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Obesity defined

Every part of the world is reeling under the weight of particular problems. Of course there is no uniformity in the problems that particular parts of the world are suffering from. This is because the occurrence of some problems is dependent on geographic location, racial composition population etc. This definitely explains the variations in the steps taken by particular groups of people or even the legislative structures that have been put in place to curb particular problems.

However, if there is one problem that has been cross cutting all those divisions of race, age, geographical location, creed and religion etc, then it has to be obesity. Quite a large number of people may be surprised to have this as a problem. In fact many people even when they have it have been in denial. One of the most affected groups of people is the youth and especially those in colleges. This may be attributed to the free lifestyle that characterizes these institutions. While many people would look at obesity as a disease, it is important to acknowledge that it actually is a lifestyle disorder. That could explain its prevalence in the institutions.

Obesity defined

Obesity, also referred to as being overweight is the excessive or abnormal accumulation of fat in an individual thereby putting his or her health at risk. This condition is measured using BMI or Body Mass Index. BMI expresses an individual’s weight (expressed in kilograms) per his or her height squared. The height is in meters. An individual whose BMI I is equal to or more than 30, he or she would generally be considered obese. In addition, individuals whose BMI is 25 or more would be considered overweight. While obesity may not be considered quite a serious condition, it is actually on e of the key risk factors as far as several chronic diseases are concerned. These include cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Who does it affect?

Although this problem was at one time considered to be a problem affecting only the high income individuals, there has been a shift in this tendency with low as well as middle income individuals becoming victims if they could be called so. This is especially in urban setting, which explains why college students are some of the highly affected.

How widespread and for how long has it been in existence?

Initially, obesity was not considered much of a problem. After all, it was not so widespread and therefore even its being a risk factor had not been recognized as such. However, as early as 1961, fears had been raised as to the dangers of leading particular lifestyles especially on sweets, alcoholic beverages and no exercises schedules.

Currently, studies show that about 50%of all the Americans are beyond the ideal weight. In most cases, this excess weight does not come in form of muscle mass but rather body fat.

What is its cause in the college?

There are numerous reasons why obese cases in college have been on the rise in the recent times. These include the following.

Consumption of vast amounts of calories- recent times have seen an increase in the amounts of foods that individuals eat. Testament to this is the number of fast food canteens sprouting up everywhere all of which make quite a good kill. With our lives getting busier every day, making healthy meals has become a bit of a herculean task and therefore fast foods become the only alternative. They definitely happen to be quite tasty and therefore every time we have some few coins we end up going for them. Eventually, the calories intake exceeds the amounts needed by the body in the long term. The excess energy would be stored in our body cells in form of sugar and fat which outwardly comes as being overweight or obese.

Not having enough sleep- this is quite common for many college students. With all the assignments and the busy lives for those who work part time, sleep becomes more of a luxury rather than a necessity. Research has shown a link between obesity and sleep deprivation. This is due to the increased appetite that results from hormonal changes. When an individual does not have enough sleep, he or she would produce a hormone called Ghrelin which stimulates appetite. In addition, less Leptin would be produced. Leptin is a hormone known to suppress appetite.

Leading inactive lifestyles- while we all appreciate the technological advancement made in various fields, we must admit that it has changed our lifestyles in ways that are less than desirable. With remote controls, dish washers, washing machines, computers and televisions, most people even in colleges have become inactive. Simple activities like walking to the shops, classes and even home from school have become alien. Many of us would rather take a lift to a class in second floor rather than take the stairs. We definitely prefer to drive to school and the shopping malls even when they are a half a mile away rather than walk down there. The less activity the fewer the amounts of calories burnt. In addition, physical activity has a bearing in the functioning of the hormones which in themselves have a bearing on how food is dealt with in the body.

Previous efforts made to contain the problem

On acknowledging that overweight and obesity were interfering with the lives of many students, quite a large number of efforts were made to contain the problem. The most significant ones included

Counseling and raising awareness on the lifestyle changes that we need to incorporate in order to contain the problem

Equipping our health care centers with medications for helping the affected individuals to lose weight.

These two are definitely well meant efforts. However, even the well structured strategies can flop and these were no different. While it is arguable whether they were effective, the gradually rising cases of obesity prove that more efforts need to be made with better strategies being devised.

Counseling on life changes that individuals need to take would only be effective if active measures are taken to enforce these changes. In this case, the counseling and raising awareness efforts ended up like any other class work material.

As for provision of medication, you will acknowledge that the approach is quite simplistic. This would have been enough to endear it o the people. However, it was understood that some of the medications are habit forming. In addition they have undesirable side effects not to mention the high probability of regaining the weight one lost.

Suggested solutions

While there may not be any solution per se that may effectively address the problem, it is worth noting that adoption a holistic approach would be quite imperative. In my opinion, three solutions would be effective in dealing with the problem. These are explained below

Offering food combinations containing vegetables at reduced prices in order to enhance affordability- vegetables have been found to be very effective in enhancing sliming. Some like cabbages contain valuable chemicals known as tartaric acid that inhibits conversion of carbohydrates and sugars into fat. The essence of lowering the cost of foods that contain veggies is to give an incentive to the students to eat more of these and preferably substitute the fat ridden fast foods. Given the need to save an extra coin, the students will be enticed to take more veggies.

Minimize the fast food stores in the campus to discourage students from buying junk food- in most cases, the students do not get into the fast food stores because they really need to eat there. It is due to the convenience of these stores which always entices the students into buying there. By reducing their numbers in the university, it will definitely be less convenient for the students to go to the fast food stores. In any case, even if they do o there, chances are that they will have to queue for long which may discourage many from frequenting these places.

The university should regulate PE classes making it mandatory for individuals to attend them as a condition to graduating from college- one of the main causes of obesity is the sedentary lifestyles that most of us are leading whether due to pretty arguable reasons or not. That notwithstanding, physical activities have been found to be quite effective not only in helping burn calories in our bodies but also in the production of hormones that control how food is dealt with once ingested. Incorporating the PE lessons as part of the “curriculum” means that you are increasing the opportunities for them to expend the excess fat or sugars that would have accumulated in the body.

Basis of the solutions

As stated earlier, no single treatment would be sufficient to address obesity as an issue. The problem would only be addressed by comprehensive strategy that looks into the various aspects of the problem. This is especially as to the causes of the problem. This is what the three combined solutions attempts to do. It is important to acknowledge that the three solutions should be looked at as one and not in isolation. Decreasing the number of fast food stores reduces the incentive or temptation of the students to go seeking them. In case they actually do, they may end up queuing for long (which is an exercise on itself).

Even if the number of fast food store is reduced, the students will still need to eat. This is where the lowered prices of food combinations offering veggies comes in. It would fill the vacuum left by the reduced fast foods. This strategy discourages students from taking fast foods while encouraging them to take foods that combine veggies. It is a diet substitutions strategy.

There are definitely instances when the students will succeed in eating more calories than they eat. While this may not be prevented, it will be taken care of by the physical activities made mandatory where the students will burn excess fat.

As you may acknowledge, the three strategies provide a holistic solution addressing all the aspects with each solution covering the loopholes of the other solution.

Expected opposition

These solutions draw opposition in the fact that the students would still get the fast foods if they so wanted from outside sources. True as this may be, the idea here is to minimize the incentive or the temptation to go to them since they will be fewer.

As for lowering the prices of food combinations that have veggies, there are arguments that absolutely no one will be forced to take the food. However, with the reduced chances of going for fast foods and the lowered prices of foods with veggies, students being rational consumers will eventually go the Veggies’ way thereby yielding success for the program.

Making mandatory the engagement in PE may seem to be a herculean task. However, it I still enforceable when the students know that they will not graduate if they do not participate in the PE.

Conclusion

Obesity, while quite a big problem is a lifestyle disorder. Studies have shown that the most effective ways of addressing it are through lifestyle changes. In most cases, we as a people may not take that first step and therefore we need positive reinforcement (incentive) as well as have active measures taken to combat the problem.

References

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/obesity/http://hassam.hubpages.com/hub/ObesityCauses-Effects-And-Treatment – Obesity:Causes,Effects And Treatment

http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Obesity.html – Obesityhttp://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/179/main.htmlHYPERLINK “http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/prescription.htm”http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/prescription.htm

link Between Stress and Obesity

Examining how the link Between Stress and Obesity differs among Children and Adults

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Table of Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc372559993 h iii1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc372559994 h 12.0 Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc372559995 h 12.1 Area of research PAGEREF _Toc372559996 h 33.0 Research Question PAGEREF _Toc372559997 h 34.0 Significance of the research PAGEREF _Toc372559998 h 3References PAGEREF _Toc372559999 h 5

AbstractThis presents a research proposal of a study that aims at examining how the link between stress and obesity differs among children and adults. The study will be conducted on children aged between 5 and 14 years and adults aged between 25 and 60 years. The paper has four main sections. First, it presents a brief introduction to the study topic. This is followed by a detailed review of past literature that is related to the study topic. A research question and sub-questions follow the literature review. Finally, the paper explains in brief the significance of the research.

Key words: Stress, Obesity, Age, Children, Adults

1.0 IntroductionThe prevalence of obesity in most parts of the world has increased at a high rate over the last few decades. Numerous studies have suggested that stress is one of the environmental factors that lead to development of obesity (Moore & Cunningham, 2012). Most studies have shown that stress influences individuals to seek energy-dense foods or to engage in less healthier eating habits and hence, increasing the risk of developing obesity. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the relationship between stress and obesity differs among children and adults.

2.0 Literature ReviewThere are numerous studies that have explored the impact of stress on development of obesity. Some studies have found that the association between stress and obesity may differ based on gender. Almost all studies that have focused on the issue have found a stronger link between stress and obesity in women than in men. A recent study conducted by Williams et al (2013) investigated relationship between stress and obesity among adults above the age of 18 years in Australia. The study utilized a sample of 3,759 respondents with obesity and other illnesses associated with style. The researchers found perceived stress to have strong association with glucose metabolism among the respondents. Williams et al (2013) also found that the impact of glucose metabolism in men was lower than in women. Chauhan (2009) conducted a study that utilized normal and obese individuals to investigate the relationship between stress and obesity. Chauhan (2009) found the amount of stress among obese individuals to be significantly higher than in normal individuals. As well, the study revealed that the link between stress and obesity is stronger in women than in men.

Some studies have focused on the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity. Perkonigg et al (2009) conducted a longitudinal study of different studies that have explored relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity. The researches sought to determine whether the link differs based on sex. The researchers concluded that post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the significant causes of obesity. The findings of the study also showed significant difference in the association between stress and obesity in male and in female. There was stronger relationship between stress and obesity in females than in male. Pagoto et al (2012) also investigated the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity. The results supported the existence of link between post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity.

Scott et al (2012) investigated the relationship between chronic social stress and obesity by examining different reports and studies addressing the issue. The study showed similar findings to those that were derived in the studies highlighted above. Moore and Cunningham (2012) reviewed 14 studies assessing the link between social position, stress levels, eating habits and obesity. Moore and Cunningham (2012) found that individuals in higher status positions had lower stress levels, healthier eating habits and lower body weight. On the other hand, Individuals in lower status positions had higher stress levels, less healthy eating habits and higher body weight. Stronger link between stress and obesity was found in men than in women. Torres and Nowson (2007) examined the impact of stress on eating habits and influence in development of obesity. Torres and Nowson (2007) found a strong association between chronic stress and preference for energy-dense foods. The study found strong association between chronic stress and weight gain. However, unlike most other studies, Torres and Nowson (2007) found the link between chronic stress and obesity to be higher in men than in women.

Some studies have focused on relationship between stress and obesity in Children. Koch, Sepa and Ludvigsson (2008) found that psychological stress in families may be a major cause of obesity in children. A longitudinal study conducted by Harding et al (2011) showed that psychological stress in families is a major cause of obesity among children aged between 5 and 14 years.

2.1 Area of research

Generally, there are numerous studies that have found a positive link between stress and obesity. Also, there is vast literature that has examined how the relationship between stress and obesity differs based on gender. However, studies examining how the relationship between stress and obesity differs based on age are rare. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examining how the relationship between stress and obesity differs among children aged 5-14 years and adults aged between 25 and 60 years.

3.0 Research QuestionThis study will seek to answer the following main research question: Does the link between stress and obesity differ significantly among children and adults?

The paper will seek to answer the following three sub-questions:

Is there significant relationship between stress and obesity in children aged between 5 and 14 years?

Is there significant relationship between stress and obesity in Adults aged between 25 and 60 years?

Is the link between stress and obesity significantly different among children and adults?

4.0 Significance of the researchThis research will contribute significantly by augmenting the existing literature on the link between stress and obesity. The study will be useful in determining the effects of stress in families in the development of obesity in children and adults. Further, the findings of the research will augment knowledge of clinicians regarding the impact of stress in development of obesity in children and adults.

ReferencesChauhan, S. (2009). Stress and Obese: A Comparative investigation of Obese and Non-ObeseIndividuals. International Indexed & Refereed Journal, 1(49), 27

Harding, J. L. et al (2011). Psychosocial stress predicts incident obesity over 5 years: Evidence

from the longitudinal AusDiab study. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 5, 31 – 32

Koch, F., Sepa, A. & Ludvigsson, J. (2008). Psychological stress and obesity. J Pediatr, 153(6),

839 – 844.

Moore, C. J & Cunningham, S. A. (2012). Social position, psychological stress, and obesity: a

systematic review. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(4), 518

Moore, Carla J and Cunningham, Solveig A. (2012). Social position, psychological stress, and

obesity: a systematic review. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(4), 518

Pagoto, S. L, Schneider, K. L, Bodenlos JS, Appelhans, B. M, Whited, M. C, Ma, Y. & Lemon,

S. C. (2012). Association of post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity in a nationally representative sample. Obesity (silver Spring), 20(1), 200-5.

Perkonigg, A., Owashi, T., Stein, M. B., Kirschbaum, C. & Wittchen, H. (2009). Posttraumatic

Stress Disorder and Obesity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(1), 1 – 8

Scott, K. A, Melhorn, S. J, & Randall, R. (2012). Effects of Chronic Social Stress on Obesity.

Current Obesity Reports, 1(1), 16 – 25

Torres, S. J & Nowson, C. A. (2007). Relationship between stress, eating behavior, and obesity.

Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.), 23(11-12), 887 – 894

Williams, E. D., Magliano, D. J., Tapp, R. J., Oldenburg, B. F. 7 Shaw, J. E. (1013).

Psychosocial stress predicts abnormal glucose metabolism: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study. Annals of behavioral medicine: a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 46(1), 62 – 72

This report aims at analyzing sustainability in London Olympics and how the games adhered to the promise of having the most e

Executive Summary

This report aims at analyzing sustainability in London Olympics and how the games adhered to the promise of having the most environmental sustainable games ever. In order to grasp the actual picture of the games and their conditions, some of the aspects have been examined clearly ranging from the infrastructure at the Olympics to the diet that was available during the event. Several sources have been quoted including news sources to clearly explain the position and the conditions that were available and also to critically explain how the sustainable the plans were after the end of Olympics and Paralympics. The paper finds that London Olympics was one of the most successful games in terms of sustainability as it witnessed minimal pollution, as opposed to the games of the past.

Introduction

Hosting Olympics is one of the greatest things in sports that put the country and especially the host city on the spotlight. This is because of major infrastructure developments that come with hosting Olympics and also environmental, social and economic legacies that it leaves to the host city. However, Olympics is one of the most expensive projects that a country undertakes; the amount used in the preparation for the events cannot be recovered during the gaming events but instead, it is the activities that happen after the games that determine whether hosting the Olympics was worthwhile. One of the major Olympics themes is sustainability for the sporting world. In a bid to host the Olympics the host country must pledge to hold an event that promote a sustainable environment from the procurement level to the operation of the sites, this is one of the strategies to reduce pollution in the environment and which also in the long last also reduces cost.

It is for these reasons that environmental programs to improve on air quality and address the air change are held all through the Olympics. These campaigns help an economy both directly and indirectly including promoting public health and planting of trees. Strategic plans involving the use of land and real estate development are also useful in economic and environmental sustainability because any large scale development in the surrounding area will remain for a significant amount of time even after the Olympics are over. It has been established that increased awareness on environmental issues in the host countries is a powerful legacy to the Olympic Games. Countries hosting the Olympics are encouraged to maintain their environment, this include establishing energy conservation measures and establishing water storage facilities. Countries are urged to devise long term environment conservation to ensure that the conservation remains even after the end of Olympics.

Sustainability is the activities that can be sustained indefinitely. The term is appropriately used to environmental concerns as the solution to nonrenewable energy sources and non-recyclable products that pollute the environment that lead to ecological dead end.

London experienced a lot of developments during the Olympic period. The event earned a green medal from its effort to conserve the environment. The venues were one of the most sustainable places in U.K with natural ventilation and also had a design that needed very little amount of power for lighting. The roof also collected rainwater which was used in activities going on in the venues and around, reducing the water usage by more than 70%.

A lot of efforts was put make sure the event was environmental friendly both in the stadium and outside, although they did not have artificial source of power, they organized cars that were electrical powered and others with clean diesel. The organizer ensured there was good management of waste by encouraging food vendors to use decomposable material to wrap and also had coca cola collecting and recycling plastic bottles that were used during the event.

One of the major problems in Olympics 2012 was the huge amount of concrete that was required. Concrete has high impact on the environment and hence making sure it was recycled was essential. The concrete to be used had to pass a lot of trials and tests to ensure that the overall environmental impact was reduced. The construction material that was used was also scrutinized and quality of the same was assured to support environmental sustainability. This was ensured by checking that the construction material comprised at least 20 percent in value of the recycled material, 25 percent of the aggregate to be used was to be recycled, 50 per cent of the construction material was to be transported by either water or rail and also energy-efficient, low emission vehicles were used on the site.

Infrastructure Sustainability

The major sustainability plan that the London Olympics brought out was infrastructure sustainability. The athletes’ quarters that were used during Olympics had to be transformed into residential homes after the Olympics were over. This was to ensure that the buildings were not to remain idle and also they had to find occupants of the buildings in the most environmental friendly way. One method of assuring sustainability was by developing London 2012 Copper Box that was formerly known as the Handball Arena, this was made with recycled copper and had a natural, long-lasting insulation to help meet energy efficiency and at the same time offering protection for waterproofing layers.

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park used the latest green environmental friendly technology which is low in carbon concentration that was one of the major aims of the event to ensure low carbon emission and concentration. The power needed on many parts of the park was provided by the Energy Centre, who used the latest suitable technology with low tolerance to emission of carbon. Also, the park had water recycling unit to recycle the water that has been used in the park for cleaning purposes and see it used on other parts of the park.

Another infrastructure sustainability program was to create walkable neighborhoods. This was to encourage cycling and walking. Cycling and walking do not involve the use of fuel and hence the better as it will, result, too, minimal or no carbon emitted into the atmosphere. This is also encouraged by the use of public vehicles instead of private cars. This helps reduce the number of cars in the road and subsequently, there will be less carbon pollution.

Fitness of the spectators was assured and also no cars were permitted to drive into the Olympic grounds as the grounds did not have parking lots. The only means of transport were by public transport with only park and ride sites outside the city where visitors packed their vehicles and boarded the buses.

The public transport was improved to accommodate the high number of spectators that were present for the games. To ensure environmental sustainability, there was the introduction of new trains that were cleaner, safer and easy to access. There was construction of new stations both on the ground and underground with underground stations comprised of new high-speed Javelin trains which were faster.

There was also a new energy walkway leading to the Olympic park which was lit day and night by footsteps of the million spectators who walked through the walk way. This was a renewable technology which was fitted with energy-harvesting floor tiles which collected energy as people walked over them and were used to lighting the pathway for 24 hours. This was a great step in conserving the energy requirement reducing power that was to be used by 40 per cent. This was a great way of conserving the energy by tapping one of the most unlikely sources of energy that was human walking.

Lighting was one of the major challenges besides transport to be used as the venues had to be lit both day and night. The venues were designed using innovative techniques that included light pipes. This was to provide artificial lighting into the stadium as there had to be reliable sources of energy to avoid any failure in power supply. The light pipes went a long way to conserve a lot of energy that could have been used to power light bulbs in case they decided to use electricity.

Use of brown park roof was also one of the ways to ensure sustainability. This is because there was a reduction in water consumption and also encourages new habitats. This created a new habitat for the aquatic animals that stay in the water. The roof was also made of recycled and reused building materials. This was to encourage on recycling of building materials that if left unattended for would pollute the environment if were left to lie idle on the surface.

A lot of money was invested on the walking and cycling routes. Walking and cycling are healthy and causes less pollution to the environment hence there was a 75 km stretch that led to the park which had improved paths, as more people cycled to the stadium while others walked, it led to less pollution of the environment while at the same time encouraging people of healthy living that is also a key to ensuring environmental sustainability.

Food vision was also a theme that was clearly brought out. It was noted that person’s diet influenced highly the environment conservation levels of individuals. By encouraging food safety and hygiene and choice for balanced diet and presence of diverse foods ensure that there is environmental management for an effective continued production of the food

The change of diet at McDonalds in east London was one of the greatest impacts that the games had on the people’s diet. McDonalds amended their menus and sourced for the game that was a great source of media attention as they adopted more diets such as vegetables to ensure that they also played a role in environment conservation.

With all the constructions that were available for preparing for the Olympics, waste management was an issue. There was fear that the constructions travel and consumption of fast foods would lead to great amounts of waste; however, there was a big recycling campaign to recycle all the waste that was available from all sectors especially construction and consumption.

Infrastructural sustainability was also evident from the conversion of east London that was more popular for its industries to a conducive place. Although industrialization is also encouraged, pollution to the environment is by all means against the main themes of sports. East London was previously known for its use for landfill and pollution, the Olympics sports were considered to have brought a revival to it with new investors and various stakeholders expressing their desire to invest there.

Many roads and bridges were constructed to help gain easier access to the park and a major landmark on this period was a 250 meters long and 40 meters wide pedestrian bridge was the main entrance to the Olympics park. The bridge not only did it provide a means of travel by foot, but it also acted as a roof to Zaha Hadid Acquatics Centre training pool. This was a major development to save on space and also because the water that was being used in the pool was rain harvested. This saved on water requirement through water harvesting on the roof of the park which helped conserve the environment

In a bid to conserve the environment, London 2012 energy center was set up to help in providing renewable energy target. Energy to be used is reduced as it involves a three megawatt biomass boiler which is highly effective compared to other sources of energy. It includes combined cooling heat and power plant which captures waste heat and was used to power the Olympic park. It provided heating and cooling to the park. The most desirable character of power plant is that it emits very minimal levels of carbon to the atmosphere. There is a connection connecting the existing the facility to a biomass boiler in another building that has become a visitor center after completion of the games.

Solar panels with photovoltaic cells were fitted on the roof of main press center. This helped generate renewable energy that was used both inside and outside the park. Solar power has no negative impacts on the environment as it does not emit any gas to the atmosphere. The solar panels will help save around 170 tons of carbon in every year together with cells that were fitted on the adjacent building that act as post games parking.

A large wind turbine was also installed on the Olympic park to supplement the source of renewable energy. This was to ensure that carbon emission to the atmosphere is highly reduced as part of ensuring a greener London.

The energy consumption plan received support from various sectors including schools. Many schools accepted to join in the movement by adopting energy consumption cut by including efficient lighting, upgraded heating systems and boiler optimization. This was to be installed mostly on school holidays with a package of measures specifically designed to accommodate each school energy level needs. This was a major boost to sustainability as schools are evidently the major sources of pollution to the environment due to high amount of energy they produce per day.

The games were one of their kinds being the first games ever to have measured its carbon emission levels and sticking to the initial intended levels. Besides saving the environment, adopting artificial and biodegradable sources of energy saves money.

The city must establish on the use of the buildings and infrastructure after Olympics that were built during Olympics or else the country might run into huge debts after the Olympics are over and end up damaging its reputation.

Internalism Theories

Externalism vs. Internalism Theories of Knowledge

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Externalism vs. Internalism Theories of Knowledge

Introduction

The Internalism and externalism debate is at the centre of the discussion of epistemology. Internalism is the position that no fact concerning the world can provide explanations about actions independently of beliefs and desires, while externalism is the notion that reasons for actions have everything to do with objective features of the world. The main ideology about Internalism is that internal factors about a person only determine it. Externalists deny this assertion and claim that justification is dependent on other additional external factors about a person. An important aspect of this debate is what exactly counts as an internal and what counts as external. Usually, when people know a certain proposition, it is usually a basis for good reasons, evidence, personal experiences, or the basis through which the beliefs came about. Internalism is the basis of justified belief or knowledge and it occurs in three forms. The first form maintains that people have or can have some form of access to the basis of justified belief of knowledge. Here, the main ideology is that people are often aware or can be aware of the knowledge. By contrast, externalists deny that people always have some sort of access to justified beliefs and knowledge. The second form of Internalism is linked with the justified belief and extends to the knowledge as well. It is concerned not only with access, but most importantly, with what justified belief is based on. Mentality is the notion that the mental state of the epistemic agent that holds the belief is ultimately what can justify the belief. In this regard, externalism is the view that other things besides mental beliefs can function as justifiers. The third form of Internalism has to do with the concept of justification instead of the nature of and access to justifiers. In essence, the deontological concept of justification holds that epistemic justification should be analyzed in line with its ability to fulfil intellectual responsibilities of duties.

In line with the concept of epistemic justification, externalism is the thesis that epistemic justification can be assessed in other terms besides special responsibilities or duties. This essay argues why Internalism is preferred to externalism. The view that is most compelling is Internalism. This text argues this based on the attitudes of the theories of Chrisholm and Putnam. The text argues that the forgotten evidence and the common intuition in both externalism and internalism justify beliefs as untrue. Worth noting forgotten evidence should not be used to justify beliefs, although at one point, it did justify. As a result, if a believer lacks access to a justification for the belief, the belief can no longer be subjectively justified. This does not mean that the belief is not justified. However, it automatically becomes subjectively justified which without a doubt is an important section of knowledge. Additionally, this text attempts to argue that internalism justifies that forgotten evidence is wrong, however, this is a virtue of the theory and not a shortcoming. The essay also argues that because externalism allows forgotten evidence to justify a belief, it cannot be chosen to internalism.

Supporting Arguments

Internalism Justifies Personal Individual Beliefs

Internalism is the notion that justification and knowledge are gained by having good reasons for particular beliefs. Examples of processes that people use to form current beliefs are memory, perceptual beliefs, and previously formed beliefs. Noteworthy, the reason for subject S believing proposition p has nothing to do with p itself or facts about it. Instead, p or facts about p are often perceived by subject S in a certain way. For instance, subject S does not come up with the belief that garden tulips are red simply because they are red. This represents an internal factor within the requirements of knowledge. Internalists hold that knowledge needs an individual to have one true belief and good supporting evidence and reasons. In this case, the requirement of evidence or good reasons is a justification requirement within the classical theory of knowledge.

Justification Does not Need to be Known to the Receiver.

Another reason why internalism is preferred to externalism is that the latter does not assume that the believer knows about the justification. However, externalism holds that a process must exist to make the belief justified and that the believer does not have to know about it. As such, in the case of forgotten evidence, externalists answer that beliefs are justified as a result of the intrinsic merits of the source of the belief, which is external. For externalism, obtaining knowledge requires an appropriate causal connection between truth and belief. This causation is external since the requirement is that beliefs relate in an appropriate way to the truth and not because there is any conception of the causal connection. By combining these two aspects, externalists hold that a person has knowledge if they have a belief that is causally linked by a reliable process to the truth. In this regard, a reliable process yields a larger amount of truths than false beliefs from time to time. According to Goldman, beliefs are only justified if they are well-informed and deciding whether or not the belief is justified requires assessing the historical causal ancestry in an approach called Historical Reliabilism. This might be the answer to the case of forgotten evidence and without a doubt, it is consistent with externalism doctrines. Even if one forgets the original evidence of the beliefs, one still has a dependable way to develop beliefs. After all, regardless of whether it was subjectively justified or not, the belief is justified. If this is the most important aspect of externalism, whether evidence is forgotten or remembered, it still exists and connects to the truth. Even if the subject tends to forget the evidence of a belief, the process connecting truth to the belief remains reliable and is still known by the subject as reliable.

Putnam’s position in Brain in a Vat Essay

The Brain in Vat thought-experiment was commonly used to illustrate Cartesian or global skepticism. One is told to imagine the moment one’s brain is hooked to a rather complicated computer program that perfectly simulates experiences about the outside world. If one is not convinced that they are not a brain in a vat, then one cannot simply do away with the possibility that their beliefs about external worlds are untrue. In constructing a skeptical argument regarding knowledge claims, let P represent any claim or belief concerning the external world, for instance, that snow is white. If a person knows what P is, then they are not a brain in vat. And If they are not aware that they are not a brain in a vat, then they simply do not know what P is. The argument in Brain in a Vat experiment is derived from Descartes’s argument in the modern version that revolves around the possibility of evil demons that deceive us. Modern philosophers have come up with a way to refute this global skepticism, including demonstrating that the Brain scenario in a Vat is not possible. Hillary Putman first presented his argument that people cannot be brains in a Vat in his text Reason, Truth, and History (1981). The argument has since yielded a large discussion that has repercussions about the debate of realism. It has also opened up discussions to do with the philosophy of the mind and language.

Putnam’s argument is intended to attack any possibility of global skepticism applied in metaphysical realism. Putnam defines metaphysical realms as the notion that the world has mind-independent objects and that there is exists a complete and true definition of what the world is. The truth includes some correspondence in relation to the thought-signs, words and set of things. This construal asserts to metaphysical realists that the truth cannot be reduced to epistemic notions, but rather it has to do with a mind-independent reality. The self-professed metaphysical realists were not satisfied with Putnam’s definition as it saddles with the struggle of matching objects to words and provides correspondence relations between mind-independent facts and sentences. One proposal that construes metaphysical realism as the superior position is that there is no priori on epistemically derived constraints about reality. Realists state the thesis negatively, hence sidestepping the thorny problems that have to do with a ready-made world, shifting the burden of proof to the challenger to refute it. One of the virtues of the construal is that it defines metaphysical realism at sufficient levels that apply to the philosophers that currently agree with metaphysical realism. Putnam’s metaphysical realist also agrees that the reality and truth should not be subject of epistemically derived constraints. In essence, Brain in a Vat scenario simply illustrates global skepticism. It shows a situation where all the beliefs we hold about our world are presumably false despite being well justified. As such, if a person can prove that people cannot be brains in a vat through modus tollens, then one can prove metaphysical realism as false. Simply put, if metaphysical realism can be proved to be true, then it is possible to have global skepticism. And if global skepticism is achieved then, it is possible to have brains in a Vat. However, because people cannot have brains in a Vat, then metaphysical realism is untrue.

The main issue that underwrites Putnam’s argument is what he refers to as casual constraint. Causal constraint is an object that is there when an appropriate causal connection exists between the object and the term. After the casual constraint is established, Putnam proceeds to evaluate the Brain in a vat scenario. Worth noting, not appreciating the ways in which Putnam made changes to the standard skeptical nightmare led to various mistaken refutations of his argument. A mad scientist envatts the brain by inducing virtual reality using sophisticated computer programs in the standard picture. On the picture are an important difference showing the view of the brain from the first and third perspectives. Worth noting, there is the point of view outside the vat and the view of the brain in a Vat. Putnam asserts that all human beings that are sentient are brains found in s vat and that they are hooked to one another using a powerful computer that does not have a programmer; it is just how the universe works. Without a doubt, Putnam answers the question that many people could not; the assertion that people are brains in a vat.

Internalism Requires Good Reasons for Beliefs

Another reason why internalism is the better choice is that its justification states that a person must have good motives behind their true beliefs and that they should believe in those good reasons. According to the jstor article, since externalism only needs a person to have beliefs about a reliable process that connects to the truth in an appropriate manner, there is a possibility that one can be justified without knowing that they are justified. However, this also implies that internalism cannot justify forgotten evidence. The reason behind this is that once evidence is forgotten, despite one believing the proposition due to the evidence, one cannot be said to have believed in the evidence. The proposition does not apply unless there is a different evidence to back it that is connected in an appropriate way. Either way, this proposition can no longer be justified by original evidence.

Opposing Arguments

The Failure of Access Internalism

One of the main criticisms of access internalism is the notion that beliefs that are formed justifiably but the evidence is forgotten are inaccessible. Under internalism, this justification no longer holds because people are supposed to have intuition that the belief remains justified, which is an indication of failure of access internalism. In response, internalists say that if there is a vivid memory of the learned fact, the subject feels confident and does not have undermining evidence. Similarly, this belief is justified despite originally coming from a source that is not refutable. If the believer knows that they are usually conscientious, they lose their defeater because the source is bad. As such, the belief becomes more and more justified if not entirely justified. The only issue with this argument is that it fails to acknowledge the objective truth concerning the accuracy of the original text. Feldman and Conee tend to be confusing justification with epistemic virtues. The individual may be personally justified as far as they are aware. This is because forgotten evidence does not make a belief more justified. Not having defeaters and believing in propositions of bad evidence is not personally justified.

Chisholm’s view of Internalism and Externalism.

From his standpoint, Chisholm appears to support the externalist notion that the justification of knowledge depends on various factors that are external to an individual. This means that a person’s arguments cannot be justified by only looking at the internal factors about a person. Chisholm invokes the tern alternatives to externalism, opining that by itself, internalism is not a mere philosophy but rather an alternative to externalism (Putnam, 1981). Chisholm categorically states that those that believe in internalism do not express the truth. Additionally, Chisholm insists that internalists base their arguments on considerations that do not recognize the external factors affecting the justification of knowledge. The best way to illustrate Chisholm’s belief is using the example of a man that is convinced there is a sheep within his compound. In this regard, the person is convinced there is white sheep in his home compound simply because he can spot white sheep at a distance. However, in the real sense, he has seen a white dog. Despite this, the individual has no idea that there is a white sheep lying somewhere in another section of the compound. There is a white sheep somewhere in the compound, which is the perfect example of an internal justification. It is true that there could be such an animal-based on the simple evidence that there is a sheep somewhere in the compound. However, the individual only sees the dog and does not see the sheep. This means that his judgment was wrong simply because the external factors misled him into believing that he saw a sheep and not a white dog in the compound. In essence, Chisholm’s standpoint is that internalist philosophers hold that the individual has grounds to claim that he sees a white sheep in the compound based on things he sees. However, the fact remains that this is not a strong basis for the argument as the dog will eventually come closer to the man and he will realize that there was no sheep in the compound. In essence, this indicates that the internalist theory of justification is incorrect and involves considerations that are rarely externalist.

Conclusion

In closing, internalism is preferred to externalism based on the fact that it does not recognize forgotten evidence as a justification. There are various arguments that contend that forgotten evidence qualifies as a justification for the belief. However, this can only be true if looked at from an objective basis rather than a subjective basis. This is because beliefs that are held without prior access to evidence cannot be justified for the subject. Because externalism often treats justification as an objective phenomenon, the theory does not pick only what is significant for human knowledge. As such, the truth can be linked with belief and not only because the world is like that but because the subject has evidence and knows that the world is as-is. Without a doubt, compared to externalism, internalism does this better.

References

Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, truth and history (Vol. 3). Cambridge University Press.

http://www.jstor.com/stable/2025079

social media platform

Facebook is an important social media platform in the lives of many people throughout the world. It is a platform that most of us logs in to interact with people across the world and we get an opportunity to get to know what is happening in real time. The use of Facebook has increased to billions of people and the amount of information people have opted to share out there in their lives is quite alarming. Just last year, Mike Zuckerberg paws before the US Congress as he needed to explain how Facebook aided Cambridge Analytica in obtaining peoples information. Although many agree that social media has been of huge impact, many people are also of the consensus of the numerous negative impacts that Facebook has had on top of the list being as it led to people getting severe polarized in key issues including the election. According to a research article by Serena Coppolino, et. Al on Computer in Human Behavior, they clearly portray the polarization due to use of social network platforms (Perfumi, et.al, 2019).

References

A

Perfumi, S. C., Bagnoli, F., Caudek, C., & Guazzini, A. (2019). Deindividuation effects on normative and informational social influence within computer-mediated-communication. Computers in human behavior, 92, 230-237.

B

Perfumi, Serena Coppolino, et al. “Deindividuation effects on normative and informational social influence within computer-mediated-communication.” Computers in human behavior 92 (2019): 230-237.

new_enhancement

Facility design enhancement plan

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Amongst the myriad of sports venues across the world, these project choses and explores on four sport venues, as well as studies on the venue that has the most potentiality for enhancement. The ambiance in the four stadiums are unique and have immerse historical significance comprising standards that cannot be concealed. With the new wave of architects, there has been dynamic sport environments such as Maracanã Stadium, Michigan Stadium, Murumbi stadium and Ohio stadium across the world. These four stadiums chosen in this projects are among the world notable stadiums that can hold large crowds of a spectators for football. To begin with, Maracana stadium is a football stadium in Brazil with an arena and was opened in 1950 for FIFA world cup.

The construction of Maracana Stadium was immense and received worldwide recognition for the massive capacity it could hold. It can hold a capacity of 78,838 and this is immense and since the world cup is a vast international event it is an incredible site to be hold. Recently some of the Olympic games were staged in the stadium making it a monument that will forever be remembered. The renovations made to prepare for the Rio 206 Olympic was intense as it had to be standardized. The most impressive renovation was the platform or the stadium roof which was replaced with a fiber tensioned membrane. The stadium is a significant tribute in Brazil, but in the past it had security issue concerns and with the constant renovations it was appropriate to understand why it was not an effective study to follow.

Michigan stadium is the largest sports venue in Nation of United States. It officially has a capacity of 107601 but has a history of overcrowding during the major events. The stadium is immense with the design and is a stadium that holds various events such as the NHL winter classic in 2014. Its diverse accommodation makes it a facility that incorporates any event due to its advanced enabled facility that has undergone various renovations which was previously opposed by the fans, and alumni due to its cultural significance. Due to its inability to cater for the disabled the stadium received a lawsuit and this made the stadium vulnerable. The expansion plan was made but had to cater for the disabled. Michigan is a remarkable structure with a good history but because it is not open to general public for exercising, drop in photo ops and walk in tours, it has an inability to get community support.

The capacity of Murumbi stadium 67,052 and this was minimal attendance as compared to 138,032 which was recorded in 1977.The stadium is located in Sao Paulo,Brazil, and is recognized for its concerts which are mainly held in the stadium for its large capacity threshold. Its design was developed according to regulations of track and field and does not adhere to stadium requirements. Its facility was recently renovated and were a sight to behold because of the 2016 Olympics but much needs to be done about the stadium.

The facility selected for the project is a stadium that is located in Ohio State University. It is known as the Ohio State stadium or better known as the horseshoe stadium built by Harley as it is commonly referred. Its striking resemblance to a horse shoe defined its architecture thus the name and its appearance is a sight to behold as a structure that will be recognized for ages to come. The structure itself is a sight to behold with a stadium acreage of 14.5 acres and can be expanded due to its massive landscape. Its intimidating and intimate structure has been a home venue to the Ohio state buckeyes football team and Ohio state university marching band (Ammon ,2004). The venue is unique as it has become a monument to college football and with various events taking place over the years it’s an ideal structure to study. It’s the fourth largest campus facility in the nation and is a National register of historical places as added by the National Park Service. (Meisel ,2015). It has been ranked among the best top 25 college stadiums with a renovation costing about 194million US dollars.

The structure in itself resembles what seems as a long history of greats who have graced the terrain and the field, and have facilitated in its various renovation plans through donations. Stadiums are typically known for all types of games, sporting events, cultural events and what might fill a capacity greater than 40,000 people (Lussier, Kimball). The Ohio stadium is one such monument that can hold a capacity of 104,944. The facility is important in most towns as it holds a large number of individuals who are willing to stand by a team and support it whole heartedly.

In sports management there are factors that affect both the internal and external environment. In the case of internal factors, we consider Human, Resource, Organizational structure, management and financial strength.

Human Resource

The Construction or renovation of Ohio stadium requires an efficient workforce to help it become a modern facility. This factor is essential as knowledge, experience and the capability of organization workforce determine the factor of success.

Organizational structure

The constitution of stadium renovations has to be implemented and passed through hierarchies. In our Case the positive attitude of staff will only make the management task easier and through this the clientele will appreciate the success. This indicates that in order for the facility to operate at its full capacity the board of directors in charge has to be swift and individual who are able to make good decisions.

Funding

The facility enhancement will be funded mainly through the sale of hospitality suites and club seats which will cover almost 20 percent of the costs. The 20% will also be covered by naming rights, gifts, and money from additional tickets availability plus concessions and merchandise revenues and bonds. The other 60% will be funded by the Department of Athletics which is self-supporting which can be proven by last year’s transfer of more than $35to the university. The funds can also be increased to cover other costs which will depend on the amount of donations received from well-wishers and supporters of the club and the university (Singla, 2009). Recently the Ohio stadium alcohol rules were changed for after a research was done on the impact of alcohol sale at football games. The sale has been implemented in 2016 to raise $50,000 fund that will enhance further research done by Ohio State University Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse and prevention recovery. The revenue raised from the sale of alcohol this football season shall fund two new full-time positions in the Ohio State police department, at a cost of $300,000. Any remaining revenue shall go to the athletic department’s general budget.

Enhancement plan

The facility will limit the use of some facilities especially in the 2016 season where some seats will not be available in the seasonal tickets (Thornton 2013). This will not affect the individuals willing to buy per game tickets as some of the seats will be affected thus will not be for sale. The construction process will begin on one side and will not affect the facility in general as ongoing games shall be viewed as the calendar suggest thus will not limit the lay. The only difference will be the capacity that the stadium holds will not be as great as previous years due to the unavailability of some resources or facilities (Lussier, Kimball).

Some exits such as SR-315 north and South and 1-71 north and south might be inaccessible while the construction is taking place but alternative exits will be given on the ticket passes. Certain sections of the parking lot can be redesigned and used as shelter with the assistance of the state of Ohio. This will be organized through the emergency program and code set about by the stadium management in case the need arises. Certain suites will be converted into shelters while the area adjacent will also be given extra equipment’s to assist where necessary.

Time line

The design and building process will be completed in the fall which will mainly deal with the expansion of certain areas of the stadium (Thornton 2013). The implementation of the lighting, sound and Television system will be an ongoing process until the end of spring when the process will be completed. On the expansion of the seats and integration of the university suits will begin in 2018 season so as not to interfere with season. This will be completed in October 2018 so as to adhere with codes of conduct for architectural designs. The turf will be integrated as an ongoing process together with the design and building process.

External Factors include: Competition or market, technology, Climate change, Media and legal.

Market

The strength of a competition has in the past been changing drastically. In the case of Ohio Stadium, the above mentioned facilities are some of its competitors. The Michigan stadium has the largest capacity of any in the United States. It is regarded as a structure that has defined time and through its constant upgrades it is still the largest. Thus for Ohio to be regarded as a modern state facility it has to change marketing strategies, product lines and prices.

The enhancements according to (Ammon ,2004) underlined are as result from the structural significance it has observed over the years. The enhancements are as a result of improvements that will make it more acknowledge but still maintaining the traditional spirit of Ohio stadium that dates back in 1920s. According to statistics its visually the first stadium that was built on concrete as a double deck stadium.

Maintaining the solid structure is crucial and thus renovations have to be implemented to facilitate its growth over the next couple of centuries. That it is important to restore and re-coat the 94-year-old concrete on the C-deck which was an additional platform thus requires frequent restoration. The transitions spaces should be regularly being improved to accommodate entertainment plazas, sidewalks and parking lots such is the case with Ohio stadium. Ohio stadium should increase its concourses to become wider by 20% to allow for a larger area that can support an effective security check up.

Permanent lighting is essential in all the concourses to increase visibility to people who might not have a clear view of the stadium. The B-deck should upgrade its lighting system to facilitate help individuals who have seats get a clear view of the whole arena. This enhancement will be critical especially in the northeast and south east corners of the stadium (Thornton 2013). The visibility should be enough to allow such areas to see the matches or events being held in the stadium without straining and will assist in increasing the vantage point. In the past the press boxes have been reduced to increase the seating capacity of the stadium to a maximum.

It has been noted that most university suites are never full to capacity especially on matches that are regarded as low. This suite can be consolidated into one University suit and the remaining space can be used to increase about 18 luxury suites as well as few loge boxes. The remaining space can be used as a way of increasing the seating capacity of the deck to allow more people to have better seats and a better view

Technology

Technological change has been rapid and is a constant pressure enhancer in most modern day facilities. The delivery of service depends mainly on how advanced the facility has been over the last couple of years. The risk of loss of market share is affected by this external factor thus the need for change (Singla, 2009).

The board should incorporate a system that has a smaller screen underneath the larger screen to display score updates or advertisements. The feature was previously installed but as per games the advertisements should be minimal to create an environment of the game itself. It should not only be limited to the score board but television screen should be placed on the northeastern and south eastern side to create a room for participants who cannot view the field match clearly. An efficient turf surface should be put from wall to wall which should which should include panels that allow air structure, beam foundations and electrical connection boxes and air ducts to remain hidden from view of illusion of a natural turf surface.

The rise of the internet has been a shock wave and has undergone rapid and significant change. The social media has been a buzz if activity and organizational facilities are using these mediums to sell their services. The Ohio stadium Football team has been receiving recognition because of its famed social media platforms. The newspapers, Commercials and radio transition have significantly boosted its market share. This however does not have a significant impact compared to the likes of Michigan stadium.

This is good design but with revenue generation taking its toll, it would be advisable that they increase the press boxes to cater for demand of reporters. Marketing and advertising is necessary, increasing the number of press boxes increase the chances of wide area coverage and source full income (Meisel ,2015). The surround system should also be upgraded to enhance an intensify crowd enthusiasm during matches. The scoreboard should be upgraded to bring about a better dimension on the replays, graphics and animations projected as the match goes on.

Legal

Legislations are changing constantly and with stadium management regulations it is imperative to be always on the alert. Legal implications might be from lawsuits from clienteles who were not pleased from the service, fines implicated due to rowdiness of the crowd or certain laws that prohibit actions for constructions or buildings. To prevent such law suits the company has provided certain codes that should be adhered to strictly and incase of any offence the management is not liable (Singla, 2009).

The Stadium is easily accessible as the parking passes have directions guiding a guest to his/her required seat. There are traffic control officers who guide guests while entering the Ohio state area and this is efficient in preventing traffic in the streets (Meisel, 2015). The parking space is available on first come first serve basis which is appropriate in managing the north and south side of the system as no parking space will be left empty (Ammon ,2004). RV lets are booked on line and are enforced under some strict regulations that help monitor an individual who might try to occupy additional parking lots.

The stadium maintains a strict code of conduct in alcohol consumption with specific areas that sell alcohol and are not to be brought in the stadium itself. The follow guidelines of Ohio State and the Ohio State alcohol policy which limits the amount of alcohol intake and can be cut off if deemed a nuisance to other revelers. This is a general space reserved for the alcohol consuming fans and is not in any way destructing or adjacent to the seats of the stadium.

The luxury suites should be standard suites that should have a dedicated concourse and in order to improve cleanliness and odor control the restrooms should be removed and centralized to improve cleanliness.

What justification can you make to support these enhancements? Does the community need them and how do they benefit?

The enhancements will upgrade the facility into modern venue with the incorporation of technological advancements making it a monument to remember. This enhancement will protect from overcrowding as seats will be available all season long even when the prestigious games are playing. The enhancements will upgrade the facility and it will be recognized as one of the best stadiums in the nation. The Ohio stadium is a Historical place and with constant renovations it shall remain so, such enhancements help it to redefine its monumental structure. The enhancements will upgrade the stadium into a modern facility with the ability to incorporate major technological advancement. Increasing the capacity will limit overcrowding as this is the most crucial way to reduce unnecessary injuries and better coverage of the matches. The community will generally gain from such facility by advertising the Ohio state culture it’s surrounding and will act as a strategic marketing platform to generate more income for the state.

More programs will be funded and through such an expansion the Ohio state university will advance its curriculum and will increase the number of students being incorporated. (Lussier,, Kimball) Fans have also been requesting according to Ohio journals that upgrading seating options would be essential to provide a better platform for families, visitors and all individuals to have a clear vantage point as they enjoy the matches.

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Reference

Ammon, R., Et.al. (2004). Sport Facility Management: Organizing Events and Mitigating

Risks (2nd ed.). Michigan: The University of Michigan

Aswathappa, K. (2005). Human Resource and Personnel Management. USA: Tata McGraw-Hill

Education.P.675-700

Lussier, R., & Kimball, D. (n.d.). Applied Sport Management Skills 2nd Edition With Web

Study Guide (1st ed.). Human Kinetics.

Meisel, Z. (2015). The Ohio State Buckeyes Fans’ Bucket List (Vol. 1). Ohio: Triumph Books

Nelson, M. (2013). American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [4 Volumes]: A

History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO.

Thornton, P. (2013). Sports Ethics for Sports Management Professionals (1st ed.). Jones &

Bartlett.98-275

SINGLA, R. K. (2009). Business Management (1st ed.). India: India Enterprises.p.3-12

The aim of the research is to investigate the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms

FACTORS INFLUENCING SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT PRACTICES AMONG MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN CHINA

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AbstractThe aim of the research is to investigate the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China. Specifically, the research aimed to establish the factors that influence sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China; to determine the factor that has the highest impact on sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China; and to recommend ways through which to boost the implementation of sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China. Through a focus on the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, this research can shed light on what could be done to boost the implementation of sustainable procurement practices as a way of eliminating the environmental problems that plague China. The research used multiple linear regression to test the relationship between the factors that affect sustainable procurement use in Chinese manufacturing firms. Five independent variables (competitive advantage, top managerial support, supplier collaboration, customer pressure, and regulatory pressure) were simultaneously entered into the analysis. The results indicate that regulatory pressure and customer pressure have positively significant correlations in regard to implementation and use of sustainable procurement processes by manufacturing firms in China. Generally, regulatory pressure is the most positively related factor influencing the implementation of sustainable procurement practices. Other independent variables including the competitive advantage, the supplier collaboration (, and top managerial support reveal an insignificant and positive relationship with sustainable procurement practices implementation by China’s manufacturing firms. Based on the results above, it can be said that customer pressure and regulatory requirements are positively significant in ensuring the implementation of sustainable procurement practices.

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc85069296 h 21. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85069297 h 51.1 Background PAGEREF _Toc85069298 h 51.2 Rationale of the research PAGEREF _Toc85069299 h 71.3 Research aim PAGEREF _Toc85069300 h 71.4 Research objectives PAGEREF _Toc85069301 h 71.5 Scope of the research PAGEREF _Toc85069302 h 81.6 Structure of the report PAGEREF _Toc85069303 h 82.0 Literature Review Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85069304 h 92.1 Sustainable Procurement PAGEREF _Toc85069305 h 92.2 Factors Influencing Sustainable Procurement in Supply Chains PAGEREF _Toc85069306 h 92.3 Adapting to Greener Manufacturing and Procurement Practices PAGEREF _Toc85069307 h 102.4 A Shift in Manufacturing Practices PAGEREF _Toc85069308 h 112.5 Procurement Practices in Chinese Manufacturing Firms PAGEREF _Toc85069309 h 122.6 Understanding the Difference between Green and Sustainable Practices PAGEREF _Toc85069310 h 122.7 Future of Procurement for Manufacturing Companies PAGEREF _Toc85069311 h 142.8 Theoretical Framework of the Research PAGEREF _Toc85069312 h 153. Material and Methods PAGEREF _Toc85069313 h 173.1 Process Flow PAGEREF _Toc85069314 h 173.2 Research Design PAGEREF _Toc85069315 h 173.3 Questionnaire PAGEREF _Toc85069316 h 184. Data Analysis and Results PAGEREF _Toc85069317 h 194.1 Chapter Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85069318 h 194.2 Multiple Linear Regression PAGEREF _Toc85069319 h 194.3 Results Interpretation PAGEREF _Toc85069320 h 205. Discussion PAGEREF _Toc85069321 h 225.1 Discussion of Results PAGEREF _Toc85069322 h 225.2 Implications PAGEREF _Toc85069323 h 225.2.1 Manufacturing Industry in China PAGEREF _Toc85069324 h 235.2.2 Sustainable Procurement in the Global Manufacturing Firms PAGEREF _Toc85069325 h 245.2.3 Promotion of Sustainable Procurement PAGEREF _Toc85069326 h 266. Conclusion and Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc85069327 h 286.1 Summary PAGEREF _Toc85069328 h 286.1.1 Restatement of Purpose PAGEREF _Toc85069329 h 286.1.2 Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc85069330 h 286.2 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc85069331 h 296.3 Future Research PAGEREF _Toc85069332 h 30References PAGEREF _Toc85069333 h 31

1. Introduction1.1 BackgroundManufacturing firms require raw materials in order to make their end products. Therefore, they have to procure these materials from suppliers. As such, procurement is one of the most important supply chain processes for manufacturing firms. As opined by Wallace et al. (2014), effective procurement helps manufacturers manage their supplier engagement across product life cycles, better. In addition, effective procurement enables firms to become the customer of choice to suppliers. In turn, this helps the manufacturers drive innovation and introduce products to the market faster and with higher margins (Tate, 2014). Effective procurement practices have also been noted by Jin & Price (2019) as a way through which manufacturing businesses can maximize profits. This is done by balancing supplier quality, cost reduction, assurance of supply, as well as, increasingly unlocking supplier innovation. Thus, as the manufacturing environment grows more complex, the procurement function is also growing more strategic in manufacturing firms that need to find new ways through which to optimize the supply chain (Van der Valk, 2008). However, following traditional standard procurement practices alone in the current competitive manufacturing environment alone, may not lead to business success. As noted by Gounden (2016), the current trend for achieving business success is through an all-inclusive corporate responsibility idea of sustainability. In a manufacturing organization, sustainability is supported by sustainable procurement.

According to Tiwari et al. (2019), sustainable procurement is also referred to as an environment-friendly purchasing practice, which aims at reducing the sources of waste. It also promotes the reclamation of purchased materials and their recycling, without negatively affecting their performance requirement. Sustainable procurement is different from standard procurement good practices in that it seeks to verify the eco claims of suppliers and maximize consolidate orders in order to minimize unnecessary environmental impact (Tiwari et al., 2019). The concept of sustainable procurement has gain considerable consideration over the past decade in the scholarly world, owing to the call by environmentalists, especially to businesses, to engage in sustainable process as a way or preserving the natural resources that are getting depleted. As such, businesses operating in various industries are now required to play their role in minimizing their negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, the achievement of sustainability, especially in businesses operating in the manufacturing industry is only possible by ensuring that all the elements of the supply chain are sustainable (Venkatesh & Luthra, 2016). As noted by Islam et al., (2017), sustainable procurement practices are not only beneficial to the environment and the public, but also to the organizations that implement them. To the community and the environment, sustainable procurement practices help in cutting waste, lowering fuel and energy consumption, reducing carbon waste, improving health outcomes, and delivering opportunities for small businesses. To the organizations that implement sustainable procurement, the practice can earn them a sustainable reputation. This is important in a business environment characterized by sustainability-conscious consumers. Therefore, in order to realize these benefits, such firms must deal with obstacles such as the lack of coherent systems, procedures, and approaches, which hinder the successful implementation of sustainable procurement.

Owing to the exigency of sustainable practices in organizations, there has been a growth in the number of studies focusing on sustainable practices. Gounden (2016) established a difference between the factors that affect sustainable procurement within the South African private and public sectors. Wu et al. (2018) also explored the influencing factors of sustainable supply chain management in Beijing China. The researchers admitted that China has an outstanding environmental problem, which needs to be addressed through sustainability practices. Nevertheless, the researchers broadly focused on all elements of the supply chain without singling out procurement. While exploring what makes a sustainable procurement system more effective, Stock & Seliger (2016) noted that transparency, accountability, and establishment of standards are the key factors to a better and more sustainable procurement system. In a more related study, Tiwari et al. (2019) looked into the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in a Malaysian manufacturing firm. Regulatory and customer pressure were found to be the main elements that encourage sustainable procurement practices in the firm, while regulatory pressure was found to have the highest level of impact on sustainable procurement practices. While these studies underline the significance of sustainable procurement in today’s business environment, they also point to the unavailability of adequate research on the matter, especially in Chinese manufacturing firms. This is the motivation behind this research that aims at exploring the factors that influence sustainable procurement practices among Chinese manufacturing firms.

The reason for focusing on manufacturing firms is because they are one of the industries that mainly rely on procurement. Practically, no manufacturing activities can go on without the procurement of raw materials. In addition, the manufacturing industry is important and successful in China’s economy since production efficiency is extremely high. Also as noted by Li (2018), the manufacturing industry is one China’s most beneficial sectors; the country sells more manufactured goods than any other country in the world. At the same time, the manufacturing industry is a major contributor to the environmental degradation in China. This is because of the number of wastes and toxic materials released into the atmosphere during the manufacturing process. Therefore, by focusing on the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, this research can shed light on what could be done to boost the implementation of sustainable procurement practices as a way of eliminating the environmental problems that plague China. In addition, the research offers a significant contribution to the world of academia, as well as, to industries. Its findings could become the benchmark of the few empirical studies conducted in the context of Chinese manufacturing industries. In addition, researchers can use the research findings as a reference in their studies on sustainable procurement practices among Chinese manufacturing firms. Besides, the research adds value to the limited literatures in sustainable procurement practices in Chinese manufacturing firms.

1.2 Rationale of the researchThe limited number of studies on sustainable procurement practices especially in China’s manufacturing industry is one the reasons for conducting this study. As noted by Wu et al. (2018), China still has an outstanding environmental problem. Therefore, there is the need to create more awareness about sustainable procurement and its benefits as a way of boosting its implementation, especially in manufacturing firms. Besides, the awareness of the benefits of sustainable procurement to firms could be a trigger for their implementation of the practices to garner these advantages and achieve a competitive advantage over competitors.

1.3 Research aimThe aim of the research is to investigate the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China.

1.4 Research objectivesThe objectives of the research are:

To establish the factors that influence sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China

To determine the factor that has the highest impact on sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China

To recommend ways through which to boost the implementation of sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China

1.5 Scope of the researchThe research only focuses on procurement practices, which are an element of the supply chain process. Therefore, other supply chain practices are not considered in the research scope. In addition, the research focuses on domestic manufacturing firms in China alone. Thus, other manufacturing firms, including the foreign-owned ones, are not considered. This is because the goal is to shed light on the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in Chinese-owned manufacturing firms.

1.6 Structure of the reportThis report is structured in five chapters, as follows: the first part of the study introduces the topic. It discusses the general problem, introduces the research topic, provides the relevance of the topic, explains the objectives and sub-objectives, defines the tasks related to the objectives, and provides the research questions. The second chapter provides a technical review of literature relating to the topic and issues surrounding the same. The third chapter focuses on materials and methods used to collect data. The next chapter focuses on results and discussion of findings, including a proper analysis of the selected topic, independent and analytical presentation of results. Finally, the report closes with conclusions and recommendations and provides direction for future research.

2. Review of the literature

2.0 Literature Review IntroductionIn this section, topic-related references are processed and analysed. The section focuses on what extant literature says about the topic, including but not limited to current issues relating to sustainable procurement for Chinese manufacturing firms.

2.1 Sustainable Procurement

According to the United Kingdom government-commissioned Sustainable Procurement Taskforce, sustainable procurement is the act whereby organizations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organization, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimizing damage to the environment (DEFRA, 2006). This definition shows the great depth to which sustainability takes in the interaction of acquisition process of industries’ raw materials, the manufacturing process, the community, the economy in the area and the environment. From the description above, manufacturing process involves a interdependence process capable of causing effects to every part of the system. The procurement process is in direct interaction with the community and the economy of the country involved. All these aspects are then directly connected to the manufacturing industry which interacts directly with the environment. Dubey and Bag (2018) discuss the paradigm shift of policies towards green economy is forcing the companies to consider the green initiatives seriously. There is a need for the companies especially manufacturing companies to take a proactive approach rather than reactive approach in this aspect. In their research Dubey and Bag (2018) reveal the beneficial expectation for the general shift of the manufacturing industries to the green sources of power and other resources. They go far to analyse the possible outcomes, when this is not considered and the effect it would have to the environment. Among the beneficial points attained on green sources of power is attaining of a more sustaining manufacturing model within the industry. The benefits of a sustaining model of manufacturing is prevalent in the future support of the industry growth where the resources are used with necessity satisfaction rather than surplus wastage.

2.2 Factors Influencing Sustainable Procurement in Supply ChainsOverall, the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in the world of manufacturing include supplier collaboration, pressure from customers, government-led regulations, competitive advantage, and top managerial involvement and support. Wu et al. (2018) reveal in their investigation paper the current situation of the manufacturing industry and the effects it has caused to the surrounding environment. They further explain that the problematic results from operation of the China’s manufacturing industry is a cause of the implementation of the traditional social and economic development mode which lacked the essence and need of including sustainability in their structure. This explanation refers the neglect nature of many manufacturing industries to the environment. The research goes further to unearth the lack of empirical data to understand the factors that influences the sustainable supply chain in China. From the few sources available however, a structural equation model was used to analyse the questionnaire data of 167 enterprises in Beijing, China. The results show that internal management cognition and government participation has a direct effect on the sustainable supply chain management practice, and internal management cognition has a strong positive influence too (Wu et al., 2018). Involvement of government in terms of policy regulation leads as the most positive and effective way in ensuring all the parties involved are adhering to the set standards and core values in the dynamic relationships between the industries, the economy and the community in general. Basically, this relationship is the unit operation of sustainable structure where one entity is conscious of all the other factors in the system.

2.3 Adapting to Greener Manufacturing and Procurement PracticesWith existing research studies showing the urge of adapting to the green methods of public procurement, Liu et al. (2019) run an investigation of the Chinese local government on this matter using the life-cycle model to develop a comparative research framework on the local government and the green public procurement program. After data processing, the results show that, for local governments at green public procurement introduction stage, their adoption of green public procurement is positively associated with officials’ full awareness of green public procurement regulations and official documents, officials’ full awareness of green public procurement guidelines and procurement lists, and wide coverage of green public procurement subsidy policy (Liu et al., 2019). Therefore, from the investigation we can deduce that the lack of knowledge and proper understanding of the green public procurement, the officials and leaders lack the ability to effectively implement the strategy which is hazardous to the environment. To lead a successful implementation of the green public procurement strategy, according to the investigation, requires a deep and wide knowledge and understanding of the strategy in order to take the necessary steps in order for a well-directed and effective transfer to the green public procurement. From Liu et al. (2019) perspective, for local governments at green public procurement growth stage, improving green public procurement performance is positively associated with officials’ full awareness of guidelines and lists, and wide coverage of green public procurement subsidy policy, while it is negatively associated with low administrative level. The argument of the researchers in this paper insists on the strong determinant, that is profound knowledge on the topic, in ensuring green developments strategies are understood from the root of their importance and adopted effectively into the prevailing manufacturing systems and resource acquisition procedures.

Inspired by the work of Brammer and Walker (2011), Delmonico et al. (2018) carried out a research meant to reveal a number of barriers that stand in the way of implementation of the sustainability procurement. This research activity applies the theory of ecological modernisation to test the hypothesis and unravel the barriers working against effective application of the sustainable procurement methods. According to Brammer and Walker (2011), from the results obtained after the survey of programme managers, the researchers categorized all the results obtained into five distinctive categories which represented the five barriers realized in survey. These five barriers includes; organisational culture, motivation, economic uncertainty, market, and operations. Considering the results obtained, that is, the five barriers of sustainable procurement, organisational culture comes out as the most prevalent barrier to sustainable public procurement. A study by Brammer and Walker (2011) shows the depth of organisational culture in working against the basic adoption and implementation of the sustainable public procurement strategies. This behaviour from the organisational culture is promoted by the tendency of the organisation employees becoming reluctant in accepting and implementing a new method of performing duties and activities. Instead, they appear deeply rooted to their earlier methods and refrain from adapting any other method in their operation. The survey reveals cost and budget variables to be least factors influencing the implementation of sustainable public procurement initiatives, rather the survey focuses on the cultural change management as the main recommendation to give an effective development of the sustainability management initiatives.

2.4 A Shift in Manufacturing PracticesA survey carried out among a sample of one hundred and fifty industrial senior administrative officials carried out by Bag, Gupta, and Foropon (2019) showed the role of dynamic remanufacturing capability on supply chain resilience in circular economy. A circular economy in general represents a self-sustaining economy in which the natural resources are reused and recycled within the system ensuring very little is lost as waste. The paper presented, aimed to bring out the effect of sustainable manufacturing methods in influencing the supply chain resilience. This survey was carried out under the moderating effect of control orientation and flexible orientation to help arrive to a more reasonable result. The paper reveals the situation of resources in the current world, whereby Bag et al, (2019), argue an increased pressure on the world’s available resources and due to the strain in resource acquisition firms are adapting to the application of remanufacturing principles and other sustainable manufacturing processes. The survey paper goes further to present the findings and results from the survey. From the results obtained the researchers presented three factors that positively influenced the dynamic remanufacturing capabilities which included the market factors, technical factors and the management factors. Market factors were seen to strongly affect the dynamic remanufacturing capability whereas both technical and management factors seemed to weakly influence the capability of dynamic remanufacturing.

2.5 Procurement Practices in Chinese Manufacturing FirmsLi et al. (2019) presents an investigation paper that uses China-based industries to create and test a theoretical model to determine the driving factors of the green development behaviour and performance in the industrial enterprises. By using the industrial enterprises of China as the research object, Li et al. (2019) conduct investigative interviews on 52 employees in the industrial enterprises for further information gathering. With the information collected from the interviews the researchers build the theoretical models by use of the grounded theory method. By including a total of forty initial concepts, ten initial categories, four main categories and three core categories in the model the researchers were able three major conclusions. These three outcomes draw the importance of the theoretical model in integrating the theoretical concepts with the realist experiences to draw a well-structured illustration of the reality that is bound by realistic principles denoted by the model in lower scale. The conclusions made in the paper included; the existence of green development in an industrial enterprise as observed behaviour expressions, such as clean production behaviour and green supply chain management practice, Li et al, (2019). The second conclusion indicated the existence of green development in an industrial enterprise led to the occurrence of green development behaviour and the third outcome showed that the occurrence of industrial enterprise green development behaviour has led to the consequence of green development of industrial enterprises.

2.6 Understanding the Difference between Green and Sustainable PracticesPrevious research activities have been developed to clarify the complexity relationship between green supply chain management (GSCM) and supply chain quality integration (SCQI). Yubing et al, (2019) describes an investigation model, in their research paper, set to investigate and reveal the relationship between the GSCM and SCQI and their effect on green purchasing and customer green cooperation. The researchers rely on empirical testing of the model using data obtained from a sample of 308 manufacturing companies in China. The results obtained reveals, a positive effect on the supplier and customer quality integration and green purchasing and customer green cooperation. Yubing et al, (2019) results goes further to reveal the effect of general environmental improvement in performance as a long-fetch result of supplier and customer quality integration. Yu, (2017) explains with an example, that a good customer relationship with the manufacturer and general closeness of the customer and manufacturer helps the manufacturer realize and better understand the requirements and preferences of the customer on green management. This knowledge is useful for the manufacturer to design better green purchasing processes.

Considering a research carried out earlier in an idealistic move to reveal the factors affecting the implementation of sustainability in procurement. Tiwari et al. (2019) used questionnaire approach in data acquisition from 170 manufacturing industries. The data obtained was analysed using the SPSS platform for sorting and interpretation. The findings portrayed the tendency of the manufacturing industries to follow the sustainable route of organizational operation and acquisition processes. Tiwari et al. (2019) explained the results from their research concluding a general tendency of the manufacturing industries in the area to lack awareness of the green development strategies. Tiwari et al. (2019) pointed out that the unsupervised expectations of the industrial manager to keep strategies and responsibilities, to ensure sustainability in their operations was absent. A lack of motivator mediation presence was met by cold repellent behaviour regarding environmental protection. Tiwari et al. (2019) goes further to explain the ineffectiveness of internal factors of the manufacturing industries. The research work shows the assumption of low profits when sustainability is incorporated into the industries management by the industrial managers. However, for effectiveness in ensuring the manufacturing units adhere to the set rules Tiwari et al. (2019) suggest the incorporation of motivators such as; regulatory pressure and general customer pressure towards the industries. Regulatory pressure however, came out as the most effective of enforcing the sustainability role to all the industry management. The report is concluded by the statement of urge and emphasis to all the relevant personnel, to assume the role of green development within their institutions without the need of motivators since the effect to the environment is felt by us.

2.7 Future of Procurement for Manufacturing Companies

Carvalho et al. (2018) describe a conceptual industrial systemic change during the 4th industrial revolution within Europe as one of the systems that in itself, had the best setting and systemic flow to act in the green development within manufacturing industries. Carvalho et al, (2018), in their research work, explains the basic makeup of the industrial system in the 4th era of industrial change and its integration with advanced technology for proper approximations and measurement reducing waste. The main idea presented in this paper is the formation of an industrial system such that it increases the efficiency of operation in the way that minimizes pollution and waste of resources.

Carvalho et al, (2018), argues that the traditional methods of manufacturing brought about an unsustainable model of production mainly caused by the overall disregard for the environmental issues rather, focus on maximizing profits. Carvalho et al, (2018), paper describes the industrial 4.0 in relation to the sustainability by incorporation of scientific work that supports the sustainability of the system involved. The researcher’s lists a number of advantages of the system of industrial 4.0. Among the advantages presented in this paper, includes the improvement of product life cycle and the integration of the manufacturing process with scientific cyber-physical strategies such as decentralization, virtualization and interoperability. These methods, according to Carvalho et al, (2018), argument, gave the manufacturing process more adaptability to natural resources availability and the extent of environmental cost.

The industrial 4.0 system also incorporates an advanced communication strategy that smooths the lines of communication within the industry and the external factors influencing the industry including the customers, other manufacturers, companies, suppliers and the logistic service providers. The paper is concluded with the benefits that are attached to this system. Carvalho et al, (2018), explains how the system of industry 4.0 uses smaller batches of resources it requires and utilizes its efficiency to ensure the small batch used produces more accurate response to the demand curve of the industry cutting down the production waste. This design is highly dependent of the scientific principles that are incorporated in the idea for efficiency. Interoperability of the machine describes the tendency of a machine used to be able to work long hours and longer life time of service. This principle prevents multiple changes of machinery due to breakdown leading to internal waste, Carvalho et al, (2018). Decentralization ensures promotes time management with ability of decentralized decision making without the need of longer communication to foreign areas on local issues. Virtualization helps in proper tracking of the production process with the aim of avoiding waste that may accrue in the process of lowly monitored system. Real-time capabilities enables the system of the industrial 4.0 model enables faster reaction to a real time hiccup noted in the system. Modularity enables flexibility in the system due to the ability to add components in the system or remove components without distraction. Finally, the principle of service orientation according to Carvalho et al, (2018), enables re-usage and recycling advantages in the system.

2.8 Theoretical Framework of the ResearchBy employing previous studies relating to sustainable procurement practices in manufacturing, the theoretical framework for this study was developed. The aim of the theoretical framework is to create a wholesome view on external as well as internal factors influencing the implementation of sustainable procurement practices for Chinese manufacturing firms. The following hypotheses are proposed on the basis of the theoretical framework:

H1. Supplier collaboration has a significant and positive relationship with implementation of sustainable procurement practice.

H2. Cus

Manufacturing firms require raw materials in order to make their end products

FACTORS INFLUENCING SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT PRACTICES AMONG MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN CHINA

Student’s name

Course and Code

Instructor’s Name

Submission Date

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u 1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85457947 h 41.1 Background PAGEREF _Toc85457948 h 41.2 Rationale of the research PAGEREF _Toc85457949 h 71.3 Research aim PAGEREF _Toc85457950 h 71.4 Research objectives PAGEREF _Toc85457951 h 71.5 Scope of the research PAGEREF _Toc85457952 h 81.6 Structure of the report PAGEREF _Toc85457953 h 82.0 Literature Review Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85457954 h 92.1 Sustainable Procurement PAGEREF _Toc85457955 h 92.2 Factors Influencing Sustainable Procurement in Supply Chains PAGEREF _Toc85457956 h 102.3 Adapting to Greener Manufacturing and Procurement Practices PAGEREF _Toc85457957 h 112.4 A Shift in Manufacturing Practices PAGEREF _Toc85457958 h 122.5 Procurement Practices in Chinese Manufacturing Firms PAGEREF _Toc85457959 h 132.6 Understanding the Difference between Green and Sustainable Practices PAGEREF _Toc85457960 h 142.7 Future of Procurement for Manufacturing Companies PAGEREF _Toc85457961 h 152.8 Theoretical Framework of the Research PAGEREF _Toc85457962 h 173. Material and Methods PAGEREF _Toc85457963 h 193.1 Process Flow PAGEREF _Toc85457964 h 193.2 Research Design PAGEREF _Toc85457965 h 203.3 Questionnaire PAGEREF _Toc85457966 h 204. Data Analysis and Results PAGEREF _Toc85457967 h 224.1 Chapter Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85457968 h 224.2 Multiple Linear Regression PAGEREF _Toc85457969 h 224.3 Results Interpretation PAGEREF _Toc85457970 h 245. Discussion PAGEREF _Toc85457971 h 265.1 Discussion of Results PAGEREF _Toc85457972 h 265.2 Implications PAGEREF _Toc85457973 h 265.2.1 Manufacturing Industry in China PAGEREF _Toc85457974 h 275.2.2 Sustainable Procurement in the Global Manufacturing Firms PAGEREF _Toc85457975 h 295.2.3 Promotion of Sustainable Procurement PAGEREF _Toc85457976 h 316. Conclusion and Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc85457977 h 346.1 Chapter Introduction PAGEREF _Toc85457978 h 346.1.1 Restatement of Purpose PAGEREF _Toc85457979 h 346.1.2 Summary PAGEREF _Toc85457980 h 346.2 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc85457981 h 356.3 Future Research PAGEREF _Toc85457982 h 36References PAGEREF _Toc85457983 h 37

1. Introduction1.1 BackgroundManufacturing firms require raw materials in order to make their end products. Therefore, they have to procure these materials from suppliers. As such, procurement is one of the most important supply chain processes for manufacturing firms. As opined by Wallace et al. (2014), effective procurement helps manufacturers manage their supplier engagement across product life cycles, better. In addition, effective procurement enables firms to become the customer of choice to suppliers. In turn, this helps the manufacturers drive innovation and introduce products to the market faster and with higher margins (Tate, 2014). Effective procurement practices have also been noted by Jin & Price (2019) as a way through which manufacturing businesses can maximize profits. This is done by balancing supplier quality, cost reduction, assurance of supply, as well as, increasingly unlocking supplier innovation. Thus, as the manufacturing environment grows more complex, the procurement function is also growing more strategic in manufacturing firms that need to find new ways through which to optimize the supply chain (Van der Valk, 2008). However, following traditional standard procurement practices alone in the current competitive manufacturing environment alone, may not lead to business success. As noted by Gounden (2016), the current trend for achieving business success is through an all-inclusive corporate responsibility idea of sustainability. In a manufacturing organization, sustainability is supported by sustainable procurement.

According to Tiwari et al. (2019), sustainable procurement is also referred to as an environment-friendly purchasing practice, which aims at reducing the sources of waste. It also promotes the reclamation of purchased materials and their recycling, without negatively affecting their performance requirement. Sustainable procurement is different from standard procurement good practices in that it seeks to verify the eco claims of suppliers and maximize consolidate orders in order to minimize unnecessary environmental impact (Tiwari et al., 2019). The concept of sustainable procurement has gain considerable consideration over the past decade in the scholarly world, owing to the call by environmentalists, especially to businesses, to engage in sustainable process as a way or preserving the natural resources that are getting depleted. As such, businesses operating in various industries are now required to play their role in minimizing their negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, the achievement of sustainability, especially in businesses operating in the manufacturing industry is only possible by ensuring that all the elements of the supply chain are sustainable (Venkatesh & Luthra, 2016). As noted by Islam et al., (2017), sustainable procurement practices are not only beneficial to the environment and the public, but also to the organizations that implement them. To the community and the environment, sustainable procurement practices help in cutting waste, lowering fuel and energy consumption, reducing carbon waste, improving health outcomes, and delivering opportunities for small businesses. To the organizations that implement sustainable procurement, the practice can earn them a sustainable reputation. This is important in a business environment characterized by sustainability-conscious consumers. Therefore, in order to realize these benefits, such firms must deal with obstacles such as the lack of coherent systems, procedures, and approaches, which hinder the successful implementation of sustainable procurement.

Owing to the exigency of sustainable practices in organizations, there has been a growth in the number of studies focusing on sustainable practices. Gounden (2016) established a difference between the factors that affect sustainable procurement within the South African private and public sectors. Wu et al. (2018) also explored the influencing factors of sustainable supply chain management in Beijing China. The researchers admitted that China has an outstanding environmental problem, which needs to be addressed through sustainability practices. Nevertheless, the researchers broadly focused on all elements of the supply chain without singling out procurement. While exploring what makes a sustainable procurement system more effective, Stock & Seliger (2016) noted that transparency, accountability, and establishment of standards are the key factors to a better and more sustainable procurement system. In a more related study, Tiwari et al. (2019) looked into the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in a Malaysian manufacturing firm. Regulatory and customer pressure were found to be the main elements that encourage sustainable procurement practices in the firm, while regulatory pressure was found to have the highest level of impact on sustainable procurement practices. While these studies underline the significance of sustainable procurement in today’s business environment, they also point to the unavailability of adequate research on the matter, especially in Chinese manufacturing firms. This is the motivation behind this research that aims at exploring the factors that influence sustainable procurement practices among Chinese manufacturing firms.

The reason for focusing on manufacturing firms is because they are one of the industries that mainly rely on procurement. Practically, no manufacturing activities can go on without the procurement of raw materials. In addition, the manufacturing industry is important and successful in China’s economy since production efficiency is extremely high. Also as noted by Li (2018), the manufacturing industry is one China’s most beneficial sectors; the country sells more manufactured goods than any other country in the world. At the same time, the manufacturing industry is a major contributor to the environmental degradation in China. This is because of the number of wastes and toxic materials released into the atmosphere during the manufacturing process. Therefore, by focusing on the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, this research can shed light on what could be done to boost the implementation of sustainable procurement practices as a way of eliminating the environmental problems that plague China. In addition, the research offers a significant contribution to the world of academia, as well as, to industries. Its findings could become the benchmark of the few empirical studies conducted in the context of Chinese manufacturing industries. In addition, researchers can use the research findings as a reference in their studies on sustainable procurement practices among Chinese manufacturing firms. Besides, the research adds value to the limited literatures in sustainable procurement practices in Chinese manufacturing firms.

1.2 Rationale of the researchThe limited number of studies on sustainable procurement practices especially in China’s manufacturing industry is one the reasons for conducting this study. As noted by Wu et al. (2018), China still has an outstanding environmental problem. Therefore, there is the need to create more awareness about sustainable procurement and its benefits as a way of boosting its implementation, especially in manufacturing firms. Besides, the awareness of the benefits of sustainable procurement to firms could be a trigger for their implementation of the practices to garner these advantages and achieve a competitive advantage over competitors.

1.3 Research aimThe aim of the research is to investigate the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China.

1.4 Research objectivesThe objectives of the research are:

To establish the factors that influence sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China

To determine the factor that has the highest impact on sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China

To recommend ways through which to boost the implementation of sustainable procurement practices among manufacturing firms in China

1.5 Scope of the researchThe research only focuses on procurement practices, which are an element of the supply chain process. Therefore, other supply chain practices are not considered in the research scope. In addition, the research focuses on domestic manufacturing firms in China alone. Thus, other manufacturing firms, including the foreign-owned ones, are not considered. This is because the goal is to shed light on the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in Chinese-owned manufacturing firms.

1.6 Structure of the Thesis

This thesis is structured in five chapters, as follows: the first part of the study introduces the topic. It discusses the general problem, introduces the research topic, provides the relevance of the topic, explains the objectives and sub-objectives, defines the tasks related to the objectives, and provides the research questions. The second chapter provides a technical review of literature relating to the topic and issues surrounding the same. The third chapter focuses on materials and methods used to collect data. The next chapter focuses on results and discussion of findings, including a proper analysis of the selected topic, independent and analytical presentation of results. Finally, the report closes with conclusions and recommendations and provides direction for future research.

2. Review of the literature

2.0 Literature Review IntroductionIn this section, topic-related references are processed and analysed. The section focuses on what extant literature says about the topic, including but not limited to current issues relating to sustainable procurement for Chinese manufacturing firms.

2.1 Sustainable Procurement

According to the United Kingdom government-commissioned Sustainable Procurement Taskforce, sustainable procurement is the act whereby organizations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organization, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimizing damage to the environment (DEFRA, 2006). This definition shows the great depth to which sustainability takes in the interaction of acquisition process of industries’ raw materials, the manufacturing process, the community, the economy in the area and the environment. From the description above, manufacturing process involves a interdependence process capable of causing effects to every part of the system. The procurement process is in direct interaction with the community and the economy of the country involved. All these aspects are then directly connected to the manufacturing industry which interacts directly with the environment. Dubey and Bag (2018) discuss the paradigm shift of policies towards green economy is forcing the companies to consider the green initiatives seriously. There is a need for the companies especially manufacturing companies to take a proactive approach rather than reactive approach in this aspect. In their research Dubey and Bag (2018) reveal the beneficial expectation for the general shift of the manufacturing industries to the green sources of power and other resources. They go far to analyse the possible outcomes, when this is not considered and the effect it would have to the environment. Among the beneficial points attained on green sources of power is attaining of a more sustaining manufacturing model within the industry. The benefits of a sustaining model of manufacturing is prevalent in the future support of the industry growth where the resources are used with necessity satisfaction rather than surplus wastage.

2.2 Factors Influencing Sustainable Procurement in Supply ChainsStudies by Lee (2008), Meehan and Bryde (2015), and Sajjad, Eweje, & Tappin (2015) introduced the factors influencing sustainable procurement practices in the world of manufacturing to include supplier collaboration, pressure from customers, government-led regulations, competitive advantage, and top managerial involvement and support. Wu et al. (2018) reveal in their investigation paper the current situation of the manufacturing industry and the effects it has caused to the surrounding environment. They further explain that the problematic results from operation of the China’s manufacturing industry is a cause of the implementation of the traditional social and economic development mode which lacked the essence and need of including sustainability in their structure. This explanation refers the neglect nature of many manufacturing industries to the environment. The research goes further to unearth the lack of empirical data to understand the factors that influences the sustainable supply chain in China. From the few sources available however, a structural equation model was used to analyse the questionnaire data of 167 enterprises in Beijing, China. The results show that internal management cognition and government participation has a direct effect on the sustainable supply chain management practice, and internal management cognition has a strong positive influence too (Wu et al., 2018). Involvement of government in terms of policy regulation leads as the most positive and effective way in ensuring all the parties involved are adhering to the set standards and core values in the dynamic relationships between the industries, the economy and the community in general. Basically, this relationship is the unit operation of sustainable structure where one entity is conscious of all the other factors in the system.

2.3 Adapting to Greener Manufacturing and Procurement PracticesWith existing research studies showing the urge of adapting to the green methods of public procurement, Liu et al. (2019) run an investigation of the Chinese local government on this matter using the life-cycle model to develop a comparative research framework on the local government and the green public procurement program. After data processing, the results show that, for local governments at green public procurement introduction stage, their adoption of green public procurement is positively associated with officials’ full awareness of green public procurement regulations and official documents, officials’ full awareness of green public procurement guidelines and procurement lists, and wide coverage of green public procurement subsidy policy (Liu et al., 2019). Therefore, from the investigation we can deduce that the lack of knowledge and proper understanding of the green public procurement, the officials and leaders lack the ability to effectively implement the strategy which is hazardous to the environment. To lead a successful implementation of the green public procurement strategy, according to the investigation, requires a deep and wide knowledge and understanding of the strategy in order to take the necessary steps in order for a well-directed and effective transfer to the green public procurement. From Liu et al. (2019) perspective, for local governments at green public procurement growth stage, improving green public procurement performance is positively associated with officials’ full awareness of guidelines and lists, and wide coverage of green public procurement subsidy policy, while it is negatively associated with low administrative level. The argument of the researchers in this paper insists on the strong determinant, that is profound knowledge on the topic, in ensuring green developments strategies are understood from the root of their importance and adopted effectively into the prevailing manufacturing systems and resource acquisition procedures.

Inspired by the work of Brammer and Walker (2011), Delmonico et al. (2018) carried out a research meant to reveal a number of barriers that stand in the way of implementation of the sustainability procurement. This research activity applies the theory of ecological modernisation to test the hypothesis and unravel the barriers working against effective application of the sustainable procurement methods. According to Brammer and Walker (2011), from the results obtained after the survey of programme managers, the researchers categorized all the results obtained into five distinctive categories which represented the five barriers realized in survey. These five barriers include; organisational culture, motivation, economic uncertainty, market, and operations. Considering the results obtained, that is, the five barriers of sustainable procurement, organisational culture comes out as the most prevalent barrier to sustainable public procurement. A study by Brammer and Walker (2011) shows the depth of organisational culture in working against the basic adoption and implementation of the sustainable public procurement strategies. This behaviour from the organisational culture is promoted by the tendency of the organisation employees becoming reluctant in accepting and implementing a new method of performing duties and activities. Instead, they appear deeply rooted to their earlier methods and refrain from adapting any other method in their operation. The survey reveals cost and budget variables to be least factors influencing the implementation of sustainable public procurement initiatives, rather the survey focuses on the cultural change management as the main recommendation to give an effective development of the sustainability management initiatives.

2.4 A Shift in Manufacturing PracticesA survey carried out among a sample of one hundred and fifty industrial senior administrative officials carried out by Bag, Gupta, and Foropon (2019) showed the role of dynamic remanufacturing capability on supply chain resilience in circular economy. A circular economy in general represents a self-sustaining economy in which the natural resources are reused and recycled within the system ensuring very little is lost as waste. The paper presented, aimed to bring out the effect of sustainable manufacturing methods in influencing the supply chain resilience. This survey was carried out under the moderating effect of control orientation and flexible orientation to help arrive to a more reasonable result. The paper reveals the situation of resources in the current world, whereby Bag et al, (2019), argue an increased pressure on the world’s available resources and due to the strain in resource acquisition firms are adapting to the application of remanufacturing principles and other sustainable manufacturing processes. The survey paper goes further to present the findings and results from the survey. From the results obtained the researchers presented three factors that positively influenced the dynamic remanufacturing capabilities which included the market factors, technical factors and the management factors. Market factors were seen to strongly affect the dynamic remanufacturing capability whereas both technical and management factors seemed to weakly influence the capability of dynamic remanufacturing.

2.5 Procurement Practices in Chinese Manufacturing FirmsLi et al. (2019) presents an investigation paper that uses China-based industries to create and test a theoretical model to determine the driving factors of the green development behaviour and performance in the industrial enterprises. By using the industrial enterprises of China as the research object, Li et al. (2019) conduct investigative interviews on 52 employees in the industrial enterprises for further information gathering. With the information collected from the interviews the researchers build the theoretical models by use of the grounded theory method. By including a total of forty initial concepts, ten initial categories, four main categories and three core categories in the model the researchers were able three major conclusions. These three outcomes draw the importance of the theoretical model in integrating the theoretical concepts with the realist experiences to draw a well-structured illustration of the reality that is bound by realistic principles denoted by the model in lower scale. The conclusions made in the paper included; the existence of green development in an industrial enterprise as observed behaviour expressions, such as clean production behaviour and green supply chain management practice, Li et al, (2019). The second conclusion indicated the existence of green development in an industrial enterprise led to the occurrence of green development behaviour and the third outcome showed that the occurrence of industrial enterprise green development behaviour has led to the consequence of green development of industrial enterprises.

2.6 Understanding the Difference between Green and Sustainable PracticesPrevious research activities have been developed to clarify the complexity relationship between green supply chain management (GSCM) and supply chain quality integration (SCQI). Yubing et al. (2019) describes an investigation model, in their research paper, set to investigate and reveal the relationship between the GSCM and SCQI and their effect on green purchasing and customer green cooperation. The researchers rely on empirical testing of the model using data obtained from a sample of 308 manufacturing companies in China. The results obtained reveals, a positive effect on the supplier and customer quality integration and green purchasing and customer green cooperation. Yubing et al. (2019) results go further to reveal the effect of general environmental improvement in performance as a long-fetch result of supplier and customer quality integration. Yu (2017) explains with an example, that a good customer relationship with the manufacturer and general closeness of the customer and manufacturer helps the manufacturer realize and better understand the requirements and preferences of the customer on green management. This knowledge is useful for the manufacturer to design better green purchasing processes.

From the research, sustainable and green practices all point to preserving of the natural resources and environmental awareness. Green strictly deals with the health of the environment. On the other hand, sustainability is somewhat all-rounded to include economic vitality, social benefits, and the health of the environment. Therefore, as used today, going green would mean every aspect of creating or pursuing environmental-friendly practices. Sustainability in the procurement scene would refer to the practice of ensuring that resources should not be depleted for the benefit of the environment and for future generations.

Considering research carried out earlier in an idealistic move to reveal the factors affecting the implementation of sustainability in procurement. Tiwari et al. (2019) used questionnaire approach in data acquisition from 170 manufacturing industries. The data obtained was analysed using the SPSS platform for sorting and interpretation. The findings portrayed the tendency of the manufacturing industries to follow the sustainable route of organizational operation and acquisition processes. Tiwari et al. (2019) explained the results from their research concluding a general tendency of the manufacturing industries in the area to lack awareness of the green development strategies. Tiwari et al. (2019) pointed out that the unsupervised expectations of the industrial manager to keep strategies and responsibilities, to ensure sustainability in their operations was absent. A lack of motivator mediation presence was met by cold repellent behaviour regarding environmental protection. Tiwari et al. (2019) goes further to explain the ineffectiveness of internal factors of the manufacturing industries. The research work shows the assumption of low profits when sustainability is incorporated into the industries management by the industrial managers. However, for effectiveness in ensuring the manufacturing units adhere to the set rules Tiwari et al. (2019) suggest the incorporation of motivators such as; regulatory pressure and general customer pressure towards the industries. Regulatory pressure however, came out as the most effective of enforcing the sustainability role to all the industry management. The report is concluded by the statement of urge and emphasis to all the relevant personnel, to assume the role of green development within their institutions without the need of motivators since the effect to the environment is felt by us.

2.7 Future of Procurement for Manufacturing Companies

Carvalho et al. (2018) describe a conceptual industrial systemic change during the 4th industrial revolution within Europe as one of the systems that in itself, had the best setting and systemic flow to act in the green development within manufacturing industries. Carvalho et al, (2018), in their research work, explains the basic makeup of the industrial system in the 4th era of industrial change and its integration with advanced technology for proper approximations and measurement reducing waste. The main idea presented in this paper is the formation of an industrial system such that it increases the efficiency of operation in the way that minimizes pollution and waste of resources.

Carvalho et al, (2018), argues that the traditional methods of manufacturing brought about an unsustainable model of production mainly caused by the overall disregard for the environmental issues rather, focus on maximizing profits. Carvalho et al, (2018), paper describes the industrial 4.0 in relation to the sustainability by incorporation of scientific work that supports the sustainability of the system involved. The researcher’s lists a number of advantages of the system of industrial 4.0. Among the advantages presented in this paper, includes the improvement of product life cycle and the integration of the manufacturing process with scientific cyber-physical strategies such as decentralization, virtualization and interoperability. These methods, according to Carvalho et al, (2018), argument, gave the manufacturing process more adaptability to natural resources availability and the extent of environmental cost.

The industrial 4.0 system also incorporates an advanced communication strategy that smooths the lines of communication within the industry and the external factors influencing the industry including the customers, other manufacturers, companies, suppliers and the logistic service providers. The paper is concluded with the benefits that are attached to this system. Carvalho et al, (2018), explains how the system of industry 4.0 uses smaller batches of resources it requires and utilizes its efficiency to ensure the small batch used produces more accurate response to the demand curve of the industry cutting down the production waste. This design is highly dependent of the scientific principles that are incorporated in the idea for efficiency. Interoperability of the machine describes the tendency of a machine used to be able to work long hours and longer life time of service. This principle prevents multiple changes of machinery due to breakdown leading to internal waste, Carvalho et al, (2018). Decentralization ensures promotes time management with ability of decentralized decision making without the need of longer communication to foreign areas on local issues. Virtualization helps in proper tracking of the production process with the aim of avoiding waste that may accrue in the process of lowly monitored system. Real-time capabilities enables the system of the industrial 4.0 model enables faster reaction to a real time hiccup noted in the system. Modularity enables flexibility in the system due to the ability to add components in the system or remove components without distraction. Finally, the principle of service orientation according to Carvalho et al, (2018), enables re-usage and recycling advantages in the system.

2.8 Theoretical Framework of the ResearchBy employing previous studies relating to sustainable procurement practices in manufacturing, the theoretical framework for this study was developed. The aim of the theoretical framework is to create a wholesome view on external as well as internal factors influencing the implementation of sustainable procurement practices for Chinese manufacturing firms. The following hypotheses are proposed on the basis of the theoretical framework:

H1. Supplier collaboration has a significant and positive relationship with implementation of sustainable procurement practice.

H2. Customer pressure has a significant and positive relationship with the implementation of sustainable procurement practice

H3. Regulatory pressure has a significant and positive relationship with implementation of sustainable procurement practice

H4. Competitive advantage has a significant and positive relationship with implementation of sustainable procurement practice

H5. Top managerial support has a significant and positive relationship with implementation of sustainable procurement practice

Image 1: Theoretical Framework of the Research Study (Source: Adapted from (Lee, 2008) and (Meehan and Bryde, 2015)

3. Material and MethodsThe research techniques and strategies that are adopted to facilitate the realization of the study’s objectives are described and justified in this research chapter. They include the techniques relied upon for sampling of respondents, collecting data, and analysing it.

3.1 Process Flow

Figure 1 shows the structure and process used for the methodology. The process identifies motivators of sustainable procurement in manufacturing. The literature review was conducted to identify the current trends in sustainable procurement and the relationship this has with man

theory is a set of concepts

Family Theories

Student’s name

Institutional affiliation

A theory is a set of concepts used to explain, describe and predict how different parts of societies are connected and relate to each other. Family theories place their main focus n the dynamic interactions that exist between family members and describes the changes in the patterns of child-parent relationships and the characteristics of the interactions between families that disrupt development. Looking at the family unit, one realizes that in the social context, it has evolved to support human development. Research reveals that in the 1950s and 1970s families with special needs had different ways of adapting and dealing with the situation (Hamon, & Smith, 2016). Family members were devastated by childhood disability. Children found with disabilities were often termed as defective implying that they suffered severe and immutable deficiencies which brought distress to the family system. This paper is a critical analysis of the use and application of family theories. It is a comparison between the conflict, family systems, and functionalism theory including strengths and weaknesses of each and the relevance to social work practice with families that have special needs and situations.

Family Systems Theory

To understand the family entity, the theory of family systems has been proven to be very powerful. The theory is part of the Functional Theory umbrella hence it shares the same approach of considering the functions and dysfunctions of complex organizations and groups. The family systems theory maintains that the family can best be understood as a conceptualizing because it is a dynamic and complex, and changing collection of subsystems, parts, and family members. Researchers’ interactions with family members are to diagnose where and how the systems of family members work and where they require any interventions or repair. Further, the theory addresses boundaries issues. Boundaries are psychological, emotional, and physical separateness between roles, subsystems, and individuals within the family institutions. It is important to note that boundaries are vital for healthy family functioning. When it comes to treating family members with special needs such as disability, family therapy has proved to be a powerful tool in ensuring a healthier family system. It is important to note that this has both positive and negative effects. Therapy is incredibly helpful as it helps members of the family participate and examine their reactions and actions towards one another and more so the individual with the disability. The family members come together and find a way to support the person who is suffering and needs help. The disadvantage is that helping the individual becomes a challenge especially if some embers are not willing to participate and cooperate in the process or if there are issues with self-reflection.

Conflict Theory

Conflict theorists maintain that families are private entities where family matters are left only to those within the family. The unintended consequence is that many people end up not subscribing to government aid. Many citizens in the United States end up being resistant to government interventions. This is because many parents do not want to involve the government in how they raise their children or get involved in their domestic issues. The conflict theory notes that power plays a key role within the family. It contends that family is not heaven; it is an arena involving power struggles. Power is exercised in how family members perform their status roles. In this theory, researchers found that people with the most access to resources hold more power (White, Martin, & Adamsons, 2018). As such, men had more power because they used to work in paid labor outside the home. Today, although the family unit is becoming more fluid, conflict theorists maintain that disputes occur over issues such as division of labor in the household, a common cause of discord. Since household labor does not have any wages, women end up without power. Studies have revealed that marriages that experience reduced conflict are where men do more housework. In essence, conflict theorists studied the institution of marriage and life that involved inequalities in authority and power as a reflection of the larger structure. One of the strengths of this theory is that when it became popular a few decades ago, it was adopted in analyzing social problems. Although it has proved crucial in understanding politics, private corporate interests have been winning over the public interests. Politics is about finding compromises and competing interests. It is hard to understand the body of politics without the conflict theory, as a shift that has proved detrimental in many ways.

Functionalism

Functionalists maintain that families are an important aspect of social institutions as they play a critical role in society. Families help in stabilizing society. Family members have different status roles within families and marriage. Notably, family and family members play specific functions that facilitate the development and prosperity of society. George Murdok, a sociologist surveyed 250 societies and found that the family performs four universal and residual functions including educational, economic, sexual, and reproductive roles (Waisbord, 2020). In Murdok’s view, the family has the role of regulating sexual relations between people. Murdok acknowledges the existence of extramarital and premarital sex but also alludes that family provides a legitimate sexual outlet for grownups. The outlet is a way for reproduction which is crucial in ensuring the survival of society. When children are born, the family becomes crucial in training and preparing them for adult life. As an agent of enculturation and socialization, the family teaches children how to behave and think through following social-cultural values, norms, beliefs, and attitudes. In some families, parents teach children civility and manners. Parents also teach children gender roles as they are an important facet of the economic function of the family. In each family, each person participates in division of labor that consists of expressive and instrumental roles. Men assume roles outside the home to provide financial support to their families and establish their family status. Women, on the other hand, take up the expressive roles that typically entail work inside the family including providing physical and emotional support for the children. One of the weaknesses of the functionalist theory is that it does not consider how the functions will be performed by other institutions such as the education system rather than the family alone. On the other hand, the functionalism theory explains how society uses social control and socialization to minimize conflict and how various parts of the society carry out different functions to uphold the whole society. Further, it shows how society adapts itself to overcome economic changes and other changes.

Conclusion

Family theories place their main focus n the dynamic interactions that exist between family members and describes the changes in the patterns of child-parent relationships and the characteristics of the interactions between families that disrupt development. The family systems theory maintains that the family can best be understood as a conceptualizing because it is a dynamic and complex, and changing collection of subsystems, parts, and family members. Functionalists maintain that families are an important aspect of social institutions as they play a critical role in stabilizing society. The conflict theory notes that power plays a key role within the family and that it is exercised in how family members perform their status roles.

References

Hamon, R., & Smith, S. (2016). Exploring family theories. Oxford University Press.

Waisbord, S. (2020). Family tree of theories, methodologies, and strategies in development communication. Handbook of communication for development and social change, 93-132.

White, J. M., Martin, T. F., & Adamsons, K. (2018). Family theories: An introduction. Sage Publications.