Performance Management Essay Example for Free

Performance Management Essay 1.Executive summary In order to have a sustainable competitive advantage, organisations realized that to do well economically, it is important to have the appropriate human capital within the company. That is how the term talent management was brought up. Human resource management is one of the pillars leading to organizational success and TM has become an important issue that HR professionals are dealing with. As companies go global, the need to focus on TM is increasing. This report is a critique of the journal article ‘Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda’ written by David G. Collings and Kamel Mellahi (2009). The report includes a broad view of how IHRM can address TM issues stated in the article. In the report, the strengths and weaknesses of the article have been stated and some recommendations concerning TM have been formulated and all the main points were highlighted in the conclusion. 2.Introduction This report is a critique of the journal article, ‘Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda’ written by David G.Collings and Kamel Mellahi (2009) for Elsevier publishing company. The report aims at critically analysing the mentioned article to find Talent Management issues relevant to International Human Resource management. Firstly the credibility of the authors and the validity of the article will be briefly analysed. The main key term this report deals with, that is Talent management (TM) will be explained as well as International human resource management (IHRM), ensuring clear understanding of the discussion which will follow. Further to the definition of the key terms, the theoretical model of strategic talent management proposed by the authors will be analysed and compared to the talent management wheel proposed by MIT Sloan Management Review (2012). The main body of the report will focus on the TM issues reported in the article and their relevance to IHRM, in this regard, other studies’ assumptions will be taken into account and thus allow us to critically analyse the article. Limitations and merits of the journal article will also be stated and followed by some recommendations as to how the discussed TM issues could be dealt with where international human resource management is concerned. Eventually, a conclusion will be included to highlight the main points which this report will cover. 3.Credibility of research Elsevier is one of the world’s leading providers of science information by providing authors and researchers as well as readers with innovative tools and world-class information helping in making critical decisions and to increase productivity. Elsevier has been delivering its services worldwide over the past 130 years and hence, is a credible source of information. Kamel Mellahi is the actual Co-Editor-in Chief of the International Journal of Management reviews. He has been carrying out many researches in the management field amongst which are in international business strategy and non-market strategy. He has also published more than seventy scholarly articles. His research were very much sought by several journals and publishers. David G.Collings is a Human Resource Management Professor at DCU and King’s College London. He is the joint editor of a couple of HRM journals. He has been doing research in the field of talent management and global mobility issues and has been able to influence numerous debates on global mobility. He has been ranked 6th on the list of the most productive scholar of Ireland. Both authors can be said to be well qualified to publish an article on talent management as they both have carried out numerous researches in HRM field, thus, this article can be said to be credible. 4.Definition of IHRM and Talent management With the advent of globalization, organisations have ceased to exist on local level only, businesses have gone global and this, for the betterment of its purpose. As well as it can have many advantages, the biggest challenge however remains the competition which has gain in vigour as organisations strive to stay sustainably competitive. IHRM can be said to be the procurement, allocation, utilization and the motivating pulse of international businesses’ human resources. The definition of TM, even though being the basis of the article, is however the very first matter of contention and one of the aims of the article. It was noted that no clear definition of TM has so far been made. Collings and Mellahi (2009), Boussebaa and Morgan (2008) and Piansoongnern and Anurit (2010, 290) have come up with a moreover similar definition of TM. According to them TM can be defined by processes and activities involving the identification of fundamental positions which help an organization to stay competitive, developing a talent pool of high performers to fill in those positions and adjusting HR practices to ensure commitment of such employees to the firm. For MNCs TM is more related to talented managers who get international assignments.

Impact of the Nigerian Business Environment on Shell

Impact of the Nigerian Business Environment on Shell ABSTRACT Since the advent of crude oil production half a century ago in Nigeria, other parts of the productive economy such as agriculture and manufacturing have been neglected by the government and also the countrys poor and shambolic infrastructure has made doing business too costly for investors. There is a major exodus of Manufacturing companies from Nigeria presently as the rising cost of running their business is eating deeply into their profits for example Michelin, closed its operations in Nigeria two years ago citing the high cost of production, while chocolate maker, Cadbury has found it cheaper to move production to neighbouring country (like Ghana) and re-import its goods. Cheaper imports from China have closed a high percentage of factories in Nigerias once-thriving textile industry. Investors who bought equipment with foreign exchange component said they now need more naira to pay for their loans. They linked what is happening to their investment now to the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) or pre-SFEM days when importers suddenly had huge accumulated debts resulting from the adjustment of the exchange rate, over dependant on foreign goods, and high level of corrupt within the system. The micro and macro economic factors impacting on the running costs of manufacturing and production companies doing business in Nigeria makes it difficult for continued business activities in Nigeria by expatriate companies unless they are really making profit or they have a business that do not depend largely on the infrastructural amenities in Nigeria or can build a mini city that generates and produces its own power and other resources necessary to run its business such as Royal Dutch Shell. This report looks at the impact of the Nigerian business environment on Shell Plc and analysed the risks involved with macro-environmental factors. The report also analysed the strengths and weakness of shell Plc and strategies employed to take advantage of its strengths and opportunities in dealing with the various challenges they face. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 NIGERIA The Federal Republic of Nigeria comprises thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba (see appendix, fig 1). Nigeria has a population of almost 148 million and is the most populous African country and the 9th most populated country in the world. It has about 400 Languages (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo Etc) and its official Language Is English but its Lingua Franca in the North Is Hausa, Yoruba in the West, Ibo in the East and Pidgin English in the South. The Nigerian currency is Naira and Kobo (see appendix, fig 2). Nigeria has a dual economy with a modern segment dependent on oil earnings, overlaid by a traditional agricultural and trading economy. At independence in 1960, agriculture accounted for well over half of GDP, and was the main source of export earnings and public revenue. The oil sector, which emerged in the 1960s and was firmly established during the 1970s now making Nigeria the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and 8th largest exporter is now of overwhelming importance to the point of over-dependence: it provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. Competition between ethnic and regional groups for power and access to the countrys oil wealth has been at the root of politics in Nigeria. The per capita income of Nigeria is $2,300 as at 2008 base on the reports from the World Fact book. Nigeria is governed by a democratic government but not politically stable because Nigeria is a country of extremes. Great wealth and great poverty sit cheek by jowl, and tensions between different communities can boil over into civil strife especially in the delta region. While a few parts of the country remain problematic, the vast majority is as warm and welcoming to visitors as anywhere. The country have an image problem as corruption seems to be the order of the day, also email scams (419) has become known as a lot of innocent yet greedy people have been a prey to this scam. Conducting business in Nigeria is characterized with so many factors and this report will critically analyze the business environmental factors, degree of risk involved and the advantages of operating in such an environment (Nigeria). 1.1 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC The Royal Dutch Shell Plc is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies founded by Alfred Donovan, was formed in February 1907 with the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (legal name in Dutch, N.V. Koninklijke, Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij) and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom, a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with the then predominant US petroleum company, John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil in the ratio of 60:40. Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, transportation and marketing of natural gas and electricity, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals. The company also has interests in renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar; and hydrogen. The company has extensive operations in more than 140 countries around the world. Its headquartered is in The Hague, the Netherlands and employs more than 300,000 people across the globe. The company recorded revenues of $318,845 million during the fiscal year ended December 2006, an increase of 3.9% over 2005. The operating profit of the company was $45,777 million during fiscal year 2006, an increase of 0.3% over 2005. The net profit was $26,311 million in fiscal year 2006, an increase of 0.2% over 2005. The current supplies earnings for year 2008 were $31.4 billion compared to $27.6 billion for year 2007 with an increase of 13.7%. 1.2 Management The Non executive chairman of Shell is Jorma Ollila, former Chairman and CEO of Nokia, he was appointed on the 1 June 2006. Ollila is the first Shell Chairman to be neither Dutch nor British. Other non-executive directors include Maarten van den Bergh, Wim Kok, Nina Henderson, Lord Kerr, Adelbert van Roxe, and Christine Morin-Postel. Jeroen van der Veer is the present CEO of Shell. 1.3 Shell Plc in Nigeria Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) started onshore operations in Nigeria since 1958 as part of a consortium led by NNPC (The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) with 55 percent and including Shell (30 percent), Elf (10 percent) and Agip (5 percent). SPDCs operations concentrate in the Niger Delta and offshore shallows nearby, where it holds oil mining leases covering an area of 31,000 km2. There, it has installed more than 6,000 km of pipelines and flow lines, 87 flow stations, eight gas plants and more than 1,000 producing wells. In 1997, SPDC produced 899,000 barrels per day from this system (about 40 percent of Nigerias OPEC crude oil quota). The SPDC workforce stands at more than 10,000 people of whom 4,500 are employees; the remainder work for contractors and of total workers, 98 percent are Nigerians (see appendix, fig 3 for Niger delta oil field in Nigeria). Shell also has three other companies which are NLNG (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas) a gas company to produce Liquefied Natural gas and natural gas liquids for export. Shell is in joint venture with Nigeria with a 25.6% interest in NLNG (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas) together with NNPC (49%) while SNEPCO (Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company) and SNG (Shell Nigeria Gas) are both 100% owned by Shell. SNEPCO comprise Shell Plc, Total, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron Corporation. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 SHELL PLC AND OIL INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA 2.1 Oil and Gas The Oil and Gas Industry has played a major role globally. It has always been a central global player in international development and geopolitics and because of the critical importance of hydrocarbon based energy as the engine of rapid industrial growth in modern economy, either capitalist or communist. Due to the intrinsic dependence of this centurys growth model on access to ever-greater reserves, the industry has had to deal with increasing complexity in its relations with developing countries and environments. This in turn has led to increased cost of operations to match the growth models demands (Meadows et al, 1972; Nordhaus, 1973). WCED (1987) agreed that since 1970s, continued hydrocarbon-based Growth model is only justifiable if profits are ploughed into technological advances that would ensure a timely and less painful transition to alternative energy. 2.2 Challenges Faced By Shell Plc in Nigeria Since Shell started producing Oil in Nigeria, it has faced a lot of challenges in dealing with the government, micro and macro economics factors in Nigeria and most especially the communities, as Shell production led to oil spillage, gas leakage and so many more. It has affected the soil and water which is the main source of earnings for people in the Niger delta, as the agriculture and fishing has almost become impossible which is source of living for the people. This has raised a lot of community clashes with Shell so much so that their operations in Nigeria has been globally criticised and has also affected the image of company. In 1995, the company faced two major challenges; firstly, the Greenpeace occupied its Brent Spar platform in the North Sea to prevent its being decommissioned by sinking. Secondly, the Nigerian government executed Ogoni human rights activists: Ken Saro Wiwa, the head of the MOSOP (Movement for the survival of Ogoni people) a campaigning organization representing the ogoni people in their struggle for ethnic and environmental rights and eight others, this problem led to boycotts, public outcry and violence against the company. The crises arose soon after Shell began to review its societal relations, and further catalyzed internal support for transformation. Unfortunately, they occurred at a moment when the company was casting about for ways to avoid exactly such crises, leading Shell officials to heed those who internally promoted a new approach. CHAPTER THREE 3.0 ANALYSIS OF NIGERIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS For management of Shell Plc to apply effective Strategy that will work at international level and which will also reflect the Companys Vision, Mission, and Objectives, they need to understand the international business environment (both internal and external environment) of the host country (Niger delta, Nigeria). A good international strategic planner must recognise all relevant factors within the environment before pushing it through the process of analysing, decisions making and actions taking. Putting the relevant factors into consideration and testing them will help to create sustainable competitive advantages over other competitors. After critical analysis of the international business environment by the team of strategic planners for Shell Plc regarding Nigeria Oil Industry, decision needs to be taken to determine the mode of operation that should be employed by the company in order to compete effectively and efficiently within the oil industry of the host country. Decisions are of no use unless they have been implemented (acted on and monitored); Shell Plc needs competent strategists that will utilize the available resources effectively to bring the intended operations and strategies to reality. Shell Plc has been in Oil business since 1886 and operates around the world. The company has been able to maintain good name (goodwill), good customers loyalty, and strong customer database. The company construct meaningful strategic planning for Nigeria business environment before/after operating in the country, while the strategy is monitored and reviewed quarterly to reflect the companys true vision, mission, and objectives. 3.1 SWOT ANALYSIS The Strengths of Royal Dutch in Nigeria includes SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria) is the Oldest Oil and Gas industry in Nigeria. It was the first company to begin the production of Oil and Gas in Nigeria as a result, the company was able to monopolise the Oil Sector in Nigeria for a long period and established herself as a for-runner with a higher percentage than any competitors in the market. SPDC has a long standing name as one of the biggest Oil and Gas Company in the world as such it has the necessary equipment and money to invest in exploration of oil in Nigeria. Shell has been in business for over a century and they came to Nigeria with wealth of experience, technology, innovation and machinery. Shell operates autonomy of Shell Companies in a decentralized structure allowing Shell Offices in different countries to deal with the regulations, culture and behaviour of the communities in the best suitable way to meet their needs and concern. The Weaknesses of Shell Plc in Nigeria are: Shell faces the challenges that most companies encountered when they come into other countries as they have to learn the new rules, regulations and behaviours of the country and this can be a weakness from the start. Shell was not prepared for the challenge of dealing with the expense of ameliorating socio-environmental concerns which escalated and caused a lot of criticism internally and damaged the image of the company globally. The Opportunities of Shell Plc in Nigeria are: Nigeria was a virgin ground and shell Plc had the opportunity of being the first oil and gas to start production of oil and since then more and more oil fields were been discovered in Nigeria which has led to continuous production and increased production and business for the company. Shell had the opportunity for developing new business ideas as Nigeria gave them the licence to do that which led to joint venture between Shell Plc and Nigerian government, then the discovery of Natural gas led to LNG (another Joint venture) with Nigerian government and other opportunities opened up and shell now has SNEPCO and SNG, wholly owned. Also, Shell has the financial background to go into deep water exploration that led to new discoveries and new business expansion. The Threats of operating in Nigeria are: Fear of persistent interruption in their operations or damages to their properties and machineries by the militants in the delta region from which they conduct the drilling. Oil Gas extraction will someday reach a limit point but technical improvements in seismic exploration and extraction efficiencies have ensured continuing growth in reserves at the resource frontier. Growth of alternative sources of energy particularly renewable such as biomass and solar might changed their modus operandi. Continuing criticism on their image globally will increase costs spend on company and brand image. The new oil reform bill that would allow the Nigeria to retake acreage that has not yet been explored by their owners. Fear of new players into the oil sector from China and Brazil that will break its dominance in Nigerian oil and gas sector. It may be the target for other competitors. 3.2 PEST ANALYSIS AND RISK ASSESSMENT If organisation is able to know that only one thing that constant in this world is change, it would be able to make plan for emergent situations by understanding its business environment. It is very important for any organisation that intends to operate in Nigeria business environment to conduct environmental analysis before and after starting a business. In fact, continuous process should be applied to all aspects of planning because Nigeria business environment is not predictable despite its attractiveness. The companys strategic planners must be able to identify its marketing environment that is made up of the following: The internal environment is the staff (or internal customers- hired contractors), office technology, finance, wages etc. The microenvironment is the organisational external customers, suppliers, distributors, other competitors etc. Company with strong internal forces can still set up strategies to dictate the mode of its operations. The macro-environment cannot be control but company can set up strategies that will help in adapting to the business environment, which is known as PEST FACTORS- Political Factors (and Legal), Economic Factors, Socio-cultural Factors, and Technological Factors (see appendix, fig 4). 3.2.1 POLITICAL/ LEGAL FACTORS political/legal factors influences the environmental regulations which participants in the oil industry must comply with. As with many factors in the general environment, changes that benefit one industry may damage others. For example, on the political front, government legislation can affect oil production by increasing the leasing charges on oilfield and then charge taxes per barrel produced. In a broader view, the following constitutes the numerous political and legal issues to be considered in any business environment: Political stability Risk of military invasion Legal framework for air pollution Intellectual property protection Industrial safety regulations Anti-trust laws Pricing regulation Taxation and incentives Wages legislation Hours work per week Mandatory employee benefits RISK ASSESSMENT ON POLITICAL/LEGAL FACTORS Nigerian political/legal history was characterised by military intervention, civil war, ethnic sentiments, and marginalisation. The country has a bad record in democratic set up and abuse of human right practices. The high level of corruption and political instability did not allow the rule of law to reflect in the society and also, the problem of instability in government policy due to lack of continuity in governance. Shell Plc assessed Nigerian business environment and capitalised on the corruption practices of the people. The company involvement in the execution of environmental activist (Ken Saro-wiwa) and eight Ogoni people that protested against the company reckless operations on their farm lands (in Niger Delta) cannot be dismissed. The political/legal factors do not possess any risk to Shell Plc if it knows is way. It is not necessary also for the company to follow all the legislations laid down for the Oil Industry. Legislations on industrial safety, air pollution control, wages, maximum hours work, mandatory employee benefits etc were not observed by the company. 3.2.2 ECONOMIC FACTORS the economy has an impact in all industries, from suppliers of raw materials to manufacturers of finished goods and services as well as all organisation in the service, wholesale, retail, government and non-profit sectors of economies. Key economic indicators include the following: Interest rates Unemployment rate Type of economic system in countries of operation Government intervention in the free market Comparative advantages of host country Exchange rates and stability of host country currency Efficiency of financial markets Workforce and labour cost Business cycle stage (e.g. prosperity, recession and recovery) RISK ASSESSMENT ON ECONOMIC FACTORS Nigeria operates mixed economy system which helps Shell Plc to manipulate the system because of government intervention in the economy. The interest rate does not pose any threat to Shell Plc because it did not take loans from any Nigerian banks. The companys bankers (the foreign banks) finance and support all their financial activities which favour Shell Plc because of devaluation in Nigerian currency. The major economic risk assessment to Shell Plc operating in Nigeria is increase in unemployment rate (especially in Niger Delta) due to exploitation of crude oil in that area that leads to job lost. The effect of this action has turned thousand of youths into militant groups that kidnapped foreign workers employed the company in exchange for money while some stole extracted oil from Shell. Despite the problem encountered from the militants, the company still operate in Nigeria because of prosperity attached to Oil Industry in Nigeria. 3.2.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS -socio-cultural forces influence the values, believes, and lifestyles of a society. Examples include a higher percentage of women in civil service and more men engineering related jobs, holidaymaker, dual-income families, night out orientation, increases in the number of temporary workers, greater concern for healthy diets and physical fitness, greater interest in the environment, and postponement of having children. Some of these factors affect Oil Industry in Nigeria. RISK ASSESSMENT ON SOCIAL-CULTURAL FACTORS The risks that associate with Social-Cultural factors are many especial to the indigene of Niger Delta where eighty percent of the population are illiterate and have strong believed in their local tradition. Most of the indigene want to work for Shell Plc as a security officer or domestic assistant but their level of literacy does not matched the companys requirement. Shell Plc has employed some of the indigene on temporary basis and gives them opportunity to integrate within the system. The company give out scholarship to the indigene of Niger Delta to increase their level of literacy and give them sound orientations that meet the companys standard in order to tackle some of the problems associated with these factors. 3.2.4 TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS development in technology leads to new products and services and improve how they are produced and delivered to the customers. Innovations can create entire new industries and alter boundaries of existing industries. Issues to be considered in technological analysis include the following: Recent technological development Technologys impact on product offering Impact on cost of production Impact on value chain structure Rate of technological diffusion RISK ASSESSMENT ON TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS The only major risk on technological factors is problem of electricity power supply which can hinder technological advancement. This problem has been taken care for by using Power Generator to support the power system but add to the cost of production. There are no standard infrastructural facilities in place when Shell Plc moved to Nigeria but the government is now committed to modern technological development. Shell Plc imports most of its equipment with foreign expertise that operate it and then arranged with the expertise to train home workers. This process improves technological adoption and diffusion which also reduce the cost of production in long run. The company have used different methods to attract young talented graduates (in all disciplines but priority to engineering students) and trained them to become an expert. The number of Macro- environmental factors is virtually unlimited. In practice, the oil producers must prioritise and monitor those factors that influence the industry. It may be difficult to forecast future trends of any international business environment base on the macro-environmental factors with an accurate level of acceptability because of its complexity. 3.3 STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY SHELL PLC FOR DEALING WITH CHALLENGES Shell Plc used corporate alliance strategy to shed off threats from competitors and to maintain its dominant position. The company operates joint venture with Nigerian government (NNPC) and also in partnership with Total, Chevron Corporation, and Exxon Mobil Corporation to form Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO). The company was also in partnership with Globacom (a Nigerian telecommunication company) to create employment impact that will enhance the companys operations (Shell Plc) in Nigeria. Their strategy involved helping communities to leverage income and improve their quality of life in conventional ways, such as creating jobs and assisting to defray costs of social overheads such as roads, schools and hospitals. The company set up a committee that look into complain by the farmer(s). The committee assessed complains and compensate appropriate to their loss. The company also support the government initiative on amnesty by giving support to militants that submit their gun(s). The company want to support training or education of militants that surrendered their ammunition for to better life (see appendix, fig 6 for the images of militants surrendered their guns). The company is using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to build its image locally and globally to show more concern on corporate governance and sustainable development. The CSR campaign by Shell Plc is to accelerate developmental and employment-generating opportunities across the Nation but especial Niger delta. Two special partnerships have been entered into by the company with USAID (United States Agency for International Development)- a 5 year worth $20 million agreement to develop Nigerian capacity in agriculture, health and business enterprise; and with Africare- a 3 year worth $4.5 million partnership that focus on reducing deaths from malaria. Security strategy was used to crush the militants through cooperation between Shell and State Security Forces but proved ultimately counterproductive as youth militancy increased and the security deteriorated across the wider Delta. The militants target (kidnap) the foreign workers and key officers in Shell Plc in exchange for money (compensation) which nearly put an end to Shell operations in that region (see appendix, fig 5 for images of workers kidnapped). The company outlined a new approach of CSR and community engagement which aimed to build a security-development nexus in partnership with local people. This approach has worked well for the company but now it has led to uncivil tensions along gendered and ethnic lines which undermine the prospect of a long term solution. 3.4 NIGERIAN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE- Porters Diamond Model SWOT analysis was used to determine the advantages, the level of attractiveness and risk involved in Nigerian business environment in line with the macro environmental factors for Shell Plc to operate in Nigeria (especially in Oil Gas Sector). Despite the problems and criticism encountered by Shell Plc, the company still operate and increase investment in Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector, and also extend partnership across the sector because of Nigerian comparative advantage. The Nigerian business environment possesses most of the qualities and characteristics that determine national competitive advantage as stated by Michael Porter in his theory (see appendix, fig 7 for porters diamond model). He identifies four sets of conditions that are essential in determining country competitive advantage: Factor conditions- human, knowledge, physical, technological and capital resources. Demand conditions- quality and quantity of home demand, demand that internationalised the domestic market will stimulate innovation faster in the domestic market. Related and supporting industries- availability of aid to trade (banking, insurance, transportation, warehouse and telecommunication). Firm strategy, structure and rivalry- local rivals and strategy that works with business environment. There are two other factors that can play an important role for any company to fully enjoy competitive advantage of any nation: chance (war, politics, financial movement and serendipity) and government (government policies, subsidies, training/education, and effective capital market). We have discussed most of these factors in our SWOT analysis and PEST analysis on Shell Plc. CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION What is Shell Plc comparative advantage in economic reform, competitiveness and economic governance when viewed in the light of activities initiated by other bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, and the Government of Nigeria? Shell Plcs broad comparative advantages are in government institutional strengthening and promoting private sector-led growth. Shell Plc has the most impact when it targets its activities in these areas at operational levels, where they can have sustainable effects, rather than at broad consensus-building (except in public awareness activities). In a vast bureaucratic environment like Nigerias, support must be highly selective, focusing on agencies and institutions in key leverage positions. These activities will complement the comparative advantages of other donors (who are operating at different sector but in partnership with Shell plc like Globacom and USAID). Globacom will continue to focus on telecommunication, and its technical and operational activities in the technology area can coordinate with Shell Plc. The USAIDs comparative advantage is in developing and implementing programs that actually address agriculture, health and business development. Shell Plcs CSR campaigns and partnership with international body (like Africare and USAID) will go a long way to redeem the image of the company internationally and also help to maximise their competitive advantage over others (like BP- British Petroleum). Their support to Nigerian government amnesty to educate and employ militants that surrendered their guns will reduce the number of youth that join militant group to survive. It is very important to be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of any organisation when using SWOT analysis; it is of most important to identify the organisational current strengths and weaknesses then future chances. The macro environmental factors need to be mirrored with the organisational competitive advantage. Continuing evaluation of organisation strategy will help to check how effective they are in practice and then helps to inform of future environmental challenges. References Best, M. (1990) the New Competition: Institutions of Industrial Restructuring. Harvard University Press, Cambridge Dabbs and Bateson (1998), corporate impact of addressing social issues in projects of the developing world, Pro-Natural. Lima, Peru Davis, J (1998), a Commitment to Sustainable Development, WBCSD, London. Elkington, J (1998) Contributing to Society, a personal view. In Shell International, Ltd. Profits and Principles: does there have to be a choice? London. pp. 46-47. Environmental Resources Management (ERM), 1996, Camisea: Increasing Social Capital. London, May Faulds, E, F. Morrison and A. Wilkinson Shell, UK (1998) Engineering in a Show Me Frynas, Jedzrej George Oil in Nigeria: conflict and Litigation between Oil Companies and Village Communities Hamburg Lit 2000 Hastings, M, Corporate Incentives and environmental decision making: A case study and workshop report Centre for Global Studies, September 1999 Marketing Teacher (2008), Analysing the Environment- Five Forces Analysis retrieved on 08, December 2009 www.marketingteacher.com The World Fact Book (2009), Country with top per capita income retrieved on 03, December 2009 Wade, B.N

Importance Of Diversity In Our Society Sociology Essay

Importance Of Diversity In Our Society Sociology Essay This essay will reflect the importance of diversity in the society. The definition of diversity will be given. Positive and negative aspects of diversity will be discussed. The issues of diversity like; gender, race, class, homogeneity and heterogeneity will also be discussed in this essay. Human beings have a basic difference which differentiates people into various classes in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, class and so on. These differences cause a lot of misunderstanding, discrimination and prejudice among people of different divisions. Diversity, on the other hand helps people to identify these differences, understand, respect and embrace this differences.Therefore, diversity can be defined as the ability to recognise individual differences and the ability to respect and accept these differences without discriminating it. Diversity consists of two dimensions. These are the primary and secondary dimensions. This is mostly represented with a wheel that contains the inner and outer wheel. The primary dimensions are six areas which are considered to be dimensions of diversity.These areas are; age, race, gender, ethnicity physical abilities and qualities, and sexual orientation. All these are represented by the inner wheel. These are perceived to be the most common and prevailing ways of different perception of individuals in looking at differences between people. The outer wheel contains areas that are placed under the secondary dimensions of diversity. These are things or elements that can be changed or acquired. As far as diversity is concerened,it is not only important to study diversity but it also has a major problem when dealing with the topic. According to Fry et al, one of the problem people encounter when dealing with the topic diversity, is stereotyping.(2004:156).Stereotyping is an element of p rejudice, which can be said to be placing people on the basis of one particular area of difference. We must look beyond the obvious elements of difference says stoner et al (2004:157) in other to understand each persons individuality. As they say, although the topic of diversity may be studied in discrete sections, people do not fit into easy, simplistic categories. They are quite complex (2004:157-8).Studying diversity is very important because it helps to understand various issues that causes discrimination. These issues are; race, gender, class, homogeneity and heterogeneity. These issues will be discussed individually. Firstly, the issue of homogeneity and heterogeneity. Homogeneity is when a group of people have and share similar values, similar ideas, and similar ways of living and so on. This is called a homogeneous society. All human beings are homogeneous in one way or the other. It does not matter where you come from or your skin colour. Individuals share some common behaviour no matter how culturally different people are. There are different types of homogeneous society some of which are ethnically that is the Japanese society, religiously the Arab, culturally the Indians. So many researchers concluded that the most prominent one is ethnically, where people have similar culture and complexion and facial features,(Andromida ,n.d).Homogeneity has its advantages such as, homogeneous societies do not have the problem of language barrier, which sometimes causes threats to the unity of the society. Diversity of religious and ethnic groups can take up a wrong path, thereby causing misunderstanding in the society which may result to conflict. For example, after the incident of the 911, so many Indians, Pakistanis and Arabs were maltreated in the US, reasons due to the fact that there is lack of religious homogeneity. In the case of politics, the homogeneous society has more advantage. This is because the government decision making can be more powerful because the majority people have the same point of view. (Andromida , n.d.). But then, it also has disadvantages.The main problem with homogeneous society is as history stated that the homogeneity of a country has been endangered and broken many times and it is not possible to maintain the homogeneousness of a society.For instance,during the period of 5300 and 1940 B.C,the Sumerian used to live in present day Iraq, although they were politically,socially and agriculturally more advanced,they suffered in the hands of the Akkadians because they lacked and did not even think of developing their military power. possibly, homogeneity encourages people to be unaware of the development of the rest of the world. The leaders in a homogeneous society do not like accepting changes which leads to the down fall of the whole society. Example is Japan, during the time of shogun who believed in the homogeneity of their society, (Andromida , n.d.) .Yet studying homogeneity in diversity is very important. This is because it reminds people about the basic qualities individuals share no mater your race or gender or religion.Perherps,if people are being reminded about homogeineity,the rate of discrimination may reduce and people would start embracing and accepting others differences. While heterogeneity is the exact opposite of Homogeneity. Heterogeneity is when people are dissimilar, that is, they have different backgrounds, different values, different needs and interest. When people with these features live in the same society, it is called a heterogeneous society. Todays world is becoming more of heterogeneous society. This is because people try to adopt other peoples culture and the movement of people from one place to another has increased. The advantages of a heterogeneous society is the society have the ability to move together with the rest of the world. Heterogeneous societies understand the differences in individuals more and faster. A heterogeneous society has the tendency to live longer because more countries and societies all over the world are becoming more and more heterogeneous. There are certain disadvantages that hinders heterogeneity, such as; language barrier which causes so many problems that can lead to the crashing of that society. People w ho have different languages and are of different religious background tend to see their own ethnic or religion or language as superior than the others, this may lead to conflict between the different groups. The most dominant group in a heterogeneous society may try to oppress other groups. Decision making will also be slow or even be a great problem because the leaders themselves are from different backgrounds so they may have different point of views which will make them disagree with each other there by resulting into a great misunderstanding. The issue of heterogeneity is important in diversity because people have to be aware of the differences between individuals in other to enable them accept others. So that people will know and understand that in spite of all the differences, there are also similarities that human beings share. The next issue is the issue of class. Carl Max defined class as an antagonistic relationship that is always relative to another group based on exploitation and control. Social class is a group of people that have comparable social and economic status. Classification of people based on what you have, that is economic capital the quantity of your wealth, who you know which is the social capital and what you know the cultural capital. Class does not only affect people economically but it also affects people emotionally. Class may be said to be culture.(Class Action , 2004).Class can be changed during a persons life time, that is some people are born and grew into a class but they live as adults in another, while some immigrants change their class from their original country to their new country. This shows that class operates along a range or hierarchy. The stratification of class is based on the upper class, these are the very wealthy and powerful people, The middle class who are the p rofessionals and other high earning workers then the lower class who are classified to be people who only have low income and other resources. Classism is a way of oppressing people according to their class, wages or income. There are different levels of oppression which are; macro which happens due to economic, social, political and cultural institutions.However, as bad as classifying people according to their economic status looks, it has its benefits. These benefits are; it gave rise for more fluid structures in the western society, classification of people in a society makes way for others in that society. Exploitation of people is also present. The negative effects of classifying people is that it has been misunderstood which brought about classism. This makes individuals to be oppressed in a society either directly or indirectly. This results to emotional and physical damage. It is considered important to address the issue of class in diversity. This is because when the issues are being addressed, people will be able to understand that social class does not mean classism. And individuals will be able to understand the reasons behind classifying people under social class are not to discriminate or practice classism. Furthermore, the issue of Race. Race is considered the group of people who share the same physical and biological factors. It can be skin colour facial features, religion, culture and ethnic group.Nturally; all human beings are genetically homogeneous. So many people do not view race to be a source of belonging rather, a cause to discriminate. This introduces racism which is the thought of one ethnic group or race to be superior to others, thereby making them to discriminate and oppress people who are not from their own race. It is also an institution that discriminate people against their physical and cultural groups. Race is important because it makes an individual to feel a sense of belonging to a particular group. It makes people know that they are not the only ones who look different or sound different to the rest of the world. It also has disadvantages which are; it creates a way for people to discriminate and oppress individuals who are from certain or different race from thei r own. It makes some people feel superior to others there by making those individuals fell inferior and less important in the society. The issue of racism should be addressed in diversity in other to make people understand that race does not mean any group is superior or inferior to others. It creates awareness to people that no matter the difference in individuals, humanbeings still share basic needs as nature requires them to. It will also make them understand that it is wrong to discriminate and feel threatened by other race. It may make individuals to accept people for who they are. Lastly, the issue of gender. These are the socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that society considers male and female to attain. These roles are being fixed by the society while some by nature. This determines what role individuals should play. Gender in some society is determined physically. It is important for people to know their gender roles in other for them to know what the society requires of them to do. It is also important for people to know their gender in other to play the right role so as not confuse their children. This is because in so many cases of single mothers or and fathers, their children grow up to play the wrong role in the society. Gender also consists of disadvantages. This is because people misuse certain gender to oppress. They have the believe that a certain gender is inferior to the other. For instance, the male gender consider the female gender to be inferior to them there by oppressing them. India is a very good example to ci te gender discrimination. In India, the male gender make the female gender to the hard work that they are suppose to do. This is because they fell they are inferior to them. This issue gender is of great importance to be discussed in diversity, to let individuals know that people can choose their own gender roles. And gender does not mean one group is superior to the other. Diversity can be used to correct the how people view gender. Some societies that discriminates the female gander can be corrected through diversity. All the five issues that were discussed above in this essay revolve around diversity. They are issues that the society misunderstand their importance what they stand for thereby making them to discriminate, operess and prejudice people. These issues are important to be discussed in diversity in other to correct the ills in the society.Therefore, diversity is of great importance because it determines the future state of the society if it is ignored and not cared for. So many people suffer due to these issues but diversity can stop these sufferings. With diversity, people will learn to accept and understand individuals there by reducing the rate of misunderstanding, conflict.prejudice and discrimination. Conclusively, the definition of diversity was given in the essay; the issues of diversity were listed and explained. The positive and negative aspects or effects of these issues was given and explained. And how they are of importance to be addressed in the society. The importance of diversity in the society has also been pointed put and explained in this essay.

Policy issues - Geographic Information :: science

Policy issues - Geographic Information Policy issues and availability of Geographic Information Geographical Information is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that happen on earth. The major components of a GI are: a user interface; system/database management capabilities; database creation/data entry capacity; spatial data manipulation and analysis packages; and display/product generation functions. GIS technology integrates, via the Internet, common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by maps. These abilities distinguish GIS from other information systems and make it valuable to a wide range of public and private enterprises for explaining events, predicting outcomes, and planning strategies Public Sector:- Defense: The rapid development of technology has led to advancements that have had a direct impact on the improvement of our military. Weapons have become more effective and the use of satellite imagery has helped reduce the amount of lives lost during conventional warfare Banking and insurance Companies: GI technology provides financial users with insight about their customer's purchasing habits, financial behavior, and needs for additional products or services. As a result, banks are able to target their best prospects and not misdirect marketing and advertising resources. Power (Electricity Sector): GI can effectively manage information on the distribution of electricity to customers and information describing the attributes of each customer such as location and electricity use. It makes information easily updatable and accurate and hence can cater to the needs of maintaining large power infrastructure Police: In today’s world when there is so much crime all around and police forces need to be very efficient, GI help police department to plan and keep an eye on the crime & criminals. It helps to manage, number of Police Personnel required, starting point for each team / person while on patrolling, direction and length of path for each team. Telecom: GI systems within Telecom utilities can provide facilities for fault tracking, customer care, Planning and efficient management of a large distributive network and more importantly provide a framework for better integration and analysis of relevant facility information derived from several sources in graphics environment. Commercial Sector: Retail market and Distribution: It provides real world picture like which areas of the city are more than 2 km from any shop selling my products? How many households does a particular shop serve? What is average household income in the areas that this shop serves? What route should my distribution trucks take to minimize delivery cost and time? Policy issues - Geographic Information :: science Policy issues - Geographic Information Policy issues and availability of Geographic Information Geographical Information is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that happen on earth. The major components of a GI are: a user interface; system/database management capabilities; database creation/data entry capacity; spatial data manipulation and analysis packages; and display/product generation functions. GIS technology integrates, via the Internet, common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by maps. These abilities distinguish GIS from other information systems and make it valuable to a wide range of public and private enterprises for explaining events, predicting outcomes, and planning strategies Public Sector:- Defense: The rapid development of technology has led to advancements that have had a direct impact on the improvement of our military. Weapons have become more effective and the use of satellite imagery has helped reduce the amount of lives lost during conventional warfare Banking and insurance Companies: GI technology provides financial users with insight about their customer's purchasing habits, financial behavior, and needs for additional products or services. As a result, banks are able to target their best prospects and not misdirect marketing and advertising resources. Power (Electricity Sector): GI can effectively manage information on the distribution of electricity to customers and information describing the attributes of each customer such as location and electricity use. It makes information easily updatable and accurate and hence can cater to the needs of maintaining large power infrastructure Police: In today’s world when there is so much crime all around and police forces need to be very efficient, GI help police department to plan and keep an eye on the crime & criminals. It helps to manage, number of Police Personnel required, starting point for each team / person while on patrolling, direction and length of path for each team. Telecom: GI systems within Telecom utilities can provide facilities for fault tracking, customer care, Planning and efficient management of a large distributive network and more importantly provide a framework for better integration and analysis of relevant facility information derived from several sources in graphics environment. Commercial Sector: Retail market and Distribution: It provides real world picture like which areas of the city are more than 2 km from any shop selling my products? How many households does a particular shop serve? What is average household income in the areas that this shop serves? What route should my distribution trucks take to minimize delivery cost and time?

Nathaniel Hawthornes Puritan influences Essay -- good vs evil

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born into a family that possessed prominent Puritan ancestors, and the shame he experienced as a result of their actions, as well as his odd fascination with them, had a significant impact on his life and his writings. Though it would be an overstatement to say that Hawthorne's knowledge of the Puritan way of life was his only source of inspiration, this knowledge was certainly influential as it is often reflected in the majority of his work. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, Hawthorne was born in a town whose Puritan past is well-known as a result of the infamous Salem witch trials. Though he was born well after the time of the Puritans, growing up in a town so steeped in Puritan history is likely why his knowledge of Puritan life was so extensive (Means 1). The reason why Hawthorne was so interested in his Puritan ancestors of Salem was the fact that his great-great grandfather, John Hathorne, was a judge during the Salem witch trials. Also, his great-great-great grandfather was a member of the General Court of Massachusetts and Hawthorne did extensive research into the punishments that his great-great-great grandfather placed upon the sinners of Salem (Barna 2). Hawthorne was so repulsed by these connections that when he began publishing his work he changed his surname to Hawthorne in place of his original surname of Hathorne. While some may argue that Hawthorne was supportive of Puritan doctrine, because of the fact that he often discussed the folly of sin and was viewed as being fairly conservative for seeing sin as an inherent part of human nature, it is not true that he admired the ways of his Puritan ancestors. Hawthorne once stated that society should progress in a slower, calmer ma... ...ots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 July 2015. Barna, Mark Richard. "Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Unpardonable Sin."World & I 13.3 (1998): 324. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 8 July 2015. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"The Minister's Black Veil.† Eldritch Press, n.d. Web. 20 July 2015. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Manheim, Daniel. â€Å"Pearl's Golden Chain in THE SCARLET LETTER.† Explicator 68.3 (2010): 177-180. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 July 2015. Means, Richard. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Nathaniel Hawthorne (2006): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 July 2015. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† PoemHunter.com. PoemHunter.com, n.d. Web. 20 July 2015. Trepanier, Lee. â€Å"The Need for Renewal: Nathaniel Hawthorne's Conservatism.† Modern Age 45.4 (2003): 315-323. Wold History Collection. Web. 20 July 2015.

Regional development in France Essay

Regional development in France Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The conventional approach to regional development was assumed by central governments using the levers of infrastructure, subsidies to firms, and the setting of public sector operations. Regional development policies has been superseded by a fashionable approach characterized by decentralized intervention based on integrated regional development plans and strategies, delivered and designed by partnerships of local and regional actors. Regional policy has been in existence for over fifty places especially in Western Europe. Regional policy existed in countries that were affected by the Great Depression of 1930. It became famous part of social policy intervention and widening economic undertaken by all Western European countries from 1950 to 1970. The regional policy began to change in the mid 1970s due to slow economic development and new political policies. The European Union created its regional policy with more and more resources devoted to social and economic cohesion (Funck & Pizzati, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The present economic crisis led the French government to develop measures to accelerate implementation of the operational programs with respect to digital infrastructure, sustainable development, and energy efficiency for housing. Consecutively, some regional authorities included additional measured especially in environment and innovation. The rate of implementation of operational programs is somewhat low among all regions. The differences between regions to an extent depend on the cooperation level between regional and central government. The implementation rate is lowest in sustainable development and highest in the knowledge economy. Annual implementation reports maintain that the crisis between central and regional governments had a negative impact on implementation mainly because enterprises are slow in launching projects. Analysis of regional development is difficult due to lack of comparability of the indicators and homogeneity. In addition, it poses difficult to identify achievements in comparison to the objectives (Lopriore, 2001).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is in the policy part ‘knowledge economy’ that the key results and outputs originate: the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   SRI; R&D equipment and infrastructure, and collaborative R&D projects in relation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   pà ´les de compà ©titività © and poles of excellence and to regional filià ¨res.The SRI program implemented in 2009 has possibly played a affirmative function, jointly with the crisis in support of the execution of improvement support policies. There are fewer consequences for more customary policies such as support to knowledge transfer organizations and to communal actions of enterprises. United regions have focused their labors on intensifying their human resources and research potential that corresponds to a recognized need.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second policy is accessibility and transport and is evaluated in terms of results and outputs with investment in urban transport and railways in addition to broadband infrastructure. Results and outputs in the ‘sustainable development and environment’ policy part are fairly incomplete because of prevalence of management capacity and small projects being less in comparison to creativity. The key achievements are in renewable energies and energy efficiency. In ‘territorial development’, predicaments in some urban parts are being tackled via calls for proposals, which have resulted to creation of the first concrete projects, in addition to sport, tourism, and cultural activities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Territorial Cooperation review on operating programs reveals that there is a general equilibrium between results and outputs in the ‘knowledge economy’ and ‘sustainable development’ policy areas. SRIs have indisputably armored the obligation of officials and politicians at regional point to improvement support strategies, taking part to improve the innovation supremacy scheme, and had a patent effect in escalating wakefulness of the significance of an extra demand-oriented plan and putting more focus to non-technological innovation, service innovation as well as financial engineering. Successively, joint R&D projects have played part in nurturing customs and practice of partnership in both academic community and industry (Funck & Pizzati, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The traditions and practice of appraisal has made noteworthy development in France in the last few years at state as well as regional rank, moderately under the demands of innovative institutional, the Commission and policy system. However, the approaches remain comparatively customary, as shown in the state appraisal of pà ´les de compà ©titività ©. In comparison to the 2005 concluding assessments of SPDs and ERDF, the latest appraisals concentrate on scrutinizing the effects, pointing to key issues and essential re-orientations further than the plain evaluation of the execution of the programs and strategies assessed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most remarkable assessments are the national evaluation of the pà ´les de compà ©titività © (2008) and various regional assessments which focus to specific problems that are serious in France such as the allotment of capabilities and the synchronization between the national and regional systems. They primarily focus on the ‘knowledge economy’ policy part and they in broad highlight once more that it is obligatory to take enhanced account of the exact features of areas or sub-regions, to perk up the authority system, to focus more on the account of non-technological improvement and service innovation , and to incorporate SMEs more efficiently. Regional development also recommends a shift from procedures behind knowledge transfer organizations to dealings supporting joint R&D projects. This is established by the evaluation of the regional improvement systems set up in the SRIs (â€Å"Regional Policy†, 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The five regions that exist in France include Ile de France which is the capital region, Western regions, Rhone-Alpes, Changing or the outermost regions and the Southern regions. Ile de France takes a unique position because it accommodates headquarters of huge companies and it is highly concentrated with government offices. Capital region is also highly populated with active and young people with a life-long education at an outstanding level. Its performance is high in regard to all indicators such as competent work-force, private and public R&D expenditure as well as higher education. Ile de France contributes an approximate of 28% of national value-added. Research findings reveal that over the last decade, the capital region is slowly being undertaken by Western and Southern regions in terms of growth of GDP per capita, national value-added and research potential.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rhone-Alpes is the second largest region in regard to GDP and population. Its national value added has slightly increased from 9.4% in 1990 to 9.6% in year 2002. The unemployment rate in Rhone-Alpes region is lower than the national average rate. It has a multifaceted structure with service center such as Lyon, banking, industrial, manufacturing spots, and a world rank R&D monopoly in Grenoble. Southern regions have a higher than average ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP. The Southern regions draw immigrants from Northern and capital regions. It has a young population with a high unemployment rate which drastically fell until 2008. There are strong intra-regional differences because of concentration of research and services in the capital cities and the contrasting significance of mountain and rural areas. Southern regions gain from pensions of retiring generations and the unemployed who move to the â€Å"sun belt†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Western regions continue to experience high growth in terms of competent people and their cities are amongst the most gorgeous in France. The unemployment rate in Western regions is also below that of the country in general. In addition some regions do not have special features in terms of R&D, higher education and competent personnel. Low unemployment level in some regions may be caused by emigration of active generation while others have old industrial base; where despite increased labor, they still experience slow growth and high unemployment rate. French outermost regions undergo various challenges such as cost of access, remoteness, high dependence on the metropole, lack of critical mass and environment challenges. The business sector hugely depends on the government and tourism sector. The ration of minimum income support in French outermost regions is six times compared to the mainland France. There is extremely high unemployment ra te as compared to the national average. France outermost regions comprises of micro-enterprises and service-related SMEs, which are mostly family owned and neither innovation nor export oriented.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Information from statistical data on GDP per capita and population reveals some of the key transforms that have occurred in various regional groups. The Western and Southern regions had the highest population growth from 1999 to 2007. The increase in population in these regions can be associated to migration from capital and other French regions. Region Population growth (%) Corsica +15 Languedoc-Roussillon +11.6 Midi- Pyrà ©nà ©es+10.1 Aquitaine +8.3 Pays de la Loire +8.1 Provence-Alpes-Cà ´te-d’Azur +8 Bretagne +7.4 Rhà ´ne-Alpes +7.4   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The capital region had population growth of 5.9%. The areas with lower population growth were either rural areas such as Bourgogne, Auvergne, Champagne-Ardenne, and Picardie or old industrial regions such as Lorraine, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and Haute-Normandie. Region Population growth (%) Champagne-Ardenne -0.2 Nord-Pas-de-Calais +0.6 Lorraine +1.3 Bourgogne +1.5 Haute-Normandie +2.1 Picardie +2.3 Auvergne, +2.3   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The situation in the French outermost regions various immensely with growth of 12.4% in La Reunion and Quasi-stability in Guadeloupe, however there was high growth of 35.5% in Guyane due to high birth rate and immigration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Demographic changes in most French regions raise concerns about the future prospects of France. There is low population growth in most French regions because of low fertility. These regions have an ongoing trend of population ageing and this is expected to have profound implications across French both regionally or nationally. Low fertility rates will lead to low population of working generation to support the aged people, high percentage of aged people, and reduction in number of students in education. Elderly people will require additional healthcare, infrastructure and adapted housing. The structural demographic changes will have an impact on French capacity to balance their funds, provide enough health services and pensions, and raising tax revenue (Laurent et al, 2009).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Population ageing and decline are the most demanding trends for future prospects of a country. Immigration is also a very significant factor of population growth in some French regions especially Southern region which attracts immigrants from Capital and Northern regions. Great variations in demographic patterns between French regions rely on various socio-economic aspects. Regions in the rural and peripheral places and the mountain and customary industrial areas are prevalent to de-population. The demographic rend in French regions have significant policy and socio-economic implications because they influence growth and productivity, shortage of workers, urban-rural imbalances in populations, and provision of healthcare and social services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Demographic change is a major aspect that place concerns in levels of intervention and policy areas, which include employment plans, rural and urban planning, integration and immigration policies, social infrastructures and communication, family and gender equality policies and social protection systems. Research evidence on population trend in economic crisis reveals that recession resulted to decrease in fertility rates and birth rates (Funck & Pizzati, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Industrial structure in French regions reveals major disparities in regard to the significance of diverse operations within non-financial business economies. Regions such as capital region are highly populated with active and young generation. The population in urban and capital regions has an outstanding level of education level. Industrial structure depends on the infrastructure, availability of resources, skilled workers as well as topographic and climatic regions. Urbanization rate in France is high since people migrate from rural to urban areas seeking for employment. The urban areas also attract people from other regions; for example, western region is among the beautiful cities in France.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are high unemployment rates in most regions which might be caused by lack of skilled personnel, continuing trend of ageing population. There is great improvement in some regions which emphasize on ICT and related services since advanced technology is also a cause of unemployment. High population is another cause of unemployment. The global crisis during the great depression also caused unemployment. GDP per capita is high in capital and urban regions which attract tourism and with skilled workers. GDP is low in rural and customary industrial regions. In other regions low GDP is caused by high number of aged people who are unproductive. Capital regions have active, educated and young generation who are productive, thus they have high GDP per capita.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The growth of the GDP per capita since 1990 to 2008 gives significant views to complement the demographic data. The highest GDP growth is experienced in Western and Southern regions. Region Growth in GDP per capita (%) Bretagne 33.4 Pays de la Loire 30.1 Poitou-Charentes 26.3 Midi-pyrenees26.7 Aquitaine 26.6 PACA 25.9   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The GDP growth in Rhone-Alpes and Ile de France was 20.5% and 22.9% respectively. These two regions had a slightly lower GDP growth as compared to the national average of 22.9%. The GDP growth in Alsace was only 11.8%. Alsace is famous as the fourth most thriving French region. The other regions with low GDP per capita growth include Lorraine (17.3 % and Franche-Comte (15.2%), which are regions with customary industries. Other areas with low GDP per capita growth were mostly rural areas such as Centre (15.4%), and Picardie (13.2%). The French outermost regions had a significant contribution with a GDP per capita growth of 29.9% since 1990 up to 2008. The overseas area GDP per capita growth is lower as compared to the national average (22.8%). In addition, high unemployment still persists in these outermost regions such as Guadeloupe, La Reunion and Guyane.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recent research findings brings out a paradox since the less productive regions had immense development in regard to population, employment, income and welfare, while poverty still exist in some of the most thriving regions. This implies that there is an increasing trend of discrepancy between logic of progress and logic of growth. In other instances, some regions such as southern regions depend on pension transfers which hinder them from global competition. The productive regions are the main providers of taxes and engines of French development. For example Paris metropolitan region which accounts for 30% of national GPD, but whose households only receive 22.5% of the national household income. A policy debate has led to concerns regarding strengthening of Ile de France region in terms with the concept of â€Å"Grand Paris†. This might be a classical occurrence in other European countries, but this French system is different becaus e of immigration to Southern regions, and to some extent the Western regions. The immigration has prevailed for more than 20 years and has greatly affected the distribution of wealth and income in France (Lopriore, 2001).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The regional development policy has not been affected by the macroeconomic context. The French government failed to abide by the policies of the stability and Growth pact regarding public debt and budget deficits until 2010. The overall government investment and expenditure has exceeded EU average, there is also low than average yearly GDP growth rate, in addition, because of high investment in regional and local authorities as well as decentralization. Regional development policies have died down from being chief policies over the last few years. At operational stage, regional development policy has basically resulted from amalgamation of operational programs and contrats de plan Etat-region programs with slightly larger plans. At policy-making stage, regional development policies focus on particular areas with an aim of mountain areas, coastal and rural areas and areas with hardships in cities. Cluster policy was developed at the end of 1990, resulting to general program â€Å"Pà ´les de compà ©titività ©Ã¢â‚¬ . Recently, Pà ´les de compà ©titività © is regarded as the most evident tool of a state policy of regional development. The other policy is Prime d’Amenagement du Territoire (PAT), which is a grant plan for business creating jobs. Pat was founded in 1996 and was evaluated in 2006.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The comparative lack of regional development policy has been substituted by investement in infrastructure such as high-speed railway system. The railway network favored the Western and Southern Mediterranean parts. The existing crisis has not affected the general structure of the regions. However, manufacturing regions has been greatly affected. The crisis has intensified social differences with outcomes for poverty in urban regions associated to high unemployment levels. The crisis has greatly raised concerns regarding the prospect of investment and expenditure in the regional and national levels. Research findings reveal that GDP declined by 0.2% in 2008 and significantly declined by 2.6% in 2009. The French government increased their investment and expenditure resulting to deficit and debts in public sector. French regions have struggled to sustain the level of investment, however local authorities are anticipated to face cut off in fin ancial transfers from the state. A reduction in social benefits will have short-term effects on the regions subjugated by public-residential economy as well as urban predicaments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In other instances, some regions have overcome the execution of their European Regional Development Fund operational programs in reaction to the crisis. The regional development policy based on the competitiveness and convergence regions can be evaluated through three policy document namely: the contrats se projet Etat-Region, Regional Schemes for Economic Development and the European Regional Development fund operational programs. The explanation of SRDE in every region is based on the review of 2003 Constitution and 2004 Parliament Act famous as â€Å"Decentralization Acte II† that gave French regions new competencies in the area of economic development. Documents from SRDE are basically policy proposals that do not involve financial obligations of the regional authorities. European Regional Development Fund favor for regional progress is fairly coherent with national policy because there is a solid relationship between the ERDF o perating programs and CPER. The coherence between the regional development policy and CPER/ERDF operating programs can be analyzed through appraisal of SRDE. Generally there are no principal differences between CPER/ERDF operating programs and SRDE.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Schà ©mas Rà ©gionaux de Dà ©veloppement Economique (SRDE) outlines the significance of training, education and employment in regard to the anticipation of social and economic change as well as internalization. European Regional Development Fund is complementary to area expansion policy and does not include latest priorities. French regions have given priority axis to innovation and research, competitiveness, fight against greenhouse effect and sustainable development. Accessibility and transport are other priority axis emphasized by the regions. Terriotorial development is another aspect found in the regions priority axis either as a common policy theme occasionally connected to accessibility, cohesion and attractiveness or focusing on particular fields. Aquitaine is the only region that supports ICT. ICT is also supported by other large-scale projects in Languedoc-Roussillon. Lorraine and PACA fully support competitiveness and innovat ion while Rhode-Alpes support accessibility. Guyane and Martinique support social cohesion and health, La Reunion focus on human resource development while Auvergne is the only region which supports financial engineering (Ockwell, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is also vital to recognize other priority axis emphasized by other regions such as European and international dimension. This includes international environment and competitiveness found in Pays de la Laoire and La Reunion. In regard to financial obligation, competitiveness and the knowledge economy seem as the first policy area, while sustainable development and environment takes the second position. In some instances, some aspects of transport policy and territorial development can be linked to sustainable development. There are some discrepancies between convergence and convergence and employment and competitiveness regions. Convergence regions emphasize on the significance of human resource and education development via the ERDF, they also have priorities focused to the reparation for the structural handicaps and ultra-peripherality. In contrast, competitiveness and knowledge economy regions get minimal share of allocation (â€Å"R egional Policy†, 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It must be highlighted that all regions incorporate support to poles in the proximity axes devoted to competitiveness and knowledge economy. Poles de competitivite are regarded as part of primary structure of regional development. French region incorporate territorial cooperation operational programs with faintly analogous priorities. The global economic crisis begun to have significant effect on the French economy in 2008. The crisis had distinct impacts depending on the French regions and their economic configuration. For example, Midi-Pyrenees was not greatly hit because it specialized in space industry and aeronautics, while customary industrial regions such as Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Lorraine suffered adversely. The French Government incorporated various measures to combat the crisis especially the implementation of European Regional Development Fund operational programs as component of its â€Å"plan de reliance†, in particular to speed up the execution of the operating programs, and focus on ‘Lisbon’ priorities, digital infrastructure, and energy efficiency for housing as well as sustainable development. Other regions incorporated additional strategies to combat recession; for instance, PACA included vocational training, social watch and economic strategies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is discrepancy between the original and newest allocation of ERDF financing in the five regions, corresponding to changes which were vital in the initial programming stage. There is reduction of initial allocations in Poitou-Charentes and Bourgogne. The reason behind reduction of allocation was the fact that the procedures were not adequately attractive, and, for sustainable non-road transport in Poitou-Charentes and the need of undertaking preliminary technical and feasibility studies. In Lorraine, Pays de la Loire and Franche-Comte, some priority axes have been cut short while others are improved with a depressing net impact.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The implementation rate in the convergence regions such as Guadeloupe, Guyane and Martinique is approximately 5-7% and 11.9% in La Reunion. The higher implementation in La Reunion is due to existence of shared strategic vision among its members in addition to solid partnerships. Generally the priority measures and axes dedicated to economy, competitiveness and innovation have a comparatively higher execution rate compared to other policy areas, except in La Reunion where the highest execution rates are in transport and accessibility and sustainable development. In the employment and competitiveness regions the execution rate is highest for the priority axes devoted to the innovation, knowledge and competitiveness of enterprises in regions such as Limousin, Centre, Alsace, Haute-Normandie, Auvergne, Aquitaine, Champagne-Ardenne, Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, and Pays de la Loire. The situation of th e regions may differ greatly since in some regions, it is innovation and knowledge economy that have high implementation rate, while in others is financial engineering or competitiveness of enterprises. In most regions, implementation rate ranges from 8 to 14 percent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On standard, the priority axes devoted to environment, sustainable environment and energy have a lower implementation rate. Nine regions had an implementation rate between 2 to 5 percent and nine other regions in a 7-10 range while Bourgogne had the highest implementation rate of 15.4 percent. The priority axes devoted to transport and accessibility, including ICT, has the highest implementation rate in Bretagne. Bretagne has an implementation of 14.5% associated to the construction of the high-speed railway. Generally, the regions have a lower implementation rate as compared to the priority axes devoted to the innovation, competitiveness and economy. The regions devoted to particular aspects such as territorial development have lower implementation rate in general except Franche-Comte. Franche-Comte has an implementation rate of 24.8% which dedicated its efforts at balancing intra-regional development. The intra-regional development invol ves expansion of the mountainous region of the Jura. The discrepancies in the implementation rates between different priority axes can be explained using various factors. Implementation rate in energy and environment policy area is mainly affected by the existence of less established agencies and administrations. The region also experienced a tricky reorganization in the foundation of the Directions regionales de I’environnement, de I’ amenagement et du lodgement (DREAL), in addition to involvements with undersized projects (â€Å"Regional Policy†, 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The innovation, knowledge economy and competitiveness policy area have a relatively high implementation rate because these regions experience a well-established administration, strong links with enterprises, good relations with the SRI, amd from the emphasis and momentum on innovation. In some instances, new measures have not impacted full impact such as the Grenelle de I’ Environnement in comparison with the mantra on knowledge economy and innovation caused by the Lisbon plan, and reinforced in France by the (SRI) Regional Innovation Strategies, which were implemented in all French regions in 2009. The implementation rate in transport and accessibility policy areas is influenced by the need to carry out a lot of feasibility and preliminary studies before construction work sets off.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apart from the crisis issue, the implementation of operation programs had to deal with some organizational and institutional problems. For example, Franche-Comte implemented 2007-2013 operating programs together with final step of 2000 to 2006 SPD. The economic actors and administrative staff had to understand guidelines and objectives in order to cope with the implementation process. The implementation procedure lacked knowledge of officials and adequate time particularly while undertaking innovative projects in Alsace as well as highly technical issues such as high-speed railway network in Bretagne. Other projects were abandoned because they were too complex and would take long duration to be implemented. An example of such project is innovation company creation in Languedoc and Rhone-Alpes regions. In addition some parts of ERDF policies were problematic to some regions; for example income-generating projects in Article 55. The general implementation rate might be low, but commitment rate gives a clear elaboration. France lags behind in ERDF commitment in competitiveness region at the end of 2009. ERDF commitment rates EU27 France Employment and competitiveness objective 30.4% 27.6% Convergence objective 25.2% 26.1%   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The convergence regions had a commitment which is relatively higher than EU27 convergence average and relatively lower than the competitiveness and employment regions. This implies that local and state regions have made efforts in managing structural funds, regardless of the customary problems encountered in the overseas areas, even if most of the EU27 regions are in the EU12 with inadequate knowledge of executing cohesion policy schemes. France has devoted efforts in innovation support for SMEs, risk and environment prevention as well as transport. On the other hand, EU devoted its efforts in ICT and related fields. There is a shift in strategy priorities towards innovation and the environment. There is relatively high commitment rate for innovation support for SMEs is somewhat noteworthy since it has posed difficult to implement projects of this type in French overseas regions. They have placed more emphasis on innovation. ERDF commitment rate EU27 (%) France (%) Enterprise environment 32.6 17.1 ICT and related services 32.3 32.9 Innovation support for SMES 20.7 32.9 Human resources 17.5 38.3 Transport 22.3 35.2 Energy and environment 16.1 37.9 Energy infrastructure 12.1 18.5 Risk prevention and environment 16.8 39.5 Territorial development 32.9 20.7   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The commitment rate in the competitiveness regions is lower than the EU27 average as regards territorial development and transport because urban and transport projects are indulge long schemes before work begins. ERDF commitment rate EU27 (%) France (%) Enterprise environment 33.8 30.5 ICT and related services 24.1 42.4 Innovation support for SMEs 29.2 18.4 Other investments in firms 54.7 42 RTDI and associated activities 32.2 36.3 Human resources 17.7 37.5 Transport 27.8 22.8 Energy and environment 20.2 22.2 Energy infrastructure 18.5 27.1 Risk prevention and environment 21.3 18.8 Territorial development 34.8 28.3   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Commitment rates are high in enterprise support where the rates are particularly high for other investment firms and ICT and related services. The crisis greatly affected commitment rate of innovation support for SMEs. High commitment rate in innovation, knowledge economy and competitiveness signifies existence of competent administration and reluctant emphasis on innovation. Lower commitment rate in energy and environment signify lack of technical skills in agencies and administrations in addition to investment in large number of undersized projects as well as complex procedure of reorganization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is not easy to highlight the achievements from the programs because of the difference between initial and programmed objectives. Research reveals that only a few projects have been implemented due to time required for implementation process. Annual Implmentation reports of 2009 reveal that first achievements are beginning to be realized and this is an explanation why AIRs place more emphasis on the programmed projects rather than the achieved programs. In other instances, various indicators in AIRs make comparison efforts very difficult. Regional indicators might be emphasized by some regions, while neglecting EU and national indicators. In some regions, there are no reports or mentioning of the indicators. Comparison might also be difficult because of the likelihood of inappropriate naming of the indicators. In addition, the approaches and the sources used while reporting the indicators continue being imprecise in various regions (â₠¬Å"Regional Policy†, 2010)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major achievement across French regions prevails in 2009 Regional innovation strategies. Generally, the highest rates and achievements are very crucial in large majority of regions. Urban problems are solved by improving urban transport in cities such as Limousin, Nord-Pas-de Calais. The regions with geographic handicaps develop high speed railway to improve access. There is also improvement of energy and renewable energy in rural areas as well as Southern regions. The evaluation carried on sustainable development and innovation reveals that policies devoted to sustainable development did not consider social issues. Regional innovation strategies have contributed immensely amongst all French regions to the improvement of innovation authority system, expansion of culture of innovation in regional and state administrations, and homogenization of interest in innovation. SRIs emphasize on non-technological innovation and service innovation in addition to financial engineering (Laurent et al, 2009).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, regional development is very vital since it will ensure equitable distribution of resources among all regions. Regional development mainly focuses on sustainable development, energy efficiency for housing as well as digital infrastructure. The main regions in France include Ile de France, Southern regions, Western regions, outermost regions and Rhà ´ne-Alpes. The central region holds an exceptional place since it is concentrated with governmental offices and headquarters of large companies. The major differences in these regions reveal themselves in terms of unemployment rate, population and GDP per capita. French outermost regions face a lot of problems such as cost of access, remoteness, geographical handicap, high dependence on metropole, lack of critical mass and environmental challenges. High population in some regions is because of high birth rate and immigration. Regions with lower GDP are either rural areas or regio ns with customary industries. Research reveal that only a few projects have been implemented since some of the projects are very complex and will take long time to implement them. It is also to identify the achievement of the implemented projects because there is difference between initial and programmed objectives. Regional development was greatly affected by the Global crisis, organizational and institutional issues. Regional development efforts were also affected by lack of time and competent officials especially when handling highly technical issues. References France., & France. (2006). Spatial planning and sustainable development policy in France. Paris: MinisteÌ€re des affaires eÃŒ trangeÌ€res. Funck,  B., & Pizzati,  L. (2003). European Integration, Regional Policy and Growth. Washington, DC: World Bank. Laurent,  H., Mignolet,  M., & Meunier,  O. (2009). Regional policy: What is the most efficient instrument? Papers in Regional Science, 43, 260. doi:10.1111/j.1435-5957.2008.00214.x Lopriore,  M. (2001). A critical view of the 2nd Social and Economic Cohesion Report and the future of regional policies after 2006. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2002). Impact of transport infrastructure investment on regional development. Paris, France: Author. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). Linking regions and central governments: Contracts for regional development. Paris, France: OECD. Regional Policy. (2010, November 10). Retrieved  October  24, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/pdf/eval2007/country_reports/france.pdf Source document

Important Committees and Their Heads Essay

1. U.C. Banerjee Commission :- Enquiry into Godhra carnage (railways) 2. Sarkaria Commission : Centre-State relations 3. Srikrishna Commission : 1992 Bombay riots 4. Thakkar Commission : Indira Gandhi assassination case 5. Malhotra Committee : Insurance Reforms 6. Ajay Vikram Singh Committee : Faster promotions in army 7. Rajinder Sachar Committee {1} : Companies and MRPT Act 8. Rajindar Sachar Committee {2} : Report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslims of India 9. Jyoti Basu Committee : Report on Octroi abolition 10. Sawant Committee : Enquiry on corruption, charges against ministers & Anna Hazare 11. Chelliah Committee : Eradicating black money 12. Kothari Commission: Educational reforms 13. Wanchoo Committee : Tax enquiry 14. Rangarajan Committee : Reforms in private sector 15. Chakravarti Committee : Banking sector reforms 16. G.V.Ramakrishna Committee : Disinvestment in PSU shares 17. Kelkar Committee : First committee on backward castes 18. Godbole Committee :Enron Power Project 19. Rangarajan Committee : Statistics 20. Wardha Committee : Inquiry on murder of Graham Staines 21. N.N. Vohra Committee : Criminalization of politics 22. Kelkar Committee {2} : Direct-Indirect Taxes 23. Narasimham Committee : Banking sector reforms 24. Chelliah Committee :Tax reforms 25. Mashelkar Committee : National Auto Fuel Policy 26. Yashpal Committee : Review of School Education system 27. Ram Nandan Prasad Committee : Constitution of creamy layers among Backward Castes 28. Kelkar Committee{3} :Enquiry on Kargil defense deals. 29. Thorat Committee : Caste-based discrimination against students in AIIMS 30. R.K.Raghavan Committee : Ragging in colleges 31. James Lyngdoh Committee :- Student politics and student-body elections in colleges. 32. E.M.S. Nachiappan Committee : Reforms in the higher judiciary 33. Soli Sorabjee Committee : Police Reforms [it was constituted after the Judgement of the Supreme Court in Parkash Singh vs Union of India (2006)] 34. Fali S. Nariman Committee :- Accountability and damages with regard to destruction of public property 35. Raghuram C. Rajan Committee :- financial sector reforms 36. Tarkunde Committee :- composition of the Election Commission and other electoral reforms 37. Dinesh Goswami Committee :- electoral reforms