Freedom Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Freedom - Research Paper Example The constitutional imperatives of the government are crucial mechanisms which may restrict personal freedom of individuals. They not only uphold law and order but also ensure development of societies across the world. Thus, absolute freedom for individuals is not possible. What is freedom? Meaning of freedom differs from place to place but can be broadly described as absolute right of individuals to control their lives and live in whichever way they want. People often expect that in a free State, one should have absolute freedom of expression vis-a-vis his/her behavior, speech and actions. In country like America, freedom of individuals has become more controversial and probably more intensely contested because of the diverse society and history of racial discrimination. Many a times, drugs, suicides, euthanasia etc. are construed as individual decisions and government restrictions are hotly contested. The interpretation of freedom, therefore, needs to be further explored for the wid er welfare of people. Patterson (1991) asserts that in contemporary times, freedom ‘stands unchallenged as supreme value in Western world’ (ix). It is explicit by its very connotation and needs to be experienced. Most importantly, he has differentiated freedom in three distinct parameters: personal, sovereign; and civic. Personal freedom is described as doing what one pleases without restrictions from government or anyone but within the broader precincts of ethical consideration. Sovereign freedom broadly enforces restriction on personal freedom for individuals’ own socio-economic benefits. The civic freedom defines guidelines and rights of individuals within society and conforms to prescribed community or group. This is interesting because it also shows that personal freedom or absolute freedom is not possible, as it is often constrained by politics and religiosity of region and place. Social structure and individual’s rights Social construction is a dist ributed network of human relationships that is inherently linked with its environment. The role of religion, culture and value system within the wider perspective of individuals’ life is a hugely critical factor. It not only promotes guidelines for peaceful social interaction, but it also defines individual’s rights and limitation of his/ her freedom to act as he/she pleases. The informal social control, exerted by various social paradigms of the system within which individuals co-exist, become strong tenets of restrictions on personal freedom of the people. At the same time, the social identities of individuals within the society also require modicum of social conduct that define and limit the extent freedom that individuals can enjoy. Within a family, parents or elderly behave in manner that serves as model for the younger generations. The same is true of children who have to follow certain rules which conform to the value system of the family. Hence, individual†™s right within the defined social structure is governed by many social imperatives. Law and individual’s right to freedom The law is an integral part of social structure and is primarily defined as a set of rules promulgated by the sovereign body to maintain law and order. Locke (1690) claims that State was created with the exclusive purpose of protecting the citizens’

INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example For example, Apple Inc was on the verge of destruction in the 80’s and 90’s because of the huge competition from arch rival Microsoft. However, the company was able to introduce some innovative products such as iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc at the beginning of 2000. The rest is history now. Apple Inc. is currently the most valuable technology company in the world and they are the second largest in terms of market capitalization. According to Rigby et al, (2009, p.2), â€Å"innovation is both a vaccine against market slowdowns and an elixir that rejuvenates growth†. On the other hand knowledge management (KM) is the process of discovering, developing, utilizing, delivering, and absorbing knowledge inside and outside the organization. The aim of KM is to meet current and future needs of an organization (Poorebrahimi et al., 2012). As in the case of innovation, the ultimate aim of KM is to improve the competitive power of an organization. If knowledge is the raw material, data will be the finished good for an organization. If data are the building blocks, then knowledge is the finished house. In short, knowledge management is extremely important for an organization. This paper analyses the importance of innovation and knowledge management in improving the competitive power of modern organizations. ... These phones are modifications of Samsung’s previous smartphone; Galaxy S2. In other words, S3 and S4 can be described as examples for incremental innovation. On the other hand, Apple has introduced world’s first touchscreen phone (iPhone) at the beginning of 2000. No other phones available in the market had touchscreen technology at that time. Therefore, iPhone can be described as an example for radical innovation. â€Å"Incremental innovation modestly improves a firm’s products or processes or fine-tunes its business model. Radical innovation significantly improves existing products and services or replaces them with new ones† (Susman et al., 2006, p.16). Radical innovation occurs less frequently than incremental innovation since radical innovation is an expensive act compared to incremental innovation. There are two types of organizations in the market; leaders and followers. Leaders always develop innovative and new products whereas followers try to im itate those products. For example Apple was the first one who innovated the touchscreen phone. Samsung, Sony, Nokia and many other mobile manufacturers followed the path of Apple after watching the success of iPhone. According to Tellis et al (2009), radical innovation is crucial to the growth of firms and economies. Both radical and incremental innovations are necessary for an organization to sustain its competitive power. However, radical innovation seems to be more effective in improving the competitive power of an organization. According to Rubera, & Kirca (2012), radical innovation is more effective than incremental innovation. For example, Microsoft is one company which introduces many innovative products such as Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows