Cultural Competence Essay

The claim that every person is a product of his own cultural background which includes, among other things, his life experiences as well as family, religion, ethnicity and age (Kim, 2001, p. 207) reflects the idea that cultural competence inevitably requires an understanding of other people’s cultural background other than one’s own. While it is true that â€Å"our cultural inventory provides us with valuable insights for understanding our beliefs and attitudes† as well as our values and assumptions† (Kim, 2001, p.  207), it is also important to consider the need to fill that inventory with how other individuals perceive people from other cultural backgrounds. With respect to cultural competence, it is not always enough to satisfy the need to widen our cultural awareness solely through our personal knowledge of other cultures. Indeed, it is true that we should look into the different parts of â€Å"our own cultural identity and examine their positive and negative impacts on our professional and personal development† (Kim, 2001, p. 27). But more to that, we should also consider how other people see other people in terms of their cultural background. In essence, cultural competence can sustain cultural awareness and tolerance inasmuch as it can further foster interaction among cultures. According to Johnson, Lenartowicz and Apud (2006), cultural competence involves at least four elements: knowledge of personal cultural worldview, knowledge of other cultural worldviews and practices, perception towards differences in cultures, and cross-cultural skills. Assuming that we are the products of each of our own cultural backgrounds, it appears that to be culturally competent means to be able to recognize other cultures and to be able to interact with those cultures. Interaction can come in many forms, from simple hand and facial gestures to the more complex ones such as personal interaction on a verbal basis. Whatever way we choose to interact with people who belong to another culture, it is important to practice tolerance towards cultural differences. Cultural intolerance can very well lead to disagreement or, worse, to bigotry. Cultural competence presupposes cultural tolerance precisely because the latter allows individuals from distinct cultures to interact with one another without resorting to hatred or bigotry. Cultural tolerance can only progress if people begin to realize the idea that the belief-systems that each one of us subscribes to does not necessarily invoke the task to assimilate others into our own belief-systems (Persell, 1997). It can also progress if people are able to realize that various cultures can live side-by-side without necessarily interfering with the affairs of one another (Fischer, 2007). If communities of individuals are able to coexist and interact, the cultural landscape becomes one that is peaceful and lively. In a peaceful and lively society thriving with unique cultures, the task of obtaining and practicing cultural competence becomes an easy task. On the other hand, a society where racial bigotry exists among others is a society that pre-empts cultural competence right at the bud. One way to achieve cultural tolerance is through seeing and understanding how other people understand other people from other cultures. Additionally, it also helps to see and understand how other individuals interact with other individuals from other cultures. Like a third-person viewer, being aware of the dynamics of the cultural exchanges of people expands our mental horizons as we become more equipped with cultural knowledge that we may have hardly had in directly interacting with people from other cultures. Our cultural inventory becomes more comprehensive since we are able to gather more information about how people from different cultures communicate, for instance, with one another. Many different forms of cultural exchanges happen in ordinary life and to be able to bear witness to these different forms gives us a clearer picture of what it takes to be culturally competent. When we begin to realize that cultures do not essentially incite hatred and indifference, we become more convinced to study other cultures and to mingle with other people. Eventually, being culturally competent becomes an easy task to take. Another way to achieve cultural tolerance is through a theoretical study of the practices and beliefs of various cultures. This can be done with the help of academic institutions which offer formal ways to introduce and to educate people about the ways of other cultures. These institutions provide a pivotal role in enlightening people—presumably students—about unfamiliar cultures and their practices and beliefs. Armed with cultural insight, people can, in a manner of speaking, let other cultures be. Moreover, the education given by these academic institutions provide a fundamental block towards reaching the goal of cultural competence; for without at least an academic knowledge of cultures there can hardly be any individual progress towards any one of the four elements of cultural competence. Perhaps the most effective and yet most difficult way of achieving cultural tolerance is through the study and practice of the languages of other people. Interestingly, it is argued that language holds the most useful key to understanding other cultures (D’Andrade, 2002). The setup and function of the linguistic component of culture appears to be universal. That is, every language in the world regardless of cultural distinctions involves the receiver and the sender of the message of the medium, language being the medium. Language regardless of cultural distinctions is essentially used for communication, which is why learning a ‘foreign’ language is a crucial step in learning a ‘foreign’ culture because it enables us to penetrate linguistic barriers. Having the language of another culture as part of our so-called â€Å"cultural inventory† is a formidable advantage in dissolving the hindrances towards a comprehensive cultural awareness and, ultimately, cultural competence. How is it possible that cultural tolerance leads to cultural competence? For the most part, a person who is tolerant of other cultures is a person who has already satisfied the need to know one’s own culture and other cultures. An individual cannot be tolerant of a culture which he or she is not even aware of. Moreover, the culturally tolerant person is also someone who has already formed his own perceptions towards other cultures including his own. The only thing missing in all of these is the actual practice of that tolerance into reality. A person who is fully tolerant of other cultures is one who is already able to interact with other individuals who belong to another race or religion, for instance. As a case in point, expatriates are people who have been absorbed into another culture in more or less the same way as they have absorbed such culture into their lives. They are culturally tolerant individuals because, at the least, they are able to mingle and live with people of what used to be a different culture. More importantly, expatriates are also individuals who possess cultural competence not only as a result of their cultural tolerance but also as a product of their interest and inclination in becoming ‘one’ with another culture. They become thoroughly attached to another culture to the point that they are already able to speak the native tongue, subscribe to and practice the dominant religion or even adapt the general lifestyle of that culture. In any case, cultural competence and cultural tolerance go with one another in most, if not all, instances. It may be noted, however, that our reflection on â€Å"the various aspects of our own cultural identity and [our examination of] their positive and negative impacts on our professional and personal development (Kim, 2001, p. 207)† may not necessarily lead to cultural competence. It may only lead us to cultural tolerance to a certain degree without ever reaching the stage of putting into practice what we have learned from our acts of reflection and examination of our cultural identity. Even though â€Å"each of us is a product of our cultural background (Kim, 2001, p. 2007),† we are not naturally inclined to be culturally competent. The fact that there are people who struggle to become culturally competent and that there are those who deny themselves of the chance to become one suggests the same thing—human beings are not naturally inclined to know other cultures and to interact with them. However, what it entails on a positive note is the idea that there is the possibility of an overlap among the many different factors involved in determining the cultural identities of individuals. Perhaps the biggest struggle towards achieving cultural competence is overcoming the possibility of treating one’s personal cultural worldview or even one’s culture as superior to the rest. In submitting to such risk, we become more prone to cultural intolerance as we tend to put down cultures other than our own. We may eventually lose interest in knowing other cultural worldviews and in observing people of different cultures interact with one another from an outsider’s perspective. Our â€Å"cultural inventory† becomes filled only with our own cultural worldviews and our reflection and examination of culture may hardly extend towards other cultures. Nevertheless, people can overcome all these risks and struggles as part of the task of becoming culturally competent. A person’s level of cultural competence may hardly be quantified (Fischer, 2007) but it does not mean that there is no such thing as cultural competence. The fact that cultures exist and the fact that each person is the product of his own cultural background (Kim, 2001) suggests that interaction among cultures is possible, if not highly likely. Obtaining cultural competence may be a laborious task but, in the end, it poses large benefits in sustaining cultural tolerance on both personal and group levels. REFERENCES D’ANDRADE, R. (2002) Cultural Darwinism and Language. American Anthropologist, 104, 223-232. FISCHER, M. M. J. (2007) Culture and Cultural Analysis as Experimental Systems. Cultural Anthropology, 22, 1-65. JOHNSON, J. P. , LENARTOWICZ, T. & APUD, S. (2006) Cross-Cultural Competence in International Business: Toward a Definition and a Model. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 525-543. KIM, E. Y. (2001) The Yin and Yang of American Culture: A Paradox, London, Intercultural Press. PERSELL, C. H. (1997) The Interdependence of Social Justice and Civil Society. Sociological Forum, 12, 149-172.

Kite Runner Essay Essay

Betrayal lingers like a curse, haunting its way into consciousness, injecting its poison of despair and loneliness. The action of Betraying is mostly associated with hate. However, there are some exceptions. Betrayal is not always done by evil people neither it is necessarily a closed end to a strong relationship between individuals. In khaled Hosseini’s novel The kite Runner, it is illustrated through character and setting the situations where betrayers were put under hard situations which causes them to commit actions that oppose their ethics. The goodness that exists in betrayers’ hearts in this novel indicates how everything can be betrayed, but hate could still be replaced by love. In the novel, the relationship status between individuals and the situations involved the betrayal were illustrated through character. Even though Baba betrayed his friend Ali when he slept with his wife, the relationship between Baba and Ali stayed the same due to Baba’s morality and love for his childhood friend. This is indicated when Baba said â€Å"He is staying here with us, where he belongs. This is his home and we are his family. †(Page 95). Throughout the novel, Baba is portrayed as generous, kind and loyal person. However, his betrayal to Ali created an oxymoron between his loyalty and betrayal. Despite his treachery to Ali, Baba’s morals continued to be alive and his love for Ali continued to be brotherly . In other words, the betrayal did not end the strong relation ship that was built between Ali and Baba throughout the years. This is because the actions committed by Baba don not reveal to his evilness or hate to Ali. It was the human desire that conquered his mind and led him to perform a disloyal action and a mistake that he paid the price for. Baba believed that there is always a chance for redemption and forgiveness as long is there is an existence of conscience. That is why he treated Ali as part of the family and insisted to have them living by him forever to prove that betrayal is not the death of loyalty. Also, Hassan’s reaction toward Amir’s betrayal shows that friendship and love beat betrayal and protects a strong relationship from collapse. Hassan demonstrates this when he confessed that he stole even though he did not as Baba asks â€Å"Did you steal that money and Amir’s watch† â€Å"Yes† Hassan replied. (page111). The heavy blow of betrayal was when Amir planted a watch and money in Hassan’s mattress to drive him away from his home. This was very harsh for Hassan but his innocence, devotion and sweet heart caused him to prevent the erasing of beautiful memories between two intimate friends. That is why he decided to admit something that he didn’t carry out. This proves the disloyalty is not the end of a strong relationship since Hassan kept respecting and loving Amir after he was betrayed by him. Furthermore, Amir’s betrayal to Hassan is not the result of Amir’s evilness or hate for Hassan, but it is the outcome of Amir’s felling of guiltiness. Therefore, the characters and in this novel changed the common idea that suggests how betrayal is done by sinful people which as result leaves the relationship in disappear. The novelist emphasizes the factors that cause people to betray each other despite their goodness though the setting. The story takes place in Afghanistan where Hazaras were persecuted which led Baba to betray both of Amir and Hassan by hiding the truth regarding their brotherhood. The suffering of Hazaras in Afghanistan is mentioned at the beginning in the book when the novelist said â€Å"Pashtuns had quelled Hazaras with unspeakable violence. †(page9). This quote indicates that anything associated with Hazaras was treated cruelly and forbidden in Afghanistan. That is why Baba could not admit that Hassan the Hazara is his son. If he told the truth, many conflicts could have developed and fanatical people in Afghanistan could have harmed Hassan. Baba’s conscience made him remember everyday that the biggest sin he has done is hiding the truth from people who have the right to know that truth. This indicates that Baba’s lie does not refer to his evilness, but it indicates his consciousness of the place he was surrounded in. In Afghanistan, blood at that time was everywhere and death of Hazaras was everyday’s scene. Amir became very upset after finding the truth. Nevertheless, the betrayal caused by Baba did not lead Amir to hate his father, but he tried to seek reasons for why his dad has done that. Moreover, the miserable and most exclusive betrayal of Hassan in the novel done by Amir signifies how even if the betrayal destroys the victim, the betrayer might not be evil and the victim could still have no hate for the betrayer. This is shown when Amir said â€Å"Everywhere I turned, I saw signs of his loyalty, his goddamn unwavering loyalty† (page 94). Amir watched Hassan becoming raped by Assef and does nothing to stop it. This is the biggest betrayal in the novel that left both Amir and Hassan in the dark side. However, the location of the raping scene greatly contributes to the betrayal’s status. The raping scene was set up in a place where only Asssef and his friends were standing in the alley at the time of sunset while they were abusing Hassan. The terrifying setting of the scene led Amir to be afraid that if he steps in, they would harm him. So, Amir decided to escape and betray Hassan by leaving him alone facing the disaster. Even thought it was a horrible betrayal, this does not point out to Amir’s evilness or hate . It is the setting that influenced Amir’s reaction. Besides, the betrayal was not the end of their friendship. Hassan kept being loyal until the last minute, and his loyalty was seen everywhere in Amir’s eyes even after the raping event. Redemption and fogginess were the keys of the continuous brotherly love between Amir and Hassan. In summary, it is evident that the places events occur in could be the reason for actions that oppose the individuals’ goodness. In conclusion, the novel The kite Runner incorporates Character and setting to prove that for every betrayal there is a cause, and every betrayer has reasons for their actions. The novelist conveys that betrayal must not be categorized under antipathy. The end of the novel indicates that redemption could solve the problem no matter how complicated it is. Anything may be betrayed, anyone may be forgiven, but not those who lack the courage of their own greatness. Strong relationship and love can solve any problem. There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love. Therefore, disloyalty is not the path toward hate.

Issues in Sme Development in Ghana and South Africa

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 39 (2010)  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2010 http://www. eurojournals. com/finance. htm Issues in SME Development in Ghana and South Africa Joshua Abor Department of Finance University of Ghana Business School, Legon Peter Quartey Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research University of Ghana, Legon Abstract This paper discusses the characteristics, contributions of SMEs to economic development, and the constraints to SME development in developing countries with particular reference to Ghana and South Africa. SMEs in Ghana have been noted to provide about 85% of manufacturing employment of Ghana. They are also believed to contribute about 70% to Ghana’s GDP and account for about 92% of businesses in Ghana. In the Republic of South Africa, it is estimated that 91% of the formal business entities are SMEs. They also contribute between 52 to 57% to GDP and provide about 61% to employment. Notwithstanding the recognition of the important roles SMEs play in these countries, their development is largely constrained by a number of factors, such as lack of access to appropriate technology; limited access to international markets, the existence of laws, regulations and rules that impede the development of the sector; weak institutional capacity, lack of management skills and training, and most importantly finance. The paper provides some relevant recommendations to policy makers, development agencies, entrepreneurs, and SME managers to ascertain the appropriate strategy to improve the SME sector in these countries. Keywords: SME Development, Ghana, South Africa 1. 0. Introduction There is growing recognition of the important role small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play in economic development. They are often described as efficient and prolific job creators, the seeds of big businesses and the fuel of national economic engines. Even in the developed industrial economies, it is the SME sector rather than the multinationals that is the largest employer of workers (Mullineux, 1997). Interest in the role of SMEs n the development process continues to be in the forefront of policy debates in most countries. Governments at all levels have undertaken initiatives to promote the growth of SMEs (Feeney and Riding, 1997). SME development can encourage the process of both inter and intra-regional decentralization; and, they may well become a countervailing force against the economic power of larger enterprises. More generally, the development of SMEs is seen as accelerating the achievement of wider economi c and socio-economic objectives, including poverty alleviation (Cook and Nixson, 2000). According to an OECD report, SMEs produce about 25% of OECD exports and 35% of Asia’s exports (OECD, 1997). International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) 219 SMEs represent over 90% of private business and contribute to more than 50% of employment and of GDP in most African countries (UNIDO, 1999). Small enterprises in Ghana are said to be a characteristic feature of the production landscape and have been noted to provide about 85% of manufacturing employment of Ghana (Steel and Webster, 1991; Aryeetey, 2001). SMEs are also believed to contribute about 70% to Ghana’s GDP and account for about 92% of businesses in Ghana. Similarly, in the Republic of South Africa, it is estimated that 91% of the formal business entities are Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) (Hassbroeck, 1996; Berry et al. , 2002). They also contribute between 52 and 57% to GDP and provide about 61% of employment (CSS, 1998; Ntsika, 1999; Gumede, 2000; Berry et al. , 2002). SMEs therefore have a crucial role to play in stimulating growth, generating employment and contributing to poverty alleviation, given their economic weight in African countries. How do SMEs in Ghana compare with their counterparts in South Africa and what policy lessons can be drawn for both countries to enhance the contribution of the sector remains the focus of this paper. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section two reviews the various definitions of SMEs. Section three discusses the characteristics of SMEs in developing countries. Sections four and five examine the contributions of SMEs to economic development and the constraints to SME developments. The paper concludes in section six. 2. 0. What is an SME? The issue of what constitutes a small or medium enterprise is a major concern in the literature. Different authors have usually given different definitions to this category of business. SMEs have indeed not been spared with the definition problem that is usually associated with concepts which have many components. The definition of firms by size varies among researchers. Some attempt to use the capital assets while others use skill of labour and turnover level. Others define SMEs in terms of their legal status and method of production. Storey (1994) tries to sum up the danger of using size to define the status of a firm by stating that in some sectors all firms may be regarded as small, whilst in other sectors there are possibly no firms which are small. The Bolton Committee (1971) first formulated an â€Å"economic† and â€Å"statistical† definition of a small firm. Under the â€Å"economic† definition, a firm is said to be small if it meets the following three criteria: †¢ It has a relatively small share of their market place; †¢ It is managed by owners or part owners in a personalized way, and not through the medium of a formalized management structure; †¢ It is independent, in the sense of not forming part of a large enterprise. Under the â€Å"statistical† definition, the Committee proposed the following criteria:: †¢ The size of the small firm sector and its contribution to GDP, employment, exports, etc. †¢ The extent to which the small firm sector’s economic contribution has changed over time; †¢ Applying the statistical definition in a cross-country comparison of the small firms’ economic contribution. The Bolton Committee applied different definitions of the small firm to different sectors. Whereas firms in manufacturing, construction and mining were defined in terms of number of employees (in which case, 200 or less qualified the firm to be a small firm), those in the retail, services, wholesale, etc. were defined in terms of monetary turnover (in which case the range is 50,000-200,000 British Pounds to be classified as small firm). Firms in the road transport industry are classified as small if they have 5 or fewer vehicles. There have been criticisms of the Bolton definitions. These centre mainly on the apparent inconsistencies between defining characteristics based on number of employees and those based on managerial approach. The European Commission (EC) defined SMEs largely in term of the number of employees as follows: †¢ firms with 0 to 9 employees – micro enterprises; 220 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) †¢ 10 to 99 employees – small enterprises; †¢ 100 to 499 employees – medium enterprises. Thus, the SME sector is comprised of enterprises (except agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing) which employ less than 500 workers. In effect, the EC definitions are based solely on employment rather than a multiplicity of criteria. Secondly, the use of 100 employees as the small firm’s upper limit is more appropriate, given the increase in productivity over the last two decades (Storey, 1994). Finally, the EC definition did not assume the SME group is homogenous; that is, the definition makes a distinction between micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. However, the EC definition is too all-embracing to be applied to a number of countries. Researchers would have to use definitions for small firms which are more appropriate to their particular â€Å"target† group (an operational definition). It must be emphasized that debates on definitions turn out to be sterile, unless size is a factor which influences performance. For instance, the relationship between size and performance matters when assessing the impact of a credit programme on a target group (Storey, 1994). Weston and Copeland (1998) hold that definitions of size of enterprises suffer from a lack of universal applicability. In their view, this is because enterprises may be conceived of in varying terms. Size has been defined in different contexts, in terms of the number of employees, annual turnover, industry of enterprise, ownership of enterprise, and value of fixed assets. Van der Wijst (1989) considers small and medium businesses as privately held firms with 1 – 9 and 10 – 99 people employed, respectively. Jordan et al (1998) define SMEs as firms with fewer than 100 employees and less than â‚ ¬15 million turnover. Michaelas et al (1999) consider small independent private limited companies with fewer than 200 employees and Lopez and Aybar (2000) considered companies with sales below â‚ ¬15 million as small. According to the British Department of Trade and Industry, the best description of a small firm remains that used by the Bolton Committee in its 1971 Report on Small Firms. This stated that a small firm is an independent business, managed by its owner or part-owners and having a small market share (Department of Trade and Industry, 2001). The UNIDO also defines SMEs in terms of number of employees by giving different classifications for industrialized and developing countries (see Elaian, 1996). The definition for industrialized countries is given as follows: †¢ Large – firms with 500 or more workers; †¢ Medium – firms with 100-499 workers; †¢ Small – firms with 99 or less workers. The classification given for developing countries is as follows: †¢ Large – firms with 100 or more workers; †¢ Medium – firms with 20-99 workers; †¢ Small – firms with 5-19 workers; †¢ Micro – firms with less than 5 workers. It is clear from the various definitions that there is not a general consensus over what constitutes an SME. Definitions vary across industries and also across countries. It is important now to examine definitions of SMEs given in the context of Ghana and South Africa. 2. 1. The Ghanaian Situation There have been various definitions given for small-scale enterprises in Ghana but the most commonly used criterion is the number of employees of the enterprise (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). In applying this definition, confusion often arises in respect of the arbitrariness and cut off points used by the various official sources. In its Industrial Statistics, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) considers firms with fewer than 10 employees as small-scale enterprises and their counterparts with more than 10 employees as medium and large-sized enterprises. Ironically, the GSS in its national accounts considered companies with up to 9 employees as SMEs (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). The value of fixed assets in the firm has also been used as an alternative criterion for defining SMEs. However, the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Ghana applies both the International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) 221 â€Å"fixed asset and number of employees† criteria. It defines a small-scale enterprise as a firm with not more than 9 workers, and has plant and machinery (excluding land, buildings and vehicles) not exceeding 10 million Ghanaian cedis. The Ghana Enterprise Development Commission (GEDC), on the other hand, uses a 10 million Ghanaian cedis upper limit definition for plant and machinery. It is important to caution that the process of valuing fixed assets poses a problem. Secondly, the continuous depreciation of the local currency as against major trading currencies often makes such definitions outdated (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). In defining small-scale enterprises in Ghana, Steel and Webster (1991), and Osei et al (1993) used an employment cut-off point of 30 employees. Osei et al (1993), however, classified small-scale enterprises into three categories. These are: (i) micro – employing less than 6 people; (ii) very small employing 6-9 people; (iii) small – between 10 and 29 employees. A more recent definition is the one given by the Regional Project on Enterprise Development Ghana manufacturing survey paper. The survey report classified firms into: (i) micro enterprise, less than 5 employees; (ii) small enterprise, 5 29 employees; (iii) medium enterprise, 30 – 99 employees; (iv) large enterprise, 100 and more employees (see Teal, 2002). 2. 2. The South African Situation The most widely used framework in South Africa is the definition of the National Small Business Act 102 of 1996, which defines five categories of businesses in South Africa. The definition uses the number of employees (the most common mode of definition) per enterprise size category combined with the annual turnover categories, the gross assets excluding fixed property. The definitions for the various enterprise categories are given as follows: †¢ Survivalist enterprise: The income generated is less than the minimum income standard or the poverty line. This category is considered pre-entrepreneurial, and includes hawkers, vendors and subsistence farmers. (In practice, survivalist enterprises are often categorised as part of the micro-enterprise sector). Micro enterprise: The turnover is less than the VAT registration limit (that is, R150 000 per year). These enterprises usually lack formality in terms of registration. They include, for example, spaza shops, minibus taxis and household industries. They employ no more than 5 people. †¢ Very small enterprise: These are enterprises employing fewer than 10 paid employees, except mining, electricity, manufacturing and construction sectors, in which the figure is 20 employees. These enterprises operate in the formal market and have access to technology. Small enterprise: The upper limit is 50 employees. Small enterprises are generally more established than very small enterprises and exhibit more complex business practices. †¢ Medium enterprise: The maximum number of employees is 100, or 200 for the mining, electricity, manufacturing and construction sectors. These enterprises are often characterised by the decentralisation of power to an additional management layer. The National Small Business Act’s definitions of the different categories of business may be summarised as set out in Table 1 below. 222 Table 1: International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) Definitions of SMMEs given in the National Small Business Act Number of Employees Fewer than 100 to 200, depending on industry Fewer than 50 Annual Turnover (in South African rand) Less than R4 million to R50 million, depending upon industry Less than R2 million to R25 million, depending on industry Less than R200 000 to R500 000, depending on industry Less than R150 000 Gross Assets, Excluding Fixed Property Less than R2 million to R18 million, depending on industry Less than R2 million to R4. million, depending on industry Less than R150 000 to R500 000, depending on Industry Less than R100 000 Enterprise Size Medium Small Fewer than 10 to 20, depending on industry Micro Fewer than 5 Source: Falkena et al. (2001) Very Small From the above, two key contrast can be drawn between the definitions of SMEs in Ghana and their counterparts in South Africa. First, Act 102 of 1996 defines SMEs in South Africa wh ereas there is no such legislation in Ghana. Secondly, the cut off points for the various SME size categories in South Africa are much higher than that of Ghana. This may be a result of the fact that South Africa has a much higher income levels than Ghana. 3. 0. Characteristics of SMEs in Developing Countries Fisher and Reuber (2000) enumerate a number of characteristics of SMEs in developing countries under the broad headings: labour characteristics, sectors of activity, gender of owner and efficiency. Given that most SMEs are one-person businesses, the largest employment category is working proprietors. This group makes up more than half the SME workforce in most developing countries; their families, who tend to be unpaid but active in the enterprise, make up roughly another quarter. The remaining portion of the workforce is split between hired workers and trainees or apprentices. SMEs are more labour intensive than larger firms and therefore have lower capital costs associated with job creation (Anheier and Seibel, 1987; Liedholm and Mead, 1987; Schmitz, 1995). In terms of activity, they are mostly engaged in retailing, trading, or manufacturing (Fisher and Reuber, 2000). While it is a common perception that the majority of SMEs will fall into the first category, the proportion of SME activity that takes place in the retail sector varies considerably between countries, and between rural and urban regions within countries. Retailing is mostly found in urban regions, while manufacturing can be found in either rural or urban centres. However, the extent of involvement of a country in manufacturing will depend on a number of factors, including, availability of raw materials, taste and consumption patterns of domestic consumers, and the level of development of the export markets. In Ghana, SMEs can be categorized into urban and rural enterprises. The former can be subdivided into â€Å"organized† and â€Å"unorganized† enterprises. The organized ones mostly have paid employees with a registered office, whereas the unorganized category is mainly made up of artisans who work in open spaces, temporary wooden structures, or at home, and employ few or in some cases no salaried workers (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). They rely mostly on family members or apprentices. Rural enterprises are largely made up of family groups, individual artisans, women engaged in food production from local crops. The major activities within this sector include:- soap and detergents, fabrics, clothing and tailoring, textile and leather, village blacksmiths, tin-smithing, ceramics, timber and mining, bricks and cement, beverages, food processing, bakeries, wood furniture, electronic assembly, agro processing, chemical-based products and mechanics (Osei et al. , 1993; Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). Majority of SMEs are female-owned businesses, which more often than not are home-based compared to those owned by males; they are operated from home and are mostly not considered in official statistics. This clearly affects their chances of gaining access to financing schemes, since such International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) 223 programmes are designed without sufficient consideration of the needs of businesses owned by females. These female entrepreneurs often get the impression that they are not capable of taking advantage of these credit schemes, because the administrative costs associated with the schemes often outweigh the benefits. Prior empirical studies in Ghana have shown that female-owned SMEs often have difficulty accessing finance. Females are mostly involved in sole-proprietorship businesses which are mainly microenterprises and as such may lack the necessary collateral to qualify for loans (Aryeetey et al, 1994; Abor and Biekpe, 2006). Measures of enterprise efficiency (e. g. labour productivity or total factor productivity) vary greatly both within and across industries. Firm size may be associated with some other factors that are correlated with efficiency, such as managerial skill and technology, and the effects of the policy environment. Most studies in developing countries indicate that the smallest firms are the least efficient, and there is some evidence that both small and large firms are relatively inefficient compared to medium-scale enterprises (Little et al. , 1987). It is often argued that SMEs are more innovative than larger firms. Many small firms bring innovations to the market place, but the contribution of innovations to productivity often takes time, and larger firms may have more resources to adopt and implement them (Acs et al. , 1999). 4. 0. Contributions of SMEs to Economic Development There is a general consensus that the performance of SMEs is important for both economic and social development of developing countries. From the economic perspective, SMEs provide a number of benefits (Advani, 1997). SMEs have been noted to be one of the major areas of concern to many policy makers in an attempt to accelerate the rate of growth in low-income countries. These enterprises have been recognized as the engines through which the growth objectives of developing countries can be achieved. They are potential sources of employment and income in many developing countries. SMEs seem to have advantages over their large-scale competitors in that they are able to adapt more easily to market conditions, given their broadly skilled technologies. They are able to withstand adverse economic conditions because of their flexible nature (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). SMEs are more labour intensive than larger firms and therefore have lower capital costs associated with job creation (Anheier and Seibel, 1987; Liedholm and Mead, 1987; Schmitz, 1995). They perform useful roles in ensuring income stability, growth and employment. Since SMEs are labour intensive, they are more likely to succeed in smaller urban centres and rural areas, where they can contribute to a more even distribution of economic activity in a region and can help to slow the flow of migration to large cities. Due to their regional dispersion and their labour intensity, it is argued, small-scale production units can promote a more equitable distribution of income than large firms. They also improve the efficiency of domestic markets and make productive use of scarce resources, thus facilitating long-term economic growth (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). SMEs contribute to a country’s national product by either manufacturing goods of value, or through the provision of services to both consumers and/or other enterprises. This encompasses the provision of products and, to a lesser extent, services to foreign clients, thereby contributing to overall export performance. In Ghana and South Africa, SMEs represent a vast portion of businesses. They represent about 92% of Ghanaian businesses and contribute about 70% to Ghana’s GDP and over 80% to employment. SMEs also account for about 91% of the formal business entities in South Africa, contributing between 52% and 57% of GDP and providing about 61% of employment (CSS, 1998; Ntsika, 1999; Gumede, 2000; Berry et al. , 2002). From an economic perspective, however, enterprises are not just suppliers, but also consumers; this plays an important role if they are able to position themselves in a market with purchasing power: their demand for industrial or consumer goods will stimulate the activity of their suppliers, just as their own activity is stimulated by the demands of their clients. Demand in the form of investment plays a dual role, both from a demand-side (with regard to the suppliers of industrial goods) and on the supplyside (through the potential for new production arising from upgraded equipment). In addition, demand 224 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) is important to the income-generation potential of SMEs and their ability to stimulate the demand for both consumer and capital goods (Berry et al. , 2002). 5. 0. General Constraints to SME Development Despite the potential role of SMEs to accelerated growth and job creation in developing countries, a number of bottlenecks affect their ability to realize their full potential. SME development is hampered by a number of factors, including finance, lack of managerial skills, equipment and technology, regulatory issues, and access to international markets (Anheier and Seibel, 1987; Steel and Webster, 1991; Aryeetey et al, 1994; Gockel and Akoena, 2002). The lack of managerial know-how places significant constraints on SME development. Even though SMEs tend to attract motivated managers, they can hardly compete with larger firms. The scarcity of management talent, prevalent in most countries in the region, has a magnified impact on SMEs. The lack of support services or their relatively higher unit cost can hamper SMEs’ efforts to improve their management, because consulting firms are often not equipped with appropriate cost-effective management solutions for SMEs. Besides, despite the numerous institutions providing training and advisory services, there is still a skills gap in the SME sector as a whole (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). This is because entrepreneurs cannot afford the high cost of training and advisory services while others do not see the need to upgrade their skills due to complacency. In terms of technology, SMEs often have difficulties in gaining access to appropriate technologies and information on available techniques (Aryeetey et al. , 1994). In most cases, SMEs utilize foreign technology with a scarce percentage of shared ownership or leasing. They usually acquire foreign licenses, because local patents are difficult to obtain. Regulatory constraints also pose serious challenges to SME development and although wideranging structural reforms have led to some improvements, prospects for enterprise development remain to be addressed at the firm-level. The high start-up costs for firms, including licensing and registration requirements, can impose excessive and unnecessary burdens on SMEs. The high cost of settling legal claims, and excessive delays in court proceedings adversely affect SME operations. In the case of Ghana, the cumbersome procedure for registering and commencing business are key issues often cited. The World Bank Doing Business Report (2006) indicated that it takes 127 days to deal with licensing issues and there are 16 procedures involved in licensing a business in Ghana. It takes longer (176 days) in South Africa and there were 18 procedures involved in dealing with licensing issues. Meanwhile, the absence of antitrust legislation favours larger firms, while the lack of protection for property rights limits SMEs’ access to foreign technologies (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). Previously insulated from international competition, many SMEs are now faced with greater external competition and the need to expand market share. However, their limited international marketing experience, poor quality control and product standardisation, and little access to international partners, continue to impede SMEs’ expansion into international markets (Aryeetey et al. , 1994). They also lack the necessary information about foreign markets. One important problem that SMEs often face is access to capital (Lader, 1996). Lack of adequate financial resources places significant constraints on SME development. Cook and Nixson (2000) observe that, notwithstanding the recognition of the role of SMEs in the development process in many developing countries, SMEs development is always constrained by the limited availability of financial resources to meet a variety of operational and investment needs. A World Bank study found that about 90% of small enterprises surveyed stated that credit was a major constraint to new investment (Parker et al. , 1995). Levy (1993) also found that there is limited access to financial resources available to smaller enterprises compared to larger organisations and the consequences for their growth and development. The role of finance has been viewed as a critical element for the development of SMEs (Cook and Nixson, 2000). A large portion of the SME sector does not have access to adequate and appropriate forms of credit and equity, or indeed to financial services more generally (Parker et al. , 1995). In competing for the corporate market, formal financial institutions have structured their products to serve the needs of large corporates. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) 225 A cursory analysis of survey and research results of SMEs in South Africa, for instance, reveals common reactions from SME owners interviewed. When asked what they perceive as constraints in their businesses and especially in establishing or expanding their businesses, they answered that access to funds is a major constraint. This is reflected in perception questions answered by SME owners in many surveys (see BEES, 1995; Graham and Quattara, 1996; Rwingema and Karungu, 1999). This situation is not different in the case of Ghana (see Sowa et al. , 1992; Aryeetey, 1998; Bigsten et al. , 2000, Abor and Biekpe 2006, 2007; Quartey, 2002). A priori, it might seem surprising that finance should be so important. Requirements such as identifying a product and a market, acquiring any necessary property rights or licenses, and keeping proper records are all in some sense more fundamental to running a small enterprise than is finance (Green et al. , 2002). Some studies have consequently shown that a large number of small enterprises fail because of non-financial reasons. Other constraints SMEs face include: lack of access to appropriate technology; the existence of laws, regulations and rules that impede the development of the sector; weak institutional capacity and lack of management skills and training (see Sowa et al. , 1992; Aryeetey et al. , 1994; Parker et al. , 1995; Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). However, potential providers of finance, whether formal or informal, are unlikely to commit funds to a business which they view as not being on a sound footing, irrespective of the exact nature of the unsoundness. Lack of funds may be the immediate reason for a business failing to start or to progress, even when the more fundamental reason lies elsewhere. Finance is said to be the â€Å"glue† that holds together all the diverse aspects involved in small business start-up and development (Green et al. , 2002). 6. 0. Conclusion This paper has reviewed various definitions of SMEs and also discussed the characteristics, contributions of SMEs to economic development, and the constraints to SME development. In reviewing the definitions of SMEs, it was concluded that there is no single, universal, uniformly acceptable definition of SMEs. Several measures or indicators have been used to define the SME sector. The most commonly used is the number of employees of the enterprise. However, in applying this definition, confusion often arises in respect of the arbitrariness and cut-off points used by various official sources. The definitions of SMEs within the context of Ghana and South Africa were also examined, given that this paper focuses on these two countries. SMEs often fall into two categories, that is, urban and rural enterprises. The former can be sub-divided into â€Å"organized† and â€Å"unorganized† enterprises. The organized groups have registered offices and paid workers, whilst the unorganized ones are mainly made up of artisans. Rural enterprises are largely made up of family groups and individual artisans. The activities in the SME sector range from pottery and ceramics to manufacturing of spare parts and electronic assembly. SMEs in Ghana and South Africa have a lot of similarities in terms of their characteristics as well as the vital role they play in the two economies. However, they differ in terms of size and regulation. For instance, the cut off point for the various categories of SMEs in Ghana are much lower than they pertain in South Africa. Secondly, whereas a national legislation defines an SME in South Africa, no such Act exist in Ghana. The study also observed that SMEs constitute a vital element of the development process, and their contributions in terms of production, employment and income in developing countries is widely recognized. Hence, interest in the role of SMEs in the development process continues to be high on the agenda of policy makers in the two countries. Notwithstanding the recognition, the development of SMEs is always constrained by a number of factors such as, lack of access to appropriate technology, limited access to international markets, the existence of laws, regulations and rules that impede the development of the sector; weak institutional capacity and lack of management skills and training. However, access to finance remains the greatest concern for the majority of SMEs. This study suggests that, to improve access to credit to SMEs, entrepreneurs should be encouraged to form cooperatives since financial institutions believe peer pressure often reduces the risk 26 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) of default, Secondly, the government through tax incentives can encourage certain training institutions and NGOs to provide training to entrepreneurs on simple record keeping and managerial know-how. Also, a national legislation in Ghana to define what constitutes an SME and their leg al as well as tax obligations will help to integrate a number of informal enterprises into the formal framework. This should be complemented with steps to minimize the legal procedures involved in doing business in both countries. It is also suggested that technology transfer through simple, inexpensive and adaptable technology should be promoted to enhance the productivity of SMEs. References [1] [2] Abor, J. and N. Biekpe, 2006. â€Å"Small Business Financing Initiatives in Ghana†, Problems and Perspectives in Management, 4(3), pp. 69-77. Abor, J. and N. Biekpe, 2006. â€Å"SMEs’ Access to Debt Finance: A Comparison of Male-Owned and Female-Owned Businesses in Ghana†, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 7(2), pp. 105-112. Abor, J. and N. Biekpe, 2007. Small Business Reliance on Bank Financing in Ghana†, Emerging Market Finance & Trade, 43(4), pp. 93 – 102. Acs, Z. , R. Morck, and B. Young, 1999. â€Å"Productivity Growth and Size Distribution†, in Acs, Z. , Carlsson, B. and Karlsson, C. (eds. ), Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Macroeconomy, Cambridge University Press. Advani, A. 1997. â€Å"Industrial Clusters: A Sup port System for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises†, Private Sector Development, World Bank Occasional Paper No. 32, World Bank, Washigton, DC. Anheier, H. K. and H. D. Seibel, 1987. Small Scale Industries and Economic Development in Ghana†, Business Behaviour and Strategies in Informal Sector Economies, Verlag Breitenbech, Saarbruckh, Germany. Aryeetey, E. 1998. â€Å"Informal Finance for Private Sector Development in Africa†, Economic Research Papers No. 41, The African Development Bank, Abidjan. Aryeetey, E. 2001. â€Å"Priority Research Issues Relating to Regulation and Competition in Ghana†, Centre on Regulation and Competition Working Paper Series, University of Manchester, Manchester. Aryeetey, E. , A. Baah-Nuakoh, T. Duggleby, H. Hettige, and W. F. Steel, 1994. â€Å"Supply and Demand for Finance of Small Scale Enterprises in Ghana†, Discussion Paper No. 251, World Bank, Washington, DC. BEES, 1995. Guide to the Preliminary Results of the ERU / BEES SME Survey. Berry, A. , M. von Blottnitz, R. Cassim, A. Kesper, B. Rajaratnam, and D. E. van Seventer, 2002. â€Å"The Economics of SMMEs in South Africa†, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, Johannesburg, South Africa. Bigsten, A. , P. Collier, S. Dercon, M. Fafchamps, B. Guthier, J. W. Gunning, M. Soderbom, A. Oduro, R. Oostendorp, C. Patillo, F. Teal, A. Zeufack, 2000. Credit Constraints in Manufacturing Enterprises in Africa†, Working Paper WPS/2000. Centre for the study of African Economies, Oxford University, Oxford. Bolton, J. E. 1971. â€Å"Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms†, HMSO, London. Cook, P. and F. Nixson, 2000. â€Å"Finance and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development†, IDPM, University of Manchester, Finance and Development Research Programme Working Paper Series, Paper No 14. CSS, 1998. â€Å"Employment and Unemployment in South Africa 1994-1997†, South Africa. Department of Trade and Industry, 2001. Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) – Definitions, http://www. dti. gov. uk/SME4/define. htm. Elaian, K. 1996. Employment Implications of Small Scale Industries in Developing Countries: Evidence from Jordan, Science, Technology and Development, 14(1), pp. 80-101. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) [18] 227 [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] Falkena, H. , I. Abedian, M. Blottnitz, C. Coovadia, G. Davel, J. Madungandaba, E. Masilela, and S. Rees, S. , 2001. â€Å"SMEs’ Access to Finance in South Africa, A Supply-Side Regulatory Review†, The Task Group of the policy Board for Financial Services and Regulation, www. finance. gov. za/documents/smes. Feeney, L. S. and A. L. Riding, 1997. Business Owners’ Fundamental Tradeoff: Finance and the Vicious Circle of Growth and Control, Canadian Business Owner, November. Fisher, E. and R. Reuber, 2000. â€Å"Industrial Clusters and SME Promotion in Developing Countries†, Commonwealth Trade and Enterprise Paper No. 3. Gockel, A. G. and S. K. Akoena, 2002. Financial Intermediation for the Poor: Credit Demand by Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Ghana. A Further Assignment for Financial Sector Policy? †, IFLIP Research Paper 02-6, International Labour Organisation. Graham, D. and K. Quattara, 1996. Report on Rural Finance in Two Provinces in South Africa, Prepared for the Development Bank of Southern Africa . Green, C. J. , P. Kimuyu, R. Manos, and V. Murinde, 2002. â€Å"How do Small Firms in Developing Countries Raise Capital? Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey of Kenyan Micro and Small Scale Enterprises†, Economic Research Paper No. 2/6, Centre for International, Financial and Economics Research, Department of Economics, Loughborough University. Gumede, V. 2000. â€Å"Growth and Exporting of Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa, Some Thoughts on Policy and Scope for Further Research†, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, South Africa. Hassbroeck, D. 1996. â€Å"Entrepreneurship Training for the Informal Sector in South Africa, in Educating Entrepreneurs in Modernising Economies†, Aldershot, Hants: Avebury. Jordan, J. , J. Lowe, and P. Taylor, 1998. â€Å"Strategy and Financial Policy in U. K. Small Firms†, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 25(1/2), pp. –27. Kayanula, D. and P. Quartey, 2000. â€Å"The Policy Environment for Pr omoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ghana and Malawi†, Finance and Development Research Programme, Working Paper Series, Paper No 15, IDPM, University of Manchester. Lader, P. 1996. â€Å"The Public/Private Partnership†, Springs Spring, 35(2), pp. 41-44. Levy, B. , A. Berry, and J. Nugent, 1999. â€Å"Supporting the Export Activities of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)†, in Levy, B. , Berry, A. and Nugent, J. B. (eds. ), Fulfilling the Export Potential of Small and medium Firms, Boston, MA, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Liedholm, C. and D. Mead, 1987. Small Scale Industries in Developing Countries: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications†, International Development Paper No. 9, Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. Little, I. M. , D. Mazumdar, and J. M. Page, 1987. â€Å"Small Manufacturing Enterprises: A Comparative Analysis of India and Other Economies†, New York, Oxford University Press . Lopez, G. J. and A. C. Aybar, 2000. â€Å"An Empirical Approach to the Financial Behaviour of Small and Medium Sized Companies†, Small Business Economics, 14, pp. 55-63. Michaelas, N. , F. Chittenden, and P. Poutziouris, 1999. Financial Policy and Capital Structure Choice in U. K. SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Company Panel Data†, Small Business Economics, 12, 113-130. Millinuex, A. W. 1997. â€Å"The Funding of Non-Financial Corporations (NFCs) in the EU (19711993): Evidence of Convergence†, Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham. Ntsika, 1999. â€Å"State of Small Business in South Africa†, SARB Quarterly Bulletins; and Stats SA Releases, South Africa. OECD, 1997. Globalisation and Small and Medium Enterprises, Synthesis Report, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Osei, B. , A. Baah-Nuakoh, K. A. Tutu, and N. K. Sowa, 1993. Impact of Structural Adjustment on Small-Scale Enterprises in Ghana†, in Helmsing, A. H . J. and Kolstee, T. H. 228 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 39 (2010) (eds. ), Structural Adjustment, Financial Policy and Assistance Programmes in Africa, IT Publications, London. Parker, R. , R. Riopelle, and W. Steel, 1995. â€Å"Small Enterprises Adjusting to Liberalisation in Five African Countries†, World Bank Discussion Paper, No 271, African Technical Department Series, The World Bank, Washington DC. Quartey, P. 2002. â€Å"Financing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Ghana†, Journal of African Business, 4, pp. 7-56. Rwingema, H. and P. Karungu, 1999. â€Å"SMME Development in Johannesburg’s Southern Metropolitan Local Council: An Assessment† Development Southern Africa 16(1). Schmitz, H. 1995. â€Å"Collective Efficiency: Growth Path for Small Scale Industry†, The Journal of Development Studies, 31(4), pp. 529-566. Sowa, N. K. , A. Baah-Nuakoh, K. A. Tutu, and B. Osei, 1992. â€Å"Small Enterprise and Adjustment, The Impact of Ghana’s Economic Recovery Programme on Small-Scale Industrial Enterprises†, Research Reports, Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD. Steel, W. F. and L. M. 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The socio-cultural, economic and environmental impact of mass tourism Essay

The socio-cultural, economic and environmental impact of mass tourism on Tokyo - Essay Example This paper presents fact-based analysis of the full gamut of the impact, mass tourism has on the functioning of Tokyo. Among the negative impacts of mass tourism in Tokyo are income inequality, class conflicts, social stress, cultural deterioration, deprivation of local people of access, ethical issues among others. Reformed tourism policies that promote appropriate resource allocation, investor and worker visitors, and conscious travel, should be adopted. There have emerged two opposing sides to the debate on whether mass tourism is good or bad. In particular, mass tourism is shrouded in quite a lot of controversies and debates with one side opposing and the other supporting mass tourism. The question many ask is whether mass tourism creates and increases exploitation or prosperity in the destination areas. By extension, questions are also raised about the possibility of responsible mass tourism and its effects on the culture, economy and environment of the destination areas. Those of the other side of the debate do not regard mass tourism as an exploitative activity; instead, eco-tourism holidays and package tours are viewed as forms of mass tourism that actually benefit local communities in destination areas. Mass tourism could really be great to local people and cultures, environment and economy if only the tourists respect the destinations local people and culture . In addition, host country and people must enjoy the opportunities of showing their unique economic, social and cultural practices and beliefs to their visitors (Totman, 2005). In addition, mass tourism should also expose the destination areas to the cultures of the visiting people. Tokyo, the capital city of Japan is one of the main tourism destinations in Asia, if not the entire world (Cullen, 2003). Hence, mass tourism affects life in Tokyo in one way or the other. The economic value of tourism in Tokyo soars well above 10 million Yen. Consisting of both local and foreign tourists, the main tourist attraction centres in Tokyo include but are not limited to entertainment districts, ubiquitous Japanese pop culture, stores and downtowns (Malm, 2000). The cultural districts of Shibuya and Harajuku come to mind when tourism in Tokyo is mentioned. In addition, museums such as the Tokyo National Museum, which is widely known for housing Japan’s artwork national treasures is a renowned tourist attraction, centre in Tokyo (Waley, 2007). Other attractions in Tokyo include Tsukiji Fish Market, the Senso-ji Temple, the Imperial Palace and the Meiji Shrine. That Tokyo is easily accessible via the Narita Airport and the Tokyo International Airport also makes it a

Budget of a city Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Budget of a city - Research Paper Example Each department head articulates their own segment of the budget and presents it to the Village Manager and the Financial Director and consequently funds are allocated in accordance with the evaluations made. The estimations made are then finalized and presented to the Finance Committee and Village Board for review and direction which is then adopted by the Mayor and Board of Trustees (The Village of Niles 1-20). THESIS STATEMENT This paper intends to conduct a descriptive study of the budget prepared for the Village of Niles for the FY 2014.The paper would also provide a detailed study of the different priorities of the budget plan along with the sources of funding for the entity and their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, an explanation of the different segments where the money would be spent would also be provided in the paper. Different ways in which the local government could handle an economic recession would also be ascertained. DISCUSSION Explanation of the Priorities of the Budget Plan. It is considered that every budget plan is prepared with a prime motive. Fiscal budget is essentially prepared to support a number of imperative facets of a nation that require adequate assistances. With reference to the FY budget 2014 of Village of Niles, a few of the priorities that have been stated are listed hereunder: Community Development The community development department is essentially associated with issuing building permits, providing inspectional services within the village and keeping a track of the business and rental licensing within the village. Moreover, the department is also associated with property maintenance inspection within the village. It is worth mentioning that since 2013 the department has also undertaken the responsibility of the Fire Prevention Bureau and economic development marketing of the village. The major reason behind selecting the community development department as one of the priorities for the FY budget 2014 is to develop th e village zoning code in order to meet the growing need of the community, develop short term and long term goals with an aim to develop the economic condition of the village and also to market the village in the national level. The budget also aims to develop the information technology (IT) software associated with the licensing, maintenance and health division within the village for better efficiency that would facilitate to provide more quality services to the public. The budget allotted for the department also covers vital facets such as amended language for Chapter 46, Fire Prevention. It has not been addressed by the government. The budget also aims at inspecting 1300 business within the village (The Village of Niles 28-35). General Government Department The General Government Department is concerned with two primary objectives i.e. to provide high quality service to the villagers and to maximize the efficiency of village service delivery through the use of cost efficiencies. T he vital reason behind selecting the department as the other priority for the FY budget 2014 is to establish a coordinated relation amid the elected officials and the staff of the different departments within the village. The budget allotted for the department also aims to update the emergency operation center plan, the department also plans to collaborate with the Niles Park District Plan for conducting successful

Exercise metabolism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exercise metabolism - Research Paper Example These studies give an insight on how nutrition affects exercise performance and metabolism. They have different results and findings. However, all of them are geared towards understanding the connection between nutrition and exercise. Nutrients included in these studies include both artificial and natural nutrients. The paper also ensures gender balance because exercise metabolism and performance is different between men and women. Hence, it looks at findings of research done on women. Human beings have different capabilities to exercise. The capability of a human being to exercise is dependent on the biological ability of his or her body to change chemical energy in the skeletal muscle to mechanical energy. Adenosine triphosphate is the chief chemical energy source in skeletal muscles. During exercise, it is characteristic of ATP storage to be depleted fast if it is not quickly replenished. This is mainly caused by the increased demand for ATP resulting from exercise. In many scenarios, when exercising, ATP need and availability are exactly balanced. AT storage is also upheld. Hence, ATP providers in contracting skeletal muscles which are known as metabolic pathways quickly react to the high demand for ATP. What determines ATP demand? ATP demand is determined by the contraction rate of skeletal muscles and the power yield during exercise. Metabolic pathways are described by the enzymes that digest ATP in an exercise session. These enzymes include ATPase, potassiu m transport, and calcium transport ATPase, and actomyosin ATPase. These enzymes are related to the contraction – relaxation cycle (Hargreaves & Lawarence, 1). Homeostasis is key for the proper functioning of the human body, be it during exercise or at rest. Thus, ATP consumption must equal ATP use for homeostasis to be maintained. Diet is a paramount manipulator of the skeletal muscle utilization of ATP when exercising and recovering

Correctional Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Correctional Policy - Essay Example erica boasts the highest incarceration rates on the planet, even higher than places such as China, Iran or Russia, Canada also has significant challenges housing, feeding, and rehabilitating all of the prisoners in its prisons nationwide. According to a report released by the Pew Center for Research on the United States, nearly one in 100 persons in the United States is incarcerated (Pew Center, 2008). Canada has a much smaller population than the United States but the statistics are no less that a staggering. Statistics Canada has recent reported that for the first time in more than 10 years Canadas incarceration rate has increased and is now 110 prisoners per 100,000 of the Canadian population. This represents a 2% increase and for comparative purposes Canadas incarceration rate is higher than most western European countries including that of Sweden which is 82 per 100,000 and France which has an incarceration rate of 85 per 1000 population. The numbers are staggering and must be u nderstood if one hopes to tackle the issue of criminal justice reform and correctional policy reform in the 21st century (Tony, 2001; Statistics Canada, 2008). Seeking to address the fundamental issues associated with an overcrowded prison system and to propose a means through which correctional policy reform can be undertaken in the Canadian context, the following will argue that restorative justice will provide the answer to Canadas incarceration woes. This policy brief will be structured in the following manner in order to properly address the problems associated with over incarceration in Canada. Beginning with an analysis of the problem, an exploration of the weaknesses, deficits, and excesses of Canadas present correctional policy will be this elaborate upon. Following this a recommended policy to address the problems discussed above will explain the concept of restorative justice. Arguing that restorative justice can be one of the means through which solutions to Canadas

First Day of High School Essay Example for Free

First Day of High School Essay Walking into a brand new school for the first time with a bundle of happiness and a twisted knot in your stomach indicating just how nervous you really are, sure is a way to start your first day of high school. It is natural on the part of every student to remember the first day at school. Recently, I just became a 9th grader. I remember the day as a unclear haze, that resembled a impossible puzzle to complete. The night before was spent with stories of high school back in the last couple decades or so. Ever so often was an, Oh youll blend in, Youve grown so much, and I cannot believe youre already in high school. Eventually the praise died down and it was time to climb into bed. The first thing I came to realize was a large building pacted tightly together within a compound wall. As small as I am, i couldnt not seem to put the puzzle pieces together but luckily a map became my bestfriend. The schedule was confusing at first, since it was a long summertime before I had last read one. Nothing felt stable or ordered, everything seemed like it was going to be chaotic any minute. A few seconds later the bell rang, as I thought to myself how much I did not ever recall a harsh stop and ponder during the summer about miss the bell itself. The pattern went throughout the day as a class began, and after a long period a bell ended the period and began a new class. This went on for what felt like years. I walked through the halls and tried to categorize exactly what type of people I would be dealing with and Ive realized the fact high school is anything but the type of events they describe in movies. Everyone seemed to fit each category perfectly, however it wasnt quite the match. These faces appeared more normal and friendly. I remember my imagination of what high school was like when I was younger. I was just dying to experience all the new and exciting things that awaited me. From sports to boys to all the partying, I just wanted to know what everything was like and now that Im finally here, I feel like I want to go back to when I was younger and not wish to grow up so much. As time goes on you find yourself getting to class earlier and earlier each day. Finding new routes, talking a little more, taking more time between  classes and the tension eases. The days do not get harder, but the work and study habits do. Later days of the school year are always easier then the first few. Some say that high school was the best time of my life, just like others say that high school was the worst time in their lives. To be honest, I am not sure which category I fall into yet. Ive had a good start but I know high school wont be picture perfect for me. The only thing I can say is that I am learning.

Free Space Optical (FSO) Communication

Free Space Optical (FSO) Communication INTRODUCTION Free Space Optical (FSO) communication involves the transmission of data through a wireless medium using modulated near infrared light beam (with wavelength between 800 nm-1700 nm) [1] as carrier wave. FSO communication links can be used for satellite-to-satellite cross links [2] [3], up-and-down links between space platforms- aircraft, ships, and other ground platforms, and among mobile and stationary terminals within the atmosphere [3]. Light as a medium of communication is not a recent innovation as it was used in the Roman era, where polished metal plates where used as mirrors to reflect sunlight for long-range signaling. A similar sunlight-powered device was used by the U.S. military to send telegraph information between mountain tops in the early 1800s [4]. Additional optical communication developments occurred during the World War II, and the post-war era experienced further developments in this field fueled by electronic innovations such as the transistors, vacuum tubes and i ntegrated circuits, and most especially the invention of the laser in the early 1960s [1]. The unique characteristics of laser such as its powerful coherent light beam, the possibility of modulating it at high frequency and the low beam divergence has made it the preferred light source for enhanced FSO applications. FSO communication is considered to be one of the key technologies for realizing very-high-speed multi-gigabit-per-second large-capacity communications when fibre optic cable is neither practical nor feasible [4]. FSO communication can be of crucial advantage particularly because of its wireless nature and several applications, making it a viable alternative to the laying of fiber cable underground which is expensive and has environmental consequences. Unlike radio and microwave systems, FSO has higher data rate due to its high carrier frequency, low power requirements, no frequency license required and much smaller packaging [4]. In FSO links, atmospheric turbulence is capable of degrading the wave-front quality of a signal-carrying laser beam, resulting in signal loss at the receiver and thereby impairing the link performance [4],[5]. In addition, fog, snow, rain, dust, smoke and other aerosol particles contribute to the attenuation of the signal-carrying beam and eventual degradation of the FSO link. Several studies have been done on the atmospheric turbulence channels of a FSO system [3], [5]. The real performance measure of an FSO communication system is provided by the binary error probability also referred to as Bit Error Rate (BER).FSO communication involve the use of optical amplifiers either as an optical booster or optical preamplification. Amplification is achieved by stimulated emission of photons from dopant ions in the dopant fibre by using a pump laser as used in Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifiers (EDFA) or electrically as used in semiconductor lasers, due to the excitation of ions from a higher ene rgy state to a lower energy state. The excited ions can also decay spontaneously (spontaneous emission) or even through non-radioactive processes involving interactions with phonons of the glass matrix. These last two decay mechanisms compete with stimulated emission reducing the efficiency of light amplification introducing what is known as the Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) noise. Digital Pulse Position Modulation (DPPM) with direct-detection is the preferred modulation technique for FSO communication systems because of the lack of dispersion over the free space channel [2] , none requirement of threshold for detection [3] and the complexity associated with phase or frequency modulation [5]. At the moment, the benefits of FSO communications have not been fully exploited, hence more applied researches are needed at the laboratory to help transfer the performance of FSO optical systems into real life applications. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 FSO – PRINCIPLES AND CLASSIFICATION A FSO system consists basically of a transmitter, usually a modulated laser or light emitting diode (LED) which produces light for conveying data through space, and a receiver such as a photodetector which receives close to collimated radiation independent of the transmitter pointing concentrated lens [1]. Other components include beam control optics, collection lens, optical amplifier, solar radiation filters and other electronics [6]. In general, FSO systems can be classified into indoor and outdoor FSO communication [4], [7] based on the distance covered for communication and the absence of environmental effects in the indoor FSO link. The basic operating principles of indoor point to point systems are not different from outdoor communication links but the designs are very different to accommodate various requirements. Some research on transmitter and receiver designs for long-range FSO communication systems, [8] like satellite and atmospheric optical communications, have already been reported, which might be beneficial to short-range systems. Recently, many indoor communication systems employ laser diode as light sources [8]. 2.1.1 INDOOR FSO COMMUNICATION The indoor FSO communication link can be further classified as point and shoot links which are subdivided into infrared data association (IRDA) and retro-reflect links; and networks which have two types namely the diffuse networks and line of sight networks [4],[7]. Indoor FSO applications are confined to short distances; hence it is appropriate to optical FSO systems that use wide divergence beams rather than narrow beams which are suitable for point to point systems. Such systems are sometimes referred to as optical telepoint systems [7]. Due to the fact that indoor FSO systems are not affected by atmospheric effects, the power budget depends solely on the transmitter launch power, free space loss, and receiver sensitivity. As reported in Mahdiraji and Zahedi [9], the use of infrared frequencies for short-range wireless communications has received extensive interest over the decade, and many potential applications of this technology have been suggested. Some of the applications inc lude portable device such as laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and portable telephones. Many indoor communication systems employing infrared LED wireless links have been reported in [7], [9]. Using pure diffuse link, a high speed and power efficient indoor wireless infrared communication using code combining was reported in Majumdar and Ricklin [4], where a multiple transmitter link design was used with a narrow field of view direction diversity receiver. The design goal was to eliminate the effect of inter symbol interference (ISI) so that power efficient signalling schemes such as DPPM can be employed at a very high data rate. A portable transceiver for indoor FSO link was reported by Jiang et al [8] .The system employs a transmitter of eye safe infrared LEDs and a receiver of photodiode arrays with multi channel trans-impedance-summer architecture. The received signal achieved a BER of 10-4 at a plane of 2 m away from the transmitter, even at a point 50 degree off the transmitters vertical axis. The bit rate of the transceiver was up to 40 Mbit/sec in an indoor non-directed infrared FSO link to be extended to 100 Mbit/s using LEDs with higher cut frequency. 2.2.2 OUTDOOR FSO COMMUNICATION Unlike the indoor FSO communication link, the outdoor link covers a long distance over 500 m [7] using the atmosphere as its natural medium of communication. It is unlikely that long distance point-to-point systems will exceed the 4-5 km range due to atmospheric channel degradation. Outdoor point-to-point systems use high power lasers that operate in the Class 3B eye safety band to achieve optimum power link budget, particularly if high bit rate (e.g., 155 Mb/s) is required [7]. In order to achieve an improved power budget, an experiment was carried out by Heatley et al [8] to achieve a trial 155 Mb/s link that cover a 4 km distance between Imperial College and University College London. The aim of the experiment was to minimize the overall propagation loss focussing on the free space loss and the receiver sensitivity as little could be done to reduce the atmospheric losses. A low power laser coupled to an erbium doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) was used as the source; two astronomical t elescopes (Schmidt-Cassegrain, 20 cm aperture) were used at both the source and receiver ends, and an Avalanche photodiode (APD) was used as receiver. The result of the experiment was that the diameter at the receiver was reduced to 0.5 m which corresponds to 8 dB free space loss from a beam diameter of 2 m (20 dB free space loss). The major problem encountered was maintaining the beam alignment which depends on temperature changes. Although the APD receiver is relatively costly, it helped to improve the receiver sensitivity and they are generally used for long distance systems. FSO is well established for intersatellite and deep-space communications [3] but it can also be used in ground-to-space link, Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicle (UAV) to ground link, and among mobile and stationary terminals within the atmosphere [10]. New areas of application include quantum key, traffic and telematics [6]. It has been predicted that FSO can be fruitfully utilized as alternative for last-mile problem [3], [10], [11]. According to Majumdar and Ricklin [4], a group of researchers reported the design and development of acquisition, tracking and pointing subsystem for UAV to ground free space optical communications link. The communication link was developed from a UAV to stationary ground stations located at Wrightwood, California and Maui, Hawaii. The range of the UAV was 50 km. the downlink laser transmitter wavelength was 1550 nm and had power of 200 mW for developing a 2.5 Gbps data rate communication for a BER of 10-9. Furthermore researchers have presented results from exper imental demonstrations using a very lightweight optical wavelength communication without laser in space (LOWCAL) [4] between ground based telescope and a space shuttle. The uplink/downlink established at 852 nm wavelength and 852 nm signal beam. Some of the specifications for the experiment were: range of 640 km, data rate of 10 kbps, telescope diameter of 0.6 m, modular weight of 2-4 kg and retro-reflector area of 70-180 cm2. For the downlink, differential circular polarization keying (DCPK) format was used while Frequency Shift keying was used for the uplink. Both the downlink and uplink achieved a BER 2.2 FSO- TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES Theoretically, the wavelength range of the near infrared electromagnetic spectrum (800 nm and 1700 nm [1]) used in optical communication implies it offers extremely high bandwidth, hereby providing higher data rates compared to other communication media such as the radio (1 mm-100 Mm ) and microwave (1 mm-1 m) systems [1]. Further, this technology requires no spectrum licensing requirements i.e. traffic free bands, no mutual interference between the FSO systems (high spatial selectivity of the beam), no Fresnel Zone requirement and difficult to eavesdrop on transmitted data [4], [6], [10]. The integration of the optical wireless and fibre is a research area been worked on by my many researchers [4]. This integration is possible because the two optical technologies offer high—speed optical bandwidth to meet market needs. They both use the same optical transmission wavelength (800 nm – 1700 nm) [1]. In addition the two optical technologies both share the same system compo nents and can transmit digital information using a range of protocols. The business advantages of FSO communications for network extensions include the reduction of cost incurred on fibre-optic cable and other associated costs, as well as time for deployments [4]. Despite its potentials, FSO communication link is affected by atmospheric attenuation owing to aerosol particles such as fog, haze, rain and snow which causes fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the received light signal hereby limiting the availability of FSO for a given transmission range and increasing the systems bit error rate [5]. These includes the fine mode with diameter, less than 2.5  µm, the accumulation mode with particle diameters 0.1  µm  µm and the coarse mode with diameter > 2.5  µm [12]. These particles can grow in size in regions of high humidity, and shrink by evaporation as humidity decreases. The effect of atmospheric aerosols in the channel on laser beam propagation can be determined using the Mie theory which depends critically on wavelength and particle size [13]. The dimensionless size parameter illustrates the nature of the Mie calculation as it gives the relationship between the particle size and radiation wavelength. This is given m athematically in equation 2.1[13] as where is wave number, is particle radius and is particle wavelength. Table 2.1 adapted from Ricklin et al [13] show some sources of aerosol in the atmosphere. Aerosol particles can be classified into three modes based on the diameter of the particles. Table 2.2 adapted from OBrien et al [6] shows the attenuations caused by rain, snow and fog. Table 2.1 Estimates of particles smaller than 20 micron radius emitted into or formed in the atmosphere (106 metric tons/year) (adapted from [13]) *Includes unknown amounts of indirect man-made contributions. Table 2.2 Attenuations caused by rain, snow and fog (adapted from [6]) Extinction is a term which describes the attenuation of a laser beam as it passes through a medium containing atoms, molecules, and particles. As reported in Ricklin et al [13], Goody and Yung defined the fundamental law of extinction as that of Lambert, which states that â€Å"the extinction is linear in both intensity of radiation and in the amount of matter, provided that the physical state (i.e., temperature, pressure, composition) is held constant†. Intensive researches [3], [4], [5], [13] have been conducted on the effects of atmospheric losses, most especially atmospheric scintillation, on FSO communication and some solutions have been proffered to reduce these effects. 2.2.1 PROPAGATION LOSS This atmospheric loss is associated with the distance covered by the laser beam. According to Prokes [12], free space propagation loss can be expressed as shown in equation 2.2 [dB] (2.2) where L is the link path distance, is the beam divergence full angle and is the diameter of transmitting circular aperture. For the Gaussian beam and a sufficiently long link distance ( >>) the additional gain is = 3.7 dB. In Heatley et al [7], it was reported that for a point-to-point system that operate with a slightly diverging beam, the free space propagation loss would be 20 dB whereas in an indoor system using wide angle beam, the free space loss would be 40 dB or more. At very short link distances, the total transmitted power is detected at the receiver because the beam spot diameter at the receiver position is lower than the diameter of the receiver lens [12]. 2.2.2 PHYSICAL OBSTACLES Physical obstructions such as birds, insects, tree limbs, buildings or other factors can temporarily or permanently block the laser line-of-sight [6], [13]. Platform/building motion due to wind, differential heating and cooling, or ground motion over time can result in serious misalignment of fixed-position laser communication systems [13]. Proper planning and site measurements are ways of avoiding this effect [6]. 2.2.3 ABSORPTION AND SCATTERING Molecular absorption process which is wavelength dependent is a major factor in beam attenuation. At wavelengths greater than 1 µm, the effect of molecular extinction can be negligible as atoms couple weakly with electromagnetic field [4]. Furthermore, molecular absorptions at these wavelengths are due to absorption of incident radiation with only minor scattering contributions [4]. Aerosol scattering effect is caused by rain, fog, mist and snow. This effect accounts for the degradation in quality of service experienced during snow, rain, fog and mist as reported in a detailed measurement take by [7] over a period of one year in both rural and urban areas. The results also reported in Heatley et al [7], showed a similar trend but with rather less variability between seasons and higher average attenuations. For many molecules, the absorption spectra have been measured experimentally in the laboratory and the respective extinction ratios of specific molecules have been made available for evaluation [4]. Molecular absorption can be minimized by appropriate selection of the optical wavelength [4]. It has also been suggested in [7] that the attenuation effects due to scattering can be minimized by reducing the link range and/or reducing the optical power budget. The attenuation caused by scattering in decibel scale A10, scat is given by the product of the atmospheric attenuation coefficient ÃŽ ±10, scat and the link distance in kilometres. The mathematical expressions are shown in equations (2.3), (2.4) and (2.5) [12]. [dB/km] (2.3) Where is the particle size distribution coefficient defined as: [dB] (2.5) 2.2.4 ATMOSPHERIC SCINTILLATION Scintillation is caused by solar energy heating up small air pockets inhomogenously, thereby creating varying refractive index along the FSO link [7]. This results in the scattering of laser beams at various angles along the propagation path and a resultant fluctuation in both the intensity and phase of the received light [5], [7].Atmospheric scintillation is less significant at distances less than 500 m [7], [12], but degrades performance of a FSO link at ranges of the order of 1km or longer [5]. The intensity I of an optical wave propagating through turbulent atmosphere is a random variable. The normalized variance of optical wave intensity, referred to as the scintillation index, is defined by equation (2.6) [12] where the angular brackets denote an ensemble average. The scintillation index indicates the strength of intensity fluctuations. For weak fluctuations, it is proportional and, for strong fluctuations, it is inversely proportional to the Rytov variance for a plane which is shown in equation (2.7) [12] where is the refractive-index structure parameter. This parameter is dependent on temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, altitude and wind strength [12]. Beam wander is another occurrence in an atmospheric channel which causes similar effects as atmospheric scintillation. This is characterized by the deflection of the entire laser beam by optical tubules of larger diameter than the beam, resulting in a random movement of the light beam about the target point. Atmospheric scintillation is a major impairment of FSO communications systems, as it can produce large transient dips in the optical signal. It has been studied extensively with various theoretical models already proposed to describe the signal fading [3], [5], [11]. In addition, several communication techniques have been described to mitigate the signal fading effect [5], [6], [12], [13]. In [3], the error performance of terrestrial FSO links were modelled as PPM/Poisson channels in turbulent atmosphere. The scintillation effects were modelled as lognormal for weak turbulence and as exponential for heavy turbulence. In Kiasaleh [11], the performance of a direct-detection, APD-based PPM FSO communication system in atmospheric turbulence was characterized. Here the weak turbulence link was investigated by modelling the received signal as a log-normal random process and also as a negative exponentially distributed received signal intensity. The binary PPM was used as the modulation sch eme for the system. It was assumed that the receiver thermal noise is non-negligible and the average signal intensity was large enough to justify as Gaussian approximation. It was concluded that the performance of the APD-based PPM FSO system was severely affected by turbulence and that the optimum APD gain must be used to avoid excessive APD noise at the receiver. It was also concluded that the negative exponential channel scintillation affected the systems performance with only large signal power capable of influencing the performance. Zhu and Kahn [5] employed the statistical properties of signal fading, as a function of both temporal and spatial coordinates as an approach of mitigating turbulence-induced intensity fluctuation. In spatial domain technique, at least two receivers are used to collect the signal light at different angles. In temporal domain techniques, only one receiver is used. Here signal-by-signal maximum likelihood detector (ML) is used to optimize performance w hen the receiver knows only the marginal statistics of the fading while maximum-likelihood sequence detection (MLSD) is used when the receiver knows the temporal correlation of the fading. The investigation showed that BER has greater degradation when the standard deviation of the turbulence induced fading is large. Furthermore, the diversity reception with the two receivers can improve the performance than a single receiver. According to Prokes [12], the receiver lens area causes an integration of various intensities incident on particular parts of the lens. It was reported in [12] that optical scintillations can be reduced by increasing the collection area of the receiver lens. This phenomenon is known as aperture averaging and the aperture averaging factor for a spherical wave is shown in equation (2.8) [12] where is the power scintillation index and is the Rytov variance for the spherical wave. An experiment was carried out by Prokes [12] to investigate the effect of the aperture averaging factor on the power scintillation index using two different refractive index structure parameters for the calculation. The result showed that the influence of both the lens diameter and refractive-index structure parameter on the scintillation level was relatively large. The power link budget of a FSO communication link was given in [12] based on statistical analysis of the atmospheric attenuation. Figure 2.1 shows a power level diagram of FSO deployed at a distance of about 1 km. According to figure 1, the total received optical power, was given by Prokes [12] in equation (2.9) as where is the mean optical power of a laser diode, includes the coupling loss between the laser and the transmitter lens and the attenuation loss in the lens, is the beam attenuation due to propagation loss, includes random losses caused by atmospheric phenomena (scattering and turbulence), and represents the coupling lens between the receiver lens and photodiode and the attenuation and reflection at the lens. 2.2.5 AMPLIFIED SPONTANEOUS EMISSION (ASE) Optical amplifiers are important components in communication links, as they are used to boost output power levels in the order of one Watt and higher. Due to the atmosphere medium used in FSO, only optical booster and pre-amplification schemes can be used [14]. Apart from the desired optical signal amplification, the optical booster amplifier constitutes a source of background radiation that can exceed the background radiation from the sun. This radiation is called amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). The ASE power spectral density is represented in equation (2.10) [14] as where is one photon energy, denotes the optical amplifier gain, and is the amplifiers noise figure which ideally should be 3 dB. Equation (2.10) is valid for a single spatial mode (including polarization modes); in multimode applications has to be multiplied by the number of emitted modes to arrive at the total ASE power spectral density [14]. The effect of ASE radiation in optical booster and preamplification in FSO communication link was investigated by [14] using on/off keying (OOK) as the modulation technique. In the case of the booster amplifier, considering the fact that the maximum on-axis gain of a central unobscured optical transmit antenna with respect to an isolator radiator equals where is the diameter of the telescope optics and is the optical transmit wavelength .The value 0.81 is the optimum value of the fraction of incident power that can be coupled to an optical fibre from an incident plane wave. On inserting into equation (2.10), the ASE power spectral density generated by the booster amplifier and coupled to the receiver is given in equation (2.11) [14] as [W/Hz] (2.11) where is the transmitter gain, is the transmitter noise figure and and are the transmitter and receiver telescope diameter respectively. Also the signal power coupled to the receiver was given in equation (2.12) [14] as [W] (2.12) where is the transmit optical power at the output of the booster amplifier. Figure 2.2 [14] shows the general setup of an optically boosted FSO system. Modulated TX data Optical Receiver Optical booster amplifier GTX, FTX Telescope optics DTX Amplified data signal transmit booster ASE DRX R Using Erbium-doped booster amplifiers with specifications, telescope diameters, and a communication distance of , Winzer et al [14] arrived at which is of the order of the magnitude of the background radiation per mode produced by the sun. It also was reported that the booster ASE constitutes the dominating background radiation term up to communication distances of 600 000 km. In the optically preamplified FSO communication system, (see Figure 2.3) the received signal passes through polarization filter and optical bandpass which reduces the detected preamplifier ASE power. The preamplification introduces additional noise terms such as the shot noise, ASE-shot beat noise, signal-background beat noise, signal-ASE beat noise, background-preamplifier ASE beat noise, background-background beat noise and the ASE-ASE beat noise. It was reported by Winzer et al [14] that up to a link distance of 1000 km the beating of the signal and the transmit booster ASE dominates all other noise terms, c ausing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to become independent of R. The communication quality does not in this case increase with decreasing communication distance. It was thus concluded that the optical booster ASE has significant impact on the performance of a FSO communication link, especially at short link distances [14]. Optical preamplifier POL- filter (optional) Optical bandpass Decision logic RX data In Winzer et al [14], the use of the pointing, acquisition and tracking (PAT) system (see figure 2.4) to reduce the optical booster ASE at the receiver was presented. The proposed patent-pending PAT system eliminates the need for the using separate power or hardware for beacon lasers, taking care of alignment procedures between the beacon-laser and the transmit or receive telescopes, and splitting off a certain fraction of the information carrying data signal for PAT purposes [14].The booster ASE is applicable to the PAT system because the ASE spectrum exceeds that of the data signal by orders of magnitude and also the ASE has the same spatial modes as the data signal. Figure 2.4 The PAT system retrieving pointing/tracking information from ASE emitted by the booster amplifier at the transmitter [14] Phillips et al[2] carried out an analysis of the optically preamplified intersatellite pulse position modulation (PPM) receiver employing maximum likelihood detection (MLD) using Gaussian approximation (GA) and Chernoff bound (CB) techniques. The results from the calculations carried out at a wavelength of and bit rate of 25 Mb/s showed that this mentioned receiver configuration is approximately 1.5 dB more sensitive than the optically preamplified OOK non-return-to zero (NRZ) signalling. This method is proposed to have future implementation in future laser intersatellite communication systems. This paper has been reviewed in my report, with special interest in the BER evaluation. 2.2.6 EYE SAFETY FSO systems involve the emission of high power optical power which can be unsafe, especially if operated incorrectly [7]. As a result of this, laser safety standards have been established and classified based on the amount of power emitted by the transmitter source. Table 2.3 (adapted from [7]) summarizes the principal classifications. Table 2.3 Laser safety classifications for point-to-source emitter (adapted from [7]) 650 nm (visible) 880 nm (infrared) 1310 nm (infrared) 1550 nm (infrared)