to clarify what the organization really needed to purchase. The procurement policies need to adopt sustainable strategies in order to manage unnecessary consumption and demand thus reducing the impact of energy use to environment. By producing a guideline of the procurement policy, the performance of sustainable procurement can be measured in future. Thus sustainable procurement goals can be developed from time to time. This process will provide a measurement for re-evaluating the sustainability of the supply chain and build a reputation for the organization as an organization that practices good ethical value of sustainable in procurement. (Kennard, 2006) CHAPTER 3 3.0 INTRODUCTION According to Kallet (2004), a studys validity is judged based on the method section of a research paper which provides all of the information in a study. Therefore, a solid research methodology planning precise description of each action must be prepared prior to the commencement of a particular research study. The credibility of the outcome of the research and how the research can be applied in a general population interest is referred as validity (Kallet, 2004). Therefore, the authenticity of content in a research paper are depending on the degree of the validity of its outcome to the overall population and ability of the research paper to be used as future reference. Hulley et.al (1988) as cited by Kallet (2004), stated that the credibility of a study is solely determined by the degree to which conclusion drawn from a research correctly what actually transpired during a study, known as Internal Validity. Moreover, Kallets 2004 study (Hulley et.al, 1988) stated that as for External validity refers to whether the result of a study depending on the degree of the study can be generalized to a larger population. Planning a research methodology before the execution of a research study is essential in ensuring that the outcome of the study which was based on its objectives can be reached and its degree of validity is credible for future reference. 3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OF THE TOPIC 3.1.1 Objectives of the Study The research on the has three most important goals or objective which comprises of the following: To identify the awareness of the construction industry players about sustainable procurement. To identify the problems in implementation level of sustainable procurement in construction industry. To find appropriate recommendation to encourage the use of sustainable public procurement in public projects. These three main objectives were set out as a guideline in executing the research study on the topic. The methodologies used in order to obtain valuable information for this research study are based on sources from both Primary and Secondary Data. Primary Data for this research study was obtained by means of interviews with numerous individual and site visits. Among the barriers in obtaining the primary data was the restriction due to governmental policies, availability of the person in- charge, communication barriers, bureaucracy hassle, public transportation breakdown, financial limit, time constraint, and weather condition. As for the Secondary Data, the information was obtained from journals, articles, electronic information, dissertations, publisher research work, and book of related topic. 3.1.2 Summary of Research Methodology 3.1.2.1 Primary Data Due to the effect of degree of validity of a research study to the credibility of the outcome of the study, the data obtained for executing the study is scrutinized and filtered in order to obtain only the worthy information. Primary data can be defined as the first hand data that was obtain by the researcher prior to the commencement of the research, it is the foremost sources of information which was obtained from both interviews and site visits. Prior to the these data gathering can commence, a letter of consent for request of approval for using the project as a case study was submitted to the responsible being for approval and official notification. The interviews were carried out largely at the mentioned public department. Among the individual interviewed was the Head of the Developers, Quantity Surveyors, Civil Engineers, Architects, and Contractor and also other parties that involved and understand the procurement content. 3.2.2.2 Secondary Data According to Stacks (2002), secondary data can be defined as report on the outcome of the primary data. It is not as authoritative as the primary data as it often provides broad background and readily improves ones learning curve. Therefore, obviously the secondary data is not as reliable as the primary data. The secondary data used in this research is obtained from books related to the research topic, articles, journals, electronic information, dissertations, and public works research. 3.2 SOURCE OF RESEARCH DATA 3.2.3 Primary data Primary data obtained for the purpose of the study consist of interviews and site visits. Interviews The interviews carried out for the purpose of this study can be divided into two, namely : Semi structured interviews. Informal interviews. 3.2.3.1.1 Semi Structured Interviews Rashid (1998) suggested that it is more desirable to conduct a semi-structured interview which is closer to the qualitative research method in order to be balanced and attempt to obtain additional information that would enrich the quantitative data obtained through questionnaire survey. As the nature of the investigation is a combination of qualitative and quantitative that seek for the answer for open-ended and close-ended questions of why and how therefore, it is more appropriate to conduct semi-structured interview in which it provides opportunities to researcher to capture both data. To ensure the smoothness and to facilitate the respondents in answering the questions, the following guides and procedures were followed: The main instructions were clearly explained during the beginning of interview sessions. Each respondents were requested to discuss on one or more specific projects that has been selected during content analysis prior to the interview in which they were directly involved in the strategic briefing process. The respondents were allowed to express their opinion freely in the future outlook of sustainable procurement in construction industry, in order to explore potential variables and concepts that may have been overlooking during literature review. The questions were design to be short and simple, which developed from objectives of the research. A five-point rating scale were used for close-ended questions with choices of responses of : 1 Not at all aware 2 Slightly aware 3 Somewhat aware 4 Moderately aware 5 Extremely aware 3.2.3.1.2 Informal Interviews Informal interviews were carried out by means of telecommunication such as telephone calls, emails, and Short Messaging System or better known as SMS. This type of interview were conducted in order to acquire basic information such as the availability of the person in charge, hardcopy information for appendix purposes, and other related references. 3.2.3.1.3 Questionnaires The final stage of data collection is a postal questionnaire survey. The primary objective of postal questionnaire survey is to measure the level of clients practices during briefing. It also carried out to measure the level of project success based on perception of the architects in-charged for the selected project. Responses and variables on clients practices during briefing and level of project success obtained from the survey were used to validate findings on semi-structured interview on the previous stage of data collection, in order to have reliable, unbiased and meaningful data. Given that the location of the respondents were relatively remote, financial limitation and constrained by timeline of the study, a postal questionnaire survey was observed as the most appropriate method to collecting data from the respondents. According to Sekaran (2003), the main advantage of mail questionnaire is that a wide geographical area can be covered in the survey. Naoum (1998) added it is more suited to assembling a mass of information at a minimum expense in terms of finance, human and other resources. A set of question was developed for the purpose of the survey in which divided into several sections that covered background of the respondents, level of knowledge and concept of sustainable development and construction, application of sustainability in procurement, barriers to implement sustainable procurement in construction industry and future outlook of the sustainable procurement in construction. To encourage high response rate and to ensure the required information were obtained, the following guides and procedures were followed: The questions were design to be short and simple, and were formatted on A4 sizes paper. The main instructions were clearly printed in the front page of the questionnaire form. The questionnaire was divided into several sections, according to research objectives and category of information required. Refer to Appendix 1 for copy of questionnaire used in the postal questionnaire survey. Secondary Data According to Ober (2008), secondary data is not as good as the primary data , however, it is not the worst kind of data that can be used in completing a research study. Moreover, there are many advantageous in applying the secondary data as a method in completing a research study, this is due to the facts that it is low in term of cost and less time consuming than gathering primary data, therefore, secondary data will help save money, energy, and time. However, it also holds its own disadvantages in terms of the quality of the available data and its availability for a particular topic of a research study. Most of the secondary data gathered in this study was obtained from construction journals and articles. The secondary data for this research was also gathered from the electronic

President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal :: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Westernized modern countries such as the United States have an immense economic market in which it has allowed America to be prosperous and has created opportunities for many people. Millions of people from all over the world migrate to the United States in seek of a better life and opportunity and to live the so called â€Å"American Dream.† When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the presidency in the year 1933, â€Å"the country was in its depth of the Great Depression.† (Neal 2010) The Great Depression was a Economic Stock Market crash in which not only did it affect the citizens of the United States but also created havoc worldwide, especially international trade relations. When the Stock Market crashed, people were worried what would happen to the country. People were being laid off, businesses being closed, and unemployment rate was rising day by day, causing even more turmoil throughout the country. Nonetheless, president Roosevelt had something else in mind to reduce the unemployment rate. Roosevelt along with his democratic party created the â€Å"New Deal†, in which it created different relief jobs helping reduce unemployment. Although President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped reduce unemployment by the means of programs such as the WPA, and CWA, these methods were not effective because the government spending of these projects created inflation and no tax cuts were being made, making the New Deal a slow process. First of all, when president Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, he had to win the trust of the of the citizens during his campaign, by proposing his ideologies, one of them being his Work Progress Administration, also known as the WPA. According to a scholarly article called, â€Å"The Dynamics of Relief Spending and the Private Urban Labor Market During the New Deal† written by three Economic professors and affiliated with the National Bureau of Economics, they emphasize Roosevelt’s beliefs and intentions to restore the country. They write, â€Å"In response to the massive unemployment of the 1930’s, Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933 introduced the first federal relief programs targeted at the poor and unemployed†¦ he anticipated that the work relief jobs would boost consumer spending and thus increase demand for labor, which would then raise private employment and earnings.† (Neumann, Fishback, Kantor) This quote shows that programs such as these relief jobs, would not only be able to get the people back to work, but also get the economy up and running again.

Black Panther Organization Essay

The African American people, living in the United States of America, are one of the minority groups in the country that experience terrible situations wherein they are marginalized. This group of people have been often targeted by acts of violence, racism, bigotry, unfair treatment and other acts of injustice. Every once in a while, there are selected individuals who fought for the cause and the rights of the African American people, individuals like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are familiar names from the black Left. It also included â€Å"radical black theologian James Cone, left-wing black civil rights activist James Forman, left-wing black sociologist Robert Allen, 1960s radical black essayist Julius Lester, and James Boggs, black worker-socialist writer and activist (Mc Cartney 133). † Standing shoulder to shoulder with these individuals who contributed largely to the advancement of the African American cause is one of the very prominent groups that became the vanguard that defended, protected and advanced the cause of the African American people as an organization. And this is the Black Panther. This paper is focused on discussing several important aspects about the Black Panther as a political organization that influenced the society as much as it influenced its individual members, in the process of establishing the social prominence and influence that the group managed to create for itself since its creation and during the time before it declined to power and social clout. The Black Panther History To be able to understand the Black Panther Party better, it is important to know how the organization started, what prompted the formation of the group, how it rose to social prominence, how it managed to recruit more members and grow in numbers, the goals and ideas of the Party and how it eventually affected the society. While there are historians who would talk about the chronological development inside the Black Panther Party to attribute to the beginnings of the party, there are those who will explain the beginnings of the party in different manner. They explain how the party was a result of the efforts of some of the people who believed that it is about time that a group is organized. There is an organized approach towards fighting the social injustice that the African Americans in the country are facing. While other historians point to the date, the founding father of the Party and other data to establish the roots and early beginnings of the Party, others simply refer to the beginnings of the party as more of a collective reaction by the people who cannot take the social injustice and oppression any longer. â€Å"It grew out of the social evils of an unjust, oppressive system (Seale 3). † Some believed that the creation of the Black Panther Party was a product of a necessity. While others believed that the creation of the group was a result of a calculated scheme undertaken by the founder and early leaders of the group. They foresaw the change coming in the national and international social spheres and saw that such a group with the intentions like the Black Panther party has the potential to prosper and be an important social institution (Seale 3). Others merely believed that the birth of the Black Panther party traced its roots on similar vein like equally radical group which broke away from the original nationalist organization and decided that it was best to create a group which is more radical to achieve more concrete actions and results; considering the party as something created after the â€Å"split† that happened in the ranks and in the strategy of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or the SNCC (Simpson, Yinge 424). â€Å"While it was, at the same time, a very strong sign that a part of the nationalist movement is moving towards radicalizing its actions, its beliefs, its tenets and other aspects of the organization design to accomplish social change (Simpson, Yinge 424). † The Black Panther Party officially became an organization after founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale created the organization on October 15, 1966. It started with the name Black Panther Party for Self Defense. This is because the main thrust of the organization was the protection that the African Americans desperately need during the time when most of them believed that they are defenseless from the racist attacks on them. This attack was done by white police officers who came to symbolize the role of the main oppressors in the ideals of the group that would be later known via its shorter name, The Black Panthers Party (Simpson, Yinge 424). The Rise The rise of the Black Panther Party was attributed to the time immediately after the foundation. Most historians noted that the rise of the group to social prominence happened sometime in the late 60’s and in the early 70’s (followed soon after wards by the steep decrease in popularity halfway through the 70s). The rise to prominence was attributed to the efforts, success and concrete actions that the group has undertaken and achieved through the relatively short influential period that the group had. Many people believed in the ideals of the group, especially the ten-point program and the belief of the leaders that there is no reason why people from different racial background can’t get along with each other. This was the idea that the Black Panther and its leadership was trying to put forward. Because of the admirable ideology, many supported the group, allowing the group to rise to fame and prominence especially in cities, states and neighborhoods where Black Panther Party chapters are visible and active (Lazerow, Williams 84). The Black Panther Party was successful in achieving prominence because of its presence in many affairs that made them a household name. Soon, people were already aware of the Black Panther party, especially after numerous incidences with the police and the very active radicalism and activism that the group is not afraid to show in the streets. They were part of the consciousness of the masses, may it be the white or the black. The media and the press contributed to the growth of the Black Panther Party by talking about it in the newspaper, in the television and in the radio (Jones 41). The mass communication tools paired with the word of mouth improved the reputation of the Black Panther party and communicated to the people who they are and what they want to do. This act of reaching out to the people and reaching out to the government through violent and non-violent actions gained nationwide support and catapulted the organization into new and greater heights never experienced before by the Black Panther Party (Jones 41). An important note that serves as proof of the rise of the Black Panther Party in the society is the rise of the position of the organization particularly in the American left wing movement during the height of its social influence. Many believed that there was actually a time that the Black Panther Party was the leading organization that controls the leftists in the country, that the group is actually armed with a high level of clout and influence to go with a high number of Party members including soldiers who are armed and are willing to resort to acts of violence through the use of lethal force to defend its claims and social rights which it believed was, for the longest time, denied to them (Simpson, Yinger 424). â€Å"For about five years, the left wing of the black protest movements was occupied by the Black Panthers. Reference to the period when they were subjects of public attention and controversy may be of value in suggesting some of the consequences of harsh confrontation as a way of trying to increase interracial justice (Simpson, Yinger 424). † Even if the authors believed that the Black Panther Party ruled the American left for half a decade, their influence and role in the civil protest action for the African American rights and privileges extended a few more years before the perceived height of their power and a few years later leading to the decline of the influence of the organization. The Fall But just like any other good thing, the fervor that was the flame of the organization was soon consumed, and just like any other organization, the Black Panther Party was vulnerable to internal strife and external pressure. There are those who believed that a large part of the fall of the group was attributed to the negative publicity that the group had during the time when its founder Huey P. Newton was put under trial after he was apprehended as a suspect for manslaughter. Of course, there was also other internal instability that contributed to the collapse of the organization. With the changes that are happening inside and outside of the party and how the party was responding to it in return, it became clear through the signs that were displayed by the Party and its members that it would not be long before the group completely loses the breadth and depth of public support, social prominence and popularity that it once had, leading to the chapter in the life of the Black Panther party known as their fall from social prominence. One day, the group stopped becoming the leader of the American revolutionary left (Jones 286). Another possible reason why the Black Panthers lost its influence and power and the hold of the sympathy of the masses is because it disintegrated from within and imploded eventually. It was because of the problems that the Black Panther Party has to face internally, particularly the friction that was created after some of the women members asserted more and more power and influence and tried to be independent and authoritarian individuals themselves. It resulted in the subjugation of some of the male members of the Party, a development which is not in line with the thinking and dogma of the Party (Jones 286). â€Å"It is female chauvinism and Black women’s complicity in the castration of Black men primarily through the receipt of an alleged economic advantage that destroyed relationships and families in the Party and elsewhere (Jones 286). † What happened was an ironic and odd twist of fate. In the pursuit of equality and justice, the Black Panther Party made it a point that inside the group no, form of injustice would happen. That is why, they did not try to undermine or put the women members in a lower echelon. But this move proved to be one of the sources of confusion because some women had a distracted and distorted view of the essence of women empowerment inside the party, living the Party ideals about women members somewhat differently and counter to what the male Party members expected of them (Jones 286). â€Å"Obviously influenced by the pseudo-historical analysis of Black woman as domineering matriarchs and was seemingly unaware (or unconvinced) of the revised Party rhetoric highlighting the significance of revolutionary comrade sisters to the movement (Jones 286). † Perhaps, the most notable reason for the fall of the Black Panther Party – aside from allegations of internal strife, the participation of its members in illegal activities and the negative image it has been generating through continuous acts of violence directed against law enforcement agents some of whom are fellow African Americans – is the trial and eventual death of Newton. Newton was considered as a charismatic, intelligent and powerful leader that held the group strongly together during his time. But when he started losing control of the group, the group faltered and failed (Mc Cartney 133). â€Å"Newton was undoubtedly the most forceful, the best-known, and the most ambitious theorist-practitioner of left-wing Black Power, and for these reasons alone his profile is a small-scale representation of the entire Black Power left (Mc Cartney 133). † The Ideas There is a saying that the leader or founder of the group and what he or she stands for greatly describes the ideas and the general ideologies of the group. In the case of the Black Panther Party, understanding the ideas of the groups can be made by understanding its founder Huey P. Newton. Analysts believed that Newton symbolized what the group is all about, including the leanings of the group towards what John T. Mc Cartney explained as counter-communalism or the idea that the civil rights advocates demanded not a separation by the African Americans from the rest of the US, but a change in the system that can improve the lives of the African Americans in the country (Mc Cartney 133). This was one of the important aims of the organization and its founder represented what the group was aiming for. â€Å"In the 1960s, certainly the most visible, if not the most articulate, advocate of Counter-Communalism was Huey P. Newton, the leader of the Black Panther Party (Mc Cartney 133). † The Goals and Aims The main goal and aim of the group is to influence social and political spheres. The leadership provides sufficient and equal attention to the needs of the African American population and not subject this particular minority group in further acts of discrimination and marginalization. The Black Panther Party, like any leftist group, talked about giving the people what they deserve, what they need, what was deprived of them in the past, what they need in the future, pressuring the government to yield to their demands and using the power of the strength of their number as leverage to gain prominence and voice that can help the government hear their demands and act upon these demands efficiently and in a just and satisfying manner (Simpson, Yinge 424). The Black Panther Party, no doubt, was a different group compared to the other groups for African American civil rights advocates that came before. After its time, historians, critics and analysts believe that at some point, the Black Panther Party, despite its reputation for violence and police clashes, also shares some similarities with other groups, organizations and movements in the US that looked after the welfare of African American. One of the similarities that the Black Panther party shared with other groups is the aim which the Party and the other organizations wanted to accomplish (Simpson, Yinge 424). Although there are little differences, all in all, the aim of the Black Panther party was very much similar to the aims of the nationalist movement and groups in the US during the time of the Black Panther Party. â€Å"The aims of the Black Panther were similar to those of other Black Nationalist groups, except perhaps for the explicit demands that the government furnish jobs and decent income for all (Simpson, Yinge 424). † The Members The Black Panther Party is composed of male and female African American sympathizers and activists. They recruited heavily. The group was full in ranks in no time, establishing its presence in areas that included Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other key cities and states. These same locations are where the group’s newspaper which goes by the same name was printed in large scale and heavily distributed for information dissemination. Like any other organization, the Black Panther assigned individual and group tasks. The duties and responsibilities of each member were, in detail, different from each other but in scope similar since they all worked to achieve one single goal (Lazerow, Williams 37). The higher echelon members of the Black Panther Party membership were the ones responsible for the role of the party as a spokesperson of the African American communities who, prior to the creation of the Black Panther Party, was speechless and was not heard by the local and national leaders. Some of the members of the party were tasked with gathering information about the grievances of the African American communities; while some are tasked in double checking these facts so that they are credible and real (Lazerow, Williams 37). The leaders of the group are the ones who present this information to the government officials who are responsible for the different aspects of the grievances that the African American citizens are laying out for the government to address and take action on. â€Å"Party activists also defined their anti-colonial politics in terms of pushing onto the municipal political agenda the concerns of local residents – who needed jobs, better health care, improved schools, and repaired streets (Lazerow, Williams 37). † Contrary to the belief that all Black Panthers did was instigate and involve themselves in violent protests, they also have political maneuvers that included talks with leaders so that reform is achieved. An important characteristic of the Black Panther Party members is its role not just in activism but also in pro-active vigilance. At the time of the rise of the Black Panther party to prominence, the lives of most African American (particularly male) involves violence, sometimes resulting from individual or gang-related violence or even from acts of violence committed by white police officers and law enforcement units (Lazerow, Williams 37). The Black Panther Party tried to answer and remedy this problematic situation by actively moving towards police monitoring of acts of harassment and unjustified physical assault towards African Americans. This is a part of the overall strategy to remove the presence of injustice in the country which is centered among African American minorities and is reflected through acts of wanton violence and unchecked aggression by the white police officers towards African American males (Lazerow, Williams 37). â€Å"The Panther’s famous ‘policing the police’ drew attention to the spatial remove that white Americans enjoyed from the state violence that had come to characterize life in black urban communities (Lazerow, Williams 37). † The members of the Black Panther Party were unafraid to go head-on with the white cops. Their boldness somewhat pushed the white cops back to a more acceptable sense of self control and self regulation. This is an important victory for the Black Panther Party and its members. The Effects they had on Society The Black Panther Party became popular and significant not just because of how the party managed to recruit so many members in a short period of time. More importantly, it became prominent because whether the detractors of the Black Panther Party accept it or not, the organization managed to accomplish something and actually had significant influence in the society especially during the height of its power. It convinced many people to believe and join their cause, which lead to the creation of a Black Panther Party that is filled with many members who are idealists who finally found an organization to which they can affiliate themselves with and actually expect to do something concrete about the current situation of African Americans in the US (Rabinovich, Reinharz 235). Perhaps one of the important social relevance that the Black Panther Party achieved and what other people actually believed they did was the ability to identify important points of concern present inside the society; one of which is the pertinent and relevant information concerning the presence of discrimination in the particular localities where localized Black Panther Party units operate. Wielding credible information, and managing to send this information not just to the authorities who need to do something about it – who should do something about it – but to the public who needs to know about it and who is inspired and at some point agitated by what they learned from the Black Panther Party, is one of the things that it managed to effectively do especially during the height of its power and social prominence. â€Å"The Black Panthers of Detroit or Chicago had no difficulty in pinning down the exact points at which there is discrimination (Rabinovich, Reinharz 235). † In some ways, what made the Black Panther different is its synthesis of many different aspects that involved the left-leaning movement that it has managed to assemble and establish (Rabinovich, Reinharz 235). The Black Panther has taken key concepts from the past and the future and moved from national to international analysis of social issues that made them a significant group during their time and in the height of the group’s power and social influence. â€Å"By reclaiming the tradition of black radicalism that the Cold War had suppressed and linking it to the concrete concerns of black communities, the Party joined the black rights struggle in the United States to a global analysis of capitalism and imperialism (Lazerow, Williams 37). † The Black Panther Today But despite the presence of Black Panther and the task that it set about in accomplishing, oddly, the Black Panther itself as an organization was nonetheless victimized by the same problem that it is trying to solve – to have the African Americans be treated equally as how the society treats the white American citizens during its time. Then, and now, the Black Panther experienced the stigma of the African American people which it represented. Proof of which is the fact that the Black Panther as a group was still viewed or presented by the media and the rest of the society in a way that sometimes creates misconceptions about the group. Due in some part because those which talks about the Black Panther, like the media and the historians, somewhat leaned towards white Americans. That is why even now, several African American historians, writers and critics still make it their responsibility to ensure that the contemporary public is correctly informed. IT is because of the belief that there are many anti-Black Panther and anti African American propaganda that circulated in the past which may have influenced the thinking, attitude and perception of the modern day people about the Black Panthers. â€Å"There are a lot of misconceptions about the Black Panther Party. I wanted to write this book so people could have a better insight into the inner workings of the Party, so that people would have a more true understanding of the Black Panther Party – what it really does, the kind of people who are in it, their everyday lives, the things that have happened to the Party (Seale, p3). † Conclusion The Black Panther Party will always be an important name in the analysis of the different US-based African American social rights advocacy groups. In retrospect during the height of the influence of the Black Panther Party in the society, it can be noticed that the Black Panthers became a success and earned the sympathy of the people because of what it managed to accomplish, what it managed to integrate in its essence as the group improved and developed through the years, what it managed to include in its collective fight for the cause and need of the African American people in the US. The group touched concrete and critical layers of social concerns especially those which affected the African American people. It managed to balance political dialogue with immediate and simplistic social needs without being vague or general. The group proved critical as well as constructive in their pursuit of answers and in providing solutions that can benefit the African American citizens. â€Å"At the heart of the Panthers’ anti-colonial politics was an analysis of the relationship between urban black communities and the post-war American metropolis and a critique of the concept of liberal free markets in urban property, employment, and housing, on the other (Lazerow, Williams 37). † Works Cited Jones, Charles E. Black Panther Party Reconsidered. Black Classic Press, 1998. Lazerow, Jama and Williams, Yohuru. In Search of the Black Panther Party: New Perspectives on a Revolutionary Movement. Duke University Press, 2006. McCartney, John T. Black Power Ideologies: An Essay in African American Political Thought. Temple University Press, 1993. Rabinovich, Itamar. Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, and Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present. Brandeis University Press, 2007. Seale, Bobby. Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Black Classic Press, 1991. Simpson, George Eaton E. , and Yinger, J. M. Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1985. The Black Panther Organization. 2008. 23 November 2008 .

Financial Analysis of Oracle Corp Essays - 2605 Words

Financial Analysis of Oracle Corp INTRODUCTION Background and History Oracle Corporation is a technology company that supplies software for the use of information management. They develop, manufacture, market and distribute computer software that helps other corporations manage their data so they can better grow and prosper. In 1977, Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates founded System Development Laboratories. After being inspired by a research paper written in 1970 by an IBM researcher titled â€Å"A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks† they decided to build a new type of database called a relational database system. The original project on the relational database system was for the government (Central†¦show more content†¦Currently, Oracle is the fourth largest consultant as they spread into Brazil, China, Cyprus, Malaysia, and New Zealand. In 1989, Oracle Corporation earns $571 million while opening up shop in Chile, Greece, Korea, Portugal, Turkey, Venezuela, and Taiwan. They now sell products in 86 countries around the world. In 1990 Oracle reaches $916 million and 1991 they reach $1,028 million in revenues while expanding to Belgium, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, and the Philippines. Revenues steadily grow to $8,827 million in 1999 and Oracle Corporation conti nues to improve on its product, releasing Oracle8i, the first Internet database, the same year (Oracle Corporation, 2000a). Business Description Oracle designs, develops, and supports computer-software products. This software is used for database management and network products, application development productivity tools, and end user applications. The company’s principal product, the oracle relational database-management system, runs on supercomputers, mainframes, microcomputers, and personal computers. 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