Relationship between the headmaster and teachers

Relationship between the headmaster and teachers INTRODUCTION The relationship between the Head master and teachers in the school organization has always been the focus of much discussion. The discussion has centered on how the actions and behaviors of the Head master affect the work that teachers do and ultimately the students they instruct. Teachers willingness to persist in their efforts to tech difficult student, to try different strategies, even to participate in innovations has been related to their sense of efficacy (Hoy Woolfork, 1993). Ross (1995) in his research on teachers sense of efficacy demonstrated that teachers who believe they are effective set more challenging goals for themselves and their student, take responsibility for student outcomes, and persist longer when faced with obstacles in teaching students who are having difficulty. Researchers has supported the position that teachers efficacy significantly relates to student achievement (Nemman Rutter Smith, 1989) and teachers receptivity to change. In this work, Ross (199 5) suggests that efforts to improve student learning should include attention to teachers sense of efficacy. Leithwood (1992) provides support to the claim that principals demonstrate strategies and behaviors that can increase teachers efficacy. In his studies, he described Heads leadership behaviors as having a direct affect on innovation and change as well as teacher performance both in class and out of class. Leithwood (1994) defined behaviors such as models behavior, inspires group purpose, provides contingent reward, holds high performance expectations, and provides support as being important to teachers in the school organization. Blasà © and Blasà © (1989) found that Heads who gave constant and immediate feedback fostered among their teachers stronger feeling of efficacy. Teachers effectiveness may also be correlated to background variables such a gender, in-service training, years of experience, and educational level. (Ross, 1995). Edwards (1996) in her study indicated that females responded with stronger sense of efficacy with regard to problems in the classroom than males and that there is no correlation with educational level. Bibson and Brown (1982) found that experienced teachers (more than five years) have a strong sense of efficacy than beginning teachers. Other studies fail to substantiate the findings that years of experience relate to efficacy. There is limiting and conflicting evidence that background variables of gender, years of experience, in-service training and educational level may have moderating effects on teachers efficacy. If teacher efficacy affects teacher performance and student achievement, than it is worth looking at what background variables affect teacher efficacy in order to better understand what we can do in the school organization to make teachers feel more able to do their work. Statement of the problem In Pakistan, at the time of independence, the education system was largely comprised of private and local schools run by district councils and municipal governments. At that time these schools were much independent and much decisions of the school matter were taken by the head and teachers of the schools. It was a system in which the central and provincial ministries of education played only a limited role in the operation of schools (Ahmad and Mirza, 1975). This trend continued till the year 1972. That year marked the nationalization of all private schools with the implementation of Martial law regulation 118 (Government of Punjab, 1982). Under its provisions, the rights, properties and assets of private colleges and schools were taken over by the central and provincial governments without compensation to the owners. The salary scale and conditions of employment for teacher previously in private institutions were brought to par with those in government schools. This situation was a great dismal for the democratic and decentralized school system in Pakistan. Not only Head teachers but teachers also were affected in terms of decision making and authority. The head masters and principals of the schools came under the direct control of ministries of education. Top level officers started to decide the matters related to the admissions, curricula and teacher affairs instead of teachers of the school or the head masters of the school. Due to this centralized situation Head teachers also became rigid and undemocratic which resulted ineffective teachers. Research has supported that teacher is the main actor in the education of a child, therefore he must be well equipped with necessary tools of teaching e.g certification status, experience and necessary teacher training (demographic characteristics), moreover with these things he must be satisfy with his profession, knowledge and skills (Hipp, 1995), This study will examine how the leadership behaviors of Head masters as perceived by teachers at the secondary school level correlate with their efficacy in the Schools of Hyderabad Division. Also, the extent to which this relationship is moderated by the select teacher background variables of gender, years of experience, and educational level will be studied. Research questions In order to guide this study following research questions are developed for investigation in this study: What is the relationship between teachers sense of efficacy, both general and personal, and teachers perceptions of their principals leadership behaviors? Does the level of teachers sense of efficacy, both general and personal, differ with respect to the select background variables of gender, years of teaching experience, and educational level? How do principals foster teachers efficacy in their schools? The significance of Study: The purpose of this study is to better understand how Headmaster affects a teachers sense of efficacy. The decisions a Head makes, activities, and behaviors that describe what he does on a day to day basis will be explored in this study, and an attempt will be made to relate these behaviors with teachers efficacy. This study also examined how background variables of teacher affect their sense of efficacy. The select teacher background variables described in this study are gender, years of teaching experience, in-service training and educational level. . Limitations of the study This study is limited to teachers and principals employed in secondary schools located in Hyderabad Division Therefore, the generalization of the results of this study is limited to Districts with similar socioeconomic characteristics. The credibility and dependability of the data in the qualitative part of the study will be established through taped interviews. Insuring confidentiality of all teachers who will respond to both surveys and the interviews, every effort will be made to have the interviews remain confidential Definitions Leadership behaviors: The principal leadership behaviors used in this study are: fostering vision and goals; holding high expectations; providing intellectual stimulation; providing individualized support, developing collaborative decision-making structure and symbolizing good professional practice. Self efficacy: Self efficacy is a construct originated by Albert Bandura to describe an individuals belief in his or her own capabilities. Teaching efficacy: Teaching efficacy refers to a belief in the power of teaching. Personal efficacy: Personal efficacy refers to ones perceived ability to influence classroom events. Methodology The major focus of this study will be to examine how teachers efficacy is affected by their principals leadership behaviors in 20 Secondary schools of Hyderabad Division. It will also be examined that how variables among teachers such as gender, years of experience, and educational level affect teachers efficacy. The study will be conducted in two phases and will combine both quantitative and qualitative methods of investigation in secondary schools of Hyderabad Division.(With the implementation of Devolution Plan of present Government, the boundaries of Hyderabad Division are changed. As the topic was approved for Hyderabad Division, therefore the same geographical areas are included in this study which were previously included in Hyderabad Division). Population of the study Population of this study is all the secondary school teachers of four districts which were previously included in Hyderabad division i.e. Hyderabad district, Dadu district, Badin district and Thatta district. Sample of the study A sample of ninety five teachers and twenty five Head masters will be drawn for this study from the population of all the twenty schools of four districts. The random sampling will be stratified by dividing the schools in clusters of male and female. Methods and procedures The study will be conducted in two phases. In phase one quantitative data will be collected to address the first two research questions. The instruments will be developed by the researcher according to the local conditions. In the preparation of instruments a number of formats are considered to be evaluated particularly the pattern of Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) by Gibson and Dembo (1948). The data, using instrument will be used to make the quantitative analyses in order to determine the relationships between teachers perceptions of leadership behaviors and teacher efficacy, both general and personal. Data from background information that the teachers completed and the Teacher Efficacy Scale will be analyzed in order to determine the relationship between teacher efficacy and the selected back ground variables of gender, years of teaching experience, and educational level. In addition to check teachers efficacy, student performance of the teacher will also be measured. In phase two a qualitative follow-up study will be conducted to address the research question-How Head masters at the secondary school level can foster teachers sense of efficacy in their schools? In order to address this question, the five schools with the highest aggregated efficacy scores will be selected. At least three teachers will be interviewed at each school. They will be randomly selected from those teachers who will indicate that they are willing to participate in the follow-up study. The questions that will be asked will be designed to give more in-depth information on how Head of schools foster teachers sense of efficacy.

Efeectiveness of Loyalty Programs in Big Bazaar

| 2011| | MARKETING OF SERVICES TERM PAPER PRADEEP KUMAR. N(M100002MS) | [EFFECTIVENESS OF LOYALTY PROGRAMS IN BIG BAZAAR]| | Contents page no 1. About the company 03 2. Significant features of big bazaar 04 3. Promotion techniques 04 4. Sales Promotion techniques 05 5. Loyalty programs 06 6. Customer experience 08 7. Research objective 09 8. Research methodology 09 9. Hypothesis and testing 10 10. Sampling plan 10 11. Findings 11 12. Conclusion 12 ABOUT THE COMPANY Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarket in India. Currently, there are 210 stores across 80 cities and towns in India. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections. Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, which also owns the Central Hypermarket, and is owned through a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited that is listed on Indian stock exchanges. Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 10 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 61 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people. The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include, Depot,Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Fashion Station, aLL, Top 10, mBazaar and Star and Sitara. The company also operates an online portal, futurebazaar. com. A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a large-format home solutions store, Collection i, selling home furniture products and E-Zone focused on catering to the consumer electronics segment. Pantaloon Retail was recently awarded the International Retailer of the Year by the US based National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona. Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption space. Pantaloon is not just an organization – it is an institution, a centre of learning & development. Over the years, the company has accelerated growth through its ability to lead change. A number of its pioneering concepts have now emerged as industry standards. For instance, the company integrated backwards into garment manufacturing even as it expanded its retail presence at the front end, well before any other Indian retail company attempted this. It was the first to introduce the concept of the retail departmental store for the entire family through Pantaloons in 1997. The company was the first to launch a hypermarket in India with Big Bazaar, a large discount store that it commissioned in Kolkata in October 2001. And the company introduced the country to the Food Bazaar, a unique ‘bazaar' within a hypermarket, which was launched in July 2002 in Mumbai. Embracing our leadership value, the company launched aLL in July 2005 in Mumbai, making us the first retailer in India to open a fashion store for plus size men and women. STRIKING FEATURES OF BIG BAZAAR * Food bazaar. Electronic bazaar. * Furniture bazaar. * FutureBazaar. com * Amusement zone. * Telecalling services PROMOTION TECHNIQUES * Big Bazaar – Isse sasta aur accha kahin nahi :- Big Bazaar has adopted value pricing in which they win loyal customers by charging a fairly low price for a high – quality offering. * Wednesday Bazaar – Hafte ka sabse sasta din :- In January 2007, Big Bazaar introduced a Wednesday Bazaar concept called â€Å"Hafte Ka Sabse Sasta Din† with the aim to give homemakers the power to save the most on this day of the week. Sabse Saste Teen Din (Big days) :- In 2006 they started a new shopping festival, i. e. Sabse Saste Teen Din on 24, 25 and 26th of January. Big bazaar throwed up to 65% of on each & every products in the store for three days. * Big Bazaar announced The Great Exchange Offer with a â€Å"Bring anything old and take anything new† concept which started from the 16th of Feb 2008 at the Landmark store. SALES PROMOTION TECHNIQUES The various promotional schemes undertaken by big bazaar are as follows: * The punch line of Big Bazaar says â€Å"IS SE SASTA AUR ACCHA KAHI NAHI†. This line gives the feeling that Big Bazaar gives merchandise which is cheapest in the market or in other words the value for money which a customer will be getting here will be more than anywhere else. * Wednesday is the cheapest day. This is done to divert some of the crowd coming on weekends to a relatively free day. Big bazaar advertises Wednesdays as the cheapest day in all the leading dailies across the capital. This offer targets housewives and encourages them to purchase groceries and vegetables because no one purchases vegetables on a weekly basis, they purchase it at least two times a week. * Big Bazaar has announced a unique exchange offer `Bring anything old and take anything new’. Under the exchange offer, old garments, utensils, furniture, plastic ware, newspapers or just about anything will be weighed and valued and customers will be given exchange coupons. There is also a direct exchange on mobile and electronic goods during the period with attractive discounts on new purchases. * Big Bazaar’s `The Great Exchange Offer’ has mobilized more than two lakh families to actually carry the junk of the house and offload it at the nearest Big Bazaar. Retail analysts say that generally February and March are dull months for consumer buying in the country and therefore this kind of a promotion campaign is needed to boost sales during the period. PANTALOON group’s hypermarkett chain, Big Bazaar, celebrated Republic Day as the Maha Savings Day, when shoppers at Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar outlets across the country, were offered merchandise at rock bottom prices. * The Maha Savings Day saw shoppers got deals they have never seen or heard before. The offers spread across categories from electronics to utensils, from apparel to furniture and also food. For example pressure cooker for Rs 299, two Ruf n Tuf Jeans for Rs 499, and a M otorola C115 for Rs 1,399. Big Bazaar usually runs a full page advertisement on Saturdays and Sundays in all the leading dailies communicating various offers. This is done to attract crowds on weekends because most of the people usually shop during weekends. * Pantaloons retail India limited provides Green card, this Green Card is passport to a whole new world of exclusive benefits and privileges. These includes: * Instant discounts for every time you shop at Pantaloons. * Exclusive shopping days to get hold of latest merchandise. Regular updates on collections and promos via catalogues, sms and email. * Special invites to the most happening events. * Extended exchange periods and complimentary drops for alterations. * Exclusive billing counters and much more. * Big bazaar in association with ICICI banks has launched loyalty cards for the customers. They are: * ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Silver Credit Card : It gives you the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Gold Credit Card :The card brings to you more reasons to save and earn rewards on its usage. It gives you all the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. * Shakti Card Shakti is a credit card for housewives. You need not submit income proof. Simply show your Big Bazaar bill of more than Rs. 500 and a lifestyle proof like club membership card, health club card etc. And get your ‘Shakti’. You can use Shakti at all the Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar outlets * T24 In June 2010, Future Group in partnership with TTSL rolled out a mobile service called T24 for its customers. As part of the offer, customers were rewarded with free talk time for every purchase above Rs. 500 made at Future Group shopping outlets across all formats and locations. LOYALTY PROGRAMS * Big bazaar in association with ICICI banks has launched loyalty cards for the customers. They are: * ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Silver Credit Card : It gives you the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. * ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Gold Credit Card :The card brings to you more reasons to save and earn rewards on its usage. It gives you all the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. * Shakti Card Shakti is a credit card for housewives. You need not submit income proof. Simply show your Big Bazaar bill of more than Rs. 500 and a lifestyle proof like club membership card, health club card etc. And get your ‘Shakti’. You can use Shakti at all the Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar outlets * T24 In June 2010, Future Group in partnership with TTSL rolled out a mobile service called T24 for its customers. As part of the offer, customers were rewarded with free talk time for every purchase above Rs. 500 made at Future Group shopping outlets across all formats and locations. CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE The customer experience among the big bazaar customers is comprised of the following Components: POPULATING THE CUSTOMER PROFILE: To create the Ideal Customer Experience, Big Bazaar populates the Customer Profile with the relevant information . the customers who are having very similar buying patterns in the big bazaar are populated and an analysis is done so as to find the preferences of the products of these groups, including various promotion strategies and offers. DELIVERING AND RECEIVING VALUE AT EACH CUSTOMER INTERACTION: Big Bazaar views each interaction as a golden opportunity to deliver value through its products, services, and processes, as well as to receive valuable information from the Customer in the form of feedback. CUSTOMIZING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: By understanding an individual’s needs, it creates the Ideal Customer Experience by Customizing the products, services, and processes to meet the Needs of the individual customer RESEARCH OBJECTIVE * The objective of the research is to find the effectiveness of loyalty programs in BIG BAZAAR ,i. e whether loyalty programs attract customer attention or not in todays competetive scenario . * To find out the increase in customer loyalty by measuring various factors. * To find out customer’s reactions to various loyalty programs and change in their purchase decision due to these programs. To analyze customer’s expectations from retail format like convenience store in terms of offering of loyalty programs. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research problems:- consumer’s reactions and expectation from loyalty programs of convenience store format, Big Bazaar. †¢ Research methodology: Exploratory method †¢ Descriptive research: is a type of research conducted when we have to find out the frequency with which Something occurs. This research is guided by initial hypothesis. HYPOTHESIS AND TESTING Hypothesis testing for this report has evolved around formulating a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis as regards to the percentage of population availing the loyalty programs H(o) Null Hypothesis :Mostly 70% of the population would be Availing the loyalty programs carried out by Big bazaar. H(T) Alternative Hypothesis:- Less than 70% of the population Would be availing the loyalty programs carried out by Big Bazaar. At 5% level of significance I tested the above mentioned hypothesis as per the results obtained. The Chi-Square test has been taken up as the selection criteria for the above mentioned data. The Chi-Square test which shows the magnitude of discrepancy between observed and expected frequency can be expressed symbolically as X2= Summation of (O-E)2 E Where, O= Observed set of frequencies E= Expected set of frequencies SAMPLING PLAN I selected a sample size of 51 ,I gave a questionnaire and interviewed the samples in the OLD MADRAS BIG BAZAAR in BANGALORE Questionnaire Sample Methods| Random Simple Sampling| Sample size| 51| Primary data| Questionnaire| Interview Sample Units| sampling unit is Noida area. | Source of data| through primary sources| Market survey & area| | Sampling size| 51| FINDINGS * Big Bazaar has been preferred by most of the Households frequently and they use to purchase daily Requirement material from there. While still 15% of People don’t prefer to buy daily requirement items from Organized formats. The data predicts that customers at nearby locations of Big Bazaar prefer to go to there often but it is not a destination for customers every time. * 35% go there oftenly * 30% go there occasionally * 15% go everytime * 20% people go there sometimes * The ratio of customers using loyalty programs floats between 60%-62%. Educated people are giving more Attention to the loyalty card due to the awareness of its future benefits monetarily as well as in getting right information of the production. Most of the custo mers feel satisfied from the loyalty program offerings of Big Bazaar so it has been successful in fulfilling customer’s expectations. While 25% of customers still want to get some more benefits in return of their loyalty to the store. * Customers feel 55% motivated to shop from Big Bazaar due to their loyalty programs. Conclusion In my calculations: The calculated value of is more than the table value. So, the hypothesis is REJECTED i. e. less than 70% of the population is only availing the loyalty program carried out by Big Bazaar. There are maximum customers who are satisfied with the merchandising of the store and they find every product of brand in each category and shelf according to their choices. They are having some complains regarding the future cards. * Customers wait for discount loyalties provided by them but not too much. * Customers are not aware of the benefits of the card. * Many of the customers are not even using any of the loyalty Program. * Store has been a big flop at online shopping centre as people want to touch and select their items before purchase

Geography of El Salvador

El Salvador is a country located in Central America between Guatemala and Honduras. Its capital and largest city is San Salvador and the country is known as being the smallest but most densely populated country in Central America. The population density of El Salvador is 747 people per square mile or 288.5 people per square kilometer. Fast Facts: El Salvador Official Name: Republic of El SalvadorCapital: San SalvadorPopulation: 6,187,271  (2018)Official Language: SpanishCurrency: US dollar (USD)Form of Government: Presidential republicClimate: Tropical on coast; temperate in uplandsTotal Area: 8,124 square miles (21,041 square kilometers)Highest Point: Cerro El Pital at 8,957 feet (2,730 meters)Lowest Point: Pacific Ocean at 0 feet (0 meters) History of El Salvador It is believed that the Pipil Indians were the first people to inhabit what is present-day El Salvador. These people were descendants of the Aztec, Pocomames,  and Lencas. The first Europeans to visit El Salvador were the Spanish. On May 31, 1522, the Spanish Admiral Andres Nino and his expedition landed on Meanguera Island, a territory of El Salvador located in the Gulf of Fonseca. Two years later in 1524, Spains Captain Pedro de Alvarado started a war to conquer Cuscatlà ¡n and in 1525 he conquered El Salvador and formed the village of San Salvador. Following its conquer by Spain, El Salvador grew considerably. By 1810, however, the citizens of El Salvador began to push for independence. On September 15, 1821, El Salvador and the other Spanish provinces in Central America declared their independence from Spain. In 1822, many of these provinces joined with Mexico and although El Salvador initially pushed for independence among Central Americas countries it joined the United Provinces of Central America in 1823. In 1840,  however, the United Provinces of Central America dissolved and El Salvador became fully independent. After becoming independent, El Salvador was plagued by political and social unrest as well as many frequent revolutions. In 1900, some peace and stability was achieved and lasted until 1930. Beginning in 1931, El Salvador became ruled by a number of different military dictatorships which lasted until 1979. During the 1970s, the country was marred by severe political, social and economic problems. As a result of its many problems, a coup dà ©tat or government overthrow occurred in October 1979 and a civil war followed from 1980 to 1992. In January 1992 a series of peace agreements ended the war that killed more than 75,000 people. Government of El Salvador Today, El Salvador is considered a republic and its capital city is San Salvador. The executive branch of the countrys government consists of a chief of state and a head of government, both of whom are the countrys president. El Salvadors legislative branch is made up of a unicameral Legislative Assembly, while its judicial branch consists of a Supreme Court. El Salvador is divided into 14 departments for local administration. Economics and Land Use in El Salvador El Salvador currently has one of the largest economies in Central America and in 2001 it adopted the United States dollar as its official national currency. The main industries in the country are food processing, beverage manufacturing, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, and light metals. Agriculture also plays a role in the economy of El Salvador and the main products of that industry are coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum, beef, and dairy products. Geography and Climate of El Salvador With an area of just 8,124 square miles (21,041 sq km), El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. It has 191 miles (307 km) of coastline along the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Fonseca and it is situated between Honduras and Guatemala. The topography of El Salvador consists mainly of mountains, but the country does have a narrow, relatively flat coastal belt and a central plateau. The highest point in El Salvador is Cerro el Pital at 8,956 feet (2,730 m), located in the northern part of the country on the border with Honduras. Because El Salvador is located not far from the equator, its climate is tropical in nearly all areas except for its higher elevations where the climate is considered more temperate. The country also has a rainy season that lasts from May to October and a dry season that lasts from November to April. San Salvador, which is located in central El Salvador at an elevation of 1,837 feet (560 m), has an average yearly temperature of 86.2 degrees (30.1Ë Å¡C).

Penal policy Free Essay Example, 3000 words

If not in a private prison, the inmates are incarcerated in the more orthodox government managed prisons. A United Kingdom chief inspector has once cleared that a private prison is not owned by the private sector, rather, it is a prison run on contract by a private company. Whether the private company manages a state-owned prison or also owns the physical structure itself, the observation above still remains true. The definitions above give two important points, one, the authority to hold and deal with prisoners comes from public law and not private arrangement. In addition to that, private prisons are considered to be an important part of the jurisdiction’s prison system. The first point is important to be emphasized so that one can be able to compare and contrast contemporary privatization with the statutorily unregulated deals which are related to leasing of convict labor that first came up in the United States in the early part of the 19th century (Smith 1993, p. 67). The next point that needs to be given attention is the fact that the state, when outsourcing or delegating service delivery, has not in theory gave up any component of its responsibility for system objectives, standards, legality, or equity. We will write a custom essay sample on Penal policy or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The notion of purchase-provider relationship in the jargon of organizational theory is also imposed and that the public sector agency purchasing services and the private sector that provides for them. This term however has the tendency to be difficult to understand since the state as a purchaser cannot and does by choosing to discharge this role in that way, avoid ultimate political, moral, and legal responsibility for what the provider does (Lipton, 1997, p. 68). The prisoners remain prisoners of the state. One urgent issue is whether the model in reality works that way, whether the accountability devices and regulatory structures are appropriately planned and efficiently applied. Can one say with confidence that the state remains vigorously and effectively involved as regulator, that the private prisons can keep on to be part of the active responsibility of the state apparatus, that the companies are fully accountable? There is a perspective that, however well synchronized, accountable, and successful, the particular regime turns out to be even if its results are better for prisoners and its standards more reasonable and its processes more transparent, prison privatization is nevertheless still intolerable. This is the primary moral criticism that imprisonment is an inherent state function that by definition cannot legally be delegated in any of its aspects to a non-state agency without undermining the very notion of the state and its respo nsibility to and for its citizens (Logan 1997, p.