Negotiation with chinese Essay Example for Free

Negotiation with chinese Essay We wish to express sincere appreciation to Professor Shia Yun Chiang for his assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. In addition, special thanks to Yama (Yuehai shoe material Ltd) who’s familiarity with the needs and ideas of these team and was helpful during the early programming phase of this research. INTRODUCTION Continental Design is a company where excellence and customer satisfactory are priority. After ten years of being in business, continental now seeks to enter the Chinese market. On Thursday, June 13th 2013, some members were selected to visit the potential customers of our new shoe-soles designs to introduce and negotiate our terms. These members include Mr. Emmanuel Mlay (Financial Officer), Mr. Robin Sharma(Managing Director), Mr. Cliff Osoo (Contracting Officer), Ms. Bella Chan (General Overseer), Ms. Sandra O. K (Sales Manager). Upon arrival, we were taken in and around the factory to experience their works and then to the meeting room. In this report, we explain further our observation and findings in negotiating with the typical Chinese. This report emphasizes mainly on the observations which includes specifications, mode of conduct, styles and techniques also elaborating on how they work together as individualist or collectivism. Again the language used, what they felt at ease to say, their communication skills, relationships with clients, were also under study. However their reasoning and way of thinking was somehow fascinating and very interesting which this report enlightens ideally and strategically. A brief but very informative research was done to know our potential customers before reaching out to them. The one talked about in this report is â€Å"Yuehai shoes material†, a very renowned shoesole company in China. In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product and profits. Unless youve got a good team, you cant do much with the other two. 1 1 By: Lee Iacocca 1 Chapter 1 THE CONTINENTAL DESIGN Continental design provides differentiated products that accelerate innovations in the global design market. With ten years of experience and commitment, Continental design has grown to be one of the strongest competitors in the field of designing. This company has also spent those ten years in developing its communication and negotiation skills. Its management capabilities have enabled it to technically handle the challenges and efficiently provide products that are best in the market. As Victor Papanek once said â€Å"Design is the conscious effort to impose a meaningful order. † Continental design was founded by a team of five engineers with one primary goal of working hard helping all small and big shoes companies to succeed through professionally enhanced designs. Today, Continental design is a full-service independent company with about 10 percent of the world market share. Our services cover the whole of Africa, South and North America, Middle East and few countries in Asia. Recently we have initiated our first staple toward China market. 2 BUYERS COMPANY PROFILE Yuehai Shoes Materials Yuehai shoe material has more than 20 years of manufacturing experience and large number of qualified senior employees who are devoted to settling problems and confronting challenges. It has adopted advanced equipment from Taiwan and main land China. The production technology is matured and reliable; at the same time it uses the original material that makes its products to be famous by their high qualities. Its domestic market ranges from Guangzhou and Dongguan where there is a stiff competition that helps them to develop new and up-to date designs that meet the market demands. It then covered the whole of China before capturing Europe and America as the first target in external market. Most recently, it has expanded its external market to Middle East and Africa as a whole, where it has entered into more than 10 different countries. Shoes are human daily life necessities. Shoes industries will never perish as long as human being still exists. With the use of imagination this company is committed to continue to develop shoe industries as part of making the life of entire society in the world better off. Address: No. 39 beicun road, huangqi, nanhai district, foshan city, Guangdong province, China. Tel: 8675785938525 Fax: 867578592981 Email: [emailprotected] net Yuehaixe. com. cn 3 Chapter 2 NEGOTIATION PREPARATION In negotiation there are few things that have to be put in place before the negotiating team or person set off for the negotiation. The factors that are mostly considered before negotiation are: ? Length of contract This is the period that the contract will take before it’s renewed again. The seller always concentrate in this factor because it affect the profit the company will make and for how long. Mostly its 1 to 3 years. This factor is important because it also influence the price to be offered to the buyer. ? Volume to be ordered After a seller has agreed on the length of contract then the next thing to talk about is the Volume that will be bought. When few goods are bought, there is a high possibility that the price will be higher unlike when a large quantity is bought; therefore these first two factors influence the price of the item. ? Price The third factor to talk about after length of contract and volume is price at which the good will be sold. In every company, there is a price offered depending on the quantity to be bought, quality and other things needed for production. The larger the quantity, the lower the price will be and vice versa. 4 ? Payment Terms and Services. The most important thing for a company going for a negotiation is; length of contract, volume and price and other things like payment terms and services comes up later. The last two remaining factors are considered to make sure that the items agreed before is taken into account in a proper manner. Payment terms are important because even if you have a long contract with large volume but payment is not done in time, you will have to lose something. Services are offered to the buyer to make sure he/she is satisfied with the goods bought. 5 SELLER’S WISH LIST. Here we made our wish list before we went to the meeting. We had decided our lowest price and the contract length. Below you can see the result of our company board meeting before going to negotiate with Chinese company ITEM2 Length of contract Volume Price Payment terms Services WEIGHT 40% 25% 20% 10% 5% RANGE 2-1 Years 500-100units/month $200-$150 10-15days 5/5-8/5 In the following table you can see that we agreed to have at least 1 year contract with Chinese company. As they are old and experience company, we believe that it won’t be any problem even if we have 2 years long contract. In terms of volume we were ready to deliver any amount till up to 500 per months. Price was the main concern of our meeting. We know that they will try to spend more time on the price negotiating and knowing we have many competitors in the market, we needed to come up with a very good price range. We also had an agreement on payment terms which should meet within the short period. Lastly, we agreed to offer them a good customer service. 2 Professor Shia Yun Chiang Power point presentation-Estimating wish list ,Power point presentation slide no. 9 10 6 THE AGREEMENT ZONE In every negotiation, there are two possible outcomes. The parties can either reach an agreement or not. The first situation is where the seller and the buyer don’t reach an agreement at all, either, due to the buyer or seller not agreeing with the offer given. The second situation is where the two parties (Buyer and Seller) reach an agreement and signs a contract for the business to take place immediately. For the two parties to reach an agreement, they will have to consider their Consequence of No Agreement (CNA). CNA will either make the two parties to agree or disagree. BUYER’S WISH LIST ITEM3 Price Services Payment terms Length of contract Volume WEIGHT 45% 25% 20% 5% 5% RANGE $100-$150 8/5-5/5 Cash transfer 3-1Years 50-100units/month After a lengthy discussion with the buyer, following were the outcomes of negotiation; OUTCOME ITEM Price Length of Contract Volume Payment Terms Services DETAILS $150/Design 1 Year 100 Units/month Cash Transfer in 2 days 10 Days training Professor Shia Yun Chiang Power point presentation-Estimating wish list ,Power point presentation slide no. 9 10 7 Chapter 3 OBSERVATION VALUES AND THINKING IN NEGOTIATION. When going for a negotiation one has to learn the buyer’s values in thinking. These values differ from one country or one region to the other and it can cause a misunderstanding between the two parties. According to the research we did about Chinese negotiation, we found out that Chinese are more relationship oriented than Africans and even other nations. As soon as we entered into the Chinese office for the negotiation, they offered us Water. This proves that they are more relationship oriented; they use this to build a rapport between their clients even before negotiation. Another thing that the company we were negotiating with did is that, they invited us for supper. In these acts we can see how Chinese people are mostly towards relationship with their clients unlike other European countries or America and even Africa. Before us reaching a conclusion, the Chinese people asked a lot of personal questions even in the middle of our negotiation. Some of the questions they asked were; When will you go back to your country? Do you like china? Is your country very hot than china? These personal questions that are not related to business are a clear picture of Chinese values and thinking in a negotiation. â€Å"As a general rule, it’s always safer to adopt a formal posture and move to an informal stance, if the situation warrants it, than to assume an informal style too quickly†4 4 As Jeswald W. Salacuse- (Ivey Business journal) 8 . During our research, we were also able to notice some of the things that are not common in African countries and even other continents. The first thing that they did is to welcome us in a very encouraging manner that made us feel at home, and with such hospitality, we were able to do the negotiation having been convinced that Chinese are good business people. This kind of hospitality that Chinese people give to their clients make them win in the businesses they negotiate in because the other party will feel so cared for that they can trust the offers given. Another thing we noticed in the research is the way they asked us whether someone has introduced us to the company or we looked it up in the internet. At the beginning I didn’t see the reason why they should be concerned with how we got to know about the company, but after we finished the meeting I had to ask and what they told us is, in Chinese (Intermediary/ middleman). This is one of the things that make us to realize how important Chinese value relationship in the business arena. The other behavior that we observed in the process of visiting and doing the negotiation is that, immediately we arrived at the factory, we were received and taken around the factory to see how they do their production and even explaining every step of production line. This really made us feel honored and we started to see them as transparent and responsible people, something that needed in business so much. â€Å"Chinese negotiating style is people oriented and permeated with such Confucians notion as guanxi, renqing, face, family age, harmony, hierarchy, li (etiquette)†5. 5 As said by Tong Fang –Chinese Business Negotiating Styles 9 CIRCULAR REASONING TALKING In our haste to market our designs for shoe soles. We came across various ways in which Chinese carry out their business negotiation. While most of the companies we approached exhibited the sequential kind of talking, the Chinese demonstrated the circular type. Interestingly, as we tried to obtain information and answer their questions regarding our products, we realized that Chinese, when not interested in your product would rather beat about the bush than going straight to the point. This is mostly demonstrated in the time of negotiating prices. This makes it hard to determine their stance in terms of buying the product. It is almost impossible at that moment to determine the level of consequence of no agreement on the buyer’s side. As much as you try explaining and convincing Chinese buyers who are less interested in a product, you will end up just like before. It is hard for them to say â€Å"no† point blank. This I believe is because of the long courting and relationship they build up with their business partners before negotiating. For instance, in one of our interviews, the interviewee mentioned after our refusal to take lunch with him that it is the culture of Chinese people to dine with their potential business partners irrespective of their interests. He explained that not only does this emphasize politeness; it also creates room for next or future cooperation. That is why in almost every meeting with a Chinese business man, you are served tea or water even before the talking starts. As pleasing as this might sound, it is also the reason behind the average Chinese would want to beat about the bush when not interested in the product for sale. Relationship and friendship are commonly used to obtain a better price and more concessions. 10 Herbig and Martin (1998), Stark, Fam, Waller and Tian (2005), and Zhu et al. (2007) all found that the Chinese do not rush into the negotiation, but rather, spend a lot of time in getting to know their counterparts as much as possible, even including personal information in order to build guanxi and trust from the beginning. Another finding is that they would want to end the meeting peacefully and friendly just as it had started without having to ruin the relationship or hurt anyone’s feelings, yet they have to decide whether or not to purchase the product. According to Faure (1999), the Chinese focus more on relationship building during this stage, as they need to know their counterparts for any business deal to occur. This negotiation practice might cause conflict with Westerners, as Westerners prefer to start negotiations straight away after basic greetings and introductions. Rule how to be successful in dealing with Chinese: â€Å"Be fair, reasonable and diplomatic: â€Å"If your Chinese counterpart believes that you are being unreasonable, they may not openly say so, but your negotiations are likely to stall and go nowhere. If you disagree with your counterpart, don’t simply reject their position out of hand, but carefully explain your reasoning†. 6 6 â€Å"Forbes† by Jack Perkowski (Negotiating in China; 10 rules for Success 11 QUESTIONING INTERRUPTING We’ve had several encounters with many customers throughout the years, but what makes the Chinese customers outstanding is their mode of questioning. Unlike our African customers, they tend to interrupt and chip in their questions whiles you are talking. In some cultures, this might seem rude and impolite but this is not so for Chinese. They are very cooperative, assertive and defensive. This encourages and makes the one talking feel he’s being listened to. This normally generates positive feedback. During one of the interviews conducted, it came to our realization that, the typical or traditional Chinese interrupts more than the Chinese who has been open to Western culture. Customers who deal with Westerners or Africans have adjusted to some of their negotiation skill. This we believe will go a long way to influence most Chinese business partners. Their character or attitude of seeking and asking questions is different from other people in the sense that Chinese exhibits a character of â€Å"Xenophobia which is a distrust of all things foreign to one’s own culture. Xenophile is a lust to obtain all things new and or foreign. The Chinese have become inclined to distrust anything and everyone from foreign lands due to their history of violent revolutions and government seizures and changes. On the other hand, they have also seen the new technologies and high standard of living in the West, and many Chinese struggle with these mixed feelings as they pursue business opportunities with foreigners and seek to acquire western technologies â€Å"(Pye, 1992) 12 COLLECTIVISM Under collectivism, the means of production are owned and controlled by the state or the people as a whole. Also, it describes any outlook or philosophy that stresses the interactivity between people. It is often consider as opposite of individualism. There are two basic types of collectivism: horizontal and vertical. In the horizontal type, members are considered to be as equal as possible, and share resources and responsibilities. The vertical include a social hierarchy that society member work to maintain, and people submit to those above them in the hierarchy. Collectivism in China When Mao Ze Dong came into power; he strengthens the collectivism by eliminating landowners and individualists, sending nearly everyone to work in collectivist communities. Therefore, China has been more collectivist than individualist in both ancient and modern history. Many research states that, there are many leaders in China today who believe that the days of collectivism in China will soon be gone. There are several reasons for this. First is that the â€Å"one-child-policy,† especially in the cities, it gives us many younger citizens who have been raised to believe that they hold a special place in the world. This kind of upbringing leads to individualism over collectivism. In business point, there are still many examples of collectivist thinking. For example, When we(foreigner) and Chinese, began to work together, mainly the Chinese look towards the team as 13 the reason for the company success, but on the other hand, the foreigner(us) were trying to identify individual high performers. That’s one of the different between Chinese and foreign culture. Collectivism between our culture (as a foreigner) and Chinese Collectivism is a cultural pattern found especially in East Asia, Latin America, and Africa. But nowadays societies are not purely individualist or collectivist, but some of them are the mixture of the two. Western and Northern Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are individualist. Conclusion Although there are few countries fully apply in collectivism, like North Korea, most of the countries are applying the mixture of collectivism and individualism. Those countries practicing collectivism mainly have a low GDP level, because it affects trade with the other countries. 14 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIFICATION OF TIME AND PRICE. The important aspects when we negotiate with Chinese: Patience is the most important qualification for successful negotiations with the Chinese. Negotiations in China often take time because of different departments within one organization tend to be involved in negotiation processes and decision-making within the Chinese bureaucracy often takes time. By Confucianism, Chinese will not rush into any serious meetings with someone whom they do not know; trust and a certain feeling of closeness. Here is the example of Chinese negotate style we found. It prove that, to negotiate a favourite price with Chinese, obviously we need time. 1. Don’t expose too much of your interest in a product you want to buy even though you’re really drawn to it. It is better to act like that it does not matter to you and you don’t have to have it. Sometimes the sales person would tell you if he or she can judge from your facial expression that you really want that item. 2. In the first time you will never get the exact item for the price. Usually the sales person would try to seduce you by offering an unfavorable price. For example, for a necklace placed at $100, if you ask the sales person for discount, perhaps for the first time she would give you a discount like $90. Don’t take it. Just think that it is too high and walk away. Sometimes the sales person would shout at your back and offer much more favorable discounts. 15 3. The second negotiation is to reach a middle point. Try to get 45-60% discount of the original price. If it is impossible, try to get somewhere around 70-85%. Try to negotiate in a friendly way. If the agreement cannot be reached, walk away again. 4. The final negotiation will be the last attempt. Be firm and try to get 40% off. Some might finally give you 40% off, while some can’t due to different price strategies involved and store renting fees, staff cost, etc. To compare with our culture(as a foreigner), in our country, all the goods had set their fixed selling price, and most of the company usually have their own rule for market selling, therefore the vacuum for price negotiate will be less. 16 LANGUAGE BARRIER Our group members come from Nepal, Ghana, Tanzania, and Hong Kong. We speak different languages. English is our second language. We often face with language barrier within and outside the group. . Language barrier often is a big problem. If this was an outsourcing job or transcription work, language would probably have a major role, as both require clear understanding of the accents, practice of speaking in a fluent way. Cause of language barrier: 1. Emails written communication we should be able to clearly understand written instructions and reply with clear and also follow rules in a polite way. Sometimes we often wrote a business mail in a friendly tone, instead we should write in a formal way. 2. Phone Calls While working with an outsourcing partner, providing a phone number for emergencies may seem to be a good idea. However if this phone number happens to be attended by a non-English speaking person, it will serve nothing but a source of irritation. So we can think of giving the mobile number of a representative who can speak with clear and patience even if the resolution is not attained on the call in itself. 17 Useful method between different language. Pictogram and simple image are useful method as icon or sign for almost every place. It means they are efficient to give information to people without any words. They have high possibility to support the communication between two people without spoken language. Conclusion We need to use English to communicate with each other, when we were going to Nanhai to take the video, sometimes we need to use Chinese to communicate with the local Chinese people. When people from different countries speak in different languages, we often face difficulties an understanding each other. We cannot express our meaning in a proper way. During our research, when we took the train, there was problem in translating Chinese characters. So it is quite hard for us to find the way to the shoe factory. In addition, the English level of a local Chinese are mainly still in low level, some of them even cannot understand what we are asking. I think it is what we are called language barriers. 18 Chapter 4 TIPS TO NEGOTIATE WITH CHINESE The intensive research negotiation we conducted at Yuehai Shoes Materials factory widened up our knowledge about Chinese negotiation. We believe through this report you have acquired some usefully tips on how to strategically negotiate with Chinese. Upon what you have learned here are our recommendations for you to conquer any negotiation: ? Be prepared†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Make sure you are well prepared. ? Understand the cultural differences†¦. Get to know the other culture. ? Don’t be afraid of negotiation†¦ if you can talk you can negotiate. ? Show some emotions (share some burden)†¦remember, people value them. ? Be on time.. time is money. ? Be careful†¦ use appropriate language. ? Be in control†¦ don’t allow other things to distract your focus. ? Give some room for the other party (compromise whenever necessary). ? Show some vivid example†¦ a picture is worth a thousand words. 19 CONCLUSION â€Å"Deal is always better that no deal. †7 As hard as negotiation may seem to be, its outcomes are almost always worth the endurance. In different cultures where there are different goals, different point of views, different interests, different values and beliefs, different needs and different decision making styles; it takes a considerably huge amount of effort for sellers and buyers to reach the agreement zone. Both parties must be willing to give up part of their wish or lower their requirements which do not happen easily. With better understanding of both cultures of the parties involved, the negotiation will yield more significance solutions. One should keep in mind that negotiation is the cornerstone of any successfully business in the world. Despite the difficulties involved in the strategic negotiation, lets us follow the words of one of our great fathers who once said, â€Å"Let’s never negotiate out of fear, but lets us never fear to negotiate. †8 7 Professor Shia Yun Chiang class PowerPoint presentation 8a.

The Great National Temperance Drink :: essays papers

The Great National Temperance Drink Coca-Cola Enterprises is the self-proclaimed largest bottler of "liquid, nonalcoholic refreshment" in the world. More than 350 million people live in Coke territory and since late last century most have been addicted to the sweetened water. Anyone who prefers sipping an ice-cold Coca-Cola Classic (or one of their companion sodas such as Diet Coke, Sprite, Mr. Pibb, Cherry Coke, Mello Yellow, etc.) should start deciding how much they are willing to pay for them in the grocery store following the New Year. Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., or CCE, is planning to progressively raise the price of their soft drinks by as much as 5% during the next year. This increase is being directly prompted by the imposition of a higher annual target growth for 2000 of 6% by the Coca-Cola Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia, which owns a 40% share in the bottler. This target volume growth is double that of last year's expectation and triple that of this year's growth. While some people are blaming inflation and rising marginal costs (see Figure 1 below) for the price hike and Coca-Cola Co. is pressing fault on the negative impact of foreign currency, another factor may also be creating pressure for Coke to regain lost incoming revenues. This summer's contamination scares and product recalls in Belgium, France and Poland definitely hurt sales in Europe, as well as removed 17 million cases from the supply of products. Another costly segment of this issue was the compensation and distributing costs of 15 million liters worth of coupons for free Coca-Cola products the disgruntled residents of Belgium received. CCE estimated that the total loss was about $103 million, including a case volume decline of 6-7% in Europe. The annual total revenues of CCE from sales as well as the costs associated with operation, delivery, and administrative expenditures, all in terms of millions of dollars. While this graph includes neither long-term debt nor shareholder payments, it does indicate a noticeable jump in marginal costs of production in the last few years. This is closely paralleled by an increase in revenues, indicative of previous price increases. Regardless of the cause, let's look at the consequences of this price increase driven by Mama Coke... While a few consumers are die-hard Coke or Pepsi drinkers, some us easily become indifferent once faced with a grocer's aisle filled with refreshment possibilities.

Criminological Perspectives Essay

Various variables in one’s life can contribute to deviant behaviors, which is analyzed and explained through theory. These variables are but not limited to where one grows up, what type of people you surround yourself with, age, gender, etc. The scenario that this essay will prominently prefer to and use extensively throughout this essay is about a male named Colin in his teens. When growing up, he live on the â€Å"bad side† of town as opposed to most of his friends who lived on the â€Å"right side† of town, and who were a lot more privileged. Colin was from a small town that had many altercations relating to the youth of that community. There was nothing productive for Colin to do in the small town, which caused excessive boredom for him. Colin had been arrested at the age of 15 for stealing gas from a neighbor’s truck, charges were not laid, but the entire community knows of his transgression. Also, Colin took the brunt of the responsibility for a theft in which he was not acting alone. Finally, at the age of 17, Colin left the small town behind and was accepted into a trade college. Colin’s age, where he lives, and his criminal involvement at a young age will be the focus for the rest of the essay. In turn, this paper is going to analyzing a youth from a small town, where there is proven higher rates of crime, and explaining it using two theoretical theories. Thus, by examining the two most highly recognized theories in depth, the Low Self Control Theory and Aker’s Social Learning Theory, and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, we can then begin to understand why certain crimes occur, particularly in Colin’s scenario. By exploring the Low Self Control Theory, also known as the General Theory of Crime, criminologists can explain why crime occurs. Low Self Control Theory and its presumption about human behavior has been incorporated into different criminological theories over the past decades (Wright, 2000). Low Self Control Theory was created in 1990 by Gottfredson and Hirschi and expanded on the earlier works of Durkheim (1987), Reiss (1951) and also Hirschi’s (1969) earlier work on bonding. The theory evolved to suggest that self-control is the general concept around which all of the known facts about crime can be organized (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). This theory focuses on the nature of crime; that is crimes are committed in the search of pleasure and avoidance of pain (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). The Low Self Control Theory is understood to explain an individual’s tendency to perform or refrain from committing crimes, just as high self-control explains an individual’s likelihood of â€Å"conforming to social norms and laws† (Akers, 1991, pg. 201). Gottfredson and Hirschi explain that the concept of self-control is a learned behavior (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). They note that individuals who are involved with crime also engage in behaviors that provide short-term gratification (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Speeding, unprotected sex, gambling, smoking, and drinking are a few examples of risky behaviors that may be evident in criminals who seek immediate satisfaction (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). The most prominent individual difference is one’s self control or lack of which is composed of six elements; impulsivity, risk taking, a preference for simple tasks, a preference for physical activity, temper and finally self-centeredness (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). The theory then alludes that individuals who have these psychological traits have the opportunity to partake in criminal behaviors and are more likely to participate in criminal activity (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) theory has received attention from theorists and researchers (Grasmick, Tittle, Bursik, Arnekley, 1993). They focused on the proposition that self-control, adopted early in life, determines who will be likely to commit crimes (Grasmick et al, 1993). According to Low Self Control Theory, children with behavioral problems tend to grow into delinquents and eventually into adult offenders (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Gottfredson and Hirschi further argue that the level of self-control largely depends on the quality of parenting in a child’s early years, as the path for or against crime happens early in life (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Furthermore, the theory asserts that parenting is the most crucial factor, which will determine an individual’s level of self-control. If a child has a neglectful upbringing, he or she tends to have the six elements outlined by Low Self Control Theory (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Children whose parents provide adequate care and punish misconduct will develop the self-control needed and resist the easy temptations offered by crime. (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Low Self Control Theory argues that a lack of self-control is neither a sufficient nor essential condition for crime to occur as other factors may offset an individual’s likelihood of committing criminal acts (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Although lack of self-control and the family’s role in its failed development do not mean that an individual will become deviant and take part in criminal events, it will provide situations that will make conditions favorable for delinquency (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Gottfredson and Hirschi unmistakably identify the role of parents as the most essential cause of socialization for adolescent youths (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Hirsch has provided the dynamics of the family’s important role in reducing the chances of childhood delinquency (Hirschi, 1995). As the Low Self Control Theory states, individuals who are ineffectively parented prior to age 10 develop less self-control than their similarly aged and better-parented counterparts. This makes them prone to quick and easy gratification when given the opportunity (Gottfredson & Hirschi 1990). Opportunity of crime is apparent for individuals living in a small town, which is prone to crime. Partaking in different types of crimes, such as Colin does, tend to be exciting, risky, or thrilling and they maintain an adventurous point of view. This is especially the case, since Colin is bored in a small town where no action is available to him. As most of the theory is focused on good parenting, and lack of opportunity, small communities will have a tough time deterring criminals in taking part in crime. However, having more police presence will deter individuals from committing crimes throughout the community, as the criminals will partake in crime as long as the opportunity presents itself. On the contrary, if the individuals are neglected as children or have been in an abusive household it will be extremely difficult to deter individuals to commit crimes. Colin has no friends to play with because he does not reside on the wealthy side of town which could bring about neglect, and/or his parents could be abusive or absent in his childhood years. Aker’s Social Learning Theory consists of four key elements. Firstly, imitation refers to the degree of which an individual mimics behaviour that others may admire. Whether or not the behaviour is imitated is affected by external characteristics such as the characteristics of the model, the behaviour observed, and the observed consequences (Akers & Jenson, 2003). These individuals are more than likely to be people that have a personal relationship. Definitions refer to the level of approval individual’s hold regarding morals and laws as well as specific deviant behaviour. These definitions are both general (religious, moral) and specific (Akers & Jenson, 2003). Differential association is the third element of Aker’s social learning model as it refers to attitudes and patterns of behaviours, which are exposed in interaction with others (Paternoster & Bachman, 2001). Differential association has both behavioural interactional and normative dimensions (Paternoster & Bachman, 2001). Finally, differential reinforcement refers to the anticipated costs and rewards associated with an individual’s given behaviour. An act or action that is considered to experience more rewards than costs is more likely to be performed or repeated (Paternoster & Bachman, 2001). In 1998, Aker’s published a book entitled ‘Social Learning and Social Structure’, where he expands further on Social Learning Theory by explaining crime rates as a function, called the Social Structure-Social Learning Theory. While, Social Learning Theory focuses on individual criminal behaviour, Social Structure-Social Learning focuses on the macro-level causes of crime stating that environments impact the individual through learning (Akers 1998). This theory has the same key principles as Social Learning Theory but due to criticism that he received, Aker’s elaborates on the topic. By examining the principles of Akers’s theory, crime that takes place in Colin’s scenario can be explained. Akers developed a theory that can be applied to many different types of criminals and crimes. However, it is best applied to behavior within groups from which receive reinforcement such as gangs and social/peer groups (Akers, 1998). Furthermore, the theory can be applied to any crime that beings any kind of gain. The gain can include positive attention from their group, or pleasure. In most cases an individual will learn behavior from others and then the behavior is reinforced. Taking into consideration when Colin’s participated in the theft with peers and took all of the blame for it once he was caught. As most of his friends are from the â€Å"right side† of town, and he is not, he may have felt pressure from the upper class to take blame. Also, if crime is being committed in a small town and individuals are witnessing it, it can give other criminals the opportunity to join in as the police work loads double, the chances of getting caught for committing a crime decreases. As per Social Learning Theory, Aker’s states that if the risk is the worth the reward than an individual will proceed in committing crimes. Thus, understanding Aker’s 4 elements of social learning and applying them to Colin’s scenario will give individuals a better chance of successfully avoiding crime. However, the only effective way to do so is to deter criminals by adding the use of security cameras, added police forces, and making examples out of those individuals who are caught. Which is not what happened when Colin was caught for stealing gas out of his neighbors truck. If he were to be made an example out of, the likelihood of it happening again would be low. Out of the two approaches that are being examined, I believe for the example for Colin’s scenario that the Low Self Control Theory is more convincing in explaining the opportunities of committing crime. Although Low Self Control Theory can be applied to the situation, Aker’s Social Learning Theory gives a better understanding of when and why individuals would commit crimes in small towns, such as where Colin is from. As the individuals involved do not necessarily have to have a criminal past, through imitation of their peers and the other elements of social learning, can resort to committing crimes. Other factors that can be included are alcohol, drugs, and peer pressure but as long as the behavior is positively enforced, the individuals will take part in it. Aker’s Social Learning Theory provides a micro perspective on why individual offenders decide to commit specific crimes; people choose to engage in crime because it can be rewarding, easy, satisfying, fun, and in this case, entertaining. Most of the individuals that would be taking place in these crimes would be heavily influenced be external factors and may just fall under the gang mentality. Although both theories have been studied throughout the history of criminology and continue to be expanded, there are many strengths and weaknesses that can be examined. The Low Self Control Theory has received many criticisms as Gottfredson and Hirschi argue that there is only one type of offender and only a single factor, which causes crime. Many researchers found that there are various paths that criminals can take (Goode, 2008). People behave criminally at a different speed than others, commit different types of crimes, and have different external influences that contribute to the behavior (Goode, 2008). Moreover, Low Self Control Theory argues that criminal tendency is unable to change. Therefore, according to this theory, an individual’s personality and behavioral patterns will also never change over the course of a lifetime. However, research shows that life altering events and traditional events such as starting or finishing school, abusing drugs, recovering from drugs, and beginning or ending personal relationships, all clearly impact the probability of behaving criminally (Goode, 2008). This applies to Colin’s scenario, as he may change his criminal ways once being committed to school. On the contrary, Gottfredson and Hirschi were quite popular in the views of American criminologists in the early 1990s. As they identified parenting as the most decisive factor in determining the likelihood that a person will commit crimes, child rearing became an important factor for parents. Despite much criticism, the body of empirical tests of the general theory of crime has been fairly consistent in revealing a link between self-control and crime. Studies have shown that individuals with higher self-control are less likely to engage in criminal activity (Goode, 2008). In the context of Colin’s scenario, the weaknesses that can be exploited is that individuals that are not necessarily criminals may take part in criminal activity due to a number of external factors that have been presented in this paper. These individuals may have had a great upbringing from their parents, but failed to make a positive decision, such as out of boredom. Aker’s Social Learning Theory has also received criticisms over the years although it is not nearly as much as Gottfredson and Hirschi. According to many criminologists, Social Learning Theory does not provide applicable advice for controlling or preventing crime (Jeffery, 1990). It does explain how criminal behavior is ‘transmitted’ from one person to another, which can explain increases in types of crimes. The theory does not address the issue of how crime can be prevented (Jeffery, 1990). Moreover, Akers’ work is that it ignores the role of opportunity in criminal behavior (Jeffery, 1990). The assumption that people who learn criminal behavior must have come into contact with such behavior is the base of the theory. However, the theory does not explain exactly how a person comes into contact with people exhibiting criminal behavior (Jeffery, 1990). Akers has provided counter arguments or explained why the criticisms are not valid. The criticism that social learning theory ignores social context was dealt with in the expansion of social learning theory to social context-social learning theory. Gottfredson and Hirschi’s Low Self Control Theory and Aker’s Social Learning Theory are not likely to be integrated. Colvin’s Differential Coercion Theory combines elements from both theories (and others) and applies them in the context of his own. However, Aker’s heavily criticizes Gottfredson and Hirschi’s Low Self Control Theory and the key components that make up that theory. Therefore, I do not believe it is possible to integrate both theories while keeping the main concepts together. To conclude, Low Self Control Theory and Social Learning Theory both provide exceptional analysis of Colin’s scenario. By understanding the key concepts of the Low Self Control Theory and Social Learning Theory, the explanation of where and why crime occurs would give reassurance to individuals of Colin’s town. By comparing and contrasting these two theories, an individual can apply them to how growing up in a small town might affect them and potentially provide methods and opportunities to deflect crime. References Akers, Ronald L. (1998). Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime and Deviance. Boston: Northeastern University Press Akers, R. L., & Jensen, G. F. (2003). Social learning theory and the explanation of crime: a guide for the new century. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction. Akers, Ronald L. (1991). Self-control as a general theory of crime. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. 7(2), 201-211. Akers, R. L. (2009). Social learning and social structure: a general theory of crime and deviance. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. Clarke, Ronald V. (1995). Strategic Approaches to Crime Prevention. Crime and Justice, Vol. 19, Building a Safer Society: Strategic Approaches to Crime Prevention (1995), pp. 91-150 Goode, E. (2008). Out of control: assessing the general theory of crime. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Social Sciences Grasmick, Harold G., Charles R. Tittle, Robert J. Bursik Jr, and Bruce J. Arneklev (1993)..Testing the Core Empirical Implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30:5-29. Hirschi, Travis. (1995). The Family. In James Q. Wilson and Joan Petersilia (eds.). Crime. (pp.121-140). San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies. Jeffery, C. Ray. (1990). Criminology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Paternoster, R., Bachman, R. (2001). Explaining criminals and crime: essays in contemporary criminological theory. Los Angeles, Calif.: Roxbury Pub. Co. Wright, Richard.A (2000) Recent Changes in the Most-Cited Scholars in Criminology: A Comparison of Textbooks and Journals. Journal of Criminal Justice.

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