Consumer Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Consumer Protection - Essay Example The law of contract stipulates three fundamental requirements for the formation of a legally enforceable contract; namely; offer, acceptance and consideration2 (it is important to note that the contracting parties must have legal capacity, which is presumed not to be an issue in this case). Lord Wilberforce asserted rules for contract formation in the case of New Zealand Shipping Co Limited v A M Satterhwaite, the Eurymedon3 thus: â€Å"English law having committed itself to a rather technical†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Doctrine of contract, in application takes a practical approach†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Into the market slots of offer, acceptance and consideration4†. The law of contract formation distinguishes between an offer and an invitation to treat, which is not an offer but an indication of willingness to negotiate a contract5. For example, in the case of Gibson v Manchester City Council,6 the words â€Å"may be prepared to sell† constituted an invitation to treat and not a distinct offer. Furthermore, in the case of Grainger & Son v Gough7it was held that a newspaper advert will constitute an invitation to treat and not an offer unless an advertisement is specific and conveyed the exact item of product for sale. It was also indicated that there must be an indication of intent on the part of the advertiser to sell, none of which is in contention in the current scenario and therefore the arrangements between Mr Rumsey and Tackro appear to satisfy the requirements for a binding legal contract for the supply of goods agreed on 28 February 2009. However half of the stock of glasses which Mr Rumsey took with him; have transpired to be broken. Secondly, the remainder of the stock that had agreed to be delivered on 15th March have been destroyed in a fire. With regard to the stock of glasses that was damaged, section 13 of the SGA provides that goods must comply with their contractual description however this is qualified by section 15A of the SGA which asserts that if the breach is so

Advanced Nursing Skills - Group Process and Therapy Essay - 1

Advanced Nursing Skills - Group Process and Therapy - Essay Example it is imperative that nurses assume the role of nurse therapists and offer group therapies to the needy patients making use of their theoretical insights in group process and group dynamics. However, it is important that the group members are selected after careful screening so that the group leader (therapist or counselor) can address the psychiatric problems of group members who share certain common problems. Group therapy is aimed at offering empathy and support to all the group members by creating an atmosphere of trust that leads to sharing and exploring of each one’s concerns (Corey, 2008, p. 4). The skills of the group members are strengthened in group therapy with a view to enabling them to face future problems of similar nature. The scope of group therapy in mental healthcare setting is greater as this would enable a psychiatric patient to correct emotional and behavioral disorders that impede one’s functioning or to remediate in-depth psychological problemsâ⠂¬  (Corey, 2008, p. 7). However, it is essential that the group therapists guard themselves against any sorts of cultural or racial stereotyping and cultural encapsulation within a multicultural group setting. As pointed out by Corey (2008, p. 4), group therapies and counseling have â€Å"preventive as well as remedial aims.† However, one needs to differentiate between counseling groups and therapy groups. Group counseling is often problem oriented and addresses a specific educational, vocational, social, or personal issue. Similarly, group counseling is â€Å"growth oriented in that the emphasis is on discovering internal resources of strength† to face situational crises, temporary conflicts, or self-defeating behaviors (Corey, 2008, p. 4). On the other hand, interpersonal relationships are very much significant in group therapies and as such, these therapies stress the thoughts, feelings and behavior patterns of the participants as well. In this respect, Corey (2008, p. 7) observes that

International Business Management - Eastern Europe Essay

International Business Management - Eastern Europe - Essay Example 2. The maximum rate of Income tax that could be levied after the tax holiday period of 10 years should be fixed at not more than 20 percent of the taxable earnings: In addition to benefit of the tax holiday period the developing countries normally offer concessional rates income tax for any joint venture arrangements. 3. Free conversion and free transferability of funds from and to Hungary to European or US destinations2: Though these facilities were available at the time of negotiation the Hungarian government should make a commitment for the uninterrupted continuance of these facilities, which is very important for the profitable functioning of the join venture arrangement. 4. Concessional duty rates on the import of engines and reduction in the VAT (Value Added Tax) being charged by the Hungarian Government: The import duty on engines depending on the size of the vehicle varied from 10 to 40 percent and there was an additional VAT of 25 percent charged by the Hungarian government. Though Hungary is a signatory to the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) the country was free to vary the duty and VAT structures as it may deem fit in the case of automobiles. Hence there is the need to get the government committed on the basic duty structures which is advantageous to GM Europe. In addition to the tax incentives it is also important that the Hungarian government should provide basic infrastructural facilities to fac... Hence there is the need to get the government committed on the basic duty structures which is advantageous to GM Europe. (ii) Provision of Infrastructural Facilities: In addition to the tax incentives it is also important that the Hungarian government should provide basic infrastructural facilities to facilitate the successful operation of the project. Such infrastructural facilities may include the provision of natural gas to the site in addition to the provision of water, electrical power as may be required, well maintained roads for easy transportation and hassle-free physical movement of engines, components and cars during import and export. (iii) Protection from Competition: In order to gain a distinct competitive advantage there should be a commitment from the Hungarian government that at least for an initial period of 5 years or so the import of cars needs to be banned. Since the Hungarian market was small and the affordability of Hungarian population was also less there is the need for this condition. The country could get other advantages in the form of generation of additional employment and development of local suppliers which need to be traded against the protection needed by the GM Europe for its joint venture in Hungary. Though at the start, the GM plant would be small the facility could be enlarged with modernizing and restructuring of the economy. This is usually the case with any developing economy where there are going to be economic reforms the local industry would naturally develop along with the measures for economic reforms. b. Issues to be raised with RABA: The following issues are to be discussed with RABA for possible acceptance as

Oil, War and U.S. Foreign Policy. Essay Example for Free

Oil, War and U.S. Foreign Policy. Essay The war against Iran by the Anglo-American powers has been in planning since 1990s as part of their Greater Middle East strategy. A number of sources have recently reported plans by the Iranian government to institute a Tehran oil bourse and this might be the hidden agenda behind the evident march to war by the Anglo-American powers on Iran. The oil bourse argument is a red herring which diverts the attention of people from the real geopolitical grounds which is behind the real motive for the march to the war which is a high risk game on the nuclear weapon. In 1996, two neo-conservatives, Douglas Feith and Richard Perle who later played an important role in the formulation of the Pentagon policy in the Middle East under the Bush administration authored a paper which was presented to the elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The advisory paper, â€Å"A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm†, had the intention of making Netanyahu to make â€Å"a clean break from the peace process†. Feith and Perle also demanded Netanyahu to strengthen the defense of Israel against Syria and Iraq and to attack Iran as the prop for Syria. More than a year before the declaration of the former US president George W Bush of his â€Å"shock and awe† operations against Iraq, he made his January 2002 State of the Union address which is now infamous to the Congress in which he Iran, together with North Korea and Iraq as members of the â€Å"axis of evil† trio. This occurred before anybody in Tehran had even considered establishing an oil bourse in trading oil in various currencies. According to Engdahl, the US believed that the Tehran oil bourse would be the casus belli, which would trigger the pushing of Washington down the road to the potentiality of annihilation of Iran, which seems to be based on the notion that trading on oil openly to other nations in other currencies would make Tehran set in to motion a chain of events in which buyer after buyer, nation after nation, would come to buy oil no longer in US dollars but in euros. This in turn according to an argument, would lead to a panic in selling of the US dollars on the world foreign exchange markets and also lead to the collapse of the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency, which is one of the pillars of the â€Å"US Empire†. According to Engdahl in his book, A Century of War, the creation of â€Å"petrodollar recycling† in 1974, which is a process where the by then US secretary of state Henry Kissinger was deeply involved, led to oil price hike of 400% and this was orchestrated by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Engdahl puts it that US dollar did not manage to become a â€Å"petrodollar† even though Kissinger emphasized the process of â€Å"recycling petrodollar†. According to the author, what Kissinger was referring to was the initiation of a new phase of global hegemony of US in which the export earnings from the petrodollar of OPEC oils lands would be recycled back to the hands of the major London and New York banks and later re-lent in the form of US dollars to other nations which are deficient in oil such as Argentina and Brazil and this led to the creation of what was soon to be known as the Latin America debt crisis. By this time, the US dollar had been a fiat issue since August 1971 following the abrogation of the Bretton Woods Treaty and refusal by the then US president Richard Nixon to redeem US dollars which were held in foreign central banks for gold. Due to the 400% increase in oil prices, nations such as Germany, France, and Japan suddenly had the reason to buy oil in their own currencies with the aim of lessening the pressure on their reserves of trade dollars which was rapidly declining. This led to the coming up of the Pentagon and US treaty partly with their secret diplomacy by Kissinger through bullying threats According to Engdahl, the US military were sent to Afghanistan for two main reasons; the first reason was to restore and control the world’s largest supplier of opium in the world while at the same time use the drugs as a geopolitical weapon against their opponents especially Russia. The control of the drug market is an essential ingredient for the liquidity of the corrupt and bankrupt Wall Street financial market. U. S. Military and CIA Interventions in the Middle-East. Blom traces the origin of the current conflict from the brutal 1980-88 war which was between Iran and Iraq. At the time of the war, Kuwait was busy stealing oil from the Iraqi territory which was worth more than $2. 4 billion of oil. Soon after the battle, United Emirates and Kuwait started to exceed the production quotas that had been established by OPEC and this led to flooding in the oil market leading to a reduction on oil prices. This led Iraq to become deeply in debt and the then president Saddam Hussein declared this policy a threat to hi country by pointing out that Iraq was loosing billions of dollars each year due to the drop in oil prices. In an attempt to offset these loses, Saddam decided to gain possession of the two Gulf islands which were blocking Iraq from ownership of Rumaila oilfield. Kuwait continued to ignore Iraq’s territorial and financial demands and the OPEC’s request to follow the quota system and this led to Iraq to form large number of troops who were posted along the Kuwait border. This led to the intervention of the US who viewed themselves as the world’s supper power. After Iraq attacked Kuwait, US came to the defense of Kuwait by declaring that their interest was in protecting nations with whom they had longstanding and deep ties while at the same time, The White House declared their concern about the buildup of troops by Iraq. According to the author, United States had an official position on the Kuwait-Iraq border dispute. This is evident from the official statement that were found by the Iraqis in some of the Kuwait intelligence files which was a memorandum concerning a meeting between the CIA Director William Webster and Kuwait state security in November 1989. in the document, there was an agreement between the Americans and Kuwait that it was of great importance to take advantage of the deteriorating economic situation in Iraq with the aim of putting pressure on Iraq’ government so as to delineate their common borders. It is evident that US was involved from the beginning and advised Kuwait to apply pressure on Iraq so as destabilize the country economically. The CIA later denied these allegations saying that it was a fabrication. Blum puts it that the US has been behind the Kurdish’ slaughter of many innocent citizens and also encouraged the Shiite Muslims in Iraq to rebel. All these were done in an attempt to incite Saddam so that he could incite a coup which would result in to the intervention of the United States. The killings in the Persian Gulf by the American soldiers have been due to a voice command from George Herbert Walker Bush according Blum. The United States started supporting Afghan Islamic fundamentalists in 1979 in their bid to fight the Soviet Union. The US continued with their support despite the kidnapping of American ambassador in the capital city of Kabul in February 1979. American intervention according to Blom had some hidden agenda. The US was using lies and tricks to gain influence of Iraq so as to control the oil prices. In both cases, the authors recognize the use the use of tricks by the US government to make the Middle East unstable. Both the authors share a common view on the idea behind the control of Middle East affairs. In both cases, the authors acknowledge the use of military force in the wars in the Middle East and in both cases, it appears that US is the main cause of all these wars. The aim of the United States according to the two authors is to take control of the rich oil nations and make sure that they continue to price and sell oil in US dollars. They both acknowledge the pretence of the US to send their military force in these countries with the aim of restoring peace while in the real sense; the US is after establishing permanent military base in places such as Iraq so that they can control the resources of these countries. Under the Bush administration, there was a severe military attack in Iraq with the aim of removing Saddam from power with the pretence that he was behind manufacturing of nuclear weapons. After the attack, it became apparently clear that such a thing never existed in Iraq. Bush was only accomplishing a war that was started by his father against Saddam who had refused to consent to the demands of the United States. The Use of Torture in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot has been said regarding what lies behind the shocking images of torture at Abu Ghraib which were released in 2004. many American were shocked by such images and novel with the exception of one American; Alfred McCoy who had been following the operations of the Central Intelligence Agency since the early 1970s, when the agency tried unsuccessfully to stop the publication of his book, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. McCoy had long been conducting study on the pioneering research by the CIA in to the methods of psychological torture. He writes that the CIA had started this project in the early 1950s with their initial study on the Chinese and Soviet methods of breaking and interrogating prisoners. The author has a negative image regarding the torture policies that America has used in the last decades. The CIA’s discovery of Psychological torture had its breakthrough in the 17th century. This was in contrast to the physical approach which they saw most of the times produced unreliable information or heightened resistance. Under the new psychological paradigm introduced by the CIA, the interrogators used two essential techniques; self-inflicted pain or disorientation so as to make the victims feel responsibility of their own suffering. The first stage of psychological torture involves the use of non-violent methods to by the interrogator to disorientate the subject. After disorientating the subject, the second stage involves simple self inflicted discomforts which may be in form of standing for many hours with the arms in extended position. Although psychological torture is less brutal due to the fact that there is no touch, the torture leaves both the interrogator and the victim with deep psychological scars. Victims normally require long-term treatment in order to recover from the trauma far much more than the physical pain. On the part of the interrogator, they may suffer from dangerous expansion of ego which may eventually lead to escalating cruelty and lasting emotional problems. According to McCoy, torture was conducted by the CIA directly and also indirectly through outsourcing. The use of torture is against humanity since it involves forcing the subject to confess in criminal cases with the assumption that they are guilty prior to trail. The CIA also used this method to serve as a deterrent to other potential offenders. According to the author, torture did less in bringing any trustworthy information or truthful confession neither did it prevent other people from breaking the law in any significant way. Following the September 11 bombing of the Twin Towers in the US, the administration of the former President George W. Bush allowed US intelligence service and the military to use torture as the only means to â€Å"quickly obtain information†. They did this by creating a category of prisoners who they claimed fall outside the protection by any treaty or law obligations and are deemed to be tortured. According to the CIA, they argue that this policy which considered the most abusive approach to interrogation is the most efficient and effective quick way to get information that is accurate and useful. From McCoy’s book, he clearly puts it that torture is always not a good way of producing reliable information. The experience from Colonel John Rothrock, who was heading a combat interrogation team in Vietnam, reported that â€Å"he doesn’t know any professional intelligence officers of my generation who would think this [torture] is a good idea,† but the US under the Bush administration failed to listen and this led to death of many innocent people in the name of state security. These torture cases were concealed from the general public and the Congress when CIA was busy for the past half of the century developing and applying a sophisticated form of psychological torture which were meant to go against investigation, prohibition or prosecution and this made it very successful. Americans have found themselves have found themselves in six separate accounts of this same moral quagmire in the last 50 years period. The first was the exposure of the CIA sponsored torture which took place in South Vietnam in 1970, Iran in 1978, Brazil in 1974, Honduras in 1988, and the cases in Iran and Iraq. Each of these cases was exposed at different times and as each case fades, the agency resumes with their lethal work in the shadows. The role of torture in the geopolitics of the Middle East is to divert attention on the real issue. While the CIA was busy torturing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq, they were at the same time busy exporting opium to other countries. The use of torture was also a means of making sure that no information was leaked to the public. Another role that torture play is to make the subject confess to what the interrogator expects them to do. Also the use of torture by the CIA was to make people from Middle East to desist from any corporation with those who could get in to their secret conducts in these countries. An example is when McCoy was doing a research for his book in the mountains of Laos; a group of CIA machineries attempted to kill him and even threatened his translator to stop working for him. While these were happening, the CIA was secretly transporting opium using Air America helicopters to South Vietnam. Use of torture helped the American’s to exert great influence in the Middle East as those who experienced the tortures gave their experiences once they were out of the prison. The psychological damage was so much that the victims could not become normal again. This coupled with the killings of many people during the war led to weakening of these nations such that American control of oil and drugs like opium could be easy. All these acts were conducted with the aim of building an â€Å"American Empire†. Works Cited. Alfred McCoy. A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror (American Empire Project).

The Sister Revealed :: essays research papers fc

The Sisters Revealed Blog Sisters’ (www.BlogSisters.com) slogan â€Å"Where men can link, but they can’t touch† describes itself very well. The Website is a team blog with over one hundred registered female members of all ages who â€Å"come together to share knowledge, ideas, stories, conversation, wisdom, and the occasional dirty jokes† (Sessum). Jeneane Sessum founded Blog Sisters in February 2002 based on the premise that men bloggers outnumber women bloggers by a great amount. The Sisters come from diverse backgrounds but have a common passion for blogging. The members range in age from upper teens to early 70’s. They come from different countries including Australia, Canada, India, Poland, Russia, and Latvia. Members include married mothers, single mothers, married childless women, single women, professional technicians, writers, employed, unemployed, feminists, and non-feminist women. In this blog women share information, ideas, problems, advice and simply â€Å"vent†. Some of Blog Sisters’ discussions deal with breast cancer, divorce, and human right abuses. Some of the latest posts include a parody of Senate hearings with Condoleezza Rice (Cooper); criticism of Bush’s â€Å"Culture of Life† rally; a review of a book The Good Body by Eve Ensler (Suyaffolee); and a marriage discussion (Wells). The archives of the blog date back to February 2002 with the first entry posted by the founder to welcome the Sisters. Ever since the first entry the members have been posting regularly, from one to fifteen entries a day. It is no surprise that women in this blog are well educated and many have at least one degree in fields such as Literature, English, Educational Administration, Sinology, Journalism, Business, and Neuroscience. Many members are (or were at some point) schoolteachers or college and university instructors. The women appear to be technologically up-to-date: in touch with their computer and web browser skills. Most of the members have a blog of their own. Jill Walker, Elizabeth Lawley, and misbehaving.net are affiliated with Blog Sisters. The posts are versatile: besides politics the blog features topics such as relationships, religion, entertainment, economy, and even a recipe Green Bean Casserole. After reading some of the entries it becomes clear that these women like to mix entertaining, informative and educational comments on every day life. Although the members have different values and opinions there is a sense of mutual respect observed among the women. Despite numerous controversial issues there has never been an inappropriate or offensive comment (Frankonis). A lot of these women live by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s quote â€Å"Well-behaved women seldom make history.

Business Industry Essay

Protection is being the number one reason on why gadget accessories have been growing in a fast phase. Both small size gadget to big size gadget need protection from the harsh outside environment, and therefore many companies have been trying to solve the problem by making a suit or body protector for the gadget lover to keep their devices functional even with severe impact to the ground or other hard objects. The mobile phone accessories itself accounts for 36 billion dollar which is a very unexpected number because of the forecasted number was 20 million by the end of 2012. This proven that the industry has been performing very well that even the prediction to the real value ratio is almost doubled. The trend of using smartphone and newest laptop has taken protection of those items to the next level. High protection for expensive gadget is very important nowadays, this is proven by the amount of money people spent on having the best protection for their devices. There are 2 types o n consumers in this business, people who actually put accessories on their smartphone to add esthetic value to their gadget and people who buy accessories for the protection of their gadget. This trend is supported by several studies that shown people who have gadget spent more than 55 dollars alone for the accessories. Smartphone industry is very popular among the age group of 18-44 and therefore the accessories come along with the age group of people who have smartphone. This research is done and concluded with more than 55% of the age group have smart phone. Otterbox Otterbox is a private company which is founded in 1998. It has been producing the protection for gadget ever since. Otterbox is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado and it’s trademark is to build a waterproof electronic cases for mobile devices. Otterbox product lines are mainly focus on the protection of the product and not focused on the esthetic side of the product. Functionality has been the front line of the product. Mainly it is as waterproof boxes and device-specific smartphone and tablet cases designed for outdoor enthusiast. Unique selling point Over the years, Otterbox has earned a reputation for the best protection for portable devices which offer high impact protection, water protection, etc. The Otterbox premium feature is offered by the premium price that comes along with it. Leaving its competitor behind, Otterbox sells their product from a competitive price of $25 to a whopping $70 for the defender series that offer the best protection for portable devices. Target Market Otterbox targets mainly on outdoor enthusiast who usually go out to rough terrains. Given the product main unique selling point of protection, Otterbox can relieve the fear of destroying their devices during their activity outside. SWOT Strength| Weakness| Strong brand nameDiversified ProductsStrong logistic| Lack of promotion| Opportunities| Threat| Growing market of smartphone| Intense competitionImitation start coming to the market| Strength Strong brand name People who know Otterbox know that the product is a very high quality product. The customers know that they are getting what they paid for. Even though Otterbox release a new product line, the customers will already know that the product will offer protection like no other brand. Diversified Products: The product lines of Otterbox varies from small smartphone to big smartphone even tablet, and therefore customers find it is nice to have the protective case that made specifically for that type of device that they have. Strong Logistic: It is easy to find Otterbox all over the world. Otterbox have channel distribution almost all over the world with the main phone accessories distributor in that country and therefore, getting our hand on Otterbox is relatively easy. Weakness: Lack of promotion People who know Otterbox know that it is a good product, but a lot of people don’t know Otterbox because their lack of promotion compared to other brand such as Targus. Opportunities: Growing market of Smart phone As it is described in the market Industry analysis, the market has been growing unexpectedly high compared to the forecast, and therefore by using this opportunity, Otterbox can boost up the sale of their product alongside with the growing industry market. Threats Intense competition: Competition has been very tough and it is not getting easier for Thule, more companies are coming to step in to the way in the protective case market. Fierce competition is on the eyesight and newcomers such as Balistic, Hardcore, and Casemate Imitation comes to the market Even though it is still hard to get, imitation has been swarming the market because Otterbox such a good product. However, if Otterbox just let it go, the problem will get much bigger and imitation could cannibalize the real product. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. https://www.abiresearch.com/press/accessories-get-smarter-as-smartphones-drive-more- [ 2 ]. http://velositor.com/2012/03/14/smartphone-accessories-market-growing-while-feature-phone-accessories-market-forecasted-to-decline/ [ 3 ]. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2012/survey-new-u-s-smartphone-growth-by-age-and-income.html [ 4 ]. http://www.inc.com/inc5000/201109/otterbox-curt-richardson-how-i-reinvented-m

Soft Thinking and Intellectual Capital

{draw:frame} University of Glamorgan MSc International Logistics and Transport Programme/Strategic Procurement Management STRATEGY AS PRACTICE Soft Systems Thinking and Intellectual Capital Assignment 1 *Student No: *08193738 Assignment Date: 5 April 2009 *Submission Date:* 15 May 2009 Module Lecturer: Paul Davis Word Count:* * *2,* 600 Critically evaluate the role that Soft Systems thinking can play in promoting organisations Intellectual Capital. To evaluate the benefits of Soft Systems Thinking (SST) in promoting an organisational intellectual capital it is necessary to understand the concept of Soft Systems Methodology and how this methodology can be used to foster teamwork, communities of practice and social learning, and whether these learning outcomes adds knowledge to employees, and leads to improved professional practice and efficacy. So what price do you put on learning – and as an intangible asset does it need to be measured to promote Intellectual Capital (IC) to support the â€Å"effective delivery of strategic goals by focusing management activities and processes†. Andriessen (2004). Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) advocated by Checkland and Scholes (1990) is a methodology based on applying systems thinking to non system situations. It is a holistic way of dealing not with the problem but the â€Å"situation† in where there are â€Å"social, political and human activities† Checkland and Scholes (1990). As opposed to â€Å"hard system methodologies, which can be quantified, measured and are technology orientated. Soft Systems takes a group of â€Å"actors† through a process of a shared â€Å"problem† appreciation. Learning about the problem, then formulating a root definition of interrelated systems, these examine the relationships of the relevant subsystem: which are the stakeholders, such as customers, employees, the worldview (weltanschauungen) and the management who are â€Å"all active in the system and take collective action to improve the situation† Checkland (1981) Senge (1990) also describes systems thinking as having five learning disciplines, personal mastery, me_ntal models, shared vision, team learning, and the overarching discipline of systems thinking. Therefore, soft systems thinking is a tool that helps in the solving of problems involving human activities where the outcome is learning. Soft systems thinking can enable subjective perceptions of problems and potential solutions. Checkland and Scholes (1990). There are a number of different issues and approaches that can be used to develop a framework for the application of systems thinking for promoting the intellectual capital of any organisation. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) advocated by Checkland and Scholes (1990) helps to achieve a clearer understanding of organisational issues and problem â€Å"situations†, as it approaches issues holistically. â€Å"System thinking is a discipline for seeking wholes, recognizing patterns and interrelationships, and learning how to structure those relationships in a more effective and efficient way † Senge and Lannon-Kim (1991. Therefore, managers having a range of skills and knowledge can add value to any improvement initiative. Rose and Haynes (2001) developed and used the methodology in a number of settings in the NHS and Iles and Sunderland (2001) cited the potential of SSM as an aid to implementing organisational change initiatives at King’s College Hospital London. (Iles and Sunderland, 2001:35) Soft systems thinking can help organisations to develop new perspectives, as it accounts for factors that otherwise would be ignored. A human activity system, can compliment strategic frameworks, such as the â€Å"Balance Scorecard† to co-ordinate business activities and improve internal and external communications. Kaplan and Norton (1992) However, humans view problems differently because they come from different backgrounds, and have different cultural roots, experience, and education, and as a subsystem, different personalities and philosophies to life. Therefore; if a group of managers at different management levels and different departments are all involved in a complex â€Å"problem situation†, SST maybe an excellent tool to create a conceptual understanding of a problem, but it does not represent the real world, but by using system rules and principles it allows thinking to be structured, to develop some models, and the situation can be expressed as a rich picture Checkland, (1981); Checkland and Scholes (1990) Although, Checkland (1999) contrasts with the emphasis on reductionists thinking on obvious problems with definite solutions. People interpret problem situations from particular standpoints and in terms of distinctive interests. Fortune and Peters (1995) speaks about ‘complex discursive’ networks challenging the understanding of systems, problems and solutions to problems. This system of relationships between people, activities, and the world is defined by Lave and Wenger (1991), as a Community of Practice, (CoP) ‘which develops over time’ and ‘in relation to’ other central and overlapping communities of practice’ and is a fundamental condition for the existence of knowledge. The approach focuses on the â€Å"social interactive dimensions of situated learning†. As people in the group interact with each other, establishing a relationship through mutual engagement and a sense of joint enterprise. Wenger (2000) describes three modes of belonging to a social learning system, as â€Å"engagement, imagination and alignment†. These cannot be formed, but have to evolve overtime, as new members join and others leave. So how can organisations like the NHS establish communities of practice? Brown and Duguid (2001a) suggests managers can seek to structure spontaneity, structuring fragmented practice across the organisation, they can encourage alignments of changing practices between communities thereby assisting the transfer of knowledge across the organisation. (Brown and Duguid 2001a). An equally important view has emerged under the banner of ‘the knowledge-based view of the firm' (Grant 1996), emphasises the necessity of organisations to develop and increase the knowledge and learning capabilities of employees through knowledge gaining, knowledge sharing, and knowledge transfer, to achieve competitive advantage. To take it further Lave and Wenger (1991) saw the gaining of knowledge as a social process, in which people participated in communal learning, but at different levels depending on their authority in the group. It is the shared commitment that binds the members of the CoP in a single social entity, and although members of the CoP build up tangible communal resources, such as written files, procedures, processes and policies, (hard knowledge) intangible resources are also being built up such as experiences rituals and idioms (soft knowledge). Hildreth and Kimble (2002) argued that the underlying problems of managing this knowledge was that Knowledge Management (KM) failed to recognise that knowledge itself consists of both hard and soft knowledge, much like the Chinese concepts of Yin and Yan and are mutually interdependent. â€Å"Knowledge by itself produces nothing; only when it is integrated into a task does knowledge benefit society. (Drucker 1992) Hislop (2004) examined three cases studies of CoP’s in large European organisations and concluded that only one was successful in sharing knowledge between communities. The other two failed to do so because they did not share the same identity. So it could be concluded that although CoP’s are self controlled and self directed, and maybe of value to the business organisation, the actual benefit and contribution to the organisation could also be uncertain. Maybe, because group solidarity in human communities, is often at the price of hostility/non-cooperation towards non-group members. â€Å"There appears to be a natural human inclination for dividing the world into friends and enemies that is the basis of all politics. † (Fukuyama, 1995) So knowledge maybe personified tacitly in the experiences of a community of practitioners in an organisation or explicitly in the written files, but Knowledge Management (KM) is a critical task for any organisation. Reducing tacit knowledge into numbers the organisation stands to lose money, although knowledge can be safely stored on computer systems – the actual value could be lost if an employee leaves with the tacit knowledge on how to use the explicit knowledge. Employee retention/turnover is important as downsizing and retirement can cause a loss of shared knowledge and knowledge could be transferred to competitors and be damaging to an organisations competitive advantage. (Stovel and Bontis (2002). Stovel and Bontis (2002) also advocate that â€Å"productivity will drop for a time due to the learning curve involved as new employees’ gain the knowledge of the tasks involved and understands and learns from the organisational culture. Information and data can be stored but it is not until it has been processed in the minds of an individual and is communicated to others does it become knowledge (Alavi and Leidener 2001) so to make tacit knowledge explicit, there has to be knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer within and between organisations is not a one-way activity, but a process of trial and error, feedback, and mutual adjustment of both the source and the recipient (Von Krogh, 2003: 373). There have been a number of studies which have shown that some of the benefits of knowledge sharing/transfer can help solve problems and increase performance, adaptation, collaboration and innovation. (Constant, Sproull and Kiesler, 1996; Brown and Duguid, 2000). However, there is a great deal of literature on knowledge management and innumerable definitions of knowledge and what knowledge is, Blackler (1995) describes knowledge as â€Å"multifaceted and complex, being both situated and abstract, implicit and explicit, distributed and individual, physical and mental, developing and static, verbal and encoded. † While Fowler and Pryke’s (2003) views the more human element of knowledge â€Å"as much the perception arising from information and refracted through the individual’s personal lens†. Whereas, Knowledge Management Systems refers to information systems, particularly with the use of technology, which is adopted and designed to support employees, there is an emerging awareness that there is a social element to the area of knowledge management, which focuses on a more human centred approach, as a means of managing knowledge in organisations (Hildreth et el 1999) It is now recognised that the performance of any organisation, private and public is very much dependent upon the knowledge of the employees. But, it is the social element or the concept of â€Å"social capital† and its role in knowledge management for developing and gaining competitive advantage, and more broadly intellectual capital (IC) popularised by Stewart in Fortune magazine (1994) which has relational elements and comprises of human capital, structural capital, and organisational capital (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Sveiby, 1997; Guthrie and Petty, 2000) and is viewed also as being central to the sustainability of competitive advantage. Edvinson and Malone (1997) defined human_ capital_ as the value of everything that ‘leaves the company at five p. m. † That is to say that only the shared knowledge assets or the _structural _capital only remains, when employees walk out through the door. Social capital can be defined as a set of informal values or norms shared among members of a group that permits them to cooperate with one another. â€Å"If members of the group come to expect that others will behave reliably and honestly, then they will come to trust one another. Trust acts like a lubricant that makes any group or organisation run more efficiently. † (Fukuyama, 1999, p16) With trust and the co-operation in groups and the social interactions based on informal communication, the building of networks can have economic benefits, with the creation of business opportunities through networking as trust reduces the costs of contracts and legal actions and shared values can make negotiations more successful. Social capital may also create business opportunities by facilitating and exchanging semi – confidential information and mutual ncouragement. (Glaser, Edward L. , Laibson, David, and Sacerdote, Bruce 2002), Intellectual Capital is the intangible economic value of organisational capital (structures, processes and culture) and human capital (skills, behaviour and knowledge) and it is the intangible asset of knowledge that is now being added to the classical production factors of land labour and capital. Growth and innovation are now rel ying on the intellectual capital /knowledge of an organisation, and how it uses the knowledge to compete in the market (Kim and Mauborgine (1999). The field of intellectual capital stems from the need of organisations to have to quantify assets. So efficient management of intellectual capital is directly linked to measurement and valuation (Andrieseen 2004) and has necessitated the introduction of reporting and valuations models for IC (Liebowitz and Suen 2000) and as the literature suggest the most popular measure of IC is the difference between the market value and the book value of a knowledge based firm (Brennan and Connell 2000. ) According to (Tuban and Aronson 2001) Knowledge is critically important because as an asset it appreciates rather than depreciates. Knowledge increases so intellectual capital is going to improve. So by using systems thinking to promote Intellectual Capital could be a powerful approach for understanding the nature of ‘problems situations’ and the way they are dealt with and how to go about improving results. The key benefit of the system is that it involves seeing the whole picture and creates insights to problems and can nurture the way that communities of practice can co-operate and learn through shared knowledge and experiences. System thinking is not an easy approach as it requires a substantial investment of effort, and thought, though the results can be more than worth the investment. Central to these ideas is that intellectual capital is ‘embedded in both people and systems. The stock of human capital consists of humans (the knowledge skills and abilities of people) social (the valuable relationships among people) and organisational (the processes and routines within the firm)’ (Wright et al 2001:716). But there are criticisms of Soft Thinks Thinking as the system is unable to deal with conflicting nature of social systems, and that it is a conceptual methodology and does not represent the real world, and the methodology implies that actors in a situation have the freedom to instigate change and that conflict does exist but the methodology relies on compromise. Douglas and MacGregor 1960 in his book â€Å"Human side of Enterprise â€Å"maintained that there are two fundamental approaches to managing people. Many managers tend towards theory x, and generally get poor results. Enlightened managers use theory y, which produces better performance and results, and allows people to grow and develop. Which demonstrates that you can’t legislate for human behaviour and those humans also by nature can be territorial and will protect their domain, by advocating knowledge is power. Lave and Wenger (1991) fail to explore the implications of the distribution of power when discussing CoP and Marshall and Rollinson (2004) suggests that Lave and Wenger ( 1991) discussions of meaning can be misinterpreted as ‘ excessively quiescent and consensual’ while in reality such activities are plagued by misunderstanding and disagreements. Without trust the members of the community of practice may be reluctant to share knowledge, and may become static in terms of their knowledge base be resistant to change. There are limitations to the communities of practice but, its does allow the means to explore the transfer of tacit knowledge management tools focused on the codification of knowledge. But a community of practice is one of a number of knowledge management tools, and different organisations require different tools. 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