Editorial Analysis Essay

1. An Argument is Addressed to a Specific Audience at a Particular Time Recently two farms in Iowa had to perform a massive recall in eggs due to a salmonella poisoning from contaminated feed. The poisoning has caused the two companies to recall more than half a billion eggs, and has made about 1,500 people ill. Now, the companies are claiming that they are committed to safety and that it is up to the consumer of the eggs to fully cook the eggs before eating. This argument is addressed to egg consumers raising awareness that farm CEO’s are overlooking safety procedures due to their cost. The editorial addresses the FDA of having a poor history of inspecting food providers, and ignoring what they find. Anyone purchasing not only eggs but food from normally trusted farms is included in the editorials audience portion. Argument Wants Something From Its Audience This article does not specially call its audience to action, however it does raise awareness in its readers. The article reminds its readers of other slip-up’s from the FDA’s poor inspection quality and limited action to reduce the occurrences of poisoning. The article suggests that broader vaccination of chickens would help the issue as well as a food safety bill. An Argument Gives Its Audience Reasons for What it Wants Brought up in the article are several other examples of overlooked issues causing harm on citizens due to financial cutbacks or careless inspection. The explosion of a well in the Gulf of Mexico killing 11, an explosion of another mine in West Virginia killing 29, and the Peanut Corp. of America killing nine and sickening 700 are all reasons for the audience to be aware of what is happening in â€Å"trusted† companies and for action to be taken within the FDA and the companies themselves regarding safety. Not All the Reasons Are Stated Openly. The writer here assumes that the reader has been following the recent poisonings and harm to citizens due to poor inspection, and never calls the reader to any specific action. He only provides a recent history of what has happened, then proposes a list of solutions. He never blatantly says that if we do not rise to action more and more people will die. He lets the reader figure that out through his facts and data. The audience must complete the argument for the arguer based on the facts provided. Arguments Are Supported by Calling on Readers’ Attitudes and Feelings By providing so many examples of sickness and death, the article allows the reader to experience many negative emotions towards the neglect of the safety of companies that it supports its own argument within the reader. The reader will become concerned with the safety of him/herself, as well as his/her family and form the opinion in favor of the writer. 6. The Source of the Argument Matters USA today is a well-known and highly read paper not only by American citizens but by international ones as well. Many people with families read the paper, therefore making it appropriate to address to its audience. Everyone who reads this paper also consumes food, also providing the perfect audience. The source is highly credible through the paper and it also provides a link to the opposing argument, illustrating that the paper is not biased. A Counterargument is Always in the Background Provided on the page are links to information and articles regarding the counterargument that the farms are committed to safety and that it is up to the consumer to cook the eggs fully before eating. Any claim regarding the FDA or CEO’s inspecting their farms and companies provides a counterargument.

Management Essay

Our group feels that this question can be answered in 2 different ways namely, from the manager’s perspective or from the employee’s perspective for each aspect of Ajzen’s theory. 1. Attitude toward the behaviour  In this case, the ‘attitude’ here refers to that of the recession. From employees’ perspective – employees will be low in spirits and morale during a recession as they know that there is a high possibility that they will be retrenched by the company. From manager’s perspective – The manager will have a positive attitude about improving the performance of the employees during a recession because if they do not do so, the company will take a long time or never recover from the recession. The manager can improve the employee’s performance by a. Communicating with the employees about the recession and the possible impacts it will have on the workplace. b. Provide continuous feedback which includes occasional recognition and rewards to boost their morale. c. Attribute the employees’ consistent performance and update them on the state of the economy. 2. Subjective norm From employees’ perspective – employees feel that they should not give in their 100% at work in times of a recession as the likelihood of being retrenched is still prominent, so why work so hard? They are pressured by their peers to act in this manner. From manager’s perspective – managers are pressured by the top management (CEOs, shareholders) to think of ways to improve the employees’ performance. Such methods are as mentioned earlier above. 3. Perceived Behavioural Control  From employees’ perspective – it is very easy to succumb to peer pressure and not give in their best in their work in times of a recession. From manager’s perspective – managers are completely in charge on their intention to improve the employees’ performance during a recession as it is their job to do so.

Individual Project 4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Project 4 - Research Paper Example In one particular case, a military service captain exploited his authority and position as a reservist to secure government contracts for some private sector companies, which he was affiliated to. Additionally, the captain – working as a government official – accepted kickbacks from one of the companies, as compensation for helping it to secure government work contract. Following the discovery of his ethical failure, the officer was required to retire, while still at the grade of a commander, despite the fact he had already been endorsed for promotion to the rank of an admiral. Apart from the withdrawal of the promotion, the officer was debarred for a period of one year. On the other hand, two of the companies that he had facilitated the reception of government contracts signed 3-year administrative agreements with the military services. The misconduct surrounding the unethical incidence evidenced through the case was that of abusing office and accepting bribes (Gray, Hellman & Ryterman, 2002). Thee misconducts are evidenced by the facts that the officer used his office as a reservist to solicit the contractual work assigned to the companies he was affiliated to. The behavior of acting on behalf of the companies – in a case where he should have been impartial and transparent – showed misconduct on his part. The second misconduct is evidenced by the act of receiving a bribe from one of the companies, as compensation for the role of facilitating the reception of the government contract awarded (Gray, Hellman & Ryterman, 2002). The standard policies and the code of ethics related to government contracting is adequate, and is sufficient for the management of the different areas covered by government contracting, including that the ethics philosophy is built around trustworthiness and honestly, which are mediated through successful personal and professional relationships. Further, the areas

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 8

Business Law - Essay Example It is an association of two or more people carrying on a business for profit. Maximum number of partner is 20 but in case of bank, it is only 10. There must be an agreement written or oral. As same as sole proprietorship, partnership has unlimited liability which means the partners are personally liable to pay off the debt if the business is not capable to do so. Limited Partnership: A limited partnership is one in which one ore more but not all partners have limited liability. There must be at least one general partner whose liability will be unlimited to pay all debts of the firm. This type of organization is best for funding a business. As per wiseGEEK.com, the limited partner generally has limited or no managerial authority. (wiseGEEK). To obtain a status of a limited partnership, the partners must get it registered with the registrar of partnership. It must also be kept in mind that a limited partner cannot withdraw any amount of his capital. If he does so, he will stay liable for the debts up to his original contribution of capital. C-Corporation: It is also called Traditional Corporation. A C-company is a legal form of business entity. Corporation is best for establishing a business on a large scale. It has no limit for number of shareholders even foreign citizens. It has limited liability which means shareholders are not personally liable to pay off company’s debt. Tax is imposed twice; first on the profit of the company and then on the dividends of the shareholders. In addition to this, corporation tax is paid regularly. A corporation may be a Public Limited or Private Limited. In Public Limited, shares are offered for sale to general public and have no limit to the maximum number of share holders. In Private Limited, shares are not sold to general public and the maximum number of shareholders is 50. Issuing prospect and obtaining commencement certificate are not necessary for a Public Limited but mandatory for Private

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 12

Marketing - Essay Example Eventually, the product got to the stage of market development where the parent company described its target market, the market share, the sales, planned value proposition, and their profit goals. Finally, McDonald carried out a business analysis on the product through a review of its profit projections, costs, and sales to define if it fits into their company objectives. After this stage, the product was pushed to the product development, where they created McLobster. They consulted specialists in seafood. Finally, McDonald performed their test marketing by bringing McLobster, as well as its marketing program, into the real market conditions. At this point, they offered McLobster to its target market at particular locations. Test marketing for a company like McDonald is quite easy since they experimented with a product like McLobster at their own restaurants by carrying out local and small promotions and offering it under â€Å"NEW† on the menu. However, McLobster was not profitable enough for McDonalds to commercialize it, although, it is given as a seasonal product (Mills 35). Cited as one of the most notorious brand missteps of all, it was launched buy Coca Cola in the mid-80s in an attempt to stay ahead of its competitors during the famous â€Å"cola wars†. It was introduced in a way that made regular coke drinkers feel like they did not matter to the company, which led to a product boycott (Haig 23). This cola was introduced in the early in 90s and had no lime/lemon flavor unlike other clear and carbonated drinks, although it also did not possess the usual flavor prevalent in colas either. The soda, despite an expensive and glitzy media campaign, failed to catch. They lost millions trying to guess at straws and have not fully recovered yet (Haig 40). This error has informed most competitors not to change acceptable norms like cola colors. This burger was launched by McDonalds at a cost estimated

R Software to complete this task Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

R Software to complete this task - Coursework Example The negative skewness implies that there are more data points on the left side of the histogram (negative side of a skew plot). One can conclude that the life expectancy across the 182 countries is well below 70 years. The scatter plot above barely indicate any form of correlation between internet usage and life expectancy. However, it is clearly indicative that as internet usage increase from 20 to 80, the life expectancy tends to stay above 70 years and steadily moves towards 80 years. This can be simply explained by the fact that increased internet usage leads to better health care awareness. Being exposed to better and healthy living habits and information through the internet may be the cause for increased longevity. The histogram for life expectancy in Europe also shows that the distribution is negatively skewed, but much lesser compared to the entire world life expectancy. The skewness coefficient stands at (-0.52496). However, looking at the bar plots above, there seems to be a reduced number of age data points on the left side. This means that Europe experience increased longevity compared to the world (Reimann et al.). A careful look at the histogram shows that between ages 60 to age 78, the distribution is symmetrical. However, when the age limit is extended above 80, the distribution becomes negatively skewed. The life expectancy in Europe is much higher compared to the 182 countries. The first histogram plot clearly shows that the life expectancy across the 182 countries is 70 years, while the second histogram plot shows that the life expectancy in Europe is at 78 years. Both histograms distribution are negatively skewed, however, Europe seems to have more access to information technology (internet access) which obviously has improved the living standard and heath care for the aging population. In addition, one can also conclude that since Europe has many developed markets, a huge proportion of the population is able to

MIS computer assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MIS computer - Assignment Example On the other hand, the following hardwares were purchased: a computer desktop PC whose feature is described as precision T7910; input devices such as mouse inclusive of a mouse pad and keyboard; output devices such as monitor and external speakers; secondary hard devices such as hard disks and optical storage device; a sound card; and Ethernet network card. The above preferred operating system-OS (window 7 64 bit) is ideal since it does not experience issues related to compatibility that was a thorn in the flesh for the earlier versions such widow XP and Vista. Moreover, its drivers are readily available except the Ethernet drivers which are usually available through the internet platforms (Emdadekh, 2010). The other required softwares such as word processor, spreadsheets, publisher, PowerPoint can be easily installed into the above specified OS as a package inform of office software. The latest version of office (office 2013) is of preference due to the fact that it is not only easier to use but also facilitates easier input techniques and analysis especially when using the spreadsheets. On the other hand, the program for creating PDF files is also easily installed from the internet inclusive of the PDF converter that enables one to convert the PDF script into other forms contained in the office 2013 especially when editing is required. It is prudent to comprehend that the data base management program is part of the office package and once installed one can easily create a data base. For the e-mail program, the provisions such internet browsers such as the Mozilla Firefox, the Google Chrome, and the internet explorer among others enable one to manipulate the e-mailing components of th e program (Emdadekh, 2010). Furthermore, Window 7 readily accepts installation of the latest versions of these browsers. In addition, the computer security system can be enhanced by installing internet security softwares

Placement Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Placement Report - Essay Example Marks and Spencer has successfully expanded its market and today it has more than 900 retail outlets all over the world. It is also listed in London Stock Exchange. The company however started facing problems relating to its marketing department. Main theme of Marks & Spencer was to provide high quality and innovative products along with exceptional services but the company has started to fail in achieving these objectives because of the wide expansion in their product portfolio. Due to the expansion in the portfolio the company has lost its main objective slightly and because of this reason, competitors are able to grab the opportunity. However, the quality of service has been one of the hallmarks that have helped the company to survive difficult times and make sure that the company is able to do well than its competitors. This report analyses my personal experience that I have gone through during my employment at Marks and Spencer. The report analyses and evaluates not only my expe rience, but the experience of the overall team with which I was working. The report also highlights the success reasons of the team and the success factors because of which the team was able to accomplish the project appropriately and successfully. The report also presents the scenario and case that Marks and Spencer was facing and how our team helped the company to solve the issue and make sure that the company flourishes. This report also reflects my personal skills that I have developed during the employment period. Moreover, the report also highlights how I have been able to use my marketing concepts and knowledge at the organization that helped Marks and Spencer to achieve its objectives. EVALUATING THE WORK OF THE TEAM Marks and Spencer is a big name in the retail industry of United Kingdom as well as in other European countries. However, the company has been facing different types of issues. Some of the major issues that Marks and Spencer has been facing include: Bad position ing Uncompetitive prices Unavailability of the product in some of the outlets of the company Lack of awareness of the product in the mind of consumers Not focusing on traditional marketing techniques and promotional tools Issues in the Customer services of the company I found the abovementioned issues that have negatively impact the company and its sales over the years. However I was working in the customer services department and therefore the main issues that I have identified in this department include: Proactive customer services Poor presentations Ensuring customer satisfaction level Offering more products to customers or increasing sales per customer As a customer sales representative, I along with my team mates was assigned different tasks to solve the abovementioned issues. Our team was given training in order to improve the customer relationship and build better relations with the customers. Moreover, our team also worked ourselves and formulated different strategies in ord er to improve the reputation of the retail outlet in which I was working. At Marks and Spencer, employees are given some kind of freedom on how to satisfy the customers however they are given a broad outline of how to go

Transfer Personal Statement Essay Example for Free

Transfer Personal Statement Essay To learn in life has always been one of my passions. Education cannot be taken away from me no matter how many years I have to live my life. The pursuit of Education drove me to left my country, Korea, momentarily and travel to the Philippine Islands then eventually to the country of the free people, America, which I found to be a great country with diverse groups of people whom I can relate with since I like to meet people. It was a great decision for me to become an international student; coupled with the fact that I would be separated with my family and friends whom I’ve known for almost all of my life. But, the idea of visiting foreign places and learning new things and cultures always enticed me since I was a child, so I eventually decided to pursue my dream. Luckily I have a very supportive family. They bid me farewell with smiles on their faces. I first went to the Philippines and enrolled at one of the colleges there during the year 2004. At first, sadness and longing settled in me, but later on as I learned to adapt to my new environment, my enthusiasm for learning began to be felt again. I completed one year of my studies there. Since the educational system in the Philippines is different, the feeling that I don’t know what to do with my life seeped into my consciousness and with that I realized that I was not completely happy. I never enrolled again for my second year in college in the Philippines; instead I went to Seattle and enrolled at Seattle Central Community College.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Taking up a degree in A.A., majoring in Philosophy, I settled in at this college rather a little quickly. That meant that I like the place. I persevered in class although my classmates and surroundings are new to me. I met with people, exchange ideas and different concepts with the students and instructors. And during this time, I began to feel confident with myself and suddenly found what I wanted to do with my life. In March this year, I will graduate at this college and will achieve one of my dreams of learning more in school and at the same time learning more the intricacies of life. After this, I planned of extending my stay in the United States and apply at a university with the best quality of education that it can give. Apart from having a good education, I take pleasure in watching or playing soccer. I also enjoy going to bookstores (perhaps, I can say that I’m a bookworm) and there I spend a lot of time, in fact hours. I usually browse through literature books, from the classical era to the contemporary writings and do some doodles in my notebook. I have this habit of trying and experiencing new things that will eventually help me in molding myself into a better person.   I personally believe that each individual has a natural disposition to excel in life if not hindered by jealousy, hatred or envy by other people. So, it is imperative that we, as inhabitants of this world, should live with each other free from prejudice. We should start to share with each other what we have. This thinking can be achieved through education. This is one of the reasons that I continually search for an institution that will cater to my dreams and hopes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Studying at a premier university will provide me with the necessary tools to survive in the outside world. It will expand my view about the world and the people living in it with different people and background. With this in mind, I was driven to realize that I have it in me to persevere and learn the course subjects that I will be taking when I am accepted at a particular university of my choice. I have to persevere. Being an international student, coming from a different culture and country, would prove to be hard, yet the desire and will in to pursue education and take it is never diminished by these alone. The fact that I have endured being separated with my family, traveling from place to place, and adapting to different environments are testaments to the fact that I am determined to achieve my educational goals. I hope that in the near future if I graduate with a degree from a university of my choice, I will be able to impart what I have known and learn within the confines of the educational institution to other people. There are people who are not fortunate enough to have sufficient material possession to help them in pursuing their dreams of going to a university, especially in my homeland; I will make this as a personal objective that I will be of assistance to them through the education that I’ll learn from university. Education is free. It is a given right, since our birth, for us to know our world and the people living in it. With that, I am exercising that right.

Biometrics Identification Attendance Monitoring System Essay Example for Free

Biometrics Identification Attendance Monitoring System Essay Time is a special resource that you cannot store or save for later use. Everyone has the exact same amount of time each day. Time not well used cannot be retrieved. Most people feel like they have too much to do and not enough time. They blame lack of time for their poor finances, unachieved goals, stress, bad relationships and not exercising their body. Wise time management can help you find the time for what you desire to do or need to do. You need time to get what you want out of life. Waiting for more free time to appear is losing the game of life. Through time management you can â€Å"create† the time you need, and not just wait for it to come. By planning your time wisely, you will have more time to do more things. You can learn to find the time for the things that are important to you. Even a small amount of time once a day, or even once a week, will take you closer to your goals, and you will be surprised at the progress you make. You become more productive using improved time management skills and tools, and can accomplish more with less effort and time. Time management can help you reduce wasted time and energy, help you become more creative and productive, and enable you to do the right thing at the right time. This will of course lead to more balance and fulfillment in your life. Working time is the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor. Unpaid labors such as housework are not considered part of the working week. Many countries regulate the work week by law, such as stipulating minimum daily rest periods, annual holidays and a maximum number of working hours per week. Impact on system domain or impact on domain functionality, the risks between implementations and there. Ideally the monitoring is a tiny fraction of each applications footprint, requiring simplicity. The monitoring function must be highly tunable to allow for such issues as network performance, improvements to applications in the development life-cycle, appropriate levels of detail, etc. Impact on the real goal for the system must be considered In this paper, we proposed a system that automates the whole process or taking attendance and maintaining its records. Managing people is a difficult task for most of the organizations and maintaining the attendance record is an important factor in people management. Manually taking the attendance and maintaining it for a longtime odd to the difficulty of this task as well as wastes a lot of time. For this reason an efficient system is designed. This system takes electronically with fingerprint sensor and all the record are saved on a computer server. Biometric Identification Attendance Monitoring System serve as a time-log that is set up as a computerized database. This system maintains a daily record of a employee’s arrival and departure time for works. It keeps records in order and is frequently updated. When seeking employment, an employee can request certain reports to be printed from the Biometric Identification Attendance Monitoring. Biometrics have been widely use of the purpose of recognition, it is the most secure it is impossible to forge or tamper fingerprint. Fingerprint sensor is place at the entrance of faculty office. In order to mark the attendance, employee has to place his/her finger on the fingerprints sensor. On identification employee attendance’s, attendance record is updated in the database and he/she is notified through monitor. No need of all stationary materials and special person for keeping records. Fingerprint based time attendance-monitoring system provides a foolproof solution using fingerprint authentication. It is very effective in resolving proxy entry problems inherent in other traditional systems. The system records details such as arrival and departure of employees besides maintaining information regarding their personal and official profiles. Official employee information such as designation, department, shift, location, leaves status, compensation, etc. can be linked to any payroll software to automate the complete process. Biometric Identification Attendance Monitoring System completely eliminates â€Å"proxy† inherent in other traditional systems. There is absolutely no recurring cost and smart finger can also be integrated into any existing payroll application to automate the complete process is extremely user friendly and enables you to generate any kind of attendance report required by querying based on name, department, shift, date, type of activity, etc. It can be customized as per the specific requirements of Customer; fingerprint can also be integrated into any existing payroll application to automate the complete process.

Acoustic Design in Architecture

Acoustic Design in Architecture Introduction The purpose of this report is to produce a design scheme for the conversion of a large room to a multi use theatre. The report will present the necessary things that need to be considered to ensure a satisfactory acoustic environment by measuring the problems encountered with acoustic design and how to tackle them. The report will look at the problems related to this space and present possible solutions and recommendations based on the information available. Initial plan As in every case, this room presents its own unique set of problems, which involve very common factors such as the shape and size of the room, the intended use of the space, the budget and the basic laws of acoustics. The stage will be best positioned at the centre of the east wall, as shown in Fig.1 The audience depth will be shallow and wide so that the best can be appreciated from a presentation or performance both visually and acoustically. More importantly, the sound reaching the audience will be evenly distributed.   With the stage positioned on the east wall, the obvious step is to place the mixing desks and equipment storage in the boxed area opposite the stage. The walls are made of plasterboard. The room measures 15.176m wide and 12.176 long with an extra pocket on the side measuring 5m by 3.396m. The seating capacity will be approximately 80-100. Problems Although this is the logical way to position the stage and seating, there is a big problem with the design that needs to be ironed out; the roof is high and airy on one side of the room yet low and dense on the other. As symmetry is critical in acoustic design, this is a big problem. However, difficulties would also arise if the stage were positioned at one of the narrower sides of the room because the audience would still not get even sound distribution. The windows pose another big problem for the proposal of the design. If they were a desired feature a sound-reducing window could be fitted, but these are expensive and usually favoured in recording studios or places where visual presentation is not involved. For the purposes of this project, which must accommodate controlled lighting and projectors, daylight and the changes in daylight would be unacceptable. The need for windows in this case is redundant. The project funding cannot warrant electrical devices to control reverberation but sufficient commitment needs to be made towards sound reinforcement. For the purpose of renting the space to organisations outside of the university, it needs to be classed as a music venue, which brings with it its own set of requirements in terms of equipment and maintenance as well as in the acoustic design. Tests with sound inside the space need to be conducted before the speaker arrangement can be determined. Solutions and recommendations Walls The wall opposite the stage will need diffusers to distribute or absorb the sound and regulate reverberation time. Curtains along the back of the stage area will give more options once the venue is up and running and could also be extended to the north and south walls, in addition to the absorbers and diffusers. Rigid Rocksil walling is excellent, but expensive. There are many fiberboard solutions on the market, which would be a cheaper alternative. These can be screwed to the existing wall. Floor A cheap and effective option for the floor is heavy felt carpet underlay with a compressed carpet on the top. An attractive, but more expensive alternative would be to lay wooden flooring over the top of the thick underlay; the hard surface of the wood could enhance the sound quality; too much soft furnishing may deaden the sound. Ceiling The best solution to the problem with the ceiling is to find a balance between the sound generated under the high ceiling, with that being generated under the low side. As the area on one side of the room will have a different sound quality to the other side, absorbers need to be fitted to the high ceiling to counteract echo and a set of diffusers to the low ceiling to maximise the quality of the sound, (see figure 2). An aesthetic feature can be made of the high section of the ceiling using the reflectors and absorbers. Windows doors The solid fire doors will not leak much sound. Vibration leaked through the doorframe can be greatly decreased using doorframe sound gaskets. The windows would be best removed or blocked with absorbers. An air conditioning system will need to be installed, even if the windows remain, air conditioning is still absolutely necessary with so much insulation. Free standing absorbers Another ideal way to add flexibility to the working design of the studio is to include freestanding sound absorbers, deflectors and diffusers. These can be moved around to fit with the nature of performance or presentation and the size of the audience. They can also be custom made without too much expense. Conclusion The initial problem facing this project faces is the multi purpose use for which it has been designated and the flexibility that is required from the finished design. Live music and speech require different methods of application in acoustic design. Speech and drama performances depend largely on design made with good intelligibility in mind, where as acoustic design for music venues needs to take other factors into consideration that may not work out best for speech and vice versa. In addition to this, The University has limited funds for the project. The important factor here is that the design must be finished to a competitive standard and the venue must be able to operate smoothly if The University is to make the theatre a commercial success. More research needs to be carried out inside the room to determine how, exactly, the issue with the ceiling can be properly resolved. The acoustics of the space will need to be tested before work is carried out, using a small sound system that can establish the extent of change in sound from one side of the room to the other. Bibliography Makrinenko, L., Ed, Bradley, J.S.,1986. Acoustics of Auditoriums in Public Buildings, New York: Acoustical Society of America. Elsea P, 1996. ACOUSTIC TREATMENT FOR HOME STUDIOS, California: University of California Santa Cruz. Ed. Wallace Clement Sabine, 1921. Collected Papers on Acoustics, New York:v Acoustical Society of America Acoustic Absorbers and Diffusers: Theory, Design, and Application  by Trevor J. Cox, Peter D’Antonio, Spon Press (April 1, 2004)

Case Analysis: Calling 911 Essay -- Case Study, Emergencies, Human Fa

1. What human factors problems did you identify in the case study? The first human factors problem I identify is the sparking electric night-light. It is the cause of the fire and thus it is definitely had the design problem from the aspect of human factor. Next is the design of installation of steel security bars at each and every window. Although the design of the steel security bars is to protect the residents of the house, it has a fatal disadvantage which is limited the escape action of the residents. The case study proposed a solution to it which is panic hardware. However, the house only installed one set of panic hardware and this indicated another human factor problem that occurred in setting up the security system of the house. Moreover, the one and only set of panic hardware in the house was required to be stomp harder for activation. This reflected poor human factor design of the panic hardware. Another human factors problem that I identify in the case study is the miscommunication between the 911 operator and the Fire Department dispatcher and also between the Fire Department dispatcher with the nearby fire station unit. Although the operator clarified the address was No.9 to the dispatcher, the 911 operator missed the word â€Å"avenue† as part of the address when the operator was informing the Fire Department dispatcher the location of the fire incident. Moreover, due to the miscommunication between them, the rescue actions had delayed more than four minutes. To make the situation worse, the dispatcher sent wrong address, 3100 block of 9th Street in his order to the nearby fire station for rescue action which should be 3102 block 9th Avenue. Besides the above problems, as written in the case study, the likene... ...can prevent the occurrence of accident. In addition, the pressure needed to activate the set of panic hardware does not fit the emergency situation and the user too. It should be easier and faster in activation as it is designed for emergency escape plan. Last but not least, the city should put some effort in differentiate the street names to avoid the misunderstood or misinterpretation of the address which will cause latent failures. Works Cited Health and Safety Executive. (2014a). HF in accident investigations. Retrieved from http://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/core2.pdf Health and Safety Executive. (2014b). Identifying human failures. Retrieved from http://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/core3.pdf Health and Safety Executive. (2014c). Safety critical communications. Retrieved from http://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/common3.pdf

Eating Disorders Essay -- essays research papers

Imagine a thirteen-year-old girl who weighs 60 pounds because she is starving herself. Every time she looks in the mirror, she sees herself as fat. Picture her parents watching their daughter literally disintegrating into thin air. This is the life of a family dealing with an eating disorder. Eating disorders are a major problem with the young people of today's society. While anorexia and bulimia are sociological problems plaguing the world's youth, there are also other eating disorders. This "fat phobia", or fear of being over-weight, disturbs people to the point where they are in a way, committing suicide. Eating disorders have been termed the disease of the 1980's. An eating disorder is defined as "a dangerous and intense striving to become thin (Macionis 350). Even though it has been found that "95% of people who suffer anorexia or bulimia are woman, mostly from white, relatively affluent families" (Macionis 350), "the pre-occupation and obsession with food are not limited to women" (Meadow 24). Although some men also deal with eating disorders, most research has been done on women. In 1985, 95% of women felt they were overweight, while only 25% were actually considered medically overweight (Marshall 124). By the age of thirteen approximately 53% of females are unhappy with their bodies, and by the age of eighteen approximately 78% are unhappy (Marshall 124). Are culture could be seen as a narcissist society. Narcissism is a preoccupation with one's self, a concern with how one appears to others, and with living up to an image (Meadow 127). It seems that appearance is an important factor in our everyday life. According to Michael Levine, who in 1987 said, "Our culture transmits powerful messages that, just as men can not be too rich, women can not be too thin" (Macionis 350). While all women want to look as perfect as "Barbie", for some it just isn't possible. For women, being slender is almost synonymous with being successful (Macionis 350). It is also thought that 40% of the adult US population is significantly overweight (Meadow 24). Some experts feel that eating disorders are reaching epidemic proportions and estimate the national rate to be as high as 12% of women (Meadow 24). In fact, according to the Phoenix Gazette on November 7, 1985, "... ...with an eating disorder. If you suspect that your child or anyone you know has an eating disorder you should never: tell them their crazy, blame them, gossip about them, follow them around to check their eating or purging behavior. You should also never ignore them, reject them, tell them to quit the ridiculous behavior, or feel you need to solve their problems (teenhope.com 3). Some things you should do are to listen with understanding, appreciate their openness and the risk they took to tell you, support them and be available. Two of the most important things you should do are to always give her hope, and continuously, but gently suggest counseling. Roughly two million young women suffer from the symptoms of anorexia nervosa or bulimia (Meadow 127). Eating disorders are caused by a striving to "look good". This need to "look good" is so bad that in the mid 1980's 477,000 esthetic surgeries were done, that was up 61% from 1981 (Marshall 127). Although not all is known about eating disorders, we must keep studying them, and the effect society has on causing these problems, so we can someday be able to control and prevent these diseases.

Goal Statement Essay

Degree program: Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Trauma and Crisis Counseling Personal/Professional Goals My professional goal is to obtain Walden’s Master’s degree in mental health counseling with a specialization in trauma and crisis and become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). I would especially like to work with soldiers who have been affected by frequent deployments and their families to help them overcome their personal and social problems that have, without a doubt, strong negative influences on their lives. Throughout my life I have always been drawn to opportunities that helped others lead a healthier and happier life. As a military spouse I have witnessed the need the military community has for qualified mental health professionals and decided to pursue the counseling profession to give back to the community that has provided my family with so much. My own personal experiences as a military spouse have helped me become quite familiar with the lifestyle and many challenges members of the military and their families face. I feel my own experiences would put me in the unique position to truly understand the conflicts of my clients, which will in turn increase credibility with my clients, and should greatly contribute to a good client-therapist relationship. My background allows for a close bond with the community I would like to work with. I feel I could make a significant difference in military families’ lives with the aid of a degree in mental health counseling. Personal Qualities I possess various people skills that are, in my opinion, vital to mental health professionals in terms of perceptual, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills. I am a very diligent and attentive person who deeply cares for others. It is important for me to help others overcome their own difficulties or lighten their burdens through therapy. Through my own experiences in the past I have learned happiness and fulfillment start in one’s own heart and, most importantly, one’s own mind. The profession of mental health counselor will provide me with the opportunity to contribute to my community in a meaningful way. Why Walden? As a working mother and wife, I feel the online format of learning has provided me with the greatest amount of opportunities. Walden’s quality  mental health counseling program is exactly what I was looking for because it allows me to continue to support my family financially while pursuing an excellent education. I would be honored to become part of Walden University’s pool of students, and I am looking forward to the deep immersion in the study of counseling strategies, intervention models, and the early diagnosis and prevention of problems. Thank you for your consideration.

Philosophy Essay

Fundamentally the term philosophy is the study of different natural phenomena that exists like knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, numerous languages. Anthony Quinton a well known author of his time declared it as thinking about thinking. It is quite dissimilar than mysticism or mythology that are also ways of addressing numerous dissimilar questions. This term has a particular definite meaning as this word is an origin from ancient Greek times and it means ‘Love of wisdom‘. In addition with this it is also segmented into numerous different branches like Metaphysics, Epistemology, Political Philosophy, Logic, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of language and several more This branch of philosophy is fundamentally used to study the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. Several well known scientists work on this segment of philosophy and gave there numerous theories as well as applications on this but still the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as the central issue in philosophy of mind. It was also explored that there are other issues too regarding relations with physical body that have to be resolved. According to research it was discovered that chronological mapping of the brain was the initial attempt, which correlates mental functionalities with different segments of brain. Many of us have a thought that the main defining characteristic of a person is either the person has consciousness, mind or soul. Not only this it was also a fact that almost all of us exactly know consciousness, but still there are several problem regarding this as having awareness of consciousness is not the end until we know what consciousness is. Several philosophers gave their thoughts and works in this field to resolve all issues of philosophy of mind. In 427 BC Plato one of the well-known and prominent philosopher of his time share his though and declare the fact that fundamentally what we are is our real soul, and that our real soul will survive after death, and after our death this soul will be release form our body. Similarly in 384BC Aristotle reveal the fact that soul and body are basically related with each other, in addition with this he also explore the point that our soul is not a part of other substance but it is directly related with our body as or material substance, of which the body is made. Beside this Aristotle once said, If an axe had a soul, its soul would be cutting. Furthermore in year 1825 T.H. Huxley gave his views regarding philosophy of mind. As according to him our mind is a product of brain. Not only this he also gave samples to prove his words as he states† if I think that I want some chocolate, this may be because my stomach is sending messages to the brain because my blood sugar level is low†. In addition with this he also explore that this term consciousness didn’t have any sort of power to cause anything, all such situations are reflection of biology as according to him till the time body is alive and is in working position but when body dies, mind will stop its functionalities and dies with it. Several philosopher work in this particular area to resolve mind-body problem, they define the fact that through which techniques and approaches a supposedly non-material mind can influence a material body and vice-versa. Besides philosopher also concerned this particular point that how someone’s propositional attitudes could become the result of that individual’s neurons to fire not only this how his muscles also contract in exactly the accurate behavior as well. â€Å"The diversity of our opinions does not arise from the fact that some people are more reasonable than others, but solely from the fact that we we lead our thoughts along different paths and do not take the same things in consideration.† To resolve above mentioned issues Dualism and monism are explored and declared as the significant thoughts to resolve all such problems of mind and body. Dualism if basically defined as a position in which both mind and body lie down in some categorical way which would separate them from each other. Not only this Dualism is also segmented into three parts as well. Similarly Monism is also a declared as a particular stage where both mind and body are not ontologically distinct kinds of entities. Furthermore many other related things are also completed and different techniques are also designed by philosopher to solve all such issues of mind and body. As the father of modern philosophy Descartes in year 1596 uses his famous writing â€Å"method of doubt† to explain the fact that he has no doubt on the existence of his mind. After Descartes master piece writing various more photosphere also contributes in this field and still many of the issues of mind-body problem are not resolved, and these philosopher are looking forward to solve all such issues and gave a clear concept of how this part of body actually works and what is the fundamental relationship of mind and body.

Recombinant dna technology Essay

Recombinant DNA technology refers to the ability to isolate specific DNA sequences and alter or manipulate them to produce desired effects. More often, recombinant DNA technology is referred to as biotechnology. Recombinant DNA technology is fascinating in that it has developed into a multi-billion dollar industry, and completely revolutionized agriculture and pharmaceutical industries, all within the past 50 years. According to one account, biotechnology was born during a meeting in Hawaii in 1972 between Stanford medical professor Stanley Cohen, and biochemist Herbert Boyer from the University of California (Russo, 2003). The men were attending a conference on plasmids, and discussed the ability to introduce plasmid DNA into the bacterium E Coli that would allow researchers to actually clone the plasmids in the bacteria. Boyer and Cohen eventually chose different paths, both affected by the growing concerns about the safety of recombinant DNA technology, but this meeting is marked as the beginning of the biotechnology revolution. Cohen stayed in academia and defended recombinant DNA technology in US congressional hearings. During the same time, in 1976 Herbert Boyer partnered with venture capitalist and MIT graduate Robert Swanson to set up and develop the worlds first biotechnology company, Genentech (Russo, 2003). Since its introduction in the 1970’s the biotechnology industry has exploded, revolutionizing science and agricultural as well as pharmaceutical production. In 2011, Ernst &Young stated in the US alone there were 1,870 public and private biotechnology companies, their revenues worth over 60 billion US dollars (www.ey.com, 2012). To better understand how biotechnology has impacted the world we live in, it is good to have a broad understanding of the underlying principles of recombinant DNA technology. Firstly, two types of DNA are isolated. The first is bacterial plasmids that will act as the â€Å"gene carriers† and the second is DNA from another organism with a gene of interest (Campbell essential biology, 1967). The plasmid is cut in one place, and the DNA is cut in the area of interest for a specific gene. Restriction enzymes cut double-stranded DNA molecules at highly specific locations, called restriction sites, into fragments that can be manipulated (Harrison, Sampson, 1992). The specificity of the different enzymes depends on the base sequence of the DNA. Some enzymes cut both strands at the same point to produce â€Å"blunt ends†, others cut strands at different points producing staggered ends â€Å"sticky ends† (Harrison, Sampson, 1992). The DNA fragments are then mixed with the cut plasmids, joining together at their base pairs, or â€Å"sticky ends† (G with C and T with A in a sequence). The union is made permanent by a â€Å"pasting enzyme† called DNA ligase, thus creating recombinant DNA. (Campbell essential biology, 1967). The bacterium containing the recombinant plasmid is then mass-produced creating clones of the recombinant DNA to be grown in large quantities. The success of biotechnology companies reflects the high demand and numerous applications of recombinant DNA technology. Animal farming and breeding has been altered, giving animals more meat, as well as giving cows growth hormones to produce more milk (Donnelley & McCarthy, 1994). Biotechnology is responsible for the synthesis of useful proteins to create vaccines and drugs that fight acute or chronic diseases and illnesses. Due to recombinant DNA technology, insulin is readily available to diabetics. Alternatively, genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) have been responsible for advancements in agri-business. In agriculture, biotechnology has allowed for genetically modified crops to produce more yield, and thus more revenue for farmers, by creating pest-resistant, weather- resistant crops (Federici, 2010). Genetically modified food products can be given a longer shelf life through altering the genetics of an organism. To farmers, and a world with a growing population, genetically modified crops are looking more and more attractive. Weather resistant GMO’s that can grow in otherwise detrimental climates have even been suggested as a solution to world hunger. There is concern about the safety and ethics of genetically modified and engineered organisms. In many European countries, GM foods are clearly labeled, in the US and Canada, there is no mandatory labeling laws for genetically engineered foods or products (Federici, 2010). Scientific data has indicated in some circumstances that animals fed by GM crops have been harmed or died. In some instances animals exposed to GM crops developed abnormally and displayed detrimental reproductive issues (Maghari & Ardekani, 2011). Increasing prevalence of food allergies has also lead to blaming untested genetically modified crops as the source of the allergies (Maghari & Ardekani, 2011). Environmentalists are also enraged at the introduction of genetic ally modified organisms. GM seeds, once planted, and harvested, yield seeds of their own and often mix with wild, organic seeds, thus producing offspring that are hybrids of the genetically modified organism. Loss of biodiversity due to the GM resistant strains overtaking natural plant breeds in nature is a serious concern for environmentalists and biologists (Burke, 2012). They claim that the effects of GMO’s have not been researched or experimented long enough to determine if there are any long-term side effects to humans (Maghari & Ardekani, 2011). Although the biological advancements in medicine and science have greatly improved the quality of life of humans, the effects of genetically modified foods and GM animals is concerning. By providing vaccines otherwise unavailable to humans through biotechnology, many people experience longer then expected life spans. Usefulness of recombinant DNA technology in the worlds healthcare system can not be denied. However, the dependence on GM food in sustaining the world’s population should be examined more in depth. Has enough research been conducted on the effects of GMO’s on humans, animals, biodiversity, and the environment? I would disagree that sufficient data exists to be exploiting the science of biotechnology as vastly as humans have. Bibliography Burke, D. C. (2012). There’s a long, long trail a-winding: The complexities of GM foods regulation, a cautionary tale from the UK. GM Crops & Food, 3(1), 30-39. doi:10.4161/gmcr.18041 Donnelley, S., & McCarthy, C. R. (1994). The brave new world of animal biotechnology. Hastings Center Report, 24(1), S1. Ernst &Young. (2012). Global Biotechnology Report. Ernst & Young website. Federici, V. (2010). GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD AND INFORMED CONSUMER CHOICE: COMPARING U.S. AND E.U. LABELING LAWS. Brooklyn Journal Of International Law, 35(2), 515-561. Harrison, J., & Sampson, J. (1992). Enhancing understanding of recombinant DNA technology. Journal Of Biological Education (Society Of Biology), 26(4), 300. Maghari, B., & Ardekani, A. M. (2011). Genetically Modified Foods and Social Concerns. Avicenna Journal Of Medical Biotechnology, 3(3), 109-117. Russo, E. (2003). Special Report: The birth of biotechnology. Nature, 421(6921), 456. Simon, J., Dickey, J., Reece, J. (1967). Campbell essential biology with physiology. (4th ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. Quaye, W. W., Yawson, R. M., Ayeh, E. S., & Yawson, I. I. (2012). CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY: THE ROLE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY. African Journal Of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition & Development, 12(5), 6354-6364

Crafting a Livelihood in India

building sustainability for indian artisans CRAFTINGALIVELIHOOD/ JANUARY2013 Tableof Contents Foreword Executive Summary 1 2 I. Craftspeople – The Backbone of India's Non-Farm Rural Economy Sector Overview, profile of indian artisans, crafts value chain and key challenges 4 In Sanskrit, Dasra means Enlightened Giving. Dasra is India’s leading strategic philanthropy foundation. Dasra works with philanthropists and successful social entrepreneurs to bring together knowledge, funding and people as a catalyst for social change.We ensure that strategic funding and capacity building skills reach non profit organizations and social businesses to have the greatest impact on the lives of people living in poverty. www. dasra. org II. Government, Private Sector and Non Profit Initiatives Role of key stakeholders in enhancing artisans’ sustainability 15 III. Harnessing the Potential of India's Crafts Sector Four cornerstones of artisans’ sustainability and recommended interventions for philanthropic support 26 IV. Mapping Non Profits and High Impact Interventions AIACA Avani 43 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55The Edmond de Rothschild Foundations continue developing a modern view of philanthropy through which they defend the dignity and empowerment of each individual. The Foundations’ primary focus is on education, with projects in a range of areas: arts and culture, social entrepreneurship, intercultural dialogue, health and research and philanthropic education. Through their geographic locations and range of projects, the Foundations represent a rich, multicultural network. They endeavor to identify local initiatives and provide close monitoring of their numerous stakeholders while sharing this experience internationally.By applying an entrepreneurial method to the universe of philanthropy, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations contribute to the growing professionalism of the social sector. They moreover work towards the recognition of th e pluralism inherent to all societies and the respect for their citizen’s many identities. www. edrfoundations. org Craft Revival Trust Dastakar Earthy Goods Foundation Gramshree Kala Raksha Khamir ORUPA SAHAJ Shrujan Concluding Thoughts Appendices A. Methodology and Selection Criteria B. End Notes C. Bibliography D. Acknowledgments and Organization Database 6 58 60 61 62 Report published in: January 2013 Cover Photo Credit: KHAMIR Foreword One of the biggest issues in India is that our markets do not recognize the true value of craft. When this value is recognized, and if people are willing to pay a higher price for craft-based products, this should translate into higher wages for weavers and craftspeople and act as a boost to millions of rural-based livelihood opportunities associated with this sector. The economics however is not as simple, as finally it comes down to the conflict between pricing and sales.If you out-price goods, you sell only a limited number. If you don' t give crafts people enough work, it kills the craft. Sustainable livelihoods will ultimately depend on finding a fine balance between the two. Fabindia follows an inclusive model of capitalism, placing craft at the center of the quest for profitability and growth. I grew up watching my father build this company. I was also very idealistic so I started a co-operative in 1989 and ran it till 1991. While I soon realized this was not the answer, this experience helped me understand what I wanted to do with my role at FabIndia.If you look at business, success is generally defined by measurable outcomes, financial profit and the material impact. We are taught to squeeze each and every opportunity as hard as we can to maximize profit. In a conventional way, all of this makes a lot of sense. But my experience in business has been different. I operate a business, which is one of the most profitable businesses in the retail space in India. Yet, it is also one in which the central theme is to enable all our producers to become stakeholders and beneficiaries of the larger wealth creation process.When we created this idea, every business analyst who saw it said it would not be viable. But instead it has opened up new avenues for business, which are collaborative. It has connected people in new ways, allowing them to give very differently of themselves. The business operates from the principle that people are not just instruments. When people feel they are valued, respected, a part of something bigger than their own immediate interest, the nature of their contribution changes. And this is at the heart of interdependence that Fabindia recognizes.We are building a very transformative model, and we need to take that to scale. Our greatest motivation has come from the 100,000 artisans that we see affiliated to it – that’s the big picture, needle moving idea that uses mainstream retail to give relevance to this sector. There are several very successful small scale stories in the crafts space. Taking these to the next level necessitates investment and resources which recognize the value of craft and the socioeconomic returns it generates for craftspeople. This is the perspective that this Report and its authors bring to the fore-front.And I wish this initiative every success. WilliamBissel ManagingDirector,Fabindia 1 Executive Summary India's industrialization and participation in the modern world economy is decades old. Nevertheless, millions of Indians still depend on indigenous modes of production, traditional skills and techniques to make a living based on handmade products. These craftspeople or artisans are the backbone of the non-farm rural economy, with an estimated 7 million artisans according to official figures (and upto 200 million artisans according to unofficial sources) engaged in craft production to earn a livelihood. Despite some instances of well-known design houses using handmade products and successful crafts-based busines ses such as FabIndia and Anokhi, the majority of craft production remains unorganized and informal with its full market potential untapped, especially by the artisan, who more often than not struggles for sustenance. Propelled by loss of markets, declining skills and difficulty catering to new markets, a large number of artisans have moved to urban centers in search of low, unskilled employment in industry.According to the United Nations, over the past 30 years, the number of Indian artisans has decreased by 30%, indicating the need to re-invest in artisans to safeguard history, culture and an important source of livelihood. 2 The Indian Government, the private sector and the non profits are each involved in the sector but their roles have evolved in silos, with little specialization and much duplication. On a policy level a cohesive and concerted effort is required to overcome the challenges faced by the crafts ecosystem through funding and programs.Simultaneously, the private sect or has a significant role to play in uplifting artisans through different market-led efforts made by retail chains, high end-fashion designers and a relatively more recent wave of social businesses. Non profits have been particularly active in the crafts space since the early 1960s and have evolved numerous models to support artisans in earning better livelihoods. To realize the full potential of the crafts sector, the gaps, overlaps and challenges in the value chain must be overcome to create an ecosystem that enables crafts to thrive.The different stakeholders involved need to come together to build what we call the four cornerstones of artisans’ sustainability. Philanthropy has a key role to play in supporting the creation of such an ecosystem. Harnessing the potential of this sector requires different types of investments to preserve traditional crafts, strengthen the sector, and improve the incomes of artisans. Investment should focus on building the four cornerstones of artisans’ sustainability: 1. 2. 3. 4.Handholding the Artisan through the Value Chain Increasing Demand for Crafts and Strengthening Market Linkages Strengthening the Decentralized Production Model Building a Multi-Stakeholder Approach This would realize the tremendous opportunities the crafts sector in India provides to improve economic, environmental and social conditions of rural communities. These include: Economic Opportunities : Employment and income: The crafts sector has the potential to provide stable employment and income generation to diverse communities and to those with different levels of education. ? ? Migration: Promoting hand production in rural areas can effectively check migration of rural labor to urban centers and prevent loss of skills Economic growth: The global market for handicrafts is USD400 billion, of which India's share is below 2%, representing a tremendous growth opportunity. 3 Competitive advantage: Artisans can serve as key drivers of speci alization and competence in precision manufacturing, similar to Japan and Korea. Economic Opportunities Environmental Benefits: Low energy requirement: Production processes used in crafts typically ave a low carbon footprint and promote the use of locally available materials as well as natural and organic materials where possible. Environmental Benefits Social Empowerment: ? Women's empowerment: Crafts production represents an opportunity to provide a source of earning and employment for otherwise low skilled, home-based women, improving their status within the household. Return for future generations: Investing in artisans leads to a trickle-down effect of improving the health and education outcomes for future generations of the most marginalized populations. Handicrafts embody India's history and diversity: Over many centuries, an extraordinary legacy has nourished Indians crafts across religious, ethnic and communal boundaries. They highlight the country's unique cultural mosa ic and offer a powerful tool for pluralism and co-existence. There is an urgent need for philanthropy to realize the economic potential of the crafts sector by investing in high impact scalable models that have the potential to strengthen livelihoods in a sustainable manner. Social Empowerment 2 3 major categories in craft hadi (cloth that is woven from handspun yarn) cotton handlooms processing of cotton textile by hand silk handlooms processing of silk textiles by hand zari (silver and gold threadwork) and embroidery carpets miscellaneous products made of wood, bamboo, cane and grass leather manufacture earthenware plating/polishing/ engraving metals jewelry and related products making of musical instruments I. CHAPTER Craftspeople: The Backbone of India's Non-Farm Rural Economy 4 â€Å"To write about Indian handicrafts is almost like writing about the country itself.So vast, complex and colorful, and yet with a simplicity and charm, difficult to attain under comparable condition s† – Upadhyay, M. N. : Handicrafts of India. 4 India has one of the most diverse and ancient traditions of handmade products, and its handicrafts industry is an important economic and cultural asset. According to the Twelfth Five Year Plan, handicrafts production is expected to double between 2012 and 2017 and exports are projected to grow at the compounded annual rate of 18% during the same period. As a result, the craft sector will employ an additional 10% of individuals per year up to that time. 6 The crafts value chain encompasses the full range of activities required to bring a handicraft product from conception through production to delivery to consumers. The Government, the private sector and non profits have played and continue to play an important role in the sector's development, although their efforts remain isolated and thus limited in their impact.From Vishwakarma's Children to Poverty: A Socio-economic Profile of Artisans Chart1: The story of Indian crafts is deeply embedded in mythology, history and culture as can be seen in Chart 1. Artisans are considered to be the descendants of Vishwakarma the presiding deity of crafts and architecture. During the Vedic Age craftspeople enjoyed a high social standing and were part of the landed gentry, responsible for the creation of temples and palaces. In the caste hierarchy that evolved during the post Vedic period, craftspeople were associated with Shudras or the lowest caste due to the manual nature of their work.While Hindu artisans occupied the lower echelons of the caste system, due to the menial nature of their work, artisans from other non Hindu religious communities were equally stigmatized. This adverse status led to a deeply rooted stigma which persists today long after the abolition of the caste system. Nevertheless, in subsequent eras when India was inhabited by princely kingdoms, crafts continued to flourish because of their utilitarian nature, royal patronage and the organizatio n of artisans into guilds. Until the second half of the 17th century, crafts enjoyed a steady market.With the decline of princely states, the entry of the East India Company and colonization, employment in crafts especially handloom declined due to trade between India and the UK which was organized and regulated largely by colonial powers. The result was the fragmentation of the artisan community, marked by inequality between those that could produce for British markets, traders and those that were only exposed to local markets. Subsequent industrialization marked the steady decline in crafts markets and livelihood potential for artisans.Despite the central role played by crafts in the freedom movement, where Mahatma Gandhi incited the nation to produce by hand, and subsequent welfare measures implemented by the Indian Government, artisans (with the exceptions of traders, and extremely specialized master craftspeople) never regained the social status and sustainable income they once possessed. The uniqueness of India's craftspeople has been their ability to work across religious, caste and cultural divides. Such a meeting of distinctive traditions has fostered dialogue, social inclusion and an extraordinary creativity.ROYALPATRONAGE Craftsusedtoreceiveroyalpatronage, whichhasnowdisappeared. Further,folk craftsnolongerfitintoeverydayusageas theyoncedidduetoincreasing urbanization. Thehandicraftand handloomsectorsarea `24,300crore (USD4. 48bn) industrycontributing `10,000crore (USD1. 85bn) toIndia'sexportearnings of`1. 62lakhcrore (USD300bn). 8 An important economic and cultural asset India's myriad crafts traditions and living crafts skills are vehicles of its cultural identity, passed on from generation to generation and a means of sustenance for numerous communities engaged in production.Crafts constitute one of the primary sub-sectors within Creative and Cultural Industries, defined by UNESCO as â€Å"industries which produce tangible or intangible artistic and creative outputs, and which have a potential for wealth creation and income generation through the fostering of cultural assets and the production of knowledge-based goods and services. â€Å"7 The crafts sector encompasses diverse activities ranging from embroidery and painting to leatherwork and pottery, with variations and regional specificities within each group.There are thousands of living crafts in India. For simplicity, these can broadly be understood as handlooms and handicrafts. Together handicrafts and handlooms play an important role in the Indian economy. Handicrafts typically refer to artifacts made by hand for decorative, religious or functional purposes. These products are often found in diverse markets from runways in Paris, and highend designer stores to domestic retail outlets and tourist emporiums. SWADESHIMOVEMENT Handproductionwasstronglyrootedinthe independencemovementandGandhi’sprinciples.However,themovementlostsignificanceinthe public’spe rceptionafterthe50sand60s. INDUSTRIALIZATION Thefactorysectorhas inherenteconomiesof scaleandgreater bargainingpowerfor cheaperhigherquality rawmaterials,whichhas adverselyaffectedthe craftssector. Further, thissectorhasbeen divertinglaboraway fromskill-based occupations. GLOBALIZATION Challenge:Lackof consumerawareness abouttheimportance ofcrafts Opportunity:Crafts providecompetitive edgeandunique identitytoIndiaina globalmarketplace 5 6Broadly, artisans are divided into the following categories with a rigid hierarchical division of labor between more and less skilled artisans in a particular craft : ? Skilled master craftsman ? Wage-worker ? Fully self-employed artisan ? Part-time artisan An estimated 63% of artisans are self-employed while 37% are wage earners. 9 Traditional knowledge and craft skills are passed down from one generation to another, so that whole families and communities are engaged in production. An estimated 71% of artisans work as family units and 76% attribute their profession to the fact that they have learnt family skills. 0 It is important to note that most official figures count only the head of the production unit and wage earners in official figures, leaving out the 5-6 family members who are also dependent on crafts for sustenance, thus creating an incomplete understanding of the sector's size and importance. The vast majority of artisans operate in informal work settings. In fact, according to one study, Vishwakarma's Children in 2001 only 9% of craftspeople benefited from formalized employment, while 42% worked out of their homes. 11 Most artisan production units tend to be micro enterprises.In fact, 39% of artisans incur production expenditures of less than INR 12,000/ USD 215 a year and only 19% spend above INR 50,000/ USD 900 a year. 12 Typically artisans sell their products to diverse markets including local markets, city outlets, private agents, wholesalers or retail traders and exporters. A meaningful analysis of the secto r requires focusing on particular geographies and crafts. For this report, we focused on the crafts sector in the states Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha. These have among the largest number of artisans, as shown in the chart 2.In addition, Dasra's mapping of non profits involved in the sector, revealed the highest concentration of non profits working at scale in these states. The Crafts Value Chain is Fragmented For a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the crafts sector, as well as areas that need improvement, it is important to understand the crafts value chain. The crafts value chain shown in Chart 3 has been created based on our observations on the ground as well as inputs from sector experts. It aims to demonstrate the different stages in craft production from producers to markets and inputs required at each stage.It must be noted, however, that each craft will have a slightly different set of processes. The stages explained below have therefore bee n simplified to a certain degree to provide a general understanding of how the crafts sector functions. Chart3:TheCraftsValueChain PROCESS INPUTSREQUIRED Organization Human Resources ? LegalEntities ? Procuring and Processsing RawMaterials ? ? ? Credits Facilities Technology Chart2: DistributionofIndianArtisans 40% 29% 13% Production ? ? ? ? Design Technology Skills Enterprise Development Aggregation and Intermediary Trade Transport toMarkets ? Quality Checks ? Storage ? ?ODISHA UTTARPRADESH GUJARAT-RAJASTHAN Markets Marketing and Promotion 7 Source:ExportPromotionCouncilforHandicraftsand CouncilofHandicraftCorporationsandDevelopmentCommissioner(GovernmentofIndia) 8 1. Organization Artisans are usually structured into groups through informal contracts between traders, master artisans and low-skilled artisans. More formal systems of artisans’ organization involve four main types of entities:13 ? Self Help Groups (SHGs) are set up with the help of external technical intermediar ies such as non profits or through Government schemes, and typically comprise 10-20 artisans, usually women.SHGs serve as a form of social collateral, enabling artisans to establish linkages with input providers such as raw material suppliers, microfinance institutions and banks, and downstream players such as aggregators and retailers. Organization are often forced to rely on local traders who provide them with raw materials against orders, albeit at high prices, or switch to non-traditional raw materials. 3. Production Although techniques and processes vary widely from one craft to the next, crafts production generally takes place in households, with multiple family members engaged in different aspects of the process.Even where organized artisan structures exist, artisans typically produce within community settings. Production is generally seasonal, with crafts activity being suspended during harvest season, as most artisans are also engaged in agriculture to supplement their live lihoods. 4. Aggregation and Intermediary Trade ? Mutually Aided Co-operatives (MACs) are created to provide artisans with a platform for equitable participation. Legislated at the state Government level, MACs enable artisans to pool funds as equity and own their production units.However, due to strong Government influence, this structure has failed to gain popularity in most states other than Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. ` ProcuringandProcessing RawMaterials ? Producer Companies were created as a for-profit legal entity in the Companies Bill in 2002 to enable primary producers to participate in ownership and contribute equity. ? Private Limited Companies are for-profit legal entities that allow artisans to participate in ownership as shareholders, while enabling external funders to invest capital.Aggregation involves bringing together products from decentralized production units to enable economies of scale in transportation, storage and retail. Due to the dismal status of infrastruct ure and communication in India, aggregating products is a challenging task, and leads to many of the bottlenecks in the crafts supply chain today. Buyers and retailers lack incentives to overcome upstream, supply-side issues, which results in a loss of opportunities for artisans to access markets. Aggregationand IntermediaryTrade Markets 5. MarketsThe markets for the craft products can be broadly understood as local, retail shops – high-end as well as mainstream, exhibitions and exports. Among these, local markets are still the common markets for many artisans. 14 The contemporary markets, domestically as well as internationally, have grown with an expanding demand for ethnic products that have a story linked to them. However, these products are in low supply due to supply chain inefficiencies. However, most artisans continue to work independently as there is a widespread lack of awareness about the advantages of being organized into the above forms. ProductionDemand 2. Procu ring and Processing Raw Materials Traditionally, raw materials used by artisans were widely available due to the close linkages between evolution of crafts and locally available materials. Further, the jajmani system, which consisted of a reciprocal relationship between artisanal castes and the wider village community for the supply of goods and services, provided artisans with access to community resources. However, with the breakdown of these traditional structures, along with competition from organized industry, artisans find it challenging to buy quality raw materials at affordable prices.In the absence of raw material banks, they 6. Demand With the advent of globalization and the availability of cheaper and more varied products, crafts face severe competition in contemporary markets. They are typically perceived as traditional, old-fashioned and antithetical to modern tastes. There have been limited efforts to reposition the image of crafts and build consumer appreciation of th e history and cultural identity associated with handmade products. In addition, there are few instances of traditional crafts being â€Å"contemporized† to fit with changing consumption patterns. 10 India's Crafts Sector is in Disarray While crafts received royal and aristocratic patronage during pre-Independence days and played a central role in Gandhi's independence struggle, they have slowly lost relevance with the advent of industrialization. Currently, the sector carries the stigma of inferiority and backwardness, and is viewed as decorative, peripheral and elitist. This is compounded by the Government's treatment of crafts as a sunset industry, which has resulted in a lack of well-developed policies and programs to protect and strengthen the ecosystem for artisans.Traditional crafts have largely been marginalized by massproduced consumer goods, which tend to be cheaper due to the economies of scale associated with mechanization. The nature of the crafts sector and chall enges faced by artisans reduces their ability to compete with machine-made products. Catering to the mainstream market often necessitates a decline in quality and/or workmanship, leading to the eventual loss of skills over a few generations. There are very few instances like pashmina shawls where a traditional craft has successfully â€Å"contemporized† itself for Indian or overseas markets.Artisans were traditionally an essential part of the village economy, producing everyday utilitarian objects catered towards local markets, using designs and motifs that were of significance to their communities. However, with the advent of industrialization and increasing urbanization of markets for crafts, the historical artisan-consumer relationship has broken down, and largely been replaced by traders. This has rendered artisans' knowledge and skill, acquired over generations, virtually useless and made crafts an unsustainable source of livelihood.The five main challenges facing artisa ns in creating sustainable livelihoods in today's economy can be described as follows: low education levels for the family overall. The lack of education makes it difficult to manage inventory, access Government schemes and market information and bargain with traders and middlemen. It is estimated that in 2003 around 50% of household heads of crafts producing families had no education whatsoever, and more shockingly, around 90% of the women in these households were completely uneducated. 5 Outdated Production Methods- Artisans may also lack the financial capability to upgrade technology in production, or undergo necessary training on a regular basis, as would be available to them in a formal work setting. This compromises the quality of their products and raises the cost of production. 2. Inadequate Inputs Inadequate Inputs There are three main issues: Lack of Quality Raw Materials- Rural artisans often lack access to quality raw materials. Due to the low volumes required, they have low bargaining power and are forced to buy substandard materials at a higher price.In crafts such as weaving, handloom weavers have to compete with the power loom industry for high quality raw materials, which are more easily accessible to the power loom industry as a result of Government subsidies. Further, many raw materials used commonly by craftspeople such as wood, cane, silk, scrap and virgin metal are become increasingly difficult to acquire. The costs of some of these materials are rising faster than the wholesale price index. Lack of Funding- Craft producers suffer greatly from lack of working capital and access to credit and loan facilities.Often, producers are unable to fulfill bulk orders because they lack the capital to purchase raw materials, and simultaneously support their family's living needs while the order is being executed. While there are several Government schemes intended to fill this gap for artisans through institutions such as National Bank for Agricultur e and Rural Development (NABARD) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), it is difficult for the uneducated artisans to access these programs and manage the necessary collateral or funds for bribes.Banks cite poor recovery rates, wrong utilization of funds, lack of marketing facilities for finished products and lack of education on part of the borrowers as reasons for the low proportion of loans made to artisans. In general, this forces artisans to borrow from their local moneylender or trader at high interest rates. The All India Debt and Investment Survey (2002) showed that the proportion of money borrowed by rural households from money lenders rose by over 10% from 17. 5% in 1991 to 29. 6% in 2002. 16 1.Low Productivity The sector's informal nature and the low education of most artisans create issues such as: Unorganized Production- As a largely unorganized sector, handicrafts faces problems such as a paucity of professional infrastructure such as work sheds, stor age space, shipping and packing facilities. Low Education- Many crafts require the entire household to participate in production in some capacity. For example, in weaver households, women and girls traditionally undertake warping of the yarn, winding the thread onto bobbins, and share with men the task of starching the thread.In many cases, crafts also serve as a seasonal source of income for agricultural households. This means that children miss school, resulting in LowProductivity 11 12 Artisans' financial weakness also hampers their ability to sell they have low bargaining power at the marketing point and are forced to sell to buyers at a low price in order to recover costs and support themselves. Design Inputs- In most traditional societies, design evolved in the interaction between the artisan and the consumer.Further, the artisan was aware of the sociocultural context of the consumer, and could thus design products that suited their needs and tastes. Due to the breakdown of th e historic artisanconsumer relationship, and the increasing urbanization and globalization of markets for crafts, artisans have difficulty understanding how to tailor their products to changing demands. The artisan may not speak the same language as the consumer, both literally as well as metaphorically. An example of this includes women in SEWA's craft cooperatives who design block printed table napkins and mats, but may have never used these products themselves. f this, retailers have to directly source from select producers, which is often not viable in the long run, resulting in the loss of a large percentage of the market for artisans. 5. Lack of an Enabling Environment Information Asymmetry 3. Information Asymmetry Neglect by Central and State Governments- Rural artisans are neglected by both Central as well as State Governments, as is evident in the lack of available records regarding their numbers and socioeconomic status. The Government views the sector as a sunset industry , no longer relevant in India's technologydriven economic growth.Thus, schemes designed for artisans tend to have low priority in terms of execution and assessment. Within crafts, the Government's priorities are skewed towards the export market, with 70% of its crafts budget going towards development of environments to enable export. 17 Further, the fact that the crafts sector falls under the purview of 17 different Government ministries, ranging from the Ministry of Textiles to the Ministry of Women and Children, results in confusion and inaction. Lack of Interest by Second Generation- Rural youth are increasingly disinterested in continuing their family craft traditions, for three main reasons.First, having seen their parents struggle to find markets and fair prices for their products, they are inclined to pursue other trades. Second, the school system today does not integrate lessons regarding the importance of crafts into the school curriculum, and instead students are pushed to wards white collar office jobs, even if they are lower paying. Finally, crafts are strongly associated with a family's religion. In many cases, such as leatherwork, artisans are ostracized for being from the lowest caste, which further dissuades rural youth from joining the family trade.Reducing the obstacles faced by the sector can provide employment for millions of citizens especially those traditionally excluded from the mainstream, while restoring one of India's key cultural and economic strengths, a diverse and rich handicrafts industry. At the same time, it will provide the economy with key drivers of specialization and competence in global manufacturing. Lackofan EnablingEnvironment Due to their low education, artisans often cannot identify potential new markets for their products, nor do they understand the requirements for interacting with these markets.This reduces their understanding of the market potential of their goods, the prices of their products in different markets , Government schemes instituted for their welfare and diversification opportunities. 4. Fragmented value chain Lack of Market Linkages- While consumers of crafts products are increasingly becoming urbanized, crafts continue to be sold through local markets; artisans have few opportunities to reach new consumers through relevant retail platforms such as department stores and shopping malls.Further, due to their rural orientation, artisans are often unable to access training and technology to supply their products to online markets. Dominance of Middlemen- Although middlemen are necessary to enable effective market linkages, they often, if not always, exploit artisans by paying them a fraction of their fair wages. This may be due to lack of information on the part of middlemen about true manufacturing costs, or merely due to their ability to coerce artisans, who often lack bargaining power.Lack of Aggregation- Crafts production typically takes places in scattered clusters in rural are as, while markets are usually in urban centers. Currently, there is a lack of organized systems to efficiently aggregate goods from small producers, carry out quality checks, store approved goods in warehouses, and supply them to wholesalers and retailers in urban areas. In lieu Chart4: OverviewofKeyChallenges FacedbytheArtisans Fragmented ValueChain LackofMarket Linkages Lackofan enabling environmentNeglectby CentralandState Governments LackofInterest bySecond Generation LowProductivity Unorganized Production LowEducation Inadequate Inputs LackofQuality RawMaterials LackofFunding Fragmented ValueChain Information Asymmetry Dominanceof Middlemen Lackof Aggregation OutdatedProduction Methods 13 14 II. CHAPTER Government, Private Sector and Non Profit Initiatives Photo Credit: Sahaj 15 The Indian Government, the private sector and the non profits are each involved in the sector but their roles have evolved in silos, with little specialization and much duplication.Since independence, t he Indian Government has created a number of institutions, schemes and welfare programs for the crafts sector. However, on a policy level there has been no concerted and cohesive effort to address the challenges faced by the crafts ecosystem, with most governmental offerings mired in bureaucracy and inefficiencies. Simultaneously, the private sector has contributed to uplifting artisans through different market-led efforts made by retail chains, high end-fashion designers and a relatively more recent wave of social businesses.Non profits have been particularly active in the crafts space since the early 1960s and have evolved numerous models to improve artisan livelihoods. The chart below provides an overview of the evolution of crafts policy and programs in India. Government Program Although Government-led initiatives are often criticized, it cannot be denied that India is in a much more fortunate situation today in the preservation of its crafts than most other nations because of G overnment efforts immediately following Independence.During this period, the Government placed great emphasis on rural artisans, setting up the All India Handicrafts Board in 1952 to study the technical, organizational, marketing and financial aspects of crafts and design measures for improvement and development of crafts. The impetus for these efforts came in part from Mahatma Gandhi's legacy of the swadeshi movement and preserving cottage industries as a symbol of India's diversity and unity as a nation-state. Pioneering efforts were made to provide marketing support to artisans, and make regional crafts available at a national level through state-run emporiums.With industrialization becoming a foremost national priority in the 1960s and 1970s, the Government came to view crafts as more of a â€Å"sunset industry† and began to focus mainly on welfare schemes rather than approaching it as a sector capable of contributing to India's economic growth. Several divisions were mad e between State and Central Government responsibilities, and separate administrative bodies were set up for Khadi, Handloom, Handicrafts, Silk, and so on, all of which contribute to inefficiencies and inertia in policymaking for the sector today.At present, crafts are almost artificially bifurcated into Handicrafts and Handlooms, with two separate Development Commissioners in charge of each under the ministry of Textiles. In addition, 16 other ministries have crafts within their purview, including the Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries, Ministry of Tribal Development, Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.These bodies have often been pitted against each other on issues such as power loom versus handloom production, anti-dumping duty on foreign silk yarn to protect the interest of silk rearers versus removal of duty for handlooms and power looms and interest of petty traders versus greater control for home-based producers, leading to ineffic iencies and policy juggernauts. 19 Governmentefforts havechanneled anestimated `752crore intothecraftssector duringtheEleventh FiveYearPlan(200718 2011). Anumberofinstitutions havebeeninvolvedin fundingandimplementing developmentworkfor artisansthroughdifferent schemes.Suchas: 1. Councilforthe AdvancementofPeople's ActionandRuralTechnology (CAPART) 2. KhadiandVillage IndustriesCommission (KVIC) 3. SmallIndustries DevelopmentBankofIndia (SIDBI) 4. NationalBankfor AgricultureandRural Development(NABARD) Chart4:StakeholdersintheCraftsValueChain PROCESS Procuring and Processsing RawMaterials Aggregation and Intermediary Trade STAKEHOLDERS Organization InputSuppliers Production Markets LocalTraders IndependentArtisan SHG’sCo-operatives, Producercompanies NonProfits SocialBusinesses Government Exporters Retailers 16 17Despite these challenges, the majority of Government funds have been utilized in the following areas, largely with the support of non profits working in the sector: ? Welfare- Government efforts in the crafts sector are often designed with the intention of large-scale poverty alleviation. Schemes such as the Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana and the Janshree Bima Yojana for Handicrafts Artisans, under which artisans in the age group of 18-60 receive health and life insurance in association with the Life Insurance Corporation of India for themselves and three dependents, provide some social security.Market Linkages- One of the most widely lauded efforts of the Government in the crafts sector has been the establishment of Dilli Haat, an open-air crafts bazaar in the national capital modeled on a traditional village market where artisans from around the country can rent space and display their wares for two weeks at a time. Set up in cooperation with Dastkari Haat Samiti, a non profit organization that works with artisans across the country, Dilli Haat has provided artisans with much-needed market linkages and access to consumers.In addition , the Development Commissioners for Handicrafts and for Handlooms run a number of emporiums across the country, which are retail outlets for crafts from different regions. Capacity Building- In recent years, the Government has moved its focus towards sustainable development of crafts through the participation of artisans. Capacity building efforts such as the Artisan Credit Card scheme and the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana scheme are generally led by the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts.Efforts include skills development, technological intervention, design and marketing support and reviving languishing crafts. The Development Commissioner for Handlooms runs Weavers Centers in many parts of the country along with the National Center for Textile Design to provide marketbased design input for handloom weavers. Awards- Each year, the Ministry of Textiles recognizes the work of several master craftspeople through the distribution of national awards. These are highly c oveted accolades that enhance the reputation enjoyed by master craftsmen and function as a quality approval of sorts. Private Sector InitiativesThe private sector has been the main conduit for crafts with over 95% of crafts production taking place through some form of private enterprise. Broadly, private involvement in the crafts sector is of four types: ? ? Traditional Intermediaries: Historically, private involvement in the crafts sector has been dominated by master craftsmen, traders and exporters who aggregated production, provided market linkages and offered financing mechanisms to artisans. Although not always the case, these relationships have often been exploitative to the artisan, who realized little of the value of his products.Design Entrepreneurs: These include high-end fashion houses that have imbedded traditional crafts in their collections. Designers such as Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani and Manish Malhotra have worked closely with master craftsmen to create product off erings for high-end domestic and international markets. However, none of these efforts have placed crafts distinctly at the center of their enterprises but rather integrated crafts into their work. Their impact on promoting crafts has therefore been largely indirect. Other fashion designers such as Anita Dongre have created a istinct crafts-based collection, Grassroots, that aims at marketing clothing that promotes the skills and knowledge of traditional artisans, and has been made using organic materials and eco-friendly processes. Mainstream Retail: There have been a few successful examples of crafts-based businesses, which have not only contributed to improving numerous artisans' livelihoods but have also provided unique blueprints for future market-based endeavors. However those that exist are success stories that need to be more systematically replicated.Social Businesses: These are a more recent wave of businesses that have originated out of non profits or hybrid models that c ombine social and commercial goals. ? ? ? ? ? ? Photo Credit: Sahaj Photo Credit: Sahaj ? ? ? The Role of Mainstream Retail While relatively few, a handful of retailers such as FabIndia, Anokhi and Contemporary Arts and Crafts have played a pivotal role in keeping crafts relevant and linked to contemporary consumers. These companies have developed 18 For Government efforts to have the maximum impact, Government bodies mplementing programs need to be reformed and a policy environment more conducive to greater participation and specialization by different stakeholders needs to be created. 19 socially conscious business models wherein they work closely with artisans and ensure that they are equal stakeholders in the business. Due to their relatively well-organized supply chains and focus on profitability, they are able to provide consumers with quality products better suited to urban tastes as compared to subsidized crafts available at Government-run emporiums.The success of these mode ls has been built on the zeal of their founding members, who have overcome challenges in the crafts value chain through innovative strategies that not only ensure bottom-line growth for businesses but also fair and consistent wages to artisans. These models include: ? Fabindia, founded by John and Bissell in 1960, India's largest private crafts business that has taken tradition techniques, skills and hand-based processes to global markets. The company has been recognized worldwide for its socially responsible business model that links over 80,000 craft producers to markets.This has been achieved through its innovations in supply chain management through Community Owned Companies (COC), which serve as intermediaries and are owned by communities. Artisans form a significant part of the shareholding of these companies. Fabindia's supply chain (in the chart below) consists of numerous backward and forward linkages in a multi-layered supply chain from suppliers or artisans to Fabindia st ores. These linkages ensure that products sold cater to consumer tastes, a quality standard and timely delivery. The multi-layered supply chain ensures that each group's strengths are leveraged efficiently. Anokhi, founded by Faith Singh, is a clothing chain well known as an alternative role model for good business practices, and the ongoing revival of traditional textile skills. The company works closely with the Jaipur Virasat Foundation that provides capacity building inputs to artisan suppliers on design, techniques, quality control and enterprise development. In addition, the foundation works in other areas of Rajasthan's cultural industries such as folk art, music and dance to promote livelihoods and preserve heritages.Contemporary Arts and Crafts (CAC), founded by Vina Mody and run in partnership with Feroza Mody, is a boutique retail outlet that provides unique and rare craft products to urban consumers. CAC's success is based on its strong relationships with artisan communi ties in Gujarat and Rajasthan from where products are sourced. The CAC team invests significant time in understanding craft products and working with artisans to create outputs that will be appreciated in urban markets.In addition to these efforts, stores such as Shopper's Stop and Lifestyle have expanded their selections of handmade products and ethnic wear, providing much needed market opportunities for the crafts. However, for a deep and sustainable impact on the artisan, retailers and mainstream businesses need to leverage their business acumen in tackling supply chain issues and creating a larger demand for these products. ? 6 The SRC repleshnishes the stock by getting more of the fabric from the weaver Fabindia’sSupply ChainStructure The weaver weaves some yardage and shows it to a regional supplier region company (SRC) HOWTHEFABRIC REACHESTHESHELVES Fabindia’s Supply Chain is split into 17 regional supply companies The Role of Social Businesses The emergence of the social business model has provided a new opportunity to revive the sector. With their emphasis on the end consumer, social businesses have a greater incentive to bring in efficiencies in quality control and production management, which are often lacking in non profit organizations.Pre-production, social businesses may offer access to quality inputs, equipment, financing and training. Post-production, they improve market linkages through procurement, storage, transport and retail. Social businesses achieve this by focusing on three main areas, which essentially sets them apart from non profits: ? Supply Chain Efficiencies: Given the scattered and homebased nature of crafts production, enterprises often face challenges in ensuring a regular supply chain for their products. Social businesses have focused on fixing the rural supply chain for crafts, either by filling in missing or Through an order booking system, the store manager books the quantity needed. From the SRC warehouse st ock moves to the Fabindia regional warehouse Around 40,000 artisans supply goods for Fabindia It now has 144 stores in 35 top towns 2 The SRC calls the designers; they approve the fabric, work with the weaver to develop some samples. Photo Credit: Top – Anokhi Bottom – CAC 4 20 The weaver brings the completed order to SRC warehouse 3 Designers show samples to Fabindia's product selection committee, the price is finalised and an order is placed with the weaver 21 eak links in the value chain through their own operations, or by establishing creative partnerships with non profits, Government bodies, corporations and community groups. ? Artisans’ Ownership: The advantage of functioning as a business rather than a non profit in the crafts space is the ability to involve artisans as owners by giving them shares in the company. This ownership brings with it an increased sense of responsibility and efficiency, which is sometimes difficult to achieve in a non profit. In this way artisans are not only vested in the company's growth but also financially benefit from it through issue of dividends.Market Linkages: Due to their focus on standardization and supply chain management, social businesses are in a better position than non profits to create and maintain links between artisans and markets – domestic as well as international. Corporates typically prefer to partner with social businesses to bring crafts products to market due to more efficient processes in the company. This ownership brings with it an increased sense of responsibility and efficiency, which is sometimes difficult to achieve in a znon profit.Further, in this way artisans are not only vested in the company's growth but also financially benefit from it through issue of dividends. The biggest advantage faced by social businesses is their ability to raise capital from artisans in the form of shares, as well as external investors such as venture capital funds and corporates. In re cent years, businesses in the crafts sector have attracted funding from impact investors such as Avishkaar, Grassroots Business Fund and Villgro, who invest in social enterprises with the dual expectation of social impact and financial returns. Industree- Linking Artisans to Mainstream Markets: Industree, a social enterprise that connects rural producers to urban markets has been able to rapidly scale up operations through equity investment by Kishore Biyani's Future Group. This has enabled them to set up a retail brand called Mother Earth, and increase the number of clusters from whom they source crafts as well as provide artisans an opportunity to link to mainstream urban markets. ? Support from Multi-lateral Agencies and FoundationsThe international development community and private foundations have been pivotal in providing support to many non profits working in the crafts sector. United Nations agencies such as UNESCO have provided platforms for sharing best practices, research and documentation such as the Jodhpur Symposium. These initiatives have typically focused on project design and building frameworks to build a movement that strengthens creative and cultural industries. Others such as the World Bank channel funding to crafts organizations.A number of private foundations such as Aid to Artisans, Sir Dorab Tata Trust and the Ford Foundation provided long term grants to crafts non profits to scale their impact. Innovative approaches include Friends of Women World Banking’s funding strategy of credit provision to artisans through non profits. Together these efforts have helped sustain non profits’ work and strengthened models creating an impact on artisans incomes. Thecooperativemovement spearheadedbyElaBhatt, founderofSelf-Employed Women'sAssociation (SEWA),inthe1970s alsohadapositiveimpacton thelivesofself-employed womenartisansthroughthe formationofcraft cooperatives.Thesemembership structuresallowedthemto workwithinequitable structure sandreceivecredit, designandmarketinginputs, withoutfearofexploitation bymiddlemen. The Evolution and Role of Non Profit Interventions Non profit organizations have been the strongest supporters of the craft industry, both in terms of livelihoods promotion as well as cultural preservation. Following post-independence industrialization, the crafts industry was no longer viewed as an economic priority by the Government, which created a void in terms of support and finance available for the sector.A number of non profits were established in the 1970s and 1980s to fill this void and enhance the sustainability of artisans livelihoods. Many of these were run with the help of volunteers and were able to grow and thrive under a strong, charismatic leader with a clear vision for the sector. Examples of successful social businesses in the crafts sector include: ? Rangsutra- Enabling Artisans to Own a Share of their Crafts: Rangsutra was set up as a company of artisans, all of them shareholder s, from remote parts of the country.It seeks to be a bridge between â€Å"artisans and customers, tradition and contemporary, and change and continuity† and ensures a fair price to the producer and quality products for customers. It currently has 1,100 shareholders and has attracted investments from Avishkaar and Artisan Microfinance Private Limited (AMFPL), a subsidiary of Fabindia. Photo Credit: Sahaj 22 23 Most non profits functioning in the crafts space today are registered as trusts, societies or Section 25 companies. They are broadly of two types, based on their scope of work: ?Producer Groups: A majority of non profits in this space ? work directly at the grassroots level, organizing crafts producers into collectives to realize various economies of scale in financing, marketing and product development. Examples are URMUL, Kala Raksha and SEWA Ahmedabad. ? Apex Organizations: These focus on enhancing the sector ? by providing services ranging from design interventions t o market linkages to groups of producers, who typically serve as part of their membership base.They vary in scale and level of outreach from national to state to local levels. Many apex organizations are well-positioned to act as a bridge between producer groups and Government bodies, both by channeling information regarding relevant Government schemes as well as by influencing Government spending. Prominent examples are Dastkar, AIACA, Dastkari Haat Samiti and Sasha. Non profit approaches have evolved significantly in two main areas: focus of the model and financial sustainability.Most non profit groups have focused on all parts of the value chain from organizing artisans to marketing products, largely due to a lack of other players specializing in certain areas. This has resulted in limited capacity to scale their operations. Fresher non profit approaches focus on one or two parts of the value chain such as aggregation or working closely with artisans’ groups. Further, ther e has been a realization in recent years that traditional grant funded projects for creating crafts production structures have not succeeded in establishing commercially sustainable structures.Newer non profits have attempted to embrace this change in perspective by incorporating fee-based enterprise development projects into their scope of work, others have spun off business models that target aggregation and marketing, while the non profit focuses on building artisan capacity. The different stakeholders described above have each made significant contributions to the crafts sector. However, since they act in isolation from each other, their impact remains limited and they have not been able to halt the downward slide of India's crafts sector. 24 25 III. CHAPTERHarnessing the Potential of India's Crafts Sector Photo Credit: Jaipur Rugs Foundation 26 The crafts sector in India has vast potential to improve livelihood opportunities, generate additional income and strengthen the purcha sing power of rural communities. For this potential to be fully realized, the gaps, overlaps and challenges in the value chain must be overcome to create an ecosystem that enables crafts to thrive. The different stakeholders involved need to come together to build what we call the four cornerstones of artisan sustainability. Non profits have a particularly important role in such a program.Based on Dasra’s research, interviews with experts in the crafts sector and advisory committee discussions, Crafting a Livelihood suggests four key actions with the potential to transform artisans’ livelihood in India. The four cornerstones are: 1. Handholding the Artisan through the Value Chain Any investment in improving the craft ecosystem as a whole must pay particular attention to strengthening the individual artisans and enterprises engaged in production. Since challenges faced by artisans are pushing them into other dailywage earning jobs, concerted efforts are needed to upgrad e the current piecemeal nature of production.Crafts promotion efforts should focus on making artisans aware of the value of their skill, which would make them take greater pride in their work and encourage the second generation to enter the sector. Further, it is essential to help artisans continuously upgrade their skills and product offerings. This requires design inputs and skills development efforts. 2. Increasing Demand for Crafts and Strengthening Market Linkages There is an urgent need to revive consumers’ interest in crafts and make crafts relevant to increasingly urban lifestyles.Efforts are needed to sensitize the emerging middle class consumer to the history and value of crafts in India to ensure a robust domestic market. Strengthening branding efforts and introducing geographical indicators such as a â€Å"Handmade in India† classification, will enable Indian crafts to compete in increasingly global markets. Crafts can be branded on the national, regional o r local, and enterprise level. On the national or regional level, some countries are known or even famous for their excellence in handicrafts, or in specific crafts.The branding of a country's handicraft image depends on the public perception of that country's culture and handicraft skills. Countries that, for different reasons, de-emphasize their indigenous culture and traditions and focus on their modernism create a much tougher environment for the promotion and export of their indigenous handicrafts. 21 Crafts lies well within the informal sector, bringing with it challenges of taking a completed product to market. Most artisans produce at relatively low volumes and at irregular intervals, creating few opportunities to market products at scale.New business models are needed that blend social and commercial goals to provide value added services to artisans particularly in aggregation of products and intermediary trade. As artisans are scattered across geographies, there is a need for players who can source products from them in a centralized fashion and introduce economies of scale into the supply chain. These intermediaries will provide the essential bridging Asartisansareoftenproducing formarketsthatarealiento them,theyneedsupport servicessuchastechnicaland designskillbuildingtohelp reachtheincreasinglyurban consumer.Theseinputswill increasetheirbargaining powerandbuildtheircapacity tosupplydifferentmarkets. Dasra'sfieldresearchhas shownthatbuildingthe capacityofartisansinthis mannercanresultinuptoa ten-foldincreasein incomes. 1. Handholding the Artisan through the Value Chain 2. Increasing Demand for Crafts and Strengthening Market Linkages AconsumersurveyinEurope revealedthat40%of consumerssurveyedwere willingtopayapremiumof 10%fororigin-guaranteed products. SalesofIndian craftsstandtoincrease 20 fromsuchefforts. 3. Strengthening the Decentralized Production Model 4. Building a Multi-Stakeholder Approach 7 28 services between small producers and the diff erent markets where products can be sold and thereby smoothen seasonality of production. Creativeclustershavebeen identifiedasanimportant meansformicroandsmall enterprisestogrowstrongly throughmutualstimulation andleveragingofcommon knowledgeandmarkets. Typicallytheybenefitfrom lowerVAT,tariffsandexcise dutiesonhandmadeproducts. Creativeclustershavethe potentialtonotonlycreate productionefficienciesbut alsoprovideaplatformfor artisanstoaccesslocaland domesticmarkets. 3. Strengthening the Decentralized Production ModelThe fragmented supply chain, lack of organization and seasonal production characteristic of the craft sector need to be overcome to maximize production potential. Geographically scattered production, which is typical of the crafts sector, requires services at artisan's doorsteps. Leveraging technology for information as well as for innovations in process will infuse efficiencies in craft production and enable artisans to produce more. Limited education and low exposure to the skills essential to running a business prevent artisans from scaling up their operations.Providing business support in areas such as quality control, standardized processes, inventory management, cashflow management and securing credit would help them create strong enterprises. To this effect, capacity building cooperatives and producer owned companies would ensure standardized systems and processes, quality control, and professionally run businesses that can access capital and enable them to compete in markets. Dasra's field research has demonstrated a potential three- to five-fold increase in individual income through these efforts.Moreover, fragmentation in the value chain can be overcome with clusters such as Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for crafts. These are defined as a combination of production and distribution activities operating within a common structure, capable of promoting creativity, research applications and distribution systems. Historically, clusters in Indi a have been created for production and bureaucratic efficiencies, ignoring their function as a sales platform. While the sales focus has been tried at Bhujodi in Kutch, creative clusters are generally the exception in India. ensitizes them to crafts, deepens their understanding of tradition in a way that they can implement in the mainstream. This fosters the perseveration of culture by continuously adapting it to modernity. Setting up academies for