Develop a group proposal for a group of children who have been abused Essay

Develop a group proposal for a group of children who have been abused - Essay Example Abused children keep mostly to themselves. They suffer from a self imposed isolation which is directly connected to depression. (James, 2001) The majority of abused children blame themselves, thus resulting in poor self-image combined with trust issues. (James, 2001) Indeed, left alone, these poor children face a lifetime of self abuse and shame. (James, 2001) Accordingly, in the hopes of assisting these victims into a life of acceptance and social assimilation, this paper proposes group counselling. Group counselling will provide providing essential and effective relationship rehabilitation with these victims, and with peers who suffer with similar issues. (James, 2001) This group counselling requires group mentors who can devote themselves to these children, having effective skills and with the ability to show positive productivity. These group members are placed together in a way so that together their team effectiveness will be high. Accordingly, the process begins with the recruiting of group members. (James, 2001) According to William James' view "A therapeutic relationship with these abuse children is the group main goal" (James, 2001). The group goal is to establish a safe environment for the children in which these children feel free to discuss their issues, feel risk free and can enhance their personality. The objective is to empower the children and to augment their sense of self. The group is allowed to enhance their personality in way that they can start their life with positive thinking and having enough courage and power to start their life. The group will end when it is felt that they have achieved the objectives for which the group was organized. (James, 2001) Setting up the group Screening Group screening involves the recruitment of members according to their age, physical size and gender to provide a most balance group for the abuse children. The group screening mainly depends on the following issues : 1. Either the child is abused recently or it happened few days before 2. Either the child is highly disturbed with the event or not 3. Either the child has serious psychiatric disturbance or not like he might commit suicide 4. Is the child abuse more than one time All these issues must be taken in account while screening process. These all issues inform you that what type of balanced group you should adopt for group counselling. Parent of Legal Guardian Consent The consent of parent and guardian is taken in different ways; either the letter is send to them or we will meet them physically to get their permission. Usually the letter format is send to these papers showing a detail about this group counselling. Their objectives as what type of relation they will show and what type of after affects will incur. The detail of whole process and steps will be provided to the parents or guardian so that they can understand the major objectives of this group counse

The Hill Project Management Company's Competitive Edge Term Paper

The Hill Project Management Company's Competitive Edge - Term Paper Example This research study highlights that technological changes and the problems in the economy commonly cause environmental threats to the businesses. Better and innovative ways need to be brought to fore in order to minimize these threats. Therefore, by making an environmental scan, the Hill project Management Company would be able to arrive at better solutions.As the paper stresses the environmental scanning shows that the business is competitive and currently commands a domineering position in its domain. It is seen from the fact that the business has proved itself to be efficient in several areas. The strengths connected with the business may be quality services, better support from the side of the government, good organizational climate and better conditions in the workplace. The strengths possessed by the business will assist the organization in arriving at best possible results. Eventually better market conditions will be created .Ultimately, all these factors will make the busines s well equipped and fortified. The aim of having proper understanding of the present conditions is to run the business in an active pace. Possessing proper control on the prevailing conditions is necessary to have a competitive advantage in the market.  The main competitors of the Hill Project Management Company are Acorn Energy, Inc. and Aecom Technology Corporation. It can be seen that the check is likely to be created upon one or the other particular regions.... Eventually better market conditions will be created .Ultimately, all these factors will make the business well equipped and fortified. The aim of having proper understanding of the present conditions is to run the business in an active pace. Possessing proper control on the prevailing conditions is necessary to have a competitive advantage in the market. 3. The main competitors of the Hill Project Management Company are Acorn Energy, Inc. and Aecom Technology Corporation. It can be seen that the check is likely to be created upon one or the other particular regions. These companies are quite active at the project and construction business. Moreover, the image so created by these two industries is quite attractive and appealing too. The business has to strive hard in order to face the challenges set by these two business giants. The business has to see to it that the situations require to be made efficient and knowledgeable in approach. â€Å"Profit maximization is a good thing for a company but can be a bad thing for  consumers  if the company  starts  to use cheaper  products  or decides to raise  prices† (Profit Maximization, 2013, par.1). One of the strategies that would prove fruitful is to increase profits and value for stakeholders at large. Basically, the industry should aim a higher target by making sure that the output requirements are met and remain productive throughout. For this, the check is likely to be worked upon on one or more of the respective regions. The Hill Project Management Company would implement strategic planning, which would be viewed as a precious extension to their production. Profits margin can be increased by employing best possible strategic moves followed by best

Management Practices and Performance of SACCOs

Management Practices and Performance of SACCOs INTRODUCTION The background gives a brief history of the savings and credit cooperative societies, highlights its importance to the society and touches on the problems that have influenced its performance of its roles and finally on the possible solutions or causes of actions. This preambles the statement of the problem, the purpose, significance, scope and limitations of the study together with the research questions. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY One of the basic principles of Cooperative Savings and Credit Movement is the belief in co-operation and mutual self help for the uplifting of members standards of living. Kussco(2006). Members with a common bond join hands to form those quasi-banks institutions. With finances mobilized through such joint efforts the savings and credit society members build up the capital which they can use through local arrangements to finance their own social as well as economic development. The traditional form of cooperation involved working together on farms, hunting and gathering. All people have basic needs of food, shelter, security and belonging. People would invite neighbors to come and give a hand. Also people did not have money and resources, which enables individuals to employ people or machinery to do the work for them. In any community cooperation usually exists in the form of associations of people who come together as a group driven by their social and economic needs in order to cope with their problems and improve their conditions of living MOCD (2006) According to Odepo and Nyawinda ( 2004) , savings and credit cooperatives societies ( commonly referred to as SACCOs), accept monthly payments for shares from which, members may borrow an amount equivalent to two or three times their own savings if they can get other members to guarantee them. They say that growth in SACCOs in the last twenty years has been spectacular. According to statistics from Kenya Union Of Savings and Credit Cooperative societies (KUSCCO), the number of SACCOs rose from 630 in 1978 to 3,870 by the end of October 2002 while savings and share capital rose from Kshs. 375 million in 1978 to Kshs. 80billion by 2003. Credit outreach similarly recorded significantly, having risen from 357 million in 1978 to kshs. 70 billion by 2003. Saccos active members numbered over 1.5 million by 2002 having risen from 378,500 members in 1978. Their rapid growth indicate that they have filled a need which had not been made by the financial institutions. Of the Kshs. 110 billion in the current share capital and deposits held by cooperatives, the statistics show that Kshs. 90 billion has been lent out to customers. However, the recent statistics from the ministry of cooperative development and marketing shows the position as below The internal management principles need to be enforced strongly to improve efficiency of collections, and even perhaps consider insuring the loans in case of demise of member loaned. The Sacco movement has the capacity to propel the economic lives of the citizens if indeed it is well managed. Its principles of democratic management, voluntary membership and common bond give it the base to take its members to new heights. The movement has been a boon for this country and many people would not be where they are now were it not for the harvests of the opportunities sowed in the garden of the movement. It mobilizes savings and finance and penetrates to areas not valued by other financial institutions, while serving special needs of members. The prospects for the industry are so huge. By identifying the fact that the easiest source of funding is the locally mobilized savings, the saccos should come up with innovative ideas to encourage the members of the common bond to save, as a first step. Other sources of funds like the cooperative bank, which all the saccos have a stake in, should be considered exhaustively. Besides they should think outside the box and get organi zations willing to empower members economically by allowing loans at a rate less than what saccos offer to its members. The saccos umbrella body- Kussco- has a fund to assist the member saccos when they are in need of the funds. Saccos face numerous challenges that hinder the exploitation of their full potential. Mudibo(2005) raised concerns on the calibre of leaders who run saccos noting that since these are voluntary organizations, members can elect anybody they like, who may not necessarily have the skills to run a sacco. He suggested that before a member is elected, he should have certain number of shares so that he has something to loose if he mismanages the sacco. Non remittance and delayed remittance of cooperative dues by employers has led to inconveniences and loss of income by the societies. New rules have however provided stiff penalties for errant employers. Members are also at risk due to HIV/AIDS and ways to attract new members are required. Ngumo (2005), in his article the cooperative movement in Kenya; the eagle that wont fly Nairobi, Kenya institute of management raises several unsettled issues affecting the saccos. First the government should decide on whether to control or facilitate the cooperatives. Cooperative roles should be re-emphasized. One member one vote should be questioned. Instead he suggests the policy of one share one vote. Still, ownership and control should be de-linked for good corporate governance. Then business strategies need further scrutiny before implementation. He concludes that it will be sad for Kenyans to compose a eulogy for the movement after all this time. He said; We cannot milk a cow, refuse to feed it, cry that it was wonderful cow and blame God for its demise. According to National Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Baseline Survey (1999/2000), Kenya has a relatively well developed banking and formal financial sector. This consists of the Central Bank, 43 commercial banks, 16 non-bank financial institutions, 2 mortgage finance companies, 4 building societies , 8 developed financial institutions about 3870 cooperative savings and credit societies, 38 insurance companies, the Nairobi stock exchange and venture capital companies. The survey further indicates that nearly 89.6% of MSEs had never received credit and other financial services. The unserved credit needs portrayed by the statistics in the table 1.2 in the background section above signifies a wealth of opportunities untapped by all the financial institutions. The proof of the existence of market implies that a lot needs to be done to raise what it takes to serve a market. The most basic need is the finance to lend in a discipline way. Voluntary savings from members is therefore imperative. Saccos abilities to improve their members wealth is determined by a number of factors, among them is the funding levels due to members marginal propensity to save, contributions; remittance by the employers, legal and regulatory framework, internal management principles and practices (e.g customer service, marketing, dividend / interest payment etc) amongst other factors. These factors level of influence on saccos ability to perform captured the attention of the researcher. It was the intention of the researcher to examine them and possibly recommend on the best way to miti gate the underlying challenges and take advantage of the available opportunities by exploiting existing strengths. Voluntary deposits / savings as a source of commercial finance for micro credit institution have generated a lot of interest and debate in recent years. Locally mobilized voluntary savings is potentially the largest and the most immediately available source of finance for some micro credit institutions, most of all the saccos. Bearing this in mind, one is left to wonder what is hindering the saccos from prosperity, given the access to its resources and the wealth of its opportunities. The purpose of this research is to broaden the discussion of what, when, why and how a sacco should use its resources, get the right framework, apply effective policies for improvement of the wealth of its members. Getting these elements right is a crucial part of meeting the demand for the unmet credit needs. The researcher will also seek to bridge the gap that exist between Saccos that have exemplary performance in their services to members and excellent returns and some others which barely afford to offer loans, leave alone dividends. According to Armstrong, performance is often defined in output terms the achievement of quantified objectives. But performance is a matter not only of what people achieve but how they achieve it. High performance result from appropriate behaviour, especially discretionary behaviour, and the effective use of the required knowledge, skills and competencies. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Quite a number of Saccos e.g TENA sacco, have a long string of pending loan applications from members SACCO star ( 2006) . Some saccos pay out little or no dividends/ interests on members savings. Some others still have a low loan multiplier and / or limited concurrent loans compared to some well performing counterparts e.g Stima Sacco, Sacco star,(2006)- which has even started ATM services for FOSA customers and manages to advance more that three times the members deposits, can give up to four concurrent loans without closing any applications for the year and gives loans almost immediately it is applied for by the member , (mwaura (2004). Among the major problems hindering this is the unavailability of much needed cash to lend, when it is required. This therefore causes a mismatch in the availability of funds and the demand for loans. Other reasons could be poor investment decisions or lack of investment opportunities or delayed cash flow from employers/ members among others. Rutherford (1999) wrote that funding these large sums of money is the main management problem. The only reliable and sustainable way is to build them from savings. Saving- making a choice not to consume- is thus the fundamental and unavoidable first step in money management, without which financial services cannot operate. The poor themselves recognize the need to build savings into lump sums and contrary to the popular belief, the poor want to save and try to save, and all poor people except those who are entirely outside the cash economy can save something, no matter how small, When poor people do not save, it is for luck of opportunity rather for lack of understanding or of will. Most of the saccos have succeeded in mobilization of savings from members. Inspite of this, still they have a huge backlog in terms of loans advanced to members (Sacco star, 2005). Furthermore, most of the saccos pay little dividends/interests on deposits or none at all, in-spite of trading with the deposits/savings. It was therefore the intention of the researcher to seek to establish the determinants of saccos capabilities to improve its members well being. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Main Objective The main purpose of this study was to investigate and refine our understanding of the major factors that determine the performance of SACCOs to enable them maximize their members wealth. Specific objective Specifically, the study sought: To find out the extend to which the nature of business/ check off system affects performance of SACCOs To establish the relationship between management practices and performance of SACCOs To examine the level of education and training of general members, committee members staff and their effects on performance of SACCOs To determine if long term investment affects performance of SACCOs RESEARCH QUESTIONS To what extend does the nature of business/ check off system affect performance of SACCOs? Do management practices affect performance of SACCOs? Is education and training of general members, committee members staff a factor that affects the performance of SACCOs? Does long term investment affect the performance of SACCOs? SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study is aimed at developing an understanding on major factors determining the accessibility to funds to process and dispense all loan requisitions in time by saccos in Kenya. It is seeking to examine and underscore the salient principles that have a bearing in the success in similar or related areas of focus, and hence suggest ways and means of overcoming failure. The study is aimed at benefiting, among others, the management teams. These are the people entrusted by the members to take care of their interests in saccos. They will study to understand and improve on policy setting and implementation for overall sustainability of the sector. The entire sacco membership will also get enlightened. The members of the common bond will appreciate their role in sustaining their welfare through sacco as a vehicle. They will be more willing to take a center role instead of quiting when they feel their interests are not being taken care of by the people they entrusted them with. It will also benefit the sacco staff/secretariate; these are the people who get their daily bread from the sacco. They will understand their role in the growth of the organization, hence acting to secure their source of livelihood. It will also be of good use to the government department in charge of cooperatives. The report will bring to light issues requiring framework and only them can attend to for the overall sustainability of the sacco industry. Finally other researchers in this area will find this useful. They will get recommendations for further research from this study. The beneficiaries will have access to the information on the findings from the compiled report. The final report will be available in selected major libraries, organized groups, especially the respondents will get a copy of the report on the findings. SCOPE OF THE STUDY This studys scope was the saccos based in Eldoret. The researcher selected a suitable sample from the population by purposive convenience sampling. According to the statistics from MOCD/M, there are about 10 such saccos within Eldoret town. About 40 % of the population (4 saccos) were covered by the study. The study targeted the members of the central management committee (CMC) in the selected SACCOs. LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction to literature review This section contains literature that has been reviewed and continues to be reviewed relating to the problem. Literature review involves locating, reading and evaluating reports of previous studies, observations and opinions relating to the planned study. It therefore enables the researcher to know what has been done in the particular field of study, makes one aware of what has been made and what challenges remain, and gives suggestions on the variables and procedures that could be used. Literature review logically leads to objectives on the study. Past studies in the area Background information According to Mwaura (2005) sessional paper No. 4 of 1987 on renewed growth through the cooperative movement highlighted the significance of the movement in national development. By this time there were 3500 registered cooperatives with more than 2million members and an annual turnover greater than 6billion. The paper noted that one in every two Kenyans derived its livelihood from the cooperative either directly or indirectly. The cooperative movement in Kenya is reputed to be the most advanced in the African continent. The Kenya Nordic agreement of 1967led to the establishment of the Cooperative college of Kenya at Langata, which is the main training ground for both ministry staff and the movement employees. According to MOCD (2002) the first Savings and credit Cooperatives in Kenya were started in the sixties. The Government annual economic survey shows that as at December 2002 there were more than 2,400 active SACCOS with membership in excess of 1.5 million people. Share capital stood at Kshs. 65 billion while outstanding loans were Kshs. 59 billion.. The structure of the cooperative movement in Kenya comprises of four tiers. These include the primary societies, secondary cooperatives, tertiary cooperatives and nationwide cooperatives. The Kenya Federal of Cooperatives (KNFC) is the only apex society in the movement. It was formed with an objective of promoting, developing, guiding, assisting and upholding ideas of the cooperative principles. KNFC is the link between cooperatives in Kenya and the international cooperative alliance. Of special mention here is the African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA), which is registered under the Societies Act, Chapter 108 of the laws of Kenya. Its area of operation is Africa and the adjacent islands. Its head-quarters is in Nairobi. It has twenty five affiliated organizations. It is affiliated to the International Cooperative Alliance through its members in the world council of Credit Unions (WOCCU). According to the cooperative Societies Act (Cap 490), persons desirous of forming a cooperative society must fill the prescribed form from the commissioner for cooperatives. It requires that at least ten members will sign the form, though for savings and credit the commissioner has been asked for more people. The form requires that the society makes its by-laws. For ease of convenience the commissioner has prepared model by-laws for the cooperative societies. The societies are nevertheless free to change these or come up with their own by-laws. The by-laws must detail the following; the name of the society, objects of the society, purposes to which its funds may be applied, disposal of surplus funds, qualifications for membership and terms and conditions of admission of members. For savings and credit cooperatives, the following are also includes, the rate of interest, the maximum amount loan-able, extension, renewal and recovery of loans and the consequences of default in the repayment of any sums due. On receipt of the application form the office of the commissioner will register the cooperative society on the advice of the cooperative officer in charge of the area of operation. Chapter 490 provides that no companies registered under the companys Act or any un-incorporated body of persons shall become a member of a registered society except with the written permission of the commissioner. It also provides that no person can join more than one cooperative society with unlimited liability. A member may nevertheless be allowed to join two or more cooperatives with limited liability if the two are in different areas of operation. A cooperative society just like a company, may be registered with or without limited liability. The commissioner has power to refuse to register a cooperative society. Nevertheless, the refusal must be given to the applicants in writing. Applicants can appeal to the minister for cooperative developments and finally to the high court. The commissioner may register the cooperative either provisionally or fully. A provision registration is given where some requirements for registration have not been met. The applicants are given a period o f one year to satisfy all conditions. A provisionally registered cooperative society may act as a fully registered in all ways. Upon registration such a cooperative society is deemed to have been registered on the date of the provisional registration. Upon registration a society becomes a body of corporate. According to Ouma(1980), the term cooperative in its widest sense simply means working together. In this context cooperation is as old as mankind and exists wherever the human family is found. Indeed such cooperation exists among animals, insects, bees and ants. Thus cooperation generally means working together for a common purpose. Thus group effort through traditional form of cooperation may be traced in all communities of the world. However its narrow sense as a movement, it means an association of people whose purpose for group work yields good results not only for the members but to the community in general and even to the humanity at large. Cooperative is a business organization by profit, but rather the result of mutual association whose objective is equitable economic betterment of man and the society in which he lives. According to the MOCD, cooperatives are regulated by a set of principals. These principles were formulated by a group of people who lived in a village in England known as Rochdale, and they are therefore referred to as Rochdale pioneers. They formed the first successful cooperative society in 1884. This society which was a consumer cooperative society was formed in 1844 when Britain was undergoing industrial revolution. As a result of the revolution, a lot of people lost their jobs in the factories as machines were introduced to replace them. In addition to this there was general lack of credit and supply of essential commodities like salt, sugar, flour and cooking fat. Businessmen also took advantage of this situation and started offering impure products at high prices. It is against this background that Rochdale Pioneers decided to draw up some sort of principles which would guide their operation as cooperative society. These principles were intended for the regulation of cooperative society as indicated by the great stress on the sale of pure products and the sale of goods for cash only. It was therefore found necessary to formulate the principles for adoption by other types of cooperatives. The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Commission of 1966 adopted the following principles which are genuine for the running of a genuine cooperative society:- Open and voluntary membership, democratic administration (one man, one vote), limited interest on share capital, payments of dividends and bonuses to members, promotion of education and cooperation with other cooperatives at local national and international levels. According to Ouma (1980), the traditional cooperatives have been in existence in Kenya, as it has been elsewhere, from time immemorial. Examples of such cooperative practices are to be found in Kenya. The group association is normally based on lineage according to the natural geographic environment in which the members of the group are born. This is usually based on clan or people who live within the same village. It can be stated with fair amount of certainty that the traditional forms of cooperation do generally speaking, form the basis for the establishment of modern cooperative organizations. There is for instance in Luo, Saga whereby a group of people do ploughing, weeding or harvest for each member of the group in turn. In Kwath, members of the group look after their cattle together for three or more days consecutively, in turn. In Kikuyu there is what is called ngwatio (Mwethya in Kamba) whereby members of the group get together to build houses for themselves, each member of t he group breinging what is required for the construction e.g. grass and poles. When the first house is completed then the members start on the next one. In Kisii, there is what is called obituary wherby men go on a job hunting exercise, and when they kill an animal, they will either divide it or take it home (village) where it mis cooked and eaten communally by all the villagers. Among the Kalenjin there is the practice of Kokwet wherby a group of people would go out to harvest or weed the garden of their members in turn. The Kalenjin also have Loget whereby the men go in a joint effort to kill animals for food. According to Ouma(1980), practically all the ethnic groups in this country, whether small or big, has since time immemorial practiced mutual association in order to satisfy their needs socially, economically or otherwise. It is also necessary to point out that in the traditional forms of cooperatives, in contrast to the modern cooperatives, members had a great sense of commitment and belonging.. They had mutual trust and were voluntarily involved in their activities and affairs.. It is of course not possible and it may not be expected that with the development of cosmopolitan populations consisting of different ethnic groups and tribes that members can still hold together without some form of regulations. Hence the necessity to resort to legal reinforcement and education in order to develop efficient cooperative organizations. Although these associations of group effort could be deemed self help which is infect a for of cooperative , it is nevertheless true to say that the modern cooperative movement, born in Kenya during the beginning of twentieth century owed much of the cooperative idea to these earlier practices. It is also true that the modern cooperative associations in this country took a different approach and mainly because of expediency. Its founders the British settlers- merely wanted to use it as a cheap means of business for easy profit making. They never spontaneously involved the indigenous people who already were familiar with cooperative effort. The early settlers were beset by very many problems as regards their agricultural activities. For instance prices for Agricultural products were very low, transport of the agricultural inputs and outputs to the markets by each individual settler were classical nightmares. Therefore this new system of farming with its large scale production caused the needs for associations by the few European farmers who undoubtedly had conceived the cooperative idea from the British cooperative movement back home. It will of course be recalled that the formal and successful cooperative organisations started in Britain in 1844. In 1908, they resolved to join together at a place called Lumbwa and formed Lumbwa cooperative Society Ltd. Although not registered as such under any cooperative Societies Act, it is deemed to be one of the modern cooperatives in Kenya. The main objective was to purchase merchandise; i.e. fertilizers, chemical seeds, and other agricultural inputs through collective effort, and to market their produce collectively thus taking advantage of the economy of scale. It would appear quite clear at this point that cooperatives in Kenya did not start as a poor mans defensive weapon against the exploitation by the middlemen, as it had started in Europe and elsewhere. It was on the contrary an easier means to enable the white settlers to receive high returns from their agricultural produce. Thus it was rather an economic necessity for the well to do and not the ordinary man with little or no means at all. It will be remembered that during this time, there was no cooperative societies ordinance to regulate and to assist the management of these cooperative efforts in Kenya. It is also not clear whether or not Lumbwa Cooperative society ltd was registered even under the companies Act, otherwise calling it a co-operative society was misleading. However one thing remains certain, and that is that the settlers wanted to maximize their profits by trading under the pretext of a co-operative organisation, thereby enjoying its privileges. According to Ouma (1980) many self help groups, most of which were very small and un-economic, were started all over the country. But these were not economically viable and consequently had to be amalgamated into larger economic units. These were for instance Kenya farmers association (co-operatives), Kenya planters co-operative union, Kenya cooperative creameries and Horticultural cooperative union. It is a fact that these institutions formed the backbone and the base for formal cooperative movement in this country. These initial cooperative ventures in Kenya were unfortunately not quite in the spirit of the Rochdale Pioneer Cooperative Society. They never for example, observed the principle of membership, for no African could participate in it until later. The need to form formal cooperative organisations arose when some African peasant farmers realized that they were being exploited, especially by the Asian traders who were paying very low prices for their agricultural produce. As early as in the 1930s there were attempts to form cooperatives by the indigenous people of Kenya, in spite of lack of proper guidance. Of these early attempts two examples can be mentioned here, The Taita vegetable company and the Kisii coffee Growers cooperative. The farmers had 239 members and bought 3 lorries at the cost of $1170 out of the profits made from the operations. The group was producing, grading, transporting and selling on the mombasa market over 900,000Lbs of vegetables a year and the growers received over $4,500 out of a gross selling price of $ 6300. This was indeed too substantial an enterprise to be left without a legal basis. It was later registered as cooperative society. The Kisii coffee growers Association which was able to raise from the sale of its coffee a sum of $2470 of which $1240 was paid out to the 251 members who had cultivated only 159 acres, but had already accumulated a surplus of $1065. In 1994, the British Colonial Office in London appointed Mr. W.K.H Campbell to come to investigate the possibilities of African participation in the cooperative organisations. He carried out his investigations by touring and visiting many towns and districts in the republic of Kenya and talking to the people. After all his investigations Mr. Campbell submitted his recommendations that subject to availability of capable staff attempts to organise cooperatives were worth while. It was also during this time that the first African Mr. Eliud Mathu was nominated to the legislative assembly, as the Kenya parliament was called then. He demanded in parliament and such people as Ex chief Koinange from outside, that the Government should come out openly to encourage African participation in the cooperative movement. It was as a result of Campbells recommendation that the cooperative societies (Registration) Amendment, Ordinance of 1932 was repealed and the cooperative societies Ordinance of 1945 was enacted under Cap. 287. It was as a result of this new ordinance that the department of cooperatives was created, although it was placed under different ministries at various times. Consequent to the establishment of the department, a registrar ( now called commissioner for cooperative Development) was appointed and together with his staff was responsible for registration and promotion of cooperative societies in the country. The 1945 cooperative societies ordinance further gave the registrar certain powers over cooperative societies, for example refusal to register a cooperative society, cancellation of certificate of registration, to audit societys books of accounts, authority to inspect books of society, authority to settle disputes in cooperatives only to mention but a few examples. The new cooperative societies ordinance thus subsequently enabled the Government to establish the department of cooperative development. The department was charged with the responsibility of promoting, controlling and educating the members as well as the public on the need and usefulness of cooperative efforts, with particular emphasis on the rural areas. The Registrar of cooperative Societies as the head of cooperative department was designed then and was given staff in ranks of Assistant Registrars and cooperative inspectors, though very limited in number. The assistant registrars worked very closely with the department of Agriculture, in organizing cooperatives which served as the nucleus for the introduction and expansion of various types of cooperatives such as Pyrethrum, Maize, vegetables, dairy, cotton, consumer thrifts and others. According to Ouma (1980), traditionally, people of different nations used barter methods of exchange. That is the exchange of goods for goods. It therefore requires a change of attitude and new outlook towards life in order to be able to accommodate and apply this new mode of economy usefully and

I/O Analysis of Essay -- Film Analysis

The 1999 comedy film â€Å"Office Space† depicts the working life of three main characters at an IT firm. The film has gained a cult following and many of the scenes and lines from the movie have become ingrained in the popular culture. The movie â€Å"Office Space† is comprised of several character types and situations that are familiar not just to workers in the field of Information Technology, but across the spectrum of the work world, especially the office environment. Several scenes will be examined here in detail and analyzed in regard to the I/O principles of motivation and leadership. Introduction â€Å"Office Space† is a 1999 film by Mike Judge that lampoons the corporate office environment. The film’s protagonist, Peter Gibbons, is a software programmer at IT firm Initech. whose mind-numbing primary duty is to comb through untold lines of the company’s existing computer code to upgrade their software to be â€Å"Y2K† compliant. Peter is joined in his workday misery by his two friends, Michael Bolton and Samir Nagheenanajar. Bolton endures constant irritation of people asking him if he’s related to the famous singer. Samir can’t understand why people can’t pronounce his name correctly, a running joke throughout the film. Most of the film revolves around the interactions between Peter and his condescending, out-of-touch boss, Bill Luhndberg, who spends much of the film wandering the maze of cubicles with his coffee mug in hand, reiterating meaningless policy edicts. Making continual brief appearances throughout the movie is Milton Waddams, a shy, reclusive employee who was laid off some years prior to the events of the film, only nobody told him and an accounting error caused him to continue to receive a paycheck. A main source... ...o productivity and morale. In D. Cartwright, & A. 663 Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics: research and theory. Elmsford, NY: Row, Peterson ---- Supportive supervisor communication as an intervening influence in the relationship between LMX and employee job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and performance – Published in Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business Volume 5 Bandura, A. A. (1997). Self Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. (1st ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. Herzberg, F. "The Motivation-Hygiene Concept and Problems of Manpower", Personnel Administration (January–February 1964), pp. 3–7. Vroom V H. Work and motivation. New York: Wiley, 1964. 331 p. [Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh. PAJ Author, A. A. of chapter (Year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor, & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. 123-452). City of publication: Publisher.

Research on Student Difficulties in Understanding Chemical Reactions

ASSIGMNET 1| Research on student difficulties in Understanding Chemical reactions| Misconceptions on Strength of Acids and Bases| | Mariyam Zaina, 015482| | | TITLE & INTRODUCTION Title: Misconceptions on Strength of Acids and Bases Researches shows that students often develops new theories about how the natural world works, prior to formal science education and frequently those theories are different to those of scientists(Demircioglu et al. , 2005).Students develop those scientific conceptions from many sources such as personal experiences (eg: observations), gender, peer interaction, media, language, symbolic representations, textbooks etc†¦ In addition, sometimes teachers also serve as major sources for alternative conceptions (Chiu, 2005) and such self-constructed conceptions are referred as misconceptions. Misconceptions are ideas which are not in agreement with accepted scientific ideas (Demircioglu et al. 2005). If students have misconceptions they are then likely to rej ect the scientist’s viewpoints, thus it would be very important for teachers to find about the misconceptions about the concepts to be taught (Khurshid & Iqbal, 2009) It is known that secondary schools students found chemistry as one of the most difficult subjects and thus many students have difficulty in understanding the most basic concepts in the subject.Researches shows that students have lot of topic in chemistry with misconceptions and one such examined topic includes acids and bases (Demircioglu et al. , 2005). Many studies show that students have a lot of complexity in understanding the right concepts in acids and bases. Some of them include that students often fail to give examples of weak acids and bases and also claims that pH is the tool more measuring acidity. And students often refer acids as chemicals hat are corrosive or chemicals that eat away everything. Furthermore students think that the more hydrogen ions present in a chemical the strength of its acidity increase. And such misconceptions make the topic acids and bases more abstract, boring and difficult to understand (Halim et al. , 2010). This research is conducted to clarify students such misconceptions or alternative theories on the concept â€Å"Strength of acids and Bases† under the topic Acids and Bases.The misconceptions taken into consideration are: * Substances containing H are acidic and substances containing OH are basic * A strong acid doesn’t dissociate in water solution, because its intra-molecular bonds are very strong * Concentrated acids are dangerous but concentrated bases are not * As the value of pH increases, acidity increases * As the number of hydrogen atoms increases in the formula of an acid, its acidity becomes stronger * All acids burn and melt everything * All acids and bases are harmful and poisonous * Alkalis are strong bases * Strength and concentration mean the same thing The strongest acid is the most concentrated acid (Demircioglu et a l. , 2005). Some important key term used in this research include misconceptions (defined in the first paragraph), Strong acid, weak acid, dilute acid, concentrated acid, This is a topic usually confused by students and most of the time they accidently confuse the specific terms such as â€Å"strong acid† with contracted acid or corrosive acid. In fact it means neither of those things. A strong acid is an acid which is fully ionized in solution and a weak acid is an acid which partially dissociates in solution.Similarly a strong base is base which ionizes fully in solution and weak bases get partially ionized in solution (Strong and Weak Acids and Bases, n. d). Concentrated acid has a relatively large amount of solute dissolved in the solvent. A dilute acid has a relatively smaller amount of solute dissolved in the solvent (Acid Strength, n. d) In this research it is assumed that all the students who participated in the survey are students who studied chemistry and thus would be thorough with the topic acids and bases. And also the students have answered all the uestions individually without any help or guidance and have given honest answers according to their levels of understanding. Furthermore it is assumed that students would be able to draw the molecular representation of the dissociations of ions in water by showing the molecules or ions present. The Rationale From various researchers done on student’s understanding of the topic acids and bases it is found that lot of secondary schools students have very different ideas or misconceptions on the concept strong and weak acids and bases.In a lot of situations students often describe ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ as being synonymous with ‘concentrated’ and ‘dilute’. And most of the time these misconceptions arise because teachers are not aware of students prior or existing knowledge about a concept or do not address to such alternative theories they hav e about the concept. Which lead to students into more confusion and let them go ahead with their wrong concept. So the purpose of this investigation was to find students misconceptions on the concept of strong and weak acids and bases via a questionnaire.Furthermore the purpose of the research is to find the students misconceptions on the concept acids and bases in Maldivian schools and thus find ways to implement lesson which could address their misconceptions as future teachers. Procedure Research was conducted using a probing tool to find students misconceptions. And the tool used was a questionnaire with multiple choices, fill in the blanks using the best word from the words give and a question where students have to draw and show their ideas on the concept. The questionnaire was given to grade 25 students of grade 9 from Dharumavantha School.Students were chosen randomly from five classes of 9. From each class 5 students were just chosen randomly and asked to fill the questionn aire (Refer appendix for all the questionnaire students have filled). After that the forms were collected and the data was analyzed and percentage of the students choices were found and presented in the result sections RESULT Question 1 – Misconception; Substances containing H are acidic and substances containing OH are basic Figure 1: Percentage of students’ choices for the question number one. According to 62. 5% students A is the best choice.And no students have chosen D as the answer Question 2 – Misconception; Concentrated acids are dangerous but concentrated bases are not Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 2. 52% students have chosen A as the answer while the rest of the students think the correct answer is D Questions 3- Misconception; as the number of hydrogen atoms increases in the formula of an acid, its acidity becomes stronger Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 3 according to highest percentage of students’ choice B which is phosphoric acid is the strongest acidQuestion 4 – Misconception; Alkalis are strong Bases Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 4 the highest percentages of students have chosen A as the answer. But there isn’t a huge difference between students choices Question 5 – all the acids and alkalis are harmful and poisonous Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 5 it shows that for this question different student had different views. And most of the students with 36% chosed A as the answer Question 6 – Misconception; All the acids will eat and burn everything awayFigure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 6 According to 84% students not all acids will burn and eat everything away. Only some acids will burn and eat everything away. Question 7 – Misconception; Strength and Concentration means the same t hing Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 7 Result shows that most of the students do not have this misconception; only about 24% students have the misconception while 76% are well aware of the concept strength and concentrated Question 8- Misconception; as pH increases acidity also increases.Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 8 Almost all the students were clear about this concept that as pH increases acidity decreases Questions 9 – Misconception; A strong acid doesn’t dissociate in water solution, because its intra-molecular bonds are very strong. Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 9 – 44% students were able to draw and show the microscopic dissociation of ions in strong and weak acids with all criterions present. And 8% students drew with some criteria missing.And the rest of the 48% students had misconceptions about the dissociation of strong and w eak acids in water Question 10 –Misconception; the strongest acid is the most concentrated acid Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 9 – it shows that most of the students is quite clear with this misconception. Yet 36% students still have the misconception that the strongest acid is the most concentrated acid DISCUSSION The first misconception dealt in the research was one of the very basic concepts under acids and bases.That is the definition for an acid and a base. A common misconception is that acids are chemicals with hydrogen (H) in the chemical formula and bases are chemicals with OH in the formula. 62. 5% students think that C2H5OH is basic as it has OH in its formula. 4. 2% students think C6H12O6 is both acidic and basic as it has both H and OH in its formula. While the rest of the 33. 3% gave the correct answer which is C6H12O6 and C2H5OH is neither acidic nor basic even though they have H and OH in the formula.But the resu lt also shows that all the students are aware that ammonia is not an acid even if it has H in its formula. Acid is a substance that gives H+ ions when dissolved in water. Acids are compounds that contain hydrogen, however there are compounds that contains hydrogen in their formulas but does not act as acids; for an example water, H2O, ammonia NH3. A base in definition is that substance which gives OH- ions when dissolved in water. Thus they are not substance with OH present.There are many substances that contain OH and H, yet does not act as acids or bases (Acids, Bases and Salts, 2005). For an example Sucrose, C6H12O6, contains H and OH, however, when dissolved in water it dissolves as intact molecules and does not ionize to produce any H+ or OH- ions, as shown by the equation: C6H12O6(s) + H2O(l) C6H12O6(aq). Since sugar molecules do not lose any H+ or OH- ions, sugar is not considered an acid. Alcohols (C2H5OH) have a characteristic hydroxyl group, OH, covalently bonded to the re st of the molecule.When alcohols dissolve in water they also dissolve molecularly and do not ionize. Since no OH- ions are released, alcohols are not bases (Concept or Skills Development, n. d). However from the research it shows that students are not very clear about this idea and because of that most of the students have chosen A as the answer. A student’s misconception is that only concentrated acids are dangerous while concentrated bases are not. This misconception also was proven from question 2, as 52% students have chosen concentrated HCl only as most dangerous.Yet, the result also talks to two sides because almost half of the students have chosen the correct choice (D) which says that both concentrated acid and base is dangerous. Choice A was a misconception. Weak acids and weak bases are not dangerous, but both strong acids and strong bases can both be harmful to human tissue. For an example lime is very strong base and that is the reason why a very small amount of l ime is present in concrete and mortar. And construction workers have to be very careful not to get it on their skins (Strong and Weak Acids and Bases).Another misconception was that as number of hydrogen in the chemical formula increases the strength of acid increases. According to 65% students this is true and thus they have chosen H3PO4 as the strongest acid and almost all the students have given the reason for their choice as having the most number of hydrogen in the formula. 31% students have chosen the correct answer which is sulfuric acid which is the strongest out of the three and have given the correct reason as, it could fully ionize in solution. Only 3% students have chosen nitric acid as the strongest acid.According to students the more hydrogen present it can contribute to more H+ to the solution, thus it would become stronger. The strength of an acid is determined by its ionization power which determined by the pKa value. The lower the pKa value the stronger the acid. T hus H2SO4 is the strongest ith pKa = -3. 1 followed by nitric acid (pKa= -1. 3) and phosphoric acid (pKa = 2. 12) (William, n. d) The reason for this misconception might be because students have not learnt the pKa values and not gone into such details which would help to explain why an acid is becoming stronger.To clarify the misconception could give the pKa values as an extra information for the students or could make the students clearer on the concept that the strength depends on the amount of dissociation. Fourth question is about the misconception that alkalis are strong bases. Some students have the misconception that as alkalis is basic substances that dissolves in water they are strong bases. And from the survey it shows that 24% students do have this misconception.But it shows that apart from this misconception, most (36%) students have another wrong concept that alkalis and bases are same. 28% students do know the right answer from the choices given. Results of 5th questio n show that just 24% of students had the misconception that all the acids and alkalis were harmful and poisonous. Majority of students (36%) think that only concentrated HCl and concentrated NaOH will be harmful and poisonous, which was the correct choice out of the acids and bases is given.Dilute ethanoic acid would not be harmful as it would be used in many of the foods items as well. Also would not be dilute ammonia. Thus the result coveys the message that majority of students are clear about the above misconception. Yet there are few students with different views so as teachers need to show students the differences by showing examples as such. Sometimes students are not aware of the idea that they eat and drink acids, so if they know better acids such as citric acids, acetic acids would e able to clear this misconception Sixth, seventh and eight questions it shows that majority students do not have the misconception identified. Sixth question 84% students know the correct answer s for the blank which is â€Å"some† acids would burn and eat everything away. Seventh question was check whether students really knows the difference between concentrated and strong acids. It was an application question and 76% students have given the right answer which is â€Å"concentrated†. Only 24% students had the misconception that ‘concentrated’ and ‘strong’ means the same.The students might have given the correct answer because two concentrations were given. For those who have given the correct answer whether they really know the difference, a different type of question with the same misconception was given (question 10). The correct answer for the 10th question was C which shows the full dissociated acid and thus it would be the strongest. 64% students have chosen this as the answer. Which shows some students knows that strong acids are those which dissociate fully.However majority of students from that 64% has given the reason for t heir answers wrong. According to them C is correct because it contains the most number of molecules. So that means students do have the misconception about the strong and concentrated acids. Also 36% students chose D as the answer and most of their reason was that it has no water. This shows that their think strongest acid is the acid with least water present or otherwise the most concentrated acid. Eighth question none of the students had the misconception that as pH increases acidity increases.Some students might think as pH is the measure concentration of H+ ions as the pH increases the number H+ ions might increase thus would increase the acidity. Yet, all the students gave the correct answer for this question. For the 9th question a variety of answers were given. The misconception check was â€Å"the stronger the acid the lower the dissociation because the inter-molecular bond would be stronger and weak acids would dissociate more†. For this question it was checked wheth er the students had the following criteria’s.In weak acid shown the H-F not dissociated and very few H+ and F_ ions dissociated and in strong acid H-Cl fully dissociated into H+ and Cl- ions. And even if students have shown the water molecules or not shown it is correct. 44% students did draw the diagrams correctly with all the criteria given and have given the reasons as strong acid dissociate fully while weak acids would do partially. 8% students drew almost correct dissociations, but they most of them have not shown the ionic forms. (Refer appendix for students’ answers). And majority of students had misconceptions.Most of these students have shown more number of molecules in the strong acid side while less molecules’ in the weak side. Students have the concept that strong acids have more molecules’ and weak acid would have less. Only one student has given the reason as the stronger acid would have stronger bonds so dissociation would be lesser. Thus i t can be concluded that majority does not have that misconception but they do have another misconception which is mostly related to now knowing the actual meaning of strong and weak acids and also confusing it with concentrate and dilute.Considering the misconceptions it is important as teachers to take actions to eliminate such misconceptions. Firstly the students should be given instructions which foster conceptual understanding rather than rote memorization. Students are just given definitions of acids bases and they have memorized it, does not get any understanding as to how an acid becomes stronger weaker, concentrated or diluted (Yezdan, 2009). For an example students show the difference in this four by comparing the pH of the four types of acids; concentrated, dilute, weak and strong.In the class the students could be given discussion with teacher or peers to reflect on what they learnt and thus come up with the conceptions they have and thus the teacher can help in correctin g them (Yezdan, 2009) Students misunderstanding arises generally from their experience s in everyday life and such experiences could be used to even eliminate the misconceptions. For an examples from early child hood onwards by watching cartoons and all students think that an acid is something which will make a hole where ever put and it is always dangerous.But could brainstorm students’ understanding about the weak acids present in the materials that are used in day today lives and relate it to weak acids being harmless. Also demonstrating student the difference between a strong acid and concentrated acid rather than just giving definitions ((Demircioglu et al. , 2005). Also could establish analogical thinking between real life examples and the unknown while learning new information could discard misconceptions. For example, teacher asks to the students if there is a relationship between the number of hydrogen atoms that the acid contains and acidic strength.After taking stu dents responses and guiding the discussions till getting the true answer go one step further and asks â€Å"Is H3P04 stronger than HCl? â€Å". Then allows students to discuss again and reach the answer. In order to establish an analogical thinking with real life situations can ask â€Å"how do we measure the strength of the bulbs that we use at our homes? † and guide the discussions until students reach the fact that â€Å"If a bulb gives off a lot of light it is strong, a little Light it is weak† and then helps students to establish the analogy of if an acid ionizes a lot, it is strong; ionizes a little, it is weak like in the case of bulbs.Similarly, provide students to realize that only one bulb sometimes may give more light/ may be more powerful than the two or more bulbs like in the case of the acidic strength and the number of hydrogen atoms that an acid contain i. e. HCl is stronger acid than the H3P04 because it gives more hydrogen ions than H3P04 when disso ciates in water although it contains smaller number of hydrogen atom. Some limitations of this research include that the research is based only onto answer of 25 students which is a very small sample size to know the extent of overall students understanding.Also the sample is from one school, even the students understanding may differ in schools because of the differences in methodologies used in teaching same concept. Also even though it was assumed that students have given honest answers without help from anyone some students answers were very similar which should be because of copying or discussion so the authenticity is not very effective, need to make sure students do it individually. ConclusionsThe purpose of the research was to find whether the misconceptions stated in the introductions were there in the students and to check the extent of students’ understanding on the concept ‘strength of acids and bases’. According to the results majority of students ha ve a deeper understanding of the topic and does not have the most of the misconceptions stated. However some concepts such as â€Å"concentration is same as strength†, â€Å"as number of Hydrogen increases the acidity increase† and â€Å"substances with H in the formula is acidic and OH is basic†.These three misconceptions were found in majority of students and thus need to be dealt as they are one of the very basic and important concepts. And since chemistry as the topics are very much interrelated if the misconception persists it can lead into further misconceptions. So during teaching need to give more attention of those areas and try to use methods such as analogical thinking, demonstrations, applications questions which would help to clarify their misconceptions. Furthermore need to check students’ prior knowledge before going into the new concepts as it would be the foundation for the new knowledge.REFERENCES Acids, Bases and Salts. (2005). Retrieve d on August 17, 2011 from http://www. krysstal. com/acidbase. html Acid Strength. (n. d). Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://media. rsc. org/Misconceptions/Miscon%20acid%20strength. pdf Chiu. ,M. H. (2005). National Survey of Students’ Conceptions in chemistry in Taiwan. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://old. iupac. org/publications/cei/vol6/07_Chiu. pdf Concept or Skills Development. (n. d). Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://www. okstate. edu/jgelder/acidPage25. htmlDemircioglu. G. , Ayas. A and Demircioglu. H. (2005). Conceptual change achieved through a new teaching program on acids and bases. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://www. rsc. org/images/p3_Demircioglu_tcm18-31135. pdf Khurshid. , M and Iqbal. , M. Z. (2009). Children’s Misconceptions about Units on Changes, Acids and Laboratory Preparation of CO2. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://pu. edu. pk/images/journal/ier/PDF-FILES/4-Childrens%20Misconceptions. pdf Halim. , N. D. A. , Ali. , M. B. , Yahaya. , N and Junaidi. , J. (2010).Learning acids and Bases through Inquiry Bases Website. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://teknologimalaysia. academia. edu/noordayana/Papers/393231/Learning_Acids_and_Bases_Through_Inquiry_Based_Website Strong and Weak Acids and Bases. (n. d). Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://www. sky-web. pwp. blueyonder. co. uk/Science/strongacids. htm William. , R. (n. d). pKa Data. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://research. chem. psu. edu/brpgroup/pKa_compilation. pdf APPENDIX Raw data of the survey conducted | QUESTION 1| | QUESTION 6|Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 15| 62. 5| | Some| 21| 84. 0| B| 1| 4. 2| | All| 4| 16. 0| C| 8| 33. 3| |   | 25|   | D| 0| 0| | | | | | 24|   | | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 2| | QUESTION 7| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 13| 52. 0| | Concentrated| 19| 76. 0| B| 0| 0. 0| | stronger| 6| 24. 0| C| 0| 0. 0| | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| D| 12| 48| | | | | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 3| | QUESTION 8| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 7| 30. | | Increase| 25| 100. 0| B| 15| 65. 2| | Decrease| 0| 0. 0| C| 1| 4. 3| | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| TOTAL| 23| 100. 0| | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 4| | QUESTION 9| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 2| 8. 0| | shown all the criteas | 11| 44. 0| B| 19| 76. 0| | Some criteria missing| 2| 8. 0| C| 2| 8. 0| | misinterpretation of the concept| 12| 48. 0| D| 2| 8| | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 5| | QUESTION 10| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 9| 36. 0| | A| 0| 0. 0|

Sun Tzu

OD 13-00706Mar13 SUBJECT: Book Report on Sun Tzu The Art of War and its Pertinence to Combat Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty. He was believed to have lived somewhere in the time period of the Warring States from 476-221 BC. Scholars believe he is the author of The Art of War, an extremely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. Other scholars however, believe that Sun Tzu was in fact a combination of different generals and tacticians and that The Art of War was a collection of their combined efforts and wisdom.The Art of War was discovered in the 8th century in Japan where it was released to the masses and saw an explosion in popularity during the 20th century. Prior to that, it was a collection kept under secrecy allowed only to the reigning emperor. The entire work is the foundation for military tactics today. There are three key principles developed by Sun Tzu, know your enemy and know yourself and in 100 bat tles you will never be in peril. To win 100 battles is not the height of skill, to subdue the enemy without fighting is. Avoid what is strong and attack what is week.Utilizing these three key principles, Sun Tzu focused on achieving his goal with the minimal amount of casualties and resources. In his book, Sun Tzu teaches â€Å"winning without conflict. † Conflict is expensive and the cost is ultimately burdened by the people of the states. Beating opponents and winning battles may satisfy the ego, but Sun Tzu considers that goal a foolish one. This belief can be seen through every war that American has been engaged in and the cost it has taken monetarily as well as emotionally on the people.In every conflict that America has been engaged in, tactics and teachings of Sun Tzu were either utilized by American forces, or against American forces. During the Vietnam war, General Vo Nguyen Giap, the military mastermind behind victories over American forces in Vietnam, was an avid s tudent and practitioner of Sun Tzu's ideas. General Giap understands Sun Tzu’s teachings of indirect attacks to confuse and utilizes insurgents to stage hit and run attacks against the Americans.This is similar to Sun Tzu invasion of Chu, where he would attack weaker outposts drawing the main forces to that area. When the main forces arrived, Sun Tzu was already gone attacking the next weak outpost causing his enemies military to constantly stay on the move and grow tired and weaker. As Sun Tzu says, it is more important to outthink your enemy than to outfight him. Looking at Sun Tzu’s teaching, you can see that he predicted the loss of the Vietnam War by the U. S as well as the victory of WWII.As Sun Tzu states, in war numbers alone confer no advantage, do not advance relying on sheer military power. This tactic was utilized heavily by the United States in Vietnam and they learned that despite their overwhelming military might, they cannot win this war. General Giap t akes Sun Tzu’s teaching of know your enemy and know yourself and in 100 battles you will know no peril, and learns the habits of the Americans. He comes to realize that the Americans are incredibly predictable; they prepare all landing zones by blanketing the area with artillery strikes and then bring in the troops.General Giap has his soldiers lying in wait after the artillery rounds land and ambushes the incoming American soldiers. Through knowing his enemy General Giap utilizes Sun Tzu’s teaching of indirect attack, attack the weak points avoid the strong points, and through this the CIA comes to realize that roughly 80% of the conflicts occur due to the Vietcong choosing to engage. The Vietnamese chose whether they wanted to engage American soldiers due to the utilizing and understanding of these key principles of Sun Tzu. General Giap shows his understanding of Sun Tzu no better than the Tet offensive.Sun Tzu states, let you plans be as dark and night then strike like a thunderbolt. This is portrayed perfectly by the Vietnamese when they attack roughly 100 targets at once during the Tet holiday in Vietnam. General Giap receives orders from his superiors to conduct a full frontal assault on American forces. Realizing this is suicide he instead coordinates a massive multipronged simultaneous attack on a hundred different locations on 31January1968. The Tet offensive was prepared in total secrecy and utilized to the fullest one of Sun Tzu’s favorite tactics, the spy.Sun Tzu states that if you discover an enemy has spy’s within your ranks, to offer him luxury and monetary incentives to turn against his country and serve you. He also emphasizes utilizing a spy to properly disseminate false information to mislead your enemy into thinking you will attack one area when you are truly attacking another. One week prior to the Tet offensive, the Vietnamese attack Khe San, one of the marine outposts. This was a distraction to draw as many t roops away from the other posts prior to the Tet holiday.This onslaught progressed for days, at one point the President of the United States made the generals of each branch sign a letter stating they would not lose Khe San. This was all going according to plan for General Giap, know your enemy’s weakness, let your plans be as dark as night, utilize indirect attacks, have spies plant misinformation, and it is more important to outthink your enemy. All of these Sun Tzu teachings come together for the main operation on 31January1968, simultaneously Vietnamese troop’s assault over 100 American military positions taking them all.It is the most successful attack done by the North Vietnamese. AS Sun Tzu states, use a direct attack to engage and an indirect attack to win. Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, depicts to the reader the foundation for any successful military engagement. General Giap utilized these principles to their fullest during Vietnam to the detriment of the Un ited States and other allied countries. If you look at all wars, past and present you will see that those who follow his teachings are victorious, while those who do not are doomed to fail.By following Sun Tzu’s three key principles of know your enemy and know yourself, and in 100 battles you will never be in peril, to win 100 battles is not the height of skill, to subdue the enemy without fighting is, and avoid what is strong and attack what is week, your military will never know defeat. LAURANCE KENNY 2LT, OD References: Sunzi, Ralph D. Sawyer, Mei-chu? n Sawyer, and Bin Sun. The Complete Art of War. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1996. Print. Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Tokyo: Project Gutenburg, 1910. Sun Tzu/ Lionel Giles. The Art of War: Sun Tzu. London: Pax Librorium, 1905.