Barclays Plc and Abn Amro Case Study

[pic] London School of Commerce MBA E BARCLAYS PLC AND ABN AMRO CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT London UK As one of the world’s leading banks, with 135,000 employees in more than 50 countries, Barclays plays a significant role, from working with governments on major infrastructure projects to bringing banking to customers in emerging markets. Barclays is made up of two major businesses: Global Retail and Commercial Banking (GRCB) and Investment Banking and Investment Management (IBIM). There strategy is to achieve growth through time by diversifying their profit base making their growth relevant to their customers at all times. This case study will seek to examine the bid and intended acquisition of ABN AMRO, and the early acquisition of Banco Zaragozano by Barclays, the differences in performance of these two banks based upon the strategic a economic motives, focusing on the merger acquisition, and strategy implemented to effect improvements to reflect the results from 2002- 2006. 1. Evaluate Barclays strategy over the period of the case and prior to the ABN bid, paying particular attention to the global industry drivers and the group? s performance from 2002-2006. In order to understand the context that helps to formulate the strategic performance changes at Barclays PLC over and prior bid for ABN AMOR. Barclay? s’ origins can be found back in 1690 to John Freame and Thomas Gould. The named changed to its present form when James Barclay became a partner in 1736. Presently, Barclays is the third largest bank in the United Kingdom. The institution’s primary focus is in retail banking, investment banking as well as investment management. Barclays operates in 60 countries with major point of interest in Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa. Barclays is one of the ten largest banks global when measured by market capitalization (Barclays PLC, 2004). The institution’s core business revolves around retail and investment banking, and it is the later that is being impacted by forces acting upon liberal market economies in varied European Union member states as a result of the aforementioned introduction of the Euro as well as globalization. As a result of the preceding, Barclays services the United Kingdom market as well as providing services to multinational companies located in differing market models. Barclays strategy. The bank’s strategy is to offer a full portfolio of services worldwide, providing a wide range of cross-selling opportunities, in order to achieve good growth through time by diversifying its business base and increasing its presence in markets and segments that are growing rapidly. This is driven by the Group’s ambition to become one of a handful of universal banks leading the global financial services industry, helping customers and clients throughout the world achieve their goals. Moreover, the strategy of the bank is based on the principles of earn, invest and grow. Aligning business drivers with strategic options. The strategic options examined by Barclays were further direct investment or outsourcing to a ‘partner’ bank and these were considered in the context of the bank’s key business drivers. These were:improving their operating model for trade processing; reducing the costs of their trade business in relation to people, infrastructure and services; improving their trade service capabilities and establishing a workable, non-competing, long-term ‘partnership’. After considering all of the options, including a Joint Venture partnership, Barclays decided to outsource the processing aspect of its trade services offering to ABN AMRO and to focus on delivering enhanced client service. Performance Nowadays, the proliferation of banking consolidation within the industry is and has created a new era of international banking conglomerates in the global industry. The preceding is causing European based banks to appear small in terms of relative comparison. Barclays? peration in a liberal market economy means it competes with equity financing for corporations and as such, this does not represent a strength concerning its overall performance base. According to group? s performance from 2002-2006 identifies that Barclays? performance underpinnings are represented by its strategy of acquiring other banking (such as ABN Amro and Banco Zaragozano) concerns to expand its retail as well as other banking services through representation in international marke ts as represented by the bank’s presence in 60 countries. This provides Barclays with the means to sell its highly profitable investment banking services as well as be positioned to service the cadre of multinational companies that utilize its diverse banking financial service packages. On the other hand, ABN AMRO bank has a presence in 76 countries and territories. Using its worldwide network the bank provides universal banking services consisting of commercial and investment banking products to corporate nationally and internationally operating clients as well as personal and private banking customers. In 2007, Barclays announced the proposed acquisition of ABN AMRO bank, in order to expanded their distribution base. The deal was valued at â‚ ¬67 billion. On October, the RFS consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, bidding for control of ABN AMRO, formally declared victory after shareholders, representing 86 percent of the Dutch bank’s shares, accepted the RFS group’s â‚ ¬70bn offer. Barclays is known a consistent performer delivering steady profitability results, 20% increase in profit before taxes in 2003, and again in 2004, and one of the lowest cost to income ratios with regard to banks in the UK. The preceding indicates that Barclays is well managed. Barclays? focus on internal administrative consolidation as well as the acquisition of banking concerns represents its recognition in order to maintain growth in revenues, return on equity, dividends and profits in response to maintaining a high market capitalization that tends to make it a relatively unattractive takeover target as a result of the high premium required to acquire it Barclays? retail banking arm is clearly supported by the huge success of its Barclaycard division that has set industry standards in terms of innovations in customer utility. Barclays? resence in 60 countries further strengthens the utility of this card providing business and retail customers with access to their financial accounts globally (Barclays PLC, 2004). The aforementioned diversity in operations is a result of the economic strength of global industry market based economies that have fully recovered from the global recession events of 2002. B arclays? banking acquisition strategy is a direct outgrowth of the foregoing in keeping with the consolidation mania initiated by U. S. based banks. According to ABN AMRO bank performance, financial results in 2006 added to concerns about the bank's future. Operating expenses increased at a greater rate than operating revenue, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated further to 69. 9%. Non-performing loans increased considerably year on year by 192%. Net profits were only boosted by sustained asset sales. From 2002 to 2006, the further progress being made as a result of understanding the corrective measures that were and are needed to be taken. Barclays ? performance throughout this period has remained consistent and steady as the bank has not lost sight of the competencies that helped it achieve acceptable historical performance. . Compare and contrast the intended acquisition of ABN with that of the earlier acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, paying particular attention to the merger rationale and the motives in each case and the likely synergy gains resulting from the integration of ABN. According to the drivers of the bidding war that preceded the intended acquisition of ABN AMRO bank and the acquisition of Banco Zaragozano by Barclays in 2003, it is important to understand why merger and acquisition (M) take place and the potential gains of doing so. But first some definitions. Mergers and acquisitions. Mergers and acquisitions (M) are considered as consolidation strategies where a change of control takes place through a transfer of ownership. A merger is the combining of two or more companies into a single corporation. This is achieved when one company or business purchases the property or some other form of assets from another company. The result of this action is the formation of one corporate structure. This new corporate structure retains it is original identity. An acquisition is a little different from a merger n that it involves many problems being dissolved, and an entirely new company being formed. The main theory of merger and acquisition is synergy, that is, one and one makes three. Through synergy, managers create greater value with the integration of two companies, rather than that of their individual parts. Strategic and economic motives. The strategic of Barclays with the intended acquisition of ABN AMRO bank was to created a big opportunity with the purpose to deliver a new period of faster growth for shareholders in general. Moreover the intended investment would be implemented at a reasonable price slightly below the recent market trading price. The merger for Barclays was focused in a strong financial performance provides clear strategic advantages as well as stature on the world business state. The proposed merger with ABN AMRO, offered a unique opportunity to become a leading force in global retail and commercial banking with an stimate 47 millions customers, in order to increase financial returns to their owners beyond the rate of the stand-alone entities. And the fact that this merger, combining the strengths and values of both businesses, gives them confidence in delivery, both in terms of synergies, and determined in considerable detail by ABN AMRO bank and Barclays, in terms of a clearly defined and transparent management structure that we are putting in place. In terms of growth for shareholders, the combined entity would offers a diversified portfolio, both by geography and by business. Exposure to high-growth developing markets represents about a quarter of the enlarged pro forma profit base. Business segments such as investment banking and investment management, which have as we know strong growth opportunities driven by demographic trendS represent about half of profits For Global Retail and Commercial Banking, the merger would create the fourth largest retail and commercial bank worldwide by market share, and in a world where the needs and buying behaviours of retail and commercial customers are growing more similar, this will create economies of scale. Furthermore, the benefits generate by the merger between both banks would be: complementary networks, a strong presence in attractive European markets; significantly enhanced positions in high-growth developing markets; a much larger distribution network; and the opportunity to deliver considerable economies of scale. The main reason behind Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has trumped Barclays? offer for ABN Amro. The for each ABN AMRO share, 79 per cent of which will be in cash, with the remainder in RBS shares. The cash element was higher than expected and the bid, valuing ABN at E71bn (? 8bn), beats Barclays? agreed all-share offer, worth E64. 5bn. The deal offers better value for ABN AMRO bank shareholders. And price is not the only factor, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) also combined cost savings would reach E4. 23bn by the end of 2010, easily beating Barclays? estimated savings of around E2. 8bn. In essence the driving force behind the success of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) bid over Barclays was in fact the higher share price expectations offering the perfect icing. That partly reflects the radically difierent strategic visions of the two banks. Barclays is looking to build a huge universal bank where cross-border synergies could be limited. But the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) consortium wants to generate a type of â€Å"in-market synergies†, by breaking-up ABN AMRO. On the other hand, in 2003, Barclays announces the completion of its acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, at a cost of ? 788 million which fit nicely into Barclays' strategy to grow its business in Europe. Barclays has been present in the Spanish market for 25 years and it the most profitable foreign-owned bank in the country. The acquisition of Banco Zaragozano to its arsenal makes Barclays the sixth largest private bank in Spain (much of the market is dominated by publicly-owned banks) and triples Barclays customer base and branch network. Barclays aimed to be one of the top five banks in the world and for that it would consider acquisition to achieve the goal. Further, Barclays believes that a physical retail and commercial banking presence is a significant enabler of investment banking growth. The acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, shows that strong retail presence generates ood new business opportunities for global businesses such as investment banking and credit cards. The success or failure of a deal also depends on the time horizon over which evaluation is done. Normally, in the short term, stock reactions to merger announcements tend to raise the target's stock price, while the stock of the acquirer stays about the same. This is normally attributable to the expectation that there will be a bid that is successful and involves a premium above the current market price of the stock. Acquirer prices stay the same, in general, as the market reacts conservatively, depending on the specifics of the deal. 3. Identify what you believe to the key success factors necessary to sustain competitive adavantage in the global financial services industry and briefly discuss the implications for the firm? s competencies, structure, and ehical/corporate governance. Critical success factors (CSFs) have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organisations should focus on to be successful. As a definition, Critical success factors refer to â€Å"the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organisation† (Rockart and Bullen, 1981). Identifying CSFs is important as it allows firms to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the CSFs, or even allow firms to decide if they have the capability to build the requirements necessary to meet Critical success factors (CSFs). The main keys success factors for Barclays in the case study are, with over three hundred years of history and expertise in banking Barclays has seen and has gained a reputation for being a trustworthy and a reliable institution to bank and invest with. This reputation has seen it grow into over 50 countries and become truly universal bank providing loans, investments and protecting the money of over 42 million customers and client worldwide. Another reason for the success of Barclays would be that it follows a simple strategic premise; ‘anticipates the needs of customers and clients and serve them by helping them achieve their goals. Part of Barclays recent success has been their ability to target and identify upcoming emerging markets for example: India, parts of Asia and Africa, namely South Africa, expanding its retail network and cash machine availability. Despite being a truly global corporation from a basic bank account to funding Governmental projects, Barclays focus ha s always been to meet the needs of the individual customer. Furthermore, competitive advantages are difficult to create. It is even more difficult to sustain. Community banks usually can not achieve a cost advantages, especially in head-to-head competition with larger, high-volume institutions. That leaves differentiation as their primary method for creating Competitive advantages. But that approach is also problematic. It is clear that technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in banking. But today most banks are using functionally identical systems to develop and deliver products and services. This uniformity of technology has resulted in commoditized banking – the antithesis of differentiation. So while emerging technology can create a temporary advantage, sustainable differentiation based solely on technology is virtually impossible. To make matters worse, technology has actually eliminated some of the historical advantages enjoyed by community banks. Thanks to CRM, personalized service – once the sole province of community banks – is now possible for even the largest institutions. Sustainable Competitive advantages is created by leveraging organization’s unique blend of attributes – brand equity, reputation, geographic footprint, specialized knowledge – and articulating it clearly and consistently to your market. Barclays is an excellent example of a bank that has achieved Competitive advantages through specialized knowledge. On the other hand, on the global financial services industry corporate governance is essential to the wellbeing of an individual company and its stakeholders, particularly its shareholders and creditors. But sound corporate governance is not just a vital factor at the level of the individual corporation. It is also a critical ingredient in maintaining a sound financial system and a robust economy. And that is why governments have taken such an interest in recent examples of corporate governance failures. It is also why banking supervisors are placing greater emphasis on the role that corporate governance can play in promoting financial stability. In the financial system, corporate governance is one of the key factors that determine the health of the system and its ability to survive economic shocks. The health of the financial system much depends on the underlying soundness of its individual components and the connections between them – such as the banks, the non-bank financial institutions and the payment systems. In turn, their soundness largely depends on their capacity to identify, measure, monitor and control their risks. Barclays have designed good corporate governance policies and practices in order to ensure that they are focused on their responsibilities to shareholders and on creating long term shareholder value, and ensuring that behaviour is ethical, legal and transparent. In firms, structure is basically the best way to organize it, in order to accomplish it is objectives. It acts as the medium that facilitates the accomplishments of the organizational goals. It also helps to identify the key activities of the organizational processes and how they are coordinated. Moreover, successful strategy implementation depends to a large extent on the firm’s primary organizational structure. A primary organizational structure comprises the firm’s major elements, components, or differentiated units. Other means of getting organized are through reward systems, coordination terms, planning procedures, alliances, information, and budgetary systems. Geographical structure It is common in firms that have grown by expanding the sale of their products of services to new geographical areas. In these areas, they frequently encounter differences that necessitate different approaches in producing, providing or selling services or products. The key strategic advantage of this structure is responsiveness to local market conditions, a clear example of that is the intended acquisition of ABN AMRO and the early acquisition of Banco Zaragozano. To conclude, after being satisfied with its progress in the United Kingdom, Barclays decided to make its name international by going abroad which was another great move. In the United Kingdom, Barclays had acquired many other small banks, such a Banco Zaragozano, gained large market and profits with each acquisition. As a result of this growth, this company had reached its maturity stage within UK itself; it has reached its peak of growth. Further, Barclays, performance throughout 2002-2006 has remained consistent and steady as the bank has not lost sight of the competencies that helped it achieve acceptable historical performance. Bibliography †¢ Barclays PLC. 2004. Annual Report. Barclays PLC, London, United Kingdom. †¢ Calmfors, Lars, Driffil, John. 1988. Centralisation of Wage Bargaining. Vol. 6. Economic Policy Dammann, N. 2008. The Bidder Competition for ABN AMRO: A Strategic Analysis and Implications †¦Bachelor tesis. †¢ Esping-Anderrsen, Gosta. 1990. Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, United States. †¢ Foster, S. Reed A. , & Nesvold P. 1999. The art of M & A: a merger, acquisition, buyout guide. Fourth edition. †¢ Friedman, Thomas. 1999. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. P 105. Anchor Books, New York, New York, United States †¢ Hall, Peter, Soskice, David. 2001. Varieties of Capitalism: The Insitutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. Ireland, D. , Hoskisson, R. , & Hitt, M. 2008 Understanding Business Strategy: Concepts and Cases. Second edition †¢ Monks, R. , & Minow N. 2008. Corporate Governance. Fourth edition †¢ Rockart, J. & Bullen, C. , 1981. A primer on critical success factors. Center for Information Systems Research Working Paper No 69. Sloan School of Management, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. †¢ Tibergien, M. & Pomering. 2005. R. Practice made perfect: the discipline of business management for financial. Bloomberg.

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A Quality Candidate for the Position of Teacher - Essay Example Teachers are expected to create the most conducive learning environment that would design and impart theoretical concepts according to defined modules and encourage students to be actively engaged in the learning process. As a Bilingual Math teacher with extensive experiences in curriculum design, integrating technological applications and applying a multidimensional approach to teaching, I strongly believe that I am a quality candidate for the position of a teacher. Being a Bilingual Math teacher for the past 4 years has paved the way for the continued personal and professional growth in terms of honing skills in instructional design, the creation of an interactive learning environment, incorporating technology in education, and adhering to ethical and moral codes of conduct expected of the teaching profession. The continued interaction with various academic stakeholders from diverse cultural orientations enabled continuous improvement of knowledge, abilities, and skills required in the academe. Other than the teaching experience, one previously assumed the position of an accountant for Angelo & Carlos, lnc., an organization in New York and the role of a manager for the U.S. Marine. The leadership skills, professional discipline, interpersonal and communication skills, as well as problem-solving and decision-making abilities have all been gained from past personal and professional experiences. All of these are contributory to enhanced competencies in handling classroom management and maximizing learning opportunities in diverse academic environments.

Analyze a Political Cartoon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyze a Political Cartoon - Essay Example Ultimately, the power of the cartoon cannot be found within any single component of its message but rather with the entire combination of symbolism, labeling, and exaggeration that it presents. Finally, the analysis will seek to answer the question of whether or not the portrayal of the cartoon is effective in persuading the viewer and/or audience to think or view a situation in a given context or manner. The first aspect of the cartoon that grips the viewer’s attention is the clear use of symbolism and labeling that the cartoonist has employed to denote the Christian, Muslim, and members of the SCAF that are represented. This labeling simplifies the issue and allows the participants within the cartoon to be reduced and simplified to a mere 3 active entities. By utilizing the Christian cross, the Muslim crescent and the insignia and uniforms of the SCAF, the reader is made aware of what each participant within the cartoon represents and symbolizes. ... This level of purity is further symbolized by the fact that the Christian and Muslim man (representing the broader populations of both of these entities within Egypt) are clothed in white. Naturally, exaggeration is also employed in a massively effective means as the SCAF is denoted to be an insidious and corrupting influence that displays the same generic and shameful behavior under the guise of its constitutionally given power. This exaggeration is the strength behind the entire cartoon. Although the Christian and the Muslim occupy center stage within the confines of this political cartoon, it is the corrupting influence of the SCAF that provides the power behind the image that is typified. Yet, rather than making a blanket statement regarding the ultimate goodness or evil that is exhibited by the SCAH, the cartoon seeks to strike at the core of the problems that are exhibited within Egypt; namely a power structure that is able to take advantage of natural and key fault lines that exist within the political spectrum; thereby allowing the members of the government and the SCAH to behave in a manner that they would not do otherwise. In short, the increase in division serves the purposes that they strive to accomplish (Lawate 2). Ultimately, the reader and/or researcher can understand that the given political cartoon is not only effective in communicating an understanding of the present day situation within Egypt and/or the Arab world, it is extraordinarily effective in such a task. Although this is not always the case for a political cartoon, this particular cartoon is one which allows its underlying simplicity and the vocal and omnipresent nature of its participants to speak to its underlying truth. Due to the fact that almost all

Unit 2 Individual Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unit 2 Individual Project - Essay Example n influences others, is obeyed by, works hard in a crisis situation and has a clear idea of what the company wants to achieve and why it wants to achieve this. Leadership models that have been used for long include the four main categories: trait, behavioral, contingency and transformational. There is McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, McGregor made two basic assumptions about employee behavior and categorized it as X and Y. Theory X workers are not hard-working and dislike work while Theory Y workers are the opposite. A research done at The Ohio State University states that successful leaders have two behavioral dimensions: initiating structure and consideration. The research at the University of Michigan is somewhat similar; they said that leaders are either employee oriented or production oriented. The Leadership Grid gives an idea of how the five types of leadership styles are segmented across two factors which is either concern for people or concern for production. The continuum of leadership describes two types of leadership: boss-centered and employee-centered. This model is on the basis of choices managers make regarding subordinated involvement in the decision making process. Whenever problems such as those faced by companies such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and ImClone are encountered most of the responsibility falls upon the CEO’s shoulders and she is the one who is held accountable. The CEO holds a lot of formal power through the virtue of his position; this power is measured by duality with the Chairman of the Board position. Informal power comes from the prestige factor of the job. The power of the CEO is more immediate than the Board, as the Board does not meet on a regular basis. Day to day handling of the company is done by the CEO. The Board elects the CEO and trusts him to carry out her job to the best of his abilities. The CEO has power to set the agenda and assemble the meetings for the board. The CEO is responsible for setting the aims and

The representation of women in magazines through the decades till Essay

The representation of women in magazines through the decades till today - Essay Example Many of the texts based on the portrayal of women have discussed that women in the media have been routinely subject to symbolic annihilation. The media stereotyped women roles. Social scientists like Tuchman et al were of the opinion that media like advertisement, films, news and all other media content focus on the traditional domestic roles of women and treat women as objects of sexual pleasure. Margaret Gallagher in a study funded by the UNESCO had explained the reason why women have remained concerned about the image of women in the media. In this context it may be said that, â€Å"The†¦..media are potentially powerful agents of socialization and social change- presenting models, conferring status, suggesting appropriate behaviors, encouraging stereotypes† (Byerly and Ross, 2006, p. 17). Thus one can understand why the media portrayal of women have become subjects of concern for the feminists and has continued till the present day of post modernism. Rather it can be said that these issues have contributed to both the academic and popular feminist struggles. In fact feminists believe that media has more power in the present age and as a result has more influence on the image of women (Byerly and Ross, 2006, pp. 17-18; Chambers, Steiner, & Fleming 2004). The first wave of feminism centered on traditional movements for civil rights. With the publication of The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan broke the traditional role of women and the cherished role of the timid housewife, which was the dream, and envy of the American young women (Kemp & Squires, 1998, p.3). The 50s brought about a discontent in this image of women amongst the women themselves. There was a rising dissatisfaction, which was inexplicable by the women. The stay-at-home role of women has been criticized under the influence of the second wave of feminism during the 70s and 80s (Bradley, 2007, p.1). At this time of publication the world of media comprised of essentially three categories – television, radio and morning newspapers, which launched women’s pages, engaged in homemaking and care giving. Other forms of media include Time, a weekly news magazine, Life, a weekly issued picture magazine and other magazines like Ladies’ Home Journal and Good Housekeeping, which essentially made the women their target audience (Poindexter and Meraz, 2008, p.3). The names themselves suggest the traditional concepts of gender roles. With time however, the concepts of ‘gender gap’ (related to differences in educational performance and pay between men and women) and ‘gender-bending’ have been explored by journalists to analyze the relationships between men and women (Bradley, 2007, p.2). The paper analyses the representation of women in magazines with respect to the way it affects their social identity When the First World War began in 1914, women witnessed a fall in the stereotyped traditional differences between the economic enviro nment and private sentiments. Men found an escape route from the social financial and sexual duties subjugated within the feminine household and found solace in more typically masculine areas of work like navy and army. The spaces assigned to women during this time were mainly domestic or home based. The war somehow curtailed the women’s movements for suffrage and other campaigns though these formed the backdrop for the activities of women during this wartime. The article â€Å"

Adult Aging and Development Project Description Essay - 9

Adult Aging and Development Project Description - Essay Example Lastly, there is retrieval that is the getting back the memory from storage for use. Researchers in human development and aging have gone deep scrutinizing the speed of processing information and working memory capacity to understand the effect of the age difference on the memory. In the memory process, the older adults have a myriad of issues like retrieval and encoding problems. The strategies of encoding are not readily used by the older adults as it happens to the young adults. There is decreased the flow of blood to the brain while encoding hence less brain activity. The older adults are more affected by false memories. False memories are made of the remembering and giving an account to events that never took place. For the fact that the old are affected more than the young ones, then they are not used in the court of law to testify as eyewitnesses in most cases. The older adults have a problem with having selective attention. The distracters affect the old more than it does to the young adults. Therefore, there is difficulty in the performance of complex tasks for their nature of divided attention. At the same time when talking to the adults, there is a need to be relevant and provide with an environment that is less distracted for better performance. As one age, their attention deficit keeps increasing up to the point they cannot work on any work constructively. From the studies, there is a substantial decline in intellectual abilities. There is a steady increase in intelligence up to the age of sixty where the fluid intelligence starts to decrease hence becoming less intelligent than the younger counterparts. The exceptional creativity that is extraordinary and helpful to the society is at its peak in the thirties and the decline as time goes. The older people lose that compelling desire to be creative hence the decreased creativity in the adults.  

Citizenship; Civil Society And Civilization Essay Example for Free

Citizenship; Civil Society And Civilization Essay Citizenship as depicted by Weber has its root from Medieval European city, due to the political demands of the rising class, merchants, professionals and skilled workers to control the environment. (Ibid, 294) As earlier mentioned the spate of globalization and interconnectedness has generated a similarity in the construction and design of buildings, structures in the city. This was really not totally possible before with the variables of religion, culture playing a key perspective before. Religion to a greater extent determined the way things were done, for example, buildings in china where not built high , because in the belief that gods work on the earth, no hierarchical order like the Christians, temples built in the country which symbolises the belief system of the Chinese. The lack of citizenship or identity points to the fact that the system of governance does not allow for this, they had no citizens but subjects were present. (ibid 297). The Changan dynasty is a typical example of how the modern city developed ,with the regulation of the behaviour of the populace, already we can observe the existence of institutions which shows a little bit of modernity as we have today. Kaifeng is another city which is known for its trade and commerce potentials, the development of cities here is influenced by interaction with other players in the globe, just like the example of Kaifeng been unwalled,later on we can see that they also built a wall as the population was increasing, therefore we can conclude that population, external influence has a large part in moulding a city towards modernization or civilization. The educational sector also addresses the point of civilization, more educational empowerment; the more success can be achieved by a political system. The Hanghzou and Kaifeng,further stresses the point earlier submitted ,that the economy is a substructure on which the political interest of actors rest, the urbanization of the duo cities led to a change in the way of lie of different people, the migration of population further widened the chance of development. The aforementioned is further buttressed as a cogent point as Hangzhou by the end of the Song dynasty was the largest city in the globe. (Ibid, 302) The centrality of the progress of the City of Hangzhou ,therefore remains the economy, but the political system unlike the Ancient Athens state never gave in for a democratic rule, what was in operation was religious beliefs cum ancestral beliefs. The Islamic cities were not as progressive as compared to the Chinese; the political system was theocratic, with the sultan controlling the affairs of the cities. The distance between the ruled and ruler was a negating influence on the development of city or states in the Arab world, the level of freedom here also was restricted as you have the populace been more or less subjects ,unlike the only case in this paper i. e. the Athenians that demonstrated a major enshrinement of the democratic ethos. The lack of municipal authority in Islamic cities undermined the pace of evolution to civilization. The revival of cities in the West was prompted by a shift in history of class relations, this promoted freedom of association and other democratic ethos. The modern city however grew from the village level, down to the urban from which civilization got to the peak. (Ibid,310-316). The rights of citizens and not subjects were therefore in full force here, the Italian city of Pavias shows how the act of political representation was more in the polity, like the first ever in Athens, more representation meant more active participation by the civil society. The emergence of artist, professionals further paved way for civilization as evidenced by Artist and professionals from Florence and Siena. The emergence of institutions and democracy, however concluded the stage or phases of civilization with liberalism, Neo- liberalism playing a crucial part in the move towards civilization and Liberalism in the globe. CONCLUSION The paper has been able to find out the reasons for the civilization of cities or the evolution of cities in the current or contemporary globe, this was necessitated by religion ,systems of governance, interrelationships among empires ,trade and commerce to mention but a few. The Interesting part however remains the development of some continents at the expense of the other, this was briefly depicted as a result of religion and system of governance, the Islamic countries case is crucial here. However further scholarly submissions to the thesis is prevalent in the academia. REFERENCE Reilly, K, 1989, The West and the World A history of civilization. Second Edition volume 1

The Black Sea Region History Essay

The Black Sea Region History Essay On the south-western side of the hill surmounting Lake Ohrid, travelers will find oneof the architectural masterpieces of medieval Orthodox Christianity. The church, that was dedicated to St. John the Theologian, and also known as Kaneno, whose consecration dated back to no later than.1447, is usually known as a legacy of Medieval Slavic empire (whether one calls it as Bulgarian, or, Macedonian, depends on ones fancy). Taking into consideration, however, its unique style that reminds us a highly successful combination of Byzantine and Armenian architectural technologies, it seems more appropriate to calldt.as-a monument of the cultural integrity of the wider Black Sea rim. The Black Sea world, just like the church Kaneno, had been an artifact of cultural mixture, composed of various peoples of different faiths, vernaculars, customs and practices until the first decades of the twentieth century. They had been, moreover, living in a well-integrated and well-organized socio-economic entity that was tightly bound up by common water. Artisans of famous silver ornament in Trabzon would live on the Ukrainian wheat and Bulgarian wine, while the wealthy mercantile famnyin Odessa would enjoy their afternoon tea with dried figs from Anatolia. Life of the people around the Black Sea had been directly resting on the incidents at the opposite side of the water. They had kept watchful eyes on the course of event there. However, such a vivid image of the Black Sea region seems to be quite perplexing, if not alien, for us, people living in the twenty first century. Just like the record inscribing the name of the architect of the church Kaneno had been lost, our knowled ge on the Pontus world is too fragmented to envision a unified picture. The Pontus world also addresses us a perplexing question. Is it a mere accidental coincident that the three mercantile nations, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews, who had once been major lubricants for the organic mechanism in this world, suddenly disappeared from the Black littoral at the very moment when we lost the vivid image of this region? Armenians, Greeks, and Jews were all historical nations well-known by their conspicuous activities in commerce and financing. All of them had their residential centers around the Black Sea before the twentieth century. Armenians had been widely dwelling in the southern Caucasus and the eastern Anatolia, and displayed their strong presence in every commercial centre around the Sea. Greeks had densely populated in the Black Sea littoral as well, and often constituted plurality in major trade entrepots like Istanbul, Trabzon, Odessa, Varna, Constanta and Krasnodar. Until the last decades of the nineteenth century, majority of the world Jewry had lived in the Russian Black provinces and their hinterlands. However, it is an arduous work for us to trace out them on the contemporary ethnic map of the region. It seems as if they had taken away our memory of the region with them when they retreated to the backstage of history of the Black Sea. What kind of process of modern conceptualization prevents us from shaping integrated scenery of the Black Sea region in our mind? The easiest answer might be the one that seeks the root in the nationalization of history. By the word Cemomorski rajon, an ordinary Bulgarian will think of an area the word Karadeniz bolgesi. For both of them, cities like Kisinev, Akkerman, or Batumi are not the part of their Black Sea region, but some unknown foreign cities. The nation-state, as a model for historical thought, has obscured many elements. The area studies, self-styled inter-disciplinary science, seem to have overcome the narrowing views of the national history, as they claim to have adopted an approach that makes it possible to analyze more than one nation-state at the same time. However, they seem, to be suffering from the same type of shortcomings. As for the Black Sea studies, there are too many candidates for the possible frame work, Slavic Studies, Balkan Studies, Caucasus Studies, Russian (and Soviet) .Studies (or its new version Eurasian Studies), Turkish and Islamic Studies, or Mediterranean Studies, but none is enough to cover all aspects of the Black Sea region. In order to comprehend the Black Sea region, it might be necessary to mobilize several area studies, but at the same time, it would mean saturation of methodologies. Such inherent weakness of the area studies seems, partly; to come from their methodological ancestors. Disciplines like Slavic Studies or Russian and Eurasian Studies could not completel y cut off themselves with the tradition of Slavic philology. Both Turkish studies and Iranian Studies are, by and large, nd more than a dummy branch of the Orientalism (as its original meaning 6f the word). Area studies are still accompanying preconceptions that had been inherent to their methodological forefathers. Apart from methodological questions, it seems relevant to interrogate a primordial question: where, at all, is the destination of intellectual endeavors of the area studies, or more simply, for what purpose are they serving? Recent developments may suggest us a part of the answer. There took place a* drastic reshaping of the area studies after 1989. East European studies have already divided into Central European Studies and Balkan Studies. Former Soviet Studies have also transformed themselves into Eurasian Studies. As the change is apparently linked to the shift of geopolitical situation, the answer must be lying somewhere beyond the natural evolution of methodological thinking, or survival strategies of individual researchers. The recent change indeed bears marked similarities to the realignments of traditional disciplines and eventual crystallization into area studies after the World War II. Both of the cognitive processes went through strong impact of the hegemonic shifts that h ad reshaped geopolitical map of the globe. The shift inevitably brought the regions drastic changes. From economic point of view, each region had to modify its trade regulations, financial mechanism, monetary policy, and working practices to be fit into the new situation, thus, it precipitated changes in the structure, and even mode of production. Political systems were also required to accommodate themselves to the new relations. As these changes caused considerable stress to the society, social tissue had to undergo significant metamorphosis. The area studies analyze various aspects of these changes, and provide, as a whole, a systematic knowledge to cope with the new reality. Therefore, they are working, irrespective of the intension of individual researcher, for special concern of particular forces that have common interest in a certain form of regional division of labor. Indeed area studies seem to pay less attention to the phenomena that tend to slip out of the scope of their main concerns, especially those overlapping several areas. By reassessing historical narratives concerning three nations, this paper tries to demonstrate the significance of those phenomena that have been made invisible by the frame of cognizance which was formulated in the course of modernity. The Ottoman Conquest and the Black Sea regional economy The Black Sea and surrounding lands had been playing significant roles as a hinge that bound together the Mediterranean, Central Asian Steppe, and Indian-Middle East economies since antiquity. The economic wealth of the region was an important factor in the political and economic stability of the Macedonian, Roman, and. Byzantine Empires in the Classical and Medieval times. The Black Sea also formed one of the major arteries joining the Islamic world and north-eastern Europe, and served as an important commercial rout between the ninth to early thirteenth century. Within itself, the Black Sea region, together with the Aegean, had formed a closely knit economic entity, as the northern Black Sea region produced and exported grain, meat, fish, and other animal products, while the southern Black Sea and the Aegean exported wine, olive oil, dried fruit, and luxury goods in exchange [Kortepeter, 1966: 86; Peacock, 2007:66-67]. By the time the Byzantine control of the region collapsed at the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Black Sea trade had largely fallen into the hand of the Venetian and Genoese merchants. At first Venetians seemed to have taken upper-hand, but Genoa succeeded in gaining a t near monopoly over the Black Sea commerce after 1261. By the time, Genoa had been building up a network of its colonies covering all lands surrounding the Black Sea. The Genoese BlackSea Empire was, however, relatively short-lived, as there emerged a formidable power in the western corner of Anatolia at the end of the thirteenth century, and it was to bring the Italian hegemony in the Black Sea finally to an end in the course of fifteenth century. Starting as a small warriors state, the Ottomans followed a gradual, but steady course of territorial expansion during the first half of the fourteenth century. They were successful in intruding into the Balkans after crossing the Dardanelles in 1346. By the end of the century, the Ottoman sultans had established themselves firmly on the vast landmass lying at the both sides of the Straits. Although the Ottorrfans at first did not show much interest in controlling the Black Sea commerce, a clear Ottoman policy regarding the Black Sea began to emerge during the reign of the Mehmed II (1451-1481) [Kortepeter, 1966: 88]. Upon assuming the throne the throne, Sultan the Conqueror embarked on a series of campaign to destroy the Latin colonial empires in the eastern Mediterranean, as a part of his project to reassemble the former Byzantine territories. Especially after the takeover (ri AXrooTj) of the Byzantine capital in 1453, Mehmed II felt it necessary to establish a complete control over the resources of the Black Sea region for the reconstruction and development of his new capital. In 1459, the Ottomans first deprived the Genoese of Amasra, the most important port on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, as it formed, together with Caffa, the shortest route in the north-south communication in the sea. After the fall of Amasra, the Genoese colonies were confined to the north western corner of the Black Sea. The seizure of the main Genoese colony of Caffa took place in 1475. Caffa had long been the chief trade and manufacturing centre for the Genoese in the Black Sea. After the fall of Caffa, the Genoese gri p on the Black Sea considerably weakened and the Ottomans captured all of the Italian colonies in the Crimean and the Caucasus within a decade. The only remaining trade centers of significance were two Moldavian port cities, Kilia and Akkerman. Both of them fell to the Ottoman hand in 1484. In this way, by the beginning of the sixteenth century the Ottomans had turned the Black Sear into an Ottoman lake [Inalcik Quataert, 1994: 271-3; Kortepeter, 1966: 92-3]. i The Ottoman conquest brought about a new socio-economic system into the Black Sea region. Now, majority the coastal lands of the Sea were directly connected to the imperial capital, Istanbul, and a new regional division of labor was introduced in order to maintain this extraordinarily large city. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire employed a kind of command economy whose main purpose was to maintain its military predominance. Hence, the government put strong control over the transportation of manufactured goods and raw materials produced within its domain, imposing de facto ban on the export, while, on the other hand, it showed lavish attitude to the imported commodities that its lands could not yield. Under this regime, many parts of the empire constituted an autarkic economic entity. Hence, it was natural that the Black Sea region, along with other part of the Empire, constituted an integrated, but closed to outside, system. Non-Muslim Merchants as coordinating elements One of the most important changes that took place after the Ottoman conquest of the Black Sea region was the termination of the Italian predominance in favor of the native Ottoman subjects. Owing to the poor development of Muslim mercantile class at the beginning of the Ottoman-conquest in this region, it was the non-Muslims that took initiative in forming the: wider regional network. Already during the Italian rule of the Black Sea, the Greeks and other indigenous people, together with Jews and Armenians, played the role of middlemen and widely dwelled in the Genoese trade centers. Many of them were employed as apprentices in the Latin enterprises, and accumulated the knowledge of the business practices in the Levant trade. Even before the fall of Caffa, the Italians were losing their control of the oriental trade in the northern countries, and were being replaced by Ottoman subjects, mostly Armenian Christians, Greek Orthodox Christians and Jews. The Ottoman government found in them reliable traders and contractors as middlemen within the empire. Thus, non-Muslim merchants took advantage of the new opportunity of the closure of the Black Sea to the foreigners in the sixteenth century, and they made use of their privileged position to traverse the Ottoman domain, in order to organize trading networks across southern and western European cities [Kortepeter, 1966: 101; inalcik Quataert, 1994: 272, 209]. The first element that gained most from this new order seemed to be Greeks. The Greek merchants of this period widely operated in Ottoman inter-regional trade. They were in control of a significant portion of the commerce of the eastern half of the Balkan Peninsula. Greeks were particularly active in the Ottoman capital, as traders and sea captains, carrying grain from the Balkan coastal regions adjacent to the Black Sea. The Greek merchants, allegedly descendants of the Byzantine aristocracy, widely engaged in tax farming, large-scale trade and shipping both in international and domestic. However, after the execution of tfye great tycoon in the Greek community of Istanbul, Michael Cantakuzino  §aitanoglu in 1578, the predominant position of the Greek merchants in the imperial economy began to shake [Stoianovich, 1960: 241; Inalcik Quataert, 1994:517]. Instead of Greeks, Jewish bankers and tax-farmers surfaced as predominant elements in Ottoman finance and long-distance trade during the second half of the sixteenth century. The expulsion of the Marrano Jews from the Catholic countries especially contributed to the Jewish prosperity in the Ottoman economy. The Marrano Jews seemed to introduce into the Ottoman Empire the techniques of European capitalism, banking and the mercantilist concept of state economy, and played decisive role in the finances [inalcik Quataert, 1994: 212]. Jews also played a considerable role in the development of the Danube basin. As tax farmers, Jews were managing many Danubian ports and customhouses [Levi, 1982: 26-27]. But the Jewish domination of the Ottoman economy could not last long. Already in the 1650s, Jewish merchants had been less active in Ottoman territory than during the second half of the sixteenth century. The Jews were losing the functions that they had acquired in the sixteenth century, in cluding the farming of custom duties, minting, and the positions of money exchanger for the ottoman notables. Westward Jewish migration that occurred synchronously with the shift of the global economy to the trans-Atlantic trade was a part of reason. Another reason is the renewed expansion of activities of Greek merchants that forced many Jewish merchants out of Balkan trade [Panzac, 1992: 203; inalcik Quataert, 1994: 519]. The presence of the Armenian merchants in the Black Sea region had been strongly felt long before the Ottoman conquest. Armenians had settled in Crimea as early as the eleventh century [Panossian, 2006: 82]. They were important trade partners for the Nogays in the North Caucasus, and engaged widely in the transaction of slaves and large quantities of butter and furs [Kortepeter, 1966: 104]. They were predominant in the Moldavian [Lwow-Akkerman) route of trade during the fourteenth century, and obtained the trade privilege for all Ruthenia in 1402. The leader of the caravan on this route was always an Armenian throughout the fifteenth century. Until that time, Armenians had widely settled in the commercial centers in Crimea and Rumania. According to an Ottoman survey in 1520, there were 2,783 households in Caffa, out of which about 60% was Christian, mostly Armenian [inalcik Quataert, 1994: 280, 286]. The Ottoman conquest of the Black Sea region brought about more favorable conditions for the Armenian merchants. In the Ottoman Empire, Armenians, like Greeks, constituted a Christian community that was accorded with religious and judicial autonomies. Their religion also gave them easier access to the lands of Christian Europe. They had already firmly established themselves in southern Poland and Transylvania, and controlled local commerce. Making use of the Ottoman trade policy as the linchpin, the Armenian traders succeeded in building up their commercial network, extending as far as Venice and Central Europe. The Armenians could also make use of the rivalry between Ottomans and Russians in order to establish their new trade route. Several Armenian merchants played conspicuous role in the court of Ivan the Terrible, and further expanded their commercial activities as far as the northern end of the Grand Duchy of Moscow [Goffman, 2002: 15; Braudel, 1992: 155]. The Armenian merchants had another advantage, as they were going to expand their activities further in the east. The Armenian middlemen settled in Persia found in silk an eminently marketablecommodity. In the seventeenth century, the Ottoman Armenian merchants distinguished themselves by their association with an international trade network basing around New Julfa, a suburban city of Isfahan. Merchants from this city took an active role in the Iranian silk trade which spanned the globe from Narva, Sweden to Shanghais, China. In this way, the Armenian merchants had been successful in establishing their trading network stretching from China to Western Europe by the eighteenth century [McCabe, 2001]. In the course of their expansion, the commercial activities of three non-Muslim merchant communities widely transcended the Ottoman borders. It was, by no means, the loss of weight of the Ottoman commerce for them by the eighteenth century. The commerce on Ottoman territory continued to be crucial for the maintenance of these networks, as the goods they traded were often of Ottoman manufacture or had transited through the Ottoman state. The trade activities of Armenians, just like those of Greeks and Jews, remained intrinsic to the economic system of the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman wealth was central to their prosperity [Inalcik Quataert, 1994: 517-8]. As we have, hitherto, surveyed the significance of the non-Muslims merchants in the Ottoman Black Sea trade, it is necessary to emphasize that we should not downplay the importance of the Muslim merchants. Although they were late comers in this region, already in the fifteenth century, Muslim merchants had outnumbered the others at least in the southern section of the south-north trade over the routes of pursa-Istanbul-Caffa or Akkerman by sea and overland by Edime-Kilia-Akkerman [Inalcik Quataert, 1994: 278]. It seems probable that the role of the Muslim merchants constantly gained importance in the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and eventually took over the non-Muslims, especially in the intra-regional trade. The position of the Muslim merchants in the intra-Ottoman trade was much stronger than the non-Muslims during the eighteenth century. The minorities almost always held only a secondary position in the domestic maritime trade. According to an Ottoman document of 1782 or a list of cereal ships to Istanbul provide us an interesting data that out of the total 56 names of merchants, 55 were Turks or other Muslims, only one was Greek or Albanian, and even he was associated with a Turk. The document also shows us that out of 158 ships captains, 136 (86%) were Turks or other Muslims, and 22 (14%) were Greeks or Albanians. Therefore, the Muslim merchants had secured almost total control over the supply of wheat to Istanbul by the Black Sea route [Panzac, 1992: 195, 203]. Socio-economic features of the non-Muslim merchant communities From historical point of view, merchants, especially those who engaged in cross-cultural- trade, possessed, more often than not, ambivalent characters. As frequenters in two or more distinct societies, they had to master several important knowledge and skills that were usually unfamiliar to those who lived inside a particular culture. So, they brought with them, not only a variety of foreign goods and wares, but new technologies and information. These cultural goods often catalyzed a transformation of the host society. In the case of the Ottoman non-Muslim merchants, they became major actors in a technological and cultural interplay between the Ottoman Empire and the rest of Europe. It wa,s their trading network that helped produce a uniform commercial method throughout ti?e Mediterranean and European worlds before the  ¦ nineteenth century [Goffman, 2002: 16]. On the other hand, every society that based principally on the production of use values would inherently harbor antagonism toward the merchant. Such hostilities were often boosted by the stresses that arouse in the course of cultural transformation. Therefore, the position of the cross-cultural merchants was constantly under the threat of eventual outburst of hatred against them. In order to avoid, or at least to alleviate, the tension with the host society, the merchant community had to be adaptive. In the case of the non-Muslim merchants in the Ottoman Empire, we can notice strong tendencies of compliance to the authority. Ottoman Jews and Greeks played major role in the finances during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and even later. They were the major players in the tax-farming, the most important means of capital formation at that time, and their accumulated wealth became indispensable for the state finances and the palace. In return for their service, the Ottoman government conferred them various privileges. Several Jews were appointed the court physicians and imperial treasurers. Greeks were employed as dragomans (official interpreter) and, later, rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia [Inalcik Quataert, 1994: 209], The Ottoman Armenians also played significant role in the palace. The upper strata of their community, often called as amiras, made their presence strongly felt in government as bankers or money lenders. In the tax farming, they provided the capital as sarrafs (bankers), and sold the commodities collected in kind as merchants. After the eighteenth century, they became instrumental in keeping the fragile Ottoman financial system functioning. It is symbolized by the fact that the prominent Dtizian family monopolized the position of superintendent of the state mint office from 1757 until 1880 [Panzac, 1992: 203; Panossian, 2006: 85]. Probably, the most important in this aspect was the role played by their religious authorities. The Ottoman government traditionally granted wide range of religious and judicial autonomies to its Christian and Jewish subjects, calling each of these congregations as millet. The Greek, Jewish, and Armenian mercantile class in Istanbul practically monopolized the posts of the highest priests of their millets, and did their utmost in preserving the imperial order, by securing the loyalty to the sultan among their coreligionists. Thanks to these endeavors, Jews and Armenians were often praised by the authority as millet sadakat, or loyal subjects. In the case of Greek Orthodox, they failed to win this title because of the several unruly elements like semi-nomadic mountaineers or provincial peasants with independent spirits, the upper strata of their community, however, generally earned high esteem among the Muslim authorities. In spite of such functions, non-Muslim merchants did not dare to go over a certain limit of the host societies, because over adaptation to the host society was suicidal to their existence. It would increase the tension with the other society where they made business at the same time. For example, the conversion to Islam might promise better position in the Ottoman society, but it would make very difficult, if not impossible, to earn by the international trade. Thus, probably the best strategy for the merchants was to blur the demarcation line with the host society by making their existence more and more vague and ambiguous. By doing so, they could expect more secure conditionsfor their survival. It was, therefore, no coincidence that the three non-Muslim merchant communities in the Ottoman Empire possessed marked characteristic of special multilingual!sm. As the other Jews in the Western Europe, Jews in the Ottoman Empire adopted the languages of the people among whom they lived. They could, usually quite fluently, communicate in Turkish and other majority languages, but they nevert fully assimilated linguistically to the host societies. The Romaniotes, who had long lived among the Greeks, adopted vernacular Greek as their communal language,.while the, Ashkenazi, East European Jews continued > to speak Yiddish in their home. The most influential element of the Ottoman Jews, the Sephardi, preserved medieval Spanish, where their ancestors had been living until the Catholic take-over. Moreover, all of these Jewish vernaculars contained significant portion of Hebraic expression. Thus, the dialect expresses the two contradictory tendencies: the integration to the surrounding soci ety and the isolation. The Ottoman Armenians shared the same characteristic. While they continued to use ancient Armenian as their spiritual symbol especially in their place of worship, almost all of them were either bilingual or, in some cases, monolingual speakers of Turkish. Turcophone among the Armenians was so strong that Vartan Pasa, an Armenian writer in the nineteenth century, in the preface to his History of Napoleon Bonaparte, justifies the fact that he had written this work in Turkish with the argument that the Armenians who knew ancient language (krapar) were very few and that the new literary language based on the vernacular was still not sufficiently developed thus, that the Turkish language was the best tool to the majority [Strauss, 2003:41, 55]. The case of Greeks was much more complicated, but it might show rather vividly the advantages of linguistic ambiguity for the prosperity of the mercantile community. During the Ottoman period, the word Greeks seldom denoted the linguistic community. Many Greeks in the Anatolian plateau spoke Turkish dialect, Karamanh, while the Greeks in Syria and Egypt used Arabic as their ordinary means of communication. The Greeks in the Balkans were more perplexing. There were many Greeks who spoke Bulgarian, Vlacho-Arouman, Albanian, and Turkish. The linguistic variety derived from the context that the communal identity of the Ottoman Greeks usually conflated with the Rum millet identity. Within the Ottoman Empire, the Greek Orthodox Christians, especially those who composed the urban strata, were collectively referred to Romans, members of the Rum millet, regardless of their ethnic origins. Such tendencies were strongly felt especially among the mercantile class. The notion of the Greek Orthodox Christian was indeed a social category. In many parts of the Balkans, contemporary denomination of nations, like Serbs and Bulgarians, denoted the peasants in particular locations. When Slavs moved into the urban space or became members of the middle class, they generally shifted their identity to Greek. The local Christian higher strata were Grecophone in Serbia. In the Bulgarian lands, the domination of cultural life by the ecumenical patriarchate led to the promotion of Grecophone culture in liturgy, archives, and correspondence [Roudometof, 1998:13-14]. The tendency became more conspicuous after 1750, when the prosperity of the Greek Orthodox merchants was reaching its peak. Owing to the predominance in trade, Greek became the primary language of commerce in the eastern Mediterranean, and Orthodox Christian merchants, regardless of their ethnic origins, generally spoke Greek and often assumed Greek names. The middle class Orthodox Christians were largely acculturated into the Greeks or under heavy Grecophone influences [Stoianovich, 1960: 291]. The ambiguity or ambivalency of the groups seems to have been felt stronger at such elements like new comers, lower members, and/or provincial elites, than at the centre of the community. For example, during the first half of the nineteenth century, the biiingualism, especially with the dialect spoken by the majority member of the surroundings, was more conspicuous among newly immigrated members from local villages than those who had lived in urban space for generations. It reflected in their identities that veteran urban dwellers were adamant in their Greek consciousness in contrast to the new comers with mixed identity with Bulgarian element [Markova, 1976: 43-54]. The same was true for the Greek ecclesiastic circle, where lower clergy tended to remain within the boundary of Metropolitan diocese, while the higher hierarchies rotated several dioceses of different Patriarchates. As a result, high dignities in the Church possessed deep-seated belief in the Hellenic nature of the Ortho doxy; ion the other hand, parish priests widely shared non-Hellenic culture with their parishioners. To summarize our discussion hitherto, the non-Muslim merchants in the Black Sea region bore the following attributes as groups. They were religious congregation as well as occupational category. As for the latter, they were, more often than not, engaged in external trade, or in other words, were agencies tonnecting different cultural, socio-economic entities. The members of these groups were usually quite proficient in special occupational expertise. They knew well specific business and social practices of various places, and they were multilingual for the most of part. They were generally more adaptive to the host society, and, at least on the surface, very compliant to the existing authority. The demarcation line between them and the other groups was vague, and often intentionally blurred. Their ambiguity or ambivalency was more intense, more strongly felt at peripheral or lower strata than at the core. Perhaps, this was the most important attribute that made possible the non-Musli m merchants to maintain their social and economic function, while preserving their identities, without provoking serious conflict with the host societies. The above mentioned characteristics of the Ottoman non-Muslim merchants might seem to fit well into a wider category of Diaspora merchants. But, at the same time, there arises an uncomfortable feeling to call those merchants who dwelled in their homeland as Diaspora, because, except for the Jews, many Greek Orthodox and Armenian merchants lived in the territory of their former Kingdoms or Empire. Moreover, there were many non-Mercantile members within the Greek Orthodox and Armenian communities in the Ottoman Empire (the Jews were exception in this case as well). It does not seem reasonable to separate the merchant groups from the peasant mass when we discuss them as ethno-religious communities. Taking into these inconveniences into consideration, it seems more pertinent to apply the old notion of people-class,1 proposed by Abram Leon, for the case study of the Ottoman non-Muslim merchants. In his work that examined the historical development of the Jewish communities in Europe, Leon 1 turned

What Is The Human Capital Management Commerce Essay

What Is The Human Capital Management Commerce Essay The concept of human capital has nowadays emerged and its importance is increasing daily. As Chatzkel(2004) rightly stated ,it is effectively the human capital that is the differentiator and the actual basis for competitive advantage. Human Capital refers to the right combination of intelligence, skills and expertise owned by an organizations employees. Essentially, this encapsulates: Intellectual capital the knowledge individuals possess Social capital derived from both internal and external relationships between employees; and Organizational capital the knowledge stored in organizational manuals and databases. Employees own abilities, behaviours and talents and only they have the power to decide how and in what ways to apply them. This capital will only be made available for as long as the life and blood of our organization gain value in return for the investment. It is up to organizations and human resource executives to create the right mix of performance incentives to motivate and empower employees whilst building a constructive labour-management relationship. Collins and Porras (1994) proved that a strong and emerging company culture is significant for both survival and corporate organisational success. However, this is ineffective unless an alignment between people and company-value characteristics exists. The long term survival of the organization can only exist if there is the correct link between HR practices and the organizations strategic vision. This is what human capital management strives to achieve. Human capital management is in itself a journey; it tries to implement the purposeful measurement and use of metrics to establish the importance of each individual as a value-added intangible asset in the organisation. Organisations may start by collecting basic information regarding their employees such as employee turnover and absence, which is then analysed to draw up conclusions on trends. Decisions are then taken based upon this analysis. Methodologically collected and analyzed human capital data can effectively help managers in defining the factors direct impacting their subordinates. The 3 Stages of Development in People Management Through decades, theorists tried to find the best ways for people management. In Classic Personnel Management, the main focus was on how to manage, recruit and acquire people on the basis of job description, with an authoritarian and top-down approach. Employees were simply a cost to be minimized and training them was provided to suit organizational needs. The change to human resource management brought a paradigm shift in the organizations perception of its employees. Employees were now seen as resources to be expended in pursuit of organizational goals, whilst training was aimed at multi-availability. In human capital management, employees take a central role in corporate life. It is no longer a question of exploiting employees but rather investing in these intangible assets. As with any investment, the goal is to maximise value through talent management, retention and personal training and development plans. Human Capital Management introduces the strategic and people-centred approach, linking it with the organizations strategic vision for itself and for its people. It aims to determine the impact of the human factor on business performance and their effect upon shareholders value. It is not enough to have the right talent at the right time in an organisation. It is now vital to nurture employees by educating and enriching their jobs to contribute towards organisational needs. The biggest challenge organizations are now facing is choosing the best people who will drive up the organisations enterprise value and create sustained commercial advantage. Challenges in HCM The Need for Metrics Neil Roden, the Group Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, rightly stated: Human capital is often represented as both an opportunity and a challenge. A challenge to identify relevant measures and meaningful information to be acted on, and an opportunity to both evaluate and maximise the value of people. Researchers have demonstrated that motivated human capital results in improved accounting profits; however, HR professional and line managers have sincere difficulty in translating this into practice. Trying to justify investments in people, in training and innovation, knowledge management and leadership development is difficult with the absence of proper metrics. The starting point in properly valuing human capital is to understand how to measure the contribution of human capital to organizational success. Human resource lacks the science and tools to describe and measure human capital and without measurement, organizations cannot manage human capital. The process of identifying suitable measures together with collecting and analysing related information will focus organizations attention on what needs to be done to use human capital to its maximum potential. Approaches to Human Capital Measurement The most popular approaches in measuring human capital are those developed by Mercer HR Consulting, the organizational performance model, and Andrew Mayo, the human capital monitor. The organizational performance model focuses upon key elements, explicitly: people and work processes; organizational management structures; decision making; reward strategies. Conversely, the human capital monitor portrays human asset worth as a product of employment cost and individual asset multiplier where the IAM is the weighted average of: Capabilities; employee growth potential; personal performance; alignment to organizational values. Rather than the actual measurement process, what is important is the result. This implies identifying whether human capital is sufficiently meeting our needs. Metrics chosen for human capital measurement rely upon the type of organisation and the business organisational goals and what actually drives these organizational goals. Human Capital Measures and their Uses Organisations may opt to use different data, categorized as: HCM Data Measures and Possible Uses Demographic data e.g. job category, sex, age Work Force Composition Analyze the extent of diversity and extent to which the organization relies on part-timers Absenteeism/Sickness rates- Recognize the need of a sound attendance management policy Average vacancies per % of total workforce- Identify probable shortfall problematic areas Total payroll costs Outcome of Equal Pay Review Human Development and Performance Data learning and development programmes, employee skills and qualifications Skills Analyses/Assessment:Match skills to job requirements and identify areas of shortfall Training Hours per Employee- gives an indication of the amount of training activity Perceptual data relating to attitudes and believes Cost Savingas a result of employee suggestion schemes highlights the value generated by employees Emerging Measurement Techniques of Human Capital An organizations employees are by far the best source of information about practices and management processes. New systems can easily be developed by applying the HR tool creatively designing an effective employee survey and applying the six sigma techniques to analyse and draw up conclusions. The six sigma technique is used to link variations from one end the quality of processes and practices used in managing employees to business outcomes across different units (sales productivity, profit margins,etc)The survey should be designed in a way so as to strike the right balance between employee commitment and satisfaction and organizational capabilities. Questions should be focused on identifying the extent to which best practices in managing human capital are effective within the organization. The six sigma-type analysis is a simple provider of a leadership assessment serving as a catalyst for improvement whilst providing significant input for an organizations balanced scorecards. The Balanced Scorecard has emerged as an important tool in identifying the missing link between human resource and enterprise. By using balanced score cards, Human Resource Professionals can define the impact of human capital on the organizational strategy. This specifies how Human Resource can be transformed from a sideline player to a business partner. As managing human capital by instinct is no longer effective, the faster an organization adapts to their methodologies and metrics, the more it gains significant competitive advantage. Human Capital Internal Reporting The analysis and reporting of human capital data to both top and line management leads to better decision making and to the taking of rapid actions. It allows a better ability to recognize problems in demonstrating the effectiveness of HR solutions and thus, supporting the business case for greater investment. Management report should be simple, credible and accurate and provide guidance as to what actions should be taken. Human Capital External Reporting External reporting should unveil the necessary information for understanding the development in the performance and position of the organization. Information should be narrative and quantitative as well as available and relevant. Human capital external reporting should offer information on possible barriers and be future-oriented to draw attention upon the contribution of human capital to the organizations future performance. Human Capital Management Techniques in Practice Human capital Management should have the optimization of the flow, deployment and development of human talent within an organization as one of its primary objectives. Future human capital needs should be projected to ensure a good balance of quality and skills, including an appropriate number of future employees and key competencies required for mission accomplishment. These human capital decisions allow managers to spot areas of particular attention before crisis develop. Talent Management and Employee Motivation In managing talents, organizations may choose either to align people with the roles they should fill in the organization or else retain people as the fixed element and adjusting their roles upon their character and personal skills. In choosing to align people with roles, organizations try to recruit good learners who will respond best to development opportunities and organizational succession development. Conversely, when roles are built around people customizing rewards and compensations according to the employees individual preferences and needs employees will feel more involved in the organization, hence maximising their job satisfaction and motivation. The use of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators can also help in retaining good quality staff and encouraging them to give their maximum potential while at work. Training, Development and Succession Planning Training and development of employees should be high up on the organizations agenda. This helps in meeting the changing needs of individuals and organizations. After training employees, an effective organization should try to build up an inventory including knowledge, skills and employees competencies and updating it according to changing needs and organizational training patterns. Organizations may choose from a wide variety of development techniques: courses, seminars, on-the-job-training and a diversity of training resources interactive, internet based etc. An even better approach to development would be the introduction of a mentor-apprentice relationship that can assist in meeting specific performance needs. In light of this, truly effective deployment transferring staff to different units to help them gain further knowledge and skills requires an extensive strategic process to ensuring this transfer is to the best benefit for both the organization and the individuals. Moreover, the policy of the enterprise should incorporate planning for the entire organization as well as career planning for individual employees. By developing a culture in which investment and learning is encouraged, organizations would indirectly be working towards reducing resignations and turnover. This minimizes hiring replacement costs and creates an internal brand facilitating the recruitment of new talents. Organizations can evaluate organizational culture in light of reasons given for employee departure by analyzing exit interview response. Leadership Organizations should cultivate a steadfast leadership team to steer the ship of the company and provide reasonable continuity through succession planning. HCM in this area encourages effective teamwork and ensuring continuity through executive succession and development planning. In todays labour market, it is essentially important to focus on developing excellent leadership skills, especially trust building. An effective strategic human management approach would not be possible without the sustained attention of a competent senior leadership team in valuing and investing in their employees. This leadership is crucial for an organization to overcome its resistance to change, organize the necessary resources and create an organization-wide commitment to improving business operations. Effective leaders have the authority to offer recruiting bonuses, retention allowances and skill-based pay in addition to investment in training and professional development. Performance Culture/Management and Reward Management Accountability and fairness at the workplace is essentially important in empowering and motivating employees through recruitment bonuses, retention allowances and improved working conditions. An organization needs to assess its workforces performance and incorporate strategies to reward professional and ethical behaviour, integrity and employees loyalty whilst promoting teamwork and customer focused-performance. Information Technology and the introduction of a Diversity Policy in favour of Inclusiveness makes the organization a better place to work for. Knowledge workers and the best talents in the industry rest within an organization for as long as it is capable of providing a challenging and stimulating environment; hence, organisations should strive to meet this objective. Industrial Relations Effective Industrial Relations also contributes effective capital management. An organization loaded with industrial conflicts gives an indication of an ineffective management style. Sound industrial relations schemes should be built upon tripartism: namely the participation of the government, employers and employees. Provision of Employees Services Organization should cater for their employees welfare in terms of their mental and physical well-being. The forms this welfare can take are many and can vary from financial needs such as loans to counselling in respect of personal employees problematic circumstances. Best Approach to Human Capital Management Human Capital Management will not reach its full potential unless all processes within the employee life cycle are fully integrated and automated. For example: the same job profile used by recruiters to aid them in hiring employees should be utilized to develop the performance of the individual. The first generation of HCM catered for business needs through the assimilation of recruitment, learning and succession planning. Organizations have realised that software such as Enterprise Resource Planning and Human Resource Information Systems are only part of the puzzle the remaining parts content and services will be the major focal points of the next generation of HCM solutions. The main components of a good human capital management solution include: Learning Management Systems courseware, testing instruments and evaluations; Applicant Tracking System interview guides, screening aids and job profiles; Performance Management System goal templates and mentor guides; Succession Planning proficiency profiles and career paths. Contents and services should no longer be a late addition clients and solution providers should collaborate to provide a fully fletched system to complete the necessary HCM functionalities. The Future of Human Capital Management The Future of Human Capital management is thought to revolve around: task-based automation for jobs which are repetitive in nature; Vendors should deliver solutions which allow the systematic measurement and improvement of employee performance in a variety of tasks; project based HCM for task which are dependent upon teamwork and individual creativity. This will allow organizations to spot potential flaws relating to incongruity or inconsistency beforehand. The use of online metrics for gaining continuous employee feedback Essentially, organizations should try and think ahead of the curve in the utilization of the latest technological developments to maximize their human intangible assets. In retrospect, human capital management requires a transformational manager to develop a group of employees with high capability and commitment. This approach can achieve returns-on-investments discernibly higher than other assets, enabling managers expectations to meet employees realities.