Saturday, August 31, 2019

Successfully Navigating the Turbulent Skies of a Large-Scale Erp

Bombardier is the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains, it is present in more then 60 countries and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Both Bombardier Aerospace & Bombardier transportation employ over 70 000 and posted a revenue of over 18. 3 billion in the fiscal year ended December 31,2011. The case presents the implementation of an ERP system in Bombardier, along with all the major changes the corporation undertook for a successful transition. In the analysis I will address the challenges faced by Bombardier, the challenges associated with the integration of the large system & its benefits.I will also address how the project team managed and communicated it’s vision amongst the firm and how the new roles were defined, communicated & understood. The analysis will focus up to and including the implementation of the system. As the company grew over the years, Bombardier’s strategy of growth by acquisition turned the firm into a â€Å"textbook s ilo organization†. This created problems as systems did not communicate with each other effectively. This inefficiency generated additional costs because the firm had to maintain all the different systems.Another problem, related to the operation of the aerospace division, was the low visibility of inventory and lack of integration between the old computer systems. This caused process delays, low inventory turns & price inconsistency from suppliers. The Bombardier Manufacturing System (BMS) , the group of information technology applications that had been supporting Bombardier Aerospace’s manufacturing activities, had not evolved to cope with the fast changes. The BMS capabilities had become limited. We can assume that Bombardier was not a fully integrated company at that time because there was a clear lack of coordination and unity.An example would be how employees would create numerous stand-alone databases throughout the company on operations specific to their functio n without realizing the negative effect it causes to the rest of the organization such as data errors or omissions. But Bombardier Aerospace was working on becoming an integrated Company, as the Vice-President of Operations and Project Sponsor was aware of the challenges and created a Vision: â€Å"One Company†: To align the operations of its acquired companies by implementing common roles and responsibilities.To meet this enormous challenge, a Enterprise Resource planning (ERP) system was first implemented at Bombardier Aerospace. The first attempt in 2000 was a costly failure. The implementation of this technology without the corresponding organizational changes was the main reason of its failure. The factors that contributed to its breakdown are identified as : Focusing the implementation on inappropriate business processes, an outdated company vision, a weak sponsorship model, insufficient involvement of internal employees and having too many third-party consultants emplo yed on the project.In October 2001, Bombardier Manufacturing Information System (BMIS) was created by the Senior Project Manager to establish a new integrated manufacturing system. BMIS was the first project launched with a vision of an integrated organization. Once completed it would support 9,500 users over seven sites and the main benefit of the system’s integration is the cost savings of over $1. 171 billion and a one time reduction in material inventory of $219 million. To Create & implement such a system, a blue print of the operation was created.An integration team was formed; There role was to identify integration points where a process crossed functional boundaries, and independently resolve integration points that could potentially cause disagreement. The functional council took high –level decisions regarding the design of the projects. The BMIS team requested that the plants provide them with experienced employees for the design phase. Some problems that th e BMIS project manager was concerned about is that there was a lack of strong business employees, although empowered to make decisions and complete the design had to constantly go back to the business in order to validate.Another problem was the documentation that was requested by the BMIS team were not provided. As a result, the Design phase ran over schedule by several months. Bombardier Aerospace decided to go with a progressive implementation of the system. BMIS would be implemented one plant at a time starting with there newest facility, the Mirabel Plant. The Critical success factor for the project was the â€Å" Vanilla† approach to system design: It was important that the first roll-out or implementation of the system at the Mirabel plant to be a controlled one.Bombardier limited the scope of the first roll-out one section at a time and trained the rest of the shop accordingly. This approach would siege the system to one part of the plant and identify lessons for subs equent roll-outs. The Restructuring of the procurement function plays an important role in realizing the vision of the BMIS. As was stated earlier, one of the problems the firm faced was the low visibility of inventory. By improving the visibility, you can reduce inventory levels that would improve liquidity and reduce cycle time.It was decided mid-project to restructure the procurement function, it was undertaken in parallel with the implementation of the BMIS and was called the Material Resource Planning Technology. The main idea for procurement was to minimize the total acquisition cost and overall procurement costs by concentrating on a centralized and strategic sourcing of inventory. This big change would require the training of new employees and have them ready to use the new system.Data Management was also a parallel project, it can be divided in 2 activities: 1. Data Cleansing: identified as a major risk of the project. 2. Data Preparation: Extraction, mapping, staging and c onsolidation of data. Before going live it was important to prepare the users in utilizing the new system. Due to the pressure of staying on schedule, training were delivered to users in a short period of time which wasn’t effective because transmitting such a large amount of information in a sort period resulted in a negative effect.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Cultural Research Interview

This study seeks to explore the culture of Luo community in Kenya. It is not easy to study Kenya as a culture on its own due to its multi-cultural dimension. Therefore, one can only study it from the many cultures there are. It will explore Luo culture in various domains. The study will provide concrete examples to support the findings in each domain. It will also carry out a one-on-one interview with a Kenyan citizen and especially from Luo culture. The findings in the literature review will be compared with the data collected from the interview.This study also seeks to propose few recommendations and suggestions on applications to practice. Luo Culture in Kenya Kenyan as a multi-cultural nation has got forty two tribes with different cultures. Therefore, one can only explore certain aspects of Kenyan culture. This study narrows its scope to Luo Culture, whose community takes about 25% of the Kenyan Population hence being the third largest ethnic group (Ochieng, 2007). It is believe d that this community originated from the Southern part of Sudan, getting into Kenya through Northern Uganda and settled in Nyanza Province (Ochieng, 2007).It is also believed that their migration was in search of higher and cooler regions with adequate rainfalls (Isak, 1972). Today, they are popularly referred to as River-Lake Nilotes (Ochieng, 2007). This study chooses to explore on Luo culture due to its peculiar elements. In fact, it is considered to be one of those complicated cultures in Kenya especially on the issue of â€Å"wife inheritance† (Gay, 1981). When Kenya was still under British colonialism, the Luo people managed to defend their land; more so, they played a fundamental role in fighting for Kenya’s independence.It is also worth noting that this tribe produced and continues to produce a number of scholars and other educated men and women who have attained high levels of education from prominent universities all over the world (Liyong, 1972). Luo profes sionals are present in most parts of Kenyan economy; for instance, they serve in business and government ministries, educational institutions as professors, doctors, engineers and lawyers. Literature Review Communication The Luo community has got three languages.Two of the languages are widely used by all other Kenyan tribes, for instance, English and Kiswahili. English originated from the British colonial era and was declared by Kenyan government as the official language while Kiswahili is the national language (Sinaiko, 1995). The indigenous language of Luo community is referred to as â€Å"Dholuo† which is commonly used at home and in their everyday conversation (Sinaiko, 1995). In their culture, naming of children relate to where they were born, the exact time of day or the day of the week. This also includes the kind of weather at that time (Ocholla, 1980).For instance, the name Akoth (female) or Okoth (male) is given when one is born during a rainy season. In general, t he Luo culture names children on three formats, for instance, a Christian name like Peter or James then a second name like â€Å"Okoth† then a sir name like â€Å"Omondi† (Ocholla, 1980). Nutrition Luo community grows maize (corn), millet and sorghum. It also grows cash crops, for instance, tobacco, coffee, sugarcane and cotton. They also keep animals such as goats, sheep, poultry and cattle, which are later used to settle dowry prizes.Most importantly, fish in Luo culture means a lot; in fact, fishing is a major economic activity in Luo community (Parker, 1989). It is also worth noting that this community’s staple food consists of ugali (kuon) and fish. Ugali is prepared from maize meal mixed with boiled water until it becomes a thick porridge where fish becomes its preferred accompaniment. Additionally, the ugali food can be accompanied by green vegetables, meat or stew. Maize is a common food all over Kenya and most families grow it and sell it for a better i ncome (Parker, 1989).Luo culture abhors foods like rice and mixture of boiled maize and beans (Mboya, 1986). But sometimes, this mixture of boiled maize and beans which they refer to as (nyoyo) is typically consumed when the community members return from a hard day of work in the fields. The nyoyo can also be eaten with tea, porridge or stir fried vegetables (Mboya, 1986). This community likes traditional beer known as busaa which is prepared during special occasions or celebrations. Normally, they mix flour and water and leave it for sometime until it turns sour after which they heat it in a big pot.Men drink from the pot using long pipes while seated and women can join them or have their share on big mugs. They also feed on a mixture of milk and blood from slaughtered animals like cows or sheep. Family Roles and Organizations The Luo culture values family life and especially the gift of children. This culture believes that children belong to the father even in cases where both par ents separate (Mboya, 1986). In most cases, the father is left to take care of the children. The culture also expects men of great wealth to settle for many wives as a sign of social responsibility (Liyong, 1972).This notion is what has led to the issue of wife inheritance which is going to be explored later in this study. Once women get married they live in their husbands’ homesteads. Thereafter, married women are expected to build strong relationships between their family members and those of her husband. It is the women’s responsibility to nurture a warm and mutual relationship among all the in-laws. It is expected that married women will bear children for their husbands’ lineage (Southall, 1952). The more the wife bears more children the more she enhances her influence in the lineage of her husband.These children later take care of their interests. As indicated earlier, men pay the bridal dowry which allows women to maintain ties with their loved ones throug hout their lives (Southall, 1952). Polygamy is also acceptable in the Luo culture so long as traditional practices and regulations are adhered to, for instance, a special recognition of the first wife (Mboya, 1986). Normally, the husband has to separate the wives where the first wife’s house and granary are constructed behind the homestead opposite the main gate (Mboya, 1986).The rest of the wives’ houses and granaries are positioned to the right and left sides from the first wives’ premises and in the order of their marriage (Mboya, 1986). The same case applies to the sons who are given homes adjacent to the main entrance of the compound and in the order of their birth (Southall, 1952). The husband builds himself a house at the center of the compound (Southall, 1952). Luo culture believes that once the dowry has been paid in full and that the spouses have born children, divorce can no longer take place. Even if the two separate they are still considered to be m arried.In case the wife does not bear children, the husband can divorce her or replace her with another wife. The wife receives the blame in cases of infertility. Young girls are expected to help their mothers and their mothers’ co-wives in tilling the land owned by their fathers, brothers and paternal uncles (Ocholla, 1980). It does not matter whether the girl gets to school and attains good education she still has to help in tilling the land. On the other hand, boys and youthful men spend more time with livestock and engage in lots of social labor (Ocholla, 1980). Biocultural EcologyLuo community, just like many other communities in Kenya, consists of black people with strong physical structure. Malaria is considered to be a major killer in Luo culture. Moreover, kwashiorkor which derives from lack of enough proteins in the body, affects most children (Themes in Kenyan History, 1990). Most families do not afford to prepare a balanced diet neither do they have knowledge abou t nutrition and health standards (Themes in Kenyan History, 1990). In villages, preventive medicine is preferred and in fact most communities in the rural settings have clinics with medical workers.The medical workers try the best they can to help the communities maintain good sanitation, nutrition, prenatal care including other practices that can help reduce the risk of diseases (Themes in Kenyan History, 1990). Luo culture faces great challenges from HIV/Aids pandemic which has left many children orphans. Relatives to bereaved children adopt them with the hope that the enormity of HIV crisis will come to an end (IPAR, 2004)). It is however believed that the rate of HIV infection is very high in Luo Culture.Moreover, it suffers from food shortages and records the highest rates of infant mortality in Kenya (IPAR, 2004). It does not have good facilities for clean water supply a situation that has led many residents succumb to water-borne diseases, for instance, typhoid fever, amoebic dysentery and common dysentery including diarrhea (IPAR, 2004). Most girls suffer from teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (IPAR, 2004). High-Risk Behaviors As indicated earlier, Luo culture faces great challenges from HIV infections. This has been attributed to irresponsible sexual behavior among the youths.As such, Luo culture does not value male circumcision instead they remove their young men six front teeth both from the upper jaw and the lower jaw. Unfortunately, this right of passage does not meet dental health standards since it is done manually and in a very rough way (Stein, 1985). Wife inheritance is another strange cultural practice whereby a widow is remarried by the deceased’s brother who must meet all her marital requirements, for instance, conjugal rights. According to Luo culture, adolescent period should prepare a girl for marriage and family life.In the traditional settings, girls obtain tattoos on their backs and having their ears pierce d as well. The unfortunate thing is that the materials used to carry out these practices are never sterilized (Stein, 1985). Girls come together among peer groups where they get to share their sexuality, for instance, discussing boys and their personal attributes. On the same note, older women provide sex education to the teenage girls. Lovers secretly meet near these huts although pregnancy outside marriage is strictly prohibited (Southall, 1952). Fertility and Childbearing PracticesLuo culture discourages people from noting when a woman is pregnant for they believe that it would bring problems and troubles from jealous ancestors (Mboya, 1986). Older women and wives accompany expectant mothers throughout their pregnancy and during nativity. In this community, twins are not received very well. They believe that twins originate from the evil spirits and so they treat such cases with special attention. The twins’ parents are required to assume certain taboos. In order to preven t the calamity that may befall the twins’ parents, the community members engage in obscene dancing as well as using foul language.Only in this way can the burden of giving birth to twins be lifted (Gay, 1981). As mentioned earlier, women receive much of the blame in case of infertility in marriage. This culture believes that infertility is as a result of blasphemy in the ancestral lineage of the woman. They believe that unless the spirits and ancestors intervene, the woman will never give birth (Gay, 1981). As can be seen, it can be argued and justifiably so that control of fertility is attributed to the mercy of the ancestors. In other words, Luo culture believes that fertility is given by the ancestors to the favored ones.In a more traditional setting, incest has been associated with most pregnancy complications. However, the husband including other relatives should make sure that after the woman gives birth they slaughter a goat or sheep for her where she gets to eat it at intervals. This ritual is compulsory and if one fails to honor it either the mother or the child can experience more complications even to the point of dying (Mboya, 1986). Men shouldn’t watch women giving birth unless on serious conditions. They are supposed to be far away from the scene.If a woman gives birth traditionally, she has to sit on a stone with her legs apart where other women support her to give birth. Immediately she gives birth the child is rushed in the hut for other rituals which involve cleaning the umbilical cord and cutting part of it to be buried. This is believed to be a sign of appreciation to the ancestors (Liyong, 1972). Death Rituals It is worth noting that Luo culture performs about fourteen rituals for the dead (Wakana, 1997). Table 1 in appendix A summarizes the rituals from the first step to the last.Whenever a person dies women come out with long, quivering wail which is seconded by sound of drums. Strictly, the death announcement has to take p lace either in the morning or in the evening. Luo culture prohibits death announcement during the day although this varies across persons, age, sex and occupation (Wakana, 1997). If, for instance, a child dies in the morning the announcement follows immediately but in the case of elderly men, women have to wait until sunset to start wailing (Pritchard, 1965). The bereaved family stays throughout in the compound of the deceased until the burial day.Other members of the community gather to console the family (Wakana, 1997). Digging of the grave takes place at round 9 p. m. and goes until 3 to 4 a. m. of the burial day (Millikin, 1906). One or two weeks after the burial cholla begins where several relatives to the deceased take their cattle to his compound at around seven o’clock in the morning. It is however important to note that this ritual is only performed for dead men. The men gather there, kill a cock without using a knife and share its pieces of meat.They then blow horns of buffaloes and rhinoceroses (oporro) and play drums (bul) as well. These men later attract a long procession composed of more men, women and children; it becomes longer and noisier as communities sing and play the instruments even louder (Milikin, 1906). Spirituality It is believed that Christianity has penetrated the lives of Luo community hence changing some of their traditional religious beliefs. However, a greater part of Luo culture still engages in traditional rituals (Ocholla, 1980). The new Christian movements in this community are Catholicism and Protestantism.Despite their Christian beliefs, they still belief in the intercession of their ancestors in their lives (Ocholla, 1980). Traditionally, it is believed that the ancestors reside in the sky or underground and their souls undergo transmigration either through animals or new born babies (Themes in History, 1990). In actual fact, they carry out ceremonies whenever naming of a child takes place to determine if a particu lar spirit has been reincarnated (Themes in History, 1990). Additionally, it is believed that the ancestral spirits communicate with the living in their dreams (Ocholla, 1980).Luo Culture believes that failure to remember or respect the spirits may have adverse effects in their community (Sinaiko, 1995). It is worth noting that they refer to spirits as jouk which means â€Å"shadow† and they refer to God as Nyasaye which translates as â€Å"he who is begged† and also Were which translates as â€Å"certain to grant requests† (Sinaiko, 1995). Ancestral worship plays a predominant role in their traditional religion. Ancestral spirits are believed to be actively involved in the world. This strong belief is very evident in the belief system of many Luos (Sinaiko, 1995).Health Care Practices It is unfortunate to remark that Luo culture does not have elements that can promote community health. In other words, it is not a culture that motivates the Luo people to maintai n healthy standards. Most of the beliefs and practices are geared towards appeasing the ancestors and thus forget the well being of the entire community at present. This is why this culture cannot be regarded as a past or present oriented culture because many of its emphases lay on their destiny (Isak, 1972). Even in matters regarding health, they call upon their ancestors to intervene.It is also important to note that they believe that being healthy is a favor from their forefathers and being unhealthy is a curse from the same forefathers. It becomes complicated to guide them through a causal health understanding of their diseases. Inasmuch as healthcare practitioners would want to address the why of their health issues the big challenge would be to convince them out of their traditionally held beliefs. The elders who serve as traditional doctors are revered by this community and they rely on their guidance in curing certain diseases (Southall, 1952).However, with the HIV endemic t hat has swept away many families leaving most children orphans, has led Luo culture to seek other better ways to deal with their health issues. Obviously, given that HIV/Aids has no cure they started realizing that traditional practices cannot address the problem (IPAR, 2004). Although their folklore practices do not directly address health issues, they got some moral stories that can be useful in giving care to the sick. For instance, among the commonly told story is refereed to as â€Å"Opondo’s Children† which talks of a man who gave birth to monitor lizards instead of human babies (Mboya, 1986).With time, the parents decided to throw them away due to their inhuman conditions. One day, they decided to retain one of their babies who at the age of adolescence loved to bathe in the riverside. In the process of swimming the child turned into a fully functioning human being. Passers by noticed and ran back to the village with this news which pleased the community members . The child was accepted in the community and received a lot of love and support. From this story, Luo culture believes that they have a duty towards the sick especially the physically handicapped (Mboya, 1986).Client Interview Data This section discusses some of the findings established during the interview process. The participant is a Kenyan citizen and from a Luo culture. The impressive thing in this study is that much of the ideas established in the literature review were re-affirmed during the entire interview process. However, the interviewee was assertive that Luo culture has changed tremendously and that Luo people are becoming more scientific in their thinking. Communication According to the interviewee, communication in Luo culture just requires respect and clarity.In general, young ones should not scold their parents and the same case applies to husbands in respect to their wives. However, this study leant that Luo culture prohibits pointing another person using an index finger; to them it means fate to the pointed person. He confirmed that Luo culture has become an interactive one where people can share their feelings with one another. It had been mentioned that men could not interact with women or children could not interact with their elders, today things have changed. The format for giving names is still evident where children are given names according to seasons, events or calamities.Nutrition This study learnt that Luo culture will never have other preferred staple foods apart from fish and ugali. The interviewee confirmed that this is not only a matter of culture but it is also because of the meaning of such food to their lives. He believes that Luo has many intelligent people â€Å"genius† because of feeding on fish. Moreover, they are healthy and strong because of combining fish with ugali which is actually a carbohydrate. Family Roles & Organizations The interviewee remarked as follows, â€Å"if there is anything that Luo culture has failed in, it is its perception on family†.This study learnt that modern Luo families want to treat their family matters as personal. In fact, most families have begun migrating to urban places just to experience peace and autonomy. However, the interviewee remarked that most parents still uphold cultural values meant to discipline their children. In other words, most families still hold to those traditional ways of bringing up their children. Husbands still remain the heads of their families and with the duty of educating their children. But all the same, wives are supposed to help financially especially if the spouses are both working. Workforce IssuesThe interviewee remarked that Luo culture has evolved where traditional practices have become a collective responsibility. Today, men and women can go fishing and even engage in its selling. Moreover, all genders have become professionals in different fields. High Risk Behaviours Indeed, the interviewee confirmed that Luo c ulture still engages in high risk behaviors which in the interviewee’s opinion are backward. First he sighted the â€Å"wife inheritance issue†; here he said that most women or men contract HIV Virus due to this practice. He said the following, â€Å"I still do not understand why Luo culture has to push for wife inheritance.Somebody dies of HIV/aids and the community very well knows about it, but the brother to the deceased goes ahead to have intercourse with the woman. † He also said, â€Å"This does not apply only to HIV/Aids only but it also extends to other diseases like diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, and meningitis†. This study learnt that there are women who get re-married to their in-laws who have terminal illness hence affecting their health both physically and psychologically. This study also learns that Luo culture still faces serious problems with HIV/Aids due to unsafe sex among the youths and commercial sex workers where most of them are young g irls.The interviewee had this to say, â€Å"Sex is deeply entrenched in the Luo culture such that it cannot be comprehended in isolation†; he also said â€Å"females who are poor resort to sexually irresponsible behavior just to get money which is not even more than five dollars. † The interviewee also mentioned the issue of polygamous marriages where men engage sexually with many women hence contracting serious sexual transmitted diseases. This study also learnt that consumption of illicit brews and drugs and the growing establishments of entertainment houses have left many youths with poor health conditions hence dying at a very young age.As mentioned earlier, female genital mutilation and removal of teeth poses great risks. The interviewee had this to say: â€Å"these practices are very risky since they are carried out under unhygienic conditions and even the equipment used is never sterilized. This is why they keep on contracting germs and HIV virus†. Pregna ncy and Childbearing Practices The interviewee believes that causes of teenage pregnancies are as a result of ignorance on the side of the girls. According to him, most girls do not know how to go about their productive life.But, he was very happy to remark that nowadays women give birth in the hospitals and rarely will women give birth in traditional settings. There are no taboos associated with marriage in the Luo culture today, only that the husband should take very good care of the wife. He also remarked that among the most improved health practices among Luo women is care for the mother before and after birth. Apart from traditional food, anything to do with the medication of the mother and the child is as prescribed by a qualified doctor. Health Care Practices & PractitionersThe interviewee was very optimistic that in few years to come Luo culture will have the best medical practitioners ever. According to him, most Luo men and women have undertaken courses in medicine and oth er health care modules. â€Å"Today, Luo culture has evolved from a culture of traditional doctors to a culture of serious surgeons, physicians and mid-wives†. He informed this study that traditional medicine men cannot carry out any practices on complicated issues like pregnancy, eye-problems, heart failure, diabetes et cetera. They instead encourage the patient to seek professional help from a hospital.They only get involved in the treatment of minor illnesses like cold, flu, chicken pox, normal diarrhea, sore throats just to mention a few. Here, they prepare medicine from traditional herbs from different plants. Moreover, they make medicine for children using fat substances from the fish products. In fact, the interviewee remarked that Kenya’s medical sector borrowed from the Luo traditional doctors how to prepare medicine to prevent children from coughing. The medicine is popularly known as â€Å"cough syrup† which is a by product of fish in Luo culture. Res earch QuestionsThe research method selected for this proposed research study follows a qualitative approach. The qualitative method will be implemented because it follows the approach that allows for the collection and analysis of data that could not described through a quantitative approach. This approach is descriptive and inquisitive in nature, which is selected because of its relevance to the type of data collected and because of the purpose of the study. Contrary to the quantitative research method, participants from this study will be encouraged to use their personal experiences to interpret and answer interview questions.Their demographic background will also be significantly considered for the interpretation of the test answers (Leed & Omrod, 2005). Any form of quantifiable data that can be found in this study, will be analyzed according to descriptive statistics. Alise (2008) pointed out that under the qualitative research method, there is an interaction between the researc her and the participants. The following are the research questions: 1) To what extent does Luo culture hinder effective health safety measures? 2) How does Luo culture affect health care practitioners? Is there any competition between healthcare practitioners and traditional doctors?Recommendations for Research Based on the findings of this study, it further recommends that: a) There be an empirical investigation carried out in this community in order to ascertain the findings of this research b) Health agencies to study this culture more closely in order to help it improve on community health c) To explore other cultures in Kenya that might be having similar challenges Applications to Practice In order to carry out ethnographic fieldwork among Luo Community and generate information based on qualitative analysis, it would be beneficial to learn more from medical anthropologists and professors.Moreover, there should be more research from the libraries to gain more insight on Luo cult ure and to familiarize more on the best methods to gather and record information. Medical volunteers are traveling to work with the Luo community to cooperate with the traditional healers and record their conversations about herbs. They should make sure there is an interpreter available. The team can take pictures and identify herb clippings for their easier recognition. The volunteers can carry out prior research to compare with the current clinical use of the herbs and their dosages.Summary/Conclusion This study has established that Luo culture has got three languages namely: English, Kiswahili and Dholuo. However, Dholuo is commonly used. Luo culture gives names according to seasons, events, calamities or time. Luo are mixed farmers since they grow crops and keep animals at the same time. Luo culture values ugali and fish which serve as their staple food. Marriage is regarded in high esteem and especially when children come by. Children remain with the father even in cases of sep aration or divorce for that matter. Luo community constitutes of black people.Among the most common diseases affecting this community are malaria, malnutrition, kwashiorkor, typhoid, amoeba and HIV/Aids. The high risk behaviors include removal of teeth, tattoos, genital mutilation and other rights of passage that use non-sterilized equipment. Luo culture has got fourteen death rituals although their applications vary from age, sex, or occupation of the deceased. Moreover, this culture does not promote community health per se. Traditional doctors have an influential role although they recognize the role of professional medical practitioners.The folklore activities provide wonderful moral stories that encourage the community to take care of the sick and especially the physically handicapped. The client interview data strongly brings out Luo community as a changing culture, and in deed, for the better. However, the high risk behaviors still pose a great challenge to the health well bei ng of its members. References Alise, M. (2008). Disciplinary differences in preferred research methods: A comparison of groups in the Biglan Classification Scheme. Retrieved from North Central University website: http://learners. ncu. edu/library/ncu_diss/default.aspx. Pritchard, E. E. 1965 (1949). Luo tribes and clans. In (E. E. Evans-Pritchard, ed. ) The Position of Women in Primitive Societies and Other Essays in Social Anthropology, pp. 205-227. Faber and Faber Ltd. , London. Gay, D. (1981). Modern Kenya. New York: Longman Isak, D. (1972) Out of Africa. New York: Random House Institute of Policy Analysis & Research (IPAR), (2004). HIV/Aids Scourge in Nyanza Province: Poverty, Culture and Behavior Change. Journal of African Medical Care, Vol. 10, Issue 11. Kenya in Pictures, (1988). Minneapolis, Minn. : Lerner Publications Co. Leed, P. D. and Ormrod, J. E. (2005).Practical Research: Planning and Design (8th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Liyong, T. (1972). Popular Culture of East Africa. London Mboya, P. (1986) (unpublished). Luo Customs and Beliefs. , translated by Jane Achieng (1938, Luo Kitgi gi Timbegi). Millikin, A. S. (1906). Burial customs of the Wa-Kavirondo of the Kisumu Province. Man, 6 (35): 54-55. Ocholla-Ayayo, A. B. C. (1980). The Luo Culture: A Reconstruction of a Traditional African Society Ochieng, E. (2009). History of Luo Culture. Journal of Kenya’s Heritage, vol. 2 (22-45) Parker, S. (1989). Bitter Money: Cultural Economy and Some African Meanings ofForbidden Commodities. American Ethnological Society Monograph Series, no. 1. Washington, D. C Sinaiko, L. (1995). Holidays of the World Cookbook for Students. Phoenix, Ariz. : Oryx Stein, R. (1985). Kenya. Chicago: Children's Press Southall, A. (1952). Lineage Formation among the Luo. Memorandum of International African Institute, No. 26. Oxford University Press, London. Themes in Kenyan History (1990). Athens: Ohio University Press Wakana SHIINO, (1997). Death Rituals in Luo N yanza. Journal of Africa Study Monographs, 18 (3, 4) 213-228, Department of Social Anthropology, Tokyo Metropolitan University,

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Assignment On British Petroleum

Assignment On British Petroleum This Paper will concentrate on the organisation known as British oil typically referred to as British petroleum. This reason for this paper would be to examine and evaluate and analyse the present proper position of British petroleum inside the industry also once we proceed further we shall also consider the environment analysis, structural determinants from the concentration of your competition, structural analysis and competitive means of British petroleum, The entire paper continues to be split into three parts, simply one we consider the general analytical techniques like SWOT, PESTEL, suggested by M.E porter , latter simply two British petroleum is going to be analysed within the light of ansoff matrix and BCG matrix, and also the porters five forces, the ultimate part includes suggestions regarding the above mentioned analysis Introduction :- â€Å"BP is among the world’s leading worldwide gas and oil companies, supplying its clients with fuel for transportation, energ y for warmth and lightweight, retail services and petrochemicals items for everyday items† http://world wide web.british petroleum.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=3&contentId=2006926 British oil well referred to as British petroleum is world’s major gas and oil company, it is among the the world third biggest company (source Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British petroleum) it’s well know brand worldwide, as well as in business realm it’s much referred to as a corporation that has been positively taking part in vertical integration approach in each and every section of fuel industry, which includes excavation of oil and extraction and production refining distribution energy generation and buying and selling, lately British petroleum continues to be positively including in the introduction of alternative energy assets because it is thought through the finish of the century all of the mobile phone industry’s reserves of conservative f uel deposits will vanish, however British petroleum has its own operation going through in 80 different nations and created roughly 4 million barrels of oil, Bp’s biggest maket share is within u . s . states mind quarted in Houston, the organization continues to be alleged for that threat of environment and safety concern following a recent spill in gulf, British petroleum may be the first company to understand the the long run interest in energy is anticipated to improve by 50% with within the next 2 decades as well as on the British petroleum website it’s mentioned the 85% from the energy demands is going to be met through the non-renewable fuels Medicare Part A:- British petroleum SWOT ANALYSIS: Talents: BP’s History/brand:- British petroleum Among the mobile phone industry’s well know brand that has been operating in the industry forever from the 1800s but formally referred to as Anglo- Iranian oil company , its history itself dictates its stability w ith in the industry, it includes a strong holds within the u . s . states market among the biggest consumer of gas and oil on the planet also Bigger producer within the Gulf:- As British petroleum is has its own strong root hold within the American market the organization features its own refining market and distribution channels thus it features a unique and formidable infrastructure, with the network of their subsidiaries making rivals daunting

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

A reflection on the summer religious course Essay

A reflection on the summer religious course - Essay Example In spite of the fact that the Bible, as well as the works of the saints, was used, this course tries to be objective in order to make sure the students are able to make their decision according to their own views and not some framework that is being forced upon them. That is why this material may be interesting for those who are religious and not religious at all. Why is the course important? There are several reasons why this course is important. First of all, it provides students with a rather in-depth analysis of various texts that they would hardly be able to do. In other words, it shows the level of precision that is rarely achieved by a student while examining various materials that are connected to religion. Furthermore, it allows the students to see who the famous verses from the Old or the New Testament may be interpreted in order to get the correct meaning of them. This, in turn, teaches them to understand the texts of the religious right and develop the require objectivity of their opinion. The next reason why the course in question is important lies in the fact that it offers the different perspective on the same subject. Though Christian sacred texts are used, the course does not take a particular side in the discussion. In other words, it objectively provides the students with the information that can be later used to form their own judgments. Given the precision of the course in question as well as the abundance of the details, it surely should be recommended to the students.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

International Business in the Emerging Markets Essay

International Business in the Emerging Markets - Essay Example The magnitude of this flow of capital is momentous, and although there are well-defined reasons for this trend it has caught many by surprise.† The increase in FDI investment has mostly been in East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, regions of Europe, and Central Asia. This means Africa and other parts of the world did not receive much in terms of FDI. The effect this has on the poorer nation is that it keeps their currency low and the amount of available jobs are low as well as the economy being flat. The effect on the countries that receive investments are a higher foreign exchange reserve, more jobs, and a higher GDP. (2) China’s energy policy and its impact on developing countries in Africa and Asia. China is now the greatest energy consuming country in the world, surpassing the US based on the IEA (International Energy Agency) findings. Although Chinese officials dispute that the country is responsible for 2.25 billion tons of energy consumption , the country did admit to stockpiling oil when there is a lull in purchasing. China is also the leading gas emitter so it makes sense that China would be the largest consumer of energy. Also China spends the most amount of money on green technology. China has such a desire to dominate the oil market that is has gone against sanctions in order to invest in Iran. This means that not only are the Chinese going against what the world is trying to accomplish but also are strengthening the Iranian mindset of misinformation. Due to the fact that Chinese officials focus on controlling demand of gas by emphasizing price impacts the developing countries like Africa and Asia because the prices in these two countries are much higher than what would be in China. Why? Well first of all purchasing from Iran would lower prices but also being a major buyer in the market can allow for more pressure on the market. In Africa there is little pressure on the market for energy and Asia outside of China's consumption has a much lower energy demand. By cornering the market with the U.S, China is essentially decreasing the likelihood that Asia and Africa will ever be able to afford the energy costs. Even if these countries can afford it, are the citizens willing to pay for this consistently, or will they tire of high energy prices? The effect on Africa and some parts of Asia will be a lack of the supply of energy and therefore power outages, inability to drive cars, and issues of this nature. As a NY Times article states: â€Å"Power blackouts — â€Å"load shedding,† in utility jargon — are hardly novel in sub-Saharan Africa, where many electricity grids remain chewing-gum-and-baling-wire affairs. Even so, this year is different. Perhaps 25 of the 44 sub-Saharan nations face crippling electricity shortages, a power crisis that some experts call unprecedented. The causes are manifold: strong economic growth in some places, economic collapse in others, war, poor pl anning, population booms, high oil prices and drought have combined to leave both industry and residents short of power when many need it most.† These outages can be crippling for small businesses such as farms, and production companies. Factories would have to build another day and the company loses because they are unable to meet their obligations. (3) The drivers of globalization amid the current financial crisis. Before we can talk about globalization we must

Monday, August 26, 2019

Blow the Whistle Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Blow the Whistle - Case Study Example ii. The employee of Manly Construction Company should be aware that their life is more important than the job opportunity they have. Therefore, they should make hast quit if their health/welfare related grievances cannot be addressed by the company.ii. The employee of Manly Construction Company should be aware that their life is more important than the job opportunity they have. Therefore, they should make hast quit if their health/welfare related grievances cannot be addressed by the company.iii. Even if not disturbed, the cyclic circulation of air is able to blow up certain fibers into the air and still be breathed in by the surrounding individuals.iv. The President is an escapist when he does a memo instructing people not to disturb (move) any boxes or perform any activities that could damage the asbestos or release fibers into the air yet there was still impacts felt.   The wrongs are misleading pieces of information relayed to the people. In this case: i. Employees of Manly Construction Company are threatened with losing their job positions by the management should any information about the existence of this hazardous asbestos be released to the public for any mater. The employees should be offered with suitable work environments for effectiveness.Besides, no threats should be issued to any employees who are seeking his or her rights within the work area.This is considered unethical because it is a command that kills. All those who shall have reported as stipulated in the memo, though their workplaces are proved dangerous, will be risking contracting cancer of the lungs. Conflict  is a state of disharmony that may be between incompatible or opposing persons, ideas, or interests in a particular issue or topic.Blow the whistle case study revealed a number of conflicting issues that had little or no practicality in them. Among the ideologies, instructions, words and statements identified as contradicting in the concept of ethical expectations include:  i. While the President’s memo denotes the risks of disturbing any boxes by moving or performing any activities that could damage the asbestos or release fibers into the air,   the county gives Manly Construction Company up to a period of seventeen days to clean up the fallen asbestos fibers in the vaults.

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Paraphrase - Essay Example According to Gorbett and Pharr, flash point is defined as the â€Å"minimum temperature of a liquid at which sufficient vapor is given off to form an ignitable mixture with the air, near the surface of the liquid or within the visual used, as determined by the appropriate test procedure and apparatus† (2011, p.g., 310). In addition to this definition, NFPA classifications state that lamp oil, which is used for this experiment, is combustible and flash point will occur at temperature higher than 100 degrees F. To reach this point, the temperature of the flame needs to increase at a minimum of 5 degrees every minute. With these objectives in mind, the experiment was completed to determine the exact temperature when flash point would occur with lamp oil. Within this experiment, there were particular factors that were essential variables to completing this process. These pieces include the actual experiment ingredients as well as personal protective equipment or PPE. The necessary components of this experiment include the following: With the purpose and components of the closed cup flash point experiment established, this analysis can now provide the steps followed to garner the determined results in this process. The experiment was completed in the listed steps: This closed cup flash point experiment with lamp oil was completed by testing temperatures of flame beginning at 82 degrees F and ending at 167 degrees, which was the temperature when the oil finally did reach flash point. Before analyzing the results of the experiment, it is important to highlight that, as with nearly any scientific experiment, there was a potential for human error. In the context of this experiment, the human error could have occurred in the step which required the flame to increase by 5 degrees F each minute the lamp oil was being tested to determine flash point. Aside from this potential degree of human error, the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

How Symbolism art influenced on Debussy's music Essay

How Symbolism art influenced on Debussy's music - Essay Example Having had a number of romantic affairs which caused turbulence in his life reflected upon his creations and further dissatisfactions with original style led Debussy to adapt ‘symbolism’ or that which pertains to transitional period between late-Romantic and modernist music of the 20th century. Apparently, symbolism is not only confined to the definition of musical style, rather a movement which brought immense inspiration for Debussy to modify his compositions according to a ‘symbolist’ principle. In effect, symbolism became a culture that emerged for him to have profound involvement with and his choices of ‘libretti’ texts and themes had been derived almost exclusively from the symbolist canon. Among the distinguished artists of the period who bore ample aesthetic impact on Debussy’s masterpieces were Edgar Allan Poe, Stephane Mallarme, and James McNeill Whistler. Through them, Debussy managed to effectively utilized dissonant harmonies to evoke specific moods and images such as in the manner he composed the world-renowned ‘Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune’ which was chiefly inspired by Mallarme’s poem ‘Afternoon of a Faun’.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Prototyping Article Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prototyping Article - Research Paper Example This is followed by creating the system components using the five elements of IS – data, hardware, software, people, and procedures. Once the system components are created the next phase involves implementation of the business process. This is followed by the assessment of results and corelating the outcomes to defined goals and objectives. The people in charge of creating the business process evaluates the system efficacy and the extent to which it meets the pre-defined goals. BPM is basically a management approach designed to meet the evolving needs of the organization and help it re-model the business processes for greater effectiveness. BPM may be functional (focusing on a single business process), cross functional (integrating the functions of two or more departments to create a value chain) or inter-organizational (collaborating business processes of one company with another). Examples of such activities include human resource department, customer relationship management (CRM), and supply chain management (SCM). Discuss some of the key aspects to developing successful process and systems development projects. Managing and developing successful process and systems development projects is a challenging task. ... ence, the entire project must be divided into smaller tasks each of which have distinct deliverables and time schedules defined to ensure effective outcomes. The second factor is estimating the exact time and costs that will be incurred at each stage of the project execution. This helps the management in identifying key resources, approximate time required for development and the cost of the entire project. The third requirement is creating the project plan that helps in defining task dependencies and guides the management in ensuring timely completion of projects and smooth execution of the plan. Adjusting the project completion schedule or cost estimates to client requirements is yet another aspect that needs attention. Clients can trade off with system developers by balancing the three vital requirements of any project – resources, time and cost. This can help reduce time and cost estimates for any project to suit client requirements. The final aspect is actual development phase where there is lot of scope for things going wrong. Managing development challenges is the final requirement to ensure successful process and systems development projects. Prototyping Article Review The article Prototyping is the Shorthand of Design by Tom Kelly (2001), the General Manager at IDEO provides an interesting and self-explanatory analysis of how and what is prototyping. A search on the google for articles on prototyping provided me with this interesting read. It provides the readers with some simple illustrations on the practical applications of prototyping and how it can contribute to developing successful designs and ideas. The article explains the concept of prototyping through practical applications in real life scenarios. What is most interesting about the article is its

Friday, August 23, 2019

Business Forecasting and Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Forecasting and Data Analysis - Essay Example For the chart above, in order to improve the chart’s usefulness, the firms included in the graph are those with total weekly labor hours below 100,000. The few firms (approximately 10) which had total labor hours at more than 100,000 were not included. The graph shows that there is no systematic change in overall management score based on total labor hours. To determine if variations one variable changes in tandem with another variable, the correlation may be used. In this case, SPSS was used to determine Pearson correlation; a correlation statistic of higher than 0.50 is considered moderately strong, and the closer the coefficient is to 1.0, the stronger the correlation. For all three instances above, correlation coefficients are weak because none of them exceeded 0.50 nor approached the maximum of 1.0. In all cases, however, results are significant at the 0.01 level. This means that while the correlations of all three variables with management score are significant, the variations attributed to them are not very large. In conducting the regression analysis, the intention is to predict the value of a dependent variable if the values of predictor variables are known. The problem given seeks to determine whether or not variations in total sales among firms may be determined based on firm ownership, assets, management score, and weekly labor hours. Because there are four predictor variables, multivariate regression will be used. The assumptions on which the regression is based are that the variables are normally distributed and that there is a linear relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The model summary table below shows that the model has an R-value (representing simple correlation) of 0.914, indicating a high degree of correlation.  

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Tesco Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Tesco Case Analysis Essay The rise of Tesco, from a mediocre supermarket company into an outstanding, world-class, multi-faceted organization, has been a remarkable one. Since 1929, when Jack Cohen opened the 1st Tesco store, the company has seen tremendous growth and success. Customer centric approach, which has been adopted by the company since its very inception, along with strategic vision and innovation under the leadership of CEO Terry Leahy has been some of the underlying factors of Tesco’s sustained success. Leahy was the architect of the idea â€Å"The Tesco Way†, which included the company’s core values, principals and goals among other things and which aimed to establish Tesco as a â€Å"Value retailer†. Right from the concept of store formats to the investment in information technology to the diversification of products and services, Leahy emphasized on innovation in all aspects of business. The Tesco Clubcard, which was first launched in 1995 to analyze consumer purchase data and target appropriate promotional offers, increased customer loyalty by leaps and bounds. Tesco created different formats of stores to cater to the different segments and different needs of its customers. Tesco’s strategy to gain international presence through expansion has been one of the cornerstones of their success. The company expanded in countries of Eastern European and in emerging economies of Asia and in all these countries it aimed for market leadership ahead of profitability and based their strategy into such distinct elements which led to sustained growth. Being flexible and unique to each market, acting local, maintaining focus, using multiple formats, developing capabilities and building brands were some of the strategies used to form a long lasting relationship with customers. The fact that Tesco strategically added new products and services in its portfolio worked to its advantage. In addition to its popular in store food and beverage selection, Tesco diversified into financial services, telecommunication services and travel services. The launch of Tesco’s online grocery store made the company, Britain’s largest online store. So to summarize strategic vision, innovation and lasting customer relationship has helped Tesco to become the most dominant UK retailer and the third largest retailer in the world. Tesco had all the technical know-how, expertise and experience needed to succeed in US retail market. The strategy the company adopted while expanding in international markets is very much applicable to the US retail market as well. Tesco’s policies of acting local and catering to local customers and cultures along with leveraging the brand value of the company to attract customers are of prime importance if it has to succeed in US. Tesco’s decision to enter the U.S. market as Fresh and Easy was very feasible and based on sound theory, research, and projections. However, the company’s expectations did not translate into similar performance. Based on prior research, the company had identified a geographic niche market in California, Arizona, and Nevada where there was no dominant player. Tesco had even sent employees to live with 50 families and conducted 200 focus groups at one of the company’s facilities. Despite prior unsuccessful attempts by other British companies to enter the U.S. market, Tesco presented a compelling case regarding its ability to penetrate the U.S. market in California, Arizona and Nevada. Overall, Tesco did not enjoy the success it had anticipated because it did not account for cultural and perceptual differences between the U.S and Europe. Although Fresh and Easy was right to include a higher percentage of produce in its stores, many other strategies found in Exhibit 12 from the case, likely prevented additional sales and growth. For example, presenting a merchandise mix comprised largely of store-label brands combined with an everyday low pricing strategy likely caused American consumers to perceive Fresh and Easy as lower in quality and overall value. The consumer could go to a competitor and purchase a more familiar name brand on-sale from a larger selection of items. Other strategies for which success did not translate from the U.K. to the U.S. were the overnight inventory stocking plan and the carrying of fewer items than traditional grocery stores. As seen in Exhibit 12 from the case, typical American consumers make fewer visits to the grocery store per year than do their counterparts in the U.K and Europe. If an item is out-of-stock one day, the American consumer is much more likely to visit a competitor than come back the next morning as is customary in the U.K. Fresh and Easy’s value proposition was the sale of fresh, healthy food that the majority of people could afford and catering to an â€Å"increasing consumer interest in wellness, in health-conscious food choices and a continuing trend towards on-the-go consumption.† Also of value was the feel of a â€Å"neighborhood market† where customer service was superior and employees genuinely enjoyed their work. These elements are very appealing to consumers in Arizona, Nevada, and especially California, where healthy, green living is a growing trend and the average commute time spent in a car is much greater than in other parts of the country. The move to open stores in the United States was a promising plan on paper. Tesco also had the financial resources to build a successful operation in their new target market. Their actual performance, however, either fell below the expected performance or was of negative value in almost every metric (Exhibit 1). The main areas in which Tesco’s financial performance were evaluated were number of new stores opened, revenue, and profitability. The number of Fresh and Easy stores opened in the US was 145 at the end of 2010. The expectation was to open 200 stores by February 2009. Fresh and Easy had only generated $30 million in targeted sales versus the expected $100 million in the spring of 2008. In the year 2008, Fresh and Easy had a loss of  £62 million and it yielded a profit margin of -308%. Even though the profit margin increased the following years, 2009 and 2010, it was still a negative profit margin. The cause of Fresh and Easy’s poor financial performance had to do with a slow growth of the operation. An operation is only able to grow from the sales that it generates, especially in the introductory phase. The only way that Fresh and Easy would be able to meet its objective of opening 200 new stores by February 2009 would be to have almost all stores in the existing operation be profitable. This was not the case as profit margin was -308% in 2008. Fresh and Easy also faced high fixed costs by maintaining their distribution center, which has the capacity to service 500 stores. This resulted in excess capacity. The cause of their poor sales numbers was the fact that they were pricing too low. The average Fresh and Easy customer spends only $15 per visit versus $41 for the customer of an average supermarket. To be profitable, Fresh and Easy stores need to get at least three times the volume of an average supermarket. Both of these factors were drivers for Fresh and Easy’s negative profit margin in all three years of its operation in the United States. We have identified some of the causes that Tesco could control regarding its financial performance. They began their operation, however, in the midst of an economic recession. There is no doubt that any economic recession would decrease overall demand. Food items, however, are a necessity regardless of the economic state of the nation. Tesco should have been more proactive during these times by expanding store locations and being more accessible to consumers. The lease costs and new store construction tend to be lower during these periods of economic hardship. More Fresh and Easy locations would result in increased accessibility and ultimately more sales. Their low prices during times of economic hardship would drive more customers into Fresh and Easy locations as they would stray away from their pricier existing supermarket and perceived quality becomes slightly less of an issue. Tesco has a great product line with the Fresh Easy chain opening in the US. This chain caters to the healthy food trend emerging in the US and is in direct competition to Whole Foods, the more expensive alternative. Perception is reality. To the consumer, Fresh Easy has not lived up to its name. Tesco should make the stores â€Å"greener† so that the look of the stores’ interior matches the brand image. Consumers who purchase healthy organic food want to feel like they are shopping in an environmentally conscious store. In addition, Fresh Easy offers a limited assortment of goods that are unfamiliar with US consumers. In exhibit 12 from the case, data shows that consumers visit Fresh Easy stores less frequently than its competitors. This is because competitors have weekly sales on familiar brands that US consumers want. Fresh Easy should stock familiar brands to get US consumers in the door. Once the consumer is in the Fresh Easy store, free samples and direct price comparison with well-known US brands should give Fresh Easy brands an advantage.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Erich Maria Remarque and the Nature of War Essay Example for Free

Erich Maria Remarque and the Nature of War Essay Unlike truly historical works emphasizing the human side of war, for example, Cornelius Ryan’s The Longest Day or A Bridge Too Far, in which the author provides highly detailed accounts of historical events through the eyes of participants leading to an objective treatment and analysis of those events, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a novelization of the experience of German soldiers in World War I. Remarque thus follows a literary line which includes William Shakespeare’s Henry V, Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace and extends through cinematic efforts such as â€Å"The Big Red One† and â€Å"The Hurt Locker†, which utilize historical context in order to examine the transformative nature of war on those most intimately involved. Each work examines a central theme, e.g., patriotism, cowardice, social change, brotherhood, etc., interwoven with and supported by details of various wars. The particular details chosen by the authors, with the possible exception of Tolstoy who seemingly left nothing out of his opus, are those lending support to that central theme. Thus, to understand the process used by Remarque in making his choice of which details of World War I to include in All Quiet on the Western Front, one must first ascertain his thesis and its origin. Referring to the biographical notes following the novel, we learn that Remarque â€Å"was himself in combat during World War I, and was wounded five times, the last time very severely (Remarque, 1928, p. 297).† That during the time of his service Remarque was near the age of his protagonist, Paul Baumer, suggests an autobiographical nature to the novel and lends credence to the story that no second hand account could provide. Yet Remarque does not take the opportunity to provide closure to his experience or to provide a set of objective conclusions to the war. Drawing again from the biographical notes, Remarque possessed â€Å"intense determination to concentrate in his fiction upon the worst horrors of the age, war and inhumanity (Remarque, 1928, p. 297)†. Three major themes can be found within All Quiet on the Western Front combining to support Remarque’s ideology – the legitimacy of statehood, the futility of war, and the dehumanizing effects of war. Given his experiences and his viewpoint, what details did Remarque expound upon and to what purpose? In a discussion  among the soldiers as to the origins of the war, they openly question the authority by which war was declared. When Tjaden asks how wars begin, Albert answers, â€Å"Mostly by one country badly offending another (Remarque, 1928, p. 205).† Yet it is this notion of country which perplexes the most. In Europe’s past, wars were fought over disputes between smaller nation states by order and to the benefit of local rulers. This was clearly not the case in World War I, a fact not lost on the soldiers: â€Å"But what I would like to know,† says Albert, â€Å"is whether there would have been a war if the Kaiser had said No.† â€Å"I’m sure there would,† I (Paul) interject, â€Å"he was against it from the first (Remarque, 1928, p. 203).† What the soldiers had not yet come to terms with was the rampant nationalism that had swept Europe. Rising from the Industrial Revolution, nurtured by the Atlantic revolutions, and spurred by the globalization of trade, Europeans of smaller states set aside their notions of subjects under a common ruling dynasty to a sense of unity among peoples bound by blood, customs and culture. â€Å"All of this encouraged political and cultural leaders to articulate an appealing of their particular nations and ensured a growing circle of people receptive to such ideas. Thus the idea of â€Å"nation† was constructed or even invented, but it was often presented as an awakening of older linguistic or cultural identities (Strayer, 2011, p. 797).† Such were the notions the young schoolboys received from their schoolmaster Kantorek who spoke of country and honor before shepherding them to their enlistment. Yet, when those identities failed to adequately address the cultures affected, as in Austria-Hungary, nationalism failed to suppress dissent. With the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, by a Serbian nationalist, the system of rigid alliances established among the emerging nations plunged the world into war (Strayer, 2011, p. 979). After further reflection, the soldiers began to understand how they came to be in a war whose causes could not be satisfactorily explained by patriotism alone: â€Å"State and home-country, there’s a big difference.† (Kat) â€Å"But they go together,† insists Kropp, â€Å"Without the State there wouldn’t be a home country (Remarque, 1928, p. 205).† Remarque addresses the futility of war in various ways. He describes the effects of the material  advantages of the Allies throughout the war, particularly following the entrance of American forces, foretelling defeat for Germany in a war of attrition: â€Å"Our lines are falling back. There are too many fresh English and American regiments over there. There’s too much corned beef and white wheaten bread. There are too many new guns. Too many aeroplanes. But we are emaciated and starved. Our food is bad and mixed with so much substitute stuff it makes us ill†¦..Our artillery is fired out, it has too few shells and the barrels are so worn that they shoot uncertainly and scatter so widely as even to fall on ourselves (Remarque, 1928, p. 280).† Most tellingly, Remarque condemns the madness of trench warfare which â€Å"resulted in enormous casualties while gaining or losing only a few yards of muddy, blood-soaked ground (Strayer, 2011, p. 982).† Paul’s Company engages in a protracted, vicious trench battle in Chapter Six in which they are first driven back in retreat, regain the lost ground after an hour to eat, and push forward into the French trenches before realizing their new position is untenable. â€Å"The fight ceases. We lose touch with the enemy. We cannot stay here long but must retire under cover of our artillery to our own position (Remarque, 1928, p. 117).† In the end, it was everything ventured, nothing gained. The senseless loss of life on both sides and the indifference to the carnage is highlighted in his description of the battlefield itself. â€Å"The days are hot and the dead lie unburied. We cannot fetch them all in, if we did we should not know what to do with them. The shells wil l bury them (Remarque, 1928, pp. 125-126).† Lastly, Remarque relentlessly stresses the dehumanization of the soldiers throughout the course of the war. In his forward, Remarque makes his purpose for writing All Quiet on the Western Front clear: â€Å"It will try to simply tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war (Remarque, 1928, p. i).† The first step in the process comes with the realization that those shaping their future have done so with an agenda of their own. In speaking of Kantorek the schoolmaster and Corporal Himmelstoss, Paul reflects, â€Å"For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress – to the future†¦the idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our  minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief (Remarque, 1928, p. 12).† The second phase in the downward spiral is presented as the desensitization of the individual. Remarque portrays this through the soldier’s continued acceptance of the squalor of their condition. Through poor rations, living in mud filled trenches, and being in constant fear for their lives from regular shelling associated with trench warfare and from the use of a deadly new weapon, mustard gas, Paul and his comrades develop a detached persona which shields them from their hideous reality: â€Å"Just as we turn into animals when we go up to the line, because it is the only thing which brings us through safely, so we turn into wags and loafer when we are resting†¦We want to live at any price so we cannot burden ourselves with feelings which, though they might be ornamental enough in peacetime, would be out of place here (Remarque, 1928, pp. 138-139).† A third phase lies in the objectification of the soldier by others. Remarque best accomplishes this in his portrayal of medical treatment for the wounded. Early on, he establishes this premise through the death of Franz Kemmerich. A lack of supplies has denied him morphine to reduce his suffering. The higher than expected casualty count has begun to turn doctors into processors of human flesh: â€Å"One operation after another since five-o’clock this morning. You know, today alone there have been sixteen deaths – yours is the seventeenth. There will probably be twenty altogether (Remarque, 1928, p. 32).† Kemmerich’s body is quickly processed: â€Å"We must take him away at once, we want the bed. Outside they are lying on the floor (Remarque, 1928, p. 32).† As the war drags on and casualties mount, the individual casualty becomes less a patient and more a number. Following an injury, Paul enters the hospital to learn of the latest advance in wartime triage: â€Å"A little room at the corner of the building. Whoever is about to kick the bucket is put in there. There are two beds in it. It is generally called the Dying Room. They don’t have much work to do afterwards. It is more convenient, too, because it lies right beside the lift to the mortuary (Remarque, 1928, p. 257).† Through his experience in the hospital, Paul comes to a stark realization, and Remarque drives home his point: â€Å"A man cannot realize that above such shattered bodies there are still human faces in which life goes its daily round. And this is only one hospital,  one single station; there are hundreds of thousands in Germany, hundreds of thousands in France, hundreds of thousands in Russia. How senseless is anything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible. It must be all lies and of no account when the culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood being poured out, these torture-chambers in their hundreds of thousands. A hospital alone shows what war is (Remarque, 1928, p. 263).† The ultimate phase is the transition of the soldier from object to invisibility. Paul’s death, and the â€Å"matter if fact† manner in which Remarque presents it, stands in stark contrast to the official report of the day – â€Å"All quiet on the Western front. (Remarque, 1928, p. 296).† The fate of a man has been subordinated to the fate of a nation without the nation realizing his sacrifice. Throughout All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque selects his details of World War I to support his themes decrying nationalism, the meaningless state of war, and the disintegration of the human spirit through the pursuit of warfare. No mention is made of specific battles or individual acts of heroism. The lack of specificity adds to the tone of the general, unyielding nature of war. Heroism, writ with a capital â€Å"H†, is a concept not to be found in Remarque’s world of war. In presenting his details of World War I, Remarque remains unyielding in his portrait of the destruction of the human condition on the altar of national pride. REFERENCES Remarque, E. M. (1928). All quiet on the western front. Ballantine Books. Strayer, R. W. (2011). Ways of the world; a brief global history with sources, volume 2: Since 1500. 7th edition: Bedford/St. Martins.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Indian Healthcare Sector Erp Systems Information Technology Essay

The Indian Healthcare Sector Erp Systems Information Technology Essay The Indian Healthcare sector is rapidly expanding in terms of revenue and employment with its total value estimated about $34 billion. Some of the reasons for the same are: Growing population and economy The biggest driver of the expansion of the healthcare sector in India is its booming population, which is currently estimated about 1.1 billion. (Appendix-Figure1) Rising middle class Due to the rise in the average income, as of now, around 50 million Indians can afford to use advanced healthcare services and medicines. Increase in the spread of disease One of the significant driving factors for the growth of Indias healthcare sector is the rise and spread of various diseases, infectious and chronic degenerative in nature. 1.2 ERP need in Heath Care Industry ERP has got a huge scope of implementation in the healthcare industry since more and more hospitals are coming up and the customers are now looking for better professionalism and improved and efficient healthcare services. Key healthcare organization objectives: The specific healthcare industry objectives include: Improved productivity and efficient workflow with proper information at various care points. Integrating various systems across individual departments in a hospital and also across hospitals under the same management. Performing core hospital activities and increasing customer service to enhance Hospital Image. Implementation of SAP ERP in Wockhardt About Wockhardt Wockhardt is one of the major players in the Indian sector for Healthcare services. Besides providing the healthcare services via its chain of hospitals, Wockhardt also manufactures and markets various formulations, nutrition products, biopharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and vaccines. 2.2 Summary Name of the Organization : Wockhardt Limited Head Office Location : Mumbai, India Services : Healthcare No. of Employees : 9,000 Revenue of the Firm : Rs 26 Billion Implementation partner : IBM India 2.3 Pre-ERP Environment in Wockhardt Wockhardt had a non-integrated, non-SAP IT system The IT hardware used were of IBM P-Series IBM AIX was the IT Operating System in use prior to ERP implementation Oracle 10g database at Wockhardt Some of the challenges faced by Wockhardt prior to ERP implementation are as follows: Inability to handle the business growth due to poor existing technology Integration and formal communication among the existing systems were low. High cost dependency on independent product vendors adding to maintenance costs. Difficulty in managing and controlling disparate data. Dependency on multiple small packages and SMEs for day to day operations. Overall service levels and patient satisfaction levels were low. 2.4 Choosing an ERP vendor Some of the issues that were considered while choosing a vendor were: Data accuracy Hospitals have to supply all the essential information to the vendor at the time of making the proposals. This will help him to easily configure the required software. The mistake of not disclosing information Many hospitals do the mistake of not disclosing crucial information at this juncture. They are reluctant to disclose confidential information. Demonstrations The hospital will be able to rate the vendors suitability more so during practical demonstrations. His level of competencies and technicalities will be revealed to the company. The reason why SAP solution was chosen as the ERP vendor was: Its a robust, integrated solution with multiple customized functions and features Its positioned for future growth with global credibility Its a well defined reliable partner with assured support It strategically aligns itself with the Wockhardts business requirements 2.5 Objectives of SAP implementation The companys vision to integrate and standardize global processes was a major reason for introducing SAP solutions. Wockhardt was looking for an ERP solution that would: Establish a single, integrated ERP solution. Improve visibility and standardize the current business processes across the organization. Provide a platform for free flow of information and a central data repository. Introduce best practices of Life Science Industry for all locations. Provide a common technology platform with capabilities of analyzing business data. Meet the global business requirements, with simultaneously adhering to the country specific necessities. 2.6 SAP ® Solutions Services used in Wockhardt SAP ® ERP SAP ® Business Information Ware house SAP NetWeaver, ® SAP NetWeaver ® Portal, SAP ® Solution Manager, a tool found in the SAP NetWeaver ® platform 2.7 SAP Implementation Highlights Time-frame of implementation : 8 months (From May 2005) Top Managements support with highly dedicated team Highly successful implementation with a big bang approach in India Subsequent rollouts to subsidiaries in Europe US by the Wockhardt In-house team The average 3 year cost of a SAP deployment is shown in Appendix -Figure2. The various stages for the same were: Project Planning Business Process Study Installation Training Business Requirement mapping Configuration Modifications Data Conversion Documentation Testing Go-Live Post production support 2.8 SAP R/3 Architecture in Wockhardt SAP R/3 works on Three Tier Architecture comprising of the database, application and presentation layer. (Appendix Figure3) The Database server is solely responsible for Wockhardts data storage. The Application server interacts with the other two servers to manage user requests. The User terminal is responsible for data creation, modification and retrieval. 2.9 Benefits of SAP to Wockhardt The benefits that Wockhardt got on implementing SAP ERP were: Real-time access to higher quality information More structured data forming a basis for informed strategic and operational decisions A consolidated, single view of the business with efficient working practices due to standardized and integrated business processes Improved inventory management with better coordination of work across multiple locations Faster decision-making and improved Planning and customer service, efficiency, enhanced Visibility 2.10 Wockhardts future plans with SAP Wockhardts future plans with SAP include: SAP ® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) SAP ® Supplier Chain Management (SAP SCM) SAP ® Advanced Planning Optimization component (APO) SAP NetWeaver ® component for integration. With the SAP CRM module, Wockhardt can: Implement one, multichannel contact center to control and coordinate the interactions between patients and Wockhardt. Link the contact center directly to the appointment system so a patient can make, change, cancel, or inquire about appointments. Improve communication with patients by using demand management software to remind patients of appointments, manage waiting lists, and fill late cancellations The Vendors Perspective About SAP and IBM IBM was finalized as the implementation partner for starting the SAP ERP implementation in May of 2005. The implementation team took around eight months to complete the project. With vendors like SAP and implementation partners like IBM, it has definitely resulted in lowering the pressure on healthcare organizations like Wockhardt. 3.1.1 SAP SAP is the market leader in ERP solutions. Since its foundation in 1972, SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data processing) have helped companies of all sizes and industries run better. Currently SAP departments are located in greater than 50 nations and serving 110,000  customers worldwide. SAP for Healthcare industry helps the firms like Wockhardt in integrating their healthcare processes by providing an end-to-end portfolio of solutions. IBM IBM has world class reliable, scalable and responsive business solutions and on collaboration with SAP, both will help the firms in various industries like healthcare by providing quality, simple and customised solutions with high returns. IBM and SAP are committed to delivering affordable end-to-end solutions scaled to meet the needs of SMBs. The combined solutions of IBM and SAP enable the organizations to speed up their business operations in order to comply with the dynamic changes in the marketplace. Challenges faced by IBM, SAP for ERP implementation The major challenges faced by SAP and IBM during Wockhardts ERP implementations are as follows: To cope up with the dynamic and ever-changing business processes and consumer needs To be in-line with the regulatory guidelines To assist the hospital service with regular up gradation . Integration with Legacy Systems Integration of ERP Modules of different vendors or versions and E-Business Applications like SCM, CRM, KM. 4. ERP modules used at Wockhardt Some of the important SAP ERP modules used by Wockhardt are mentioned below: Materials Management (MM) Customer Service (CS) Quality Management (QM) Sales Distribution (SD) Human Resources (HR) Production Planning (PP) Financial Management (FM) Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) The material management module (Appendix- Figure4) comprises of the features mentioned below: Stock Reconciliation- At warehouse / item(s) level Alerts and notifications on Shelf Life Storage Differentiations for Quarantine / Approved / Rejected items. Item tracking based on Expiry dates and Serial No. / Lot numbers Bar code interface integration Patient Administration: This module handles the front office, back office and nursing station of Wockhardt. Some of the modules of front office are handling the appointments, reservations, admission and discharge of patient along with the deposits, refunds of cashier department. The back office includes the maintenance, in-patient billing and scheduling of the Wockhardts back office. Besides this, SAP ERP integrates the administrative and clinical processes of the nursing station. (Appendix Figure5) Clinical Management The clinical management of the SAP package in Wockhardt includes: Laboratory- Lab scheduling, records, kit management, etc. Operation theatre- Theatre scheduling, maintenance, medical equipments usage, etc. Medical records Visit details of Outpatient and In-Patients, etc. Blood bank Donor registration list, Blood stock, etc. (Appendix Figure6) Resource Management The resource management of the Wockhardt SAP module includes: Pharmacy In and out-patient pharmacy, central pharmacy, etc. General stores Purchase orders, material receipts, inventory control, etc. Ambulatory Ambulance and personnel scheduling. Medical equipment management Equipment and AMC details, stock management, etc. (Appendix Figure7) Financial Management The financial management module includes functionalities like maintaining the: Accounts payable Accounts receivable General ledger Doctors accounting Payroll Care contracts Federations grants, etc. (Appendix Figure8) 5. Conclusion and Findings The Indian healthcare sector can be considered to be as a glass half empty or as a glass half full. This is so because, even though the healthcare sector has improved significantly over the years but still the challenges it is facing are significant. Improvisation needs to be done by developing the existing physical and IT infrastructure in order to provide quality healthcare services. The need of the hour is to perform core hospital activities and increase the quality of customer service by integrating its various components and avoid data redundancy. Industries look for ERP solution that can provide a common technology platform with capabilities of analyzing business data. They expect to meet the global business requirements, with simultaneously adhering to the country specific necessities. Because of the availability of a single unified platform for data sharing and standardization of the various healthcare business processes, the redundancy of data entry has minimized significantly and has resulted in saving valuable administrative time. The SAP ERP implementation has assisted the Wockhardt staff in successfully updating, recovering and managing the data in real-time. Also, reports can now be produced quickly, thus minimizing the logistical headaches. The most striking benefit of implementing SAP ERP in Wockhardt has been the significant visibility in its service operations which has lead to improved planning and coordination across Wockhardt. Hence sooner or later, most of the companies need to change their traditional practices and have an advanced technology supported with state of the art IT infrastructure to support its core business activities and integrate them efficiently across the organization. Appendix Figure 1 Indian economy growth rate Figure 2 3 year cost of a SAP deployment Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Patient Administration Figure 6 Clinical Management Figure 7 Resource Management Figure 8 Financial Management

Monday, August 19, 2019

Gangs and Violence in Schools :: Crime Safety Security Education Essays

Gangs and Violence in Schools During the first week of my junior professional experience, I remember my cooperating teacher reading to me an e-mail that she received from the school's administration. It was informing all of the teachers of new ways to identify gang member; the colors they may wear, they way they write certain letters of the alphabet. A few days later I recall seeing one of the students in my class making different hand gestures, which I later learned were gang signs. Then, a couple of weeks into my full participation in the classroom, another one of my students was suspended for breaking another student's jaw. Yet another of my students was suspended rather recently for threatening to bring a gun to school. All of these incidents, along with an assembly that was held one day about gang violence, have made me much more aware of the violence and gang participation that takes place in urban schools. Because it seemed so prevalent in the Trenton school district, I decided to delve deeper into the issue of gangs and violence in schools. I have learned that in Trenton there are "three main gangs - the Bloods, the Crips and the Latin Kings," (NJ.com) some of which have been known to have members as young as thirteen. This alarmed me, because this is the age of most of my seventh grade students. It was hard for me to picture any of them being in a gang. I, like many suburban dwellers, have never had contact with gang members, not to my knowledge anyway. Now I am working in a school full of students who encounter gang members everyday, and may even be a part of a gang themselves. When I became aware of the regular occurrence of gangs in the Trenton area, I began to wonder why adolescents, usually males, join gangs in the first place. Though there are many explanations and, of course, each young male has his own reason, many of them [the reasons] revolve around the issues of safety, respect, money, and a sense of identity†¦Many of them [the gang members] learned at an early age that they were vulnerable if they did not belong to a gang that would protect them when they were threatened by other gang members (Patton 59).

Why Learning about Floridas Diverse Hispanic Heritage and Culture is Important :: essays research papers

Hispanic's influence in Florida dates back for more than 500 years when the Spanish arrived and began to establish their permanent settlements. I am proud to say I?m an American of Hispanic descent. As a second generation Cuban-American and a Native of Florida, it is important for me to learn and pass down the unique qualities and richness of my Hispanic roots, culture and traditions. From birth the Hispanic heritage has had a strong impact on me. Being raised in a bilingual home and learning Spanish in school, has provided me the advantage to communicate in both languages. Hispanic- Americans can socialize and understand both the English and Spanish community in Florida. Hispanics can also share my language with those of non- Hispanic descent. As I approach my college years and life, I think I will benefit from being bilingual. Like the influence of the Spanish language, Hispanics have made many significant contributions Florida. In business, science, politics and education Hispanics have been a key factor in Florida?s development and its economy. It?s essential for people to know how Hispanics have contributed to this state, because without Hispanics the state of Florida may not be what it is today. It is important not only for me to learn of their accomplishments but to learn from them so that I too can be a productive Hispanic leader in my community. Hispanics have a beautiful and unique culture. Our music, dancing and delicious foods have become an integral part of Florida. In Florida, we have been able to share these with everyone. It is important to know about Hispanic culture and traditions so that I can teach others that aren?t Hispanic or don?t know the culture. Everyone should know about the Hispanic culture in Florida because it?

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Comparing the Tragic Heros in Antigone and Julius Caesar :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Tragic Heros in Antigone and Julius Caesar The two plays, "Antigone" and "Julius Caesar" both contained two very similar characters. In Antigone the nobleman, Creon, claimed the thrown after his nephews, heirs to Thebes killed each other in battle. Assuming that the populous was going to find him inadequate he laid a strict rule in order to keep the people under his control. Creon wanted Thebes to prosper and grow and was willing to do anything to achieve this. Through a chain of events Creon killed his entire family. Brutus, a senator in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, claims the life of Julius Caesar in order to preserve Rome, his country and home. He puts aside his love for his comrade; Caesar to do what he felt was best. Both of these characters, Creon and Brutus, clearly felt compelled to do what each felt was preeminent for their country. Creon and Brutus both shared high position in the governments of their countries, maintaining power and some level of control. Both of the two, when faced with the threat of losing control turned to unjustified courses of action. Creon threatened death to anyone who defied his rule, fearing that mass hysteria would follow. Brutus on the other had, while less extreme, found that when an overly ambitious ruler threatened Rome the only possible answer was murder. They resorted to the actions with true zeal and completely believed in their cause. Sincerity makes each character share the same beliefs in what they were doing. The country's well-being was the only thing on the leaders' mind. The drive for excellence, in all areas of life, such as honesty was prevalent in both Brutus and Creon. Based upon the fact that each was open with the citizens in their cities and the way they dictated their decisions. When Brutus comes to the people with the body of Caesar he never claims innocence, but asks the plebeians if he has offended anyone. The law that Creon provides for his people is straightforward; do not disturb the body of Polyneices. The citizens of each play were torn between accepting the truth of what each man offers to the country and justice for murder.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Indian National Army and Its Role in Independence Struggle

Indian National Army And Its Role in Independence struggle Yogesh Dilhor ID NO. 1947 IIND YEAR, B. A. , LL. B. (HONS. ) DATE OF SUBMISSION: 25TH SEPTEMBER, 2012 NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY 1 Contents Introduction Introduction The much praised twelve volumes of the history of terminal years of British India edited by Nicholas Mansergh are titled The Transfer of Power, 1942-1947.Hugh Tinker while editing a parallel work on the same time period in Burmese history named it Burma: The struggle for Independence. Tinker does not see Burma obtaining its freedom through management from above. According to him, the British surrendered to the pressure from below. 1 While in case of India, what these twelve volumes assure us is that there was no such surrender of power in India, but her conveyance, a planned and calculated conveyance, with all that this implies in prior purpose, studied, management and mutual consent. These volumes announce that an armed struggle was quite unnecessar y, and even if it was attempted, when England was fighting darkness everywhere in the world, it was unconscionable, it was almost a criminal act. What this implies is complete ignorance of a very prominent part of the Indian Freedom struggle which was fought not by the Gandhian peaceful and deliberative means, but by taking up arms against the British. What they completely overlook is that there was a second front of truggle too which operated both inside and outside of India. One such attempt was the Indian National Army. It is a more like a forgotten chapter in our Independence struggle. Bipin Chandra in his book, India’s struggle for Independence puts it, â€Å"Before we end this chapter (Quit India Movement), a brief look at the Indian National Army is essential†, and then spares a single page for the very essential technical details (seemingly for a memorisation exercise) on Indian National Army in his 600 page long book.No doubt, the INA itself was defeated along with Japan, but even in its defeat, it became a symbol of India fighting for its independence. The very idea of an Indian Army founded and commanded by an Indian of unquestionable patriotism was enough to evoke enthusiasm from an unarmed people long used to watching the display of British military might. The INA in essence, represents the last attempt of the Indian people to fight together for the liberation of a United India.But the official recognition of this brave and unique attempt has been somewhat muted or overshadowed by Gandhi in the initial years of Independent India. INA? s leadership, its functioning, its campaigns, its motivations, and its aspirations form a very interesting study of a second front of Independence struggle. 1 Peter Ward Fay THE FORGOTTEN ARMY: INDIA'S ARMED STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 1942-1945 Pg. No. 4 (1st edn 1995) 2 Id. 3 Research Methodology Aim The aim of the research paper is to highlight the role of Indian National Army in India? s struggle for Independence. ObjectiveThe objective of the paper is to emphasize on the existence of a second front of the independence struggle which derives its motivations from the mainstream Gandhian struggle but employs means very different from it. This is achieved by looking at various features of the Indian National Army before, during and after its active action like the motivations of the recruits, the methods employed in the campaign and the historic INA trials. A special role is assigned to Subhash Chandra Bose as without the appeal of his character, there would not have been an Indian National Army.Scopes and Limitations The scope if this paper is limited to the analysis of the formation of the Indian National Army and its immediate effect on the Indian struggle for independence. The Paper also includes within its ambit the role of Subhash Chandra Bose in the Indian National Army. Given the spacial constraints of this paper, it fails to undertake a detailed analysis of the military ac hievements of the INA. The paper is restricted to the impact of the successes and failures of the INA on the overall campaign.The paper also fails to give an analysis of the role played by the INA legacy in the social reconstruction of the free India in the postindependence scenario, although they were very significant consequences with regard to their impact on the Indian Army of a free India. Mode of Citation A uniform mode of citation has been employed throughout this paper. Sources The researcher has completely depended on the secondary sources such as autobiographies, journal articles and campaign accounts of Subhash Chandra Bose and INA officers.The only primary materials used are the speeches of Subhash Chandra Bose and the letters exchanged by the INA officers. 4 Research Questions ? ? ? ? ? What was the ideological foundation of the armed resistance against the British rule and how did a second front of independence struggle come into existence? What were the factors which guided the INA through its formation and in subsequent military operations? What was the impact of Subhash Chandra Bose on the INA? What were the motivations of the soldiers to join the ranks of the INA?What impact did the INA trials have on the independence movement? 5 The Ideological Origins As the study of Civil Disobedience against the British in India would remain obsolete without a conceptual understanding of the Gandhian principles and practicalities that lay behind it, similarly an effort to understand the significance of the Indian National Army in India? s struggle for independence in isolation from the ideological wars that gave rise to it would be rendered ineffectual.On one side of this ideological conflict was Gandhi and his peaceful resistance to the Raj with self-imposed restraints with regards to the methods of struggle against the British. Under his theme of struggle, the means of achieving a goal were as important as the goal itself. He firmly believed that if the means are corrupt or violent, the goal itself would get contaminated. 3 And on the other end of it was Subhash Chandra Bose, with his uncompromising attitude and adamant desire to kick the British out of India even if it meant rubbing shoulders with the Nazis themselves. According to Subhash Chandra Bose, the new form of imperialism of Italy, Germany and Japan was in direct conflict with the old forms of imperialism of Britain and United States. In this regard, his opportunist views were closely aligned with those of the „Father of Indian unrest? , Lokmanya Tilak, who believed that Indian nationalists should learn to take advantage of the difficulty of its enemy and use them to advance the cause of their freedom. 5 In March 1942, he went over radio from Berlin: †¦. In British decline alone, lies the hope of India’s independence.Every Indian who works to strengthen British hands betrays the cause of his motherland. Such a man is a traitor to India†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Whe n British Empire will go the way of all other empires of the past and out of its ashes will rise a free and united India†¦. 6 In his essay „The Morality of Boycott? , Aurobindo Ghosh had once remarked, â€Å"in pursuit of justice and righteousness the saint? s holiness had to be complemented by the warrior? s sword†7 This vision of Aurobindo almost came alive in February 1938, when a revolutionary 3 Rudolf C.Heredia Interpreting Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj, 34(24) ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY 1497-1502 (June 12, 1999) 4 Robert N. Kearney Identity, Life Mission, and the Political Career: Notes on the Early Life of Subhash Chandra Bose 4(4) 617-636 (Dec 1983) 5 Biswamoy Pati Nationalist Politics and the ‘Making' of Bal Gangadhar Tilak 35(9/10) SOCIAL SCIENTIST (September 2007) 52-66 6 7 Sisir K Bose A BEACON ACROSS ASIA: A BIOGRAPHY OF SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE 126 (2nd edition 1996) Aurobindo Ghosh, The Morality of Boycott, THE DOCTRINE OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE 87-88 (1st edition 1948) leader from Bengal, Subhash Chandra Bose came to preside over the 51st session of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. The sight of Gandhi and Bose in earnest conversation on the dias, at the plenary session of the Congress, warmed the hearts of the millions of Indians looking forward to a united nationalist stand against the British raj. 8 In his scheme of independence, Subhash Chandra Bose had attributed a very important role to Mahatma Gandhi, which was the sensitisation of the masses about the great cause of the independence of the motherland.But he strongly believed that a final strike of violence was necessary to drive the British out of India. This is what he said on 19th June 1943 after attending Japanese Parliament session to some 60 Japanese and foreign newsmen: â€Å"The enemy that has drawn the sword must be fought with the sword. Civil Disobedience must develop into armed struggle. And only when the Indian people receive the baptism of fire on a large scale, will they qualify for their freedom. †9 But what distinguished Subhash Chandra Bose from other revolutionaries of his time was his far sighted approach and detailed planning accompanying it.What helped him in his campaign was his distinctive knowledge of the world history and politics assisting him in making instantaneous comparisons of the political situation at home with various parallel instances of world history. In a historic speech while taking over the command of 13,000 troops of the Indian National Army under the scorching tropical sun at the city square in Singapore in August 1942, he said: â€Å"Throughout my public career, I have always felt that though India is otherwise ripe for independence in every way, she lacked one thing, namely, an army of liberation.George Washington of America could fight and win freedom because he had his army. Garibaldi could liberate Italy, because he had his armed volunteers behind him. It is your privilege and honour to be the first to come forward and organise India’s National Army. By doing so, you have removed the last obstacle in our path to freedom. Be happy and proud that you are the pioneers, the vanguard, in such a noble cause. †10 8 9 Sugata Bose HIS MAJESTY? S OPPONENT 135 (1st edition 2011) Sisir K Bose A BEACON ACROSS ASIA: A BIOGRAPHY OF SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE 142 (2nd edition 1996) 10 Id. at 149 7 The First Indian National Army The Japanese campaign in the South East Asia during the Second World War resulted in the fall of Singapore on 15th February 1942. About 80,000 British, Australian and Indian troops became Prisoners of War joining 50,000 taken during the January 1941 Malaya Campaign. Winston Churchill called the ignonimous fall of Singapore to the Japanese the „worst disaster? and the „largest capitulation? in the British history. These events caused much excitement among the 2 million Indians living in South East Asia.Those living in territories freed fr om European domination organised themselves into associations with the twofold objects of contributing their quota to the liberation of India from the British yoke and serving the interests of the overseas Indians during the critical, transitory period. 11 Indian Independence League was the umbrella organisation for the various smaller associations established in a large number of towns and even villages during this period.The organiser of the league was Rash Behari Bose, an old Bengali revolutionary who after the attempt to assassinate Lord Hardinge, fled to Japan in June 1915, married a Japanese girl and became a Japanese citizen. Meanwhile, POWs of the 1st /14th Punjab Regiment were received not by the rough Japanese soldiers, but by Giani Pritam Singh, an active eloquent Sikh Missionary and Major Fujiwara, a Propaganda Officer of the Japanese Army who assured the Indian soldiers that they were not prisoners but friends, honoured friends of Japan who, meant to work for the indepe ndence of India as her victorious armies marched on. 2 Major Fujiwara during his genuine arguments which went on during intervals for 10 or more days was able to convince one Captain Mohan Singh, one of the most senior Sikh officers of the 1st /14th Punjab Regiment to break away from the British army and take steps for the independence of the his own motherland. They told him that they took no delight in making prisoners of fellow Asiatics, fellow sufferers of the oppression and arrogance of the west and as soon as the British are ousted from the sub-continent, India would come under the „Co-Prosperity Sphere? hich Japan had created for Malaya, Burma and India with other regional countries. 13 Mohan Singh was no less aware of the atrocities committed on the Chinese by the Japanese and along with the goal of getting India independence from the British, one thing this was to 11 12 R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 683 (June 1988) Hugh Toye The First Indian Nati onal Army, 1941-42 15(2) JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES 365-381 (Sep 1984) 13 Id. 8 o was to keep the Indian forces under Indian control. By the end of December that year, Mohan Singh with the consent of a committee from the several hundreds of prisoners he controlled, agreed to organise an Indian National Army, as the military wing of the Indian Independence League of Pritam Singh, for action when India came to be invaded. 14 Fujiwara promised that this army was to be raised from Indians, directed by Indians, for the purpose of India alone.Although his ideas far outran official Japanese instructions: the propaganda operation had worked. 15 Against the same background of rising excitement, by the end of August, 1942, about 40, 000 men had signed a new pledge â€Å"to join the Indian National Army under Mohan Singh to serve real Indian interests and for the independence of India†. The motivations behind the mass enrolment of the volunteers will be discussed in a later sect ion of this paper.On 10th September, after inspecting the First INA division, an organised body of 16,300 men which has been assembled far more quickly than the Japanese had expected, Mohan Singh expressed his urge for more ambitious plans. He told the Japanese Officers that his ultimate plan was to raise an army of 250, 000 men largely from civilians. But the Japanese wanted to wait until their campaign for Burma and as just before the patience of Mohan Singh became exhausted, the Japanese planned to launch an offensive in Burma in early 1943 in which the First Division of the INA was to take part.But what the Japanese majorly demanded from the Indian troops was their active involvement only in the intelligence tasks and after Lieutenant Colonel Gill defected to the British with all the crucial information regarding the INA, serious differences began to emerge between the British and the Indian leadership of the INA. On March 1942, some of the leaders of the Indian Independence Lea gue, including Giani Pritam Singh and Swami Satyananda Puri of Bangkok were killed in an air crash on their way to a conference in Tokyo.Around the same time Colonel Hideo Iwakuro replaced Fujiwara as the Chief Liaison Officer of with the Indians. Contrary to Fujiwara? advice that Japan needed a diplomatic mission to handle relations with Indians, Iwakuro started operating like an espionage agency dedicated to short-term military objectives. 16The biggest problem for the Indians was the arrogance and high handedness of the middle ranking officers of the Japanese 14 Hugh Toye THE SPRINGING TIGER Letter from Mohan Singh to Fujiwara, dated 1 Jan. 1942 Appendix I pg. 272 ( 3rd Edition 2011) 15 Supra note 12, at 9 16 Sugata Bose HIS MAJESTY?S OPPONENT 242 (1st edition 2011) 9 Army towards the Indian Military and civil Leadership. 17Despite Rash Behari? s efforts to keep the relations on an even kneel; the lack of trust between the two sides became palpable during the latter half of 1942. And finally, it was in December 1942, an impatient and exasperated Mohan Singh issued an order to disband the Indian National Army. He was promptly taken into detention and Rash Behari tried his best to salvage the situation for the next few weeks and prevented a complete dissolution of the Indian National Army. 17Hugh Toye The First Indian National Army, 1941-42 15(2) JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES 365-381 (Sep 1984) 10 Subhash Chandra Bose and the Second Front On 9th July 1943, at a rally in Singapore, gathered to show solidarity to the visiting Japanese Prime Minister, Subhash Chandra Bose said: Friends! We have for a long time been hearing so much of the second front in Europe. But our countrymen at home are now hard-pressed and they are demanding a second front. Give me total mobilisation in East Asia and I promise you a second front – a real second front for the Indian struggle. 8 The British considered Subhash Chandra Bose as a dangerous revolutionary and being a person who has been openly advocating taking advantage of the new situation emerging from the war in Europe, there was no way the British were going to allow Subhash to operate freely. He was arrested on 2nd July, 1940, under section 129 of the Defence of India Rules. 19 In prison, while he was being deprived of any political action, he deliberated upon the new developments in Europe and came to three conclusions. Firstly, Britain would lose the war and the British Empire would break up.Secondly, in spite of being in a precarious position, the British would not hand over power to the Indian people and the latter would have to fight for their freedom. Thirdly, India would win her independence if she played her part in the war against Britain and collaborated with those powers that were fighting Britain. 20 He decided to go on a hunger strike in the jail, challenging the government to â€Å"Release me, or I shall refuse to live. † In a three page hand written letter, he penned down the historic words: â€Å"One individual may die for an idea – but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives. 21 But as his health deteriorated, the British released him on 5th December 1940. After his release, Bose remained quietly in his ancestral house in Elgin Road, Calcutta, which was under strict surveillance by the Police. On 17th January, 1941, he escaped from the house and after an adventurous journey arrived in Kabul dressed as one Khalji Pathan. He stayed for a few weeks there and then proceeded to Moscow and then to Berlin on March 28. 22 18 19 Sisir K Bose A BEACON ACROSS ASIA: A BIOGRAPHY OF SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE 153 (2nd edition 1996) R.C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 682 (June 1988) 20 Tara Chand HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA VOL. 4 416 (4th edition 1992) 21 Sugata Bose HIS MAJESTY? S OPPONENT 181 (1st edition 2011) 22 Supra note 20, at 12 11 Bose was received well by Ribbentrop, the right hand man of Hi tler, where Bose boldly proposed a) he would propagate anti British propaganda from Berlin b) raise â€Å"Free Indian† units from Indian prisoners of War in Germany; while c) the Axis powers would make a joint declaration of Indian Independence. 3 Bose had a long meeting with Hitler on May 29th 1941, when the Fuhrer poured cold water on his idea of a declaration of a free India. Ironically, one of fiercest critics of the European colonialism could be seen allied with the world? s most racist and imperialist state. When Germany attacked Russia in June 1941, believing in their victory, he proposed to organise an Indian Army which could follow German Army to Central Asia and thence operate against the British forces on the north-western frontier. 4 But as the Axis powers started suffering reverses in many places including the Russian front, the ambitions of raising an Indian Armed Division in Germany also suffered. Subhash Chandra Bose soon realised that he couldn? t achieve muc h in Germany and made plans to go to Japan. Subhash Chandra Bose accepted the invitation of the Bangkok Conference held under Rash Behari Bose to lead the Indian Independence Movement in the South East Asia, despairing of success of his efforts in Europe.Bose was received in Tokyo on June 13th 1943 where the Japanese Premier made it clear to Subhash Chandra Bose that whether invaded or not, India was to remain under Japanese control. But at the same time he said that Japan had no requirements beyond the necessities of war and intended India to be independent. 25 Bose received encouragement in his project of a Provisional Government which would take control of the Indian Territory as the Japanese forces moved on.Two days later in the Diet (Japanese Parliament), Tojo surprised Subhash by making a declaration: â€Å"Japan is firmly resolved to extend all means in order help to expel and eliminate from India the Anglo-Saxon influences which are the enemy of the Indian people, and enabl e India to achieve full independence in the true sense of the term. †26 And it took not more than one day after this declaration for Netaji to review the Indian National Army and giving it the rousing war cries of â€Å"Chalo Delhi†. 27 23 24 R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 683 (June 1988) Tara Chand HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA VOL. 416 (4th edition 1992) 25 Hugh Toye THE SPRINGING TIGER 118 (3rd edition 2011) 26 Id. 27 R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 686 (June 1988) 12 The Second Indian National Army Netaji inaugurated the Provisional Government in a public meeting at Cathay Hall on 21st October, 1943 before an almost hysteric crowd who stormed the precincts of the Cathay Hall and presented indescribable scenes of overpowering feelings and emotions as the proclamation was made. 28 Hindustani was adopted as the national language, Jai Hind as the form of greeting, the Congress tricolour as the national flag and Tagore? poe m as the national anthem. This was followed by recognition of the Provisional Government by Japan, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Thailand, Burma, Nationalist China, The Philippines and Manchuria. Immediately after taking over the leadership of the Indian Independence Movement in South East Asia, Subhash Chandra Bose assumed personal control of the Indian National Army on 9th August 1943. A comprehensive plan for reorganisation and expansion was put into functioning. New training camps were opened with a thorough reorganisation of Recruitment and Training Departments. Instructions, commands and orders were to be given only in Hindustani.After six months of intensive training, both men and women recruits were absorbed into the Indian National Army. But when the question of INA? s participation in the proposed Imphal Campaign was raised before the Japanese Commanders, they expressed unwillingness to accept the proposal. Field Marshall Count Terauchi told Bose that the Indian National Army w ould not be able to stand the rigours of a Japanese Campaign. The main part of the INA was to be left in Singapore only and only the espionage and propaganda groups were to be used in the field. 29 To this Netaji proclaimed, „Any liberation of India secured through Japanese sacrifices? he said, „is worse than slavery.? 30 He talked about the national honour of India, insisted that the Indians must make the maximum contribution of blood and sacrifices themselves, and urged that the INA be allowed to form the spearhead of the coming offensive. 31 Terauchi at last consented to the employment of one regiment of the INA as a trial and only if it came up to the Japanese standards, other regiments would be allowed in the battlefield. 28 29 R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 687 (June 1988) Hugh Toye THE SPRINGING TIGER 125 (3rd edition 2011) 30 Id. 1 Supra note 29, at 14 13 INA in Action Subhash decided to raise a new brigade by selecting the best soldiers know n as the Subhash Brigade, from the other three brigades, namely Gandhi, Nehru and Azad which was to go in action. 32 The regiment was raised at Taiping in Malaya, in September, 1943 with Shahnawaz Khan as its commander. On February 4th, the first battalion of the Subhash Brigade left Rangoon for Arakan, and in the middle of March they had their first taste of blood where they defeated the much praised „West African Troops? from West Africa.Reinforced by the Japanese troops, they captured high altitude positions like Paletwa and Daletme. After this, the first British post on the Indian side was Mowdock, fifty miles east of Cox Bazaar which was again captured in a surprise attack at night. â€Å"The entry of the INA on Indian territory was the most touching scene. Soldiers laid themselves flat on the ground and passionately kissed the sacred soil of their motherland which they had set out to liberate. A regular flag hoisting ceremony was held amidst great rejoicing and singing of the Azad Hind Fauz National Anthem. 33 The Japanese withdrew from the post owing to the difficulties of supplies and the counter attack of the British forces, but the INA officers refused to do so. They said, â€Å"The Japanese can retreat because Tokyo lies in their way; our goal – the Red Fort, Delhi – lies ahead of us. We have orders to go to Delhi. There is no going back for us. † Thus, one Company of the INA under the command of Capt. Suraj Mal was left at Mowdok. The Japanese admiring the spirit also left one of their platoons to share the fate of the INA troops under the command of Capt.Suraj Mal which in itself was a unique as an Indian Officer was commanding a Japanese platoon. On this instance, The Japanese Commander-in-Chief in Burma went to Netaji, and bowing before him, said: â€Å"Your Excellency, we were wrong. We misjudged the soldiers of the INA. We now know they are no mercenaries, but real patriots†34 This division held on the Britis h counter offensive from May to September. The other battalions were ordered to proceed towards the Chin Hills where they fought against the British Army several skirmishes. Special mention may be made of the rout of Major Manning? forces at Klankhua, the successful defence of the post on the Klang Klang Road by 20 men of the INA against 100, and the capture of the British stronghold at Klang 32 R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 689 (June 1988) Id. 34 14 Klang. 35 As the Japanese were now satisfied with the military skill and the efficiency of the INA, the main body of the INA was ordered to proceed towards Kohima in the Naga Hills where they arrived in May. 36 Here, in conjunction with the Japanese troops, they captured Kohima and hoisted the Tricolour flag on the mountain tops around.But by the time May arrived, the morale of the INA began to decline. The INA lacked air cover as the Japanese had to withdraw their aeroplanes from the Indo-Burma border to the Pacif ic zone. The INA did not even have mortars; no artillery of their own and its machine guns were only medium sized and without spares. 37 No communication means, no transport gear and even without medical supplies these troops managed to stay in competition with some support from the Japanese. But with the rains, supplies were cut off completely forcing a Japanese retreat.The disaster to the Japanese forces, disease and starvation demoralised the INA and lead to resentment amongst the Indian troops. The INA had started to disintegrate and Bose found it more and more difficult to recruit more men as the funding also dried out. His government used more stringent measures of collecting funds and the Indian Independence League was infested with difficulties and slowed down its activities. 38 By December 1944, desertions became a regular affair on a daily basis. The Japanese and the Indian troops had been driven out of the Arakan sector.By the middle of the February, British had a strong hold on the ground and the fighting spirit amongst the INA had become impaired. By May, the INA was completely shattered. The credit for the British success was largely due to the American aid, specially airplanes, weapons and war material worth 650 crores received by the South East Command. 39 Bose who was at Rangoon received on April 20, 1945, the news that the Japanese had resolved to leave the capital. For him no other course remained except leave Rangoon with some of his ministers and the working contingent of the Rani Jhansi Regiment. After the Japanese urrender on 15th August 1945, Subhash was allowed to proceed on his journey in a plane provided by General Terauchi. The plane was reported crashed and Bose? s death was 35 36 R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA 690 (June 1988) Tara Chand HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA VOL. 4 419 (4th edition 1992) 37 Id. , at 420 38 Stephen Cohen Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army 36(4) PACIFIC AFFAIRS 411- 429 (196364) 39 Id. 15 announced to the world on 23rd August 1945. His reported death and the surrender of the INA at Singapore marked the end of a vibrant chapter in India? s struggle for independence. 0 40 T. N Sareen Indian National Army in We fought together for freedom : Chapters from the Indian National Movement 208 (Ravi Dayal ed. , 1995) 16 Motivations to Join One of the most interesting aspects of the INA episode of the Indian National Movement remains to be the motivations of the recruits and the POWs of the British Indian Army in joining the INA. The nationalists have been trying to root such massive enrolments purely on patriotic grounds. And English writers on the other hand have completely discredited this claim of the Indian nationalists and have attributed all enthusiasm only on economic and practical reasons.There were several reasons for volunteering on such a massive scale: 1. K. K. Ghosh, who was one of the Commanders of the Indian National Army in an interview i n 1964 stated that â€Å"The strongest desire (of the civilian leadership) was to improve the standing of the Indian Community vis-a-vis the Japanese as a measure to ensure the community? s safety and safeguard its interests†41 In light of the Japanese atrocities on the Chinese, when Indians saw that the League offered protection against the Japanese, the Indians flocked to join. 2.Hugh Toye in his article on the First Indian National Army emphasises on the role of Mohan Singh in the enrolment of the POWs of the British Indian Army. According to him, no one wanted to build roads and dig latrines for the Japanese, and they joined INA because they were sure that if something went wrong, the personal pledge to Mohan Singh would provide a way out of it. 42 3. Then there were the ambitions of the Viceroy? s Commissioned Officers to whom Mohan Singh had given the full Officer status, and who wielded far more power than they had done under the British Officers.When Mohan Singh told them that the recruiting would proceed in earnest, some of them sought to improve their personal standings by giving longer lists of volunteers than others. 43 Stephen Cohen in his much more accommodative analysis of the relationship of INA and Subhash Chandra Bose categorises the motivations in three different spheres a) personal benefit b) nationalistic feelings c) and the charismatic appeal of Bose. 44 Stephen Cohen also blames the racial treatment of the fellow Indian Officers of the Indian Army as one of the factors resulting in the shift of allegiance. But Hugh Toye rubbishes this claim by saying that 1 42 N. Raghavan, INDIA AND MALAYA: A STUDY 69-70 (1st edition 1954) Hugh Toye The First Indian National Army, 1941-42 15(2) JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES 365-381 (Sep 1984) 43 Id. 44 Stephen Cohen Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army 36(4) PACIFIC AFFAIRS 411-429 (196364) 17 even if the racial standards had been perfect to the standards of 1984, there would hav e been sufficient volunteering for the INA, without on the other hand of the cataclysmic British defeat in North Malaya, without the barbarous behaviour of the Japanese during and after the Malayan Campaign, there might have been no INA. 5 But the testimony of Major Shah Nawaz Khan during the INA trials goes against Hugh Toye where he says, â€Å"not a single Indian officer was given command of a division and only one Indian Officer was the given the command of the Brigade†, he concluded â€Å"it appeared to me that lack of talent could not have been the reason for more Indians not getting higher commands†. 46 Genuine nationalistic aspirations were also at work at different levels of reasoning of the officers. Col.Prem Kumar Saghal, one of the officers tried in the Red Fort for crimes against the King writes in his autobiography, â€Å"My father had taken an active part in the 1920-1921 non-cooperation movement and from him I inherited an intense dislike for the alien rule. Added to this my own study of history and Political Science taught me that complete freedom was the birth right of every human being and it was the sacred duty of every Indian to fight for the liberation of the motherland†47. But one factor which no one fails to recognise in the adherence of large numbers of the INA was the character of one individual, Subhash Chandra Bose.Running through all writings of INA is an appreciation of the singular role played by Subhash Chandra Bose in turning it into an actual fighting force. Had his charismatic leadership not been there with the INA, it was doubtful that a force could be deployed at all, and the INA personnel would probably have joined the many other Indian prisoners of war on forced labour projects. 45 Hugh Toye The First Indian National Army, 1941-42 15(2) JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES 365-381 (Sep 1984) 46 Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, Col. Prem K. Saghal, Col. Gurbax Singh, THE INA HEROES 80-81 (Lahore: Hero Publ ications, 1946) 47 Id. 8 INA Trials By March 1945, most of the INA officers were in British hands and with the capture of Rangoon on 3rd May 1945, INA virtually ceased to exist. During 1943 and 1944, courts martial were taking place in India of those persons who had formerly belonged to the Indian and Burman armies, but had been captured fighting in the ranks of INA, or working on its behalf. 48 A few Viceroy? s Commissioned Officers, NCO? s and senior sepoys caught in battle distributing or shouting propaganda, firing on British Indian Soldiers or betraying them to the Japanese, were tried by Court martial and imprisoned or executed. 9 These cases numbered less than 30, and the executions only 9. No other disciplinary action was taken at all. Meanwhile during July 1945, everyone was apprehensive of any kind of settlement between the INC and Muslim League and it seemed as if the independence would be delayed by another decade. And just when things seemed coagulated, the British help ed out. They put Capt. Shah Nawaz Khan, Capt. P. K. Saghal and Lt. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon on trial in Red Fort, Delhi. The combination was perfect, a Hindu, Muslim and a Sikh, one which Bose himself could not have chosen for himself.The press immediately started making comparisons with the revolt of 1857 and apart from the general turmoil throughout the nation, it created a political consciousness which the Indian Servicemen had never possessed before. 50 Jawahar Lal Nehru who earlier saw the INA as „merely tools of Japanese? 51 now had „no doubt that the men and women who had enrolled in this army, had done so because of their passionate desire to serve the cause of India? s freedom.? 52 The news of Bose? s death further fuelled the movement.But as a political weapon, the INA was of greatest use to the Congress. It had resorted to it the ability to cause widespread civil commotion, and in circumstances where the government might hesitate to use the Indian Army. 53 Meanw hile the naval and air force mutinies at Karachi and Mumbai air ports had intensified the situation for the British. „Today? , said Mr Attlee on March 15th 1946, „the national idea has spread. †¦.. not least perhaps among some of the soldiers who have done such wonderful service in the war.? 54 Meanwhile the Military judges remitted the sentences 48 49L. C. Green The Indian National Army Trials 11(1) MODERN LAW REVIEW 46-69 (2011) Hugh Toye THE SPRINGING TIGER 247 (3rd edition 2011) 50 Id. , at 248 51 L. C. Green The Indian National Army Trials 11(1) MODERN LAW REVIEW 46-69 (2011) 52 Shah Nawaz Khan MY MEMORIES OF THE INA AND ITS NETAJI, (Foreward by J. L. Nehru) (1st Edition 1946) 53 Hugh Toye THE SPRINGING TIGER 255 (3rd edition 2011) 54 Id. , at 249 19 against the three prisoners as they had realised that they just could not enforce these sentences. 55The dynamics of power and authority had now changed.The demand for leniency for INA men from within the Army and the revolt in the section of Royal Indian Navy further conveyed to the far sighted officials, as much as the full scale mutiny would do more brashly confident, that the storm brewing this time may prove irresponsible. 56 These events opened the eyes of the British to their perilous situation in India. They realised that they were sitting at the brink of a volcano which might erupt any movement. When Clement Attlee was asked about the role of Gandhi in India? s independence, he replied, „minimal?.These considerations no doubt played a very vital role in their final decision to quit India. The members of the INA did not die or suffer in pain, and their leader, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, had secured a place of honour in the history of India? s struggle for independence. 55 56 L. C. Green The Indian National Army Trials 11(1) MODERN LAW REVIEW 46-69 (2011) Bipin Chandra, INDIA? S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 491(3rd Edition 1989) 20 Conclusion After Bose? s tragic death and the col lapse of his struggle, Gandhi met the INA prisoners in the Red Fort in Delhi.They told him that under Bose they had not felt any distinction of caste and religion. â€Å"But here we are faced with „Hindu tea? and „Muslim tea?. † To Gandhi? s question of why they put up with it, soldiers replied, â€Å"We don? t, we mix „Hindu tea? and „Muslim tea? half and half, and then serve. The same with food†57 Though the INA failed in its immediate objective they have a lot to their credit of which they might well be proud. The greatest of these was to gather together under one banner men from all religions and races of India and to infuse in them the pirit of solidarity and oneness to the utter exclusion of all communal or „parochial sentiment?. 58 The seeds of the second front of independence struggle were sown as early in the 1930s with the divide between Gandhi and Bose regarding the means by which both aimed at achieving independence. But the Se cond World War provided the opportunity for Subhash Chandra Bose to join the Axis forces, raise an army for India? s independence and join the war. Japanese and the Indian National Army seemed to be natural allies and it was the arrival of Subhash Chandra Bose in South east Asia, that made the Indian National Army as it was.The motivations of those who joined the Indian National Army have always been a controversial issue. While it is not appropriate to cite nationalism as the only factor for volunteering at such a large scale, at the same time it is not right to succumb to the reasons given by British and American authors who attribute all of it to practical and circumstantial reasons. It was an amalgamation of both the aspects. And the influence of Netaji was the most crucial factor in turning a group of Prisoners of War into a functioning army.In the battlefield, the INA might not have been able to achieve a lot, but considering the machinery, weapons and supplies with which it w as operating, it was commendable that they were able to hold military positions under heavy British offences. Indian National Army helped develop a strong nationalist Consciousness among the Indians and especially the government employs including the three military wings. INA trials helped in escalating this consciousness into a stronger resistance to the British rule. This once again gave the Congress some new ideas and speeded up the process of India? s independence. 57 58Sugata Bose HIS MAJESTY? S OPPONENT 323 (1st edition 2011) T. N Sareen Indian National Army in WE FOUGHT TOGETHER FOR FREEDOM : CHAPTERS FROM THE INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT 194 (Ravi Dayal ed. , 1995) 21 Bibliography Books 1. Bipin Chandra, INDIA? S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE (3rd Edition 1989) Sugata Bose HIS MAJESTY? S OPPONENT (1st edition 2011) 2. Hugh Toye THE SPRINGING TIGER (3rd edition 2011) 3. Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, Col. Prem K. Saghal, Col. Gurbax Singh, THE INA HEROES (Lahore: Hero Publications, 1 946) 4. Peter Ward Fay The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence 19421945 (1st edn 1995) 5.R. C. Majumdar HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA (June 1988) 6. Shah Nawaz Khan MY Nehru) (1st Edition 1946) 7. Sisir K Bose A BEACON ACROSS ASIA: A BIOGRAPHY (2nd edition 1996) 8. Tara Chand HISTORY OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA VOL. 4 (4th edition 1992) 9. T. N Sareen Indian National Army in WE FOUGHT TOGETHER FOR FREEDOM OF MEMORIES OF THE INA AND ITS NETAJI, (Foreward by J. L. SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE : CHAPTERS FROM THE INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT (Ravi Dayal ed. , 1995) Articles 1. Aurobindo Ghosh, The Morality of Boycott, THE DOCTRINE OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE (1st edition 1948) 2.Biswamoy Pati Nationalist Politics and the ‘Making' of Bal Gangadhar Tilak 35(9/10) SOCIAL SCIENTIST (September 2007) 3. Hugh Toye The First Indian National Army, 1941-42 15(2) JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES (Sep 1984) 4. L. C. Green The Indian National Army Trials 11(1) MODERN LAW REVIEW (2 011) 5. Robert N. Kearney Identity, Life Mission, and the Political Career: Notes on the Early Life of Subhash Chandra Bose 4(4) (Dec 1983) 6. Rudolf C. Heredia Interpreting Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj, 34(24) ECONOMIC POLITICAL WEEKLY (June 12, 1999) 7. Stephen Cohen Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army 36(4) PACIFIC AFFAIRS (1963-64) AND