Saturday, May 23, 2020

Essay on Global War on Terror Should Torture Ever Be...

â€Å"[The] barbarous custom of whipping men suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this method of interrogation, by putting men to the torture, is useless. The wretches say whatever comes into their heads and whatever they think one wants to believe. Consequently, the Commander-in-Chief forbids the use of a method which is contrary to reason and humanity† said Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. Back in the 18th century, the French chieftain realized how illogical is to use pain in order to obtain information. However, researching historical information, the use of torture is not unknown to the human kind. First it was the Greeks; who used to torture the criminals because they believed†¦show more content†¦Still, the harsh interrogation techniques were not used so frequently during this period; even though there are exceptions. To have some legal power, The Geneva Convention was established in the mid-20th century, defining the roots of â€Å"international law relating humanitarian issues†. In summary, with all the protocols, the Geneva Convention provides shelter against unhuman treatment (Ramos, DePuis, Galvin, Zolfaghari, and Cardeno 5 - 20). Now, considering the fact that torture is a part our history, could it possibly be a mitigating circumstance? Perhaps yes, however it can be argued that humanity as a whole should change its customs in order to evolve more efficiently. Therefore, it should liberate itself from using controversial interrogation methods, which were questionable through the history. Moreover, the reason why enhanced methods being utilized during cr oss-examination is such a sensitive topic is due to the Global War on Terror (Ramos, DePuis, Galvin, Zolfaghari, and Cardeno 20). It is somewhat problematical to come to simple conclusion, whether a physical or a psychological torment should be used in order to obtain information, when human lives are at stake. While considering this, the most difficult obstacle for the interrogators is the fact, that there still can be an uncertainty about the information the suspectShow MoreRelatedUnited Law Of Public International Law1414 Words   |  6 Pagesincompatibility to Parliament that the offending domestic law should be altered in order to conform with international law. A significant example of this is the Belmarsh Case also known as A v Secretary of State for the Home Office [2004] UKHL 56 the case concerned the detention of nine men under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 which at s.23 permitted the indefinite detention of foreign nationals suspected of involvement with terror organisations. The Act was in direct conflict with twoRead MoreHls 410 Essay2780 Words   |  12 Pagesarticle. In your paper, thoroughly discuss and evaluate the following concepts: the ticking time bomb hypothesis; Dershowitzs comments regarding Jeremy Bentham as well as his comments about Voltaires views; and the three ways to deal with the use of torture in the ticking time bomb situation, as stated by the Israeli government-appointed commission of the late 1980s. As part of the discussion about the commissions conclusions, include Dershowitzs fourth road. Abstract After the SeptemberRead MoreFaithful Citizenship10006 Words   |  41 Pagespeacemakers in a nation at war. We are a country pledged to pursue â€Å"liberty and justice for all,† but we are too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants in our midst. We are a society built on the strength of our families, called to defend marriage and offer moral and economic supports for family life. We are a powerful nation in a violent world, confronting terror and trying to buildRead MoreA Report On Boko Haram4313 Words   |  18 Pagesjust like Yusuf. Abubakar Shekau, previously the second in command to Yusuf, took up the leadership of Boko Haram and under his rule, the Boko Haram became more radical (Smith 14). They went underground for a while before coming back stronger than ever. In 2010, they attacked a prison where a vast majority of its previous leaders was being held. They broke out more than a hundred militants out of prison. This spelt the start of their major activities across Nigeria and subsequent expansion into WestRead MoreLenin13422 Words   |  54 Pagestransfer of estates and crown lands to workers soviets. Faced with the threat of German invasion, he argued that Russia should immediately sign a peace treaty—which led to Russia s exit from the First World War. In 1921 Lenin proposed the New Economic Policy, a system of state capitalism that started the process of industrialisation and recovery from the Russian Civil War. In 1922, the Russian SFSR joined former territories of the Russian Empire in becomin g the Soviet Union, with Lenin electedRead More We Must Put an End to Police Brutality4558 Words   |  19 PagesKing, to people, who offer little resistance, such as elderly women, students, and elected officials, are subjected to police abuse. For instance, protesting Americans have been beaten until they bleed, peaceful students have been pepper-strayed, and war veterans have been injured into unconsciousness. Police attack Americans in university libraries, in public meetings, in their own homes, and elsewhere. Due to the outrage of police intimidation, consumers in a Chicago bar in 2011 watched a 251-poundRead MoreEssay about Pluralism and the Universality of Rights5959 Words   |  24 Pagesinitiate restrictions on freedom and violations of justice. These defence rights are intended to bolster, to guarantee the state - an obvious dilemma. Today we are confronted with quite a different situation: firstly, fundamental rights today are assuming ever more the status of the indi viduals rights of defence against oppression from non-state social forces. And secondly - whilst maintaining their function as defence rights - they have assumed the form of legal claims, rights in law granted mutually byRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pages Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Allen Hunter, ed., Rethinking the Cold War Eric Foner, ed., The New American History. Revised and Expanded Edition E SSAYS ON _ T WENTIETH- C ENTURY H ISTORY Edited by Michael Adas for the American Historical Association TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS PHILADELPHIA TempleRead MoreNational Security Outline Essay40741 Words   |  163 Pages The Laws of War and Neutrality 24 CHAPTER 7: War Crimes and Nuremberg Principle 28 CHAPTER 12: Nuclear Weapons: Deployment, Targeting and Deterrence 33 CHAPTER 13: Arms Control in the Nuclear Age 36 Chapter 14: Measures to Reduce Tensions and Prevent War 41 CHAPTER 16: The Law of the Sea 43 CHAPTER 17: The Constitutional Framework for the Division of Nat’l Security Powers Between Congress, the President and the Court 48 The 1973 War Powers Resolution 49 II. The War Powers Resolution:Read MoreEssay on Like water for chocolate6961 Words   |  28 Pagesto realism. Many writers felt that romantics—with their focus on the spiritual, the abstract, and the ideal—were being dishonest about life as it really was. The realists felt they had an ethical responsibility to be honest. To show life as it should be in order to show life â€Å"as it is,† the body of realist literature tends to eschew the elevated subject matter of tragedy in favor of the average, the commonplace, the middle classes and their daily struggles with daily existence. This literature

Monday, May 18, 2020

Enron - 1601 Words

Case 1.4 AMRE, Inc. 1. Generally, ethics refer to moral principles and values. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary notes that ethics are â€Å"the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or governing a particular group, culture, etc.† An individual s ethics generally define what that individual believes to be right and wrong. Professional ethics are typically expressed by a code of conduct adopted by an organization that represents a profession. Professions adopt such codes to encourage moral conduct among their members. Following is a list of the individuals involved in the AMRE case: Robert Levin, Chief Operating Officer Dennie Brown, Chief Accounting Officer Walter Richardson, Vice†¦show more content†¦Although he may have lost his job, he would have avoided being sanctioned by the SEC. Most important, this course of action would have prevented innocent parties, such as potential AMRE investors and creditors, from being harmed by the fraudulent scheme. 4. The relevant accounting concept in this context was the matching principle. The matching principle requires that expenses be matched with the revenues they produce. A cost can be deferred--treated as an asset--when it is expected that the cost will produce future economic benefits (generally, revenue). It seems reasonable that a portion of AMRE’s advertising costs benefited future periods and, thus, could be appropriately deferred. Nevertheless, AMRE’s policy of deferring all of the advertising costs related to unset leads was very aggressive and probably resulted in the booking of assets that would provide no future benefits for the company. 5. Listed next are key audit risk factors that were present during the 1988 and 1989 AMRE audits. a. AMRE s management had a strong incentive and desire to maintain the company s stock price at a high level. b. AMRE’s unset leads increased dramatically during 1988. c. The company’s inventory also increased significantly during 1988 and increased much more rapidly than the company’s sales. d. The efforts of AMRE’s executives to influence important audit planning decisions should have been of concernShow MoreRelatedEnron Of Enron And Enron1209 Words   |  5 PagesEnron Cooperation, is a company that was based in Houston Texas and was an energy company. This company filed bankruptcy in 2001 leaving a lot of its employees that had no knowledge about what was going on jobless and the company investors losing a lot of money. This was one of biggest companies in the united states, it had a lot of assets all over the country and was operating on a lot of profit that nobody knew how and why. The movie, â€Å"Enron, The smartest guy in the room† shows that the companyRead MoreEnron : Enron And Enron1143 Words   |  5 PagesEnron was formed in July 1985 by the merger of InterNorth and Houston Natural Gas (Enron Fast Facts, 2015). Kenneth Lay became chief executive of Enron and he hired Jeffrey Skilling to look after the company’s energy trading operat ion (The rise and fall of Enron, 2006). Skilling’s plan was to be basically a gas bank where buys gas from suppliers for future years at previously agreed prices and sells the gas to its customers in advance to purchase at specified prices for future years. By doing thatRead MoreEnron Of Enron And Enron1387 Words   |  6 PagesEnron was formed in 1985 from the merger of two gas companies from Texas and Nebraska. Enron became the first company with all-American network of gas pipelines. In 1997 Enron bought power generating company Portland General Electric Corp. worth $ 2 billion. Before 1997 ended, the management turned the company into Enron Capital Trade Resources which became the largest American companies that trade in natural gas and electricity. Revenue increased dramatically from $ 2 billion to $ 7 billionRead MoreEnron And Enron Of Enron1781 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"During the Enron debacle, it was workers who took the pounding, not bankers. Not only did Enro n employees lose their jobs, many lost their retirement savings. That s because they were at the bottom of the investing food chain.† In July of 1985, Houston Natural Gas merged with InterNorth, to create Enron, and Kenneth Lay became CEO the following year. In 1989, Enron began trading natural gas commodities. In 1997, Andrew Fastow devised the first steps to hide debts and inflate profits and one yearRead MoreEnron : Enron And Enron Scandal Essay1269 Words   |  6 PagesEnron was one of the largest energy, commodities, and services company in the world. It was founded in 1985 and based in Huston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, there are more than 20,000 staff and with claimed revenues nearly $101 billion during 2000. Enron was the rank 16 of Fortune 500 in 2000. In 2001 it revealed that Enron’s financial report was planned accounting fraud, known since as the Enron scandal. In the Enron scandal, Enron used fraudulent accounting practices to coverR ead MoreThe, Enron, And Enron1844 Words   |  8 PagesThe complete destruction of companies including Arthur Andersen, HealthSouth, and Enron, revealed a significant weakness in the United States audit system. The significant weakness is the failure to deliver true independence between the auditors and their clients. In each of these companies there was deviation from professional rules of conduct resulting from the pressures of clients placed upon their auditors (Goldman, and Barlev 857-859). Over the years, client and auditor relationships were intertwinedRead MoreEnron : The Collapse Of Enron1644 Words   |  7 PagesEnron was once one of the world s leading energy companies by reshaping the way natural gas and electricity were bought and sold. They filed the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history in 2001. Enron Corporation was an energy company running out of Texas that was started when two companies, Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, merged together in 1985. By 1992, Enron became the largest seller of natural gas in North America and began to offer other services like wholesaler trading and riskRead MoreThe Enron Scandal Of Enron Essay1458 Words   |  6 Pagesevent that took place in our economy was the Enron Scandal, which happened in late 2000 and lasted into the following year. Those who were involved in this incident directly such as CEO’s Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling thought what they were doing was not wrong and that they were able to get away with making millions falsely (Seabury, 2008). However, this was a serious crisis situation and many people were affected through the process as well as their money. Enron was valuing themselves at a higher priceRead MoreEnron : The Demise Of Enron1740 Words   |  7 PagesEnron was a corporation that reached heights unknown, only to watch it fall apart from the inside out based on a foundation of falsehoods and cheating. Enron established a business culture that flourished on competitio n and was perceived in society as an arrogant corporation, mainly because of its corporate leadership. The fairytale of Enron actually ended as a nightmare with it destroyed by one of America’s largest bankruptcies in history. The demise of Enron impacted the livelihood and futuresRead MoreEnron And The Enron Scandal1588 Words   |  7 PagesEnron was a corporation located in Houston, Texas and in just fifteen years the US energy trading and utilities company grew to become one of America’s largest and more successful cooperation’s. Enron suffered a major fall. After being one of the most successful corporations Enron became the biggest company to file bankruptcy in history. In this research paper it will discuss about the history of Enron, the fraud committed and who is to blame. The historical development of white collar crime in the

Monday, May 11, 2020

American Revolution The American Revolutionary War

The American Revolution is known as the war fought between American and Great Britain, for Americans freedom. The American Revolution is also commonly known as the American Revolutionary War, or the U.S War of Independence. The War itself only last a short eight years, it began in 1775 and ended in 1783, but tensions had been building up for centuries between the Great Britain and the colonies at the given time period. The American Revolutionary War until 1778 was a war of independence between the Great Britain and the thirteen colonies, but after 1778 it became an international war, when Spain, France, and the Netherlands joined forces with the colonies. Much of the War began after the signing of the Treaty of Pairs 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. Between the years of 1764 and 1765, the British Parliament passed the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, which angered the Colonies. The Sugar Act was put in place to ban importation of Rum and French Wines form the Dutch and French, a nd it would increase taxes on sugar and products that were imported for the colonies form Britain. The Stamp Act was put into place to tax the American Colonies on paper shipment, and paper products. A few years passed, and the colonies grew more and more furious with the British parliament, so in 1768 Great Britain sent troops to Boston to attempt to reduce the political uproar. In 1773 Great Britain passed the Tea Act, which the American people saw as a way for Great Britain to make evenShow MoreRelatedThe Revolutionary War And The American Revolution915 Words   |  4 PagesThe American Revolution was an important turning point in that process as it marked the beginning of the end slavery in the northern states and, by contrast, its intensification in most of the southern states. When I think about how the Revolutionary War affected enslaved African Americans it was quite interesting. After reading the testimony of one the ex slave right around the the time of the Revolutionary War still seemed harsh. Samuel Elliot was born into slavery and was a farmer. When many ofRead MoreComparing The American Revolutionary War and The French Revolution894 Words   |  4 Pagesthoughts to make decisions. The idea of fearing their God and church was no longer seen as necessary. People were trying to come up with solutions through their own rational thought uninfluenced by anyone else, but themselves. Both France and the American colonies were becoming secular, though France probably more so. Religious tolerance was a major issue for both countries. Many of the colonists who had fled to America did so because they were being persecuted. The Pilgrims, who settled the PlymouthRead MoreThe American Revolution : The Revolutionary War And The Original Constitution1211 Words   |  5 PagesThe American Revolution is one of the most lauded and celebrated periods in the history of the United States. People revere the patriotic unity and radical changes employed by the Revolut ionary War and the original Constitution. But while the formation of a new nation was radical in and of itself, the Founding Fathers warned against viewing the time as a perfect, golden age. They believed that true change would only manifest in the generations to come. The American Revolution led to fundamental societalRead MoreHow Freemasonry Steered the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War938 Words   |  4 Pageslargest, the masons also had an impact on military conditions during the American Revolution and War for Independence. The masons were essential in providing military camaraderie during the wars leading up to the American Revolution and during the Revolutionary war through their military lodges and inclusive stance. Military Lodges provided support and boosted morale for soldiers during the War for Independence among other wars. Military lodges were much like normal lodges except that they did notRead MoreThe Revolutionary War Of Independence1366 Words   |   6 PagesThe American Revolution which began as a War of Independence for American quickly transformed into a civil battle between the American patriots and loyalists joined by Indian forces. This war of independence, irrefutably, had a great effect on the citizens of America in varying degrees. The revolution, of course, gave a free rein to unforeseen political revolutions which often spark social revolutions. However, the American Revolution has foreseen the beginning of an abolitionist movement for AfricanRead MoreThe American Revolution-Eight Long Years852 Words   |  4 PagesThe American Revolution, also known as the American Revolutionary War and the War of Independence, lasted from 1775 to 1783. It stemmed from growing tensions between England’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government representing England, as well as cost sharing imposed on English colonies by successive governments in London for debts attributed to former wars (Foner, 2012). The †Å"cost sharing† encompassed a variety of measures including taxation on goods produced in the colonies,Read MoreA Letter to Abigail by John Adams, 897 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Adams, in a letter to Abigail Adams reflecting on the cost of war, stated, â€Å"Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it† (The American Revolution, 2014). Although there were dozens of events that led to the revolution, it was freedom from British rule the colonists wanted; however, there would be a high price paid forRead MoreThe American Revolution1190 Words   |  5 Pages The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded with the intent to preserve American history. However what was the rationale behind the need for an organization of this kind? Because the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) limit ed its membership to only descendants of participants in the war and created a focus on the importance of ancestry, leads the belief that there were another motivating factor behind an organization of this type. Influencing the founders of the D.A.R. wasRead MoreEssay on Comparison of the American and French Revolutions1022 Words   |  5 PagesComparison of the American and French Revolutions The American and French revolutions both compare and contrast in their origins and outcomes; both revolutions began due to the common peoples need to obtain independence and liberty from an oppressive government. The American Revolution was triggered by the American colonists need for financial independence from the overpowering nation of Great Britain, while the French revolution was a struggle to gain social equality among the masses. AlthoughRead MoreThe United States Struggle For Independence1407 Words   |  6 Pagesstruggle for independence was marked by the American Revolution war fought between Britain and the thirteen American colonies from the year 1775 to the year 1783. The war was sparked off because of a number of reasons, among them being the fact that Britain felt its American colonies were not playing their financial part as a colony and they were neither actively participating in the Anglo-French war. The fact that the French were defeated in this war boosted the co nfidence of the colonies in overthrowing

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Research Of Selected Mythic Elements - 1553 Words

Research of Selected Mythic Elements Due to the prevalence of Buddhism throughout this piece of work it is fundamental to understand what exactly this belief system contributes to the overarching narrative as the meta-theme is weaved throughout the whole. In particular two avenues of thought require further exploration, the Buddhist doctrines of reincarnation and karma. It is important not only to see how these two doctrines function independently of each other, to understand them on their own terms, it is also beneficial to understand how they are interconnected. In the Buddhist mentality, reincarnation cannot exist apart from the existence of karma. Certainly the overwhelming number of adherents to this religion gives cause for this myth system to be considered in depth. It would be advantageous to briefly explain the connection between reincarnation and karma before examining either on their own. Reincarnation is the process of rebirth that every living thing, including sentient beings, experiences after death which brings about a new life with a potential to be born into one of the six realms (Prebish Buddhism: The EBook: An Online Introduction 31). Karma, therefore, is the cosmic currency that determines which realm of rebirth the new life can begin, which is accumulated through each previous life (Prebish 39). To understand the significance of Karma, an exploration of the transaction of reincarnation is essential. Reincarnation is inevitable, according to BuddhistShow MoreRelatedHistory And Training Guidelines : Record Making And The Historic Environment1250 Words   |  5 Pagesoverlapping and mutual activities. A thorough analysis and interpretation of historical elements of the buildings will help understand the process of decay and development to its context. An uninformed resource cannot be effectively managed. For repair and maintenance of historical building its necessary to document both the original state and the process of restoration as a record, particularly where an element or a structure of the building is removed or reconstructed as a process of conservationRead More Carl Gustav Jung and the Buddhist Mandala Essay3657 Words   |  15 Pagesthat lies at the unconscious center of our being. 5 In light of his universal psychologizing of the mandala motif, one must ask just how or why Jung hermeneutically superimposed his psychological balancing act of conscious and unconscious elements over the mandala motif, when in fact no such cognitive categories were ever envisioned in the mandalas original Buddhist context. How could Jung have read so much into the Buddhist mandala that wasnt there originally? Granted, in a typical turn-of-the-centuryRead More Use of Imagery in Jean Toomers Cane Essay2438 Words   |  10 Pagesand nostalgia, at times bitterness. They are like evening vespers, tolling the death of a multicolored culture but instilled with the promise of something new to take its place. That it will be better is his obvious hope, but there is always an element of skepticism as is illustrated in his stories set in the whitewashed North. In a letter to Waldo Frank, Toomer explained his vision: There is one thing about the Negro in America***As an entity, the race is loosing [sic] its body***OneRead MoreStatement of Purpose23848 Words   |  96 Pages.............................................................................. 11 History................................................................................................................................... 12 Psychology (Clinical--research)............................................................................................ 14 Psychology (cross-cultural) .................................................................................................. 16 Psychology (School)Read MoreMcDonalds Worldwide Revitalization Plan2762 Words   |  11 Pagesnot necessarily need to commission a big research report to know the gaps of the business but can engage in direct contacts with MCD diners. Serving later on nearly a decade within the highly disciplined, execution-driven environment of the Navy (see Kowitt, 201 1, p. 2) seems to have further helped him to develop the ability to take quick actions and show decisiveness that are described to stand in stark contrast to the years before him, when market research led MCD to reformulate its recipe for specialRead Morestudy skills Essay10801 Words   |  44 PagesCOMPLEX PROBLEM SOLVING Activity 3 looked at McWhinney’s Model of Change (1997), how it could be utilised to solve complex problems and how it can be related to the model. The 4 modes of reality are the basic element of the model; these are known as Unitary, Sensory, Social and Mythic (McWhinney et al, 1997). This provided the foundation for the model on which the 6 modes of change, 12 directional methods, 6 leadership styles and 6 games of change were built. Each mode of change had 2 directionalRead MoreEssay on Eavan Boland4779 Words   |  20 PagesResearch Paper on Eavan Boland Born in Dublin in 1944, Eavan Boland is perhaps one of Ireland‘s greatest contemporary poets. She is a well educated woman who knew at a very young age that she was destined to find her path in life through literature. Being removed from her homeland at age five to live in London, she found herself next living in New York at the age of fourteen because of her diplomatic father. In the early stages of her teenage years, Boland met the Irish poet Padraic ColumRead MoreApollo Shoe Case financials5583 Words   |  23 Pagesseverely tested. I am proud of their responses. Although sales were not as strong as we had anticipated, our marketing plans will allow us to bounce back next year. With the advent of significant new breakthrough technology by Apollo Shoes, Inc. s research and development team, Apollo Shoes, Inc. now has the possibility to take a leadership role in the galactic athletic footwear market. Apollo Shoes, Inc. has always been known for its leadership position in electronic shoe technology, but we are nowRead MoreImplementation and Use of ERP Systems18074 Words   |  72 Pagesunits. A summary of the research and important findings in this area are presented in the studyÆs conclusion. Table of Contents CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT 2 Keywords and Abstract 4 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 Rich Picture 11 Conceptual Map 12 Advantages of ERP 13 ERP Business Value Creation 14 ERP à » Echo System 15 ERP Core Business Processes at our Business Units 16 ERP VALUE GENERATION FOR BUSINESS ABC UNITS 18 Chapter 23: Research Context and LiteratureRead MoreHaribo Cupcake Mix Marketing Plan6775 Words   |  28 PagesExtremely popular in the entire world. - Unique packaging. - Unique design. - Unique sales strategy (near the cashiers). Weaknesses : - Chupas Chups produces exclusively lollipops. - Consumer insights (consumer’s needs, synthesis of your market research) According to our market survey among people aged between six to sixty five, people really trust our brand because they have grown up with it: â€Å"Haribo was my favorite brand when I was a child†, â€Å"I remember my favorite sweet was: Tagada†. In fact

World History-High Middle Ages Free Essays

WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 3: THE MEDIEVAL WORLD HIGH MIDDLE AGES: MONARCHIES AND THE CHURCH In the midst of this setting, medieval countries began to emerge. England and France began to develop strong monarchal systems of government. Spain and Portugal emerged as monarchies near the end of the Middle Ages. We will write a custom essay sample on World History-High Middle Ages or any similar topic only for you Order Now Germany and Italy never developed strong monarchies. Here are your goals for this lesson:  ·Identify key political leaders, especially of France and England, during the High Middle Ages.  ·Identify key personalities of the Christian church during the High Middle Ages. interdict[-0]|In a religious sense, to cut off church functions or privileges. | [-1][-2] [-3][-4] France. As the Carolingian Empire declined and the rulers weakened, a split occurred in the region of France between two factions. One faction supported Charles the Simple; the other supported the Count of Paris. This second faction eventually won out and a new family of Capetian kings ruled the kingdom of France. The Capetian kings ruled France for over three hundred years from 987[-5] to 1328[-6]. Hugh Capet, the Count of Paris, was elected king by the French nobles in 987[-7]. Capet formed alliances with other nobles and began extending his territory through warfare. His strength was in his feudal alliances and in the support given him by the church. He insured Capet succession by crowning his eldest son associate king. The early Capetian kings ruled as lord among other lords rather than a sovereign. The anointing of each king by the church set them apart from the others. The first strong Capetian king was Louis VI (Louis the Fat). Louis VI ruled from 1108[-8]-1137[-9] and established the strong leadership needed to lay the foundation of royal power in France. He gained complete control over the lle de France, the area around Paris, and established it as the center of royal law. Philip II (Philip Augustus) grandson of Louis VI, ruled from 1180[-10]-1223[-11] and began expanding the kingdom. He captured Normandy, Anjou, and some of the other English territories in France. Philip Augustus also founded the University of Paris, and in 1200[-12] began construction of the Louvre, the palace of the French Kings. The Capetian kings proved themselves stronger than the feudal lords. They encouraged the development of towns so that king and townspeople could be allies against the feudal nobility. Another Capetian king, Louis IX (St. Louis), ruled from 1226[-13] to 1270[-14] and was considered the ideal king of his age. He is famous for enacting judicial reforms that allowed both rich and poor to receive equal justice. He also led the Seventh and Eighth Crusades. He was considered a saint during his lifetime and was canonized by the Roman Church in 1297[-15], less than thirty years after his death. In 1328[-16], the Capetian dynasty ended because the king left no male heir. The house of Valois claimed the throne because Philip VI , of the house of Valois, was the nephew of Philip the Fair. Ap World History Units 1-3 Study Guide iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src="https://phdessay.com/ap-world-history-units-1-3-study-guide/embed/#?secret=eEVpB0TuyU" data-secret="eEVpB0TuyU" width="500" height="282" title="#8220;Ap World History Units 1-3 Study Guide#8221; #8212; Free Essays - PhDessay.com" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"/iframe However, Edward III of England, also claimed the throne because he was the grandson of Philip the Fair. Edward III paying homage to Philip VI This double claim to the throne led to The Hundred Years’ War, which lasted from 1338[-;17]-1453[-;18]. Many long and bitter battles were fought between England and France, all on French soil. The English dominated the war until 1429[-;19], gaining large territories in France. In 1429[-;20], however, a young girl, Joan of Arc, led an army to break the English siege at Orleans and insured the coronation of Charles VII. Joan was captured by pro-English Frenchmen, led by the Duke of Burgundy. She was then turned over to the English, who returned her to the French for a trial. She was burned at the stake in 1431[-;21]. During a second trial in 1456[-;22], she was re-tried and declared innocent. The events of 1429[-;23] were the turning point of the Hundred Years’ War for France. From this point France regained territory and won the war in 1453[-24]. France had gained a true national spirit by this time. The monarchy was firmly established. Louis XI, who ruled from 1461[-25] to 1483[-26], finally achieved a united France in 1477[-27] when he defeated Charles the Bald of Burgundy. England. King Alfred’s successors ruled England until 1016[-;28]. In 1013[-;29] and 1014[-;30] England was overrun by the Danes once more when the king, Ethelred the Unready, fled to Normandy. The English Witan accepted the Dane Canute (Cnut) as king of England in 1016[-;31]. Canute ruled a united Danish kingdom that included Norway, Denmark, and England. During his reign, 1016[-;32]-1035[-;33], England was peaceful. When Canute died, however, his two sons were incompetent and tyrannical. When the last son died in 1042[-;34], the English Witan chose Edward, the son of Ethelred the Unready, as King. Edward, the Confessor, ruled from 1042[-;35] to 1066[-;36]. The power, however, rested largely with the strongest earl, Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and later with his son, Harold Godwinson. When Edward died leaving no heir, Harold became king. Shrine of Edward, the Confessor Harold was not the only claimant to the English throne. Both William, Duke of Normandy, and King Hardrada of Norway planned to invade England. William was a distant relative of Edward, and was officially approved by the pope. William raised an army, invaded England, and defeated Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066[-;37]. William ruled from 1066[-;38] to 1087[-;39]. He brought the feudal system to England from Normandy, but he modified it so that all vassals were subject directly to him. He granted smaller parcels of land to prevent consolidation of power. William used much of the Anglo-Saxon legal and military systems. Two main factions, the Normans and the Saxons, split England for several years. After William and his successors, England was ruled by a new line of kings, the Plantagenets. Henry II was first in the line of Plantagenet kings. The Plantagenets ruled England from 1154[-;40] to 1399[-;41]. Henry II has been called one of England’s greatest kings because of his extensive judicial reforms. Henry hoped that he could unify England by making the royal law the law of the land. This royal law was the foundation of English common law. English common law became the basis for most of the United States law, and legal procedures. Henry also initiated a circuit court system and developed the jury system that led gradually to the jury trial system. Henry II had difficulty with the church because he attempted to put clergy under common law and because his legal reforms interfered with the church court system. The culmination of Henry’s problem with the church was his argument with his friend and advisor Thomas a’ Becket over these church-state concerns. The murder of Becket by some of Henry’s knights brought public anger and hurt Henry’s attempt to unify England. Henry’s son, Richard the Lionhearted, spent so many years fighting in the Crusades that he had little affect on England as king. His cruel brother, John, plotted often to overthrow Richard between 1189[-;42] and 1199[-;43], but did not succeed. John finally took the throne when Richard died. His reign from 1199[-;44] to 1216[-;45] is often called the worst in English history. His cruelty led to defeat on all fronts. His wars with Philip Augustus lost most of the English holdings in France by 1214[-;46]. His disputes with the pope, led the pope to place England under interdict in 1208[-;47] and to excommunicate John in 1209[-;48]. His ruthless ways at home caused the English nobles to revolt in 1215[-;49]. At Runnymede in the year 1215[-;50], John was forced by his nobles to sign the Magna Carta (the Great Charter). The Magna Carta was a document which protected feudal rights and limited the power of the king by stating that even the king was under the rule of law. Before this time, the king was not bound by any law; he was the law. John did not honor the Magna Carta for long. The principles in the Magna Carta, however, influenced later developments such as fair trials, representative government, and taxation only by consent of the people. John’s refusal to abide by the Magna Carta led to further unrest. When John died in 1216[-51], he left a country torn by civil wars. The Plantagenet kings following John were largely responsible for the formation of English Parliament. Edward I, who reigned from 1272[-52] to 1307[-53], was the first to use Parliament effectively. He called together an assembly of people’s representatives made up of knights, nobles, clergy, and burgesses. Initially this group was called together to make monetary decisions, especially concerning taxes. In the beginning the representatives met as separate groups, knights meeting with nobles, clergy and burgesses meeting by themselves. In later years the clergy no longer joined the group. The knights and burgesses met together forming the basis for the House of Commons, and the nobles met together in what became known as the House of Lords. Edward I tried to conquer both Wales and Scotland. He succeeded in conquering Wales in 1284[-;54], but he could not conquer Scotland. The high cost of these wars forced him to collect money through taxes. This need for tax revenue led to the calling of Parliament. Edward II (1307[-;55]-1327[-;56]), Edward III (1327[-;57]-1337[-;58]), and Richard II (1377[-;59]-1399[-;60]), were the last Plantagenet rulers. Edward II and Edward III further developed Parliament making it an integral part of English government by the end of the fourteenth century. The Hundred Years’ War had taken its toll and continued beyond the Plantagenet reign. Richard II was only ten years of age when he took the throne. His uncle, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, held the real power until Richard was of age. The costs of war, the unrest among the peasants that led to the Peasants Revolt of 1381[-61], and the seizure of John of Gaunt’s lands after his death made Richard unpopular. In 1399[-;62], Richard II was forced to abdicate when John of Gaunt’s son Henry of Bolingbroke led a revolt of nobles against the king. Henry of Bolingbroke became Henry IV, the first king of the House of Lancaster. His son, Henry V, was a strong king who reigned between 1413[-63] and 1422[-64]. Henry V fought bravely in the Hundred Years’ War and won the famous Battle of Agincourt in 1415[-;65]. After Henry V’s death, England again was torn by civil wars. When Henry died, his son was only nine months old, and was named Henry Vl. Before Henry VI came of age in 1437[-66], England had suffered severe losses in the Hundred Years’ War, and the country was dominated by rival factions, primarily by the Houses of Lancaster and York. Henry VI’s weak and disastrous reign led England into a second war that began just two years after England’s loss of the Hundred Years’ War. This new war lasted thirty years (1455[-67]-1485[-68]), and was called the Wars of the Roses because the red rose was the symbol of the House of Lancaster, and the white rose was the symbol of the House of York. The Wars of the Roses finally ended in 1485[-69] when Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster defeated King Richard III in the battle of Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor became Henry VII and began the reign of the Tudor kings, a reign that lasted until 1603[-70]. Holy Roman Empire. In the kingdoms of Germany and Italy, strong monarchies did not develop as they did in England and France. Germany had the opportunity to establish a strong government but the choice to seek power and conquest prevented them from doing it. After the last Carolingian king of east Frankland died, the kingdom of Germany was split into four duchies. In 919[-71], a Saxon noble, Henry the Fowler became King Henry I. Henry I established a strong government and began to increase the territory of the kingdom of Germany. His son Otto, called Otto the Great, became one of the strongest kings in Europe. During his reign from 936[-72] to 973[-73], Otto created a united Germany by dominating the nobles. He stopped the Magyar and Slav invasions, and united German church leaders under his power. Once he had united Germany, Otto turned to Italy. On an expedition to Italy (961[-74]-964[-75]), Otto saved the pope, deposed the Italian king, and added north and central Italy to the German kingdom. In 962[-76], the pope crowned him Roman Emperor of the West, and Otto became the first emperor of what was called the Holy Roman Empire. This title gave Otto power not only over Italy and Germany, but also over the papacy. Otto and the German emperors who followed him became ambitious and desired to live as the Roman emperors had lived before them. While they wasted their efforts trying to hold the Italian states and to live as emperors, the German nobles regained power and established their own feudal states. Some of the strongest German kings could have reunited Germany, but the lure of Italian power kept them divided. One of the most famous kings, Frederick Barbarossa (Redbeard), first of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, extended the empire to Burgundy, Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland. His reign from 1152[-77] to 1190[-78] was successful, but he spent twenty-five years trying to reconquer Italian lands. Frederick died in Asia Minor on the Third Crusade. Spain and Portugal. After 711[-79] when the Muslims invaded Spain, civil wars split the Muslim factions. The Umayyad Kingdom of Cordoba became the center of culture and power in Spain from the eighth to the eleventh century. Tenth century Cordoba was the great intellectual center of Europe. Small groups of Christians had scattered during the Muslim invasions. After 711[-80] Christians fought both Muslims and other Christians and established small kingdoms. By the tenth and eleventh centuries independent Christian kingdoms were well established. Muslim power had begun to disintegrate. The Christian reconquest, or Reconquista, as it was called, began in the eleventh century and continued for nearly four hundred years. Rodrigo Diaz of Vivar, known as El Cid, was the great hero of the early Reconquista movement. He conquered the Muslims in Valencia in 1094[-81] and became its ruler until his death in 1099[-82]. In 1139[-83] Alphonso I of Portugal defeated the Muslims. Portugal was declared a free kingdom in 1143[-84]. In 1212[-85] the Spanish Christians defeated the Muslims in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. All that remained under Muslim control was Granada. The Reconquista finally ended in 1492[-86] when Ferdinand and Isabella captured Granada. THE CHURCH The Roman Catholic Church of the High Middle Ages was one of the only unifying factors in Europe. Europe was often called Christendom because the church was so much a part of life. The church controlled many legal and political functions and during this period promised protection as well as salvation. People depended on the church first of all for salvation. Roman Catholics believed in certain basic doctrines, the most important of which were the seven sacraments: baptism confirmation penance the Holy Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) matrimony (marriage) holy orders extreme unction The sacraments covered every aspect of Roman Catholic life from birth with baptism to preparation for death with extreme unction. The sacraments were considered essential to salvation and could only be administered by clergy. The church structure was similar to earlier church structures. In the High Middle Ages, however, bishops were often upper class, equal to the nobles in wealth and power. Parish priests, especially in the villages, were often poorly educated, but were concerned with the salvation of their people. The church began to develop a more highly structured ritual, or liturgy. The liturgy was not the same all over Europe, but the essential Eucharistic ritual was central to it. Church fathers and later poets composed elaborate hymns for church services. Observance of religious festivals and special seasons increased. The church regulated certain aspects of warfare. Knights who killed innocent people or who pillaged churches or monasteries were banned from the sacraments in accordance with a document known as the Peace of God (990[-;87]). Another document, the Truce of God, prohibited fighting during certain religious seasons and on specified days of the week. The church courts tried those who ignored these rules as well as members of the clergy who were guilty of offenses. Heretics were also tried by church courts. A fear of heresy led to the creation of a court to search out and to try heretics. This court became known as the Inquisition. The church could impose severe penalties, such as interdiction and excommunication. The Church could also depose unfit rulers. Religious orders. The medieval church was not without controversies. The increased wealth of some church leaders and of some monasteries led to reforms from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. The primary reforms were monastic. Many monasteries had become part of the feudal system, accepting lands in return for protection. The land brought further involvement with the world, along with wealth. Many monks, vowed to poverty, found this acquisition of land unacceptable and set out to find new, reformed orders with stricter rules. The monastery of Cluny, founded in 910[-;88], was such a reformed monastery. The monks of Cluny refused land grants that tied them to lay leaders. The movement spread, and Cluny eventually had 300 monasteries under the abbot at Cluny. These monks were responsible directly to the pope. Two other reform groups were the Carthusians, who lived as hermits, and the Cistercians, who were a stricter branch of the Benedictines and who were led in the early twelfth century by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091[-;89]-1153[-;90]). In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries new orders, known as mendicant orders, began to appear. The members of these monastic orders took vows of poverty and were forbidden to own property. They were supported by alms (begging). Two of these orders were begun by Francis of Assisi (1182[-;91]-1216[-;92]) and Dominic (1170[-;93]-1221[-;94]). These two men organized groups of friars, or brothers, who did not live in monasteries, but went out as missionaries, earning or begging for their food and shelter as they went. These orders, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, were founded to fight the spread of heresies. In addition to a vow of poverty, the friars’ rule forbade them to marry. Papacy. As papal powers and secular powers became more closely linked, problems arose between church and state in all matters. Both church and state claimed sovereign powers in cases that did not concern them, especially in legal matters. The outcome was usually determined by the stronger leader, either pope or king. From 962[-95] to 1149[-96], Otto the Great and the other emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, had declared themselves above the pope. They deposed and named popes at will. The Clunaic Reforms under Pope Leo IX (1049[-97]-1054[-98]) gave the papacy independence. Gregory III, who was pope from 1037[-99] to 1085[-100], tried to establish church authority over state authority by standing against the German emperors. Although he was driven from Rome, he established a precedent of opposition to the Germans which spurred future popes to similar action. Pope Innocent III had greater success over secular rulers during his papacy from 1198[-101]-1216[-102]. He was victorious over both Philip Augustus of France in 1198[-103], and King John of England in 1213[-104]. In the latter case, he forced John to pay tribute to the papacy and to acknowledge that England was a fief of the papacy. In the thirteenth century, Pope Gregory IX was unable to defeat Frederick II of Germany, but he created considerable opposition that led eventually to the downfall of the Hohenstaufens. In 1302[-105] Pope Boniface VIII (1294[-106]-1303[-107]) declared that all states were subject to the pope. This action resulted in controversy, especially with Philip the Fair in France, and led to the Avignon Captivity, a group of French popes who reigned in the city of Avignon from 1305[-108] to 1376[-109]. From 1378[-110] to 1417[-111], the Great Schism, an era when the church was ruled by two rival popes, dealt a severe blow to papal supremacy and severely split the church. The schism ended in 1417[-112] when the Council of Constance deposed both popes and elected a new pope, Martin V. Philosophy. One of the major intellectual developments to rise out of the church at this time was a serious study of philosophy. Medieval philosophy began to examine the relationship between faith and reason. The introduction of many of Aristotle’s works into medieval Europe combined with knowledge of church teachings led to the development of a religious philosophy known as Scholasticism. Scholasticism attempted to apply Aristotle’s logic to church teachings. The greatest scholastic philosopher was St. Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican who lived from about 1224[-113] to 1274[-114]. His twenty-one volume Summa Theologica carefully studies the relationship between faith and reason. Thomas spoke of reason and faith as gifts of God. He concluded that reason could understand certain truths and that faith perceived the truths of Christians, which could not be understood by reason. Scholasticism was not immediately accepted, but eventually Thomas’ works were adopted officially by the church. The Crusades. In the period from 1096[-;115] to 1291[-;116], eight Catholic Crusades were launched to drive the Muslim â€Å"infidels† from the Holy Land. The Crusades were military failures. They did, however, stimulate the growth of trade in Europe, which, in turn, led to the growth of cities, trade centers, and monetary systems. They also led to advances in armor and weaponry. The Crusades were very costly and many nobles were forced to sell their lands to finance military campaigns. This led eventually to a decline in the feudal system because the sale of the lands lessened the power of the lords, and it released the serfs who then moved into the towns. Major Crusades:| The First Crusade (1096[-;117]-1099[-;118]) called by Pope Urban II at request of the Byzantine emperor;| The Second Crusade (1147[-;119]-1149[-;120]) called by St. Bernard of Clairvaux at the request of Pope Eugenius II;| The Third Crusade (1189[-;121]-1192[-;122]) called by European leaders after the fall of Jerusalem;| The Fourth Crusade (1202[-;123]-1204[-;124]) called by Pope Innocent III;| The Fifth Crusade (1218[-;125]-1221[-;126]) called by Pope Innocent III;| The Sixth Crusade (1228[-;127]-1229[-;128]) led by Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire;| The Seventh Crusade (1248[-;129]-1254[-;130]) called by Louis IX of France;| The Eighth Crusade (1270[-;131]-1272[-;132]) called by Louis IX of France. | The Crusades diminished the power of the church somewhat because they failed to defeat the â€Å"infidels. † The Crusades were responsible, however, for the growth of chivalric and monastic orders of knights, such as the Knights Templars, the Teutonic Knights, and the Knights Hospitalers. Three other Crusades are often mentioned. The first is the People’s Crusade of 1096[-133] composed of about fifty thousand peasants and their families who set out for Asia Minor. They pillaged their way through Europe and killed many Jews. Led by a man called Peter the Hermit, about twelve thousand reached their goal, only to be slaughtered by Turks. The second was the Children’s Crusade of 1212[-;134]. This Crusade led to disaster and was a tragic memory for families across the continent. Most of the idealistic children either died or were captured and sold as slaves. The third crusade was officially called by Pope Gregory in 1274[-;135] and would have been the Ninth Crusade, but it never began. Pope Gregory died in 1276[-;136] and preparation for the Crusade ceased. [-;0] – playwav:interdic. mp3 [-;1] – gameboard:group=1 [-;2] – gameboard:group=1 [-;3] – flashcards:group=1 [-;4] – flashcards:group=1 -;5] – timeline:year=987 [-;6] – timeline:year=1328 [-;7] – timeline:year=987 [-;8] – timeline:year=1108 [-;9] – timeline:year=1137 [-;10] – timeline:year=1180 [-;11] – timeline:year=1223 [-;12] – timeline:year=1200 [-;13] – timeline:year=1226 [-;14] – timeline:year=1270 [-;15] – timeline:year=1297 [-;16] – t imeline:year=1328 [-;17] – timeline:year=1338 [-;18] – timeline:year=1453 [-;19] – timeline:year=1429 [-;20] – timeline:year=1429 [-;21] – timeline:year=1431 [-;22] – timeline:year=1456 [-;23] – timeline:year=1429 -;24] – timeline:year=1453 [-;25] – timeline:year=1461 [-;26] – timeline:year=1483 [-;27] – timeline:year=1477 [-;28] – timeline:year=1016 [-;29] – timeline:year=1013 [-;30] – timeline:year=1014 [-;31] – timeline:year=1016 [-;32] – timeline:year=1016 [-;33] – timeline:year=1035 [-;34] – timeline:year=1042 [-;35] – timeline:year=1042 [-;36] – timeline:year=1066 [-;37] – timeline:year=1066 [-;38] – timeline:year=1066 [-;39] – timeline:year=1087 [-;40] – timeline:year=1154 [-;41] – timeline:year=1399 [-;42] – timeline:year=1189 -;43] – timeline:year=1199 [-;44] – timeline:year=1199 [ -;45] – timeline:year=1216 [-;46] – timeline:year=1214 [-;47] – timeline:year=1208 [-;48] – timeline:year=1209 [-;49] – timeline:year=1215 [-;50] – timeline:year=1215 [-;51] – timeline:year=1216 [-;52] – timeline:year=1272 [-;53] – timeline:year=1307 [-;54] – timeline:year=1284 [-;55] – timeline:year=1307 [-;56] – timeline:year=1327 [-;57] – timeline:year=1327 [-;58] – timeline:year=1337 [-;59] – timeline:year=1377 [-;60] – timeline:year=1399 [-;61] – timeline:year=1381 -;62] – timeline:year=1399 [-;63] – timeline:year=1413 [-;64] – timeline:year=1422 [-;65] – timeline:year=1415 [-;66] – timeline:year=1437 [-;67] – timeline:year=1455 [-;68] – timeline:year=1485 [-;69] – timeline:year=1485 [-;70] – timeline:year=1603 [-;71] – timeline:year=919 [-;72] – timeline:year=936 [-;73] – timel ine:year=973 [-;74] – timeline:year=961 [-;75] – timeline:year=964 [-;76] – timeline:year=962 [-;77] – timeline:year=1152 [-;78] – timeline:year=1190 [-;79] – timeline:year=711 [-;80] – timeline:year=711 -;81] – timeline:year=1094 [-;82] – timeline:year=1099 [-;83] – timeline:year=1139 [-;84] – timeline:year=1143 [-;85] – timeline:year=1212 [-;86] – timeline:year=1492 [-;87] – timeline:year=990 [-;88] – timeline:year=910 [-;89] – timeline:year=1091 [-;90] – timeline:year=1153 [-;91] – timeline:year=1182 [-;92] – timeline:year=1216 [-;93] – timeline:year=1170 [-;94] – timeline:year=1221 [-;95] – timeline:year=962 [-;96] – timeline:year=1149 [-;97] – timeline:year=1049 [-;98] – timeline:year=1054 [-;99] – timeline:year=1037 -;100] – timeline:year=1085 [-;101] – timeline:year=1198 [-;102] â₠¬â€œ timeline:year=1216 [-;103] – timeline:year=1198 [-;104] – timeline:year=1213 [-;105] – timeline:year=1302 [-;106] – timeline:year=1294 [-;107] – timeline:year=1303 [-;108] – timeline:year=1305 [-;109] – timeline:year=1376 [-;110] – timeline:year=1378 [-;111] – timeline:year=1417 [-;112] – timeline:year=1417 [-;113] – timeline:year=1224 [-;114] – timeline:year=1274 [-;115] – timeline:year=1096 [-;116] – timeline:year=1291 [-;117] – timeline:year=1096 [-;118] – timeline:year=1099 -;119] – timeline:year=1147 [-;120] – timeline:year=1149 [-;121] – timeline:year=1189 [-;122] – timeline:year=1192 [-;123] – timeline:year=1202 [-;124] – timeline:year=1204 [-;125] – timeline:year=1218 [-;126] – timeline:year=1221 [-;127] – timeline:year=1228 [-;128] – timeline:year=1229 [-;129] – timeline:year=1248 [- ;130] – timeline:year=1254 [-;131] – timeline:year=1270 [-;132] – timeline:year=1272 [-;133] – timeline:year=1096 [-;134] – timeline:year=1212 [-;135] – timeline:year=1274 [-;136] – timeline:year=1276 How to cite World History-High Middle Ages, Papers

We’ve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporation’s free essay sample

Pacemakers were small, battery-powered devices which, when implanted within a patient, helped a malfunctioning heart to beat in a steady, fixed rhythm. Because Medtronic was the first entrant into the pacemaker field and built a strong technological lead, it enjoyed a substantial portion (over 70%) of the market share for cardiac pacing through the 1960s. Building upon Medtronic’s legacy of leadership was not easy, however. In the face of increasing competition, rapid technological change and tightening market and regulatory demands for product quality, Medtronic saw its market share cut by more than half between 1970 and 1986. Though it had invested heavily in technology and product development over this period, much of that investment had been unproductive. Many projects failed to produce product designs that could be launched competitively, and the features and functionality of most of the products the company was able to launch, lagged the competition. Several key employees left the company, seeing greater opportunity to develop their new pacemaker product ideas in new start-ups rather than within Medtronic. These competitors proved much faster than Medtronic at developing new products that advanced the state-of-the-art in pacemaking. Medtronic was also pummeled by two major product recalls related to product quality problems. Observers felt the company would have lost even more of the market during this period, were it not for its strong worldwide salesforce and the lingering legacy of its brand reputation amongst surgeons, the primary customer group. 1 This citation was made by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1984. Professor Clayton M. Christensen prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Some of the data and names in this case have been disguised to protect the proprietary interests of the company. Copyright  © 1997 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permi ssion of Harvard Business School. 1 698-004 Weve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporations Cardiac Pacemaker Business Management changes which were initiated in the late 1980s, however, had sparked a dramatic reversal in the company’s fortunes, and by 1996 the company had regained its position of product and market leadership. By all accounts, it was in front and pulling away from its competitors. On a pleasant Minneapolis spring afternoon in 1996, several members of the team that managed this turn-around Steve Mahle, president of the Brady Pacing Business; Mike Stevens, general manager of the Pulse Generator Programming Systems (PGPS) Division; Bill Murray, general manager of the MicroRel component manufacturing subsidiary; Director of Marketing Paula Skjefte (pronounced Sheftee); and Director of Product Development Technology Don Deyo -gathered to assess the progress they had made since they had taken the helm of the troubled division in the late 1980s. They were also anxious to understand whether the management structure and the processes, values, and resources they had created to achieve this turn-around, were capable of maintaining the company’s successful momentum in the future. This case recounts their achievements and concerns. Medtronic’s Brady Pacing Business Medtronic’s Brady Business Unit designed and built pacemakers that delivered a rhythm of electrical impulses, to remedy a disorder called Bradycardia, in which the hearts electrical system does not generate pulses to cause the heart to beat rapidly enough to sustain the bodys normal activity, as described in Appendix 1. Amongst its other businesses, Medtronic also had a Tachy cardia Business Unit, whose products addressed the opposite malfunction when the hearts electrical system generated too many beats. Because of the prevalence of Bradycardia relative to other disorders in cardiac patients, the Brady Business Unit historically had delivered most of Medtronics revenues, and an even larger share of its profits. Consequently, the health and vitality of the Brady Business strongly affected the corporation’s overall financial performance. The Brady Business Unit worked hand-in-glove with the component divisions of Medtronic in product development efforts, as shown in Exhibit 1. The Promeon Division, for example, developed new technologies to power pacemakers. In the early years of the industry’s history in particular, battery technology had been a pivotal selling point because the battery could not be replaced: once it was depleted, a new pacemaker had to be implanted. Another division, MicroRel, designed and fabricated the critical hybrid microelectronic circuits in Medtronics pacemakers. Located in T empe, Arizona, it supplied proprietary circuitry to all of Medtronics businesses. Work with MicroRel was viewed as a crucial connection in the development of new pacemakers, because of the increasing importance that integrated circuit (IC) technology played within these devices. Perhaps the most critical division for the Brady Business was the Pulse Generators Programming Systems (PGPS), headed by Mike Stevens. Unlike the other two component divisions that shared their services and output with other parts of Medtronic, PGPS focused on developing new products for Bradycardia pacing, by translating customer and market-based inputs into product designs, and then worked closely with manufactur ing to produce the final products. This involved design and assembly of the pacemaker as well as the programming unit, which typically sat on a table in the cath lab or operating room where the implantation was performed. Programming units allowed physicians to tailor the firmware in the pacemaker so that the frequency of the pulses it generated and a number of other attributes of the device matched the needs of each individual patient. The leads which carried electrical impulses from the pulse generator to the wall of the heart were designed by a separate leads group within the Brady Pacing Business Unit, headed by Warren Watson. 2 The term â€Å"brady† derives from a Latin root meaning â€Å"slow. † The opposite cardiac pacing disorder, tachycardia, took its name from a Latin root meaning â€Å"fast. † 2 Weve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporations Cardiac Pacemaker Business 698-004 How the Pacemaking Leader Lost Its Rhythm Product development at Medtronic historically had been supervised by its functional managers, who were intimately involved with each development effort during the company’s early years. However, as the company grew, the functional managers became increasingly absorbed by operating responsibilities in their own functional organizations, making coordination across functions, in practice if not intent, a lower priority. The company responded by creating a group of project managers to coordinate the work of various functional groups. While this helped, most major decisions still had to be passed by the functional managers â€Å"A legacy of how decisions had been made that still lingered in the organization,† according to a long-time employee. The project managers’ job was to try and get decisions to be made by the functional leadership they only had minor authority to make decisions themselves. â€Å"Planning new products is actually a lot more difficult in a business like this than it looks,† reflected another experienced executive. â€Å"In some businesses the problem is a lack of great ideas. But in our situation with rapidly changing technological possibilities, some darned good competitors and thousands of cardiologists out there with ideas for all kinds of new features, the opposite is true: We’ve always had too many ideas for new products. In our functional organization, without a single, coordinated process or person to articulate a product plan or strategy, development projects just started everywhere. When you had a good idea, you’d mock up something either a real prototype or something on paper and carry it around with you. Then when you’d run into Earl Bakken or another powerful manager in the hall, you’d corner him, pull your idea out of your pocket, and try to get him to support it. If his reaction seemed positive, then you would use that leverage, to get a few friends to help you push it along. At some point you’d go to the engineering manager to get formal resources. â€Å"The problem with this system was not that we were working on bad ideas. Most of them were technically sound and made market sense,† commented Don Deyo, an experienced engineer and currently Director of Product Development and Technology. We were trying to do too many things, and no project got the focus and attention needed to get it done right. It was taking too long to get anything to market. We never got good at releasing new products, because you only get good at things you do a lot. Those that we did introduce often followed the lead of competitors. That’s what happens when you continually try to respond to every new idea to come along. † The problem then fed on itself,† reflected Mike Stevens, general manager. The development people would tell me that they could never get anything to market because marketing kept changing the product description in the middle of the projects. And the marketing people would say that it took so long for engineering to get anything done, that by the time they got around to completing something, the market demands would have changed. When customer requirements evolve faster than you can develop products, it becomes a vicious spiral. † In environments like that, it is very difficult to plan product families,† Stevens continued. If the company launched a product that subsequently could be modified or extended to create derivative models, it was a stroke of luck. † Because of the ad hoc way in which new product development projects were conceived, Medtronic’s project pipeline was made up of incongruous d evelopment cycles. Projects were separated according to whether they were single or dual-chamber platforms. Each new model had largely its own unique circuitry, components, testing programs, casing, and battery. Due to the high costs of developing all these parts of the pacemaker, project managers battled each other for resources. Although the company’s reputation and strong salesforce relationships with surgeons kept disaster at bay, the company’s performance suffered as a result of its disabilities in development. Between 1970 and 1986, it was almost always a competitor, not Medtronic, that introduced major new improvements to the market. For example, Cordis introduced the world’s first programmable 3 698-004 Weve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporations Cardiac Pacemaker Business pacemaker in 1972; Medtronic followed in 1980. Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. , a Medtronic spin-off, pioneered the first pacemaker with a long-life lithium battery in 1974. Even though the technology was available from a third-party supplier, Medtronic did not get its lithium battery-powered product out the door until 1978. Although Medtronic introduced its first dual-chamber pacemaker during this period, it did not follow it with an improved dual chamber device for another eight years. Deyo explained, â€Å"We were working on next-generation dual chamber products during all of those eight years. The problem was that just as we’d get ready to announce a new product, a competitor would come out with something better. So we’d force the funnel open again to allow for this new input, re-scope the project, and try to leap ahead of the competitor. Then just as we’d get ready with the improved version, a competitor would come in ahead of us with an even better product; and so on. † â€Å"I got so that I just didn’t want to answer the phone because I was afraid there would be a salesman on the line wanting to know when we were going to come out with a product that was comparable to something a competitor had introduced,† recalled Paula Skjefte, director of marketing. â€Å"I just couldn’t give him an answer. Field product failures compounded the problems caused by Medtronic’s long development cycle. Its Xytron pacemaker line was recalled in 1976 after several units failed following implantation. And a few years later, physicians found that the leads on some pacemakers they had implanted had disintegrated, so that the pacemaker’s output was not gett ing transmitted to their patients’ hearts. In total, Medtronic was forced to issue four different product advisories to warn that certain models were susceptible to malfunction. The result of these factors was a massive loss of share, from 70% in 1970 to 29% in 1986, as shown in Exhibit 2. Still, however, due to significant growth in the market, the company continued to report record sales and profits over this period, and for many in the company there was no cause for alarm. â€Å"Medtronic was a really nice Minneapolis company,† Don Deyo noted. This reflected in many ways the values of Medtronic’s founder, who had a genuine reverence for every employee’s contributions to the company’s success. â€Å"But somehow in the mid-1970s, Deyo noted, â€Å"This attitude got out of hand. We dominated the market, and were very profitable. Because there was so little pressure on the business, we lost our intensity and willingness to focus our efforts. A Home Run Saves the Day The company’s decline was arrested in 1986 more by good fortune than any change in management practice, however. In the early 1980s a project leader, Ken Anderson, championed an idea for a â€Å"rate-responsive† pacemaker a device which could sense when changes i n body activity required the heart to beat faster or slower, and stimulated the heart to beat accordingly. Although most cardiologists Anderson spoke to thought the idea was impractical, and despite the indifference of most of Medtronic’s staff, Anderson won the support of the general manager, and the two of them set up a dedicated team to pursue the idea. Its product, dubbed Activitrax, worked technologically and in the marketplace. Cardiologists found its single-chamber design easy to implant, and its effect was nearly as good for patients as a dual chamber pacemaker. Patients reported feeling stronger, because it would cause their hearts to beat more rapidly when they were working hard or exercising. And they reported feeling more rested in the morning, because Activitrax paced their hearts to beat more slowly when they were asleep. The dramatic Activitrax therapeutic breakthrough literally saved Medtronic, because no other new platform products were ready for introduction until 1992. It did not, however, alter the way the company developed products. 4 Weve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporations Cardiac Pacemaker Business 698-004 The Turnaround in Product Development Though Medtronic’s market position was helped by the success of Activitrax and by a serious product recall suffered by a principal competitor, the most dramatic changes in the company’s market position were instigated when Mike Stevens was assigned to be vice president for product development of the PGPS Division in 1987. Stevens’ career with Medtronic had begun in 1973, when Motorola decided to shut down its hybrid circuit manufacturing operation near Phoenix. Stevens and several other employees of the Motorola facility decided to continue the operation and obtained financing from Medtronic, which had been a major customer. Stevens had watched Medtronic’s struggles in product development from a supplier’s viewpoint. â€Å"Though I didn’t have a background in product development, I saw much of Medtronic’s problem as Management 101. We had very strong functional roles. People were being measured by cost centers, and there was no accountability for the delay or failure of a new product. I felt the basic values and ethics of the company were still really strong. But what needed work were its processes. I felt if we could get those straightened out, then we could bring the Brady business back to its past glory. † Stevens summarized key elements of his management philosophy as follows: 1. Commitments are sacred. The more responsibility you give to people to control their destiny, the more you can and must hold them accountable. Create a sense of urgency by contrasting the excitement of bringing new therapy to patients, versus the consequences if your competitors are there first with better solutions. Don’t waste time with excess travel or off-site meetings Are happy employees productive, or are productive employees happy? Stevens believed the latter, whereas Medtronic management had been acting as if the former were true. Do nothing that separates management and employees. Management means responsibility, not status. You only get what you measure. Focus on gaining market share. Over time, this is the most accurate measure of your success. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Managers in the PGPS Division got a taste of Stevens’ belief that commitments are sacred when, shortly after arriving at Medtronic, he held management to the project milestones they had agreed upon at the beginning of fiscal year 1988. Their incentive compensation was tied to these objectives, and 1988 was the first year in memory that management did not receive year-end bonuses that were tied to objectives. Measuring Product Development Performance Stevens implemented his measurement philosophy by focusing on four measures of product development performance, which corresponded to the achievements he wanted the organization to focus upon. These are described in the following table. 5 698-004 Weve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporations Cardiac Pacemaker Business Focus Speed Measure Cycle time Stevens’ Comments â€Å"This is the time required to get a new product into the market. If I measure this, there isn’t much else I need to measure. It forces you to do the other things right in product development, because you can’t make mistakes, and you can’t waste time. â€Å"The reason we focus on fully allocated cost, rather than just viewing functional costs or direct product costs, is that it gets you thinking about market share, and the impact that unit volumes can have on your financial success. This is healthy thinking. † â€Å"This translates into market share, pure and simple. † â€Å"In ou r business, you can’t afford a field failure because our patients count on us, and doctors can choose to go elsewhere. † Cost Fully allocated unit product costs Innovativeness Product Quality Product performance relative to competitors Field performance -defects per million Most people in PGPS welcomed Stevens’ attitude. One commented, â€Å"I was just getting started as a project manager, and Mike was a breath of fresh air. His priorities were clear; I knew where he stood. He had a very different management style: very firm, assertive, thoughtful and focused. He was execution-oriented, and really held people accountable. Processes and Practices â€Å"This isn’t a story about great management,† Stevens emphasized. â€Å"It’s a story about putting into place a set of processes that helped a great team of people be as productive as they could be. † The processes Stevens instituted had the following features: 1. Speed â€Å"Being fast to market eliminates so many other problems,† commented Steve Mahle, who took over as president of the Brady Pacing Business in 1990. â€Å"The slowest part of our process was actually in deciding what needed to be done. We used to spend lots of time debating what we should do. One of Mike’s greatest achievements was in cleaning up the front end. He did this by articulating very clearly what our strategy was, so that there was a well-defined criteria that could guide these decisions. Then he created a process to get those decisions made. † Exhibit 3 describes the process by which new products were defined. An assessment of the competitive and customer environment was combined with a technology assessment, to define the business objectives of each new product, and to clarify what the financial and competitive contributions of the new product needed to be. Stevens, who by 1991 had become division general manager, reviewed new product ideas according to their potential for meeting those business objectives. His staff, comprised of the managers of the division’s marketing, research, development, technology, finance, human resources and manufacturing functions, participated in this review with Stevens. . Platform Strategy Since product ideas in the earlier regime had originated in disparate parts of the organization and were approved and funded in independent decisions, it was quite common that products that required significant investments of time and money were not leveraged with derivative products that could extend their life and market reach. The highly successful Activitrax mod el, for example, did not spawn a single derivative product that offered different features, performance, or price points to the market. To devise an effective product line architecture built around product platforms, Mahle established a product planning team comprised of himself, Mike Stevens, Paula Skjefte, Don Deyo and Stan Myrum, Vice president and general manager of the business unit’s leads division. This team defined a platform strategy around three key elements. 6 Weve Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporations Cardiac Pacemaker Business 698-004 The first element was that the initial platform product had to be designed to accommodate the full range of derivative models from it, without significant redesign. In other words,† Stevens explained, â€Å"We designed the highest-performance, most fully featured version of the product at the outset. † Medtronic then created derivatives by de-featuring and de-rating certain elements of that design, so that it could address other tiers of the market as well. The second element of the platform strategy was enabled by the first. Historically, Medtronic had int roduced new pacemaker features on its single-chamber models first, because they were technologically simpler to design and build. Once the features were accepted and the technology perfected in the single-chamber platform, the features were then moved up-market onto the dual chamber platform. â€Å"The effect of this,† Paula Skjefte noted, â€Å"Was to force a lot of our lead physicians to continue focusing on single-chamber devices just so they could utilize our newest features. Once we began designing the platform to accommodate the full range of derivative models we planned to spin off from it, we didn’t face the same constraint it was just as easy to put the most advanced features on the dual chamber model. This gave us a much clearer progression from basic, simple devices for the low-end of the market to high-performance, fully featured models at the high end. Skjefte continued, â€Å"The way we used to play in the low-end of the market was to discount the price of our old model, after we had introduced a new one. This was ironic. Because we were reducing the cost of our products with each generation, we sold our high-cost models at the lowest prices, and our low-cost, newest models at the highest prices. The result was that there was little incentive to maintain a strong presence in lower tiers of the market. Under the new strategy, Medtronic addressed lower price points in its market with the simplest versions of its new lower-cost platforms. Hence, even as Medtronic was assuming a leadership role in features and functionality in higher tiers of the market, it strengthened its position in the low end as well. The third aspect of Medtronic’s platform strategy was to change the way platforms were defined. Formerly, Medtronic had thought of platforms in terms of physical architecture.