The History of Alcatraz "The Rock"

The story of Alcatraz starts in 1775 with the discovery by Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala who called the 22-acre island “La Isla de los Alcatraces” which means “Island of Pelicans”. President Millard Fillmore in 1850 reserved the island for the Army. With the advent of the Gold Rush and increased growth in the area both a lighthouse and the 100 cannon Fort Alcatraz was built. 

Like many forts in the U.S., the island never came under attack or needed to defend the area. In the 1860’s the island became a prison for treason under the Civil War and hosted 300 people with room for 500 for over a 100 years. A 1906 earthquake brought more prisoners who were commissioned to build a prison. 

The prison became the Pacific Branch, U.S. Military Prison, Alcatraz Island where discipline to military members was the common call of the day. It also trained them in vocational and military skills. This was the time Alcatraz was known as “The Rock”. As a minimum-security prison, it became a place of baseball, boxing, and gardening. By 1930, Alcatraz was closed due to the cost of importing its supplies.

In 1934 it was purchased by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and became a maximum security prison for the worst of the worst. In the spirit of the change it was renamed Uncle Sam’s Devil’s Island. People like Al Capone spent some time on the island. It was a harsh environment with minimal rights that included food, healthcare, and not much else. Some of the inmates were sent to solitary confinement with only a bread and water. Others may have carried with them a ball and chain.

Over the years, there were 14 escape attempts by 36 people. Almost everyone was caught and a number were shot in their escape attempt. Five inmates made it to the water where they are believed to be perished due to hypothermia.  The bodies of those who escaped were found as far as the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The swim is only 1.25 miles and is certainly possible for a person to make the trip. Over the years, a number of teenagers as well as adults actually made the swim. Yet they needed a level of conditioning and the ability to withstand 55 degree Fahrenheit water.  Yet many people have swum over a mile for recreation in similar waters and it is surprising inmates couldn’t make this trip. 

Over a million people come to the island every year. It is a national icon of our historic past and the history of California. There are many rumors and stories of the island with famous inmates such as “bird man”.  For about $28, you can take a ferry both under the Golden Gate Bridge as well as around the Island. The San Francisco Bay can be cool so take a light jacket if you are outside the summer season.

Book Review: Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers

Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers the Ideas that have Shaped our World by Philip Stokes gives a broad based understanding of the world’s philosophers. Each figure is given a few pages of explanation as well as their relevant contribution to society. One can find a broad sense of understanding as it relates to the overall concept of how philosophy has impacted societal thinking and science. 

Some may wonder what the benefit of philosophy is on society. Without philosophy the basic components of modern understandings would not have been built. For example, if one didn’t wonder if the world was round we may never have traversed the ocean, built spacecraft, or had cell phones. Philosophy is seen as critical thought and human expression and contributes to both world affairs and societal development. 

Philosophy doesn’t fit within a particular category of study like science but is considered the concept formation before modern science. It is the culmination of people who sat and thought about the nature of the world, the nature of government, and the universe we live in. It is those who have dared to ponder our very existence and say profound things like Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” 

It moves into discussions such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. To the philosopher pondering how society should be formed, the analysis of arguments and the nature of reality are intertwined with their lives. For example, Pythagoras of Samos (570-480BC) believed that the ultimate nature of reality is a number. To him all things could be deducted down to a number, analyzed, and experimented with. Life is one big formula.

Many modern philosophers are more akin to scientists. Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) discussions the connection between thought and language, “The structure of speech is not simply the mirror image of the structure of thought. …..Therefore, precisely because of the contrasting directions of the movement, the development of the internal and external aspects of speech form a true unity.”  This has led to concepts such as the conceptual schema as impacting the way in which a person perceives the world. In other words, we are a direct result of our social world. 

Philosophers are lovers and creators. They seek to step between the dichotomies of life and determine the glue that holds it all together. They are those who dared to ask the question, “what if” while others tracked down familiar paths. Without philosophy the world would look much the same way as it did thousands of years ago. As Heraclitus (535-473 BC) once stated about the constant changing world, "No man ever steps in the same river twice".

Stokes, P. (2012). Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers-The Ideas that have Shaped the World. London, UK: Arcturus Publishing Limited

Call for Papers: International Journal of Management and Sustainability (IJMS)

Authors interested my include their work for possible publication in International Journal of Management and Sustainability (IJMS). It is a peer-reviewed journal, published on a monthly basis by Asian Economic and Social Society. The journal focuses on the following topics: corporate governance, human resource management, strategic management, entrepreneurship, marketing, e-business, services, information technology management, production & operations management, financial management, decision analysis, management research methods and managerial economics,  environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility, economic sustainability and any disciplines concerning the interaction between management and enterprise sustainable development. It seeks to provide a forum for debates on practical and policy implications to sustainable development. This journal also encourages studies on solutions to improve corporate performance towards sustainability.

It provides an academic platform for professionals and researchers to contribute innovative work in the field. IJMS carries original and full-length articles that reflect the latest research and developments in both theoretical and practical aspects of management and sustainable development.

The journal is published in both print and online versions. The online versions are free access and download.

Website link: http://www.aessweb.com/journal-detail.php?id=5012

Instructions to Authors: http://www.aessweb.com/instructions-to-authors.php?id=5012

Online Submission: http://www.aessweb.com/submit-article.php

 Team, Asian Economic and Social Society

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Article submitted through E-mail: editor@aessweb.com

Essential Pricing Strategies

Organizations seek to maximize profits as much as possible but face issues related to cost, value, and competition. To project whether a business or product line will be successful requires the ability to make accurate estimates of cost and profit. The more accurately a company is able to narrow down the variable factors in the environment the more likely they will succeed in their long-term objectives. Having a cost strategy is a common way to estimate the perceived value of products and services to customers. 

The Cost Method, Customer-Based Pricing Method, and the Competition-Based Pricing Method are three viable pricing strategies. There are numerous other ways in which to find the comparative value of a product but these three represent basic categorical methods. Each has their own particular methodology and approach based upon their general focus. Ultimately, the key is to ensure that the price reflects a value others are willing to pay and still allow a firm to make a reasonable profit. 

The Cost Method: The cost method determines all of the costs that go into making or purchasing a product to determine the potential value of that product. This includes both fixed and variable costs to find the breakeven point and potential mark-up profits. It is a method that ensures the firm has an opportunity to actually make a profit.  Construction costs are estimated, merchandisers use product costs, and services use fixed mark-up costs.

Customer-Based Pricing: Customer-based marketing focuses on ensuring that the product price fits well with demand. Economic value estimation helps determine the value to customers in terms of close competitors by comparing advantages and disadvantages to the purchaser. It is a method of ensuring the maximum value through the perception of the customer’s needs by looking at the value of the alternatives. For example, if a product has a feature that the customer needs it has additional valuation to that customer. It may not have the same value to other customers that don’t need that feature. 

Competition-Based Pricing: Competition-based pricing focuses on the price of competitor products to determine their own costs. Some companies may compare their products to higher end products while others may be working within the low price market (i.e. dollar store) arenas. They seek to maintain competitiveness by ensuring customers see them as a viable option in terms of price and value. 

Within the construction industry pricing strategies often use the cost method. When determine potential costs and revenue it can be difficult to rely on one method alone. For example a cost method may be balanced with a market based pricing strategy that looks at contract value, owner characteristics, competitors, and market demand (Mochtar & Arditi, 2001). This requires the ability research each of the potential factors that determine the constructions costs and maximum values.

The method that an organization uses today may not be the only method they may use in the future. For example, when Wal-Mart moves into an area it can impact on the pricing strategies other market competitors use (Ellickson, et. al, 2012). Large retailers can change the competitive landscape of the market and other retailers may need to adjust their approaches to stay competitive. Think of two gas stations across the street from each other with one selling their fuel for $2.99/gallon and the other $2.50/gallon. 

It is important to remember that using a single method may limit a firm’s ability to make accurate market predictions.  Some organizations may seek to use multiple strategies or hybrid strategies too numerous to cover within a single sitting. The purpose is to seek the products value, price, and potential profitability from multiple vantage points in order to get the most accurate perspective. Businesses use these methods to make thought out and logical decisions that can increase their future revenue growth.

Ellickson, P., Misra, S. and Nair, H. (2012). Repositioning dynamics and price strategy. Journal of Marketing Research, 49 (6). 

Finch, J. (2012). Managerial marketing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Mochtar, K. & Arditi, D. (2001). Pricing strategy in the US construction industry. Construction Management & Economics, 19 (4).

Strategic Development as a Social and Logical Rational Processes

What is rationality and strategy? According to a paper by Schaefer, et. al (2013) rationality is an interpersonal communication skill versus actual subject knowledge. There is a differentiation between emancipative communication and strategic thinking.  The researchers studied the prefrontal and parietal brain regions that are associated with strategic and communicative reasoning according to the theory of communicative action.  They found that there are two different processes at place when discussing strategic reasoning and social emotional cognitions. Each has their own neural connections that determine actual strategies and the possible effectiveness of those strategies. 

The theory of communicative reasoning by Jurgen Habermas focuses on either success oriented strategic action or social understanding oriented communicative action. Strategic action in this theory is the manipulation of others while communicative reasoning seeks to harmonize actions between the person and their social environment by using language and semantics. They use two different reasoning functions to create an appropriate strategy. 

Rationality has both a social and a logical side. Communicative reasoning is collaborative and strategic reasoning is goal oriented. Each is a means to an end but one takes into consideration the moral dilemmas created through decisions while the other seeks gains regardless of the human outcome. The way in which a person approaches the environment determines the type of logic they are using and where it is based within the neural connections of the brain. 

The research on social perceiving is important because it can help us determine how leaders make decisions strategically. As one uses pure logic without moral reasoning they activate a different set of brain functions to make those determinations. However, by using moral reasoning and an alternative set of brain functioning they can consider such things as the cost of human life or appropriate impact on individuals. Stronger leaders and clear strategy should consider in part both arenas to maximize gains for the greatest amount of people. 

Moral judgments and the ability to see these moral dilemmas is a precursor to appropriate judgment. Pure strategy without moral judgment is considered anti-social by nature and doesn’t take into account the needs of people that the strategy influences. One can think of the psychopath who is strategically accurate in short-term gains but fails to have empathy and consideration over those the decisions impacts. Leadership and strategy should not be inhumane, cold, calculating, or abusive to others but should instead seek a collaborative maximum gain. 

In their study, Schaefer, et. al (2013) studied the brains of individuals as they judged different real life scenarios from a communicative reasoning or strategic perspective. The far majority of participants were able to judge between the two types of approaches. They found that communicative reasoning activated a network of brain areas including the temporal poles, STS, and precuneus. Strategic reasoning showed less activation in these areas of the brain when compared to communicative reasoning.  

The argument furthers the concept that strategy has both an economic and a social aspect. Pure strategic thinking is about creating gain in the market regardless of its consequences on others while communicative reasoning takes into consideration moral concepts. Well balanced strategy should process from the two strategic methods in order to understand the pure logic of decisions but also the moral consequences of such decisions. As most of our world and environment is made of social interpretations and interaction it is this process of considering the possibilities of cooperation that further logical strategic action.

Schaefer, et. al. (2013). Communicative versus strategic rationality: Haberman’s theory of communicative action and the social brain. PloS One, 29 (5).