Democracy, Equality, and the Supreme Court Essay

Democracy, Equality, and the Supreme Court - Essay Example Our regular elections work to keep the government in check as special interests, elected officials, political groups, and lobbyists jockey for the inside track at making laws and enacting policy. As these differing political and social forces meet, our civil society demands that their disagreements be settled peacefully and that the participants will honor the settlement. The real power of America's Democracy does not lie in the people, elected officials, special interests, or lobby groups. Our rule lies in our body of law and the constitution. Over the centuries, laws, rights, and freedoms have been challenged and debated. The US Supreme Court, the highest arbitrator in the land, has been the seat of responsibility for progress and the expression of these freedoms. Our individual and collective rights are protected and directed by the decisions made by the Court. We can measure and view our nation's progress by looking at the history of our Democracy through the court's decisions. The case of Marbury vs. Madison set the precedent that the Supreme Court would be the ultimate and final voice in constitutional questions and could void any law seen as contrary to the constitution. The court was further granted the power to determine the legality of the actions of the various branches of government and laid the foundation for the court's power, as well as our belief in a system guided by law and not men. Though the case was initiated over rather insignificant quarrels among the Republicans and Federalists, its effect has been paramount and enduring. Marbury vs, Madison has been the basis for bringing other landmark cases before the Supreme Court. The court had laid the groundwork as an arena to fight for individual rights as granted by the constitution. The case of Derd Scott vs. Sandford is an interesting case in that it was hoped that the court's decision would diminish further debate on the slavery issue. However, the court's finding that states could not outlaw slavery further divided the nation and led to the Civil War. Through great political pressure and deep differences, the court ruled that the constitution did not provide protection from slavery. This was not the failing of an unsympathetic court, it was a shortcoming in the constitution. But our founders had made provisions for the constitution to be fixed as the future would dictate. The decision ultimately led to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments which constitutionally guaranteed citizenship and equal rights for African-Americans and former slaves. Other decisions by the court have been viewed by history as contrary to freedom and liberty. In some of these cases, the court has overturned a previous ruling as changing times have dictated. Two such cases were Plessey vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of Education. Plessey vs. Ferguson argued for definition of equality as guaranteed by the 14th amendment. The case was brought when Plessey, a Louisiana black, was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act. He had challenged the law that legalized segregation in public transportation and elsewhere. The court upheld Louisiana's segregationist laws under a finding that came to be known as

Mktg 3000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Mktg 3000 - Essay Example The main reason behind this is the lack in market research or assuming that a single factor won’t make a lot of difference for example name , color, slogan, ingredients, advertising etc considering if the product is made right. We have numerous experiences on paper where such factors lead to failure of products or were termed in violation of local ethics. For eg famous British shoe maker UMBRO tagged as â€Å"appallingly insensitive† when it named its shoes meant for running as ZYKLON , the reason for such a response was later found out that ZYKLON was the same gas used in Nazi extermination camps. Similarly when Ford introduced PINTO in Brazil, it rather attracted quite a cold response and flopped. After research it was found that PINTO is a Brazilian slang for ‘tiny male genitals’. Later on Ford changed the name to Corcel meaning Horse. Also slogan for brands like Electrolux in America ‘ Nothing sucks like Electrolux’ and introduction of new products by brands who don’t keep the cultural difference in mind’ Coors Bear having slogan ‘keeping it loose’ in Spanish the slogan meant ‘ you’ll suffer from diarrhea’.

(Counseling) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

(Counseling) - Essay Example Cultural sensitivity knows no negative differences or similarities, such as ‘better or worse,’ or ‘right and wrong.’ Each culture has what they know, regardless of what other cultures have, believe, or follow. Having cultural sensitivity means not finding one culture better than another, but finding them to all be the same in the sense that they have their similarities and differences. There are enough of these similarities and differences to keep cultures balanced with each other without making one more superior or inferior to others. Empathy, or understanding, can simply be described as â€Å"putting oneself into another’s shoes.† Empathy is not the same thing as pity or sympathy, but involves recognizing and entirely understanding what a person is thinking or feeling. Empathy is something that can take place if a person has experienced something that another person is experiencing – it allows that â€Å"outsider† to know exactly what is going on in the mind of that other person, to know what they are feeling, and are able to relate. Another well-known phrase that can be used to fully understand the meaning of empathy is â€Å"seeing eye to eye† with the other person. I have had, at times, the feeling of being an imposter in the career field that I am currently in. I would begin to doubt myself and my abilities, which would lead me to question myself repeatedly about why I am getting myself involved in counseling. It has even gotten to the point where I have found myself considering a career change, though I know that, after all the schooling I have put myself through, switching careers is hardly an option for me. Just from my own experience, I feel that many people that are new to a position or to a certain profession feel like an imposter. People spend a lot of time in school, preparing for what they should do upon graduating and entering their job,

What are the pros and cons of applying sterotypes to identify Essay

What are the pros and cons of applying sterotypes to identify potential criminals and do the costs outweigh the benefits, or vice versa - Essay Example Many theories have been put forward to explain the occurrence of criminal acts. Some of these theories include conflict theory, structural-functional theory, symbolic interactions and labeling theory.Criminal behavior is an act that violates the norms of a society according to Sociologists-Criminal act can also be an act that violates the laws of the land in a formal setting according to oxford dictionary of law. Criminology is a violation of socially constituted laws, norms or values. In this paper, I will analyze criminal behavior based on stereotypes as have been put forward by sociological theorists. I will discuss the pros and cons of applying stereotypes to identify the potential criminal. Lombroso had put forward a theory of crime and deviant. Lombroso suggested ways in which society can identify a criminal based on genetic, biological and psychological characteristics. Lombroso had suggested some genetically and biological characteristics which identify a criminal for example, a person with six fingers left-handed eyebrows that meet at the bottom, squinted eye to be criminals (Ashmore and Longo, 22;Hamilton,191) .Based on Lombroso theory it is possible for police or community to victimize individuals based on the characteristics given by Lombroso yet they are innocent. This has been so in the U.S where African Americans are often perceived as criminals as seen in the case that appeared in the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2002. In the court, the police argued that the man, black, must be the one who had sold cocaine to state's informant since he sounded black. The stereotype that it's African Americans who engage in crime has led to increase of crime causes. The young Af rican Americans argue that they are perceived as criminals even when they are innocent (Randall, 88; Irving 63). The occurrence has led to many young African Americans who are potential criminals to engage in crime (Schissel, 71; Thornberry, 14; Duffy and Scotts, 29). Empirical studies have been done by sociologists to verify the truth of the theory and it has been found that there are individuals who possess the given characteristics yet they are morally upright. Media has played a role in strengthening certain stereotypes by highlighting crimes committed by certain group of people and emphasize how police die in line of duty (Gray, Fishman and Gruyter, 21 ;Oliver, 88 ;Weitzer, 11). Lombroso theory of description of criminals formed the basis of development of labeling theory. The theory of labeling focuses on the linguistic tendency of individuals to act in accordance to how society has described them based on norms and stereotype. Howard Becker has put forward ways in which individuals adhere to the labeling and become delinquent or criminals. For example, when a teenage is told by everyone that he resemble a thug; the particular teenager can even begin by picking other people's items like books with the notion "after all everyone perceives me as a thief". Psychologically, the teenager is oriented to criminal behaviors due to labeling and this is an adverse effect on society. When a potential criminal is described or labeled a criminal according to Becker, it becomes very hard to reform the individual through imprisonment and rehabilitation facilities since the individual already perceives that the society already perceive him as criminal so whether he/she changes, whenever a criminal act occurs the society will suspect him first. An empirical study on criminal maniacs or prison maniacs has given data on the theory which verify the theory (Presdee, 44). However, there has been stereotype that women are harmless and this has led to increase in crime since crime happen unnoticed (Daly and Maher, 54)

On Defining Governance, Democracy and Decentralization Essay

On Defining Governance, Democracy and Decentralization - Essay Example Increasingly, among international organizations (such as the World Bank and the United Nations), governance is used as a concept to both provide a broad overview of and describe the way societies manage themselves. In the dialogue routinely engaged in by the United Nations and the World Bank "governance" is normally spoken of in terms of three systems - the political/administrative; the economic; and the civil society. When looking at governance from this perspective an important additional dimension is introduced into any discussion of the relationship between governance, democracy and decentralization because one is forced to pay attention to the significance of decentralization for economic development. This represents a very significant dimension in terms of the overall well-being of the society as a whole for it can be central to the defining of its development potential. Governance has also been described and dealt with, particularly in the past two decades, in terms of how to improve the functioning of the actual political/administrative system extant in a particular country. ... rnmental organization (which frequently means the downsizing of government bureaucracies); and the strong encouragement of transparency and accountability in government. There is obviously a long history of discussion about and consideration of what are the attributes of democracy and democratic governance. During the course of the past half century, most attention in this regard has focused upon four basic attributes. These include the conduct within a country of free and fair elections; the existence of a reasonably well-organized and competitive party system; a delineation of, respect for, and protection of basic civil liberties and human rights within the society; and, the encouragement, support of and active participation of a vigorous civil society and, in particular, strong interest groups. While democracy and its attributes have been the topic of much thought, writing and discussion, it is still the case that there are not totally precise measures of or delineations of where democratic governance begins or ends within a society. In fact, democracy is inevitably a "work in progress." The institutions and processes of democracy are constantly in a state of evolution. Such evolution is not always necessarily in a progressive or productive fashion. Clearly there are moments in almost all societies in which democratic processes and values suffer setbacks. Likewise, there are other times when what is normally evolutionary progress toward higher levels of democratic governance sometimes become dramatic movement. The concept of decentralization is perhaps a little less clearly defined in part because it is the newest of these concerns. One of the things that has added some misunderstanding to the debate and discussion over decentralization is the frequent

Long Way Gone Study Guide Essay Example for Free

Long Way Gone Study Guide Essay 1.What does Ishmael say the war is about? Ishmael says nothing about the causes of the war, or what each side was fighting for, or of the overall political and social conditions in Sierra Leone that caused the war. This was a deliberate strategy on the part of Beah, the author. He wanted to present the war through the eyes of a child. As a boy of twelve, when the war first affected him, he had no interest in politics. He had no reason to be interested—his main interest, understandably for a boy of his age, was in singing and dancing to rap music and hanging out with his friends. When the war comes to him, it is for him a battle for personal survival, not a political cause. He is also fueled by feelings of revenge—instilled into him by his army officers—against the rebels because they killed his family. Once again, these are personal feelings not political beliefs. For the reader, then, transported to a land he or she knows nothing about (for the American reader, that is), the war seems not only almost unimaginably brutal but also meaningless. It consists of one side mindlessly killing the other, and vice versa, in skirmishes in small villages. Ishmael does report Lieutenant Jabati’s speeches to his men, in which he says they are defending their country (â€Å"We kill them [the rebels] for the good and betterment of this country† [p. 123]), but such appeals to patriotism are not what inspire Ishmael. Ishmael’s ignorance of politics is again stressed when he is in Freetown during his rehabilitation and sees a convoy of cars and military vans. He is told that the new president, Tejan Kabbah, who had won an election eight months earlier is passing by. â€Å"I had never heard of this man,† Ishmael writes pointedly. This confirms the tenor of the book as a whole: Ishmael is a boy caught up in a war he knows nothing about for a cause he does not care about. 2.Why was the war fought and what course did it take? During the 1980s Sierra Leone was a one-party state governed by the All-People’s Congress (APC) party. However, this period was marked by extensive government corruption and abuse of power. Although Sierra Leone is rich in natural resources it became one of the poorest countries in the world because of mismanagement. The civil war in neighboring Liberia helped to create conditions for war in Sierra Leone because a Liberian war leader reportedly sponsored the rebel group called the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) as a way of destabilizing Sierra Leone, which at the time was a base for a United Nations peacekeeping force. The war broke out in 1991 in villages in eastern Sierra Leone that were near the Liberian border. The aim of the RUF was to seize and control the diamond sector, and in 1991 it took control of the diamond mines in the Kono district. (It is the mining area around Ishmael’s home town of Mogbwemo that the rebels seize in 1993.) In 1992 a military coup took place that established the National Provisional Ruling Council, replacing the civilian government. However, the new military government was powerless to prevent the RUF from controlling much of the country. It was the years immediately after this, from 1993 to January 1996, that Ishmael was a soldier. The war continued after Ishmael was rescued from it, as he himself found out when he went to stay with his uncle in Freetown after his rehabilitation. There had been an election in April 1996, and a civilian government had taken power, but in May 1997 there was another military coup, and the new military government known as the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) invited the RUF to participate in it. The following year, when Beah was safely in the United States, the military government was ousted and the civilian government restored. But this did not stop the violence as the AFRC and its RUF allies fought to regain power. Fighting returned to Freetown in 1999, before a peace accord was signed in July 1999. But this did not last, and the war dragged on, finally ending in January 2002, with the civilian government in charge. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, the civil war resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than two million people—about one-third of the population of Sierra Leone. 3.What is the situation in Sierra Leone today? According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Sierra Leone is gradually returning to a fully democratic government following the ravages of the civil war. There was a general election in 2007 that led to one civilian government being peacefully replaced by another. The nation has also tried to come to terms with the recent past. In 2002 the government set up a Special Court to try those responsible for war crimes during the civil war. It also set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Special Court indicted many of those held responsible for the atrocities. Some died before they could be tried, but in June 2007, the Special Court found three men guilty of war crimes, including not only murder, terrorism, and enslavement but also the act of conscripting or enlisting children under fifteen into the armed forces. As refugees from the war are slowly returning from neighboring countries, the Sierra Leone government is trying to create jobs and end political corruption. Revenues from diamond mining have increased significantly since the end of the war. Diamonds account for about half of Sierra Leone’s exports. However, Sierra Leone, with a population estimated in 2009 as 5,132,138, remains an extremely poor country with wide disparities in how wealth is distributed. According to the World Factbook, â€Å"The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad.† 4.How widespread is the use of child soldiers? It would be comforting to think that the forced conscription of children into the armed forces during the war in Sierra Leone was an aberration, not something that can happen again in the modern world. However, that is not the case. Even in the twenty-first century, the use of child soldiers is common in armed conflicts around the world. According to Human Rights watch, an international nongovernmental organization, as of 2007, there were an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children fighting in various wars. According to a Global Report published in 2008 by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, at the end of 2007 children were used as soldiers in seventeen armed conflicts around the globe. The coalition noted that this was down from twenty-seven conflicts in 2004, but the downturn was more because the conflicts had ended than because child soldiers were no longer being recruited. The Global Report identified the following countries where children were recruited for paramilitaries, militias, civilian defense forces or armed groups linked to or supported by governments: Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Ivory Coast, Libya, Myanmar, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda. The most flagrant offender, according to the Global Report, is Myanmar, where the government uses thousands of children in its battle against rebel groups. In Uganda, tens of thousands of children have been forced into joining armies over a period of nearly twenty-five years. In some of these countries, including Uganda, girls as well as boys have been forced to become soldiers. There have in recent years been concerted international efforts to end the use of child soldiers. Sierra Leone, which has tried and convicted men responsible for recruiting child soldiers, has become a leader in this issue. The use of child soldiers has now been prohibited by international law. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict has been ratified by 120 states. The UN Security Council has adopted resolutions calling for the establishment of a monitoring mechanism on children and armed conflict. However, these and other prohibitions are no guarantee that when new conflicts break out, child soldiers will not be recruited. 5.Is Beah’s story factually accurate? A Long Way Gone achieved popular and critical success, but questions have been raised by some regarding the factual accuracy of a number of events Beah recounts in the book. Beah writes that his village was attacked in January 1993 and after that he became a refugee from the war. Critics claim that there are school records showing that Beah was in school later than this date, and that the village was attacked in 1995, not 1993. This would mean that Beah would actually have been recruited at the age of fifteen, not thirteen as he writes in the book. This would have meant that he was only a child soldier for a few months, rather than over two years. Some critics point to the structure of the book to confirm this. They point out that most of the book deals with Beah’s wanderings as a refugee and the months he spent in rehabilitation. Only two chapters (13 and 14) cover his actual experiences as a soldier (although he does present more incidents from his military service at various points in flashbacks). Questions have also been raised about the account Beah gives of the fight between the former boy soldiers at the rehabilitation home, in which several boys were killed. There are no independent reports of such a fight ever taking place. Some believe that Beah used others’ experiences as his own and that he embellished his tale. They point to his interest in creative writing at Oberlin College and the fact that his adoptive mother was a storyteller. The suggestion is that Beah was encouraged by those around him to tell a more vivid story. Others have more charitably suggested that Beah simply got his dates mixed up, and his memory may have been unreliable because on his own admission he was high on drugs most of the time he was in military service. Beah has vehemently denied that he invented anything, however. In an article published in Publishers Weekly in 2008, Beah wrote, â€Å"Sad to say, my story is all true.†

An introduction to the Discount House in Nigeria

An introduction to the Discount House in Nigeria In selecting an industry, the Discount House, a sub sector of the Nigerian financial sector was selected because they are peculiar in their own special way in that they offer unique financial services which put them in almost the same pedestal as the regular banks in Nigeria but they are not banks. They could also be referred to as specialised banks. In carrying out an analysis of its competitiveness, the PESTLE model was used to analyse how the Discount House sub sector is affected by environmental factors while the Porters Five Forces was used to analyse the various threats and challenges that beset the Discount House sub sector. Discount houses are specialised financial Institutions created by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to assist its management of liquidity in the economy (Consolidated Discount Limited, 2009). They are composite but specialised financial services solution provider (Associated Discount House Limited, 2009) whose primary function is to provide safe and secured short-term investment opportunities within the banking system. (Express Discount Limited, 2009). The Structure Of The Nigerian Financial System The Nigerian financial system is made up of two sub sectors; the formal and the informal sub sectors. The formal sub sector comprises of the regulatory bodies, money market, capital market, foreign exchange markets, insurance companies, brokerage firms, deposit money banks (DMBs), development finance and other financial institutions. As at the end of March 2010, there were 24 deposit money banks(DMBs), 5discount houses(DHs), 941 microfinance banks(MFBs), 107 finance companies(FCs), 101 primary mortgage institutions(PMIs), 13 pension fund administrators(PFAs), 5 pension fund custodians(PFCs), 1 stock exchange, 1 commodity exchange, 1621 bureau-de-change operators(BDCs), 690 securities brokerage firms, 5 development finance institutions(DFIs) and 73 insurance companies. The informal sub sector includes self-help groups, financial cooperatives and credit associations. It is imperative to know that there is a weak relationship between the informal sub sector and the formal sub sector (financial stability report, 2010) Discount House Sub Sector Overview: Discount Houses in Nigeria were first established in 1993. They were licensed to commence operations with just three discount houses as players. Their number later increased to five and their foundation can be linked to Great Britain, which is generally regarded as the origin of discount houses. These institutions evolved to provide a link between the banks and the Bank of England by serving as a channel for the interchange of banks funds as well as providing access to the Bank of England as a lender of last resort (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, ) and in like manner discount houses in Nigeria are to act as intermediaries or mediators between the Central Bank of Nigeria and other licensed banks in Nigeria in Open Market Operations transactions (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). There are five discount houses in Nigeria wholly owned by consortiums of banks and other financial institutions as allowed in the Discount House guidelines 2004 by the Central Bank of Nigeria. However the maximum allowable equity holding for any investor in a discount house is 40% (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004).These Discount Houses are named as follows: Associated Discount House Limited (ADHL), Consolidated Discount Limited (CDL), Express Discount House Limited (EDL), First Securities Discount House Limited (FSDH) and Kakawa Discount House Limited (KDHL).They fall under a common umbrella referred to as Nigerian Discount Market Association. They are presently not listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Discount House sub sector is highly monitored, guided and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria requiring of them their daily, weekly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports showing the state of their affairs. Their daily operational activities include the injection and the withdrawal of funds by the Central bank of Nigeria from the money market through them (Ezirim and Enefaa, 2010) of which they must invest 60% of their deposit liabilities in government securities at any point in time (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). By this a balance is maintained in the economy thereby guarding liquidity. Apart from this function, the discount houses also facilitate the issuance and sale of short term government securities, provide discount/re-discount facilities for treasury bills, government securities and other eligible financial instruments, accept short-term investments on an intermediary basis from banks and wholesale investors and lastly provide short term financial accommodation to banks (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). The Discount House Sub-Sector Environment: The discount house sector is greatly influenced and controlled by environmental forces; global and domestic. The global economic environment shows that the global economic crisis appeared to have eased off in the latter part of 2009 but general optimism is being replaced with pessimism of a double dip recession, as fears grow that governments and policy makers around the world might be forced (due to pressure or mistakes) to remove monetary and fiscal props, too soon. So even though developed economies are gradually beginning to come out of the general recession, the situation is still delicate (First Securities Discount House, 2009). In emerging market economies, growth has been robust but inflationary pressures are strong and on the rise. The negative impact of the political crises in the oil-producing Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on oil prices and the disruptions and destructions associated with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have added to uncertainty about the sustainability of global economic recovery and growth%( Central Bank of Nigeria communiquà © No 75, 2011). This has great implications on the discount houses with Nigeria being a developing and emerging economy and the effect of the global crises is strongly felt with a probability of increases in the international interest rate. The domestic economic environment is being characterised by a fluctuating inflation rate which has significant impact on interest and lending rates. It has been a herculean task trying to bring down the inflation rate to a single digit as proposed and rather the rate rose from 11.1% as at March, 2011 to 12.8% in April, 2011(Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, 2011). This inflationary rise still has a tendency to heighten further as a result of the general increase in global and food prices. The operating economic environment is full of challenges as there are array of issues. In March 2011, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank increased MPR from 6.5% to 7.5% maintaining interest rate corridor of +/-2% around the MPR. By this, the Standing Lending Facility Rate (rate at which CBN lends to Banks and Discount Houses as bank of last resort) became 9.5% and has remained so. On the other hand, the Standing Deposit Rate (rate at which Banks and Discount Houses place excess funds with the Central Bank of Nigeria) remained at 4 %. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had a projection of an increase by 7.43% in the first quarter of the year 2011, giving a generally good outlook to the Nigerian economy. This projection arose as a result of the expectation for a perk up in the oil sector and also the increasing emphasis on the development and improvement of the other sectors in the economy (Central Bank of Nigeria communiquà © No 75, 2011). Finally on the political scene, the year 2011 being an election year for Nigeria, there are a lot uncertainties associated with the electoral process and the election results and this could affect the discount house sub sector and the Nigerian economy as a whole and it is projected that the effect of these uncertainties will result in higher exchange rate risks with lower reserves and high spending-currency devaluation possible and that Inflation will remain over 10% with implications for demand, input costs and projects(Resource and Trust Company Limited, 2011). Competitiveness In The Discount House Sub- Sector The discount house sub sector is just a small sector in a large financial sector with just a few players who are almost of equal standing; hence, there is strong competition among the services providers which have led to innovation, efficiency and the upgrade of competitive advantage by the players. The provision of specialised personalised services allowable within the scope of the discount house guidelines. Example is the personal pension plan developed by Consolidated Discount Limited which was created as a way of preparing clients to be less vulnerable to loss of earning capacity after retirement (Consolidated Discount Limited, 2009). Also Associated Discount House Limited in conjunction with the Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria organized an awareness seminar on 12 February, 2009 to enkindle the interest of retail investors both local, international and in the diasporas in Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds (Associated Discount House Limited, 2009). Opportunities In The Discount House Sub- Sector Without gainsaying, there are opportunities in Discount Houses businesses (if not many) which gives them an edge over banks and other specialised banks. As earlier inferred, discount houses are allowed to offer certain unique financial services which puts them almost in the same stand as banks and even much more but they cannot be referred to as banks and one of the reasons is because there is minimum paid up capital imposed on the regular banks which amounts to N25,000,000,000.00(Twenty five billion naira) only at any point in time. For the discount houses sub sector, the minimum paid up capital shall be N1,000,000,000.00(One billion naira) only or as may be prescribed by Central Bank of Nigeria from time to time (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2008). There is a revised Guideline for year 2008 which also relaxes the ownership of Discount Houses to now include non-financial institutions and individuals. This revision provides the opportunity for Discount Houses to grow their capital base to enable them to explore new areas of business and boost their profitability (Kakawa Discount House, 2009). Discount Houses have sizable support from the Central Bank of Nigeria as they often have the privilege of being able to gain access to cheap funds by using the government securities in their custody to borrow. Discount Houses are tightly regulated therefore there can be little room for carrying out activities outside their stipulated guidelines. Discount Houses are proactive in monitoring and managing money market trends to the benefit of their clients. Unlike other deposit taking institutions, the financial assets acquired by Discount Houses are of the finest quality with little or no credit risk (Express Discount House Limited, 2009). Threats To The Discount House Sub- Sector Naturally the discount house sub sector is faced with its own threats and challenges as from inception, discount houses operated in an environment that could termed as unusual or abnormal. There was a distress situation in the banking sector which was at its peak and most banks patronized discount houses in order to ensure the safety of their funds, but with the return of orderliness and calm, discount houses patronage by banks reduced. Rather, the interbank and foreign exchange markets seem to have provided more attractive trading options for the banks, to the detriment of the discount houses. Licensing of additional discount houses to make the total number of discount houses 5 proved to be a challenge as it had an adverse effect on the total turnover of the discount house sub sector, following the initial boom from the year of operations of 1993 where total asset stood at N9,600,000,000.00(Nine billion, six hundred million naira) only which dropped significantly to N3,400,000,000.00(Three billion, four hundred million naira) only in 1995 following the entrance of a new entrant into the market. With these happenings, licensing of new discount houses might still impact on the sub-sector further negatively. Their narrow scope of operations has also proven to be a major challenge for the Discount House sub sector being a specialised bank is inhibiting a lot of opportunities for expansion (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, 2010). Finally, from the inception, discount houses had the exclusive right to conduct Open Market Operations transactions (OMO). Open Market Operations (OMO) is an indirect monetary policy technique that is used to control the level of money supply. It involves the sale/purchases of money market instruments in the open market; these instruments being Nigerian treasury bills (Ezirim and Enefaa, 2010). With the Central Bank of Nigeria opening up the window to banks as well, the discount house sub sector lost the sole right of Open market Operations. Conclusion In spite of all the challenges and threats faced by the Discount House sub sector, the Discount Houses are still are very vital part of Nigeria as an emerging economy and just the existing players in the market are not enough to keep a balanced financial sector and the economy as a whole. In the light of the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria as the major regulator keeps on revisiting and revising the guidelines of the Discount House sub sector, there is hope yet still for growth, expansion, innovation and maximum output which should encourage new players to participate. Part 2 Strategy Overview Strategy is a plan or blueprint of what an organisation intends to achieve and how to go about it. Artto, Kujala, Dietrich and Martinsuo (2008) define strategy as a firms goal to attain a desired position in its competitive external environment. This is in line with Kenneth Andrew (1987) school of thought that views strategy from the corporate angle where he views corporate strategy as the nature of decisions a company takes which reveals its short and long term goals, how it plans to go about achieving these goals and how its outcome will affect all stakeholders and community at large. There is a popular belief that an organization that fails to plan or strategise, plans to fail and Goold (1996) goes on further to share his own view when he says that matured businesses can easily become staid and resistant to change. Usually this behaviour leads them to a decline and the only way it can regain its position is through strategy or change in strategy. This resolve usually involve the p ursuit, accomplishment, and maintenance of competitive advantage in its industry (Varadarajan and Clark cited in Morgana and Strong, 2003). Whittington (2001:10) summarises it all when he says strategy is all about thinking better and thinking differently and claims that a good strategy means doing something different from every other person. But there are pitfalls to strategy as Mintzberg (1994) puts forward the question; is a climate conducive to strategic planning necessarily one conducive to effective strategic thinking and acting? He claims that there are underlying issues which affects the ability of plans to make head way and emphasizes that these issues are neither technical nor analytical but rather human (Abel and Hammond cited in Mintzberg, 1994). But Smith and Reese (1999) argue that as long as there is a fit or alignment between operational elements and business then there should be no pitfalls where he defines fit as the degree to which operational elements match the business strategy. Alternative Approaches to Strategy: Similarities and Differences There are various approaches to strategy but Whittington (2000) classifies strategy into four approaches: the Classical, Evolutionary, Processualist and Systemic. He further analyses each approach as follows: The classical approach sees strategy as a process of rational deliberation, calculation and analysis, intended to achieve long-term benefit and that good planning is what it takes to master internal and external environments. The Evolutionary approach analyses strategy from the point of view that rational long term planning is often irrelevant and that strategies that turn out to be successful only turn out so because it was inevitable. The Processualist approach sees long term planning as basically pointless, but they are not so doubtful or cynical about the fate of businesses that do not take full advantage of environmental opportunities as they do not their see inability or failure to think up and strategise is going to lead to any serious competitive disadvantage. Finally the Systemic approach to strategy sees organizations strategic planning as basically being influenced and controlled by the social system in which they operate. Meaning the demographic setting of the organizations environment needs to be taken into consideration when strategizing. In analyzing the similarities and differences of these approaches, their style or processes and their end result is paramount. In comparing the classical and evolutionary approaches to strategy, Whittington (2001:2) posits profit maximization as the natural outcome of strategy-making. This he made in reference from the point of view of their end result which is profit or return on capital. These approaches associate profitability with strategy and believe the higher the level of strategy employed, the higher and better the profit generated. This view is shared by (Friedman and Baumol cited in Vining and Meredith, 2000) where they argue that the only appropriate goal or strategy in any organisation is to maximize profit and that any other goal is considered inappropriate. As much the classical and evolutionary approaches are similar in terms of profit maximization being their goal; they differ in style and processes. The classical approach adopts a style of rational planning (Whittington, 2000:11) whereas the evolutionary approach lacks confidence in rational planning where they argue that no matter the level or intensity of strategy, the outcome is usually driven by market dictates and how well a manager is able to perform and that investing in long term strategies can be counter productive (Whittington, 2000: 19). In this instance, the evolutionary approach can be compared with the Processualist approach to strategy in that they also do not believe in rational planning. This view is shared by Peppard 1995, who argues that in a claim to gaining competitive advantage, management develop strategies with seemingly superiority above others which is just a way of them being seen to be doing something and not necessarily hope to achieve anything by their strategies. By this claim, peppard tries to show that rational planning is just an act which is not necessarily relevant to the overall performance of the organisation but it is something that is done for the corporate image. His view is supported by Cyert and March ( cited in Whittington 2000:22) who argue that firms can plan in such a way that major strategy sessions could be cut off and yet still deliver just enough to keep everyone satisfied. Although the processualist approach is similar to the evolutionary approach in terms of processes and style, that where all their similarity ends because in terms of outcome. The Processualist approach can be compared with the systemic approach of strategy whose school of thought sees not only profit maximization but other outcomes as a an end result of strategy (Whittington 2000: 21 27). Werther Jr and Chandler (2005) argue that firms are continuously appraised in terms of both the financial and social benefits that result from their corporate actions or strategies. The systemic approach proposes that firms differ according to the social and economic systems in which they are embedded (Whittington, 2000:27) thereby viewing strategy as being guided and controlled by the environmental forces in which they operate. In the same spirit, the processualist advice against striving after unattainable ideal of rational fluid action, but to accept and work with the world as it is (Whittington, 2000:21). Finally, the systemic approach can be compared with the classical approach in that they both believe in rational planning and do retain faith in the capacity of organizations to plan forward and to act effectively within their environment'(Whittington 2000:26). This view is shared by Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, (2010) when they opined that strategy is a high-order choice that has profound implications on competitive outcomesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and strategy should contain provisions against a range of environmental contingencies, whether they take place or not and Stallwood (1996) maintains that strategy is necessary but insists that whatever strategy is used must be appropriate and simple enough for it to become adopted by an organization without necessarily having to change after its initial usage. Conclusion Strategy can be seen as a means of avoiding [perhaps] costly and damaging warfare (University of Leicester, 2009:90) and it is quite clear that all the approaches of strategy have their own benefits even though they are similar and also dissimilar in their own unique ways. Therefore which ever method adopted should be seen to add to an organizations performance and must be duly analysed and deliberated on ensuring it is in alignment with the organizations goals and objectives before adoption.