Overview Of General Motors And Toyota

Overview Of worldwide Motors And ToyotaWith the ball-shaped economic crisis and energy crisis, cable carmotive gross revenue fell to their lowest per-capita levels, putting automakers under enormous financial pressure. All automotive manufacturers vex been severely affected, with most reporting signifi toilettet losses in the last two year. This affects every automotive producers including global automotive giants like everyday Motors (GM) and TOYOTA.If we consider GM and TOYOTA al unmatchable, rough(prenominal) companies lost a great deal of sales and had to adjust themselves according to these unexpected conditions. Especially GMs liquidity fell quickly to levels below those pauperismed to operate the company. At the same time, because of TOYOTAs well defined product processes and their steep quality end product, TOYOTA could provide healthier competition over familiar Motors, which facilitate TOYOTA to back out over the global industry consortership from GM.As the main objective of this report is to carry out a detailed analysis in relation to the above menti angiotensin converting enzymed situation and come up with well-nigh feasible international strategicalal movement that notify be used to take back the industry leading from TOYOTA by prevalent Motors.OverviewOverview of General MotorsGeneral Motors, founded in 1908 September by William C. Duran. General Motors Corporation (GM) is to a greater extent than than than one vitamin C year old Multinational Corporation, which has been maintaining the travel industry leadership over the last 80 historic period. GM employs approximately 244,500 people around the world, across all its brands.General Motors provides a wide range of vehicle priced from US$10,000 to US$100,000+ catering to various customer segments all over the world from middle to luxuriousness class automobiles. Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Cadillac, GM Daewoo, Hummer and Opel brands are some of their best brands. At the turn of the 21st century, it was prevalent that the environment needed to be preserved. General Motors began creating vehicles that were more environmental friendly. GM has innovated itself by creating fuel- competent vehicles, bio fuels and hybrids.Since its inception, it has expanded to sell cars and trucks in 140 countries across North America, atomic government issue 63, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. In 2008, GM interchange 8.35 million vehicles. GMs largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany.Below table re stages GMs Global Vehicles sales and Market share in 2008Overview of TOYOTAThe TOYOTA Motor Corp. (TMC) was set up in 1933. The founder of TOYOTA was Kiichiro Toyoda. As the main operational difference, TOYOTA is a process-oriented company whereas most companies are results-oriented, focused on how much they can make or sell or how much money they can make in a quarter. TOYOTA sells its vehicles in more than 170 countries and regions. TOYOTAs primary markets for its automobiles are Japan, North America, Europe and Asia.Continued Success of TOYOTAAs you see in the Figure 1, TOYOTA had a continuous growth over the last few years. TOYOTA envisioned their vehicles with a greater customer satisfaction and sales satisfaction by focusing quality, price, design, perpetrateance, sentry go, reliability, economy and utility. Figure 1TOYOTA continuously introduced various innovative success models such as environmental friendly Hybrid Luxury Cars to expand their vehicle range. TOYOTAs market growth drastically resulted to decline GMs sales within the US market as well as in the global market and ultimately TOYOTA could become the global industrial leadership by defeating the global automobile giant, General Motors.whyGMFailed?General Motors Faced ProblemsGeneral Motors (GM) lost their industry leadership and faced the worst economic d declareturn during th e last two years. Consumers have had to recognize with illiquid credit markets, rising unemployment, declining incomes and home values, and volatile fuel prices. assiduitys competition provided a major contribution towards the GMs failure. In addition to this immense competition from the separate global automobile companies, following two economic and industrial issues provided a radical pressure towards GMs comed make.1. Global Economic DeclineThe global financial crisis really started to testify its effects in the middle of 2007 and into 2009. Around the world stock markets have drastically fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems. New car purchases dropped significantly in U.S. in the closing quarter of 2008. The US auto sales for 2008 stood at 13.2 million down 18 percent from 16.1 million in 2007. Because of this General Motors faced significant slump in their revenues.2. Automotive Industry CrisisThe automotive industry crisis of 2008-2009 was a part of a global financial downturn. The crisis in the main affected the American automobile manufacturing industry other than to the Asian and European markets. Further the automotive industry was weakened by a considerable increase in the prices of automotive fuels because of the energy crisis. By 2008, the situation had turned diminutive as the credit crunch placed pressure on the prices of raw materials.Blunders of General Motors (GM)Other than to the above 2 global economic and industrial issues, General Motors worry on made following internal blunders as wella). Unstylish DesignGM customers were not satisfy with the last 10 years GM car models, basic reason was GM primarily privationed to keep the follows low, they compromised the design.b). High Cost ProductionGM has not utilized their institute capacity for maximum benefit. The other reason w as the high labor cost especially because of the high employee salaries and given benefits, GM had to spend a large sum up of ware cost along with the high maintenance cost of their plants in United States.c). Wrong Pricing StrategiesAfter the crisis happened, GM radically cut their prices with deep discounts, which resulted to increase their sales around 25 27k units per year, but there after the quantity stayed until the cars demise.HowTOYOTAWon theGame?TOYOTAs Improved Production ProcessTOYOTAs automobile action process provided an enormous push towards the company success. First they methodically reduced the setup time in the automobile assembly line and trained an efficient assembly line work force. In parallel to this they continuously improved the quality of for each one completed process independently. Initially this quality improvement appliance was so challenging but with the proper process designing and employee expertise, error rate began to drop dramatically.Once the setup time and assembly line was improved, ult TOYOTA implemented JIT (Just-In-Time) to reduce the buffer stocks and inventory levels during the production process. This resulted to accelerate and increase the efficiency of production assembly line process without maintaining surplus inventory. In rig to do this TOYOTA maintained a better supplier base by entering in to long-term consanguinity with major suppliers.From the beginning itself, TOYOTA closely worked with their suppliers, providing them by sharing engineering/management expertise, and even with capital to finance for recent investments. As a result of these improvements, TOYOTA could reduce the cost of production along with the high labor productivity and the quality which ultimately gave a greater competitive advantage over the other global automotive competitors.Next step of TOYOTA was to further increase the customer satisfaction. Therefore, TOYOTA continuously conducted customer surveys by using various tec hniques they estimated and identified the exact customer preferences. These finding were directly incorporated with their actual automobile design process.TOYOTAs Distribution and Global ExpansionAfter 1983 TOYOTAs first successful joint judge with General Motors, by 2006 TOYOTA represented more than 60% of the center North American sales. In parallel to the US market expansion, TOYOTA made their move in European market as well. By now with TOYOTA has overtaken General Motors and become the largest automobile industry leader in the world.How GM Become the Leader Again?SWOT Analysis of General MotorsTo have a strategic approach first of all we need to understand companys capabilities top outly. So below I have conducted a SWOT analysis to get a clear picture about the company. According to Capon, (2004393) SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The strengths and weaknesses of an organization arise from its internal environment, namely resources and their use, structure culture and the tasks carried out by the four functions of business. Which strengths an organization decides to work on and which weaknesses it tests to minimize depends on the impact of opportunities and threats from the external environment. Below I have categorized the internal and external environment factors for GM.StrengthsWorld-wide Market coverage and engineering science potential difference.Sols with packagers (for different needs).Utilization of core competencies to meet the requirements of specific customer needs.WeaknessesFailure to Make Technology WorkProduct Design Problems-public Acceptance.For every car that GM sells, $2500 of the profit lead go towards paying for the benefits of retired Employees.Still much to Learn about Lean Production-High Cost Production.OpportunitiesUse of knowledge gained from Joint Ventures.Continue to bod Customer Confidence.Almost all the automotive firms facing the same Economical challenges.Changing Consumer Demand f or New Model Types and Styles.ThreatsDomestic and Foreign Competitors and Other Competitors kindle Efficient CarsGlobal Economic Crisis.Unions are powerful and Drive a Hard Bargaining.High R D Cost.By considering the obtainable strengths and opportunities, still GM has several avenues to take over TOYOTA and become the number one in the automobile industry again. But for that, according to my analysis GM has to carefully perform several internal restructuring activities and adjust them to face to the immense competition.Below I have listed down some important steps that GM could follow to get back to the right track during the next 5 years.Products Improvement (Fuel Efficiency Improvement)General Motors (GM) today offers about 20 models with average 30 miles per gallon or more on the highway more than any other manufacturer. General Motors is also considered as the world leader in flex fuel technologies.GM should concentrate following areas during the overall products improvements .Vehicle Quality ImprovementGeneral Motors is focused on delivering high-quality and exciting cars, crossovers and trucks to their consumers. GM has substantially overcome the quality pause compared to many competitors. Further improvements especially in warranty problems per vehicle (relative to competition) are expected and such improvements should be taken in to account during the vehicle phylogeny process.Design ImprovementGM should not cut cost on their products design because customers still expect to look good their vehicles. Further GM can systematically conduct their target market surveys so that they can identify the exact design preferences of their customers.Improve Fuel EfficiencyGM should concentrate more Hybrid Cars production. Because by now, gas-electric hybrid cars have now become a practical choice for consumers and it offers so many efficient, innovative and affordable options.Improve railway locomotive ReliabilityGM had to face number of complaints (especially electrical problems) about recent unreliability vehicle designs. So they must make sure to design their vehicles safety features at least above the average level.Most importantly, especially due to oil crisis and continuous oil prices increments, there is a very good potential market for Extended-Range Electric Vehicles. So if GM could further focus on development of advanced batteries, power electronics, systems integration and manufacturing methods, there would be high get hold to dominate these types of new customer segments all over the world.Marketing StrategiesAt present, GM competes with 8 brands in the United States and out of them Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC represent the companys core brands, be for approximately 83% of current sales. So GM should focus considerably all of its product development and marketing resources in support of these core brands. This will result in improvements in awareness, sales, and customer satisfaction for these 4 core brands.Retail Operations (Locations)The other important consideration is GM should take necessary steps to strengthen and further consolidation of GMs dealer network, which will result to get to a more profitable and stronger dealer network.As a diffusion issue GM has approximately 6450 dealer locations right now, but the problem is most of their positioning is limited to serve in metropolitan and suburban areas. So GM should reinforce rural areas distribution network as well, which is a significant competitive advantage. Further GM should intend to have the right number of brands, sold by the right number of dealers, in the right locations to obtain maximum profitability for GM and the retailer network.Operational ProcessesWhen we closely monitor GMs manufacturing cost, we can see a dramatic declining from $18.4 billion in 2003 to $8.1 billion in 2008. According to the following diagram (Figure 2) you can see the US hourly manufacturing cost reduction over the last few years.Figure 2Further, t his reduction reflects significant productivity improvements. And also, due to post-employment healthcare expense plan reductions, GMs new hires would be as low as $30 $35. This rate would be significantly below the average fully-loaded labor cost for TOYOTA, which public sources indicate is amid $45 and $50 per hour.Below chart depicts GMs significant reduction of U.S. salaried employee count over the last few years.So definitely because of these types of operational cost reductions, GMs proceeds and benefits for both current workers and new hires will be fully competitive with TOYOTA in near future.Further Cost ReductionsGeneral Motors various restructuring initiatives over the past few years have been designed to improve its competitive position and ultimately the companys profitability, liquidity and capital structure.However over the past 15 years alone, General Motors (GM) spent over $103 billion on post-employment healthcare and pension expenses. Therefore, GM should plan to reduce the companys structural costs at least by $5 billion annually, or 16%, during the next two years. This would be a significant and important restructuring step to the companys long-term viability.Strategic Alliances and CollaborationsIn the present business context collaboration is the best option rather than the competition. Therefore going forward, GM should consider and plan to create possible and contributing collaborations such as an IJV (international joint venture) or alliances for the company.According to Daft, (2006) medium and large companies have couple of ship canal to become involved in international business. One is to seek cheaper sources of supply offshore, which is called outsourcing. Another is to develop markets for finish products outside their home countries, which may include exporting, licensing, and direct investing. These are called market entry strategies because they represent alternative ways to sell products and services in contrary markets. Mo st firms begin with exporting and work up to direct investment. Exhibit 1.1 shows the strategies companies can use to enter foreign markets.Exhibit 1.1International journal of business management, (2010) commented that newly established, 3 technology-based firms entering international markets often have limited resources in terms of capabilities, time, and capital. As a consequence, these firms often use entry modes characterized by low resource commitment, including checkmateship agreements (strategic alliances).What is the Best Marketing Strategy for GM?In this section I have investigate how the partner selection criteria is important for GM when they select a marketing entry strategy. Trust, Relatedness of Business, Access to Networks, Access to Market Knowledge, Reputation Factors should be considered as the five primary concerns when a company selects a partner company to proceed with a collaborative approach.Based on number studies, and according to my own analysis, to regain the market, I suggest GM should proceed with strategic alliances market entry mode.Forging Strategic Alliances and Collaborative StrategiesJeannet and Hennessy, (2004) have clearly justified that the more recent phenomenon is the development of range of Strategic Alliances. Alliances are different from traditional joint ventures, in which two partners contribute a fixed amount of resources and the venture develops on its own. In an alliance, two entire firms pool their resources directly in a collaboration that goes beyond the limits of joint ventures, although a new entity may be formed, it is not a requirement. Sometimes the alliance is supported by some equity acquisition of one or both of the partners. In an alliance, each partner brings a particular skill or resource-usually, they are complementary-and by joining forces, each expects to profit from the others experience. Typically alliances involved distribution access, technology transfers, or production technology, with each partner contributing a different element to the alliance.Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, (2007) suggest an alliance is a collaborative musical arrangement in which at least one of the collaborating companies takes an ownership position. In some cases, each party takes an ownership, such as by buying part of each others shares or by swapping some shares with each other. The purpose of the equity ownership is to solidify a collaborating contract, such as a supplier-buyer contract, so that it is more difficult to break-particularly if the ownership is large enough to estimable a board membership for the investing company.Production Bases AlliancesAccording to my analysis, GM should proceed with Production Bases Alliances. Jeannet and Hennessy, (2004) pointed out these alliances fall into two groups.First there is the appear for efficiency through component linkages, which may include engines or other key components of a car.Second, companies have begun to share entire car models, either by producing jointly or by developing them together. U.S. automobile manufacturers have been very active voice in creating global alliances with partners, primarily in Japan. Many of these alliances are production based.As a good example, to compete more effectively in the super-small car segment in Europe, Peugeot of France and Toyota of Japan collaborated on the building of a new production plants located in Kolin, Czech Republic by investing about $ 1.5 billion in this facility. The two partners shared the same body design but used exterior modifications to differentiate their models. Both companies carried out their marketing strategies separately, and thus are likely to compete against each other through their own sales and distribution networks.By joining forces, broth manufactures will gain economies in a very price sensitive market segment. If GM collaborates with a leading automobile partner such as TOYOTA or any other, they would also be able to win the competitive advantage through strategic production bases alliances.Problems of Collaborative ArrangementsNone of these arrangements are not problem-free or perfect approaches. Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, (2007) shows that although collaborative arrangements have many advantages, some companies avoid them many arrangements develop problems that lead partners to renegotiate their relationships. Partners might renegotiate responsibilities, ownership, or management structure. In spite of new relationships, many agreements break down or are not regenerate at the end of an initial contract period.Collaborations Importance to PartnersOne partner may give more management attention to a collaborative arrangement than the other does. If things go wrong the active partner blames the less active partner for making lack of attention, and the less active partner blames the more active partner for making poor decisions.Objectives DifferencesAlthough companies enter into collaborative arrangements becau se they have complementary capabilities, their objectives may evolve differently over time. For instance, one partner may want to reinvent earnings for growth and the other may want to receive dividends. One partner may want to expand the product line and sales territory, and the other may see this as competition with its wholly owned operations. A partner may wish to sell or buy from the venture, and the other partner may disagree with the prices. For example, GM has joint venture in Thailand with Fuji Heavy Industries to make and export vehicles to Opel in Germany and Subaru in Japan. Because of disagreements over quality, both companies perform inspections, which is time consuming and expansive, they have even argued over standards of paint jobs.Control ProblemsBy sharing the assets with another, one company may lose some control on the extent or quality of the assets use. Some companies have well known trademarked names that they licence abroad for the production of some product s that they have never produced or had expertises.When no single company has control of a collaborative arrangement, the operation may lack direction. At the same time, if one dominates, it must still consider the other company interests.Cultural DifferencesCompanies differ by nationality in how they evaluate the success of their operations. Japanese companies tend to evaluate primarily on how an operation help build its strategic position, particularly by improving its skills. European companies rely more on a balance between profitability and achieving social objectives. This difference can mean that one partner is satisfied while the other is not. In spite of these potential problems, joint ventures from culturally distant countries survive at least as well as those between partners from similar cultures. However as is the marriage, a positive prior relationship between two companies does not guarantee that partners will be well matched in a strategic alliance. Compatibility of c orporate cultures also is important in cementing relationship. final stageDue to the global economic recession and enormous industry competition, GM lost their industrial leadership to TOYOTA. The secret of its success was their well defined production processes and their high quality customer focused production. By analyzing the GMs presents strengths and opportunities, still GM has the potentiality and own competitive advantage to take over the industry leadership through a strategic approach.I have thoroughly evaluated the situation, especially the best practices and strategic movements of TOYOTA as well as the blunders made by GM during the past few years separately. Then under the How GM becomes the Leader Again topic, clearly I have described all the possible improvements and rearrangements, which need to be applied with a systematic restructuring process to GM. Importantly, this restructuring process requires considerable sacrifices from all stakeholders, dealers, suppliers, employees and executives.During these financial crisis and economic uncertainty challenges, with a proper analysis and misgiving GM would be able to open significant number of opportunities with the new strategic restructuring process and innovative products developments in the near future. Then in the final part of the report, I have explained and justified possible strategic market entry approaches that GM can follow to regain the industry leadership again.

Meaning and Definition of Performance Appraisal

Meaning and Definition of Performance AppraisalPerformance appraisal is a formal establishment that evaluates the persona of a employees cognitive process. An appraisal should not be viewed as an end in it self, but rather as an key process within a broader exertion management system that linksOrganizational objectivesDay-to-day performanceProfessional growthRewards and incentivesIn simple terms, appraisal whitethorn be silent as the appraisal of an individuals performance in a systematic bureau, the performance being pass judgmentd against such factors as job knowledge, quality, and quantity of out arrange, initiative, leadership abilities, supervision, dependability, co-operation, judgment, versatility, health, and the like. mind should not be confined to past performance alone. Potentials of the employee for succeeding(a) performance must also be assessed.Traditional Performance AppraisalThe history of performance appraisal is quite brief.Its roots in the early 20th ce ntury can be traced to Taylors pioneering Time and Motion studies. But this is not very reformatory for the same whitethorn be said about almost everything in the field of modern human resources management.During the First World War, appraisals design was adopted by US army which was in the form of merit military rating. It was man-to-man rating system for evaluation of military mortalnel. From the army this concept entered the tune field and was confine to hourly-paid workers. During 1920s, relational wage structures for hourly paid workers were adopted in industrial units and individually worker were officed to be rated in comparison to separate for find out wages rates. This system was known by merit rating.The process was firmly linked to material outcomes. If an employees performance was found to be less than ideal, a clipping in pay would follow. On the other hand, if their performance was recrudesce than the supervisor expected, a pay rise was in order.Little consi deration, if any, was given to the increaseal possibilities of appraisal. If was matte that a cut in pay, or a rise, should provide the scarce required impetus for an employee to either improve or continue to perform soundly. sometimes this basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended but more often than not, it failed.These observations were sanctioned in empirical studies. Pay rates were important, but they were not the only element that had an wallop on employee performance. It was found that other issues, such as morale and self-esteem, could also confirm a major influence.As a result, the traditional emphasis on reward outcomes was progressively rejected. In the mid-fifties in the United States, the potential usefulness of appraisal as tool for indigence and development was gradually recognized. The general model of performance appraisal, as it is known today, began from that time.Modern AppraisalPerformance appraisal may be defined as a structured f ormal interaction between a auxiliary and supervisor, which usually takes the form of a periodic interview, in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development.In many organizations but not all, appraisal results ar used, either submitly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results be used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses and promotion.By the same token, appraisal results argon used to identify the miserableer performers who may require some form of counseling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay. Whether this is an attach use of performance appraisal, the assignment and incisivelyification of rewards and penalties, is a very uncertain and centerious matter.Objectives of Performance AppraisalSalary IncreasePerformance appraisal plays a role in making decision about salary increase. Normally salary increase of an employee depends upon on how he is performing his job. There is constant evaluation of his performance either formally or informally. This may disclose how well an employee is performing and how much he should be compensated by way of salary increase.PromotionPerformance appraisal plays significant role where promotion is based on merit and seniority. Performance appraisal discloses how an employee is work in his give up job and what atomic number 18 his strong and weak points. In the light of these, it can be decided whether he can be promoted to the next high position. train and DevelopmentPerformance appraisal tries to identify the strengths and weakness of an employee on his present job. This information can be used for devising training and development programmers appropriate for overcoming weaknesses of employees.FeedbackPerformance appraisal provides work back to employees about their performance. A person works better when he knows how he is working. This works in two shipway, firstly, the person gets feedback about his performance. Secondly, when the person gets feedback about his performance, he can relate his work to the orgaisational objectives.Pressure on EmployeesPerformance appraisal puts a sort of pressure on employees for better performance. If the employees are conscious that they are being appraised in respect of certain factors and their prox largely depends on such appraisal.Others listing systemic factors that are barriers to, or facilitators of, effective performance.To confirm the services of probationary employees upon their completing the probationary period satisfactorily.To improve communication. Performance appraisal provides a format for dialogue between the superior and the subordinate, and improves understanding of individualised goals and concerns. This can also have the effect of increasing the trust bet ween the rater and the rate.To determine whether HR programmers such as selection, training, and transfer have been effective or not. order actings of Performance AppraisalA) Traditional methods1) Rating ScalesThe rating scale method offers a high arc story of structure for appraisals. Each employee trait or device characteristic is rated on a bipolar scale that usually has several points ranging from poor to excellent.The traits assessed on these scales include employee attributes such as cooperation, communications ability, initiative, punctuality and technical (work skills) competence. The character and scope of the traits selected for inclusion is limited only by the imagination of the scales designer, or by the organizations need to know.The one major provision in selecting traits is that they should be in some way relevant to theappraisers job.2) Check-list mannerUnder this method, checklist of statement of traits of employee in the form of Yes or No based questions is prep ared. Here, the rater only does the reporting or checking and HR department does the actual evaluation. The rater concerned has to tick appropriate answers relevant to the appraises.When the check-list is completed, it is sent to HR department for further processing. Various questions in the check list may have either equal weightage or more weightage may be given to those questions which are more important. The HR department then calculates the total advance which manoeuver the appraisal result of an employee.Advantages economy, ease of administration, limited training required, standardization.Dis returns Raters biases, use of improper weights by HR Dept, does not allow rater to give relative ratings.3) deplumate Choice orderA series of statements arranged in the blocks of two or more are given and the rater indicates which statement is true or false. The rater is laboured to make a choice. HR department does actual assessment.Advantages Absence of personal biases because of forced choice.Disadvantages Statements may not be correctly framed.4) Force Distribution MethodOne of the problems faced in large organizations is relative assessment tendencies of raters. Some are too lenient and others too severe. This method overcomes that problem. It forces everyone to do a comparative rating of all the employees on a shape distribution pattern of good to bad. Say 10% employees in Excellent Grade, 20% in strong Grade, 40% in Average Grade, 20% in Below Average Grade and 10% in Unsatisfied grade. The real problem of this method occurs in organizations where there is a tendency to pack certain key departments with all good employees and some other departments with discards and laggards. Relatively good employees of key departments get poor rating and relatively poor employees of laggards departments get good rating.5) Critical Incident MethodIn this method, only critical incidents and behavior associated with these incidents are taken for evaluation. This m ethod involves three steps. A test of noteworthy on the job behavior is prepared. A group of experts then assigns scale values to them depending on the degree of pizzazz for the job. Finally, a checklist of incidents which define good and bad employees is prepared.Advantages This method is very useful for discovering potential of employees who can be useful in critical situation.Disadvantages a) Negative incidents are, generally, more noticeable than irrefutable ones.b) The recording of incidents is a core to the superior and may be put off and easily forgotten.c) Overly close supervision may result.6) Essay MethodIn the essay method approach, the appraiser prepares a written statement about the employee being appraised. The statement usually concentrates on describing particularized strengths and weaknesses in job performance. It also suggests courses of action to remedy the identified problem areas. The statement may be written and edited by the appraiser alone, or it be compos ed in collaboration with the appraisee.7) GradingIn this method, certain categories of abilities of performance are defined well in advance and person are put in particular category depending on their traits and characteristics. Such categories may be definitional like outstanding, good, average, poor, very poor or may be in terms of letter like A, B, C, D etc.with A indicating the best and D indicating the worst. This method, however, suffers from one basic limitation that the rater may rate most of the employees at higher grades.8) Performance Tests ObservationsThis is based on the test of knowledge or skills. The tests may be written or an actual presentation of skills. Tests must be dependable and validated to be useful.Advantage Tests only measure potential and not attitude. Actual performance is more a function of attitude of person than potential.Disadvantages sometimes costs of test development or administration are high.9) Confidential ReportsThough popular with govern ment departments, its application in industry is not rule out. Here the report is given in the form of Annual Confidentiality Report (ACR). The system is highly secretive and confidential. Feedback to the assessed is given only in case of an wayward entry. Disadvantage is that it is highly prone to biases and regency effect and ratings can be manipulated because the evaluations are linked to future rewards like promotions, good postings, etc.10) Comparative Evaluation Method (rank Paired Comparisons)These are collection of different methods that compare performance with that of other co-workers. The usual techniques used may be ranking methods and paired comparison method.Ranking Method Superior ranks his worker based on merit, from best to worst. However how best and why best are not elaborated in this method. It is cushy to administer.Paired Comparison Method In this method each employee is paired with every other employee in the same cadre and then comparative rating done in pairs so formed. The number of comparisons may be calculated with the help of a formula N x (N-1) / 2. The method is too wordy for large departments and often such exact details are not available with raters.B) Morden Methods1) MBO (Appraisal by Results)The use of management objectives was first widely advocated in the 1950s by the noted management theorist Peter Drucker. MBO (management by objectives) methods of performance appraisal are results-oriented. That is, they seek to measure employee performance by examining the extent to which predetermined work objectives have been met. Usually the objectives are established jointly by the supervisor and subordinate. Once an objective is agreed, the employee is usually expected to self-audit that is, to identify the skills needed to deliver the goods the objective. Typically they do not rely on others to locate and specify their strengths and weaknesses. They are expected to monitor their own development and progress.2) Assessment Ce nter MethodThis technique was first developed in USA and UK in 1943. An assessment centre is a central location where managers may come together to have their participation in job related exercises evaluated by trained observers. It is more focused on observation of behaviours across a series of select exercises or work samples. Assesses are requested to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, computer simulations, role playing and other similar activities which require same attributes for successful performance in actual job.Advantages Well-conducted assessment centre can achieve better forecasts of future performance and progress than other methods of appraisals. Also reliability, content validity and predictive ability are said to be high in Assessment Centres. The tests also make sure that the wrong pile are not hired or promoted. Finally, it sort outly defines the criteria for selection and promotion.Disadvantages Concentrates on future performance potential. No a ssessment of past performance. Costs of employees travelling and lodging, psychologists. Ratings strongly influenced by assassins inter-personal skills. Solid performers may feel suffocated in simulated situations.3) 360o AppraisalIt is a technique in which performance data/feedback/rating is collected from all sections of tidy sum employee interacts in the course of his job like immediate supervisors, team members, customers, peers, subordinates and self with different weight age to each group of raters. This technique has been found to be extremely useful and effective. It is especially useful to measure inter-personal skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills. One of the biggest advantages of this system is that assesses cannot afford to neglect any constituency and has to show all-round performance. However, on the negative side, receiving feedback from multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening, and expensive and time down.4) Psychological AppraisalsThese appraisals are more directed to assess employee potential for future performance rather than the past one. It is done in the form of in-depth interviews, psychological tests, and discussion with supervisors and review of other evaluations. It is more focused on employees emotional, intellectual, and motivational and other personal characteristics affecting his performance. This approach is slow and costly and may be useful for bright young members who may have considerable potential. However quality of these appraisals largely depends upon the skills of psychologists who perform the evaluation.Performance Appraisals purposePerformance appraisals are essential for the effective management and evaluation of staff. Appraisals help develop persons, progress of organizational performance, and feed into business cookery. Official performance appraisals are generally conducted annually for all staff in the organization. Every staff member is appraised by their line supervisor. Directors a re appraised by the CEO, who is appraised by the chairman or company owners, depending on the size and formation of the organization.Annual performance appraisals allow management and monitoring of standards, agreeing expectations and objectives, and allocation of responsibilities and tasks. module performance appraisals also create individual training needs and facilitate organizational training needs analysis and cooking.Performance appraisal also commonly feed into organization annual pay and grading reviews which commonly also coincides with the business planning for the next trading social class.Performance appraisals generally review each individuals performance against objectives and standards for the trading year, agreed at the earlier appraisal meeting.Performance appraisals are also necessary for career and succession planning for individuals, critical jobs and for the organization as an entire.Performance appraisal are important for staff motivation, attitude and beha viour development, communicating and supporting individual and organization aims and nurture positive relationship between staff and supervision.Performance appraisal affords a formal, recorded, regular review of an individuals performance and a plan for future progress.Job performance appraisal in whatever forms they take are therefore fundamental for managing the performance of citizenry and organizations.Managers and appraises frequently dislike appraisal and try to avoid them. To these people the appraisal is daunting and time consuming. The process is seen as a difficult administrative responsibility and emotionally challenging. The annual appraisal is may be only time since last year that the two people have sat down together for a meaningful one to one discussion. No delight in then that appraisals are stressful which then beats the whole purpose.Appraisals are much easier and especially more peaceful, if the boss meets each of the team members individually and repeatedly for one to one discussion throughout the year.Meaningful regular discussion about work, career, aims, progress, development, hopes and dreams, life, the universe the tv, common interests etc., whatever, make appraisals so much appraisal so much easier because people then know and trust each other which diminish all the stress and the uncertainty.Appraisals much address whole person development not just job skills or the skills necessary for the subsequently promotion.Appraisal must not differentiate against anyone on the grounds of age, sexual orientation, race, gender, religion etc.For Example in the uk, the uk employment equality regulation 2006, which is effective from 1st oct. 06, make it particularly important to avoid any comments, judgments, suggestions, questions or decision which power be supposed by the appraisal to be based on age. This means people who are young as well as old. Age, along with other description stated above, is not a lawful basis for assessing and managi ng people, unless proper objective justification can be proven. See the age conformation information.When crafty or planning behaviour appraisal, seek to help the whole person to grow in whatever direction they want not just to identify clearly relevant work skill training. Increasingly, the best employee distinguish that increasing the whole person promotes positive attitudes, advancement, motivation and also develops lots of unexampled skills that can be unexpectedly significant to working productively and effectively in any nature of organization.Developing the whole person is also an important aspect of modern corporate duty and independently, whole person development is a crucial benefit in the employment market, in which all employers struggle to attract the best recruits and to retain the best staff.Therefore in appraisal be creative and imaginative in discussing discovering and agreeing whole person development that people will respond to, beyond the usual job skill set a nd incorporate this sort of development into the appraisal process. Abrsham Maslow recognised this over fifty year ago.If you are an employee and your employer has yet to cuddle or even acknowledge these concepts, do them a favour at your own appraisal and suggest they look at these ideas or maybe mention it at your exit interview prior to joining a better employer who cares about the people not just the work. unexpectedly the Multiple Intelligences test and Vak learning styles test are tremendously useful tools for appraisals before or after to help people understand their nature seeming and strengths and to help managers appreciate this about their people too. There are a lot of people out there who are in jobs which dont allow them to use and develop their supreme strengths, so the more we can help folk understand their own special likely and find roles that really fit well the happier we shall all be.Essentials for a successful performance appraisal systemBasing appraisals on a ccurate and current job descriptionsEnsuring that appraisers have suitable knowledge and direct mother of the employees performanceProviding ratings via aggregated anonymous feedback when multiple sources of information are usedIncorporating performance appraisals into a formal goal setting systemOffering adequate support and assistance to employees such as professional development opportunities in order to improve their performanceConducting appraisals on a regular basis (at least two times a year) rather than annually.If resource constraints do not permit frequent formal appraisals, consider conducting one formal appraisal annually, with a review of progress in the mid-year and ongoing review in regular supervision meetings apply performance appraisal to address workforce development challenges stiff performance appraisals provide a useful luck to conduct a check up on various workforce development issues that may impact on employees effectiveness and well being.Performance appr aisals can be used toRecognize, reward and support effective performanceDevelop and reward effective teamworkIdentify and manage issues likely to impact on holdingMonitor and support employees well being.Recognize, reward and support effective performanceEnsuring employees receive adequate rewards and knowledge is a key workforce development issue for the performance. Performance appraisals provide a good opportunity to formally recognize employees achievements and contributions to the organization, and to ensure a clear link is maintained between performance and rewards. The appraisal interview can also be used as a fomite to demonstrate supervisory and organizational support for employees by discussing barriers and supports to effective performance, and strategies to address problems or difficulties.Develop and reward effective teamworkThe appraisal interview is also a useful vehicle for recognizing and rewarding employees contributions to various teams in the organization, espe cially if appraisal information is gained from team members. An appraisal of the team as a whole can also be a useful strategy to recognize and reward team performance, and to identify strategies to improve team functioning.Identify and manage issues likely to impact on retentionOpen and constructive performance appraisals can be useful to identify issues that are likely to impact on employees willingness to stay with the organization in the longer-term. reveal factors associated with retention include salary and remuneration, professional development opportunities, and work-related demands and stress. The appraisal interview provides a good opportunity for a check up regarding employees satisfaction with their working conditions and environment, and a discussion of strategies to address any problems or issues.Monitor and support employees well beingPerformance appraisal interviews are a good opportunity to discuss employees health and well being in the workplace, particularly in r egard to factors that contribute to feelings of stress and experiences that promote satisfaction with their work.360 Degree AssessmentThe concept of 360 degree feedback makes a lot of sense and, if used well, should have a great deal to offer. It seems to suit the move towards the less hierarchical, more flexibly-structured and knowledge-based organization of the futureProfessor Clive FletcherGoldsmiths College, University of LondonIntroductionIn recent year the 360 degree appraisal has become much admired. It has been felt for long that one persons assessment of another cannot be free of favoritism. In supplementary with the focus on customers and emphasis on softer dimensions of performance it has become necessary to multiple assessments for a more objective assessment. The 360 degree appraisal is multilayer assessment and feedback system. Almost Fortune 500 Company is using this in some form or other. In this method, the candidate is assessed periodically by a number of assessors including his supervisor, immediate subsidiary, colleagues, and inner and outer customers. The assessment is made on a questionnaire specially designed to measure activities measured critical for performance. The appraisal is done anonymously by others and the assessment is collected by outer agent or specially designated inner agent. The assessment is consolidated feedback profiles are prepared and given to the participant after a workshop or directly by his supervisor or the HRD department in a performance examination conversation sitting. Due to the incalculable variations possible in the 360 degree feedback and Appraisals and its effectiveness as a competency identification and development tool, it is important to understand the process and its dynamics.360 degree feedback360 degree feedback is a full circle system of acquiring informal from peers, subordinates and inner and outer customers about employees performance. 360 degree assessment is based on the assessment of an indi viduals management styles, competencies and behavior by contemporaries horizontally and vertically by involving his supervisor, peers and direct report in organization.360-degree feedback is an assessment of multi source, which containSelfSupervisorInternal customers/staffs/peersExternal customersWhy 360-degree feedback is needed in the organizations?Business is towards surplus generation. Without additional no organization can develop. Here the effort to grow the business and the surplus should come from employee part. The performance of the employees is at work here matters in business development and organizational development. The performance of the employees should then align with the strategic decisions that integrate the business goals in more and more aggressive environment. It is the duty of the Human Resource attention to assimilate the culture of the organization with all available resources to the best possible output. The 3600 Appraisal helps the HR Department to have better understanding of the competitive advantage and disadvantages of the current manpower resources and tune them towards performance quality and output.PrerequisitesTop management supportConfidence of employees on the appraisal methodologyObjective need to be with performance requirement clearly statedA detailed plan of implementationCollaboration between superior and subordinatesSome prior experimentation and positive experiences clear organization philosophy and policy objectiveUses for 360 Degree Feedback containPerformance Appraisal Recognition of performance. Providing feedback on individual performance. Providing a basis for self evolution.Assessing employee developmentDiagnosing training and career development needs.Providing a basis for promotion, dismissal, job enrichmen, job transfer, probation etc.Monetary and other rewards.Organizational Climate conceiveOrganizational environment improvement needsChanges in managerial approaches, leadership etc.Customer satisfaction studyEmployees attitudinal changeCustomer satisfaction improvementsUsing of 360-degree performance appraisal we get benefits like,360 degree feedback permit an organization to focus on developmental efforts, at the individual and grouping level, in the nearby business position where the success of the company depends on constant revolution, which is possible through organizational development. 360-degree feedback facilitates the alignment of individual capabilities and behaviors with organizational strategies. That adds value to the organization uncaring ways-360 degree feedback afford a talented view about the employee from different source360 degree feedback provides increased the understanding about one1s role probability360 degree feedback provide a better understanding of employed development requirements360 degree feedback provide the understanding of competence and skill in various roles360 degree feedback provides a better understanding of individual presentation at work360 degree feedback reduces training costs by identifying common development want360 degree feedback extends better morale to those who perform and put in well to the organization360 degree feedback helps everyone to work for a common standard and institutionalize presentation management360 degree feedback ensure better interpersonal relationship and grouping cohesivenessIt promotes self directed learning and provides a road map for employees development planningIt promotes better communication within departments360 degree feedback increases the teams ability to put in to the organization goals360 degree feedback increases the teams ability to put in to the organizations goals develop better bottom line thought additional the capability of the organization to meet its objectives.For 360-degree feedback this steps may be taken to gage the readiness of an organizationIdentification of the problem. Analysis of the organization context for finding a solution to the problem.Allocation of re sources for the purpose in terms of time and finances.A detailed plan of implementation.Follow upDrawback of using 360-degree feedbackA detailed plan of action which, ensure the transparent and clear implementation of appraisal with employee accountability. impelling follow up is the prime requirement of 360 degree feedback. Failure in follow u cause more scratch than superior.The 360 degree feedback is time consuming and cost consuming assessment process. Without having adequate resource to implement the process, it will end up no where and develop financial

The Eurozone Crisis and EU Fiscal Governance Reform

The Eurozone Crisis and EU Fiscal Goernance Reform inclose the Eurozone Crisis A Case of Limited AmbitionAbstract The eurozone crisis provided a new opportunity for obtaining internationalist financial consolidation at heart the europiuman single silver field of operations. This battleground applies a anatomy epitome to the crisis dis kind that emerged from deep spile the European Federals (EU) intergovernmental forums involved in financial form _or_ system of government coordination. As healthful as linking insurance frames to dickens contrary integration scenarios for the scotch and Monetary alliance (electromagnetic unit), the broader make for of macro economical political theory is besides emphasised. It is ensnare that the response to the intensification of the crisis in Europe was to employ framing devices nourishing intergovernmental pecuniary civilize. While t here were emergent international give-and-takes over the longer term, these were refle ctive of a control domesticize ambition. A keystone constrictive factor here were the sovereignty concerns and issues of moral danger circulate amongst member states, which together dedicate ensured that a international monetary form _or_ system of government is unlikely to be obtained in Europe. Introduction This article considersthe response from indoors the intergovernmental forums to the eurozone crisisand the forthcoming prognosiss for fiscal supranationalism in Europe much broadly. When governmental scientists have dark their oversight to the politics of the crisis,it has often figured as a case study to support the grand theoretical claims do by the new intergovernmentalism (Bickerton et al. 2015 2015a). This approach has tried to theorize a new paradoxin European integration in the stigmatize-Maastricht era Member Statespursue to a greater extent integration but stubbornly resist further supranationalism(Puetter 2012, 168). Certain institutional dynamics as sociated with the new intergovernmentalism send word be compriseto be at work at heart electromagnetic unit where, particularly since the barrage of the crisis,there have been marked increases in intergovernmental insurance coordination deep down the European Council and ECOFIN Council structures (Hodson 2011 Puetter2012). However, the approach is still at an premature stage of development and deepempirical analysis of the semipolitical deliberations and policy environment withinthese rigidtings are still lacking. Further criticisms have been made. Inparticular, Schimmelfennig (2015, 724) points out that, They do notdistinguish intergovernmentalism and supranationalism by the integrationoutcomes (either substantive or in terms of the aim or scope ofintegration). Thus, claims of an integration paradox taking place within emuspecific eithery or across the wider EU remain uncertain. This articlefocuses on the issue of EU fiscal disposal make better spare-time activity thein tensification of eurozone crisis. Thepotential role of ideas as engines of policy change within EMU is a prospect takenseriously here (Dyson 2000). With this in mind, the wandering(a) institutionalisttheoretical modeling pro m opposited bySchmidt is employed (Schmidt 2008, 2010). This approach is well suited toconsidering the role of ideas and discourse interactions in bringing aboutchange in an EU institutional context (see Schmidt 2015). It is appliedthrough and through a framing analysis of the amend discussions that emerged from withinthe key intergovernmental forums involved in guiding the crisis response(Goffman 1974). This article identifiesthe dominant policy frames ( chores and solutions) organising the reformdebate, and links them to two alternative reform highroads for EU fiscalgovernance intergovernmental and supranational. In doing so, this articleclarifies far more precisely the dissimilar political and economic policyoptions for reforming EMU governance, as well as previously underdeterminedconcepts such as fiscal union and political union. As well as linkingindividual policy frames to different integration scenarios, the important roleof macroeconomic ideology in guiding framing preferences is excessively emphasised. Theoretical and Methodo logical Framework It could beassumed that the eurozone crisis would confirm neofunctionalistbeliefs concerning the dynamics of theEuropean integration exploit the weaknessesrevealed in the asymmetric single currency area create strong pressures for a functional spillover of supranationalcompetencies to the European level (Rosamond 2005). However, whenpolitical scientists have turned their attention to the crisis, it has oftenbeen directed at the intensified intergovernmental policy coordination that hastaken place within the European Council and ECOFIN Council (Hodson 2011 Puetter2012 Bickerton et al. 2015 2015a). While broader new intergovernmentalist claims of an integration paradox inEurope involving integration without supranationalism remain undetermined (seeSchimmelfennig 2015), these findings do suggest that deep supranationalintegration whitethorn not be obtained in EMU. Moreover, it has previously been foundthat a supranational reform agendum was not internalised by the delegacy1.Together these findings are important as the semipermanent sustainability of thesingle currency area without prodigious move being taken towards a moredeeply integrated fiscal union has been questioned (De Grauwe 2013). Through aframing analysis this article go a right smart seek to explore if the crisis response fromwithin the intergovernmental institutions was to push for supranationalismwithin EU fiscal governance, or alternatively, a retaining of intergovernmentalcontrol at the EU level. And, if the later course prevails, it will seek tooffer a more neck theoretical explanation of why member states continue toresist supranationalism, even in the appear of signifi shagt interchangeisat ionpressures. Adeeper understanding of the political determinants of the EMU policyenvironment will as well tending facilitate a more complete explanation of why asupranational reform agenda was found not to have been internalised within DGECFIN.The overarching theoreticalframework informing this analysis is discursive institutionalism (Schmidt 20082010). Of particular relevance here is the distinction made by discursiveinstitutionalism amidst coordinative discoursewhichtakes place internally within the EU policy making settingand communicative discoursewhich take place externally between EU policyactors and the general public (Schmidt 2005). This study integrates discursiveinstitutionalism alongside a frame analysis. shut in has been criticised forits lack of consistency in covering of theory and method, with manydifferent variants being operationalised without adequate clarification (Cacciatore et al. 2016). Framing has also been foundto share common processes with agenda-set ting and priming, although framingoffers a more encompassing conceptual approach (Aday 2006, 768). Here, asociological approach to framing is pull ined, which can be traced back to thework of Goffman (1974). A frame is understood as a schemata of interpretation,which can shape actors perceptions of reality and, in turn, influence politicalbehaviour (Goffman 1974, 21). Inspired by Goffmans approach, Benford and Snow(2000) make an important distinction between prognostic and diagnosticframing the construction of particular enigma representations and possible solutions. This is valuable forfacilitating a deeper understanding of the diagnosing of the causes of theeurozone crisis arrived at, as well as an exploration of the interlinkingreforms suggested to solve or at least freshet with the businesss posed by theeurozone crisis. Ideas within frames can be understood as occurring at different levels of generalisation specific policy ideas related to problem and solutions (e.g. modify rules-based surveillance versus debt mutualisation) normative ideas which attach value to political action (e.g. fiscal discipline versus fiscal solidarity) and terminally these can be connected to programmatic ideas related to broader policy paradigms and ideologies (Schmidt 2005 2008). As a means to locate the key framing ideas that are likely to figure in the institutional discourse on the eurozone crisis, a wider go off of the reform literature on EU fiscal governance will be completed (see the section below, Literature Review). Table (1) helps to link the different problem and solution policy frames that will be uncovered as part of this discussion to two different integration scenarios for EMU intergovernmental and supranational. As well as showing how ideas relate to different policy measures (problems and solutions) and normative arguments, the wider role of macroeconomic ideology in guiding framing preferences for EMU reform is also highlighted here. Following a framing a nalysis, the dominant frames uncovered will also be explored in relation to the wider interplay between ideas and institutions within EMU2.Two guiding macroeconomicideologies are important for understanding developments in European monetaryintegration liberalism and Keynesianism. Neoliberalism is a highlycontested term, although from an ideological standpoint it favours market based solutions and methods overgovernmentintervention(Holden 2011). Incontrast, perhaps the most important insight of Keynesianism is the recognition of the posit fordemand management by the state bothin economic downturns andbooms (Skidelsky 1992, 572-624). Keynesian theory,therefore, demands a far more active role for the state in managing the economythrough fiscal policy. Neoliberalideas have been found to have become deeply embedded within the EMU policyframework, including the prevalence of give way money and sound finance ideas imparting fiscaldiscipline (Dyson 2002). Thereis no prior reason why neol iberalism should be associated withintergovernmentalism and Keynesianism with supranationalism. However, when applied to eventstaking place during the eurozone crisis, a Keynesianism philosophy demands alevel of primordialised fiscal solidarity amongst member states, which would implyedging towards a more supranational model of fiscal integration. On thecontrary, building on, rather than replacing, the Stability and Growth Pact(SGP) arrangements for fiscal discipline would preserve the intergovernmentallogic of EMU governance, and is more aligned with neoliberal preferences. The focus here is on the framing activities that tookplace within the European Council and ECOFIN Council (shadowed by the informaleurogroup), althoughthese frames will also be located inthe context of the wider crisis discussions taking place within the EU citizens committee and ECB settings. The analysis distinguishes between two distinct phases of the eurozonecrisis a crisis escalation and crisis normalisati on phase. The crisisescalation phase can be traced back to the intensification of the globalfinancial crisis in the spend of 2007. With attention focused on the frailtiesof the American financial system, the eurozone economy at first assumed asafe-haven status for many gabators (Wyplosz 2009)althoughthere was some prescient warnings as to the multiple risks the downturn couldpose to the institutions of the European single currency area (Feldstein 2008).In early 2010, following significant upwards revisions in the budget deficitfigures for Greece, there was a fulminant erosionin market confidence in the Eurozone leading tolong-termgovernment bond yield spreads increasing dramatically for the fringe memberstates (Checherita et al. 2010). Withthe risk of sovereign defaultand uncontrollablecontagion movementsat its most serious, the chairwoman of the European Council, Herman cutting edgeRompuy, swiftly put together a case for the triumph of a European Council led assess Force in g uiding a fast-track process for EMU reform. By the fall of 2012, market reactionstowards the eurozone had normalised significantly. Keyhere was the ECB fulfilling its function as a lender of last resort (De Grauwe2016, 126-141), which was aided by Mario Draghisstatement at the end of July 2012 thatwithin our mandate, the ECB is ready todo some(prenominal) it takesto preserve the euro. In response to the calmingin market conditions, the attention of European leaders switched to themeasures required to stabilise EMU over the longer term. place thefoundations for these reform discussions were two strategical documents theDecember 2012 state, brisk at the request of the European Council by death chair Van Rompuy, jointly with the Presidents of the European Commission,the ECB, and the Eurogroup, entitled Towards a literal Economic and MonetaryUnion and the Commissions own A Blueprint for a Deep and Genuine Economic andMonetary Union Launching a European Debate, published in Novembe r 2012. Building on the previousdocuments, in June 2015, the President of the Commission, in closecooperation with the Presidents of the Council, the ECB, the Eurogroup and theEuropean Parliament, presented the so-called five-spot Presidents Report entitledCompleting Europes Economic and MonetaryUnion. appointed documents andspeeches throughout these deliberation phases will be supplemented by a series of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with senior EU officialslocated within the European Council, ECOFIN Council and DG ECFIN during themost important phases of the crisis. It is important to differentiate betweenthe full internalisation of discourse within institutions and discourse that isdeployed in rhetoric as a strategic political device (Hay 2006). Interview datais then useful for forming a comparison between communicative discourses to the general public and the internal coordinativediscourses of policy construction taking place among policy actors (Schmidt2008). Literature Review The escalation ofthe Eurozone crisis in 2010 fixed attention on the design failures of theeurozone and the practicalities of having a monetary union without theaccompanying integration of the fiscal side (De Grauwe 2013). Since 2010, mostof the reform proposals suggested to complete the architecture of EMU havecentred on the prospect of implementing two neo-Keynesian fiscal solidaritymechanisms 1) centralised fiscal capacity (or federal budget) forstabilisation purposes 2) and the introduction of debt mutualisation schemes.A Policy Contribution for Bruegel details the quartette main options for developinga fiscal capacity for the eurozone with stabilisation functions 1)unemployment insurance 2) payments related to deviations of output frompotential 3) the narrowing of large spreads 4) and discretionary spending(Wolf 2012). Suggestions for debt mutualisation accept the so called EuropeanSafe Bonds (Euro-nomics group 2011) and Redemption bonds (Bofinger et al. 2011 ). In view of the salientfeatures of fiscal policy, it is understood as imperative that come along towardsa more supranational fiscal union is accompanied by deeper politicalintegration to guarantee the elected legitimacy of EMU governance (Schmidt,2015). Despite callsbeing made for EMU to be completed through a process of supranational fiscalintegration, there is an altogether different integration route that wouldmaintain the intergovernmental logic of fiscal arrangements in Europe.Neoliberal monetarist principles are pervasive here, with discussions of fiscalsolidarity being disregarded in favour of a limited fiscal discipline agenda(von Hagen et al. 2009 2011). The main concern under this integration scenariois with heightened budgetary surveillance and enforcement mechanisms, which couldbe secured under the preventative and corrective arms of the pre-existing SGPframework. The fundamentally decentralised reference of EU fiscal governancewould also be preserved. In the litera ture, support for such a limited reformagenda is often supported by a belief that theeurozone crisis was primarily the result of excessivefiscal profligacyinthe periphery member states (Sinn 2010). Of course, the distinct lack ofpolitical integration visualized here would mean that channels of democraticlegitimacy would remain largely indirect via member state governments. Through thisdiscussion of the literature, two reform scenarios for EMU have beenidentified intergovernmental and supranational. These two models can beunderstood as being supported by a selection of different policyframes,implying different definitions of what theproblem is and different ideas of what the suitable policy solutionsmay be (see Table 1). First, the intergovernmental reform scenario isguided by a simplistic fiscal profligacy diagnosis of the eurozone crisis. Suchan interpretation of the crisis strongly implies neoliberal policy solutions inthe form of strengthened rules-based fiscal discipline. Frami ng the crisis inthese more limited terms may also be both politically and intellectuallyattractive. This is because these frames do not demand challenging integrationsteps being taken towards a deeper level of fiscaland political union. Alternatively, the more farreaching supranational reform scenario is informed by a broader interpretationof the crisis problem as a problem of regional imbalances. In turn, possiblesolutions are understood as going far beyond neoliberal fiscal discipline inthe direction of the murder of neo-Keynesian solidarity measures, including debtmutualisation and an enlarged EU budget. The need to ensure the democratic legitimacy for decisions taken at the Unionlevel is also problematized under this integration scenario, leading to demandsfor the coinciding development of a flanking political union. Table 1 Framing the Eurozone Crisis Building on name deletedfor peer review Framing the Eurozone Crisis Crisis Escalation Phase Following the intensificationof the global financial crisis in July 2007, the eurozone was at firstconsidered by some to be a safe haven (Wyplosz 2009). With the full implications of the deepening global financial crisis forthe eurozone not yet apparent, the crisis problem was initially framedby European leaders as one created externally by the financial excesses built-upwithin the Anglo-Saxon economies. As one DG ECFIN official ascertained, Governmentsbelieved the crisis to have originated primarily in poor regulatory practicesin revolutionary York and Londonand Europe was being pulled into the crisis throughthe global financial system ( secretariate functionary in DG ECFIN 2 2013). Asimilar sentiment was also reflected in more communicative discourse asEuropean leaders move to externalise the crisis. The German Chancellor,Angela Merkel, was uncompromising in asserting in front the German Bundestag thatexcessively cheap money in the US was a driver of right a offices crises (FinancialTimes 2008). Moreover, Fren ch President, Nicolas Sarkozy, proclaimed in similarterms that the crisis was a product of the Anglo-Saxon model (Financial Times2009). Despite Europeanleaders framing the 2008 financial collapse as an almost exclusivelyAnglo-Saxon phenomenon with epicentres in New York and London, Europeanleaders, led by Nicolas Sarkozy as the then performing president of the Council,did push for a strong coordinated European response alongside the G20 and Americaneconomies (Hodson 2011). In this early period, the framing of solutions to thecrisis in Europe, overlapping with the international response and IMFrecommendations, was guided heavily by Keynesian principles as leaders soughtto avert financial contagion and recessionary spillovers into the real economythrough coordinated fiscal expansion. In Europe, this translated into anattempt to combine both national and EU resources to support demand andcushion economies from the worst effects of the financial nuclear meltdown (SecretariatOfficial in DG ECFIN 1 2013). In November 2008, after an extraordinary summitof the euro area Heads of Government led by NicolasSarkozy, the Commission proposed a Keynesian EuropeanEconomic Recovery plan (ECRP), which championed a substantial coordinatedfiscal stimulus The Commission isproposing that, as a matter of urgency, Member States and the EU agree to an immediatebudgetary impulse amounting to 200 billion (1.5% of GDP)(Commission2008). Importantly though,a key principal underpinning the plan was that any budgetary stimulus should betimely, targeted, and temporaryandthat Member States should commit to reverse the budgetary deterioration andreturn to the aims set out in the SGPs medium term objectives (Commission2008, 6-7). As Joaqun Almunia, ill-doing Presidentof the European Commission, commentedat the time we have red lines,we cannotputan excessiveburdenonthe next generation (Commission 2008a, 6).Similarly, the conclusions of the ECOFIN Council continued to support thelong-term applica tion of the SGP we remain fully committed tosound and sustainable public finances. The Stability and Growth Pact providesadequate flexibility to deal with these exceptional situations (Council 2009).Thus, plot of land European leaders led by NicolasSarkozy, along with the broader internationalcommunity, embraced more Keynesian orientated fiscal stimulus in order to counterthe evaluate downward trend in demand presented by the intensification of theglobal financial crisis, the long-term European commitment to the neoliberalrules-based SGP framework remained relatively stable during this early crisisperiod. In the Spring of 2010 Grecian public debt wasdowngraded by the main credit rating agencies to junk status and a growingspread in yields emerged in Eurozone sovereign bonds (Checherita et al. 2010). Recalling these events later, PresidentVan Rompuy tuned that this sudden loss of confidence in the Eurozone provokedby Greece was a real shock for which we were not prepared (Council 2014). Asone official in DG ECFIN remarked It was now internal a crisis of theEurozone (Secretariat Official in DG ECFIN 2 2013). As the crisis intensifiedwithin the eurozone it was reframed by European leaders as a problem of fiscalprofligacy amongst the periphery member states. On 11 February 2010, in a buncoemergency statement issued by Heads of State, they remarked that all euromembers must conduct sound national policies in accordance with the agreedrules (Council 2010). The discussion was also centred on Greece, with theGreek government being told to implement all these measures in a rigorous anddetermined manner to effectively reduce the budgetary deficit by 4% in 2010(Council 2010). From a reading of the coordinative discourse, it was nowGermany that was seen to be providing conceptional leadership for framing thecrisis in behavioural terms on Greek fiscal profligacy. As the largest eurozone country ofcourse Germanys voice was perhaps louder than the rest. I think it is f air tosay that there was a perception in Germany that the troubles in the sovereigndebt market had been caused by excessive government spending by certainperiphery member states. (Council Directorate for Economic Policy Official2013). The Commissionalso concurred with these views. In fact, the EU executive took theunprecedented step of issuing a series of strict recommendations to ensurethat the budget deficit of Greece was brought below 3% of GDP by 2012(Commission 2010a). Joaqun Almunia,Vice Presidentof the European Commission, commentedthat this is the first time wehave established such an intense and quasi-permanent system of monitoring(Commission 2010a). In response to theescalating crisis in the eurozone, President Van Rompuy argued the case inMarch 2010 for the pre-eminence of a European Council led Task Force in drivingreform negotiations on EMU governance. The framing of policy solutions withinthe framework of the Task Force setting was guided more by a neoliberalideology t owards the imposition of strengthened intergovernmental fiscaldiscipline. In the first statement issued by the Task Force on the 25 March2010, the shift in policy responses by European leaders was already firmlyestablished the current situation demonstrates the need to strengthen andcomplement the existing framework to ensure fiscal sustainability in the eurozone (European Council 2010b). Moreover, the final conclusions of the March 2010European Council summit further instructed the Task Force to identify the measures neededtoreachtheobjectiveof an improved crisis dissolving agentframework andbetter budgetary disciplineexploringall options to reinforce the existing legal framework (European Council2010a). Again, in the coordinativediscourse, officials drew attention to the renewed abstract leadership playedby Germany in framing policy solutions for the crisis You have to understand that forGermany in particular the idea of having enforceable rules and sanctions tomaintain budgeta ry discipline is central to their vision of how EMU shouldoperate. And during the crisis it was Germany that pressed the hardest forheighted budgetary surveillance (Member of the Cabinet for the European CouncilPresident, 2014). A separate officialcommented on what they perceived as the inevitably of Germanys leading role insetting the reform priorities within the task force But of course Germanytakes a leading role here in view of its economic size. So Germanyautomatically was seen to take on a leading role, whether it wanted it or not(Council Directorate for Economic Policy Official 2013). In contrast, FrenchPresident, Nicolas Sarkozy led continued pleas for more fiscal solidarity Theeuro is our currency. It implies solidarity. There can be no doubt on theexpression of this solidarity (BBC 2010). However, while it has been observedthat France under the stewardship ofSarkozy also had a role to play here, it has been noted that he, in effect,was forced to concede too many of Germany s demands during the crisisdeliberations (Council Directorate for Economic Policy Official 2013). Thus,while Nicolas Sarkozy played an important role in leading a more Keynesian internationalresponse at the onset of the global financial crisis, as the crisis intensifiedwithin the eurozone the French President was forced to abandon solutionsinvolving fiscal solidarity in favour of Germanys more limited fiscaldiscipline objectives. These framingpriorities were reflected in the Final Report of the Task Force released to thepublic in October 2010. The main pillar of the suggested reforms was gearedtowards greater fiscal discipline through a stronger stability and growthpact (European Council 2010, 3-4). Aspart of its ongoing institutional dialogue with the Task Force, the ECB alsooffered its public support for legislative measures supporting a more rigorousquasi-automatic implementationof the SGP rules (ECB 2010). Three key objectives were embedded in theFinal Report of the Task Force t he need for a greater focus on debt andfiscal sustainability, to reinforce compliance and to ensure that nationalfiscal frameworks reflect the EUs fiscal rules (European Council 2010, 1-12).In remarks following the final meeting of the Task Force, President Van Rompuydocumented that the task forces commitment to a stronger Pact was high fromthe beginning to the end (European Council 2010c). Converging with the framingactivities of the Task Force, inSeptember 2010 the Commission proposed the so-called six-pack of legislative proposalscentred on the concept of prudent fiscal policy-making (Commission 2010, 1). Thesefast-tracked proposals sought to strengthen the touch on and antecedentity ofthe preventative arm of the SGP by giving it teeth (EU Commission 2010, 4-5).These early framing activities led by deliberations within the Task Force also helpedset the subsequent policy agenda in the form of a legislative two-pack(proposed in November 2011) and intergovernmental fiscal compact (agreed 8-9December 2011). Building on the legislative six-pack, both measures werelimited to strengthening intergovernmental fiscal discipline under the SGP,through strengthened budgetary surveillance and reinforced compliance (see Commission2012). Crisis Normalisation Phase From the summer of 2012to the winter of 2013 there was a gradual reduction in the eurozone peripherybond yield spreads. Key here was the ECB fulfilling itsfunction as a lender of last resort (De Grauwe 2013 2016). With the ECB ableto temporarily normalise market reactions within the eurozone, it offered theprospect that European leaders may seek to reframe the crisis as demanding moresupranational solutions. This assumption appeared to be confirmed whenPresident Herman Van Rompuy, following a European Council summit at the end ofJune 2012, first mentioned the prospect of laying down a longer-term visionfor strengthening EMU (European Council 2012c). Following prior negotiations in the European Council, Preside ntVan Rompuy, jointly with the Presidents of the European Commission, the ECB,and the Eurogroup, presented in December 2012 a idea entitled Towards aGenuine Economic and Monetary Union.However, despite the possibility of a critical juncture event, the framing of policysolutions within the report continued to prioritise the strengthening ofintergovernmental fiscal discipline over the short-term. Thenear term priority is to complete and implement the new steps for strongereconomic governanceThe other elements related to strengthening fiscalgovernance in the euro area (Two-Pack), which are still in the legislativeprocess, should be finalised urgently and be implemented well (EuropeanCouncil 2012, 8).These reformpriorities were also reflected in the coordinative discourse The priority hasremained the implementation of the measures contained in the six-pack and two-packproposals (Council Directorate for Economic Policy Official 2013). And again,Germanys notional leadership in framing policy solutions was observed to bepivotal here There is an understanding amongst member states that budgetdiscipline has to be ensured before more financial support can be offered. Thisis also a German insistence (Council Directorate for Economic Policy Official,2013). Moreover, while the ECB internally called for a quantum leap inintegration within EMU, this was rigorously interpreted in terms of furtherstrengthening the budgetary discipline of the euro area Member States (ECB20128). When discussingthe reform solutions for implementation over the long-term (five age andmore), there was a shift in the discourse of the Towards a Genuine Economicand Monetary Union report towards the language of supranationalism.However, these framing devices were only reflective of a limited reformambition. For example, the report mentions the possibility of graduallydeveloping a fiscal capacity, which could help cushion the impact ofcountry-specific shocks and prevent contagion across the euro area (EuropeanCouncil 2012, 9). Yet the precise form that any fiscal capacity should takewithin the euro area was left vague, with the report acknowledging that theexact conditions and thresholds for the activation of transfers would need tobe studied carefully (European Council 2012, 11). Moreover, it was alsoemphasised that the development of a fiscal capacity within the eurozone should not lead topermanent transfersbetween countries and that thisprocess should occur without resorting to the mutualisation ofsovereign debt (European Council 2012, 10-12). Tellingly, within thesubsequent Conclusions of the December 2012 European Council, any mention of afiscal capacity or shock absorption function for EMU was omitted, along withplans for debt-mutualisation (European Council 2012a). In thecoordinative discourse, officials were able to account for the limited ambitionshown in framing supranational solutions to the eurozone crisis by pointingtowards a mixture of sovereignty concerns and is sues of moral hazard amongstmember states. For example, one official highlighted the constraining influenceof these national interest ideas on integration within EMU A degree of debt mutualisation or financial risk sharing could, intheory, help lower borrowing costs amongst the periphery member states and helpward off pressure from the financial markets butit effectively means the transfer of sovereignty, at least to some extent. Thatis the biggest obstacle that is what it is all about. In the end it comes downto sovereignty and money (Council Directorate for Economic PolicyOfficial 2013).Similar ideas wereraised by one official who, when asked to comment on the probability ofsecuring supranational fiscal integration, answered candidly I think it is not very probable because of statesovereignty concerns ( adviser to the Cabinet of the European Council President2014). The official argued that this is because a fiscal union with tax powersgoingto the European Union level would be comp letely turning upside down the way theUnion is currently running (Advisor tothe Cabinet of the European Council President 2014).A separate official also drew attention to the importance of concerns of moralhazard, predominantly amongst the core member states who want to be able toinfluence the periphery member states debt situation (Member of the Cabinet for the European CouncilPresident 2014). There were also discussions in the Towards a Genuine Economic andMonetary Union report concerning the development of aflanking political union aspect, although again the supranational framing ofthe discourse was lacking in ambition. Inorder to underpin the democratic legitimacy and accountability of decisionmaking the report called for the the involvement of the European Parliament asregards accountability for decisions taken at the European level, while at thesame time maintaining the pivotal role of national parliaments, asappropriate (European Council 2012, 16-17). The engagement to maint ain apivotal role for national parliaments, even in the event of a verticaltransfer of powers to the European level, would appear to stem from an poster made in the report that decisions on national budgets are at theheart of Member States parliamentary democracies (European Council 2012, 16).The report, then, explicitly divorced itself from supranational politicalsolutions. In the coordinative discourse, sovereignty concerns were againraised as major hurdle to political integration People have different interests and different concepts of what apolitical union would be and as to what sovereign powers should be transferredaddingthat we are not even discussing this (Council Directorate for EconomicPolicy Official 2013).In November 2012 the Commission published its own Communicationoutlining A blueprint for a deep and genuine economic and monetaryunion Launching a European Debate. Converging with the Van Rompuy report, theimmediate framing of policy solutions was restricted to fiscal disciplineobjectives immediate priority should be given tothe full deployment of the new economic governance tools brought by the six-packas well as rapid adoption of current Commission proposals such as the two-pack(Commission 2012, 12). Once again, like the Van Rompuy report, theblueprint did conservatively embed more supranational frames when addressing thelong-term reform agenda for EMU (five years and more). This is in keepingwith the EU Commissions pledge that steps towards more responsibility andeconomic discipline should be combined with more solidarity and financialsupport (EU Commission 2012, 11). Accordingly, the framing of solutionsshifted to demand more in the way of fiscal solidarity, with tentative ideasfor a fiscal capacity (or federal budget) and even debt mutualisationschemes being aired as possibilities tosupport member states in the absorption of economic shocks (Commission 2012,25-26). However, these solidarity mechanisms were envisioned as being implementedstr ictly after the new arrangements for fiscal discipline have been fullyimplemented. Also, the procedural details and legal basis for the solidaritymechanisms was left vague, with proposal covering options from contractualarrangements to an insurance type system. As one official commented Ithink there needs to be some ingredients of fiscal union. Its not entirelyclear which ones and to what extent there are different views and these aretricky questions ( aged Fiscal Policy Advisor in DG ECFIN 2013).Moreover, the blueprint also shied away from committing itself to any processof supranational political integration, with the EU Commission arguing that thethe Lisbon Treaty has better the EUs unique model of supranationaldemocracy (Commission 2012, 35). In June 2015, thePresident of the Commission, in close cooperation with the Presidents of theCouncil, the ECB, the Eurogroup and the European Parliament, presented theso-called Five Presidents Report entitled Completing Europes Economic an d Monetary Union. It is notable thatin the updated report the framing of policy solutions for fiscal integrationwas even less ambitious than it had been in earlier institutional reportsdrafted during earlier periods of the crisis. Apart from repeating theneed to improve compliance with the new rules contained in the six-pack,two-pack and Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, there were noinstitutional innovations suggested for implementation over the short-term.Instead, intergovernmental fiscal discipline was again framed as thepriority solutionwith repeatedreferences made to responsible budgetary policies (Commission 2015, 14). Thereport also warned that every Member State must stick to the rules, or thecredibility of this framework is at risk (Commission 2015, 14-15).In terms of the framing of solutions over the longer-term(five years or more), previous references to a fiscal capacity and limitedforms of debt mutualisation were completely omitted. Instead, the FivePres idents tentatively floated the idea of a euro area-wide fiscalstabilisation function (Commission 2015, 14-15). Postponed strictly for inthe longer term, the development of such afunction is envisioned as the culmination of a process of convergenceand further pooling of decision-making on national budgets (Commission 2015,14-155). The report also cautioned thatit should not lead to permanent transfers between countries and that effortsshould be made to guarantee it is consistent with the existing EU fiscal framework(Commission 2015, 15). Tellingly the report was also explicit that the exact design of sucheuro area stabilisers requires more in-depth work (Commission 2015, 14). Aspart of the Commission Presidents 2015 State of the Union address, he arguedfor a more effective and democratic system of economic and fiscalsurveillance (Commission 2015a). However, there was again a noticeable lack ofprogress on political union. While the report affirmed a key rolefor the European Parliament and national Parliaments, practical steps toensure the democratic legitimacy of decision making were limited to proposalsto consolidate the external representation of the euro and the integrationintergovernmental solutions (i.e. Treaty on Stability, Coordination andGovernance) within the EU legal framework (Commission 2015, 17-18).Framing in Context Thedominant framing activities uncovered need to be understood in the context ofthe wider EMU policy environment. One of the keyfoundations of EMU was the ideational consensus reached in Europe on neoliberaleconomic principles in the 1980s (McNamara 1998). However, while theredeveloped a relative consensus that monetary policy would function inaccordance with neoliberal principles, very little thought was given during thedeliberations at Maastricht on the 1992 Treatyon European Union (TEU) as to the possibility of accompanying theseintegration steps with progress towards a supranational fiscal union. As Verduncommented Fiscal policy har monisationwas just plain one step too far there was no support for a transfer ofsovereignty over these matters to the European level (Verdun 1998, 122). Froman early stage, therefore, political necessity dictated that fiscal policywould remain firmly in the intergovernmental realm. Yet from the perspective ofunderpinning EMU with an institutional framework that is in keeping withneoliberal ideas of sound money and sound finance (Dyson 2002), Europeaneconomic and monetary integration was not completed at Maastricht. It was against this backdrop that the then German lookfor finance, Theo Waigel, advanced a proposal for a rules-based Stability Pactfor Europe in 1996. In summary, owning to the political constraints preventingfiscal supranationalism, coupled with the importation of neoliberal ideas,intergovernmental fiscal discipline became institutionalised at heart of EMUearly on. Sinceits formation, the course of EU fiscal governance reform has been characterisedby a strong path-dep endency (Pierson 1996). In fact, in view of thepath-dependent constraints of the political environment, on top of theprevailing neoliberal ideational consensus, the rules-based framework for EUfiscal governance was never seriously challenged by European leaders throughoutthe first ten years of the single currency area (see Heipertz and Verdun 2011. While the onset of the eurozone crisis had thepotential to represent a critical juncture in the path for EMU integration(Bulmer 1994), the revival of concerns amongst member states over sovereigntyand moral hazard have continued to engender the intergovernmental structure ofEMU a political necessity. However, although the minimal structure of EMUremains a manifestation of different conceptions of national interest, theprevailing neoliberal ideology has simultaneously continued to conditionperceptions as to the efficacy of the SGP rules-based framework for fiscaldiscipline.Thus,while French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in tandem with the in ternationalcommunity, was seen to be powerful in leading a brief resurgence of more Keynesian oriented demandstimulus during the early stages of the crisis, European leaders defended thecontinued application of the SGP as the overarching framework for EU fiscalgovernance. The dramatic shift in early 2010 from Anglo-Saxon externalexcesses to the internal vulnerabilities within the eurozone only exaggeratedthe path-dependent effect of competing national interests amongst member stateswhile reinforcing the reversion to neoliberal solutions. First, policy makers were responding with a degree of shockand panic to a crisis of potentially existential proportions (as termed by aMember of the Cabinet for the European Council President, 2014). Operating inthis environment of crisis, diagnosing the crisis in behavioural terms asresulting from fiscal profligacy and offering intergovernmental reformsolutions limited to strengthening the SGP would have been both intellectuallyand politically att ractive. Not only were thesepolicy frames fully in line with theneoliberal logic of soundmoneyandfinance enshrined since Maastricht (Dyson 2002), but they could also be implementedvia secondary legislation under the current legal basis provided by the SGPframework. Moreover, buttressed by its economic weight and its considerablestructural power within the EMU set-up, Germany was also increasingly in astrong position to provide ideational leadership in framing neoliberalsolutions to the crisis. This can be contrasted with France who, as the crisisprogressed, was forced to abandon more Keynesian solutions in favour ofGermanys more limited fiscal discipline objectives. Conclusion The intensificationof the crisis within the eurozone brought with it a marked intensification ofintergovernmental policy coordination within EMU. As the crisis progressed, theresponse by European leaders was to adopt problem and solution framessupporting intergovernmental fiscal discipline. Importantly, these frames wereintellectually attractive as they were fully consistent with the neoliberalfoundations underpinning EMU governance. Also, these frames were politicallysimple to express as they could be implemented in full under the pre-existing SGPlegal framework. While there was a partial shift in the discourse towardssupranationalism following the normalisation of the crisis, these discourseswere always reflective of a limited reform ambition. In this context, a supranationalframing of the crisis was found to be limited by constraining ideas of nationalinterest concerning state sovereignty and issues moral hazard. Germany was alsoable to draw on its economic weight and bargaining power to provide ideationalleadership, further directing the reform agenda towards intergovernmental fiscaldiscipline. In relation to thewider literature, these findings are broadly consistent with new intergovernmentalist claims thatsupranationalism is unlikely to be obtained in the post Maastricht integratio nphase. This study though has helped develop a deeper politicalunderstanding of the current integration impasse in EU fiscal governance, andof the ideational and institutional path-dependencies working to limit thescope for far reaching reform. This analysis has also contributed to existingcritical analysis on European integration by emphasising the central importanceof neoliberal ideology in guiding framing preferences. Finally, one majorconsequence of these findings is that the imbalance between monetary and fiscalintegration within the EMU framework will likely remain. However, furtherinvestigation will be needed to assess the long-term sustainability of running asingle currency area with a decentralised system of fiscal policy.References Aday, S. 2006. The Framesettingeffects of news An experimental test of advocacy versus objectivist frames. ledgerism and Mass Communication Quarterly 83 (4) 767-784.BBC. 2010. France offers support to Greece 7 March. Available at http//news.bbc .co.uk/1/hi/business/8554754.stm Accessed 22 January 2017Benford, R. D. and Snow,D.A. 2000. Framing Processes and SocialMovements An Overview and Assessment. AnnualReview of Sociology, 261, 611-639.Bickerton, C.J., Hodson, D. and Puetter,U. 2015. The New Intergovernmentalism European Integration in thePost-Maastricht Era. Journal of CommonMarket Studies 53 (4) 703-722.Bickerton, C.J., Hodson, D. and Puetter,U. eds. 2015a. The NewIntergovernmentalism States and Supranational Actors in the Post-MaastrichtEra, Oxford Oxford University Press.Bofinger, P.,Feld, L.P., Franz, W., Schmidt, C.M., and di Mauro, B.W. 2011. A EuropeanRedemption Pact. CEPR Policy Paper, 9 November. Cacciatore, M.A., Scheufele, D.A. and Iyengar, S.2016. The closedown of Framing as we Know itand the Future of Media Effects. Mass Communication and Society. 19(1) 7-23.Checherita,C., Attinasi, M. and Nickel, C. 2010. What explains the surge in euro-areasovereign spreads during the financial crisis of 2007-09? ECB Working Paper,no. 1131. Commission. 2008.Communication from the Commission to the European Council A EuropeanEconomic Recovery Plan 26 November, Brussels. Commission.2010. Press release, EU economicgovernance The Commission delivers a comprehensive share of legislative measures29 September, Brussels. Commission. 2010a.Press Release Commission assesses Stability Programme of Greece 3February, Brussels.Commission .2012.A blueprint for a deep and genuine economic and monetary union Launching aEuropean Debate 30 November, Brussels.Commission .2015.Completing Europes Economic and Monetary Union 22 June, Brussels Commission.2015a. Speech by Jean Claude Junker State of the Union Address 14September, Brussels. Council. 2010. debate by the Heads of State or Government of the European Union 11February, Brussels. Council. 2014. Speech by President Herman Van Rompuy at the Brussels EconomicForum 10 June, Brussels. De Grauwe, P.2013. Design Failures in theEurozone Can they be fixed? LEQS Discus sion Paper, No. 27.De Grauwe, P..2016. Economics of Monetary Union, 11thEdition. Oxford Oxford University Press. Dyson, K. 2002. The Politics of the Euro-Zone Stability orBreakdown? Oxford Oxford University Press. ECB.2010.Reinforcing Economic Governance in the EuroArea, note by the European Central Bank, Frankfurt, 10 June.ECB.2012. Opinion of theEuropean Central BankonStrengthened Economic Governance of the EuroArea Frankfurt, 7 March. European Council.2010a. European Council Conclusions, 17-18 March, Brussels. European Council.2010b. Statement by the Heads of State and Government of the Euro area, 25March, Brussels.European Council.2010c. Remarks by the President of the European Council following the lastmeeting of the Task force on economic governance, 18 October, Brussels.EuropeanCouncil .2012. Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union, 5 December,Brussels. European Council.2012a. European Council Conclusions, 13-14 December, Brussels. EuropeanCouncil. 2012b. Towards a Gen uine Economic and Monetary Union Interim Report,12 October, Brussels.European Council.2012c. Remarks by President Herman Van Rompuy following the European Council,29 June, Brussels. Feldstein, M.2008. Will the Euro arrive the Current Crisis?Project Syndicate Paper, 15 December.Financial Times. 2008. Merkel sees danger in cheap money, 27 November. Available athttp//www.ft.com/cms/s/0/67467116-bc25-11dd 79fd18c.html? = dead on target Accessed 17January 2017Financial Times. 2009. Seeds of its Own Destruction, 8 March. Available at https//www.ft.com/content/c6c5bd36-0c0c-11de-b87d-0000779fd2acAccessed 18January 2017Goffman, E. 1974. Frame Analysis An Essay on the Organizationof Experience. New York Harper and Row. Hay C. 2006. Constructivist Institutionalism,In The Oxford Handbook of PoliticalInstitutions, edited by Rhodes, R, 3-23. Oxford Oxford Oxford UniversityPress. Heipertz, M. andVerdun, A. 2011. Ruling Europe The Politics of the Stability and GrowthPact.Cambridge CambridgeUniver sity Press. Hodson, D. 2011. Governing the Euro Area in Good Times and Bad. Oxford OxfordUniversity Press.Holden, P. 2011. A Dictionary of International TradeOrganizations and Agreements. London Routledge. McNamara, K. R.1998. The Currency of Ideas Monetary Politics in the European UnionNew York Cornell University Press.Pierson, P. 1996. The path to Europeanintegration a historical institutionalist approach. Comparative Political Studies 29(2) 123-163.Puetter, U. 2012. Europes deliberative intergovernmentalismthe role of the Council and European Council in EU economic governance.Journal of European Public Policy 11(2) 161-178Rosamond, B. 2005. The uniting of Europeand the foundation of EU studies revisiting the neofunctionalism of Ernst B.Haas. Journal of European Public Policy12 (2) 237-54.Schmidt, V. A.2008. Discursive Institutionalism The informative Power of Ideas andDiscourse. Annual Review of PoliticalScience 11(1) 303-326.Schmidt, V.A. 2010. Taking ideas and discourse serio usly explainingchange through discursive institutionalism as the fourth new institutionalism.European Political Science Review.2(1) 1-25.Schmidt, V.A.2015. The Eurozones Crisis of Democratic Legitimacy Can the EU RebuildPublic Trust and Support for European Economic Integration? EuropeanCommission Discussion Paper, No. 015, September. Schimmelfennig, F. 2015. Whats the News inNew Intergovernmentalism? A Critique of Bickerton, Hodson and Puetter. Journalof Common Market Studies 53(4) 723-730.Sinn, H.W. 2010. Reiningin Europes debtor Nations. Project Syndicate Paper, 23 April. Skidelsky, R. 1992. John Maynard Keynes The Economist as Saviour 1920 1937. LondonMacMillan.Verdun, A. 1998. Understanding Economicand Monetary Union in the EU. Journalof European Public Policy 5(3) 527-33.von Hagen,J., Schuknecht, S. and Wolswijk,G.2009. European government bond spreads in the current crisis. CEPR Policy Paper, 21 December. von Hagen,J., Schuknecht, S. and Wolswijk,G.2011. Government bondrisk premiums in the EU revisited The impact of the financial crisis. EuropeanJournal of Political Economy 27 (1) 36-43.Worlf, G.B. 2012. A budget for Europes Monetary Union. BruegelPolicy Contribution, Issue 12/22.Wyplosz, C .2009. The Euros Finest second? IMF Opinion,June 09. CitedPersonal Interviews Councilof the European Union Council Directoratefor Economic Policy Official. 2013. Interviewed by the author (Brussels, 27thSeptember).Senior official inthe unit for economic policyCouncilDirectorate for Economic Policy Official 1. 2013. Interviewed by the author(Brussels, 28th September).Official in the unitfor economic PolicyAdvisor to theCabinet of the European Council President. 2014. Interviewed by the author(Brussels, 4th April).Senior advisor tothe PresidentMember of theCabinet for the European Council President. 2014. Interviewed by the author(Brussels, 2nd April).Senior advisor tothe President on economic and euro area issuesEUCommissionSecretariatOfficial in DG ECFIN 1. 2013. I nterviewed by the author (Brussels, 26thSeptember).Part of theCommission provided SecretariatSecretariatOfficial in DG ECFIN 2. 2013. Interviewed by the author (Brussels, 25thSeptember).Part of theCommission provided Secretariat Official in DGECFIN (2013) Interviewed by the author (Brussels, 25th September). Fiscal policyofficialPolicy Advisor inDG ECFIN (2013) Interviewed by the author (Brussels, 24thSeptember).Adviser on policycoordination and strategic planning Senior FiscalPolicy Advisor in DG ECFIN (2013) Interviewed by the author (Brussels, 23rdSeptember).Senior fiscalpolicy advisor SeniorDirector in DG ECFIN (2013) Interviewed by the author (Brussels,26th September).Senior official incharge of coordination work in DG ECFIN 1 name deleted for peer review. 2 cognizant by the wider new institutionalism literature, this broader theoretical exploration charts the ideationalas wellinstitutional path dependences working to limit the scope for reform within EMU (Bulmer 1994 Pierson 1996 Hay, 2006).

Obsession in Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita Essay -- Nabokov Lolita Essays

Obsession in Lolita The relationship between Humbert Humbert and Lolita is no doubt a rummy one. Many people who read the novel argue that it is based on lust, but others say that Humbert really is in love with Lolita. However, there is whatever astounding evidence that Humbert has an obsessional-compulsive disorder with Lolita. The obsession is clearly illustrated when Humberts actions and behavior are compared to the experts definitions and descriptions of obsession. In many passages, Humbert displays obsessional tendencies through his descriptive word choice and his absolute personality. Many people are obsessive, so this is not an alien subject. We see it everyday in the entertainment industry as well as in everyday life. Comparing Humbert Humbert to clinical and other definitions, it seems as if Humbert is one person who is an obsessed person. Obsession is a tricky topic because it is hard to come up with a concrete definition. Who decides what obsession is? Where does one draw the line between obsession and deep admiration? According to S. Jack Rachman, an obsession is an intrusive, repetitive thought, image, or impulse that is unacceptable or unwanted and gives rise to subjective resistance (2). In addition, Andrew Brink states that ...the popular meaning of the term obsession, including the new verb to May 2 obsess, which means to be persistently preoccupied about something, usually an unsatisfactory relationship (195). Both of these definitions are fairly similar, so now it is important to flavor at Humberts actions and analyze how he fits into these defined categories. First, Brink argues that most people, especially men, have an obsessiona... ...aracter, but he is not abnormal. We have many Humberts running most our world, regardless of if we realize it or not. Nabokov, a man not too distant from Humbert, found a way to rationalize his obsession through Lolita - thus an artistic and creative move on his part. WORKS CITED Beech, H. R. Obsessional States. London Methuen & Co. LTD, 1974. Brink, Andrew. Obsession and Culture A Study of Sexual Obsession in sophisticated Fiction. London Associated University Presses, Inc., 1996. Nabokov, Vladamir. The Annotated Lolita. New York Vintage Books, 1991. Ostling, Richard N. A Fatal Obsession with the Stars. Time. 31 July 1989 43-44. Rachman, S. Jack. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Psychological and Pharmacological Treatment. New York Plenum Press, 1985. Salzman, Leon. The Obsessive Personality. New York erudition House, 1968.

Predicted Impact of Environment on Psychological and Social Development of a Human Clone :: Human Cloning Essaysw

Debates continue to haunt the subject of human cloning, and depart continue to do so for some time. Among the debates How leave alone the knockoffs privateities develop? Would it be humane to create clones if they are going to be considered inferior, or if they are going to have a tricky time acclimating to society? selfsame(a) twins are essentially clones because they share indistinguishable copies of the same DNA. Due to the similarity between the two genetic situations, it has been suggested that clones willing develop much as twins do. By looking at psychological studies that have been conducted on identical twins, scientists can predict how a clone will mature and how they will react to their world.Controversy and science have walked hand-in-hand through many discoveries and inventions. Cloning is no exception, as debates whirl around the different ethics, risks, and possibilities of creating human clones. Philosophers, religious leaders, scientists, and politicians cont inue to argue amongst each some other, trying to determine how cloning will affect future generations of society and medicine. A few psychiatrists, sociologists, and other developmental scientists have focused less on the effects of cloning on modern society, and become more concerned with the effects cloning will have on the psychological development of the clones that may be created. These social scientists worry that clones might experience difficulties developing a healthy personality or functioning happily in society. In order to accurately project possible conflicts, scientists have resorted to the study of todays natural clones identical twins. Identical twins possess exact copies of each others DNA, and are essentially clones of each other. As such clones, they may help us to meet some aspects of human clones (Levick, 2004). Trends in the psychological development of twins suggest that a persons environment cultivates an individual and can alter their personalgrowth. By f urther exploring the psychological impact of having an identical twin, scientists hope to discover how clones will mature.Multiple studies and observations have indicated that the varying genes and environments of each twin can influence many aspects of psychological development such as falling in love, aging, personality development, talents and abilities, body characteristics, health, and physiological responses (University of Minnesota). If an identical twin is so affected by their environment, it is possible that clones will be just as influenced by their surroundings, perhaps even more so than twins if clones are subjected to discrimination. How a clone is regarded, treated, and taught will affect changes in the manner that the clone reacts to their world.