Monday, January 27, 2020

Ethnomethodology And Interactionism

Ethnomethodology And Interactionism Ehnomethododolgy and interactionism have been two of the most emerging social theorys to come up from the 20th century. Interactionism was the one that initially started it with the emergence of Meade in the 1920s who emerged with a style of being pragmatism as its main core argument as well as analysis how we socially act with teaches other. Herbet blumer worked on Meade theory and he created symbolic interactionism through it. With their main aim of it being what is behind the subjective theory of humans, the social process and being pragmatic, this theory has then led to several divisions created throughout they include Phenomenology, Social Action, and Ethnomethodology. The view of ethno has created the biggest difference and has been viewed as analysis people everyday life and how people act which defines there social order and therefore it will be used to document to how the world works and operate unlike many other theorys not interested in putting people in separate reality o f using extreme types of cases. In addition the Ethnomethodology can be viewed as members of society must have some shared methods that they use to mutually construct the meaningful orderliness of social situations and that it differs from normal sociology as viewed what is important is the procedures over which social society is created One of the things that interactionist sociologists are different to macro sociologist such as functionalist and Marxist conflict theories. This can be viewed as the way they look at how the individuals act in situations instead of just analysing how they react to a social stimulant. In addition they tend to look at how different social actors understand the behaviour of theirs is significant as a way of understanding in the way social world constructed. One of these differences can be shown in the difference where etnomethodologist tend to be highly indifferent to subjective methods of research as not really thinking that they correctly define human behaviour in the manner they like. In terms of contrast to the normal style of sociology the ethno view doesnt attempt to make an theory or methodological appeal In addition does not view its subjective states as an individual or group of individual as well will refuse to use concept view such as value states, sentiments , goal-orientations as a way of referring to any types of actor or other actors. Therefore for an ethnomethodologistss the way in which you can fully realise social scenes is when the actual location would be under inspection. Therefore the role is to describe the personality of these activities not just accounting as just a person in a particular location but instead look at what happens , how it happens and why these moment tends be different . A difference between the two would be the use of symbols whereby interactionist tend to assume that the truth of symbols are then interpreted by various actor in social while ethno deliberately avoids these assumption to describe social scene and do not think symbol are necessarily used as constants in social scenes. One of the things that make ethnomethodology unique is the method behind its research is different as it tends to look at practical reasons and how that is different compared to the domain of talking interaction or other constituent activity system which believe are very limited and only get a small amounts of research through it . In addition they look in methodological research and how tends be viewed through either ethno-graphic or quasi-experiment which are different to the usual analysis of conversation and look at audio and video recording of on-going interaction. They believe methods of interviews are fake and dont really give the most fairest way of analysis human behaviour as also think can be based on false assumption such as camaridie in the interview which be viewed differently by the parties but it could lead to giving less accurate results. In addition one of the most important thing for the Interactions is how they analyse peoples social life , instead of the functional objective macro-organised structure of the social system where everyone has a place and just a certain role. This is important as it fits in with the interactionist philosophy of their theoretical perspective on the image of humans instead of just analysing society and viewing how that defines. Instead human are pragmatic actors who must continually change their behaviour to be able to respond to other actor and that the only way they we can adjust is because we have the power to interpret them either through symbolic ways or could be linguistic methods through those abilities able to adjust to respond accordingly. This is then enhanced by the way we can imaginatively rehearse other ways of action before to attempt to act. This is then aided by the ability to think and then react to our actions even viewing are selves at times as the symbolic objects. T herefore the interactionist theorist would view human as active, creative participants, who define and make the social world not just conformist passive players in this social world. One of the major differences would be how they both tend to view the difference in role taking It tends to be a key role in the method of interaction whereby it allows take other people views and how their actions lead us to interact in a certain way. Furthermore in other times interactions tend to look at improvisational use of rules where the social situation isnt working well which means then human change their role to try and improve the experience. However a ethno view is that they would prefer to go analyse their research through looking at different ways that people express themselves in conversation and the way that these methods are managed. In addition the way interactionist seem to learn is through participant observation whereby instead of just looking at survey and interview instead they will view that what makes it important is looking how they act in there day to day life and how being immersed in the live is the best way of being able to understand why people commit their action and how the process of the situation is communicated through the interaction. Therefor while they will be very close in terms of contact as a consequence they are explicit over how what they learned from the person can alter their views and thinking but will be objective when it comes to conducting the research One of the criticisms ethnomethodologistss have over the interactionist approach is that they believed that there tends to be an over reliance on the cognitive system approach . There logic is that normal people tend to grasp just normal situations and that is all they process, however when there is a specific event with horrific sequence they start thinking about their pre-conscious state which leads them to disrupt there normal pattern of social interaction in addition the ethno group believe that this only a temporary problem and very quickly will be to allowed to enable normal social interaction again with just a bit of work However in certain methods there tends to be certain similar aspects if you look at how they tend to be linked to a certain degree over the interactionist concern with the role of abnormality within the studies of social group and social relationships. Usually interactionist tend to look at the method of organization which stresses how positions in place work tend to be defined by its inherent informal structure. Therefore this had led to a view created by (Hughes, 1956) that beside every task division of labor rests a moral hierarchy of positions which dictate how per-sons are to relate. Therefore when usually this a study into the social organisations the interactionist will tend to look at how the social organization start with a formal structure and how that progress through a variety of different views and ideas which then as a consequence redefine those initial structures . These view on the structure complement the ethnomethodologistss which also emphasis that a formal struct ure cant be ignored and they are vital fundamental for social relationships. Furthermore ethnomethodologistss major view in this regard in this topic is that the productions of sociologist are similar to those in everyday life. They get to there point through a couple of ways, one of those tends to be tend that sociologists main concern is the affairs of the general people in the social order . Therefore when they start with their initial test they create a certain boundaries and certain rules which will define their method however during these test they will find throughout it anomalys or that the statistical test is not accurate or that what they observe does not actually fit in with their initial hypothesis or central concept . So therefore when they try to make there concept work with their hypothesis they will tend to rely on the documentary style of analysis whereby they look at there earlier view of daily interaction and look at how to help them reach a hypothesis The two views can also have fault lines in what they necessarily try to find as an interactionist are far more concerned with normal common sense question about how we live our lives , while the ethnomethodologistss tries to analysis on the meaning of the social and look at what behind what we all do . One of the major differences can be viewed between how language is differently viewed between the two ideologies as for the interactions language can be viewed as submitting signs of the person that represent the central aspect of the social life; while for the ethnomethodologistss it can be pointed to the person as a way of being the standard reality and how it is explained A criticism that has been used towards interactionism from the ehthno has come towards the Blumer approach and their assessment over how they failed to accurate describe how the social process in the vein that there was a total gloss on the usual human social interaction especially demanding that there should be a place for the minute description of behaviour especially language behaviour instead of the constant reference to mind or self , society which where conceptual goals coming from which then used the prepared account of the social life in the method of Blumer. Therefore it while there are similarities between interactionist and the ethnomethodologists especially as ethnomethodology would not be able to exist without interactionism as that is what started this brand of sociology which went against the functional sociologist style of before such as structuralism , functionalism , Marxism it started then as a new breed of sociology and ethnomethodology became a branch of it like Phenomenology did as well . Therefore whatever the difference will be there central point will always be very similar to each other .

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Technical Description Sample

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION LOT-1 PCS-01-005351 A parcel of land (Lot-1, Pcs-01-005351, being a portion of Lots-165 and 166, PLS-1110, Alilem Public Land Subd. L. R. C. Rec. No. ___________) situated at Brgy. Poblacion, Mun. of Alilem, Prov. of Ilocos Sur, Island of Luzon. Bounded on the S. along line 1-2 by Guis-it St. (10. 00 m. wide); on the W. along line 2-3 by Lot-167, PLS-1110; on the N. along line 3-4 by Lot-164, PLS-1110 and on the E. along line 4-1 by Lot- 2 of the consolidation and subd. plan. Beginning at a point marked â€Å"1†of Lot-1 on plan, being S. 65?. 02’ E. , 348. 29 m. from BLLM No. 1, PLS-1110, Alilem Public Land Subd. thence N. 7? 42’ W. , 16. 41 m. to point 2; thence N. 10? 27’ E. , 30. 59 m. to point 3; thence S. 69? 49’ E. , 16. 76 m. to point 4; thence S. 10? 42’ W. , 28. 29 m. to point 1; point of beginning, containing an area of FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE (485) SQUARE METERS. All points referred to are indicated on the pl an and were marked on the ground with BL cyl. conc. mons. 15Ãâ€"40 cms. except points 1 and 4 which are PS cyl. conc. mon. 15Ãâ€"50 cms. Bearings Grid, date of orig. survey was on April-May, 1983; date of consol. and subd. survey was on October 10, 2010 executed by Engr. Edmund A. Soliven and was approved on August 11, 2011. CERTIFIED CORRECT:

Friday, January 10, 2020

How a Virus Finds a Host Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   AIDS and the bird flu have raised concerns about virus attacks in the public eye. Infectious transfer of virus also very often causes the common cold. We are able to tolerate or overcome the vast majority of viruses, but some of them succeed in causing us to fall ill, even to the point of death. Not everyone responds to a virus epidemic in the same way: some overpower the pathogen, while others succumb. A fundamental understanding of the nature of a virus can solve these apparent paradoxes; its mechanism of taking shelter in living tissue is also relevant. It is worth noting at the outset that viruses search for all forms of plants and animals as hosts. Each type of virus has a particular preference of host. A virus is versatile and can change form with ease. Basic genetic structures and systems   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A virus is a kind of bridge between a form of life and an inanimate object. All living things are made from permutations and combinations of four nucleic acids, adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine. Sequences of nucleic acids form genes. Genes are in turn banded together, to form chromosomes. The nucleic acids are joined together by ribose sugars. The latter has one molecule of sugar absent. The structure is entwined in the form of double helix coils inside the nucleus of each living cells. The latter are grouped together in higher forms of life to form tissues and organs. The nucleic acid structure inside each nucleus is called Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   DNA is used by life forms to produce Ribonucleic acids or RNA. RNA has ribose sugar with the oxygen molecule missing in DNA. RNA has just one strand of nucleic acids, as opposed to two in DNA. RNA has uracil instead of thymine. RNA moves out from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of living cells. RNA is used to produce proteins, which act as the materials of life forms. DNA and RNA physiology is at the heart of all life. It is a common system from unicellular life forms to human beings. Protein production by RNA and RNA production by DNA is the chemical basis of life. This is a process, which continues without ceasing from conception to death. Insidious nature   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We are now ready to look at the nature and structure of a virus. A virus has a structure similar to RNA (Lewin, 744). However, the host DNA does not produce it. It also differs from RNA in that it may have a protective membrane made of protein. A virus is a kind of imposter. It finds a way inside a cell and abuses the host’s DNA to produce proteins of its own. Since a virus has no DNA, it does not qualify as a life form in the strict sense. However, as it able to use host DNA to produce protein, and since it has the ability to replicate, it shares an essential property of living things.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fine distinction between a virus and a living cell with a nucleus could remain in the academic domain, were it not for the deleterious ability of a virus to threaten well-being and indeed life itself. A mitigating factor is that a virus cannot survive on its own: it must take shelter within the nucleus of a living cell, and is entirely dependant on the host DNA. Cat and mouse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Higher forms of life, such as human beings, do not surrender to virus attack without a fight, and they most often win. A virus enters a host through the medium of foreign living tissue. Bodily discharges such as sputum, blood, semen, and mucus are the most common agents of viral transfer between one living body and another. Transmission is routine if two members of a species are involved. A virus may occasionally adapt from one genus, even an order, or a phylum to another. Thus, an avian virus can infect a mammal, even a human. It can jump from one bird to another almost inevitably. Viruses know that they cannot always hope to find a host of the same species in which they currently reside (Watson et all, 1016). A virus is always on the search of a new host for its use of the present host’s DNA can be fatal for that host. The virus will have no use for a dead host, and must hence find a new life to infect. It has developed a great adaptive capability, and can adjust to the DNA of a new host, which may be an entirely different form of life in which it has existed before. A bird flu virus in a chicken would like a healthy chicken in which it can spread. Should other chickens be scarce, it will try to infect some other bird it can find. It will settle for a human if it can find no bird or other animal. It is worth repeating that the bird flu virus can move from one bird to another bird or from one bird to a human, only through oral or nasal of anal discharge from the infected and original host. Should the latter be isolated, then the virus is doomed to extinction with the death of its host. Infection is essential for viral transfer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Animal bodies, especially human beings have powerful and sophisticated systems to combat invading viruses. Should a human being touch and ingest some discharge from an infected host, the virus will gain physical entry, but the body, which it has entered, will not take things lying down. Defense systems in humans and other animals are equipped to detect that a rogue pretending to be RNA has entered the body and is trying to cheat the DNA to produce proteins for its own use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A virus tries to read the nucleic acid sequence in the DNA of any host that it finds. It then attempts to produce proteins of its own need and choice from the DNA it encounters (Heritage, Evans and Killington, 122). We should bear in mind that a virus is essentially an imposter in the garb of RNA. It tries to adjust its RNA sequence in a manner such that the host DNA cannot see through the disguise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Higher forms of animal life have defense cells in blood. Soldier cells try to capture foreign virus-loaded tissue as soon as it enters the host. These cells are called macrophages and they contain most invasions by literally swallowing the foreign bodies. This mechanism is not necessarily comprehensive, and some particles of the foreign bodies may escape the macrophage confrontation. The sub-microscopic size of a virus means that a few members of an infectious source may escape the host body’s attention. Virus is then free to enter living cells of the host and start interaction with the DNA. The virus can tell instantly that it now has a different DNA structure. It starts studying the new nucleic acid sequence and sees it can replicate in the changed circumstances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is now time for the lymphocytes in the host blood to take charge (Despopoulos and Silbernagl, 68)   Lymphocytes are of two kinds, B and T. The latter specialize in fighting viruses. They recognize the production of unusual proteins, and detect the viral infection of cells. T lymphocytes kill cells infected by a virus, in a bid to contain the infection. T lymphocytes are produced in the thymus. Healthy individuals have immense capacity for defense and can ward off a majority of virus attacks. A compromise often prevails with the T lymphocytes winning the fight against a virus, though it is unable to destroy all traces of the virus in the host. Such a host then functions as a carrier, living with a low intensity of virus attack without external symptoms of any medical condition. A carrier can infect another individual who may succumb to the virus if its T lymphocyte system does not function well. Cancers of the lymphatic system and malnutrition are the primary reason for a host’s T lymphocytes to fail in protecting a host from virus attack.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We must bear in mind, for the question that has prompted this document, that a virus does not have the luxury of choosing a host. It will take any available living cell and try to adjust to the DNA sequence it finds. Nature favors the host: the virus will generally fail to break the code, or will perish with the host cell whose code it has broken. Immunity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though anti-retroviral therapy has now entered the realm of reality, nature provides hosts with the capability to recognize a virus and the will to destroy cells infected by viruses. Nature balances such powers by making viruses highly adaptable. They can quickly change their own sequences of acids in bids to escape detection and to survive. Viruses will also settle for sub-clinical situations in which they are able to survive without killing the host on which it depends.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It follows that immunity is a key to fighting viruses. Higher forms of life are equipped with innate capabilities to fight viruses to the extent that the species can thrive, though some proportion of every population falls prey. Hygiene and balanced nutrition are the only things that most life forms need to defeat thieving viruses. Works Cited Despopoulos, A and Silbernagl, S, Color Atlas of Physiology, Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart, 1991 Heritage, J. G. V. Evans, and R. A. Killington, Introductory Microbiology, Cambridge University Press, 1996 Lewin, B, Genes, Oxford University Press, 1997 Watson, J. D. Nancy H. Hopkins, Jeffrey W. Roberts. Joan A. Steitz and Alan M. Weiner, Molecular Biology of the Gene, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. (1998)   

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Core Competencie Essay Example Pdf - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1900 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Review Did you like this example? Describe the four criteria for an organisations core competence. Explain how core competencies can be identified and leveraged to develop strategies, Give example(s) to support your argument. Introduction This essay starts by briefly describing how the term core competencies was established before looking at why it is necessary to identify core competencies within an organisation. The four criteria used to identify core competencies is discussed with an analysis of each followed by an overview of strategy. This provides the pretext to discuss the role of correctly identifying core competencies and why leveraging them in strategy development is important. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Core Competencie Essay Example Pdf" essay for you Create order Core competencies Formulating strategies is a cyclical process in which an internal analysis of an organisation plays a crucial part (Introduction: What is strategy? 2006:1). This analytical process involves taking a theoretical approach known as a resource-based view (Unit 3: 5) in which an organisation objectively looks at all its resources and capabilities to see how best they can give an organisation competitive advantage. Grant has established that an organisations resources can be tangible, intangible or human and that these can be matched to its capabilities to eventually provide competitive advantage (Grant, 2008: 131). This process of exploiting the unique combination of resources and capabilities has given rise to the term of core competencies which have been defined by Prahalad and Hamel (1990: 78-90) as the ability of an organisation to coordinate all its technologies and production skills in order to deliver its strategy. Identifying core competencies Core competencies are t he building blocks on which organisations are able to strategise so it is vital to identify them correctly using four specific criteria (Segal-Horn, 2009: 169): 1) Does it provide significant value? 2) Does it allow to increase or dominate market share? 3) Is it difficult for competitors to imitate? 4) Does it provide competitive advantage? It is important to understand that these are not mutually exclusive categories therefore it is essential to meet all criteria in order to establish a core competency. Usually it is not possible for an organisation to have more than a handful of core competencies (Segal-Horn, 2008: 170). Value in this scenario is in terms of ‘perceived benefit to the end user of the product or service (Segal-Horn, 2009: 169). For instance, Vodafone became a leader in the world of mobile communications in the late nineties by providing value-adding services such as short message services and voicemail (Unit 1: 10) to their existing portf olio. The concept of value is equally applicable in not-for-profit organisations such as Crisis, a charity for single homeless individuals. One of its core competencies is achieved through its long establishment of over 40 years and its ability to provide services at a national level and this level of dedication is seen as a valuable asset. Organisations which have value-creating resources are at an advantage to those who do not, for example Vodafone who made heavy investments in their research and development to stay ahead of their competitors (Unit 1:9). It is important to understand that value is not always represented by revenue, as in the example of the charity Crisis; the value of such a service to a needy individual is priceless hence this is a context-specific measure. Markets are becoming increasingly complex and with the advent of globalisation and the internet they are not restricted by geographical boundaries so identifying competencies which can help to increas e market share are exceptionally valuable. An example of this would be the ability of an organisation to provide a service in several different languages simultaneously. Organisations whose infrastructure is such that it allows simultaneous function across continents are clearly at an advantage to those who have a lesser ability to do so. Markets are dynamic so the ability to adapt to changes in the environment due to specific capabilities can be regarded as a core competency. The third test is to see whether it can easily be replicated by another organisation; the more difficult it is to imitate, again the more value it holds as a core competence. A competitor might be able to obtain identical technology on how to build a TV but the core competence might lie in the ability to have a more efficient production line. Apple Inc. for example use an operating system which is unique to their products and sometimes reputation, an intangible resource, can be seen to be difficult to imitate especially in organisations which have been established for a significant length of time such as certain retailers. If a particular asset, (or combination of assets) has the potential to provide competitive advantage that is extremely useful in identifying a core competence. Competitive advantage is the ultimate goal of an organisations strategy (Grant, 2008: 131). Organisations with unique assets such as a patented technology immediately translate into a competitive advantage, however in many industries, competitive advantage is achieved through extremely precise combinations of resources and capabilities and the method by which an organisation exploits these assets is a core competence. Strategy development Strategy allows an organisation to deliver its vision. To develop a deliberate strategy which could potentially increase the sustainability of an organisation clearly requires the identification of core competencies but often a single strategy is not the answer. Organisations require a headline strategy to fit a brief which resonates the vision but several strategies are required over many departments such as research and development, production and marketing to deliver the main strategy. The process of strategy development is complex and methodology depends on several factors including the availability of resources and the external environment. The second step in strategy development following identification of core competencies is the process of leveraging resources so they can be exploited for maximum benefit. Strategy development is a crucial step in attaining competitive advantage but a strategy is only as successful as its implementation. The process of leveraging co re competencies therefore is vital and requires careful consideration since it forms the basis of implementation. Leveraging core competencies This is the process of exploiting core competencies in the most appropriate manner for effective strategy development because not all core competencies need to be used all the time and some may be more beneficial than others in any given scenario. Prahalad and Hamel (in Segal-Horn, 2009: 33-40) have highlighted five broad ways by which core competencies can be leveraged: 1. Concentrating core competencies effectively, 2. Efficiently accumulating core competencies, 3. Creating value through complementing core competencies with each other, 4. Conserving core competencies through contingency plans and 5. Recovering core competencies in a timely manner. Concentrating core competencies is a method which has two facets; one being convergence which reflects the overall vision most closely so all the resources ‘conver ge over time (Segal-Horn, 2009: 33) and the second being focus. By focussing the most appropriate core competencies on key aspects only it allows an organisation to meet significant short-term goals most effectively. This is most useful in situations where some departments require more development than others for example the production team may be meeting the targets set for them but the marketing department might not be on par so although all departments are working towards one goal, one or more of the core competencies are being focussed on the under-performing department. The process of accumulating core competencies refers to both organisation-specific core competencies as well as those of other organisations. Having a bank of information which has not been developed by an organisation themselves but is easily accessible can be extremely beneficial since it reduces time spent carrying out menial tasks as well as allowing the organisation to continue their learning and de velopment by borrowing resources through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and so on. Knowledge through experience and the continual process of an organisation to learn and unlearn in order to ‘apply lessons is known as extraction. Some core competencies are stand alone resources, one example being the open culture exhibited at Apple Inc. where creative individuals are given appropriate space to develop their ideas. More often than not, organisations find that the cumulative effect of core competencies is far greater than that of exploiting them individually and this method is known as blending. An extension of this idea is balancing core competencies which ensures that different operational areas within an organisation work together in harmony and do not overshadow or undermine each other. When applying these methods to leverage core competencies it should be noted that adjustments to re-balance the status quo may need to be made periodically. Conserving core competencies is a methodology which can be divided up into three areas. Shielding which involves protecting an organisations resources to reduce risk to a minimum while simultaneously increasing risk for competitors, co-option which is a collaboration that often results in increased market share for stronger party in the collaboration and the final methodology is recycling whereby core competencies which have a proven track record in significantly contributing to maximising profits are used time and time again. The final method which is used to leverage core competencies is recovery. The faster the speed of recovery, the time taken to turn around a product from development to market saturation and back to new product development, the greater the chances of recovering investment quicker. This leverage method is particularly noticeable in the technology industry where soon as a product garners popularity, its successor is already ready to be launched. Conclusion The brief analysis above has discussed that in an attempt to develop successful strategies, the first step is an internal analysis to identify available resources and capabilities. The next stage is to identify the core competencies of an organisation using criteria to test whether they add value, increase market share, are difficult to imitate and together do they possess the potential to serve as competitive advantage. In doing so it is evident that an organisation may be capable of drawing up a list of several resources and capabilities but only a handful of core competencies will result in any one organisation. Whilst several organisations may have similar resources in terms of tangible resources, it is the existence of intangible and human resources and the capabilities to combine them which create opportunities to develop core competencies. Once correctly identified, it is vital that core competencies are leveraged most effectively to maximise their potential in attem pting to deliver an organisations strategy. Core competencies can be leveraged in one of several ways depending on the nature of the brief. In some rare instances all of the core competencies may be used all of the time but more often than not the combination used is context-specific. The specific nature of the task will determine whether core competencies need to be reserved, extracted, borrowed, converged, recycled, shielded, blended, balanced, focussed or co-opted. Whilst the work on core competencies carried out by Prahalad and Hamel has been cited extensively and used by organisations globally, it is worth noting that the research is almost 25 years old and the longevity of theory may be questionable. With markets becoming more complex and consumer behaviour changing rapidly perhaps not all of the existing methods of leverage may be completely relevant. References 1. Segal-Horn,S. (2009) The Strategy Reader, Oxford: Blackwell 2. Grant,R. (2008) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Oxford: Blackwell 3. Segal-Horn,S. and Boojihawan,D. (2006) B820 Unit 1 Introduction: What Is Strategy?, Milton Keynes: Open University 4. Gleadle, P. and Bakhru, A. (2007) B820 Unit 3 Competing With Capabilities, Milton Keynes: Open University 5. Crisis (2014) The national charity for single homeless people, [Online], Available: https://www.crisis.org.uk [29.08.14] 6. Prahalad, C.K. Hamel, G. (1990) ‘The core competence of the corporation, Harvard Business Review, May/June, pp.78-90