Strategic Management of Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management of Technology - Essay Example Companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle to name a few, have been beset with the task of identifying suitable locations around the globe to set up infrastructures to profit on specialized workforce and competitive pricing. Look no further, for India is the destination for you. Algeiser Software Pvt. Ltd., a medium-sized software company employing 300 software engineers, is looking to improve its stakes in the international market through rigorous marketing and presentations. The strength of the Algeiser lies in its highly qualified loyal engineers, who believe that with the globalization of Indian markets to foreign investment and tie-ups, there are strong possibilities of the company going places. Many foreign companies would be participating in taking advantage of the liberalized policy by the Indian government to promote its well qualified workforce and cheap labour. The company's General Manager, Projects, Mr. Mukund Malhotra is well aware of his company's assets and is quite confident of coming up with a contingency plan to compete in this highly competitive market. The company directors are sure that with further inputs from Mr. Malhotra, and using his experience and tactical business development portfolio, Algeiser Software Pvt. Ltd. ... India is one of the fastest growing IT and telecom markets in the world today. The Indian IT market grew at over 26% in 2005, which included domestic BPO-ITeS, providing tremendous opportunities for IT and telecom vendors and service providers. Ranked as the 18th highest spender in IT in 2005, India is poised for greater growth and is expected to move up the table to 13th position in 2010. Its IT and Telecommunications markets provides trends and market dynamics for the IT and telecom industry, highlighting various products/segments driving the market like PCs, enterprise systems, storage, MFDs, IT Services, packaged software, BPO, enterprise applications, telecom services, datacom and so on. Leading hardware, software and services providers in India include, Cisco Systems, HCL, HP, IBM, Infosys, Microsoft, NIIT, Oracle, Satyam, Sun Microsystems, TCS, and Wipro (IDC, 2007). 1. Strategy Strategy plays an important part in the success of any organization. Imagine what would happen if one were to start an organisation without even considering its overall objectives and contingencies. Strategic management is the organisation of products, services, processes and systems; the elements present within the operating and wider environment of the enterprise, leading to effective growth and success. These elements require proper direction to generate an everlasting, successful, profitable, effective and innovative business system. This is the prerogative of a successful strategic business management. Algeiser Software Pvt. Ltd. faces major hurdles in the form of financial limitations, and international exposure to compete with these mega giants. With its limited financial backing, the company will have to remain content with its present market share, which is

Historical document analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Historical document analysis - Essay Example e for lower taxes and so on, during the great deal people espoused an increased role of government, which could act to ensure the welfare of less fortunate people, serve as a safety net, regulate the rules of the economic game, and ensure that everyone could live a life of dignity and have a chance at happiness. This week’s readings demonstrate that the dynamics of today’s recession have been fundamentally a part of American politics for almost a century. Though all three documents show some degree of recognition that the previous function of the American economy had become untenable, and that some new actions must take place to protect the poor and those with less control over their economic destiny, they also show a repeating, recognizable pattern that has continued to this day – a left which elected a president on the hopes of broadly redistributing wealth, a president that had to back off of his initial promise for pragmatic reasons and thus anger his own con stituents, and a right outraged by the entire process, glumly acknowledging that perhaps a social safety net was necessary, but calling any real redistribution of wealth socialism and anti-American. One of the most remarkable things upon reading these three texts is the fact that Roosevelt, even while still simply campaigning for president rather than actually being president, seemed very conscious of his place in history, and of the requirements of pragmatism that holding the presidency would entail. Instead of opening his speech with the kind of emotional call to action that can be so common in election year campaigning, Roosevelt opens with a somewhat dry recitation of presidential history, invoking Jefferson’s famous duel with Maddison over the role of the government (165). So even before becoming president, Roosevelt was conscious of the way history might view him and his actions, and was conscious of the pragmatic demands of his office. This led to his criticism of the financial system,

Art essay Essay Example for Free

Art essay Essay Does art imitate life – or is it the other way around? Traditionally, we have believed that art imitates life. The painter represents what he or she sees by producing a scene on a canvas. The sculptor does the same with bronze or stone. A photographer or film maker does it even more directly. A writer describes life in his or her books. This simple concept is known as mimesis. But some have questioned the one-way nature of mimesis by arguing that art also changes the way we view the world, and in fact, life sometimes imitates art rather than the other way around. The person who first articulated this belief effectively was Oscar Wilde. Speaking about the foggy conditions in London in the late 19th century, he wrote that the way we perceive them changed because of art. Referring to the wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas lamps and turning houses into shadows he argued that poets and painters have taught [people] the loveliness of such effects. According to Wilde, They did not exist till Art had invented them. [pic] And you don’t have to look too far to see anti-mimesis in our lives. To what extent is our outlook on life altered by ideas we read in books? The portrayal of people in films? The styles we see in fashion photography? One great example of this is the TV series The Sopranos, and how it affected both the Mafia in the USA and the FBI. Art’s influence on society: propaganda and censorship Throughout history, it has always been the case that art has the power to change society, especially when new media are used to express an idea. During the First World War, for example, movie cameras were used for the first time to record trench warfare – when the film was shown in cinemas in Britain, audiences ran out screaming. This led to the government censoring further such use of such a powerful medium. And in government censorship, and use of art as propaganda, we see how seriously governments take the effect of art. All of the major dictators of the C20th understood the power of art to influence the population. In Nazi Germany, Hitler set up the Ministry of Propaganda and National Enlightenment. It was headed by Goebbels, who made sure that nothing was published, performed, or exhibited without his approval. [pic]When this happens, you know there isn’t going to be a happy ending And what Goebbels approved, of course, only fit in with Nazi ideology and ideas. In terms of art, this meant no modern and abstract art, certainly nothing hostile to the regime, and nothing that featured images other than the stereotypical blonde-haired, blue eyed set in idyllic pastoral scenes of blissful happiness. [pic] [pic] In Stalinist Russia, there was also a keen understanding of the power of art. Art portrayed contented peasants, industrious workers, and Stalin himself. In fact, Stalin was shown god-like in many paintings, a phenomenon known as the Cult of Stalin. Just as in Germany, gigantic architectural projects expressed the power of the state. [pic] [pic] However, there is no doubt that in Russia there were greater artistic achievements than in Nazi Germany. Composers worked with fewer hindrances – as seen in the works by Prokoviev and Shostakovich, and film-makers such as Eisenstein emerged. Art’s influence on society: the trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover But even under less oppressive governments, the artistic expression of certain ideas can be subject to control. One great example is the book ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by DH Lawrence, which was deemed offensive on many levels. In this book, Constance Reid, a woman from a progressive liberal middle class family marries a minor member of the aristocracy, Lord Clifford Chatterley, and takes the title ‘Lady Chatterley’. But her husband is injured in the First World War, confined to a wheelchair, and left impotent. Despite this, he becomes a successful writer and businessman. It is more his obsession with financial success and fame rather than any physical difficulties which come between him and his wife, and she begins an affair with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. The largely aristocratic ‘establishment’ of Britain at the time – the book was published in Italy in 1928 were shocked by many aspects of the book. First, there was the fact that the book was ‘obscene’, in the way it went into explicit detail the affair that took place (see below). Second, there was the fact that a women was breaking her marriage vows, something considered far worse than a man behaving in the same way. Finally, it represented an intimate relationship between a member of the ‘lower’ classes (although it emerges during the story that Mellors is actually well-educated, and became an officer in the army during the First World War) and the ‘upper’ classes, a concept that was totally taboo in Britain at that time. The book was duly banned. [pic] But the book was republished by Penguin books in 1960. The attorney general, Reginald Manningham-Buller (dubbed ‘Bullying-Manners’ by the journalist and author Bernard Levin) had to read only four chapters to decide to prosecute Penguin books for publishing it. What annoyed him was not just the content, but the fact that the price of the book meant it was affordable to women and members of the lower classes (remember that only few women worked at this time, and husbands were generally in charge of family finances). The trial was a disaster for Manningham-Buller and the prosecution. They had failed to find any experts to support their case, in stark contrast to Penguin’s defence team, which had brought in authors, journalists, academics, and even members of the clergy to defend the book. Manningham-Buller and his team had very little idea of what Lawrence had been trying to express in his book, regularly being caught out by the superior insight of the witnesses they were trying to catch out. And although they tried to shock the jury – in his opening speech, Manningham-Buller announced: The word fuck or fucking appears no less than 30 times . . . Cunt 14 times; balls 13 times; shit and arse six times apiece; cock four times; piss three times, and so on. they were unable to prove that the book would have a negative influence on the readers it was aimed at. According to the Guardian: No other jury verdict in British history has had such a deep social impact. Over the next three months Penguin sold 3m copies of the book – an example of what many years later was described as the Spycatcher effect, by which the attempt to suppress a book through unsuccessful litigation serves only to promote huge sales. The jury – that iconic representative of democratic society – had given its imprimatur to ending the taboo on sexual discussion in art and entertainment. Within a few years the stifling censorship of the theatre by the lord chamberlain had been abolished, and a gritty realism emerged in British cinema and drama. (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning came out at the same time as the unexpurgated Lady Chatterley, and very soon Peter Finch was commenting on Glenda Jacksons tired old tits in Sunday Bloody Sunday and Ken Tynan said the first fuck on the BBC. ) Homosexuality was decriminalised, abortions were available on reasonable demand, and in order to obtain a divorce it was unnecessary to prove that a spouse had committed the matrimonial crime of adultery. Judges no longer put on black caps to sentence prisoners to hang by the neck until dead. Can we say, though, that it was art in this case that changed society, or was it an interaction between human sciences (ie, the law) and the arts (the book) that led to change? This is from the same Guardian article: †¦the message of Lady Chatterleys Lover, half a century after the trial, is that literature in itself does no harm at all. The damage that gets attributed to books – and to plays and movies and cartoons – is caused by the actions of people who try to suppress them. See: The trial of Lady Chatterleys Lover The effect of art: presentation [pic] What other piece of art has profoundly changed the way we view the world? And was it the art that did it, or the way it was used that made the impact? Use the link below to help you introduce to us an influential piece of art. Think about the type of change it wrought, for example, ethical, social, metaphysical, etc.

Activity Cycle Diagram And The Condition Specification Computer Science Essay

Activity Cycle Diagram And The Condition Specification Computer Science Essay Many descriptive and symbolic techniques for representation of the simulation of a model are present in literature. Some of these techniques are better with one model while not better with the representation of the other one. Two most important techniques for representation of model simulation are known as Activity Cycle Diagram and the Condition specification. The activity cycle diagram (ACD) has been used an ideal technique to represent a model. The technique is based on Tochers idea of stochastic gearwheels (quoted in Paul et al 1993. The ACD represents the activities of a model with its entities by composing their life cycles. The entity could be a passive state as Queue or an active state as activity. The Queue and activity are represented in ACD with specific symbols. Part A Specification of the model domain A part enters a cell where it is first loaded onto machine 1. After this operation the part is either loaded immediately on to machine 2, or if that machine is busy, it is moved to a buffer area. After the operation on machine 2, the part leaves the system. All movements are carried out by a robot. The entities in the system and their possible states. A part Enters into cell Loaded into machine Move to buffer if machine is busy Leaves the machine after operation by machine 2 Machine 1 One in number First in activity No waiting for part to enter in machine 1 Machine 2 One in number Second or Third in activity No waiting or waiting for part to enter in machine 2 A Robot Moves a part from position zero to machine 1 Moves a part from machine 1 to machine 2 or to buffer zone if machine 2 is busy Moves a part from buffer zone to machine 2 when machine 2 is ready. A buffer area Stores a part when machine 2 is busy Dont store a part if machine 2 is ready Move a part from buffer area to machine 2 when machine 2 is ready Classes of Entities Permanent entities stay in system ; Machine 1 Machine 2, Robot Temporary entities that move through the system à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Part, Buffer zone 1.2 The Activity Cycle Diagram for each of the entities. Part Part Leave Machine 2 Machine 2 Machine 1 Enter into Machine 1 If machine 2 is busy Buffer zone When Machine 2 is ready Figure 1 The Part Part Machine 2 Machine 1 Accepts part Move part to machine 2 If machine 2 is ready Move part to buffer zone if machine 2 is busy Buffer zone Figure 2 Machine 1 Buffer zone Machine 2 Machine 1 Accepts a part from machine 1 Send Part out of When Machine 2 is ready machine 2 Part Final Position If machine 2 is busy Accepts a part from buffer When Machine 2 become ready Figure 3 Machine 2 Machine 2 Part Position zero Machine 1 Moves part Moves part from machine 1 Moves part out of machine 2 From position to machine 2 Part Final Position Zero to machine 1 If machine 2 is busy Moves part from machine 1 to buffer zone When Machine 2 is ready Moves part from buffer zone to machine 2 Buffer zone Figure 4 A Robot Machine 1 Machine 2 Receives part from machine 1 to buffer zone If machine 2 is busy Send part to machine 2 when Machine 2 is ready Buffer zone Figure 5 A buffer area 1.3 The combined Activity Cycle diagram for the whole system and necessary conventions. Robot 1 Robot 2 Part At final position A Part At Position Zero Machine 2 Machine 1 Robot moves a part from Robot moves a part from machine 1 Robot moves a part out from machine 2 Position zero to machine 1 to machine 2 if machine 2 is ready at final position Robot moves a part from machine 1 Robot moves a part from buffer zone To buffer zone if machine 2 is busy to machine 2 when machine 2 become available Buffer zone Figure 6 Part B The elements of the Activity Cycle Diagram that introduce the parts in the cell. Robots are the elements of ACD that introduce parts into machines. It is assumed that there are two Robots. Robot 1 introduce part into machine one and then it has two choices. It moves part from machine 1 to machine 2 if machine 2 is ready to uptake the part. In case the machine 2 is busy, the Robot 1 moves part from machine 1 to buffer zone which is a waiting area. The Robot two is assumed to work with machine 2. It moves part from buffer area into machine 2 when machine 2 becomes available. After processing in machine 2, the Robot 2 moves part from machine 2 to its final position. It should be noted that some assumptions have been made for the responsibilities of two elements (Robots) provided exact tasks have been provided. Four bullet points of the key aspects of proposed diagram. The conditions on which the particular activities in your diagram will be executed. Each activity in ACD is bound with some condition or conditions. For example, in the activity of moving part from machine 1 to machine 2, the attached condition is availability of the machine 2. The Robot 1 will move part from machine 1 to machine 2 provided machines 2 is available to uptake the part. If the condition changes and machine 2 is busy, then Robot 1 will move part to buffer zone. The other significant activity of ACD is related to moving part from buffer zone to machine 2. It is assumed to be done by Robot 2. The Robot 2 has two choices or it will be dealing with two conditions. In condition one when machine 2 is busy, The Robot 2 will not move part from buffer area to machine 2. In condition 2 when machine 2 has become available, then the Robot 2 will move part from buffer zone to machine 2. In the third significant activity, the Robot 2 will move part from machine 2 to its final stage conditional that machine 2 has finished its job on the part. In short, each activity in an ACD is related to one or more conditions. The main attributes of your entities The ACD represents the activities of a model with its entities by composing their life cycles (Abdul et al 1994). The entity could be a passive state as Queue or an active state as activity (Sawhney et al 1995). The Queue and activity are represented in ACD with specific symbols (Shi et al 1997). In the current example, there are also two entities. One is the actual activity or the active state like moving Part from machine one to machine 2 and other entity is the passive entity like buffer zone which can be said as the queue. Similarly we can look at the total entities in ACD. In current example, entities are machine 1, machine 2, Part, buffer area, robot. The physical realization of the queues in the system The physical activity diagram presents an obvious picture to observe the queues in the system (Zeigler 1987). The physical realisation of the queues in the current example comes from the buffer zone which is used as a queue in the example. The part has to wait in buffer area when machine 2 is not free. Therefore the buffer are presents a realisation of the physical queue. The outcome parameters to be studied by the model built upon activity cycle diagram. Each model is designed to study certain parameters in the model (Halpin 1977). The simulation even not used primarily for the optimization of parameters is helpful in optimizing the model in joint effort with design analysis and mathematical evaluation. In the current study, the potential parameters which can be a focus of the study may be studying of queues at buffer zone level, Rate of feed at machine 1, rate of part flow from machine 1 to machine 2 and the removal rate of part from machine 2. All these parameters are of quite significance. For example any significant delay at queue (at buffer zone), decrease at the feed rate at machine 1 or delay at removal rate of part at machine 2 can disrupt the Cell function or decrease its efficiency. The kind of simulation experiments that would be performed with the model. In the real world experimentation can be expensive and in manufacturing and production system, many resources may be used in experimentation (McCahill et al 1993). The alternative to expensive experimentation is simulation methods and other analytical methods (Nance et al 1988). Especially computer model simulations may be economical and provide a chance of actual system observation without incurring unacceptable and expensive options (Murata 1989). On the other hand, physical models may not provide a real picture especially where a layout of resources requires examination such as productivity flow (Vanegas et al 1993). In complex and multistage problems, it may become complex to conduct real and physical experimentation (Paulson 1978). Some actions and activities are not even possible in real world such as a process like flow line optimisation where blocking of a system is required but practically very hard to follow (Paulson et al 1987). However, simulation is not an optimisation p rocedure and must be supported with other procedures like design analysis and optimisation. Therefore we can use experiments like optimisation, design analysis, computerisation simulation, manual simulation, and mathematical model analysis. In current example, objective of model will be kept in mind. First of all small models will be built for each entity. Model will be built in phases and each phase will be checked if it is working properly. The model will be made in phases as it is shown in individual ACD examples. The final ACD will be built once the individual ACD for each entity are checked. Each ACD if planned on computer model or manually will be debugged and corrected. Conclusion ACD are actually the significant evaluation of the flow chart design but with additional features of being used in production and manufacturing field by simulation process. Software is used in designing, analysis and simulation process. Each ACD has entities, attributes attached with entities and conditions associated with each activity. ACD is developed by designing individual ACD for each activity separately and then analysis them for correction. The whole model ACD is developed by merging individual ACD. The current assignment has provided a chance to understand the process of ACD development and analysis by working from individual ACD to the ACD of whole model. References Abdul Riaz, S., Shi, j. 1994. Automated construction simulation optimization. J Construction Eng and Management. ASCE. 120(2), 374-385. Halpin, D.W.1977. Cyclone. A method for modeling job site processes. J Construction Eng and Management. ASCE. 103(3), 489-499 McCahill, D.F., L.E.Bernold.1993. Resource oriented modeling and simulation in Construction. J Construction Eng and Management. ASCE.119 (3), 590-606. Murata, T.1989. Petri nets. Properties, Analysis and implications. Proceeding of IEEE. 77(4).541-580. Nance, r.e, Overstreet .C.M. 1988. Diagnostic assistance using digraph representations of discrete event simulation model specifications. Transactions of the society for computer simulation. 4(1).33-57. Paulson, B.C.1978. Interactive graphics for simulating construction operations. J. Construction. Div. ASCE. 104(1), 69-76. Paulson, B.C., Chan, W.T., Koo, C.C.1987. Construction Operations simulation by microcomputer. J Construction Eng and Management. ASCE.113 (2), 302-314. Sawhney, A., S.M. AbouRiaz.1995. Simulation based planning method for construction project. J Construction Eng and Management. ASCE. 121(3). 297-303. Shi, J., S.AbouRizk.1997. Resource based modeling for construction simulation. J Construction Eng and Management. Vanegas, J.A., E.B.Bravo., D.W.Halpin.1993. Simulation Technologies for planning heavy construction processes. J Construction Eng and Management. ASCE.119 (2).336-354. Zeigler .B.P. 1987. Hierarchical modular discrete event modeling in an object oriented environment. Simulation. 49(5).219-230.

Synopsis :: Essays Papers

Synopsis Both the movie and the book should be approached as a mystery that unfolds. It is written realistically but has a great deal of mystical overtones throughout the story. Both the movie and the novel begin in the middle of the story which in the beginning may be slightly confusing to either the movie go’er or the reader. Once the story has gone full circle it comes together in and attempts to question some primal beliefs as freedom, love, self worth, and the â€Å"natural† instinct for a mother to protect her child. Here is a brief summary of what has happened prior to the novel and movie’s opening. Mr. Garner purchases a 13-year old black slave girl named Sethe in order to assist his wife by doing the routine jobs around the house. Sethe is the only female slave owned by Mr. Garner who has five other male slaves – three Pauls, Halle, and Sixo. Sethe marries Halle and gives birth to four children. While she is pregnant with her fourth child, the six adult slaves decide to escape the household. Her three children make it to safety due to the aid of a runaway slave woman but Sethe waited for Halle, which caused her to get caught. She is then brutally raped and severely beaten by the slave owners but Sethe does eventually manage to escape without Halle. Sethe makes it out of Kentucky and gave birth to â€Å"Denver† the night before she crosses the river to Ohio. For 28 days Sethe and her children happily live with Halle’s mother, Baby Suggs, but she is soon found by the slave-owner who had come to retrieve them. To avoid a return to slavery, Sethe decid es to kill her children and herself. She is only able to kill her toddler, later known as â€Å"Beloved†. At the novel and films opening, which takes place after slavery has been abolished, the entire family is tortured by the ghost of the baby girl haunting the house, and the Black Community has turned their back on Sethe for her seemingly horrendous actions. Observations The character Sethe is presented as a former slave woman who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing the child to be exposed to the physically, emotionally, and spiritually oppressive horrors of a life spent in the confines of slavery.

Essay --

Within the body of this paper, readers will find an analysis of the motor development, visual-perceptual, fine motor development, communication, social behavior and play, attention, emotions and self- regulations, attachment and development of the self, and hearing and vision of children aging between 0 and 6 months. The continuation of this essay will include identified values and/or belief systems of the 0-6 month culture that could possibly present changes in social worker’s abilities to develop culturally responsive therapeutic relationships. There will also be a distinguishing of recommended tools for identifying problems within this developmental stage including a visual reference for the identified tools. Resources regarding the tools will include what the tool assesses, the age it is designed for, who is to use the assessment tool, how long the assessment typically takes, and the scoring of the results. Motor development In these early stages of life, there is little motor development in comparison to older children, however many of the developments of their later years begin in these tender times ("Occupational therapy," 2002) Between the ages of 0-2 months, some of the motor developments that are present at this time include sparing kicks and what seems like stretching of the arms ("Occupational therapy," 2002). When lying on their backs, the infants head is usually laid to one side or the other based on how they were laid, as they are not yet able to hold the weight of their own head yet ("Occupational therapy," 2002). These activities later on grown into more frequent arm stretches and kicks between the ages of 3 and 6 months. By this time, the baby will have a much greater ability to hold the weight of their o... ...erience is more so focused on the parent(s) of that child in hopes to best serve the child in their home context ("Touch therapy with," 2014). This is a very important consideration in regards to the therapeutic experience of the infant because without parent involvement there is an almost guaranteed failure rate of change or development for that child. Because the infant is not able to fend or express for themselves at this age, it is a necessity for the parent(s) of an infant in therapy to be invested in therapeutic process and dedicated to the implementation of what was discussed in therapy outside of the therapy sessions. With lacking parental involvement, it would make it almost impossible for a clinician to be able to develop a therapeutic relationship with a child reaping positive change of any kind ("Touch therapy with," 2014). Instruments See Attachment

Can Politics Be Regarded as a Science Essay

The debate as whether politics can be regarded as a science is ‘complex, voluminous and multi-faceted one’ . The origins of political analysis lie in the philosophical tradition of Plato and Aristotle whose work was fundamentally rooted in the normative. At the very early stages of politics as an academic discipline, the great thinkers of the time were not concerned with empirical evidence; instead basing their ideas on literary analysis. The emphasis on the normative that comes with the traditional study of politics suggests that politics is not a science as it cannot be objective. This was followed by the emergence of the normative model of political analysis and what Peter Lasslett called the ‘the death of political philosophy’. This movement was spearheaded by Machiavelli who was known as the father of the ‘politics model’ of political science. For example, he changes the value-laden question (what is better? ) into a scientific one; what is safer? The shift from the prescriptive to the descriptive and impartial suggests that political thought has shifted away from the traditional philosophical to the scientific model. The empirical model of political thought emphasised the importance of experience as the basis for knowledge and this later developed into positivism which dictates that the social sciences should adhere to the methods of the natural sciences . An extreme version of this was also created called ‘logical positivism’ which stated that only statements which were empirically verifiable and aimed to say something about the meaning of political concepts are legitimate . In fact the empirical model is seen as the foundation of comparative politics that is now the standard form of analysis in the UK and the US. This method seeks to develop generalizations by comparing different states or political systems. This produces slightly more informative results as one is more likely to be able to produce an ideal political situation through comparison rather than just using empirical evidence alone. However, there have been criticisms of the validity of comparative politics most notably from Alasdair MacIntyre. He states that creating law-like cross cultural generalizations between countries with radically different cultures is not as valid as proponents of comparative politics make it out to be . He uses the example of a study by Almond and Verba that states that Italians identify less with the actions of their government than the English or Germans because they of a survey asking what they took pride in . The point that McIntyre then goes on to make is that the notions of pride in Italy and England are vastly different and thus any comparison would have to start by identifying the virtues that are embedded within the institutions. However, he goes on to add that this shortcoming doesn’t completely devalue the work of comparative politics. Karl Marx was the first to describe politics in terms of science and, along with Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, was described one of the main architects of political science . He believed that he could methodically determine trends in history and from these deduct the future outcomes of social conflicts. However, whilst this approach may seem to be simply empirical in its approach to political analysis it has been confirmed that ‘his theories yield testable propositions that allow rigorous evaluation and even falsification’ . His role represents a dramatic shift from the political philosophers of the traditional Greek model as he famously said in his Theses of Feuerbach that ‘philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to change it’ . However, whilst Marx may have been the first person to truly combine scientific methodology with political thought, questions can still be raised over its validity. For example, the fact that Marx predicted the fall of capitalism whilst in fact state socialism has been on the retreat. There has also been criticism of Marx’s methods. In The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper criticised scientific socialism as a pseudoscience due to Marx’s methods of looking at historical trends and using them to create universal laws which couldn’t be tested of disprove. This may suggest that the Marxist model of political analysis as a science is not correct. Despite this it is important to note how, whilst Marx’s predictions may not have proved correct, his methods and the concept of politics as a science is unquestionable. Enthusiasm for the idea of political science grew in the 20th century with the creation of the American Political Science Review in 1906 and also the emergence of the behaviouralism movement in the 1950s and 1960s. This was the period coined as ‘the behavioural revolution’ by Robert Garner who claimed that ‘number crunching†¦in relation to electoral behaviour was the gold standard’ whilst normative analysis was rendered ‘at best, unnecessary and at worst, meaningless’ . This can be viewed as the most compelling case for politics being regarded as a science as it is the first time that objective and quantifiable data could be tested against hypotheses. The form of political analysis that was emerging in this period was heavily based on behaviouralism which worked on the principle that social theories should be constructed on the basis of observable behaviour which provides quantifiable evidence for research. This lead to increased interest and activity in the field of quantitative research methods such as voting behaviour, the records of legislators and the behaviour of lobbyists. It was also at this time that David Easton claimed that politics could adopt the methodology of the natural sciences . Here we can see how the initial links that Marx drew between politics and scientific research methods have been refined with the use of quantifiable rather than just empirical evidence. There have been objections to the usefulness of behaviouralism in the study of politics though. One argument has been that it has significantly limited the scope of analysis by preventing it from going beyond what is directly quantifiable or observable. The idea behind this is that whilst the methodical basis behind behaviouralism may be scientifically sound that doesn’t mean that it is the way to analyse politics. This raises the question as to whether politics should be regarded as a science rather than could it. The very nature of politics is that it is inherently human and to discard all that is not empirically verifiable in its study is to neglect the very essence of politics. This argument could be viewed as irrelevant to the question however because it actually looking at whether politics should be regarded as a science and not if it could. This being said Andrew Heywood presents a valid criticism of the methodology of behaviouralism and the use of quantifiable data. The scientific basis of behaviouralism is that it is objective but in order for this to be so it has to be ‘value-free’. He claims that facts and values are ‘so closely intertwined that it is often impossible to prise them apart’ and that theories are always based on assumptions human nature . This argument presents a major threat to the legitimacy of behaviouralism and suggests that the methodological basis behind it is not sound enough to equate to the conclusion of politics as a science. Whilst the methodology of political science may be all well and good, this doesn’t necessarily lead us to the conclusion that politics should be regarded as a science. There have been many arguments to suggest that despite the existence of quantifiable and empirical evidence, it is actually damaging to study politics in a scientific manner. For one, the very nature of political science is that it is descriptive rather prescriptive. This idea seems to be counter intuitive to the very study of politics as a discipline. Whilst, the added scientific element to political analysis gives us the added advantage of scrutiny and academic rigour it will never produce any political ideas without the normative aspect of political philosophy. This presents to us how damaging political science can be if studied in isolation since the very nature of the political analysis is one that should be aimed at progression, change and determining how to achieve our political ideals. In fact in recent years, the validity of political science has started to be questioned by political scientists themselves. As an undergraduate Charles Lindblom apparently fled the ‘mushiness’ of political science to pursue a graduate study of economics and David Easton proclaimed that he had ‘political science [as a] coherent body of knowledge’ had no basis . This suggests that whilst political science doesn’t translate as smoothly in practice. The Perestroika Movement began in October 2000 with an anonymous email to the American Political Science Review calling for a ‘dismantling of the Orwellian system that we have in the APSA. The movement was largely a reaction to the so called ‘mathematicization’ of political science and a desire to achieve methodological pluralism. Specifically, it ‘aimed at challenging the dominance of positivist research, particularly research that assumes that political behaviour can be predicted according to theories of rationality ’. Whilst this movement could be seen as a criticism of political science it could just as easily be seen as highly constructive. It recognises the merits of politics being studied as a science yet wants it to e more inclusive and less restricted in terms of methodology. However, this presents a problem for the positivist wing of political scientists that stick to the assertion that political science should obey the methods of the natural sciences. From this we can come to the conclusion that criticisms of political science is not proof of how politics shouldn’t be regarded as a science but is instead just an example of two methodological factions within the discipline. We can see how the historical development of political science presents a good case for the idea that politics can be regarded as a science. Some claim that politics is a science because it ‘offers knowledge based on systematic enquiry’ . However, this claim bases itself on a loose definition of science and one that many political analysts wouldn’t be completely satisfied with. The arguments for politics being regarded as a science lie more in the stringent scientific methodology that can seemingly be applied to political analysis. Whilst there have been many criticisms of methodology of political science I think that the major qualms that academics have is with the danger of studying political science in isolation. The obsession with empirical data that developed during the ‘behavioural revolution’ could easily be labelled as counter-intuitive seeing as it completely disregards the normative. Despite this I think that politics can still be regarded as a science, yet it is just important that this is combined with elements of the old philosophical tradition.