Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu

Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu Currently, bus is the main public transportation in the city of Kota Kinabalu. Despite being perceived as less comfortable, less physically attractive, non-punctual and unsafe, it still functioning to bring passengers to their destinations. This research paper aims to provide a critical overview of the public bus importance at the past, present and future time. It is crucial to identify the reason why bus is important in providing commuting service to the citizen since this information is a useful input to the policy maker. The reasons for its importance are discussed together with several issues such as public bus current level of performance, increasing number of private vehicle on road and the absence of specific plan to improve public bus transportation. This study is qualitative in nature where data were mostly derived from observation and secondary sources. The preliminary studys findings showed public bus is an important mode of public transportation in Kota Kinabalu in the pa st and the present and is likely to continue to be so in the foreseeable future due to the demand from the low income earners, wide destination coverage and concern for the increasing price of car fuel as well as to traffic congestion problem. Therefore, the government should seriously consider the bus in the public transportation planning by providing specific plan for its future development. Keywords: public transportation system, public bus, public transport planning INTRODUCTION Tran and Kleiner (2005) cited in Belwal and Belwal (2010), public transportation is defined as transportation by a conveyance that provides continuing general or special transportation to the public; excluding school buses, charter and sightseeing service. An efficient transportation system is one of the basic components of the social, economic, and physical structure in the urbanized society and it has to be competitive and attractive to the transit seekers (Ibid). It is essential for every government all over the world to develop better transportation system for its citizens. Better system is a system that is able to provide affordable, attractive, comfortable, punctual and safe commuting services to the citizens. According to Nandi (2008), an ideal transport system is a system that had been fully integrated, able to provide safe transport network, supports social and economic regeneration and ensures good access for all which, is operated to the highest standards to protect the en vironment and ensure quality of life. It is a dream for every government and citizen to have efficient transportation system. To realize the dream, continuous effort should be made. Long run strategy should be to manage for the growth of transport demand to provide for the efficient movement of people and goods. Bus service is indeed important since it provides mobility for all since many people do not have access to cars it is also increase person capacity in heavily traveled corridors and it preserves urban land for more productive use and is more energy efficient than driving (Levinson, 2000). In his study, bus is not only providing line-haul and feeder services, offer special transit service for the elderly and handicapped and in the very large cities but they also complement and feed rail transit lines. In United State of America, public transportation is commonly associated with the nations major urban-area subway (heavy-rail) or commuter-rail systems, approximately 59 percent of all public transportation trips are carried on buses (Cambridge Systematics Inc, 2008). Therefore, maintaining and improving bus service will be essential in keeping urban areas vital and vibrant in the years ahead. The basic purpose to develop the public transportation is to help the citizens to make a trip easily and ensure the normal operation of fundamentals social organizations and their activities as well as brings enhancements to the city environment in a quite comprehensive range. () At the moment in Malaysia, significant improvement on public transportation had only been seen in several main cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Pinang. The difference of these cities from the others is that, apart from having various option of modern transportation such as LRT and Monorail System, they also have an integrated bus system namely RapidKL and RapidPenang which are characterized by attractive appearance, strict monitoring system, standardization and reliable schedule. In the city of Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah, bus is the main public transportation. However, public bus performance is below par in terms of comfort, physical appearance, punctuality and safety. It is believed that the effective and robust public bus transportation service provision is crucial and necessary in realizing the objective of the 6th National Key Result Area (NKRA) which is aimed to increase the utilization rate and to sustain the Malaysia transport system (Jayaraman et. al., 2011 ). Public bus transportation is important not only to provide commuting services to the people but also facilitate the growth of economy in a city. It creates accessibility to business to market their goods and services. Since the last three decades, government at federal, state and local levels has formulated and implemented various plans to improve public transportation but there is still no significant improvement have been seen on the bus service. In addition, the increasing number of private cars on roads shows the shift in preference of people from using a public bus into driving their own personal car. The aim of this paper is to provide critical overview of the importance of public bus. This finding is important for planning purpose. Since there are very few studies deeply discussed about its importance, the findings will contribute to the body knowledge in the public bus literature. The public transportation available in Kota Kinabalu city is only public bus and taxi. The fact that, the public bus is more utilized by the public because of its lower cost indicates its importance. PROBLEM STATEMENT Since the last three decades, government at federal, state and local levels has formulated and implemented various plan to improve public transportation in Kota Kinabalu City but there is still no significant improvement can be been seen especially relating to the bus service. Furthermore, the increasing number of private cars on roads shows the shift in preference of people from using a public bus into driving their own personal car. The question is why this happen? Is bus not as important to the local residents as it use to be? The aim of this paper is to provide critical overview of the importance of public bus to the people. The finding of this research is important for policy planning purpose. Besides, it provides the body knowledge in bus transportation literature since there is only few study deeply discussed about its importance. It is believed that the effective and robust public bus transportation service provision is crucial and necessary in realizing the objective of the 6th NKRA which is aimed to increase the utilization rate and to sustain the Malaysia transport system (Jayaraman et. al., 2011). METHODOLOGY For data collection, the methodology used in this study was limited to observation and secondary data only. The observation method was conducted on daily basis from 1st August 2012 to 15st September 2012. Large amount of information was collected from local newspaper report especially from Sabah Times, Daily Express and Borneo Post. Official documents such as policy statements were part of the data collected. Through these methods, thorough analyses regarding the importance of public bus in Kota Kinabalu at the present and future time were made. REASONS FOR IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC BUS TRANSPORTATION IN KOTA KINABALU Demands from Low Income Earner Low-income groups tend to use their car relatively less often (Steg, 2003). In the city of Kota Kinabalu, the bus service is highly demanded by the low income earner (monthly income below RM2300) although the public bus service is poor in terms of comfort, punctuality and safety. In the 1990s, bus was considered important because few people could afford to buy car. Presently, bus is still needed by the low income earners. Owning car has been greatly facilitated recently through simpler car loan procedure. However, although this facilitated the low and medium income earners to own car, some of them may still do not want to buy car because of other important commitments such as household expenditure and utility expenditure. As a result, they still need to take bus to go to their workplace and even for outing purposes. Thus, bus is important to their daily life. In Kota Kinabalu, certain residential areas which are populated mostly by low income earners such as Kuala Menggatal, Taman In dah Permai, Taman Sri Maju, Universiti Apartment Phase 1 and Phase 2 are relying on the bus service for transportation. Daily observation that had been made on 1st August 2012 until 1st September 2012 at these residential areas, it was found that most of residents work as laborers, chefs, nurses, salespersons, promoters and waiters used bus to go to the workplace. Wide Destination Coverage Public bus has wider destinations coverage encompassing both the urban and sub-urban areas compared to LRT and Monorail, which have fixed routes. Therefore their destination coverage is limited. The bus has important role not only to accommodate the transport needs of the increasing commuters but also as feed as in routes not covered by these modern transportation systems. Eventhough in Kuala Lumpur modern transportation networks namely Kereta Api Tanah Melayu (KTM), Monorail System and LRT, pub bus is still being used to take passengers to the KTM, LRT and Monorail stations and terminals. Due to the need of feeder service and to improve the existing public transportation system, RapidKL was then decided in 2004, took over the main part of transportation in the city. In Kota Kinabalu, bus is important in the absence of modern transportation and the role it plays will become challenging once the modern rail system introduced. The table show below indicates the zones covered by the pub lic bus transportation at Kota Kinabalu in 2006. Concern to the Price of Car Fuel The concern of car users about increasing fuel price also contributes to the continued importance of public bus service. Malaysias public transportation especially public bus is perceived of unable to meet citizens needs satisfactorily. Many claim that if the public transport is improved, they are willing to use it instead of paying for outrageous petrol prices and tolls and ending up stuck in traffic jams (Kambala, 2007). The question is, when bus services improved in Kota Kinabalu, will the local citizens willing to shift from using private vehicle into the public one? From the literature, it was found that public bus will be a critical travelling option among the private car user when the price of the fuel increases. When fuel price increase, the monthly spending will increase and the probability of people shifting from the using their own car to take the public bus will increase. Public bus still become the option for the residents irrespective the income background especially wh en the price of fuel has increased and their monthly salary cannot cover all the expenses. Problem of Traffic Congestion Based on the data provided by the statistic department in a survey of Sabah household in 2009, more than 50% of the residents in Kota Kinabalu go to work by personal automobile while the rest use the public bus or other modes. The increasing number of private vehicles on roads has caused congestion and pollution. The growing community concerns about traffic congestion, sprawl, air pollution, and sustainability, the progressive revitalization of cities and towns, and continued advances in transport technology demand for better bus transit in the new century (Levinson, 2000). In another observation done in Likas, Sepanggar and Sulaman from 15th August 2012 to 15th September 2012, it was found that there traffic congestions during peak hours. The peak hours in Kota Kinabalu during weekdays is range from 7.00 to 8.30 in the morning, and noon12.00 to 2.00pm and 4.30 to 7.00 at the evening. It was also found that, the roads in Sepanggar, Inanam and Likas area are most congested during peak hour. Currently, most of people still insist to use their car. People will only shift to public bus if the public bus system is reliable. Reliable here means available everywhere, arrive on time, cheap as well as safe and comfortable to be used. According to Lo Su Yin, the head of Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) Sabah, the medium and long term solution for the problem of traffic congestion is a well planned public transport system Transport for tertiary level students Young people are regular user of public bus transportation especially at tertiary level students. The Chief Executive of Passenger Focus, Anthony Smith, quoted a research that showed almost 50 percent of bus passengers are under 29, making the bus very much a young persons product and more than 50 percent of students frequently use the bus and depend on it to go to their education or training premise (The Telegraph, 2012). As a center of education in the state of Sabah, the number of student in Kota Kinabalu is high. Most of them neither have car nor driving license to drive car. Thus, they are totally dependence on the public bus service. Furthermore, it was found that many students stayed at Sepanggar, Likas, Sembulan and city center such as students from Universiti Teknologi Mara as well as from Advanced Management and Technology Centre (PTPL), Cosmopoint College, Masterskill College, Mahsa College, Sabah Foundation College, and Polytechnics. Due to large population of students in Kota Kinabalu, public bus is important to fulfill their transport needs. For example, University students from Universiti Teknologi Mara Sabah branch, always use the public bus transport (operated by Tuaran United Transport Company Sdn Bhd) to go to the centre of the city during weekends for outing purpose. DISCUSSION The findings of this paper are in line with the findings of previous research. For example, according to Madzlan and Nookfakhriah (2010), public bus transportation is important to help reduce traffic congestion, save money and time, as well as to reduce pollution. There are no commuters or train services that provide full coverage of transportation in Kota Bharu unlike Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley (Ibid). Therefore, demand for public bus service is very high in this city. In Kota Bharu and Penang, where the commuter train service is not available, the public bus is the major means for its population. The Kota Kinabalu City Hall (KKCH) Strategic Plan 2011-2015, focus more on upgrading and improving the infrastructure of the public bus transportation system. For example plans to build uniform bus stop, 45 Lay-by for bus (to be completed in 2012), upgrading the Terminal Wawasan at the centre of town (to be completed in 2012), Terminal at the North, Inanam (to be completed in 2015), Inter Terminal Link at Stadium Likas, Masjid Bandaraya and Masjid Negeri (to be accomplished in 2015), Terminal Kepayan at the South, (to be accomplished in 2015) and Park Ride facilities. In 2011, some of the project has been implemented under the Public Transportation Financial Group fund, where RM8 million spent to upgrade the Wawasan Bus Terminal and RM5 million to establish a lay-by bus and taxi in the city (Sabah Times, 2011). The public transportation central plan also include the plan to develop water taxi, monorail system, rail system (Kota Kinabalu Structure Plan 2030). The plan to build the Park and Ride facilities, the upgrading terminals, adding more bus stations, establishment of LRT and Monorail system as well as plan to develop water taxi service indicated the intention of the government to provide better public transportation in the city. The government has done several improvements on bus but these efforts are not commensurate with the importance of public bus to the general public in Kota Kinabalu. In other word, the government has not done enough to improve the bus system service. Transportation system in this city will not work effectively and efficiently if the public bus system is not significantly improved. That is, the public buses need to be continuously maintained, clean, safe and comfortable to be used as well as punctual and always available. For the time being, public bus plays impo rtant role as the main public transportation in Kota Kinabalu. However, poor performance and a lack of proper management of bus are existing problems that yet to be solved. It is more preferable if the government finds solutions to the existing problems. The bus system should be improved first before developing new alternative modes of transportation. In the NKRA, there is also no clear and specific statement regarding the budget allocated to improve public bus transportation in the urban areas such as Kota Kinabalu apart from Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. It is because no matter how modern mode of transportation that is planned to be established, public bus still have a place in urban and sub-urban areas. Due to its importance, public bus deserves to get more attention from all levels of government. It deserves to have specific budget allocation not only from the local government but from the federal and state governmenst as well. Based on the findings, several issues regarding bus transportation need to be addressed. Bus is important at the present and likely to be so in the foreseeable future. However, the findings of this study support previous study findings that certain issues need to be addressed for better bus service performance. For example, performance of public bus under private companies operation. It was found that, public transportation is poor when it was operated by the private company (Nicosia, 2001). According to Imran (2009), one of the failures of public transport policies is overstating the role of the private sector in public transport. In Kota Kinabalu, public buses are operated by private companies and there are complaints about the lack of comfort, maintenance, punctuality and safety. On the other hand, the bus system in Kuala Lumpur is mainly operated by RapidKL which is owned by the government. In Malacca, the state government takes over the operation of public bus transportation from the private authorities. Public transportation service will continue to be inefficient under the hand of private companies and the problems associated with it will be unresolved if there no aggressive intervention from the government sides. For example, in 1992, the large scale bus privatization without adequate regulation and coordination had created many problems in Delhi such as lengthy, zig-zag routes, long waiting times, completely unrel iable service, extreme overcrowding, illegal drivers, and speeding and reckless driving, competitions among buses, poor bus maintenance, lack of safety, noisy, and highly polluting which, add to the already severe congestion, safety, and air pollution problems (Putcher et al., 2004). Another issue that needs to be addressed is the increasing number of private vehicles on the roads. Public bus can be part of the solutions. However, it will never replace the dominant use of private car if no aggressive effort to improve the public bus system is made. For example, according to OToole (2011), buses will probably never replace the auto ­mobile as the dominant form of transporta ­tion in the United States of America unless with the use of the new-model buses which is significantly less expensive than driv ­ing. Only when the bus system in Kota Kinabalu City is restructured, people start continuously to shift from the use of private cars. Thus, the reasons of public bus transportations importance should be learned together with these issues so that actual situation for public bus transportation in this city would be able to be identified. CONCLUSION Public bus transportation is important in the past as well as the present time and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future due to the demand from the low income earners, tertiary level students, the public bus system wide destination coverage, concern for the increasing price of car fuel as well as traffic congestion problem. This research is only part of larger research where only the importance of the public bus system is discussed. Based on data collected so far, there is enough evidence to suggest the importance and the continuous importance of public bus transportation system.

Continuities and Chnages of Labor Systems in Africa Essay

Many attempts have been made around the world at reforming current legal systems in search of a better one. As the amount of crime rises worldwide, people are constantly on the lookout for new and improved ways to fight it, and prevent it. Three such attempts involving attempts to change legal systems have been discussed the last half of this course. The change from the system put in place when a country was under colonization, as in Kilamanjaro, and Papa New Guinea. An attempt to revert to the historically cultural ways of dealing with conflict, as in China and India. In addition, an attempt by the more modern industrialized societies to become more attuned to the people with whom they are trying to help, as in Japan, and Santa Anna. By studying these examples and implementing one of them, almost any kind of stagnant legal system can attempt to change for the better. Many countries were colonized throughout the history of the world, by more dominant countries. These colonizing countries often only wanted the newly acquired country for the land, resources, or the labor they could offer. Often these colonizers brought into the new country their style of government and law, neglecting the native people. Many times, this new system caused many of the problems in the colonized country. Two examples of a country being colonized and the subsequent changes that occurred once the colonizers left are in Kilamanjaro and in Papa New Guinea. Kilamanjaro was colonized first by the Germans in the mid 1880’s, and then by the British during WWI, and finally gained independence in 1961 (Tanzania). Each country brought with it their own system of government and law, and attempted to impose these on the people of Kilamanjaro. To the native people, land is extremely important, and often the cause of many conflicts. There are two different types of farmland on the mountain, a high one and a low one, and coffee is the dominant cash crop. Since there isn’t enough prime farming land for everybody, a system of patriarchal lineage developed where the male would give his existing compound to his oldest son, and move somewhere else inviting his youngest so to live with him, and have the farm upon his death. If there was a middle son, he was forced to operate independently. As the population continues to grow rapidly, inevitably, stress has begun to compound this system; there just isn’t enough land for all the people. This led to many conflicts arising over who actually owns land, since it was essential to the survival of the people. Historically the chief was the most important people in Kilamanjaro, as he is responsible for several districts over an area. Chiefs controlled the long distance profitable trade, received half of the cattle fro the wars, could at any time call on his people to help do anything such as build a fence, and sometimes even received an extra child from his people to use as another worker. These chiefs were often fair people, they believed in not squeezing the poor but taxing the rich. They wanted to help the poor, and create a mutuality situation between them and the rich. When it came to conflict resolution chiefs were able to settle disputes, but often didn’t, as many people tried to keep the dispute with in their own family or lineage. They went to the elders instead and sought their advice. A case would go to the chiefs only if deemed necessary by the elders. Under the German period of occupation, this system was altered. They insisted on recognizing the customary law and ruling through the chiefs. However they didn’t really let the chiefs have any power. The Germans took over the long distance trade, wiped out warfare, and stripped from the chiefs their whole base of their power. The chiefs whole basis of power under this system was the fact the Germans recognized them as powerful. Things changed however under the British system. The British saw themselves as more advanced, and thus wanted to civilize the Africans, and help them to create a better system. What they created was a system of duality, where they used traditional law for minor infractions, and British law for the serious crimes. This again takes the power out of the traditional cultural ways of solving disputes, and places it in the colonizers. The Germans took over economically, and the British, while still taking over economically they changed the whole cultural system as well. The British sought to understand the true customary laws of the Africans, and to write them down as a means of reference for settling disputes, a practice which for centuries was never done, yet the locals always managed to solve disputes. They implemented a system of modern British laws, including imposing a statute of limitations on cases. This contradicted with the customary way the Africans dealt with things in the law. The British also wanted to systemize the law, emphasize the rule of the law, and impose their own decisions on local problems. The British also formed a duel court system, one for whites and another for Africans, as an attempt at allowing the locals to retain some form of their historical past. Overall, the British system was naive and morally based, not the way the Africans traditionally operated. Their system, of viewing everything as static and unchanging was too radical for the indigenous people to comprehend. Their whole existence has been based on the cultural laws of their people, and the implementation of those laws as elders, or chiefs saw fit. The local laws were multidimensional and could be seen in different context by the natives at different times, with the British wanting to write everything down and operate from this system of written law, the system changed and the ability of the customary law to change with the times change to. Another example of a colonizing situation was in New Guinea, where it was recently colonized by Europeans. As was the case with the Africans, New Guinea was a farming community, and thus, viewed land as an important commodity. They have a traditional system of â€Å"Big Man† government, no chiefs just several big men who represent the power and authority in the area. They emphasized self-help, and negotiation in their resolving conflicts, but also used the threat of fighting, and the actual fights themselves as a means of resolution. New Guinea differs from Africa in that the Europeans attempted to be less intrusive into their way of life. They patrolled the areas where the people lived, erasing the system of contacts that had been developed among the people. They tried not to be heavy handed but at the same time ruined the connections made between the people that was essential for their resolving disputes. Warfare was looked down upon, and thus the traditional way of resolving disputes was radically erased from the land. Even though the Europeans were trying to be fair and let the traditional system work, they didn’t understand it. They didn’t realize that these conflicts and connections were crucial to the traditional system and was needed for it to be able to operate. These two examples show the problems that colonizers have with trying to impose modernization on a society as remote and backwards as these. They have existed for centuries by their own terms, why should they change now. Legal systems change for reasons other than a dominating colonizing power forcing them to. In China for example, there has long been a history of mediation as a means of settling disputes. This history of mediation was based on the Confucianism, an ideology that emphasizes harmony and respect for one another, along with a hierarchy in all the cosmos, meaning that it emphasized people respecting and getting along with one another, even when settling disputes. It also emphasized that certain people were indeed higher in stature than others were. Mediation under this system placed a strong emphasis on the ritual, and ceremony of settling disputes. Each party in the process has a particular role, and each party is expected to perform in that role. This concept was based on the Li, or the philosophical principle that called for respect and social form. This type of mediation allowed people to save face, and not to publicly admit to wrongdoing. Once the conflict was settled, the issues surrounding the original debate were never discussed again and the party’s left happy with the sense of community restored. This traditional system worked well to preserve the community of the in the traditional sense of the Chinese culture. When communism came into power this system of mediation was preserved, however, slightly altered. It became known as â€Å"comrades court,† which involved many people with anyone having the ability to mediate. This was a very tight association between social mediation and political ideology. It was an extreme form of exclusive mediation, as Greenhouse would have categorized it. It consisted of the political ideology being very influential, and no longer just trying to deal with the interests of the parties involved. Its goal was to educate the population in the beliefs of the government, and resolve the conflicts as quickly and efficiently as possible. Like the old system the face to face part of the process was still in use, however, one didn’t know who would end up getting involved in the mediation process, and often the people feared that the government would get involved and punish them severely, possibly even by death. For this reason many people were afraid of the system and opted not to use it as readily as they had the traditional. With the opening up of China to outside influences, the system has lightly changed as well, although it is nowhere near, where it was before communism. It is still used as the first means of resolving conflicts, however, the vast majority of these cases are being dealt with on the localized level, causing many to feel more at ease with the situation. These local mediation communities are still under heavy control of the communist party, as the â€Å"judges† are often placed there by the party itself. Disputes since the rise of communism have been classified into two categories, those involving ordinary citizens, and those involving crimes against the state. It is where the crime is directed against the state that the process of mediation is pretty much thrown out and the accused is severely punished, prompting the fear of the public. Within both systems, mediation plays a major role, as does the bias against the use of law as a means of resolving disputes. This has led to the widespread acceptance of the mediation system under communist regime even though it differs from the traditional form of mediation. A major difference between the two systems is the way they each look at the conflict itself. In the traditional early period, conflict was seen as unavoidable, and they worked to ensure there wouldn’t be future conflicts. In the communist period, they tend to see conflict as important and productive and don’t attempt to appease all the parties involved in a dispute upon settling it. The major difference however, as it is in most other aspects of Chinese life, is the involvement of the state. In traditional times the state was never involved, maybe occasionally, nowadays the state plays a major role, often squashing any of the traditional characteristics of the system. The state wants its influence to be recognized, its voice to be heard, where as in the past it used to be the voice of the people that was most important, and led to the resolutions lasting and everyone being satisfied by them. The process now, while it may be inexpensive and not involving the courts, is very intrusive into peoples lives, and imposes political values on the people who bring their cases to mediation. Is it better then the traditional sense? I don’t know if it is or not, it is very similar, but much like the rest of China the government sought more control in the everyday affairs of the people, and that is what is happening. A similar situation occurred in India, where there existed a complex system of conflict resolution, but upon the government wanting to modernize the country, most was thrown out. India is also another country that has been colonized, and draws a lot of its government from the British. However, once colonization ended for them, the newly free government had to decide whether or not to revert to the traditional practices of the Jati, or attempt to bring Indian law into the 21st century. Many of the hierarchy of society at the time India was granted freedom were legal professionals from the British days. They wanted to implement a British style of legal system, mainly for their own material gains, as they would be the ones who would be called on as lawyers, and judges. Many people within India opposed this system, seeing it as the culture of the oppressor. They sought to eradicate this system from their country completely. However, as the years of colonization passed the British system gradually became fused with features of the local tradition, especially the local courts system. It became less of an oppressive system and more of a working one. Today the British system has become domesticated to the Indian ways of doing things and a hybrid system has developed. It no longer seems so alien to so many Indians. This example is similar to the Chinese example as the governments of each country are trying to deal with change. In China when the communists took over they only wanted to slightly alter the existing system of mediation, while in India when the British left, the new government only wanted to slightly change the existing system. In both cases, little change was made, only enough to take into consideration the new ideologies of the new government. There is however, a strong backlash against the British system in terms of how it deals with marriage law, but I am choosing not to discuss this issue because it is abstract from the points that I am trying to make. Legal systems also change as they are deemed to be unresponsive, and to out of touch, a is the case in many of the industrialized societies of today. Two examples exist of how changes in the way police are conducting their trade has led to improvements within the society, Japan, and Santa Ana California. The Japanese have made their police much more visible, and eadily available to the public, when compared to the typical American city. This has led to them being much more accepted by the Japanese public than the American police are by our public. They have, for a long time now, abandoned the motorized form of policing in a car, and have instead opted for foot patrols. This brings the actual officer out onto the street, and gets him more involved in the affairs of the people, enabling him to be better capable of stopping trouble before it starts. The whole emphasis on the way the Japanese police has been placed in their continuing efforts to integrate with the community. A system of Kuban’s has been developed as a place in the community where a small number of officers are stationed. There are several Koban through out Japan, as they are the basis for the policing process. These Koban have various connections with various community groups and organization, further placing the public behind the police. Similarly, in Santa Anna California, a new system has been adopted to better integrate the police force with the people they are trying to serve. During the racially tensed 1960’s the police department in the city became very out of touch with the needs of the people in Santa Anna. Police officers began to see themselves as the only form of law, and began to enact their own brand of justice. Public opinion of the department went down, as did the relationship between the department and the public. The city therefore hired a new chief whom implemented several new community oriented policies all aimed at trying to restore the trust of the public. He divided the city into four grids’ and flooded each with police officers, in an attempt to make the police more accessible to the public, and their concerns. He also hired several new citizens to act as officers, without the official tag of being police officers. They handled many of the mundane tasks of police work, which freed up more officers to be out in the public, exposing themselves, and attempting to prevent crime. Due to the large foreign speaking population, he also hired several citizens who could speak the languages of the people, thus making the department more accessible to those who previously have been closed out due to language barriers. Buildings were set up as a neighborhood control center for the police, but also lent it to many community functions. These buildings, which were very similar to the Koban in Japan, were an attempt to invite the public in and welcome them into the police world. As in Japan, the public was welcomed in and encouraged to make complaints, give information about possible criminal activity, or just sit down and get to know the officers. All of this was done in an attempt to win over the public, and make them feel more comfortable with the police department. It is very similar to the way the Japanese system is set up in that they both work from the grassroots level, using the human resources approach rather than an authoritative system, and the strong desire to integrate with the community, and make them feel more comfortable with the police. As I have demonstrated, changes have taken place in legal systems around the world, some for the better and some not. However, they all end up, in one way or another to reflect the belief that traditional methods are best. Without any inclusion of traditional methods law itself wouldn’t be able to be applied to masses of people.

Coach Inc. Essay

Recommendations and Justification First, Lew Frankfort should continue to make new, high quality handbags that will impress customers. This will help Coach to continue to grow and prosper. New designs will help attract more customers to buy Coach products. The company can only benefit with new and unique products in the market. If Lew Frankfort can continue to do this Coach can be a leader in the market, which will help the company grow. Second, brand awareness should be increased. It can be increased through social media and e-commerce sites. This will help Coach be well known around the world. The more people know about the company and it’s products the more customers it will attract. Third, Coach should protect its products against counterfeiting. Coach can do this by making sure that no patterns or fabrics are stolen so that they can be made into fakes that look similar to the authentic products. It should also pursue knockoff sellers in Asia. Knockoffs can attract customers to the shops that sell them, wh ich will decrease the customers that shop at actual Coach shops. Fourth, Coach should continue to expand its market globally. It should increase its factory stores to help with the market. In the case it says that factory stores should be no closer than 50 miles from full price stores. This is important because it is a marketing strategy. All of this will continue to expand Coach. Finally, Coach should continue pursuing its plans to expand in Asia. Japan is an important market for luxury goods and China is suppose to become the world’s largest market for luxury goods. Coach needs to build a presence in important locations where competitors have yet to expand to. Dominant Economic Features (PESTEL) Total luxury market is $220 billion with an expected growth rate of about 7 to 8 percent annually through 2015 to get to $350 billion. Most of the growth will come from China and India, which are some of the countries that seem to be emerging. In the case, Coach’s specific target market is identified as being $24-$28 billion. Furthermore, the luxury handbag, leather goods and accessories market is at about $120 billion. It can be noted that the luxury brands are mainly targeted to wealthy customers who want a well-known luxury brand. This luxury brand market continues to prosper since many wealthy people want the status and value of owning these  luxury products. It can also be noted that the luxury market is worldwide. The United States owns 30 percent of the market and Europe also owns 30 percent of the market. Additionally, all of these luxury goods companies use unique strategies to try and create high differentiation. These differentiating factors can include all of the following: styling, reputation, quality, image, and customer service. The case also shows that there is a growing desire for luxury goods by middle class consumers. This could be since most middle class families want to reward themselves with some form of luxury goods. Most of the luxury goods manufacturers in the case were vertically integrated into the function of retail stores. Other designers were made under the supervision of the designer while products by Coach were made by low-cost contract manufacturers. Five Forces Model There is a strong rivalry amongst competitors in the market. Interfirm rivalry is the strongest competitive force in this market. These competitors try to make their products of the finest material and newest styles to compete with one another. Buyers have little leverage in negotiating with manufacturers of luxury goods. Consumers do not have the ability to negotiate the price of luxury goods when in retail stores. According to the case Coach Inc. and several other luxury goods makers continued to maintain the same price each year. The consumers and retailer buyers are weak competitive forces in the market. The bargaining power and leverage of suppliers is also a weak competitive force. There is a competition from substitutes in the market. For instance, there are many substitutes for luxury goods in almost every product category. Several consumers who do not want a luxury good will purchase a substitute product because it is most likely at a much lower cost. There is not a really a threat of a new entry. This can be considered a weak competitive force since it is quite difficult for a new luxury brand to enter the market. The majority of current luxury brands have strong reputations that were built years ago. Because of this they have a strong sense of loyalty from their customers. In summary, there is a small chance of their being a threat of a new entry to take over the market. Buyers and suppliers have almost no leverage when negotiating with sellers, and the rivalry in the industry  excludes price competition. Most consumers are brand loyal and want the actual luxury product, which shows that substitutes will not hurt the market much. Driving Forces As stated before Coach is looking to globalize by expanding in emerging markets in Asia. Coach will continue to expand through social media and e-commerce sites. There is a high preference for differentiated products. The more differentiated the better. Coach also wants to expand its market into Europe. Currently Coach is not very well known in Europe so it could drastically help the company with sales if they can get a growing market in Europe. Market Position of Rivals Coach’s rivals are not leaders of the market as Coach is; however, they do still compete. For example, Coach is not as popular as some of the other competitors in Europe. Each rival has some unique aspect that continues to drag in customers. This could be the fabric, design, or quality of the product being sold. Not only that, but other rivals can be in a less competitive environment in certain countries which can give that industry the upper hand. Key Success Factors for Future Competitive Success To continue to succeed Coach needs to be innovative with all future products. This tends to attract more customers to the market. Coach needs to keep up with rivals to see what is selling that they do not have. This will help Coach compete against its rivals. Industry Outlook Coach as an industry is doing extremely well in the market. It is currently the leader of the market because of its effective marketing strategies. Competitive forces are growing stronger since they have some markets in continents that Coach is not as popular in yet. Furthermore, some of the competitor’s branch out to male customers more that Coach does. The industry does have a sufficient competitive strength to defend against unattractive industry factors. The industry has a few problems here and there, but there is nothing severe. The industry still has plenty of room for growth. Coach can expand into Europe and into the men’s market to grow even larger. How Well the Company’s Present Strategy is Working Coach is currently targeting the lower part of the luxury products (the cheaper part). This market provides the opportunity for more customers than more expensive markets. Coach targets the top 20 percent of Americans by household income unlike other markets who target the top 5 percent. Coach has a multi-tiered retail strategy that has full-price retail sores, department stores, and factory outlets. Coach’s flagship stores carry all of the high priced products. Core stores have the widely demanded products. Having a discount factory outlet store allows Coach to maintain a year-round full price policy in its full price retail stores. Overall Coach has established a great competitive advantage. It’s profit growth performance and its high volume of sales has shown the effectiveness of Coach’s strategy. SWOT Analysis Coach has contracts that guarantee the company access to the highest quality leathers. Coach has negotiated offshore production contracts that helped deliver high product quality and low manufacturing costs. Coach has also leveraged existing brand names by adding various accessory lines. Additionally, Coach has built a multi-tiered retailing approach. They have also cultivated a strong brand awareness around the world. These are all of Coach’s strengths at the current time. Some of Coach’s weaknesses include: a small European presence. Coach is not very well known in Europe as it is in the United States and other parts of the world. Coach has a very small role in the men’s market. Some of Coach’s market opportunities are developing retail locations in Europe since it currently is not well known there. If Coach can do this it can open up a whole new market to increase its sales. Coach needs to develop new product lines that are geared towards men. Coach nee ds to expand into Asia in countries such as China, Japan, and India to help the growth of the company. Some external threats are as follows: weakened brand image and restricted sales outlook. Company’s Strength/Weakness compared to other Rivals One of Coach’s strengths is the industry’s strong customer loyalty. Coach has customers who will pay a lot of money for one of its deluxe products and  it has customers who have been fans of Coach product’s for a long time. One of Coach’s weaknesses compared to other rivals is the fact that it has very little European presence. Some of its rivals have a strong presence in Europe, but this is not the case with Coach. Not only that, but Coach has a very small portion in the men’s market. Some of Coach’s rivals have a strong presence in the men’s market. Furthermore, Coach’s penetration in ancillary markets is small when compared to some of its rivals. These are all of Coach’s strengths and weaknesses compared to other rivals.

G.K. Chestertons A Piece of Chalk

One of the most prolific British authors of the early 20th century, G.K. Chesterton is best known today for his novel The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and his 51 short stories featuring the amateur detective Father Brown. In addition, he was a master of the essay  --   called the only literary form that confesses, in its very name, that the rash act known as writing is really a leap in the dark. The word essay comes from the French word essayer, meaning to try or attempt. In the preface to his essay collection Tremendous Trifles (1909), Chesterton encourages us to be ocular athletes: Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see the startling facts that run across the landscape as plain as a painted fence. In this fleeting sketch from that collection, Chesterton relies on two common items -- brown paper and a piece of chalk -- as starting points for some thought-provoking meditations. A Piece of Chalk I remember one splendid morning, all blue and silver, in the summer holidays when I reluctantly tore myself away from the task of doing nothing in particular, and put on a hat of some sort and picked up a walking-stick, and put six very bright-colored chalks in my pocket. I then went into the kitchen (which, along with the rest of the house, belonged to a very square and sensible old woman in a Sussex village), and asked the owner and occupant of the kitchen if she had any brown paper. She had a great deal; in fact, she had too much; and she mistook the purpose and the rationale of the existence of brown paper. She seemed to have an idea that if a person wanted brown paper he must be wanting to tie up parcels; which was the last thing I wanted to do; indeed, it is a thing which I have found to be beyond my mental capacity. Hence she dwelt very much on the varying qualities of toughness and endurance in the material. I explained to her that I only wanted to draw pictures on it, and th at I did not want them to endure in the least; and that from my point of view, therefore, it was a question, not of tough consistency, but of responsive surface, a thing comparatively irrelevant in a parcel. When she understood that I wanted to draw she offered to overwhelm me with note-paper. I then tried to explain the rather delicate logical shade, that I not only liked brown paper, but liked the quality of brownness in paper, just as I like the quality of brownness in October woods, or in beer. Brown paper represents the primal twilight of the first toil of creation, and with a bright-colored chalk or two you can pick out points of fire in it, sparks of gold, and blood-red, and sea-green, like the first fierce stars that sprang out of divine darkness. All this I said (in an off-hand way) to the old woman, and I put the brown paper in my pocket along with the chalks, and possibly other things. I suppose every one must have reflected how primeval and how poetical are the things that one carries in ones pocket; the pocket-knife, for instance, the type of all human tools, the infant of the sword. Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about things in my pockets. But I found it would be too long, and the age of the great epics is past. With my stick and my knife, my chalks and my brown paper, I went out on to the great downs... I crossed one swell of living turf after another, looking for a place to sit down and draw. Do not, for heavens sake, imagine I was going to sketch from Nature. I was going to draw devils and seraphim, and blind old gods that men worshipped before the dawn of right, and saints in robes of angry crimson, and seas of strange green, and all the sacred or monstrous symbols that look so well in bright colors on brown paper. They are much better worth drawing than Nature; also they are much easier to draw. When a cow came slouching by in the field next to me, a mere artist might have drawn it; but I always get wrong in the hind legs of quadrupeds. So I drew the soul of a cow; which I saw there plainly walking before me in the sunlight; and the soul was all purple and silver, and had seven horns and the mystery that belongs to all beasts. But though I could not with a crayon get the best out of the landscape, it does not follow that the landscape was not getting the best out of me. And this , I think, is the mistake that people make about the old poets who lived before Wordsworth, and were supposed not to care very much about Nature because they did not describe it much. They preferred writing about great men to writing about great hills, but they sat on the great hills to write it. The gave out much less about Nature, but they drank in, perhaps, much more. They painted the white robes of their holy virgins with the blinding snow, at which they had stared all day. ...The greenness of a thousand green leaves clustered into the live green figure of Robin Hood. The blueness of a score of forgotten skies became the blue robes of the Virgin. The inspiration went in like sunbeams and came out like Apollo. But as I sat scrawling these silly figures on the brown paper, it began to dawn on me, to my great disgust, that I had left one chalk, and that a most exquisite and essential chalk, behind. I searched all my pockets, but I could not find any white chalk. Now, those who are acquainted with all the philosophy (nay, religion) which is typified in the art of drawing on brown paper, know that white is positive and essential. I cannot avoid remarking here upon a moral significance. One of the wise and awful truths which this brown-paper art reveals, is this, that white is a color. It is not a mere absence of color; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. When, so to speak, your pencil grows red-hot, it draws roses; when it grows white-hot, it draws stars. And one of the two or three defiant verities of the best religious morality, of real Christianity, for example, is exactly this same thing; the chief assertion of religious morality is that white is a color. Virtue is not the absence of vices or the avoidance of moral dangers; virtue is a vivid and separate thing, like pain or a particular smell. Mercy does not mean not being cruel, or sparing people revenge or punishment; it means a plain and positive thing like the sun, which one has either seen or not seen. Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc. In a word, God paints in many colors; but he never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white. In a sense our age has realized this fact, and expressed it in our sullen costume. For if it were really true that white was a blank and colorless thing, negative and non-committal, then white would be used instead of black and grey for the funereal dress of this pessimistic period. Which is not the case. Meanwhile, I could not find my chalk. I sat on the hill in a sort of despair. There was no town near at which it was even remotely probable there would be such a thing as an artists colorman. And yet, without any white, my absurd little pictures would be as pointless as the world would be if there were no good people in it. I stared stupidly round, racking my brain for expedients. Then I suddenly stood up and roared with laughter, again and again, so that the cows stared at me and called a committee. Imagine a man in the Sahara regretting that he had no sand for his hour-glass. Imagine a gentleman in mid-ocean wishing that he had brought some salt water with him for his chemical experiments. I was sitting on an immense warehouse of white chalk. The landscape was made entirely of white chalk. White chalk was piled more miles until it met the sky. I stooped and broke a piece of the rock I sat on: it did not mark so well as the shop chalks do, but it gave the effect. And I stood there in a trance of pleasure, realizing that this Southern England is not only a grand peninsula, and a tradition and a civilization; it is something even more admirable. It is a piece of chalk.