Monday, September 30, 2019

Is Hard to Say Good Bye

Is Hard to say goodbye Death is probably the only thing in the world that is certain in life. As humans, we are born, we grow, we reproduce and lastly we die. It is the natural order and as natural as it may sound, human beings have different reactions to such an event. Throughout our lives, we influence or are influenced by people; these influences manifest themselves in the form of raising a child; being a teacher, babysitting etc. In all of these interactions, we create lasting relationships with those whom we come across when death happens to one of the involved parties; emptiness follows the surviving person.As a future nurse, and due to the nature of my occupation, I may be involved in a situation where I must deal with impending death. Emotions will begin to happen, on both ends. On my end I will be trying to help the patient, and the patient coming to terms with his or her destiny. In the following pages, I will discuss how my responses to the â€Å"Reflections on dying† may impact a therapeutic relationship with a mother of a three years old child who has six months to live. In such discussion, you will learn about my thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and values regarding to death and patient relationships.Thoughts; Usually when I first hear of a death My thoughts on death begin with sorrow for the loss of a person who is significant on someone’s live. After meeting a patient who is a mother, and realizing that she does not have much time I will be deeply saddened to what is going to happen to her. I may develop feelings for the child’s well being. My second thought would be that of empathy. As a nurse I must show empathy, compassion, and strength at the same time towards patients. Showing emotions would most likely worsen an already sad situation.This patient is a mother of a three years old child; she will not see her baby grow up. Therefore, I will have the utmost empathy. Also, I will show strength. This is necessary to persuade the patient to live fully the time she has left. If I am the person breaking the news to her, I will be frank and to the point without keeping any information from the patient; since I believe that sugar coating the fact will lead to mixed feelings on the patient. I will tell her to make every day, every hour, and every second count and to enjoy her child in order to leave a lasting legacy.Feelings; after a while, my initial reaction to death Therapeutic relations with terminally ill patients will also involve mixed feelings. There will be a war inside of me, my thoughts will tell me to be strong, but my feelings will want me to feel extremely sad, sorrowful, and incompetent for not being able to help the patient. These feelings will linger every attempt to interact with the patient. It is natural for me to feel sad at the future loss; even when I’ve only known the patient since she started getting treated; still all life is precious. She is meaningful to many people, specially her child.I will definitely feel impotent, which will lead to anger for knowing that there is nothing that I can do to make her feel better. At that point, I will rely on my professionalism to expose and help me act accordingly. The reason why my feelings are normally strong is because when I was twelve years old, my grandmother died; she practically raised me. I spent more time with my grandmother at that time, than I had spent with my mother. I was asleep when I was told that she had died, and feelings began to run rampant. The anger, and sadness were unbearable, and ever since that moment, I have been very sensitive when it comes to death.Beliefs; My predominant emotion to death I believe that all life is valuable; this belief will influence my feelings but not my therapeutic relationships with my patient. Regardless of what I may believe, I know that it is my duty to provide treatment the best possible service to the patient. Being supportive to the patient, and her family membe rs are my priority. If I was in the patient’s shoes, I would like the nurse to bring me up instead of bringing me down in a time of need. I would want the nurse to tell me my condition as is; that way, I can make the right decisions with my life.Also I would like to have everything clear when it comes to my child, and I would like to live my couple of months as happy as possible and pain free. Values; the way I may grieve Integrity is one of the main values I hold dear. A person’s word is their bond; without integrity, our words mean nothing. From integrity, respect and dignity follow on my list of values. My thoughts will influence ethical decisions when conducting therapeutic counseling. They will also reaffirm with my feelings to ensure I manage myself with strength. In addition, treating all with respect and dignity are a priority in my values list.Therefore, when dealing with a patient; everything else stops and I pay full attention to the patient’s needs. I will provide information and suggestions on ways to stay healthy and happy, even thought the patient won’t survive for long I feel that is best to keep the patient happy and comfortable. Conclusion In the last few pages, I’ve explained my thoughts on death. How my initial reactions to death would be and how my thoughts would influence me. Then, I explained how my feelings would manifest, and how they would play a part during routine interactions with the patient.I shared my beliefs and the connection between my beliefs, and thoughts when dealing with loss. Finally, I discussed my values as they relate to death. No matter which situation we find ourselves in; being the ones receiving bad news or giving the bad news; we will react differently to such an unexpected event. As long as we treat others with the respect and dignity they deserve, and we show the empathy we can make a difference on a patient’s remaining lifetime. It does take courage to show strength, a nd humility to show empathy, but the satisfaction to know that we have done the right thing would provide comfort to keep us going.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

759 store Competitive Business Strategy Essay

Introduction Strategic planning is central to management study. It defines the long term direction for the company and all other business functions orbit around their established strategies. This article studies how a company formulates business-level strategies, optimize their competitive positioning and obtain a competitive advantage over their rivals. In order to further illustrate this management issue, this article investigates into the successful competitive positioning of a leading Hong Kong imported food and daily necessity retailer, the 759 Store é˜ ¿Ã¤ ¿ ¡Ã¥ ±â€¹. Despite 759 Store has a diversified range of business, this article focuses on its major business function as an imported packaged-snacks retailer. The chain-store has grown exponentially since its establishment in July 2010. By November 2014, it has 210 stores across Hong Kong and has significantly increased its market share in the industry.1 This achievement should be credited to the unique competitive strategy the company has adopted. Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies analyzes how a company should formulate their business model to give them a specific form of competitive position in the market. The three strategies are low cost strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy respectively. Low cost strategy drives company to lower their cost and obtain high efficiency, so they can attract customers with lower prices than their competitors. Differentiation strategy, on the contrary, tries to satisfy customers’ needs in a way that its competitors cannot and it has the competitive advantage by charging premium prices. Focus strategy suggests firms specialize in few segments or target market to attain cost advantage or differentiation advantage in the market.2 759 Store’s competitive strategy, however, has adopted both the differentiation and the low cost strategy simultaneously to attract and retain customers. On one hand, it has successfully challenged the cost-leaders in the industry by providing more differentiated products. On the other hand, it has minimized its costs so it charges differentiated products at a relatively low price. The two sections below could illustrate how 759 Store achieves this distinctive strategy. Differentiation Strategy In the aspect of differentiation strategy, companies offer customers with the unique products which are extraordinary or high quality. The uniqueness of the products is usually highly valued by the customers. Thus, those products are competitive in the market and are difficult to be replaced. This section is going to examine how 759 Store differentiate their products from others snacks retailers. (1) Never selling the products which customers can find in chain supermarkets 759 Store differentiates itself from other competitors by providing uncommon products in the market. 759 Store cannot race their cost to the bottom when compare with ParknShop and Welcome, the two well established cost leaders. In order to survive under the oligopolistic market, the company differentiates itself by avoid selling the same products that the two major supermarkets are already selling. 759 Store would rather search for new products instead of competing directly with those supermarket chains.3 By selling different brands and types of snacks, customers cannot use the retail price to directly compare the products in 759 Store and supermarkets. Also, when compared, customers would find the products in 759 Store more trendy and unique than the products in the two traditional low cost leaders. (2) Exclusive sources of goods 759 Store differentiates its products by securing the exclusive source of goods by all means. The company first made headlines in 2011 when one of the local biggest distributor, Swire Group, refused to supply Coca-Cola to the store, claiming its retail price was too low which would harm supermarkets’ profit . After the incident, packaged-snacks imported directly from Japan accounted for over 60% of the main sales of 759 Store.4 Therefore, Coils Lam Wai-Chun, the CEO of 759 Store, have handled business connections with Japanese suppliers with great care. He has connected the first Japan snacks supplier in HKTDC Food Expo in 2011 by himself.5 In Japan, local products for domestic sales are not allowed to be sold to foreign companies. Thus, Lam even went to Japan in person searching for suppliers and set up shadow companies in Japan sourcing for any popular and fair-price snacks that are  not yet known to the Hong Kong market.6 That is the reason snacks sold in 759 Store always catch up with the trend in Japan. Thus, 759 Store provides exclusive products which cannot be found in its competitors’ stores. Furthermore, 759 Store establishes a stable and strong relationship with its suppliers in Japan, which are mostly small and medium enterprises. Some Japanese suppliers have even promised to supply their products exclusively to 759 Store as a gesture to thank the company’s support during the recovery hardship after the 311 Earthquake in Japan.7 All these business connections helped 759 Store to secure its exclusive sources of goods from Japan. (3) Higher autonomy on goods selection through bypassing local distributors Today, more than 95% of products sold at 759 Store are imported directly bypassing distributors in Hong Kong.8 Therefore, 759 Store enjoys greater autonomy on deciding the variety of products they sell. 759 Store successfully develops a new market segment providing new and popular Japanese snacks to Hong Kong people. The self-reliance nature of 759 Store in terms of product purchasing enables the company to maintain its unique choice of trendy and diversified goods, thus differentiating itself from its competitors. (4) Diversification of goods and fast moving trend 759 Store differentiate itself from others by diversifying its choice of goods and keeping its shopping shelves updated with new goods. Assuming customers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong all share the same trend and taste, the item selection of 759 Store is based on the seasonal snack sales in Japan. The company only retains its top-500 sales items on its shelves and imports these items again.9 The rest of the products are purchased according to the sales trend of snacks in Japan every week. The sales cycle for each snack product is around 3 months only.10 As a result, customers can always be surprised and refreshed by new snacks while enjoying their preferred snacks. The company has successfully differentiated itself from some traditional differentiators, such as Okashi Landé› ¶Ã© £Å¸Ã§â€° ©Ã¨ ªÅ¾. Both snack stores differentiate themselves from the cost leaders by selling imported snacks from Japan. However, the fast market reaction, diversification and regular replacement of products make 759 Store offers a higher value to  customers than its rivals, as 759 Store’s products are more responsive to customers’ preferences. Low Cost Strategy Though 759 Store uses a lot of tactics to differentiate itself from its competitors, the company still manages to keep their operation at low cost. Hence, the company does not need to charge their customers a premium price for the extra differentiation strategies. This section would explain how 759 Store do everything possible to lower its cost structure and develop its competitive edge against the cost leaders in the market. (1) Economies of scale through rapid horizontal expansion Horizontal expansion is a growth strategy that expands within the same stage of the production process. 759 Store experienced rapid horizontal expansion which it has opened 210 stores in 4 years. Through rapid horizontal expansion, 759 Store benefits from several economies of scale – the reduction of long run per unit cost when the scale of production of a company has expanded. One significant average cost advantage is that the company has increased their bargaining power when purchasing from suppliers. If the scale of the company is small, it cannot enjoy the wholesale price offered by the suppliers.11 After enlarging their scale of operation, 759 stores received a reduction in average input price and transportation cost by more than 10%.12 (2) Cost reduction through backward vertical expansion Backward vertical expansion is another growth strategy 759 Store practices to reduce the cost. By becoming companies’ own supplier, business can control its inputs and help them to provide more secure transaction.13 Due to the exclusive culture of the Japanese snack production industry, Japanese companies only supply their goods to local companies. To address this problem, 759 Store has to set up their shadowing companies in Japan to take up the functions of distributors. As 759 stores purchase the goods directly from the snack manufacturers without passing through any distributors and wholesalers, they could enjoy a lower import price and maintain a steady input supply by themselves. This in turn reduces the overall cost of  production by integrating different business stages of business functions. (3) Effective inventory management The storage and management of inventories could be a huge source of expenditures for retailers. Packaged snacks are perishable and thus requires accurate inventory management In order to reduce inventory cost while diversifying its products, for each new product, 759 Store would first import 2400-3000 pieces of them to Hong Kong. The company then experiments the market reaction to the product and decides whether to import the product in bulk or not.14 This practice has greatly reduced the risks of stocking up unpopular goods in the warehouse, therefore reducing the cost for inventory storage. (4) Less costly shop location choice When it comes to choosing shop location, 759 Store does not chase after prime retailing locations with expensive rent. Instead, it usually opts for large, more remote and less visible shop locations in residential neighborhoods. The per-foot-square rent at these locations is generally cheaper and 759 Store can bargain for a lower rent as the shop’s presence can improve pedestrian flow nearby.15 In fact, most 759 Store’s customers are willing to sacrifice convenience for lower price of products as they usually purchase a lot of goods at once.16 According to the annual report of 2013-14, rent for shops only accounted for about 9.8% of the retail revenue. 759 Store successfully lowers its costs by choosing less popular shop location and turns it to its own advantages. (5) Motivate employee: pay more for employees to work more The 759 Store regards its employees as important assets of the company. It can help reduce the operating cost of the company by successfully motivating its staff to enhance their productivity. It always stresses the provision of a reasonable salary and fringe benefit to its staff. For example, when the existing minimum wage in Hong Kong is $30/hour, 759 Store can pay its staff up to $38/hour. A manager may get an attractive salary up to $30,000 per month. 17 The CEO of 759 Store believes that a reasonable pay will increase working incentive of the staff to provide better service performance and  deliver excellent service to the customers. According to the annual report of 759 Store, one can find that even though the company is renting larger stores, the number of frontline staff is similar as previous year which is approximately 4.1 staff per shop.18 Although the per-labor cost is higher, the overall cost on labor is reduced because the staff is more productive and the company can hire less labor. (6) Inexpensive advertising and communication strategies 759 Stores adopts useful but inexpensive marketing strategies to gain its reputation. Unlike its competitors who promote their brands through traditional advertising channels, like newspaper, radio and television advertisement, 759 Stores uses word of mouth to promote its brand. Since their CEO has a good relationship with the media, he has been repeated interviewed by numerous press and television programs. It has helped 759 Store to gain exposure in the mass media without paying a penny. Also, 759 Store utilizes the technology to communicate with its customers, especially the internet platform like Facebook and blog. These platforms provide channels for 759 Store to communicate and respond to its customer directly. All these measure are cost-minimizing, yet they are very effective. Conclusion In a nutshell, 759 Store has developed its competitive business position by adopting features from both the differentiation strategy and the low-cost strategy. On one hand, 759 Store differentiated itself from traditional cost-leaders by providing exclusive, highly diversified and trendy goods to its customers, through exclusive sources of imported goods and autonomous purchasing practice. It has also avoided direct competition with the cost leaders on identical items. In terms of responsiveness to customers’ taste and catching up with trends, 759 Store’s performance is even superior to the traditional differentiators in the industry. On the other hand, the company has adopted the strategy to lower its cost structure, therefore it does not has to charge products for premium prices even extra values has been added to its products. It has lowered its per-unit cost by economies of scale through rapid horizontal and backward  vertical expansion. Other costs are being lowered by having better inventory control, choosing less costly shop location, using unconventional advertising methods and cutting overall labor cost by incentivizing individuals to achieve higher productivity. Some scholars identify this mixture of strategies as the broad differentiation strategy.19 The competitive advantage of companies adopting this strategy is that the company can offer customers quality products at reasonable prices. As 759 Store has demonstrated, it has chosen a level of differentiation that gives the company on the market segment it has targeted. Besides, they have achieved this in a way that has allowed them to lower their cost structure over time. Though it has higher cost than the cost leader, as well as less differentiated products than the differentiator, 759 Store offers more value than its industry rivals, and therefore threatening both the cost leader and the differentiator. In the case of 759 Store, ParknShop, the traditional cost leader in the industry, has even referred to the business model of 759 Store and opened a subsidiary brand in order to compete with 759 Store.20 It is a proof that 759 Store has successfully weakened the competitive position of its rivals by adopting the right strategy. Insights The successful competitive positioning of 759 Store gives insights to future managers on strategic planning, especially regarding how to enter an oligopolistic market. 759 Store has found its unique competitive position to create a ‘third way† in the oligopolistic packaged-food retailing market, which was dominated by two traditional cost leaders. By adopting the broad differentiation strategy, 759 Store achieved rapid growth rate of stores and increased its market share steadily in a very short period of time. The successful identification of and expansion into a specific market segment has allowed 759 Store to spread out geographically in Hong Kong quickly. Also, this model cannot be imitated quickly by its competitors. Hence, it is a business model which a lot of companies in the growth stage of their business might want to model upon. We can also find the practices for 759 Store to pursue differentiation and low cost strategies are very innovative. The company’s unique understanding of market taste and purchasing culture has enabled it to come up with efficient and effective strategies never  adopted by its competitors. The differentiation by trendiness and the cost minimization through shop location choice are good example of the creative strategies 759 Store has adopted. Moreover, the company’s culture of giving genuine respect to their employees and suppliers has even given 759 Store special competitive advantages in the market. The business model of adopting broad differentiation strategy, however, is not without risks. In order to achieve this distinctive competitive positioning, 759 Store has developed a number of potential risks. The company has an unhealthy amount of debts due to rapid expansion, which makes the company vulnerable to economic downturns. Besides, when compare with the differentiators and the cost leaders, the profit margin of 759 Store is significantly narrower. Profitability could be sacrificed during the growth stage of the company, but we foresee that the company has to adjust its competitive strategy in order to create a sustainable business model in the future. References 759 Store, â€Å"About Us.† Accessed November 2, 2014. http://www.759store.com/aboutus.php?lang=eng. 759 Store Blog. â€Å"759é˜ ¿Ã¤ ¿ ¡Ã¥ ±â€¹- Ã¥ °â€¹Ã¨ ³ ¢Ã¦ ±â€šÃ¦â€° !† Accessed October 24, 2014, http://759store-personnel.blogspot.hk/. CEC International Holdings Limited. â€Å"Annual report 13-14.† Accessed October 24, 2014. http://www.ceccoils.com/doc/art/finance/2014082201/201408220001.pdf. Hill, Charles W. L. and Gareth R. Jones. Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Hong Kong Celebrity Network. â€Å"Lam Wai Chung.† Accessed November 2, 2014. http://www.hongkongprofile.com/2011/10/759.html.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Sustainable Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sustainable Development - Essay Example From a historical perspective, the decisions made by our forefathers with regards to rapid industrialization and development without considering the resulting impact on the environment continue to have a severe impact on numerous ecosystems even today (Stefanovic, 2006). Similarly, the economic decisions and policies our governments make today will have an impact on the world’s sustainability and growth in the future. The above points clearly suggest that sustainable development depends on the cooperation between various societal, economical, governmental, environmental and cultural aspects. As such, sustainability should not be perceived as a homogeneous concept. In fact, planning and achieving sustainability in any tangible manner is a complex process that is based on some broad principles. The introduction of the Brundtland report and its extensive coverage of sustainability have had an influential role in shaping future laws on environmental conservation and protection in many countries and international agreements (Wallace, 2005). Sustainable development and policy continues to face numerous challenges from various corners. Amongst these, the existence of poverty within a large part of the world’s population poses a serious challenge. The planet is estimated to reach a total population of 7 billion people in 2011, which implies a greater competition and struggle for growth and control of the earth’s limited resources (Cowie, 2007). People belonging to developing and poor nations are facing prolonged shortages of food, water and access to basic civic amenities. The past few decades have witnessed the emergence of new countries experiencing tremendous economic growth. Rapid development in countries like China and India has increased the demand for oil and other non-renewable fuels and is likely to increase the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Fragile places like Antarctica are likely to bear the most serious consequences if these trends are not controlled through sustainable means (Ekins, 2005). Another issue impeding sustainable development is the lack of economic growth in some countries, especially those in Africa. Many countries like Zimbabwe have faced years of economic depression due to oppressive regimes and lack of proper government. Several multilateral agreements have emerged out of the guidelines recommended by the Brundtland report. One among these is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Known as UNFCCC in short, this is an environmental agreement signed by various countries at the UN Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (Wallace, 2005). The primary goal of this agreement is to restrict the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and stabilize their concentrations at an acceptable level that can prevent any serious interference with climatic patterns. However, this treaty suffers from several deficiencies, most notably its non-binding attribute which does not provide any mandatory limits that signatories have to maintain. Further, there are no enforcement

Friday, September 27, 2019

World Trade Organisation (WTO) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

World Trade Organisation (WTO) - Essay Example Another characteristic of WTO is that it endorses the idea of free trade agreements followed by resolution of conflicts and ‘trade negotiations’ among nations (BBC Profile, 2011). Answer 2 It should be pointed out that WTO is not a perfect organization neither it has been seeking perfection. As far as the positive side of WTO is concerned, it is justified to argue that the measures taken by this organisation have bolstered trade ties among countries as well as have resulted in phenomenal growth in global trade volume in last 13 – 15 years (more specifically since 1995). For instance, WTO has made a major contribution in globalisation and internationalisation of this world, thereby leading to interdependence of nations. In other words, a country having scarcity of food / agricultural products and oil could import them from foreign countries (having abundance) at reduced tariffs and meet the domestic demand. Similarly, the oil rich nations, with weak industrial base , could import machinery and manufactured products from their trading partners. Nevertheless, the WTO has also certain weaknesses and the most important one is its failure in eradicating protectionist policies. It should be recalled that protectionist policies refer to trade barriers and initiatives that help protecting domestic industries from imported products.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Hospital Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hospital Financial Management - Essay Example By developing fixed and variable expenses PPD strategies they find it efficient in paying long-term expenses without running out of all the operational cash. During their 1st Qrt, they expected a fixed cost structure of 20% which in actual budget shifted to 19% making a point value of 1. The same way by budgeting for variable cost structure of 80% and gaining an actual of 81% giving them a point value of 1, it means that the operation of the hospital is very strategically planned. The other reason for the better financial performance of the hospital is because of the better turn out of patients both in and outpatient, the benefits are given to them and the services performed. Despite good profit generation from the hospital, it is still advisable that they develop the good strategy based on the indicators shown by the office of the statewide health planning development (OSHPD). The indicators require the hospital financial management to develop corrective measures such as volunteer t ime so that the salaries benefit can be reduced by at least 10%, the need also to give professional training to lower the professional fee they provide for. The hospital management should be determined in developing ways of reducing their supplies from 15% to some reasonable percentage. The main issue the hospital management should focus on to help their performance is the salaries, variable patients benefit, and the supplies they receive. They should develop strategies that enable them to reduce the cost of professionals pays.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

No topic - Essay Example ups to effectively solicit diverse inputs and share knowledge, skills and abilities towards an identified goal; (2) simulations and games, where learning objectives can be achieved through designing instructional approaches with simulations (paralleling actual learning environments) and games that encourage thinking outside the box and soliciting the creative skills of students; (3) use of software applications in learning through searching and navigating online sites for research projects, essays, or taking academic performance tests and fun learning games; (4) collaborative writing, where students would be assigned specific research topics where essays are to be written through group efforts (this particular scenario could use research based strategies that include cooperative grouping and technological integration); and (5) blogging feedback was also one of the classroom examples evaluated which could be used in one’s classroom as a means of soliciting inputs, comments, fee dbacks from students using technological applications, as required. All of these implementation strategies are feasible and applicable in contemporary classroom settings where students are enjoined to participate and

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Retail business Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Retail business - Dissertation Example Due to recession, many retail organizations have reduced their workforce, and the employees feel uncertainty in their jobs. 3. People are likely to lose their jobs, especially men and young employees. The effect of global crisis have been felt by people in different ways, depending on the places they live, industry in which they are employed, occupation, and their personal characteristics. This is an indicator for understanding that, recruitment is an expensive process. It means that retail firms will increase the number of employees only if necessary, and they will only recruit when there is any authentic business case. As an alternative, most firms will go for their existing employees working harder, until the situation come under their control. 4. Unemployment rate is greater for males than females (Figure 1) – The unemployment rate to an extent will affect men more because they are more employed in the retail sectors, and so have the chance to experience job losses. 5. Com pared to other sectors in UK, executive salary in the retail sector is so high. In reality, a significant portion of the revenues of UK retail companies are being spent for schemes of employees’ pension and salaries. 6. Unemployment rate increases largely for younger people- The maximum increase in the unemployment rate, was for the population of age group between 18 and 24, as shown in Figure 2 below. Males in this age category have borne the impact of job losses. This will result in unemployment in later life, and they are supposed to earn less in future also. Fig.2: Male and female unemployment rate Fig.3: Increase in unemployment rate by age (Lee et al. n.d.). 7. The global crisis has been reflected in the present patterns of economic slowdown: maximum job losses have been found in ex-industrial areas of UK. 8. One of the main reasons for job losses is the low skill levels of the workforce in UK. Places of population with highly skilled people have experienced less amount of increase in unemployment, and populations with low skill levels have experienced the highest rate of increase in unemployment. 9. Places which depend on financial services employment have not performed well during the time of recession. This is because of the high job losses in retail banking sector, and it tends to be situated outside the capital of UK. 10. Lower Disposable Income- The decrease in the distribution of disposable income was a main challenge for the purchasing activities of the consumers. Decrease in the disposable income has taught the consumer to be more careful in making any purchase. 11. Lower Level of Savings- Inability of the consumers to maintain a sustainable level of savings, have made them focus on two distinct alternatives; one is to continue the same level of consumption pattern by low priced product purchase, or to purchase quality products without cutting the consumption level. 12. Risk of Opportunity Costs- The risk of opportunity costs have made th e consumers more conscious in making their purchase decisions. Purchase decision strategy often depends on the individual preferences of the consumers. 13. Retail banking industry is another area which has faced problems on account of recession. Retail banking carries on banking operations which directly deal with the individuals relatively than other banks or corporations. As the UK retail banking is not controlled by any centralized authority, they are occupied in business practices which are risky to continue in the market. 14. In

Monday, September 23, 2019

Discussion Board Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Discussion Board Questions - Essay Example In the same way, there may be limited opportunities for college students and new graduates based on their less experience. For a college student on job hunting, it is vital to consider opportunity as compared to salary. This is based on the fact that even the low paying jobs require reasonable skills that a college student may not posses. Unions improve the productivity of employees in various ways. First, by allowing employees to join labor unions it makes them to feel secured in their employment. As a result of security, they feel motivated thus making them more productive. It is worth to note that workers are not only motivated by high salaries but also efforts by the management to address their problems. It is through unions that employee’s grievances can be sent to the employers. Another way through which union enhances employee’s productivity is by training them on their rights and responsibilities. Through such training, employees are aware of how to effectively perform their duties as well as solving of internal conflicts thus giving them opportunities for promotions and more benefits. Unions help in negotiation process and solving the problems between the employers and the employees without use of violence and destruction. Cofer and Appley 26 argue that this allows employees to be part and parc el of the negotiation process leading to improved employees self esteem and enhanced workers performance. Management has a responsible for allowing its workers to join a pay negotiation with the unions. It is worth to note that organisations fail due to lack of effective collective bargaining. In this regard, management must allow ample opportunities to unions to give their views on the salaries. This implies that it is the responsibility of the management to provide information regarding the amount of salaries and benefits offered to the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Family of woodstock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Family of woodstock - Essay Example It is intriguing that the Family does not discriminate between serious and small problems, but seeks to help people in a positive manner. Any individual seeking help from the Family receives guidelines or services that fix the specific problem presented. Interestingly, the staff and volunteers at the Family of Woodstock are committed to operating during both the day and the night, ensuring that no individual in the society is stranded without any source of help (â€Å"Family of Woodstock celebrates its 40th anniversary†, 2010). Several factors motivated the founders of the Family of Woodstock. In 1970, when the Family was established, the initial services provided were hotlines, which allowed people with problems to call for help. Evidently, the founders recognized that people in the society had certain needs yet no service providers were available to meet those needs. For example, children who had run away from home ended up in the streets without shelter and food. Founders of the Family realized that these children needed help in the form of counselling and the basic needs. Moreover, it was also critical for these children to be reunited with their families. The hotlines operating in 1970 sought to address this need. However, the founders also recognized other needs in the society such as the need for legal assistance, the need for a soft landing machine that would help people get over long journeys. Many of the problems identified surrounded children, teens, parents, and the public. The founders of the Family identified a risk factor for each of these groups of people. Over the years, the Family has focused on identifying the needs of the people as well as the risk factors they face and developing strategies for addressing them (â€Å"Ulster Savings Charitable Foundation gives $5,000 grant to Family of Woodstock†, 2012). Notably, the Family of Woodstock has exhibited a high level of specialization in a bid

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Derivative Markets Essay Example for Free

Derivative Markets Essay Last dozen of years are characterized by rash growth of volumes of national and international markets of derivative finance instruments or derivative markets. By opinion of experts, appearance and development of derivative markets is the most important event of economic life within last twenty five years. In the very name of these instruments – â€Å"derives† lays the fact that they appeared and started to develop on basis of floaters and futures almost for all types of exchange products (starting with oil and gas and ending with soy beans and orange juice), and also for exchange index, percent rates, rate of exchange, etc. Presently new types of derivates appeared: on the basis of sea freight rates (London), cost of microprocessors, permissions for environment pollution (USA), etc. To the first generation of derivates specialists relate futures and stock option plans, which are used at organized markets (exchanges) in form of standardized contracts, and also popular at non-exchange market (market OTC – over-the-counter) (William Falloon pp. 26-28) currency swaps, stock option plans and inter-bank agreements regarding forward rate agreement. From the very beginning the main functions of derivates was to provide distribution of risks among participants of business deal, connected with change of stuff price, rates of exchange, percent rates, stock rates, exchange indexes, etc. Nowadays operations with derivates are still the main way of insurance from different risks and risk management. The first signs at derivative markets became successful issue of currency futures in 1972 at Chicago Mercantile Exchange; the second issue of percentage futures followed in 1975 at Chicago Board of Trade. In the first half of 1980-s rapid growth (Remolona, Eli, M., pp. 28-43) of operations with derivates, followed with appearance of more and more new types of derivates. In 1980 appeared New York Futures Exchange; in 1982 London international Financial Futures and Options; in 1986 – MATIF Marche a terme international de France in Paris; in 1988 Swiss Options and Financial Futures Exchanges, etc. At these and other organized (exchange) markets trade is fulfilled by standard (typical) contracts, which are sold or at exchange auctions (MATIF in France), or with help of automatized information systems (for example, Globex). Final calculations for all deals are made by computational (compensational) palates (George Benston and Shehzad Mian pp. 217-246) The first â€Å"legal† operation of currency swap (exchange of dollar to Swiss francs) was made in August 1981 between American company IBM and International Bank of Reconstruction and Development. Market of percentage swaps appeared in the United States by initiative of company â€Å"Sallie Mae†. The major part of swap operations was executed by leading international banks, which in the beginning were present as mediators between participants of currency swaps. In succeeding years banks became to work as active participants of derivative deals, acting at their own cost and in their own interests.   When in the first half of 1980-s derivative market was developing mainly in the United States, in the second half derivative market started to develop quickly in Europe and Japan. Volume of world market of swap operations increased from 200 milliard dollars in 1985 to 2900 milliard dollars in 1990. Such quick growth was stipulated with legal standardization of contracts, development of information systems and means of communications. According to data of questionnaire which was executed by International Swaps and Derivatives Associations, volume of world derivative market for the beginning of 1993 was 5.4 trillion dollars, including percentage swaps – 3.9 trillion dollars, currency swaps – 860 milliard dollars, cap and floor operations – 577 milliard dollars. By approximate estimation of magazine Swap Monitor, volume of derivative markets was much higher – 7 trillion dollars (at the same date of 1993). In the United States only 6 banks control 90% of derivative markets. In France 80 banks act at the market of currency contracts; at option market – 24 banks. Volume of operations with derivates at exchange and non-exchange markets, which make French credit institutions and which are shown at their balance, in 2.2 times exceeds amount of their balances. By information of International Calculations Bank, already in 1991 volume of OTC market was 4500 milliard dollars. From that time its volume significantly increased. Quick growth of derivative market volume in the beginning of 1990-s is connected with increasing of instability and uncertainty at world financial markets, also influenced by such events as was at Persian Gulf, collapse of USSR, crisis of European system of currency, etc. besides, progress in the field of informational technology, which allowed to process big volumes of information almost immediately and great funds, involved in financial turnover, give grounds to speak about existence of real industry of derivates. As we already spoke about, quick growth of derivative market was accompanied by appearance of new and new their types and kinds; this process developed and continues to develop in legal and non-official market. Financial instruments, which represent different combinations of derivates of the first generation, quickly were added to the first derivate generation (for example, combination of percentage options â€Å"cap/floor†, swaptions – combination of swap and option. In the beginning of 1990-s appeared such exotic instruments as swaps for non-typical indexes, annulated swaps, options for options, etc. One of novelties for Parisian exchange was issue of bons doption, which gives right to the buyer for purchase of actions or debentures by fixed price. During the last four years number of diversities of such warranties increased from 15 to 500, they are in easy access to any investor, even those who doesn’t have big amount of money. Appearance of new types and kinds of derivates is stipulated not only by increasing demands of clients in more perfect means of insurance from risks (Ludger Hentschel and Clifford Smith Jr., pp. 101-126), but also by constant perfection of informational technology and equipment, mechanisms of price formation and models of risk management. At the same time legal standards of regulating operations with derivates were developed and perfected; new forms of standard contracts appeared. Operations with derivates started to be used more frequently not only for insurance from risks and risk management, but for aims of speculation, i.e. receiving profit from them. By opinion of experts, nowadays the following subjects take place at the derivative markets: Industrial companies, which can use operations with derivates to reach such aims as: Decreasing of indebtedness burden at the expense of getting necessary financial means by possible cheap price; Increasing of flexibility in management of financial holdings, not limited by usage of debentures or short-term commercial documents; Perfection of management cash balance and regulation of financial flow, connected with cash inflow and cash spending; Fast receiving of necessary funds by relatively low prices in case unexpected needs in financing take place; Perfection and dynamics of process management by liquid assets of enterprise. Although enterprises, which use all enumerated possibilities of operations with derivates, are quite rare, from now on these operations cannot be ignored by those enterprises, who intend to lead dynamic strategy of management by thief financial resources. Different investment funds, which control investment portfolio, use operations with derivates as flexible means of funds management. Special companies or funds (so-called stockjobbers), which make derivative operations to receive profit, because those operations allow even with small expenses to get big profit, indeed, in condition of favorable circumstances for such stockjobber. In such a way American fund Quantum Fund, which belongs to famous financier George Sores, and which is specialized on currency deals, including derivates as well, since 1969 every year increased its income for 35%; today it exceeds 4 milliard dollars. Totally in the United States there are more than 3 thousand of such funds, which manage approximately by 25 milliard dollars, which are used only for speculative operations. There are 23 similar funds, which are legally registered in France. Individual stockbrokers, which make operations with derivates at their own expense. Activity of those subjects, which in the USA are called â€Å"local† and in France â€Å"negociateurs independants de parquet†, assists in increasing of liquidity financial market. Special companies-organizers of the market, including compensational palates, which control execution of contracts and execute calculations, receiving definite commissions. In such a way in France company MATIF received for each operation of purchase or sale of pressing contract 6.25 francs, what allowed to increase own funds to 800 million francs. In 1993 MATIF worked up 72 million of contracts, whereas at Chicago Mercantile Exchange were sold 179 million of contracts. Banks, working in legal and non-official market, receive the biggest income from derivative operations. Supervision instances controlling bank activities (for example, there is Bank Commission in France) are anxious because of uncontrolled growth of bank derivative operations. Operations with different kinds of options, especially related to such indexes, which change quickly, as shares indexes, prices for non-ferrous metals, raw materials, etc. give the biggest concern. Supervision instances don’t limit usage of derivative operations in order to insure credit and market risks (Sanjiv Ranjan Das pp. 7-23), but at the same time they establish rule of paying capacity, in accordance with which amount of own derivate funds of certain credit enterprise should cover credit (risk of unredeemed credit) and market risks. Other aspects of regulation non-organized markets are not developed enough. In all leading Western countries development of those measures is behind the tempo of growth of OTC market capacity, where calculation (compensational) palates are absent and business deals have long-term character. For organized derivative markets the main problems still are guaranteeing security and control. Compensational palates watch timeliness of final calculations and amount of deposits of their members, which operate at derivative market. These deposits guarantee that they will fulfill their obligations: in case amount of deposit is lower than definite level, it should be filled up immediately. In such a way, at MATIF’s accounts are 20 milliard francs, paid-in by its members as guarantee of calculations. Financiers work to standardize contracts for derivative deals in the international level. In such a way, created in 1985 International Swap and Derivatives Association worked out frame contract for derivative operations, consisting of two parts: in the first part there are obligatory common statements (ways of calculations and their regulation, declarations of the parties, procedures of canceling the contract, etc), and in the second part there are statements, which can be changed by wish of the parties. In June 1993 report of 30 leading specialists for financial operations was published, where they formulated recommendations to banks and other enterprises, which lead operations with derivates or are their final users. By opinion of experts, these enterprises should give acces to that market only for professionals. Many experts point at explosive character of derivative market, because there can appear chain reaction of bankruptcy (domino effect). Non-exchange market is more dangerous in this respect, where the business deals are often concluded â€Å"for the word of honor†. Unexpected collapse of one of the banks can cause chain reaction of bankruptcies of other banks. By words of A. Taylor, president of Royal Bank of Canada, derivates represent bomb of delayed-action, which, once exploded, can completely ruin world financial system. Although derivative deals have a lot of risk and can provoke the crisis, you cannot live without them in the modern financial markets, because they assist in increasing of liquidity and effectiveness of financial markets, decreasing of cost for market transactions (deals). As was written in French magazine â€Å"Expansion†, future experts, probably, will examine derivates as financial novelty, which saved world economical growth from paralysis. Works Cited: George Benston and Shehzad Mian, 1995 Financial Reporting of Derivatives: An Analysis of the Issues, Evaluation of Proposals, and a Suggested Solution, Journal of Financial Engineering, September, pp. 217-246. Sanjiv Ranjan Das, 1995 Credit Risk Derivatives, Journal of Derivatives, Spring, pp. 7-23. William Falloon, 1992 How Appetites are Growing for OTC Equity Derivatives, Futures Magazine, January, pp. 26-28. Ludger Hentschel and Clifford Smith Jr., 1995 Controlling Risks in Derivatives Markets, Journal of Financial Engineering, June, pp. 101-126 Remolona, Eli, M., 1992-3 The Recent Growth of Financial Derivative Markets, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Quarterly Review, Winter, pp. 28-43.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Negotiation Strategies In International Business Commerce Essay

The Negotiation Strategies In International Business Commerce Essay In business relationships, parties negotiate because they think they can influence the process in such a way that they can get a better deal than simply accepting or rejecting what the other party is offering. Ghauri (2003) says business negotiation is a voluntary process of give and take where both parties modify their offers and expectations in order to come closer to each other. In literature, sometimes bargaining and negotiation are used interchangeably. Negotiation, also called integrative bargaining, refers to win-win negotiation where both or all parties involved can end up with equally beneficial or attractive outcomes. In other words, everyone can win. It is more related to a problem-solving approach, where both parties involved perceive the process of negotiation as a process to find a solution to a common problem. In integrative bargaining however, if negotiations are not properly handled, both parties can end up with a jointly inferior deal. With negotiation, it is possible for both parties to achieve their objectives and one partys gain is not dependent upon the other partys concession. Business negotiation is considered by many authors as being this type of negotiation. The power/dependence relation is another basic characteristic of all negotiation processes. It is closely related to the actual power relation, which is influenced by the value of the relationship to the parties and their available alternatives. Background factors for example the market position can influence the power/dependence relation. The ability to control a relationship is related to the perceived power of two parties, their relative expertise and access to information. This power is a property of the relationship and not an attribute of the actor; in fact, it is closely related to dependence. Therefore, the power relationship is in balance if both parties perceive equal power. The power relationship is unbalanced if one of the parties perceives more power, or if one party is dependent on the other. The dramatic growth of international trade over the last five decades has been not only in terms of volume but in complexity as well. International marketers are now more and more business negotiators, who constantly discuss deals across borders with a variety of people, ranging from consumers to intermediaries and even competitors. Technology often plays a major role in such deals and this could mislead people into believing that the whole negotiation process is principally an engineers discussion based on rational and scientific facts. In fact, technical complexity intermingles with human complexity to render such negotiation processes difficult to manage. A considerable amount of literature is available on negotiations, some of it also on business negotiations but the field of international business negotiations is quite neglected. Strategic Negotiations. Richard Walton etal,1994 identify three primary negotiations strategies. These are forcing, fostering, and escape. Each represents an overarching pattern of interaction that characterizes the negotiations. A strategy does not emerge all at once, but over time as a result of consistent patterns of interaction. A forcing strategy generally involves taking a distributive or win/lose approach to the negotiations, combined with a divide and conquer approach to internal relations in the other side, and an attitudinal approach that emphasizes uncertainty and distrust. By contrast, a fostering strategy generally involves taking an integrative or win/win approach to the negotiations, combined with a consensus approach to internal relations in both sides, and an attitudinal approach that emphasizes openness and understanding. Escape is a non-negotiations strategy in which one or more parties seek to end or undercut the relationship. Dietmeyer and Kaplan (2004) use a res earch-based approach to negotiation that assists sales professionals in reaching their own business goals, while ensuring that their customers meet budget and professional objectives as well-going beyond win-win to achieve true, measurable business value for all parties at the negotiating table. Power and Diplomacy Power. Susan Strange (1998) brings out that power accrues to those who can offer or deny security; those who manage the creation of wealth by production; those who create credit to allow or deny other people to spend today and pay back tomorrow; those who (mis)manage the currency in which credit is denominated; those who have knowledge (advanced technology) which provides military superiority and dominance in other power structures. John De La Mothe (2002), argues that science, technology and innovation have long been key factors in the competitive advantage of nations. Today, however, the new international political economy is being increasingly driven by science and technology in new ways. Integration, globalization and internationalization have all become watchwords for a series of dynamic processes in which science and technology are deeply implicated. As a result, not only are the policies of national governments being exposed in terms of the limits of their sovereignty, but sci ence and technology are being increasingly implicated in a wide array of public issues ranging from security, privacy, development and economic growth to employment, environment, foreign policy and geopolitics. Clearly, in todays emerging world, the ways in which governments organize their science and technology policy, their science and technology intelligence, and their research advisory structures and resources matter more today than ever before. Diplomacy. James Rosenau was one of the first to suggest that the domestic and international are somehow linked and elaborated upon what he termed linkage politics (1969). Scholars focusing on the regional impact of domestic politics are Karl Deutsch (1957) and Ernst Haas (1958). Haas highlights two types of spillover. The first type, functional spillover, occurs when cooperation in certain sectors of the economy (or society) creates technocratic pressure for cooperation in adjoining sectors, thereby propelling integration forward. The second type, political spillover, occurs when ongoing cooperation in certain areas empowers supranational officials to act as informal political entrepreneurs in other areas. In order to manage complex technocratic issues more effectively, rational governments must delegate discretion to experts, judges and bureaucrats, thereby creating powerful new supranational actors with an interest in cooperation. Graham Allison in Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971) too, speaks of an overlap between international and domestic politics. In State Power and the Structure of International Trade, Krasner argues that that openness in the world economy is most likely to occur during periods when a hegemonic state is in its ascendancy. As long as the states technological lead is increasing, its leadership will perceive economic advantages to openness, since openness will expand markets for the products of its technologically sophisticated industries. The hegemon will also gain politically, since the opportunity costs of closure will be low, relative to those facing smaller and poorer states. Conversely, when several large, unequally developed states coexist, Krasner predicts that the more backward states will find openness economically and politically costly and will therefore resist it. Greater trade closure will, therefore, result (Keohane 1997). Like Gilpin before him, Krasner too stresses on the influence of the strength of the state on international trade. The crucial point is the correlation between what occurs withi n a state is related to what occurs beyond state boundaries. Robert Putnam in Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two Level Games (1988) argues that domestic structures and diplomacy are interminably entangled and says that the negotiator is under pressure to reconcile domestic and international conflicts. Putnams work challenges the level of analysis approach to studying international relations which stresses the importance of classifying data under three clusters: the systemic, national and the individual (Singer 1961). Mayer (1991) develops a model to explore the implications of domestic political divisions for international strategic engagement in international trade. He explores the subject by treating international trade as a game and identifying the players and examining how they play. The observation that there are several overlapping games being played, a few of them being strategic and others not, is significant. Policies such as tariff, quotas, and export and production subsidies are the tools used by the players to gain a n advantage in the international strategic trade game (Krugman 1986). Work on strategic trade policy builds on game theoretical models which analyse how states use trade policies to leverage their economic performance. India and Nanotechnology (The literature survey included, amongst others, a perusal of annual reports of GOI MOD, DST, CSIR, TIFAC, CII; back issues (app 3years) of Business world, New Scientist, Hindu Businessline and Business Today. ) GOI initiatives include DST launched Nano Science and Technology Initiative (NSTI) with an allocation of Rs. 1000 crore, Government has spent approximately Rs. 250 crore, over the past five years to promote RD in the area of nanotechnology. 100 research projects on the synthesis and assembly of ceramic nanoparticles, nano tubes, nano wires, nanoporous solids, and DNA chips have been supported by the Government. CII Initiatives have resulted in; India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Cooperation, Indo-US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG), Nanotechnology partnership with Taiwan, a number of Nanotechnology Conclaves, Nanotechnology Cluster-CMTI, Jharkhand Nanotechnology Initiative, West Bengal Nano Park etc. CII is working closely with the Government of India on US India High-Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) formed on November 2002. The HTCG acts to facilitate and promote bilateral high-technology trade. The focus areas of the core group include Information Technology, Defense, Life Sciences and Nanotechnology. Realising the potential of nanotechnology, HTCG working group on Nanotechnology is formed to facilitate seamless flow of knowledge between both the countries and joint development projects involving industries. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has put together a 10-point action plan to empower Indian industry to come out with commercial nanotechnology products, which it believes will drive the future of industry worldwide. The action plan includes awareness creation, training and skills development, technology facilitation and networking and facilitating collaborative projects. The Nano Science and Technology Consortium works to create a platform conducive for the growth, promotion and partnering in the field of Nano Science and Technology taking together industries, academics and government through consultative, advisory and educative processes which will provide growth platform for organizations, academics and governments for harnessing the Nano potential at Global level. Companies like Samsung have already entered the Indian market with a range of products using nanotechnology such as refrigerator, washing machine and air-cooler. Samsung uses nano-silver in various compositions in its product range. Further, companies like Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Mahindra Mahindra, Nicholas Piramal and Intel have invested around $250 million in the domestic market towards this end. Yash Nanotech has inked agreements with IIT Mumbai, NCL Pune and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre of Advanced Research, Bangalore, to undertake global contract research and set up nanotech manufacturing facilities. Civil Applications. These can be grouped under four heads, namely, detection, including imaging, sensors and sensor networks for the detection of pathogens and chemicals; protection, including decontamination equipment and filters, and personal protection; identification, including anti-counterfeiting and authentication, forensics, quantum cryptography and the market for counterfeit and grey goods; societal impacts, including current regulatory and ethical frameworks, potential impacts on ethics and human rights, and public perception. Application in the field of medicine is one of the most fascinating areas that include new cancer therapies, drug delivery systems, and biomaterials for implants or prosthesis or diagnostic tools, which are under development or already in market. An important area of application of nanotechnology includes novel drug delivery techniques, which are quicker less risky, compared to the costs of developing new drugs. Military Applications. These also flow out from civil applications in areas like; higher performance platforms (aircraft, ships, subs, boats and satellites), enhanced sensing through more sensitive and selective sensors, enhanced human performance, information dominance through enhanced information technology, improved battlefield casualty management, lower life cycle costs with improved materials, coatings, and condition-based maintenance etc. Stake holders. The various stake holders include; governments, Industry, Entrepreneurs, RD, Institutions, Academic Research Institutions, and Society. Case Studies. These can be subdivided into those which pertain to PSUs, RD establishments and Defense and the private sector enterprises. The private sector industries which can be studied for negotiations resulting in various types of partnerships/JVs/MOUs/TOTs etc. are listed below:- Measuring devices equipments: Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd, Icon Analytical equipment. Ltd., Veeco .Health Care: Dabur Research Foundation, Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. Materials processing: Tata Chemicals, Pune. Reliance India Limited. Automobile: Mahindra Mahindra, Tata Motors, United Nanotechnologies Pvt. Ltd. Electronics: Bharat Electronics Ltd, SemIndia Systems, Samtel India.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Reflections on The Tao Te Ching Essay -- Ancient World Culture

Reflections on The Tao Te Ching When the early Christians had to keep their faith against the persecutions of the Roman Empire, they had -- obviously -- a visible enemy. Once their religion was legalized and established, however, they had new questions to ask concerning who they were, what could hurt their souls and their way of life. Some of them, at least, concluded that the materialism of the dominant Roman way of life was a non-agressive, but equally corrosive force that would destroy them -- not physically, but spiritually. These Fourth Century Christians, men and women, then left their societies and withdrew into the desert to be able to find true "paradise," not in a safe, secure niche in society, but in their relationship with God. That is, they had to escape the values that so comprehensively enveloped them that they could not think or feel clearly about deeper matters. Thus "freed" in the desert, they could know what a full human life was in practice. These spiritual discoveries of a "way" to live, to be, could then be used to challange the complex and tempting materialism that seemed to dominate the culture of the time. In a much briefer, easier, and less focused way, Henry David Thoreau, someone better known to our own time, tried his "experiment" by living for two years in the woods by Waldon Pond in order "to drive life into a corner" and find out just what it really was worth and what it essentially meant. According to Thoreau, people too readily accepted one already established set of ideas or another, good or bad assessments of life, and didn't seek answers for themselves. He too in his course of events wanted to make known what he learned, wanted to "publish," as he said, the essential "goodness" or "meanne... ...ind hits it. Those who by the age of eighteen have thick calendars organizing their too-complicated lives, those who have learned that a branch does not have real meaning, those whose religion tries to teach simplicity but does not get heard ("consider the lilies of the field, they do not spin nor toil, yet Solomon in his glory was not so brightly arrayed") -- can we enter the vision of the writings of one of us who lived 2500 years ago and left the city of confusion to find wisdom? Can we find in the tensions of his writings -- as they are the shapes of the tensions of living in a confused world -- the "way" of life that is most natural? Can we be at home in the universe that produces us and mirrors so readily what we are when we stop and look, wary as those crossing the ice, listening for cracks that might freeze them before they drowned, we see and hear the signs?

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Gun Control Essay -- Second Amendment The Right To Bear Arms

Since the early days, gun control has been a never-ending debate. It is because of the fast increase in crime, the fight for the right to own a hand gun, the introduction of legislation for gun control in order reduce the crime in the United States, that this issue has been hotly debated in recent years. The streets of America are now a war zone especially right here were we live. ?Florida has the highest crime rate of any state and the sixth highest homicide level?(www.guncite.com). A sad fact but true. Many people feel that gun control violates their right to own a gun the second amendment says so: ?the right to bear arms?. I personally share that point of view for it would not be in the constitution to begin with. However, there is no doubt that something must be done in order to reduce violence and to make America a freer country to live in. I believe that gun control should not take place for it does not reduce crime, it only increases the debates and as an alternative there sho uld be a stronger education. First, gun control does not reduce crime. After doing my research I was impressed to find that guns and violence are not as linked as much as people think they are. Curtis Lovelace confirms that Both Australia and England have already banned personal ownership of guns, but violent crime is not down in either country. In fact, in Australia violent crime is up in every category. From 1997 to 1999, murders were up 6.5%, and attempted murders rose by 12.5%. Increases w...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Islam in America :: Religion Islam

Islam One of the active "survivors" of practiced faiths in America is Islam. Before and even after the incident of September 11th, more and more disappointment, frustration and curiosity towards Islam and Muslims have aroused amongst Americans. The Reason behind those mixed feelings is that it is said that a group of Muslim "terrorists" were behind the tragedy that occurred to the Trade Center in New York. That has resulted in the lost of many innocent lives and corruption of the nation. Afterwards, Americans were intimidated by this religion, and what it brings to the world, so they sought to learn about it. Surprisingly, studies by Brendan Bernhard in his book White Muslim show that the number of converts after September 11th had risen in America more than ever before (Bernhard p.14). One may wonder how Islam attracted the American public despite the tragedy that has occurred and said to be done by the Muslims. The Book White Muslim gives an overview on different converts after September 11th. In addition, the articles Muslims in America After 9-11 and As the Smoke Began to clear give a closer look on the Muslim and non-Muslim American reactions after September 11th. Moreover, September 11th drew eyes on Afghanistan (Muslim nation that is run by the Taliban movement, the accused leader of the attack of September 11). Therefore, Muslim women of Afghanistan were discussed numerously in America; through the topic on the unjust treatment they face living as Muslim woman. Afterwards, the controversial issue on American Muslim woman arose in America about their way of life as Muslims. To get a clearer idea on this particular issue, in Muslim Women in America what is previewed is the Muslim woman's role and her place in Islam and American society in general. The book als o discusses the difficulties Muslim woman face living in America as well as the reason behind American woman converting in Islam. The article Living a Muslim in American Society also addresses the difficulties faced by Muslims in general living in America. A closer look at Muslim woman converts may be previewed as well through the articles Islam Our Choice-Portraits of Modern American Muslim Woman, and The American Harlot. Accordingly, one may wonder how and when Islam approached America, as it seems after September 11th Muslims are noticed to have a fairly large number of followers that are spread in some states of America. Going back in history when America was discovered and it was then called the New World, enslavement came about.

Monday, September 16, 2019

My Ambition Is To Become a Collector

MY AMBITION IN  LIFE Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one-step of success to another forming new ambitions and seeking them gratified. – Samuel Johnson In the life of mankind one has his own dreams and wishes. The dreams transform in to vibrant thoughts concerning about his career and future. No one can exactly predict what role he has to play in the society as the World is a play stage and all people are just performers in that center-stage. Ambition doesn’t need to be made of sterner stuff. It is an exaggeration of your dream and thoughts of how you want to be in your life. My ambition is to become an IAS officer. Though I know that the magnitude of civil services exam is tough but still I feel it is a challenge to relish upon. IAS – Indian Administrative Service sounds and preludes a sense of pride in the minds of the selected candidates. To lead a district/bunch of villages is not a simple joke and every time you need to be on your toes, manage crisis and you need to be a decision maker as well as an efficient leader. The very wish of me becoming an IAS officer is infused by the social evils that prevail in the society. The sufferings faced by poor and the destitute ignite the spirit in one’s self and instigate the proceedings. Every one should at least have access to basic amenities like food, shelter, clothing etc. Nothing can be changed in a day’s time, but it is possible only by the cumulative efforts of all people. If India is to become a super-power, she needs to get out of the webs of poverty, unemployment, social inequality and communal riots. So why IAS I don’t want to myself lie between the cobwebs of matrimony and job. Indeed I want to contribute something for the nation for her progress and development. India is in urgent need of youths who are determined for the sake of the nation. IAS officer to some extent can spur a change in the lives of people under his control. The task doesn’t end here and one needs to devote his soul to the nation building politics. The infusion of young blood in politics will surely have a great impact in the development of our nation. Ambition affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege than the raising of the next generation. India is one of the most corrupt countries and this evil pegs her at the developing nations list. My ambition constitutes the dream of living and dying in a   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Developed India – 2020†. The positions in the IAS service vary from the powerful Cabinet Secretary to the District Collector. My ambition doesn’t and shouldn’t aim and hitch my vision for the highest cadre. Instead I feel fortunate and proud to be an IAS officer to serve the needy and the deprived in the modern â€Å"Information Era† based society. Education for all, abolition of castes, creed and religion, Prevention of social exploitation, abolition of social evils, weeding out corruption, improving infrastructure and basic facilities and these things stand for prior action. It is definitely a challenge for a young man to lead in such circumstances. Life is all about taking up challenges and at the end of the day/outset it is all about how well we fared at that moment/instant. My ambition is the vision of developed India -2020 dreamt by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and to transform his dreams into reality. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the whole world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. Since then midnights have passed, but we are still asleep. Now the time has come to redeem our pledge. A country with glorious history and uncertain future. The certainty depends on the young Turks†¦Dream of becoming a super-power will remain a dream if we fail to wake up from slumber. An ambitious dream of a Developed India be envisioned by our dreamzz†¦

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Burning a Nation’s Flag: Hate Crime

Burning a nation's flag: Hate Crime or Free Speech? A nation's flag is one of the most important things to a country. Citizens of a nation use it during special ceremonies, and a nation's flag is displayed all over that nation. A flag is an emblem shown as a symbol of unity. It symbolizes the pride and history of a nation. So what does burning a nation's flag mean? Is it considered a hate crime and illegal, or is it considered an act of free speech and protected by the First Amendment?For the purposes of this argument, a hate crime is defined as a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence (What Are Hate Crimes? ). I believe that burning a nation's flag is not a hate crime due to the fact that burning a nation's flag falls under a category that is protected by the First Amendment. In a hate crime, the targeted group could be categorized by not just race or sexuality, but religion and political beliefs or group as well. By burning a nation' s flag, we could easily categorize it as targeting a political group.When a person burns a nation's flag, he/she could be targeting the general people of that nation, the government of that nation, or to be even more specific, the leaders of that government. . In this case, we will say that the political group referred to is the government(to be more specific, the American government). Therefore, by burning a nation's flag, someone disagrees and takes a stand against a political activity or decision. In contrast to what a hate crime is, an act of free speech, protected by the First Amendment, is the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint.An act of free speech does not necessarily mean saying something out loud. It could also mean expressing your opinions about something by using actions. Since burning a nation's flag suggests taking a stand against a political activity, it is a way of expressing your opinion. Similar to free speech, freedom of expression which is part of the Human Rights Act says that you have the right to hold your own opinions and to express them freely without government interference (Equality and Human Rights Commission).The government cannot arrest you or punish you for burning a nation's flag as long as no one gets physically hurt. Just like in almost every country around the world, America has its own Flag Code. The Flag Code is a guide for all handling and display of the Stars and Stripes, but it does not impose penalties for misuse of the United States flag (US code 36). Each state has its own flag law, and penalty for misuse of the flag is up to the state. Criminal penalties for certain acts of vandalism of a flag were stated in Title 18 of the United States Code prior to 1989.The Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson held the statute unconstitutional, though. In Texas v. Johnson, respondent Gregory Lee â€Å"Joey† Johnson was convicted of an act of disrespect of a venerated object, which violates a Texas statute. During the 1984 Republican National Convention, Johnson protested the policies of the Reagan administration and Dallas-based corporation. During the protest, Johnson burned the American flag. No one was physically hurt or injured, but some witnesses felt severely offended by this.However, due to the First Amendment, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decided that the State could not punish Johnson for burning the flag in these circumstances. In addition, the Texas statute states that it is only illegal to burn a nation's flag when the act would result in a serious disturbance of peace. However, the flag burning in this case did not threaten such a reaction (Texas v. Johnson. ). It is true that showing your anger towards the government can be expressed in other ways besides burning the nation's flag.One could protest, write a book, or write a blog to take a stand against a political action. However, no matter which of these actions you decide to do, you are still doi ng it to achieve the same goal: express your opinion and make a change in the government. Citation Page â€Å"Texas v. Johnson. †Ã‚  Cornell University Law School. 21 Mar. 1989. Online. 12 Feb. 2013. ;http://www. law. cornell. edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0491_0397_ZS. html;. â€Å"What Are Hate Crimes? †Ã‚  SikhNet. Online. 12 Feb. 2013. ;http://fateh. sikhnet. com/s/HateCrimeInfo;. â€Å"Article 485†Ã‚  New York Laws. Online. 12 Feb. 2013.

Claude Mckay, a Dialectical Analysis Essay

In Claude McKay’s, â€Å"Old England† and â€Å"Quashie to Buccra† McKay uses dialect as a way to give poems multiple meanings. What may be seen as a simplistic or naive poem about Jamaican life may actually be full of double meanings that only a select audience would be able to identify. In his poem’s, McKay ultimately gives Negros who work under white colonists the underlying message of black resistance by revolution. Perhaps what makes this interpretation so convincing is the background of the author. McKay was born Sunny Ville Jamaica as the youngest of 11 sons. While in Jamaica, McKay wrote â€Å"Songs of Jamaica†, which is where â€Å"Quashie to Buccra† is derived from. In this time, he also became a self proclaimed socialist, â€Å" As a socialist, McKay eventually became an editor at The Liberator, in addition to writing various articles for a number of left-wing publications† (Giles 1). During this period, McKay wrote â€Å"If We Must Die†, another poem charged with angst against the oppressed Negro society. Notably this poem was read aloud by Winston Churchill during World War II, however left unattributed to McKay himself. This can be seen as a reflection on society of the time, and how they weren’t ready to see a poem like that as a black revolutionary poem, and that the issues of the black Negro were quietly swept under the rug or ignored entirely. This is perhaps why the reading of an Englishman would differ so greatly from an African Negro reading â€Å"Quashie to Buccra†, as the Englishmen of the time were out of touch with the strife these workers were experiencing. McKay’s communist background may very well be a bi-product of the cultural discrepancies of the time, and a way for the workingman to get back at the bourgeoisie, or white, upper social class. To address the double meanings of Claude McKay’s work, the reader must first look at the surface layer. As we discussed in class, the poems were done on the condition they were completed in Jamaican dialect, not necessarily because of Claude McKay’s own choice. To a white, European society reading the poem, it comes across as a poem about a simple agriculturalist that is telling the white plantation owner about the fruits of his labor, and how they may not be fully appreciated. In actuality, the poem can be seen by Negros as a way to criticize the white plantation owner and in fact plant the seeds of rebellion. Indeed, the title of the work itself leads credence to it being veiled in double meaning. While a white, European in the high rungs of the social ladder may read the poem as a simple address of worker to plantation owner. However, a Negro experiencing the strife of Quashie, the black peasant worker who produces sweet potatoes in the poem, may relate to the unfairness of they experience from the Buccra, which is the white man being addressed in the poem. Indeed, McKay points out in the poem, â€Å"You taste the potato, and you say it’s sweet, but you don’t know how hard we work for it† (McKay 2). Buccra even attempts to haggle for a lower price, further showing he doesn’t understand the work that goes into farming the sweet potatoes, â€Å"You want a basketful fe quattiewut† (McKay 3). Not only does this demonstrate the Buccra’s insensitivity to the work that goes into the harvest, but it shows he’s greedy and milking the natives for every last sixpence. A white reader may look at the reading as Quashie simply complaining about his hard work, â€Å"The sun is hot like when fire catches a town† (McKay 9). In reality, Quashie would do this work even if he weren’t required to because he has a sense of pride, â€Å"Although the shade tree looks tempting, we wouldn’t lie down even if we could† (McKay 10-11). Someone working these fields could relate to the pride and craftsmanship that takes to plow in a straight line, or work through the rough Earth. This reading can be taken another step further. It’s not common for a fire to simply catch a town, and for a Negro reading the poem, they may see it as a call to rebel and actually set a town ablaze as vengeance against white society. A rebellion such as setting a rich town ablaze would not be unheard of in a communist state, and it might be a call to arms for Jamaican Negros reading the poems in â€Å"Songs of Jamaica†. Undeniably, there appears to be a lexicon for violence in the poem that may be entirely glossed over by a white, European reader. â€Å"Although the vine is little, it can bear. It wishes for nothing but a little care. You see potato tearing up the ground, you run. You laughing, you must think it’s fun† (McKay 16-20). As stated earlier, a European audience may feel this is simply Quashie denouncing that his work is difficult, and that he’s just announcing his woes in a silly way, and that the whole thing just merrily amuses the white plantation owner. However, if you choose to look at this through the perspective of a Negro who is craving to break free of their oppressors, it can have an entirely different reading. Quashie planting seeds can be seen as planting the seeds of an uprising. The imagery of potatoes coming up from the ground seems comical at first, but if you’re an oppressed worker, you might see this as the crops being metaphorical for the workers rising forth to take revenge against the plantation owners. Even as Quashie explains to Buccra that he’s serious, Buccra seems to completely blow him off as if he’s â€Å"making a fun†, or a funny joke, as if the work isn’t taking a serious toll on the Jamaicans. This kind of sentiment can be seen in the final stanza, wherein Claude McKay seemingly dismisses everything he’s talked about earlier, â€Å"Yet still the hardships always melt away, whenever it comes around to reaping day† (McKay 25-26). A white, European reader may look at Quashie’s dismissal of all his earlier complaining, as if to say, â€Å"Oh well, it may have been back breaking labor, but at least the potatoes are good for eating! In reality, there may be a darker reading here that a Jamaican potato farmer would be more apt to catch onto. The imagery of â€Å"reaping day† seems to also imply that if the Buccra doesn’t start taking him seriously, the Grim Reaper, or in this case, the workers that are being taken advantage of, may make their troubles melt away by simply rising up and doing some reaping of their own that has nothing to do with crops. This does not mean, however, that McKay necessarily wanted a revolution. It may have been more of a last resort. Indeed, he makes is clear in â€Å"Old England† that he has great respect for British culture. â€Å"McKay still expressed admiration for the British. He believed that the Jamaicans had acquired their democratic spirit and respect for law and order from the British† (Tillery 14). Indeed, in â€Å"Old England†, McKay expresses great desires to visit what he calls his homeland. He refers to Queen Victoria as â€Å"Queen Victoria the Good†, and longs to visit the place where poets and kings alike are buried. Again, however, there appears to be a discrepancy in what different readers may interpret. While it may all appear reverent, he makes it clear that in death, the poets and kings is all alike, and that in their graves, the kings and queens find a place to hang up their crowns. This may symbolize McKay’s gripe with the wealthy class, and how they appear to have a disconnect with the working class Jamaican’s, despite his own love for Britain, and may not deserve a spot next to say the poets that inspired McKay’s writing. In conclusion, Claude McKay uses dialectical tools to draw different readers to different readings. What one person may see as a happy go lucky poem about a potato farmer may really represent a call to arms. His use of manipulating the dialect to create multiple readings causes the reader to question what exactly his true audience is what he’s trying to tell them through word choice and double meaning.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Trip to a Bowling Tournament

The bowling tournament is a place where one would expect such excitement and nervousness. This could be carried as one would enter the venue and would start to hear the bowling pins throwing their bodies against one another and the hard floor as they got pinned down starting with the heavy thud of the ball. The first thing that could be observed with the bowling tournament is the straight bowling lanes where everyone’s attention is. The wooden floor is made shiny and slippery so that the balls could easily skid to the end of the lane.The balls are weighed and designed so that they could be easily thrown and there is a ball suited for every age group. For the young ones, they have the small one which weighs less and has lively colors and for the older ones, there are different ball sizes and different colors that weigh heavier. In every lane, there is a corresponding bench where the players and visitors could rest while waiting for their games. Talks and chats about different t opics could be heard.There is politics, current events, sports, family life, and of course, bowling. This is where the expert players share their bowling techniques and strategies to those who seek to become experts, too. This is also where the players pass the time after losing a game. The players who are currently playing have their special seats near the bowling lanes. Some may be in pairs and some may play individually. Whichever it is, the tension could be smelled from all sides of the bowling lanes.Everyone wants to make consecutive strikes and hopefully, achieve a perfect game to win. Though a perfect game may be hard to win, the players still aim for it so that in case they would not make it, they would land with their highest possible score. Moreover, they would be able to tell themselves that they played a good game and gave it their best shot. With each throw that the players make, they make sure that they are physically and mentally conditioned.Some players even employ t echniques to calm the mind and prepare the both the mind and the body for the competition. This works because it reduces the tension and the nervousness that is felt. The face of the spectators matches that of the players. Each one has their own bet and they have their own predictions. They try to follow the game as if they are the ones playing. Those who wish to become good players also do some observations on how the expert players go about in their game.This is where the best strategies and tips are earned because the games serve as actual demonstrations. In cases where the player they idolize wins, they also share the same feeling of triumph that the player has. If, unfortunately, they lose, the game serves as a lesson for everyone. The bowling tournament is really a mix of feeling, emotions, and difficulties. A lot could be observed and learned with just a few minutes of sitting inside the bowling place. It is really a trip worth taking for all ages.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Polyeurethanes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Polyeurethanes - Research Paper Example Some of these chains can be very small, while others can extend to incorporate many monomers on orders of hundreds to thousands. The length and complexity of the chain also affects the chemistry and how the compound will interact under specific conditions. For example, as the chains get longer, chemical properties such as melting point and boiling point increase with resistance and hardening, but chain mobility decreases (Mark 3-24). As a result, this impacts the mold ability of the polymer. One of these polymers that our society has adopted across many industrial and commercial applications is Polyurethane. Polyurethane is a polymer, which consists of repeating units of a core structure containing: urethane groups in addition to benzene rings and the carbon chain. The polymer was first synthesized in Germany by chemist, Otto Bayer, in 1937. The primary complex of chemicals, which are used, is isocynate and polyol. These chemicals size, purity, and quality all influence how fast the reaction will go to completion, as well as the chemical forces will affect the properties of the compound. The reaction is catalyzed to begin the polymerization reaction by tertiary amine compounds. Polyurethane is classified in a group of other compounds known as reaction polymers. The properties of polyurethane can change based on the types of monomers, which are substituted into the carbon chain. When in a solid form, polyurethane is a flammable material and can have some side effects with exposure to humans. It can cause eye and lung irritation, but is not a known carcinogen (Ashida 5-9). Commercially, polyurethane has become an important type of epoxy, which is used in a wide variety of applications in the manufacturing industry as well as products and services. Because of the multiple substituents that can occur in the polymer, it can have the properties of rubber, but still be tough enough to withstand great amounts of force as well as endure high temperatures. It was origina lly designed to supplement rubber, and eventually replace it. Now, it is used in many commercial applications. It is used to help hold upholstery and dashboards in vehicles. The â€Å"harder† variants of this material are used in shoes, as adhesives and coatings as well. One of the more typical applications of this was the discovery that this polymer could be used as foam. The synthesizing of the foam compound of polyurethane is a bit different than the standard compound. It involves a reaction with carbon dioxide and water, which is what it gives it the high degree of mold ability. One important fact that has to be noted about this particular reaction is that it is an exothermic reaction, meaning that high amounts of heat are released upon the catalyzation of the polymerization reaction. As a result the use of the foam polymer has seen the most widespread use in terms of the other variations. It’s most common application is through the use of insulation in houses. Bec ause the foam is form fitting, it can block holes and unusual spaces, which conventional materials would fail to block. This has also made it a good sealant for tires. The use of the foam type of polyurethane also extends to use on airplanes, as soundproofing, use in electrical equipment, etc (Moore). Polymers and the basis of polymer science have had a large impact not only on industrial and commercial companies, but also in the daily lives of our

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Film reflections on WW2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Film reflections on WW2 - Essay Example The TYP of the wealth is {M}oney – this means that actual cash is shown; {T}alking about wealth – these are the scenes that either show a discussion of a bribe, or discussion of business-related matters; and {P}ossessions – these are the scenes that involve possessions that might or might not be valuable. As this analysis shows, wealth comes to mean different things as the movie progresses. At the beginning, Oskar Schindler {OS} regards wealth as a way of enriching himself. He has no regard for others at this point. It is only after he sees that that the little girl in the red coat was killed that he changes, and, at this point, wealth becomes exclusively a means to help others. Meanwhile, wealth is shown in different ways regarding the Jewish people – that wealth is stripped from them, but also, in the process of stripping wealth, these people are also stripped of their heritage. Therefore, wealth is symbolic of different things throughout the film â€⠀œ greed, then humanitarianism, heritage, and atrocity of the Nazis taking the wealth from the Jews. This essay explains each of these meanings in depth. {SL}, through its use of imagery, including the REC of wealth, like Blade Runner, â€Å"provides simultaneously a nightmare about the impossible and catharsis about the horror that it has elicited† (Cohen, 47). ... It is a way for him to get what he wants, and that is that he wants to get to know the high officers in the SS, so that he can become a war profiteer. He is simply a mercenary at this point, and money does not mean what it comes to mean to him later on in the film. OCC #2 of the showing of wealth is also TYP {M}, as {OS} is shown giving the money to the maitre d as he enters the party. It is {OS} motive that he wants to show off for the people there at the party, as he starts out a nobody who is not known by the people in the party. The people at the party all think that he is known by other people, but they all want to get to know him, because he is so generous with his money. OCC #3 comes in the same party sequence, where {OS} hands the money to the waiter, telling the waiter that he wants to buy some high officers some champagne. The TYP of {T}, talking about wealth, is shown in OCC #5, in the church where there are Jews there who are making deals with one another. Schindler is th ere at the church, and he talks to one of the Jews about some of the investment ideas that he has. This is still {OS} acting as the mercenary that he is through much of the film – he sees that these young men are shrewd businessmen, especially the man that he recruits to be a part of his team, and this is what he cares about. He doesn’t care that he would be saving this young man at this point – he only cares that the young man has shown himself to be a sharp businessman by the conversations that he has with his friends there in the church. OCC #6 is the TYP {M} again. This time it is in the sequence where {OS} is talking to the boy that he

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Social, Economic, And Political Changes Caused By Globalization Essay

Social, Economic, And Political Changes Caused By Globalization - Essay Example Global wealth is currently shifting from less heavily populated American and European regions to the more heavily populated Asian region because of globalization. According to Lieber and Weisberg (2002, p.274), globalization helps people all over the world in the creation of a stronger and stable world. Supporters of globalization believe that globalization benefits the world through the promotion of such ideas like human rights, democracy, and freedom and that it enhances the success of the world through free trade, free investment, and better technology. According to Dharam Ghai (2003), free market and private enterprise are extremely important in determining the success of globalization. Cross-cultural businesses have been increased a lot as a result of globalization. Imports and exports between different countries were also increased because of the liberalized rules affected in many countries as part of globalization. Despite all these arguments in favor of globalization, some pe ople believe that globalization is nothing but imperialism. It should be noted that imperialism is the process of taking over of a weaker nation by a stronger nation (What is imperialism, n.d.). Critics of globalization believe that capitalist countries like America and UK are trying to loot the wealth of developing and underdeveloped countries in the name of globalization. Globalization is labeled as Americanization by the opponents. They pointed out that instead of globalization, glocalization is necessary for a country to progress properly. It should be noted that glocalization is the process of integrating local markets into world capitalism. It refers to a concept in which individual, group, organization, product or service upholds the local standards even while operating internationally.