Different Forms of Fdi

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an investment that is made to acquire a lasting interest in an enterprise operating in an economic other than that of the investor. In addition foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to long term participation by country A into country B. It usually involves participation in management, joint-venture, transfer of technology and â€Å"know-how†. FDI has many forms and theses can be categorized depending on the investors perspective and host country’s perspective. Investor’s perspective Controlling a foreign investment is such a big concern for an investor investing huge amounts of capital in a foreign market where it cannot be certain of success. The investor needs to control his resources such as patents, trademarks, management know-how, which when transferred can be used to determine the competitiveness position of the original holder. Horizontal Vs Vertical FDI Horizontal FDI takes place when a firm invests in the same industry as it has been operating in at home. This would be for example a soft drink company in UK investing in Uganda in the making of soft drinks like Pepsi. Vertical FDI is divided into Forward and Backward FDI. Forward Vertical; takes place when a firm invests in facilities that will consume the output of the mother company in the home country. Different economic factors encourage inward FDIs. These include interest loans, tax breaks, grants, subsidies, and the removal of restrictions and limitations. This is usually done in search for markets . Usually the company invests in distribution and market facilities that absorb and market the products of the company in Uganda . Backward Vertical FDI is the kind of FDI where a company invests in facilities that provide inputs or raw materials to the parent company. Most FDIs in the less developing countries such as Uganda are backward investments. They provide inputs for the firms industry in foreign country. Typical examples are Extraction investments in the mining industry. Host country perspective Governments always endeavor to control FDI because they feel that national interests of the host country may not well be served by the decision of a foreign investor. For example; the government of Uganda regulates the number of foreign staff that companies like MTN, Zain have to employ otherwise positions could be given to foreign employees. The concern of Government of Uganda would be to ensure investments create jobs for the local populace. The government might also need to control the level of profits repatriated or else it could cause a BOP problem. Import substitution FDIs. these are companies that are established to produce goods that have been previously imported for example Bidcos oil for cooking. Export promotion FDI. These are established to enhance and promote exportation of products to the international market, Government initiated FDIs these are established by governments to spur economic growth and development for instance the Tri-Star project between the government of Uganda and USA Greed-field investment: establishing a wholly new operation in a foreign country. The majority of investments is in the form of mergers &acquisitions: Represents about 77%of all flows in developing countries and represent about 33%of all flows in less developing countries. Fewer target firms. The preference for mergers &acquisitions is because it becomes quicker to execute. And foreign firms have valuable strategic assets which increase the efficiency FDIs inform of Joint ventures An equity joint venture is established according to the Law on Joint Ventures Using Ugandan and Foreign Investment Both profits and risks are distributed between the foreign partner and Ugandan partner according to the share of capital they contribute to the joint venture. Foreign contribution usually takes t form of â€Å"machinery and equipment, technology, cash (in convertible currencies), industrial property rights, and managerial experience†, and the Ugandan partner provides â€Å"land, factory buildings and facilities, raw materials, and cash in local currency†. A contractual joint venture, which involves no equity stake, does not necessarily lead to the creation of a new legal entity. A third party can be appointed by the foreign partner and the Ugandan partner to manage the venture, or the foreign partner can entrust the Ugandan partner to manage the venture. Profits and risks are distributed between the two partners not according to capital contribution, but predetermined by the terms and conditions laid down in the venture agreement

Delamere Vineyard Essay

â€Å"Delamere Vineyard is a small, integrated winemaking business in Tasmania, specializing in pinot noir (red) and chardonnay (white) wines. Richard Richardson, Delamere’s owner and winemaker, manages and operates the vineyard and winery largely alone. His products have won praise and awards in the past, but Richardson strives continuously to improve. Delamere competes in the high-priced segment, in which quality is paramount. Richardson is well equipped as a winemaker–with a Ph.D. in agricultural chemistry and 15 years’ experience.† (Harvard Business School, 2000) Winemaking is a very exclusive, yet competitive business that requires great care and understanding of customer demands. Problem Richard Richardson, winemaker at Delamere Vineyard, is facing a change in his production of wine with uncertainty because of his ongoing desire to improve quality and sales. He has relied on his scientific knowledge to steer his company and now would like to move forward and improve his quality of wine and increase profit. Richardson is in the process of upgrading his production process to produce a better quality product based on customer satisfaction and wine critics, and needs to make a decision on how he will implement this. Objectives/Goals Richard Richardson is facing challenges for the new direction of his company. He needs to make some decisions as to his innovative way of wine production to enhance the quality and increase his profit and sales. Richardson needs to improve customer satisfaction for his pinot noir and chardonnay wines. Richardson has to improve his marketing and advertising for the vineyard to increase sales and profit. Richardson needs to find a niche in the wine industry and set his wine apart from the other vineyards. Richardson has been making mediocre wine for the past 15 years and desires to set his company apart by increasing the quality and production of his wine to boost profit and sales. â€Å"At the establishment of his vineyard, Richardson had drawn inspiration from his scientific training and the advice and example of others who preceded him† (Harvard Business School, 2000). Richardson needs to focus on the process of developing quality wine with the purpose of meeting a large percentage of customer satisfaction without sacrificing capital or increase costs in production over a long period of time. Since Richardson is fixated on two types of winemaking, he needs to focus on the ways to improve quality and control outcome to maintain consistency throughout the years. Customers are quick to notice subtle changes in wine quality and are apt to err on the side of caution when deciding on future purchases. Wholesalers are the wineries main source of sales and they â€Å"sought consistent quality at a moderate price, and favored wines that would have wide appeal by being made in a recognizable and popular style† (Harvard Business School, 2000). Richardson is very emotionally attached to his business and takes the entire role of decision making upon himself. Richardson needs to consider insight into new trends in winemaking and procedures that have worke d in the past with other vineyards. Delamere Vineyards should be a family business built on the constant goal of improving production, distribution, sales and quality. Analysis Delamere Vineyard is currently producing pinot noir and chardonnay wines at varying qualities to satisfy the demands of the consumers. Richardson has been working on his wine selection and vineyard for 15 years and is now in search of improvement of for quality of wine. Scientific knowledge has allowed him to start and continue his business of wine making with little knowledge of the process most winemakers go through to produce a quality and enjoyable wine selections. Richardson, while his process so far has yielded positive results, is in need of reevaluating his production process and possibly the distribution process to increase his business. Richardson bears the entire responsibility of decision making for the company. â€Å"While instinct coupled with analysis may make a powerful decision-making combination, beware intuition’s pitfalls. Often, your gut is just plain wrong – because it’s subject to biases† (HBR, 2001). Decisions that involve where a company’s future is headed and changes in operations must be made with a clear head, and the long time notion of three heads are better than one should come into play. Richardson admits that sales is dependent on the quality of the wine. The process of winemaking is difficult to specifically characterize and replicate for consistency. Richardson has pinpointed some areas in his business where improvement can be made to set his wine apart from the competition while increasing productivity and sales. His first option involves â€Å"consideration to amend winemaking procedures to eliminate the possibility of oxidation as the wine matured. Excessive contact with oxygen, along with other chemicals, induced compounds called aldehydes, which could create a distinct and unpleasant flaw in the wine’s taste, unforgettable bitter aroma somewhat akin to stale oil, along with an unattractive browning of the color† (Delamere Vineyard, 2000). This option leads to a constant output of good quality wine. This process will allow Richardson to attract a large amount of customers through both mail order and wholesalers due to the fact that this process can produce the same type of wine product every year. Customers tend to feel at ease purchasing wine from distributors who have produced the same product on a constant b asis and feel comfortable with the level of quality. Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is the â€Å"wonder drug† to combat oxidation in the winemaking process. Considering the fact that most winemakers tend to agree that the introduction of sulfur dioxide (SO2) is the failsafe solution to preventing oxidation, the decision to incorporate some level of sulfur dioxide should be definitely considered and implemented. Richardson claims that he presently includes a small amount of sulfur dioxide into his winemaking process and it debating his new approach; continue his current process, increase his SO2 or spend time and money and waste some of his product to develop the correct scientific method for the incorporation of sulfur dioxide. Logic and reasoning would conclude that Richardson should stick with industry standards when it comes to the level of sulfur dioxide to add to the winemaking process since it has been proven time and again with success. He is dissatisfied with his current wine production, and therefore, he should not even consider the approach of â€Å"doing nothing† when it comes to preventing oxidation in his wine. The long term benefits of spending time perfecting the process of how much sulfur dioxide to add to the mix could be beneficial to Delamere Vineyard. Richardson has the ultimate goal of setting his wine apart from other manufacturers while keeping the small family business image. He is already well versed and educated in science and would not need to enlist in outside help to spend time perfecting his process. Sticking with the status quo on the mixture will likely ensure consistency in the short run, but prove to be a common type of wine in the industry. â€Å"Over the years, various management studies have found that executives routinely rely on their intuitions to solve complex problems when logical methods (such as a cost-benefit analysis) simply won’t do. In fact, the consensus is that they higher up on the corporate ladder people climb, the more they’ll need well-honed business instincts. In other words, intuition is one of the X factors separating the men from t he boys† (HBR, 2001). Richardson is more likely to trust his scientific knowledge and experiment with possible scenarios to advance his understanding of the winemaking process to guide him towards perfection. Richardson’s second possible project involves finding a way to deepen the color of his red wine. Richardson is convinced that his main market Australians would be more likely to purchase his wine if it had a fuller red hue. Richardson identified that other manufacturers succeeded in darkening their wine by providing a longer maceration before and following fermentation and introducing higher temperatures during fermentation. The dilemma was that Richardson was already performing these tasks with his current wine, which meant his only option would be to transition from his currently fermentation process to a more sophisticated one. This process would cost the vineyard $30,000 to purchase and at least 10% of product with no real assurance that it will be successful. The cost-benefit of this approach will lead to Richardson risks capital that he doesn’t have available to waste to hopefully produce a product that has a hue preferred by his customers. Managers â€Å"apply factual research to historical precedent that’s so widely accepted in an organization that it’s no longer challenged. Things deemed to be common knowledge are often the result of inferences made by the ‘primal’ mind – they’re a product of evolution, and so tend to be governed by emotions and instinct† (Harvard Management Update, 2002). Richardson has conflicting views on his long-term goals for his vineyard. On one spectrum he is focused and passionate about improving the quality and consistency of his wine and winemaking process to increase sales and profit. Richardson would also like to accomplish this in his small family owned business with almost the entire operating burden placed solely on himself. On the other hand, Richardson has mentioned the potential long-term growth benefits of quality improvements to his vineyard. Richardson has not made note to how his family owned vineyard would continue to operate should they increase production and sales of their product. Investing time and money into growing the company would require increased staff and land to store the wine barrels before sales and distribution. Richardson needs to weigh his options and focus on his own long term personal goals in addition to the organization. Does he want to be working for the next 30 years? Employing in outside sources of help will bring a fresh perspective to Richardson’s winemaking approach. Richardson’s third possible improvement is to determine the best mix of whole bunches, stalks, and de-stemmed grapes to include in his crush to speed up and automate production. When Richardson was evaluating this option, red flags were popping up at every point. Initially, he specified that is option did not solve any foreseeable problem with his winemaking process; therefore if there is no problem a solution cannot be developed. Second, this type of fermentation would require more space in his winery and limit his ability to control the entire winemaking process. Since most of his potential projects focused on more control in the development of wine, this idea actually contradicts Richardson’s problem with his vineyard. â€Å"The ability of managers to solve problems and make decisions rationally has long been assumed to be one of the valuable products of experience on the job. But close observation of their actually practices has shown that even veteran managers are likely to be very unsystematic when dealing with problems and decisions. And their hit-or-miss methods often produce decisions based on erroneous conclusions, which means that the decisions must also be wrong† (HBR, 1965). Any option that would increase his cost while not ensuring a definite increase in profit would be making a decision which would hinder the ability to prosper in the future. The small chance that altering the mix of grapes would result in a more complex and aromatic wine does not outweigh the potential result that the wine could rapidly turn to vinegar spoiling his entire vintage. Recommendations â€Å"Winemaking is capital intensive, in terms of both investment and working capital. Startup costs for even a small vineyard and winery were heavy, relative to anticipated cash flow† (Harvard Business School, 2000). Richardson needs to consider enlisting outside help experienced in the business of winemaking who can lend some insight into new trends in winemaking and procedures that have worked in the past with other vineyards. The ability to bounce ideas off other people who have knowledge in winemaking will allow Richardson to make future decisions without bias. He currently relies on intuition, past experience in his vineyard, and his scientific background to produce his wine. Richardson needs to incorporate a full-time staff that can use his ideas and industry standards to not only improve the quality of wine, but improve the manufacturing process which can develop his company as well. Richardson will not be able to run his family business as a one man shop when his sales double. Richardson would also benefit from removing his cognitive blinders in his company and investigate other vineyards that have been experiencing the same type of situations. Usually businesses experience the same types of problems in manufacturing and distribution, and learning from other companies mistakes will allow managers to make reasonable decisions with minimal risk. Richardson should prioritize his projects and develop a time line for completion based on the risk assessment. The idea of eliminating the oxidation in the mine is an option that will provide the least amount of financial loss. Richardson would be smart to start his project with industry standards for the introduction of sulfur dioxide while also taking time to use his scientific knowledge to find the perfect mixture for future vineyard growth and quality development of the pinot noir. Richardson would be foolish to entertain the idea of spending $30,000 which is almost half of his net income on a rotofermenter. The outcome would only generate a 10% increase in price and the cost-benefit/long-term benefit is nonexistent. In decision making, managers can take on the six thinking hats to solve the problem. The â€Å"black hat† in decision making allows â€Å"participants to identity hazards, risks, and other negative connotations. This is critical thinking, looking for problems and mismatches† (Six Thinking Hats, 2010). His â€Å"black hat† decision making skills should see that a 10% increase over a period of 1 year would only yield $25,000 if it succeeds. Richardson’s third project idea of switching to whole bunch fermentation will cost him too much in wine product spoilage, take away valuable winery space that could be used for extra wine barrels and produce no guaranteed profit if successful. This idea would be beneficial if Richardson would commit to long-term goals of increased staff, especially in the managerial capacity. This would also allow him to focus on perfecting his winemaking process while someone else could focus on day-to-day operations. Works Cited (2010, Aug. 6 ). In Six Thinking Hats. Retrieved Aug. 17, 2010, from http:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats Hayashi, A. (2001). When to Trust Your Gut. Harvard Business Review, pp. 3-11. Stauffer, D. (2002). How Good Data Leads to Bad Decisions. Harvard Management Update, pp. 1-5. Stryker, P. (1965). Can You Analyze This Problem?. Harvard Business Review, pp. 73-78. West, J. (2000). Delamere Vineyard. Harvard Business School, pp. 1-21.

Foundation Business Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Foundation Business Management - Essay Example These leaders create a winning field through effective planning, decision making and team working thereby rendering productivity in each of the different business units of the company. Thus McDonald’s works on the management model of employee empowerment in empowering the individuals to take business and customer servicing decisions on their own (Daft and Marcic 441). Management Structure The organizational or management structure of the firm reflected large amount of decentralization which is focused in the Organic Approach. The organic approach reflects that organizations working in a decentralized fashion turns all the more complex in nature. It is observed that McDonald’s through the decentralized approach helped the individual business units to become business leaders on their own. These units spread along various regions of the world need to be managed in an integrated fashion by the central head quarters of the company. These units also differentiated largely bas ed on varying tastes and cultures and hence needed to mutually adjust their needs so as to fit the corporate culture of the business organization. Henceforth it is observed that the organic structure of McDonald’s is highly complex and decentralized in fashion. Further the units in such management structure become highly differentiated and thus needs to be closely integrated with the corporate philosophy (Hill and Jones, 427). Culture of the Company The culture of McDonald’s are composed of a diversified variety of people belonging to different regions of the world. Diversified organizational culture also emanates owing to the varying tastes of the consumers pertaining to such regions. The company in order to address the needs of such people belonging to diversified cultures is found to change their organizational policies. Thus the company changes both the product and servicing policies in order to fit both the western and Asian cultures in a simultaneous fashion (Sta nford). Mercedes Benz Model of Management Mercedes Benz mainly operates based on the philosophy of management innovation. The company in order to gain enhanced market share in the different nations works to innovate newer business processes and to produce newer designs. The process of innovation helps the company to meet the changing needs of the consumers and thereby adapts to the changing scenarios and periods. Working on the innovation process the company decided to open up overseas branches and also incorporated the business model of acquiring other automobile firms in foreign countries. These policies and innovative models helped in enhancing the potential of the automobile manufacturer to compete effectively while operating in foreign countries (Albaum, Duerr and Strandskov 48). Management Structure The study of organizational philosophy of Mercedes Benz reflects that the organization renders increased priority to the model of innovation. The company through the model of innov ation works in meeting the changing needs of the consumers based along different periods and regions. Mercedes Benz to foster such innovation works on a decentralized fashion. The people pertaining to the different units are granted the power to make

Pseudoscience and Astrology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pseudoscience and Astrology - Essay Example The scientists are willing to admit that only a part of traditional astrological doctrine is scientifically based: among them the astronomic knowledge about the planets movements; classification of people’s psychological states, character and behaviours; professional psychological terminology, etc. Trying to prove that astrology is pseudoscience, the scientists in their critical works often rely upon the results of various statistical research. There have been statistical research that traced the lives of people who were born on the same day and time, and the results of this research have shown that there is no connection or coincidence between them. Especially well known are the works of Michel Gauquelin basing on the biographies of famous people that have shown that there is no correlation between a person’s character and profession, on the one hand, and their astrological parameters, on the other. There have been other experiments conducted by M. Gauquelin: Other tests show that it hardly matters what a horoscope says, as long as the subject feels the interpretations were done for him or her personally. A few years ago French statistician Michel Gauquelin sent the horoscope for one of the worst mass murderers in French history to 150 people and asked how well it fit them. Ninety-four percent of the subjects said they recognized themselves in the description. (The Universe At Your Fingertips, 2001-2009)

Argumentative paper in the fire service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Argumentative paper in the fire service - Essay Example However that is not the view of some other religions, for instance Islam. In Islam topics such as sexuality are not discussed out right openly and are not considered appropriate at all for their teenagers to be taught. However a high school student will not be allowed to graduate unless they take and pass their sex education class. Does sexual education really provide a platform where it helps the teenager; regardless shouldn't the beliefs of a religion be respected first My own parents tried to talk to the dean and principal and tried to explain to them that they do not wish for me to take this class, however to their shock the request was denied. It is amazing since the American culture itself teaches nothing but respect for other cultures. Toleration is taught all through life. No prayers are said specifically since that might violate the practices of another religion. But when it comes to sex education, it is not understandable why this rule cannot be bended for Muslim children. Has it really been proven that a sexual education class actually has helped increase teenage abstinence Or has it actually decreased it Let us take a look at some statistics. According to a survey conducted by the Global Virtual University in 2002, teenagers between the ages of 15 and19, there were 53 out of every thousand teenager getting pregnant in US. United States of America is a country where we pay severe attention to sex education and make sure that it is drilled into our children's heads that it is unsafe to have sex without any protection and that teenage pregnancy are not good for their and their baby's health. The same survey was taken for a completely eastern country, where it is almost unlawful to even discuss anything related to sex, Pakistan. The figure that we see there is that every 50 girls out of 1000 become pregnant. It is not safe or recommended to completely eliminate sex education from schools; however it also not fair to hold children back from graduation ju st on the basis that they didn't attend a sex education class. It should not be mandatory in a society where we respect other religions. Even though the statistics are almost the same in both western and eastern countries, so does this justify the practice to mandate the sex education classes as a requirement for high school graduation "When it comes to opinions about sex, people all too often inhabit different worlds, speak different languages, hold incompatible and widely divergent views. The situation is further complicated by differences compounded by gender, social class, culture and other factors, and by the existence of numerous pressure groups, each with a different agenda, and often each talking at cross-purposes with the others, vying for influence in sec education policy"(Halstead, and Reiss 15). The main concern of making sex education mandatory for every student is that it violates the practices of many cultures and religions. It is not an accepted practice to discuss such issues in many cultures with their young. In the previous paragraph it has been shown that providing sex education and not providing i t has not really made a difference in the statistics of teenage pregnancy. It only varies over a 3%. So than what is to say that sex education is the only way to reform sexual attitudes in a society. "The immigrant Mus- lims are experiencing new pressures, both domestic and foreign,

Nursing and assessment on preparing our aged care facility for Essay

Nursing and assessment on preparing our aged care facility for accreditation - Essay Example These specialties are specifically made in order to provide a specific type of care that these demographics can and will require. These specialties also mean that in order for facilities to be allowed to provide care for certain demographics, they will need to be certified. This paper focuses on healthcare for the elderly population provided by our institution. In the past, our elderly healthcare institution has had difficulty in getting certified in 3.9: Choice and decision making for the elderly demographic. This paper’s purpose and main focus is to provide key information and important feed back on this particular issue in order to prepare the institution and its staff for 3.9: Choice and decision making certification. First, this paper will provide background information on certain topics pertaining to the elderly demographic, as well as provide nursing assessment for an elderly person. After this, the paper will detail some key features specifically pertaining to the area that the institution needs improvement on. This will be noted in order to help the institution’s nurse practitioners to better understand the concept of choice and decision making. The paper will present this information as: What is aging and what is the aging process? Assessment of an aged person. What is consumer participation? What does it entail? Barriers that hinder or impact the facility’s ability to meet standard 3.9: Choice and decision making. How to break through the mentioned barriers and how a quality framework can be used to show improvement. Conclusion What is aging and what are the common aging symptoms? Aging is a natural process that happens very commonly. According to the medical dictionary, â€Å"Human beings reach a peak of growth and development around the time of their mid 20s. Aging is the normal transition time after that flurry of activity.† The dictionary entry goes on to tell us that during this later half of life, the body becomes mo re prone to wear and tear, as well as be more susceptible to illness. (The free dictionary, 2012) This gives us a good basis as to what we can expect an aged person to be affected with, as well as what he or she may be experiencing. This also tells us about what to expect in terms of interactions with them. The process by which a person ages differs for each individual. Each person can age in a slightly different manner from everyone else, but there are general descriptions or processes about aging that is common amongst everyone. According to universe-review.ca, the aging process happens all over the body. The pace may be different for each individual but everyone ages. (2012). Here are some of common aging signs mentioned in the article: Weakening of connective tissue in the bladder, making it harder to store urine Loss of weight between ages 55-75 due to loss of lean muscle mass Bones become brittle Gradual loss of brain tissue In women, decrease in the size of breasts due to dec rease in the size of mammary glands Gradual loss of the ability to hear higher frequencies Skin wrinkles Hair thins and grays out Decrease in hormone output The body’s immune system becomes weaker Slower metabolism Decreased ability to smell Slower mental and physical response Women go through menopause Decreased sense of taste What is consumer participation? What does it entail? This section is dedicated to understanding what consumer participation is, why it is important in relation to the paper’s end goal of preparing the institution for accreditation, and how it can be applied to the day-to-day situation of the nursing care practitioners. According to http://asetts.vacau.com, in essence, consumer participation entails getting the patient involved in choosing what he feels would be

Assignment Information System Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assignment Information System Auditing - Essay Example Banks tend to be more concerned with the promptness in recording cash withdrawals than cash receipts. Thus, the data representing the payment of customers’ bills may be sent to the mainframe computer four to six times a day for updating, while deposits of cash may be transmitted only twice a day. A common-carrier network is probably a good communication medium, but the data should be encrypted. The individual teller terminals should be connected to the remote main computer via dumb terminals. The tellers should not have any reason to download data regarding customer accounts (Botha & Boon, 2003). The systems development process requires active involvement of users. The involvement by the user must not be stifled by the system’s technical complexity. The technology used notwithstanding, the users should create detailed written descriptions pertaining to their requirements. It takes joint efforts of the user and systems professionals to come up with a user specification document. However, this document will have to remain a statement of user requirements. The users view of the problem should be described and not that of the system professionals (Botha, 2000). The activities for technical design translate user specifications into a set of well elaborated specifications which pertain to the technicals for a system meeting the user’s requirements. Systems analysis, feasibility analysis and detailed systems design are the scope of these activities. The quality of the documentation emerging from each phase is reflected from the adequacy pertaining to these activities. An organization’s internal audit department requires independence, objectivity and technical qualification in order to meet the governance-related expectations of management. Therefore, the internal auditor is at a position to play critical role in systems control partaining to the activities in development (Davis, 2005). Application controls

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Microeconomics - Essay Example I would consider both fixed and variable costs in deciding to go to travel to New York from Los Angeles by either a plane or a car. Fixed costs that I will consider for the trip via plane include cost of an air ticket, luggage fees, and services provided on the journey, which are fixed costs as they have been determined by the airline and do not vary. Transportation costs to and from the airport, traffic and other costs arising after alighting from the plane are among the variable costs for consideration when traveling via plane. Fuel, food at stops, amount of traffic on the road, are the variable costs to be considered for travelling by car while car maintenance, toll fees, any repairs made on the way, parking fees paid in the course of the journey, washing and storage payments, and wear and tear to the car are fixed costs when travelling by car. As is evident, both fixed and variable costs are considered in making the decision on which transport from to use to New York from Los Ang eles. Ruegg, Rosalie T. The Police Patrol Car: Economic Efficiency in Acquisition, Operation, and Disposition : Prepared for National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, U.s. Department of Justice. Washington: The Bureau, 1978.

Summary of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Essay Example for Free

Summary of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Essay Stephen Covey’s book â€Å"The 7 habits of highly effective people† will help me in a number of different ways in the year to come. Not only with being effective in my career, but also my personal life and graduate school. Covey talks about character and personality traits, and uses a great example of being in Chicago and having excellent map and reference skills, but if you have a map of Detroit you will not be able to find your way around no matter how good your secondary skills are. This is a great example of how it is necessary to possess the primary elements, before your secondary skills can be used effectively. Covey goes on to talk about the 7 habits of highly effective people in his book, and continues to talk about the difference in relying on personality vs. character ethics. Covey feels that if you rely on personality ethics and the underlying paradigms are the same, simply changing outward behavior is not effective. He also talks about how people view things not the way they are, but how they are conditioned to see thing. He uses an example of two groups of people being shown two different pictures of a young and old woman. Then the groups are shown an abstract containing characteristics of both the old and young woman. Each group saw the image of the picture they were shown within the abstract. The book presents the 7 habits in an inside-out approach centering around principles and character. The key points that I got out of reading this book was to approach the way that I look at the world differently. Once I can realize my past conditioning, I can then change the way that I see things in order to be more effective. All 7 habits will be helpful to me in my future growth, success, and effectiveness. The first is to be proactive. By being proactive, this means to assess a situation and developing a positive response for it, as opposed to reporting it to someone and sitting back and waiting for them to come up with a response. The other key points I took from the 7 habits of highly effective people, is to develop a personal mission statement and to spend time doing what fits into my personal mission. By this I need to identify the key roles I take on in life, and make time for each of these key roles. Another key point is to look for win/win agreements and relationships. This means to look for relationships and agreements that are beneficial to both parties, and in the event that there is not the possibility for a win/win to be comfortable to say â€Å"no deal†. The last three habits I found extremely beneficial to me. What I got from these is to first look to understand the other person, and then seek to be understood. Secondly try and solve conflict and find a better solution to a problem through mutual trust and understanding. Finally, to try and maintain a balance between production and production capacity, by looking at the physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual dimensions. The 7 habits of highly effective people, has been beneficial to me in a number of different ways. It has helped me look at how I perceive things, versus the way that I need to be approaching things. It has also helped me develop a mission statement for myself and to prioritize things based on that personal statement. It has also helped me look at my production and production capacity, and helped me try and understand people before seeking to be understood. I would have to give this book a 9 out of 10.

Operations Management and Productivity Essay Example for Free

Operations Management and Productivity Essay Service and product design decision is one of the very important issues of operations management. Indeed this decision determines the health and fate of any organization (Krajewski Ritzman, 1998). A company that designs products and services that are of superior quality and that click with the intended market, definately succeeds. Hard Rock Cafe’s operations management has been successful in designing products and services in entertainment hospitality sector. This sector is one of the most competitive sectors, but they have been able to design and offer quality products and superior services in cafes, hotels, casinos and lately in music venues, Rock museum and Rock concerts (Evans, 1996). To respond to changing customer needs and expectations, they have continuously changed their menus and the services they offer. Hard Rock’s success comes as a result of continuous monitoring of quality of their products and services (Saheli, 2007). Their Quality Management Department has devised techniques to continuously monitor quality so as to improve quality of products and services and also make timely corrective measures and hence reduce quality costs. In the cafe, regular surveys are done to evaluate quality of food and services, where a scale is devised to measure scores (Ibid, 2007). To ensure quality products and services, production processes and capacity have been enhanced by using state-of-the-art equipment in catering, entertainment services in casinos, hotels and music venues. Technology is also embraced to increase production capacity in cafes and hotels (Krajewski Ritzman, 1998). Hard Rock started its operations in London. However, in 1988 it moved its headquarters to Orlando, Florida as it targeted the booming US market (Evans, 1996). It has later spread its cafes and hotels to more than 40 locations in US. The decision of spreading its wings to many states is to tap into unsaturated markets as well as diversify operation risks (Ibid, 1996). Due to increasing customers and hence operations, Hard Rock has expanded their cafe facilities to handle their clients. For example at Orlando Universal Studios, their cafe serves over 3,000 meals a day with about 400 employees and the number is expected to grow especially during high tourist seasons (Saheli, 2007). To ensure high labor productivity, Hard Rock Cafe has provided their workers with excellent working conditions. This is achieved through good industrial relation management and employee-management relations. Human Resource Management has ensured that the company has the best of employees who are competent, skilled and fit for their positions, hence Hard Rock expects the best out of their labor force (Krajewski Ritzman, 1998). Productiveness is the main task of the supply chain management in Hard Rock. The department has developed supply chain strategies aimed at reducing procurement costs and value adding the process. Hard Rock has entered into strategic partnership with suppliers to improve efficiency and effectiveness of this activity (Evans, 1996). To effectively manage inventory, the company has inventory management system that guides the managers on when to order inventory and how much (Saheli, 2007). To increase efficiency and reduce costs, they have embraced Just-In-Time philosophy where the materials required are procured in time and used in time (Saheli, 2007). During low season, Orlando Cafe staff is scheduled down to 15-minutes intervals to meet seasonal and daily demand changes in tourist environment. Annual Routine maintenance is exercised in all their facilities. Maintenance department is charged with responsibilities of ensuring that Hard Rock Cafes, hotels, casinos, music venues and rock museum are renovated and machines maintained at good conditions (Krajewski Ritzman, 1998). The productivity of the kitchen staff and wait staff can be measured by dividing the number of meals they prepare and serve by the number of labor hours they input (Saheli, 2007). During low seasons wait staff may serve fewer meals as demand gets low and also kitchen staff prepares fewer meals. Nevertheless, they will also use less labour hours as they are scheduled and down-sized to respond to low operations (Evans, 1996).

Changes to the National Curriculum

Changes to the National Curriculum Since the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1992, a number of changes have been made to its structure and implementation. Identify and explain these changes and assess the contribution of the National Curriculum in the effort to raise standards in Education. This essay will describe, identify and explain the changes that have occurred to the National Curriculum (NC) since its conception in 1992. It will also assess these changes and evaluate the benefits and difficulties that it has experienced since 1992. The Education Reform Act (ERA) came into effect in 1988, this enabled Kenneth Baker the Conservative Minister of Education to implement the roll-out of the National Curriculum in 1992 within primary / secondary education. However, prior to 1992 there had been no National Curriculum and previously teachers had worked out their own schemes of work that they deemed appropriate for their pupils. As a result of this the standard of education across the country varied considerably and the methods employed to teach were wide-ranging. With the implementation of the National Curriculum in 1992, responsibility was shifted away from teachers to centralised government over what was to be taught. The National Curriculum established a set-framework of learning to enable children to move freely between schools as they would be learning from the same framework. The National Curriculum ensured that schools taught a certain range of subjects, this consisted of ten subjects. The subjects were divided into two sub-categories (core and foundation). The three main core subjects were English, Maths and Science, and together with seven other foundation subjects (Art, Home Economics. Music, History, a Modern Foreign Language (only compulsory in secondary schools), Geography and Physical Education created the foundation of the National Curriculum. Compulsory National tests (SATS) were introduced at 7, 11 and 14 on core subjects. The results are published annually in league tables (along with GCSE/A levels and truancy statistics). Changes occurred to the National Curriculum from its inception. Rather than being embraced the National Curriculum was met with hostility from some teachers and most of the larger teachers unions. One of the main criticisms of the National Curriculum by teachers and teaching unions was that at first glance that it contained far too many subjects and was considered to be too rigid, compared to what was previously taught. This meant that it was difficult to teach the subject well as the students had to learn so many subjects, and they presumed that it would be very difficult for students. The National Curriculum was also criticized for being extremely Eurocentric, as it was primarily focused around European culture, giving those from ethnic backgrounds very little opportunity to learn about their roots. Certain sections of the public also argued that the government intentionally fashioned the National Curriculum to remove subjects which they as a political party are against for political reasons, such as sociology, politics, and environmental sciences (they were never contained in the National Curriculum). However, a benefit to the National Curriculum was that teachers now had to educate students in a range of subjects. This gave children / students a better start for the skills they would need for later in life. It was also disputed that the national Curriculum helped to reduce the division of girls and boys subjects, as both sexes were taught the same subjects. This helped to reduce the stereotyping of gender. In 1993, teachers decided to boycott the national curriculum testing arrangements (SATS) after complaining about the workload. The Secretary of State for Education, in a move in the right direction asked Sir Ron Dearing, who was the current Chairman of the School Curriculum and Assessment AuthorityHYPERLINK http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/school-curriculum-and-assessment-tf#p2000a9f68830215001 (SCAA), to review the national curriculum. Dearing made an Interim Report in 1993 and a Final Report in 1994 (The Dearing Report) after a period of consultation with teachers and the teachers unions. In his report his recommended on slimming down the curriculum, and improving its administration. He also recommended that the slimmed down national curriculum should not be altered for five years and that national tests should be simplified without sacrificing validity or reliability. The revised curriculum was implemented from August 1995. The 1992, Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education) formed as part of the major overhaul and centralisation of the school system begun by the Education Reform Act 1988, which introduced the National Curriculum, extensive testing in schools and the publication of league tables. Ofsted inspections were carried out on school every 6 years. This change was introduced as it was believed standards needed to be raised in schools. Many people thought Ofsted inspections were a good idea, if schools were failing, it was noticed and measures were put in place in order to improve these schools. However, Ofsted were also often seen to be too strict on schools, making it difficult for schools to pass inspection highly. Also, it was felt that many teachers and schools would improve their teaching standards while they were being inspected. Some schools would also send some of their worst behaved students on school trips for the inspections. This defeated the object of Ofsted inspections as it wasnt the normal teaching standards that were being tested. Recent inspections by Ofsted have revealed that although a good proportion of schools had improved since they were last checked many were stilling failing. Figures released by Ofsted in 2009 show that 11% of schools checked since last September were rated outstanding, while 9% were not up to scratch. [Angela Harrison, BBC] In the year 2006-07, 14% of those checked were outstanding and 6% were inadequate. [Angela Harrison, BBC] In 1997, the incoming The New Labour Government came into power in the UK. They Introduced the National Literacy Strategy to all Primary Schools in England from September 1998 after setting targets for pupils at Key Stage 2 in English (80%), Mathematics (75), but not in Science. Previously a pilot project had been tested during 1996, which involved schools in 14 Local Education Authorities. The strategy was planned for teachers to teach a daily Literacy Hour, which followed a pattern of 30 minutes whole class teaching, then group work and concluding with a plenary session. A number of documents have been published by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) to help teachers raise standards in literacy at the time. The National Literacy Strategy framework endeavoured to improve standards for all primary aged pupils. The strategys purpose was to make sure that all pupils were receiving on a daily basis dedicated one hour of literacy. The end result would give pupils the opportunity to develop skills in reading, grammar, spelling, and oral work and help raise standards in teaching and learning. In the following year of September 1999 The National Numeracy Strategy framework was introduced and like the literacy strategy, aimed at raising standards for all primary pupils. Similar to the National Literacy Strategy it prescribed a one hour daily mathematics lesson for all pupils. The Five Year Review in 2000 set out the main aims and purposes of the National Curriculum for the first time. The four main purposes of the National Curriculum are: To establish an entitlement. To establish standards. To promote continuity and coherence. To promote public understanding. The National Curriculum has been put into place in the hope that children will achieve and will have an entitlement to learning irrespective of their background, be it race, gender, cultural or otherwise. It also makes expectations for childrens attainment explicit for all concerned and sets out national standards for performance. These standards can then be used for target setting, measuring progress and monitoring progression. The Foundation Stage was introduced by the Labour government in 2000, to provide guidance for settings which provide care and education to pre-school children (aged 3 to 5). It was named the Foundation Stage because it lays the foundations for childrens later learning. [Neaum and Tallack, 2002]. It evolved from the Rumbold Report of 1990, which investigated the educational provision for the under 5s, and found that there was a patchy, unplanned curriculum which was unsatisfactory. In 2004 a review was carried out of Key Stage 4, from this review the introduction of Entitlement subjects. The Curriculum Entitlement Framework provides pupils with access to a wider range of learning opportunities suited to their needs, aptitudes and interests, irrespective of where they live or the school they attend. In 2007 the government abolished formal written Key Stage 1 SATS and replaced them with teacher recorded assessments. The Key Stage 1 assessments are very low key and completed by the pupils teacher over a period of a few weeks so they will be hardly aware that an assessment is taking place. In 2008 a review of Secondary National Curriculum resulted in new Key Stage 3 and 4 Curriculum which was introduced in 2009. This updated part of the curriculum now offers Diplomas and other alternatives to current GCSE and A-level examinations. In 2009 the then current Labour government announces that Key Stage 3 Sats examinations are to be abolished and that Sir Jim Rose will be conducting a full review of the Primary National Curriculum. The findings of the report will be implemented from September 2011. In May 2010 a general election was held and New Conservative / Liberal Democrat government came to power under David Cameron and Nick Clegg. The future changes to the new primary national curriculum which were put forward by Sir Jim Rose to be implemented from September 2011 have been shelved, the government stating that it does not intend to proceed with the new primary curriculum. Instead they are committed to giving schools more freedom from unnecessary prescription and bureaucracy. They have always made clear their intention to make changes to the National Curriculum that will ensure a relentless focus on the basics and give teachers more flexibility than the proposed new primary curriculum offered. The National Curriculum has undergone considerable change and development over the past twenty years and is still being altered and adjusted at the present day. Controversy still exists as to the approach education should adopt for those over the age of 14 testing is thought to be heavily based on recall of knowledge encouraging a lack of skill development activities. Many of the original subjects that were mandatory no longer are, as it was felt the curriculum was too full. In my opinion, since the introduction of the National Curriculum, I believe that it was the keystone to greatly improving the standards of education that children receive in todays society. This is because before the standard of education students received was highly based on class status and was typically biased towards the middle / upper class families, another factor was your locality in the country. Teachers also taught a range of subjects that they wished to teach as there were no set subjects so what you could be taught varied across the country. This led to many students leaving school with limited knowledge. With the introduction of the Literacy and Numeracy hours Sats results have increased again of the subsequent years but again now have slowed to a halt. As seen in the table below. But on the flip side having felt that on the whole the National Curriculum is effective it is also somewhat flawed. Children are taught to the test at a detriment to other subjects, and so they are missing out on a broad and balanced curriculum. Schools and teaching staff will also admit that they are being forced to teach to the test; cutting out subjects such as history, geography and art to inflate their position on national league tables or else look as if they are failing. The national tests also distort childrens education as they are being offered a restricted timetable as teachers are forced to focus on the core subjects. In a number of schools an emphasis on tests in English, Mathematics and Science limits the range of work in these subjects in particular year groups, as well as more broadly across the curriculum in some primary schools. Having said this, the positive points outweighed the negative greatly as it was the start towards the National Curriculum that we currently have today.

Is the Gilgamesh Flood the Basis of the Biblical Flood in the Book of G

Is the Gilgamesh Flood the  Basis of the Biblical Flood?  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Genesis of the Old Testament records a worldwide Flood early on in the history of human civilization. Tablet 11of the Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh also records a total Flood of the entire earth very early in mankind’s development. Let’s examine the two to determine if one could be the basis for the other.    Nels M. Bailkey in Readings in Ancient History: Thought and Experience from Gilganesh to St. Augustine, comments on the likenesses and lack thereof   between the two versions:    The striking similarities with the later Hebrew story are quite evident, but the great gulf between them needs to be emphasized: the Hebrew version has been completely moralized. In the Hebrew account the Flood is sent because of sin, and the hero is saved because he is righteous. In the Sumero-Babylonian version the hero is saved out of mere favoritism and the gods send the Flood, as we learn from a separate account, because their sleep has been disturbed: â€Å"oppressive has become the clamor of mankind, by their uproar they prevent sleep.† Above all, the one supreme righteous God of the Hebrews contrasts with the gang of weak, quarrelsome, greedy gods who â€Å"cowered like dogs† in the presence of the Flood and who later â€Å"like flies gathered around the sacrificer.† (10)    Alexander Heidel in his book, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, provides a background for the survivor of the Sumero-Babylonian Flood, Utnapishtim:    Utnapishtim was the son of Ubara-Tutu, the Otiartes, or, rather, Opartes of Berossus. According to Berossus, the deluge hero was the tenth Prediluvian king in Babylonia. Also in the Sumerian inscription he i... ...its acceptance by God – these are repeated in both accounts of the Flood.    WORKS CITED    Bailkey, Nels M. Readings in Ancient History: Thought and Experience from Gilganesh to St. Augustine. Third edition. Lexington, MA: D.C.Heath and Co., 1987.    Gardner, John and John Maier. Gilgamesh: Translated from the Sin-leqi-unninni version. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.    Harris, Stephen L. â€Å"Gilgamesh.† The Humanist Tradition in World Literature. Ed. Stephen Harris. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1970.    Heidel, Alexander. The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949.    Ignatius Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966.    Sandars. N. K. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: Penguin Books, 1972.      

The Creation of God in Apocalypse Now in Relation to Frazers The Golde

The Creation of God in Apocalypse Now in Relation to Frazer's The Golden Bough      Ã‚  Ã‚   Very rarely do filmmakers intend to create cinematic masterpieces which integrate and draw upon lush literary qualities and leave the viewer with a deeper feeling of life and death than he or she had before viewing the film. Even if some filmmakers do attempt to create a masterpiece, symbolic and complex, many fall short. However, when Francis Coppola created Apocalypse Now, he succeeded in creating a masterpiece, drawing upon the complicated story within Conrad's Heart of Darkness and the savage observations within Frazer's The Golden Bough. The character of Colonel Kurtz in both Conrad's and Coppola's works, is one of a complicated, volatile renaissance man; he is at the same time a ruthless, body collecting warrior and a artistic philosopher. Kurtz's "divinity is like fire, which under proper restraints, confers endless blessings, but if rashly touched, burns and destroys what it touches" (Frazer 13). Kurtz, as a savage icon, is capable of greatness and is brutally ma licious at the same time. Where Coppola strays from Conrad, he does so to show Kurtz's deliberate choice to become a god-like figure and be destroyed in the tradition of the savages. Through the savage beliefs of tabooed head and hair, the slaying of the divine king, and sympathetic magic, Coppola creates a more savagely realistic character in Kurtz.    Perhaps one of Col. KurtzÕs most prominent physical features in Apocalypse Now is his shaven head. Frazer explains that, to the savages, the head and hair of their divine king is tabooed, and "to touch the top of the head, or anything which had been on his head was sacrilege" (Frazer 812). To the savages, their king ra... ...in Cambodia after he slays Kurtz because either Chef had ordered the air strike, or because Willard, eventhough he is mesmerized by the culture, is a unwavering part of the western world. Just because Willard is portrayed by Coppola as a unconventional man and can slay Kurtz in accordance with savage customs, doesn't make him a savage. Eventhough Frazer is an Englishman, Coppola believes his observations of savages are precise, and so he chooses to create his born again savage god-king, Kurtz, accordingly.       Works Cited Frazer, James. The Golden Bough. 1922. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1951. Vickery, James B., The Literary Aspect of 'The Golden Bough'. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Remarks on Frazer's 'Golden Bough'. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Human Press, Inc., 1979.      

Does War Affect Literature

Many writers use the environment, political issues, or social issues as inspiration to their work. During romanticism nature imagery was a common occurrence in literature. However does on particular issue effect writers so much that a new literature movement is sprung from it? I pose the question what were considerable differences between Victorian literature and Modernism and how did the Great War play apart in those differences?Was it because of the war that there was the Victorian Era and Modernism or was it bound to be a new literary movement with or ithout the Great War. I pose to answer these questions to the best of my ability in this paper. The Victorian era took place from 1830 – 1901, which is almost the exact same time frame that Queen Victoria reined thus the name Victorian Era. Writers during this time were at an awe trying to respond to the expansion of the country due to the industrialization going on at the time. Reactions it the changes going on at that time w ere numerous between writers and the people.Some welcomed the changes, while others challenged the changes because they found them to be threatening to their raditions. While others felt that breaking away from the traditions was more freeing than trying to maintain this conventional life. The Victorian Era was full of liveliness surrounding the social and industrial changes that were going on at the time. Nevertheless with all the change some things are bound to stay the same, Great Britain was still in a great deal of debt. Even though national debt was at an all time high the British banks continued to borrow money.Brantlinger says borrowing money is the best way of sustaining credit in his book, the debt that the country was n played a major role in the literature and art of the time because money is used in everyday life. Whether you were paying with credit or ready money determined whether or not you would eat that night. During the Victorian Era writers focused most of their literature on social differences in social classes and reform. During this time society's interpretation reined supreme over personal interpretation. During that time writer such as John Stuart Mill, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde emerged.John Stuart Mill shed more light on the philosophical idea of Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill son of Philosopher James Mill was a close friend to the creator of Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham. Utilitarianism is the doctrine that actions are morally and socially acceptable if they benefit the majority. John Stuart Mill used this doctrine to preach reform in the social classes. John Stuart Mill felt that the government should work on the living conditions of working and lower class people. This philosophical idea was used to argue in most political arguments during the Victorian period.Even when it came time for parliament to decide whether to continue to borrow money from allied ountries, this greater good philosophy came into play. An idea that rema ins strong and has stand the test of time still being used by philosophers today. Charles Dickens was renowned to be one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian Era. His works were heavy on sub textual references. He enjoyed creating then breaking down meanings and interruptions. Otten times ne put some ot his own person experiences into his work.Fore example in his novel â€Å"Oliver Twist†, Charles Dickens himself once lived in an orphanage after his father was thrown into debtor prison like many people during this time period. While using â€Å"Oliver Twist† to somewhat tell his life story, he was also using a very melancholy type of humor reminiscent of other authors during the time. Mid Victorian era literary realism appeared, Writers and artist began to incorporate the industrial work and the excessive use of credit in the country into their work likewise discussing the social conventions of the time.Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest takes a Jab at Victorian social conventions in this satire filled play. Beside the play making fun at the Victorian Era it also marked the end of an era and the start of Modernism and also the events leading up to the Great War. The Great War began in summer on 1914 with the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungry, once Britain entered the war they quickly asked for both financial and military assistance from allies and colonies of theirs. By entering the Great War, a greater financial strain was put on to both the country and the people.Britain fell further into debt with the United States as the war continued to rage on and on. Besides Britain suffering financially, on the battlefield the men were suffering. Spending countless days and nights in muddy blood filled trenches to stay out of the line of fire. A new type of warfare emerged through the bloodshed, poison gas. All you saw on the battlefields during were gas masks gas, gas, and gas. Chlorine gas killed more soldiers than actual bullets during this war. Most men who enlisted to fght during the Great War were dead men walking.Chlorine gas was a favorite weapon of the Germans as Duffy has told us. However soldiers went the only ones being choked to death so to speak. Freedom of speech was being silenced in Britain by the Defense of the Realm Act in 194, besides silencing the people election were deferred during the war. Britain was becoming a place were the people no longer aw eye to eye with the government. The working class was now truly breaking away from the idea of the Victorian period; they no longer wanted to survive Just solely on credit in fear of losing everything if they were not able to pay their bills on time.This war made the people actually see what was going on in their country and in their government and it began to spill over into literature and arts. Literature went from discussing social class and poverty to describing battlefields in great details and questioning the readers' moral Judgme nt. Modernism directly followed the Victorian Era. It is said that Modernism started in 1901 and lasted until the 1960's or 70's. I believe it was small changes in art and literature started in 1901 but Modernism did not really begin to appear until during the Great War and everything after.It was a conscious break from traditional art, subjective, full of alienation and despair while also rejecting the past. Modernism is extremely different from Victorian Literature, while modernism focuses on how the readers will interpretation the work and not society. Where in Victorian literature it was society's interpretation trumps everything. Also during this time both World Wars had occurred giving writers at the time even more to write about and shed their own opinions on.This period was a time where experimentation and individualism were encouraged most things about the past were thrown to the side and discouraged like writing about social conventions or painting pictures ot a dinner sce ne. Also Modernism unlike Victorian Era gives you a clear definition on what to expect from literature and art during that time period. I attribute the mast amount of differences between the two literary periods to the dark cloud that was hanging over Britain and its people once the Great War was over. People were questioning both their countrys morality and their own patriotism.Just like the Victorian Era there were great Modernism authors. Authors like Joseph Conrad, T. S Eliot, and Wilfred Owen all with very similar dark styles that you can attribute to the Great War. Joseph Conrad still known for his short story The Heart of Darkness and novel â€Å"The Nigger of the Narcissus†. Both works drift far away from the traditional standards of the Victorian Era and was a true work of modernism. The slow dark story of The Heart of Darkness was a story whose major theme was savagery versus civilization while traveling through Africa. That was something that was not seen at that t ime.This story made people question savagery and civilization. Everyone has a little savage in them but how much is too much and you cross the line of being uncivilized. This was a very big question during the Great War, what was too much? What was considered uncivilized? That was a question that was constantly raised during the Great War. Besides questioning civilization Conrad had a dark way about his work similar to another Modernism writer. The Heart Of Darkness was dark story about a voyage, a voyage that many of us could never dream of making or going on.A voyage that would test the morality of most men, Just like the Great War tested the morality of most of its soldiers. Was it morally acceptable to continuously heave poison gas back and forth at each other? T. S Eliot was a dark writer with his works such as â€Å"The Hollow Men†, a poem that begins by quoting Conrad's The Heart of Darkness and mimicking its darkness for entirety of the poem. Unlike the Conrad's story , which questioned what is civilized and what is not this poem, speaks of the end of the world and humanity, as we know. The poem discusses us as humans losing our individuality and becoming empty.While reading â€Å"The Hollow Men†, I questioned was humanity lost after the Great War with all of the unnecessary bloodshed and death. People in Britain became empty and inhuman after the Great War. Besides his dark works T. S Eliot's poems are prime examples of Modernism. Poems like â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† and â€Å"The Wasteland† both poems were bold and broke far away from everything Victorian. In Eliot's â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† he broke away from tradition with a title that has on particular inference to anything in the poem, there was no love in this poem.Modernism is all about being different and T. S Eliot did that. He also wrote with a style that forced readers to read his work several times to grasp the different meaning, with his lines like the muttering retreats, of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels. Which could be interpreted as he had a considerable amount of one- night stands or he traveled a great deal and was in a different city every night. The interpretation varies from reader to reader another characteristic of Modernism. Lastly Eliot's work do not fit any type of cookie cutter mold, Eliot focused only on † The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock†. Solely on his chaotic thinking and perception of his ife. He's not worried about what social effect his poem has on the world. This poem shows he does not care if the reader can even understand his thought process completely subjective like Modernism works should be. Wilfred Owen another author to nave works published during Modernism. Owen is known tor his war poems classifying him as a war poet. Many of his poems describe British soldiers after or during battle. Most famously known for his poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Es t† which was published towards the end of the Great War.In his poem Owen paints a gruesome picture of English troops dying from poison gas. The same young men that were so anxious to fght for their country are now tired covered in blood and barely alive. At the end of the poem Owen uses Just a bit of satire after describing this horrible scene. Owen's tells us that it is sweet and right to die for your country. Owen tells readers the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mor. But really how sweet is it to choke to death for your country. I bet most soldier would rather be shot than to die choking on a cloud of poison gas.The Great War made it possible for works like â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† to be created and become popular for the reason that it is ust like a car crash people will slow down to watch, so if a writer is describing the horrors of the battlefield people will slow down and read it. Just like the writers I described before Owen's his works our faultless examples of Modernism and how the war contributed to the development of the literary movement and the clear differences between Victorian era and Modernism. After writing this paper I know have an improved understanding of what was going on in Britain Pre war and after.I also can further see the differences between the two literary movements, the topic that were debated on plus by what means the topics were conversed about. The primary topic in literature during the Victorian Era were the remarkable differences between the social classes and the living conditions of the mast majority of citizens in Britain during this time. Most of these works were Jam-packed with humor to try to contradict the dim truth about the horrible situations many citizens had to deal with on the day to day.Spending countless hours each day working low paying Jobs in factories, orphans on the street begging for money because their parents were locked in debtors' prison. As much as authors complained of the living conditions and he need for social reform in the country, they still remained very patriotic. Nevertheless once the Great War began both the country and the literature started to change. I expected the change but I did not expect to see such a massive change in the short four-year timespan of the Great War.Even though the textbooks roughly estimates that Modernism began before the Great War on the other hand authentic Modernism did not appear until the war began. That is because most Modernism literature questioned actions that occurred during the war. Actions like use of poison gas, trench warfare, and imperialism. Modernism was also a decline in the patriotism that was apparent in Victorian literature. The Great war made writers break from caring about the entirety of the countries issues and focus only on what interests them.For Wilfred Owen it was war, Joseph Conrad focused on imperialism and questioning morality. To answer the question I posed in my introduction the Great War played apart in making the differences between Victorian era and Modernism because it gave authors a new topic to discuss and new moral to question. Pre-war authors did not have to question the acts of their countries soldiers if they were morally acceptable or not. The last question I posed – was it because of the Great war that Modernism appear or was it bound to be another literary movement with or without the war.After doing this paper I believe that it was bound to be another movement without the war i t is Just that the war gave authors the push needed speed up the movement. In the end I can say that war does affect literature.

Compare the Political Regime Type in China and the United States

A country’s regimes are imposed to protect the country’s interest, but these protections will create unavoidable conflict-of-interest where businesses are conducted. Likewise, the super power China and the United States, the perpetual political changes create a direct implication to the day-to-day business activities and the type business investment plan to enter the country. Hence, conflict-of-interests are commonly tensions between the different in political ideologies, social issues, historical and culture background. As these interests are the catalysts to the type of regimes that the country will impose; moreover, these regimes will favour the different types of industries. For that reason, the organisations need to conduct analysis on the political system carefully, so that they can better prepare and outperform their business objectives. Based on the four catalysts, this essay will examine and analysis the different regimes that Chinese government and United States government exercise which will have a lateral effect on the organisation’s business planning process; which focus on different perspective of the employment contract politics and human right regime as well as the transparency between the two government bodies. Political ideologies can be describe as the â€Å"field of conceptual meaning created by recurring patterns of conceptual terms and associated policies found in the discourse of politicians as they participate in formal political processes under real-time conditions. † {text:bibliography-mark} . Hence, the major types of ideologies will go through reformation and adjustment, where by old and unsuitable policy is replaced by the new policy. These changes or reformation can be observed from the different perspective between the Democracy and communist ideology. United States believe neo-liberalism which is part of the Democracy ideology. Currently, she is under the control by the two major political parties; the Republicans and the Democrats which they are constantly changeling the democracy ideology. Moreover, the present 44th presidency, Mr Obama is facing the changeling political reformation changes against the global financial crisis and job creation for his people. On the other hand, China functions base on the political ideology of Communism. The founder of Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Mao Tse-Tung unify the whole of China under one political party, and the late 1990’s, the party’s Premier Zhu Rongji open its economic. Peking government functions much like the United States, but the decision making is control by the central government, which include ministries who are responsible for key areas, such as economic planning and production. The central government decision making process follow a bureaucrat system {text:bibliography-mark} , The origin of employment contract politics and human right regime could be trace back to historical records. Such policies were found during the early Roman Empire, whereby civilian workers and contractor were protected by law {text:bibliography-mark} . Laws were regulated to protect the civilian workers and contractor against the market imperfection; for example the legally binding of the workers contract about the scoop of work and duties of work was agreed upon. As so, this is to prevent any discrepancy between them. The law ought to be passed down by the Roman magistrates, much like modern days law that are passed down by the United States department of labour; in which state The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) that protect the interest of the employee {text:bibliography-mark} ; it will improve the general relationship between the organisation and the employee. Although it can be argued that having too much regulation will increase the return of investment {text:bibliography-mark} , but; according to Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), there are a relationships that drawn between the employment contract politics and human right regime {text:bibliography-mark} . Of course, considering that the modern regulation are extremely well accounted. Hence, employment in United State require a continue update of the new regime and employment contacts will have to come to common ground which are for the best interest of both side. Conversely, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) do have regime to protect the employee interest and human right, but till date the Peking government are constantly having criticism over the labour law and the human right issues {text:bibliography-mark} . Much of the regimes have had been passed down, but the regime are poorly regulated {text:bibliography-mark} . For these issues, organization found a perfect loophole to exercise the market imperfection; a topical example is to exercise the low wage labour cost factor and the extension of the working hours or the condition of the working environment. Moreover, it can draw consent to corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the types of working environment factor worker were subjected too {text:bibliography-mark} . These impose an image of ‘playing good in their country, but playing bad on the other’. However, since the Peking government had entered the WTO in 2001, the Peking government is providing a perpetual change of their regime and improvement of enforcing the regime {text:bibliography-mark} ; hence the playground for market imperfection will not last long. Erstwhile, some of the modern political ideologies could be traced back to the Roman Empire, whereby historical evidence provides the foundation of the different types of political ideologies. In additional to the argument, manufacturing industries are likely to venture into the different region of the developing cities of China to do their mass production process. In this grey area, the industries take advantages of the poorly regulated regime and the human right issues. But some company had forgotten about the imprecation to the prestige of their brand name; just like the case of Reebok {text:bibliography-mark} whereby unethical working conditions were practices. Untimely, the ethical investments will ounce between the cost factor; manufacturing product in Unite State which will incur the cost of production, or manufacturing product in China will losing the prestige of the brand. Where, the company failure to consider the imprecation in employment contract politics and human right issues will obliterate the brand equity, however most company had out-weighted the cost benefit, and had move their manufacturing into China. Transparency of the government, play a part in the business planning process, in term of investment and financing management {text:bibliography-mark} . For example, the Basel I was later replace by â€Å"Basel II capital accord framework† {text:bibliography-mark} had presented a challenge for the financial organisation operating in United States to please both the government bodies and the distribution of the shareholder wealth. This regime targets the financial institution to improve on their transparency and accountability as well as reducing the chances of another global financial crisis; which had swept through the whole business environment. In this issue, it can be argue that the financial institution had too much deregulation, in term allow less transparency or accountability to be reported. Consequently, this new policy will have an implication on the business model. On the other hand, during election times political incentives seem to be different; which float between deregulation near election and regulation after election {text:bibliography-mark} . However, China has new government policy; moving toward transparency of government, that allows China to open its trading door. Erstwhile, Peking government had major concerns in their early reformation, which were to resolve the food and agriculture shortage and follow by reformation of the country internal industrial department for its nation internal economy. This is done without the need of infecting with capitalism ideology, in fact, they were moving toward a self-sustainable nation, but due to the operate on a bureaucrat system, it take a longer than usual time for each regime to be pass through effectively and transparent throughout the entire nation. Although, the Peking government bring into disrepute of capitalism, the early communism system did issue â€Å"more than 4,000 statutes and regulations by the Peking regime up to 1958† {text:bibliography-mark} . At that time, these regimes were issues to regulate the national economy. Most likely, the culture aspect and the style of governing the county have courses them to be less transparent. To a degree of consideration, private ownership entities were executed, if there were more than seven workers {text:bibliography-mark} . However, the effectiveness and transparency of these regimes were yet to be measure or suggested that were carryout and regulated. Beside much of these regimes are mucky and often being questioned by international media. Till date, these processes are often close door discussion as regime will not be allowed to issues to the public until the central government pass the bill. It is agreeable that for foreign direct investment company, who require latest information about the regime, are moving out of the country because of poor understanding of the business political culture {text:bibliography-mark} . However, China rapid GDP growth had force the â€Å"government bargaining to a degree of mutual dependence or interdependence† {text:bibliography-mark} . Moreover, the Peking government are working on new regime that will balance between the government and business investment. In return, this type of reformation will allow more foreign investor, as regime become more attractive to the investment. A conclusive agreement and analysis show that international business will continue to move into China, despite that contract politics and human right regime have impact on the prestige of the brand. Perhaps, the reformation towards a transparent government intervention has favour business. Where comparing evidence suggests that, doing business in Unite State is having a higher cost factor, hence this issues have out-weighted businesses to shaft to other possible solution. Although the State transparency is excellent but can be dissimilar at time. Party, each regime that is implemented or adopted is directly affected by the four conditions. Moreover, these conflict-of-interests shell be address by the corporation before investing. Reference

American and African Comparison Essay

Between 1492 and 1750, Africa and America experienced similarities in the introduction of new crops, movement on natives, and disease, while having differences in shift gender population, the amount of deaths, ethnicity change, and environment. Africa and America both experienced the introduction of new crops. In Africa, American crops such as maize were very useful in order to sustain the population. The cheap new source of food allowed Africa to sustain its population. America received new crops and animals such as rice and chickens. Both regions experienced an offset in the native population as a result of the Europeans. The demand for slavery in Africa resulted in a massive amount of natives being shipped to America. In America, the remainder of the Aztecs and Inca in Latin America were either moved or put under forced labor. In North America, smaller tribes such as the Iroquois and Algonquin were pushed off of their land by English and Dutch settlers. Both regions also experienced a widespread of disease. In Africa, diseases like Syphilis spread easily because most Africans were uneducated about sanitation. In America, native populations of the Aztecs and Inca were decimated by smallpox. The Aztecs, like the Africans, did not have the proper sanitary conditions, and new diseases meant that they were not immune to them. One major difference was the shift in the amount of men and women in each region. In Africa, most of the slaves taken were males. This meant that the majority of the African population became female. As a result of all of the slaves imported to the new world, the majority of America was male. Another difference was the amount of death among the natives. In America, a very large percentage of the native population died. In Africa, the shift in population was caused more by African slaves being taken out. While death was common along the Atlantic circuit, Africa was better equipped to sustain its native population. Foods brought from the New World enabled Africans to repopulate quickly whereas in America, the natives were replaced by the Europeans. Another major difference was the changes in the natural environment. In America, forests were cut down carelessly in order to create colonial towns. The resources were exploited to a vast degree to support European mercantilism. In Africa, change to the environment was milder. Most interaction occurred at the coast while central Africa was unexplored. African resources such as gold were traded, but were not in high demand until later on. Africa and America both were similar in the arrival of new crops, shift in population, and epidemics while being different in change of demographics, amount of death, new ethnicities, and the impact on the environment.

National Film Registry and Existentialism Reflection Patch Essay

Existentialism Reflection Patch Adams is a movie about a man that is determined to be a doctor. Along the way, he comes across some issues when he won’t conform to the rest of the medical students. He is actually a good example of an existentialist. He is his own person within a larger society, or the other students at the school. He follows what he believes in and his life turns out almost just the way he wanted it to. In the movie, there were some quotes: â€Å"Look beyond the problem.† –Arthur †¢Everyone else stares whatever their problem is right in the face and expect to figure out the solution. Arthur tries to say, look past the problem. Focus on the solution. â€Å"See the world anew each day.† –Arthur †¢In a way, this is a stoic quote. To not let anything previous to this day affect it. Everyday holds a new adventure and if you are worrying about the past, how are you ever going to enjoy it? â€Å"The mental hospital was the best thing that ever happened to me.† –Patch †¢In the hospital, he found out he loved to help people. He wanted to listen to people and make them enjoy life. He really found his passion and without the mental hospital, he maybe never would have. â€Å"Death is not the enemy†¦indifference is.† –Patch †¢When people are dying, showing care is the most important thing. If they don’t know that people care, that makes death so much worse. Everyone is going to die someday. Everyone should just enjoy life. As relating to existentialism, Kirkegaard would have thought that Patch was a good example. He was a part of the group, yet he was his own person within that group.

Gender Stereotypes Essay

What are gender stereotypes? They are â€Å"simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others. When people automatically apply gender assumptions to others regardless of evidence to the contrary, they are perpetuating gender stereotyping. Many people recognize the dangers of gender stereotyping, yet continue to make these types of generalizations. † You probably hear a gender stereotype on a daily basis but probably don’t realize it because it’s so common and casual now for people to just through everyone into a category and just assume they all are the same. Which is quite sad to me. You shouldn’t be judged and characterized based on your gender. Just because one female or male does something everyone in their gender should be assumed does it to? NO. Some examples of gender stereotypes are â€Å"cooking and cleaning are a women’s job† â€Å"woman can’t drive or park for anything† â€Å"all men are pigs†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ you get the point it’s a group of people (usually either women or men) that are grouped into a title that’s so bias! Ugh I get so mad even talking about it I hate stereotypes! THE IGNORANCE†¦ I’m going to be watching ‘The suite life of Zack and Cody’ on Disney Channel to get a good grasp of how often gender stereotyping is incorporated into our everyday television shows but goes unnoticed. I watch this show often, but never with the intention of it being stereotypical in any way. So today as I think about it if the characters were stereotyped, they would all be bias to one another’s gender. Girls would be the breadwinner’s, caregivers, nurturers, smarter, stay at home mothers. Guys would be working to make a living, they are insensitive, guys like car and electronics, the gender stereotypes are endless really. They can be basically anything and everything depending on how they are perceived and by WHO they are perceived. Sometimes they depend on what someone has gone through in life and based off that they gender stereotype. As I watch I notice that the mother of Phineas and Ferb is a stay at home mother, she does everything there is needed to be done at home. Takes care of the kids and their problems, grocery shops, cleans, cooks, etc. The father is the breadwinner and is the only one who is bringing in the income to support the family. It’s almost a typical old school American family. They have 3 children, 2 boys, 1 girl. Obviously Phineas and Ferb are the two young boys and Candice is their older sister. The whole show is about their sister always trying to get them (Phineas and Ferb) in trouble with their parents. I guess that’s the typical stereotypical sibling relationship always fighting for attention over the parents and to make one bad over the other and make one another more favorable than the other. I didn’t really realize it at first but then when I thought about my own relationship with my siblings it was quite comparable we always try and nag on each other and get one another in trouble. Phineas and Ferb are always coming up with new inventions, playing with electronics computers and inventing unique things. Just doing things most boys do in the stereotypical way. While, their sister Candice is always going to the mall, hanging out gossiping with her girlfriends, always on the phone, constantly nagging on them, obsessed with boys. The show is very stereotypical now that I think about it. It’s the classical guy/girl gender stereotypes. Candice is the girly girl who likes to gossip and shop and get her brothers in trouble while Phineas and Ferb are busy playing with gadgets of all sorts, not ever worried about Candice or what she’s doing, really involved with electronics and coming up with new inventions and having fun in their own little gadget-world you could say. A lot of commercials that come on and play in the mornings when all the kids programs are on are SUPER stereotypical. For girls they advertise Barbie dolls of all sorts, toys for girls such as cool, unique hair designing tools, kitchen accessories that include fake ovens and what not to play in. Which is stereotypical cause they say mothers should cook and clean and then here they are starting kids off at a young age throwing them under such a stereotype. They have commercials advertising water guns, monster trucks, building tools and what not for the boys. After watching this show that I always watch but with the objective of stereotyping as I watched in my head I noticed so much more than I ever did. It’s really sad that so many shows have gender stereotyping in them that goes unnoticed. It really actually (and excuse my language) pisses me off. That people interpret these things in television shows, their guiding the younger generation already in the wrong direction making them think that girls â€Å"do this† and guys â€Å"do this† and having them think basically in a box. I noticed that the show has the very typical stereotypes. Like I mentioned above. I can honestly say my thoughts have changed about this show and are different from what I thought before I had this objective in mind.

Organisations & Behaviour Learning Organisations Essay

Organisations & Behaviour Learning Organisations - Essay Example A learning organisation intentionally designs the structures and strategies in order to enhance and maximise the learning of its employees. (Dodgson, 1993) With the changing environment of business and advancing technology the notion of the Learning organisations has gained much more importance. Learning has become an important characteristic of an organisation in order to compete in the global business. Learning is a volatile and dynamic concept through which the process of updating in an organisation takes place. With the growing size of the corporations and continuous innovations in the field of technology the individual learning has transformed to the notion of the organisational learning. The notion of learning plays an important part in the progress of an individual just like that the learning on the organisational level plays an important part in the growth of an organisation. The organisational group of people can define the organisational learning as the sum of the learning activities of the individual, which takes the shape of combined effort. (Dodgson, 1993; Fiol & Lyles, 1985). An organisational learning program should be designed in the way that it is not lost when the members of the organisation leave the organisation. ... ive environment of the business in today's high pace changing business environment enhancing the learning capabilities of business is the solution of half of the problems. (Prahalad & Hamel, 1994). Equally important is the creation of an unlearning organisation which essentially means that the organisation must forget some of its past. Thus, learning occurs amidst such conflicting factors (Dodgson, 1993). Most of the leading companies of the world like Shell were among the first to embrace the notion of learning. In Shell Arie de Geus described learning as the only strategy to compete effectively. Hence learning organisation can be defined as "The essence of organisational learning is the organisation's ability to use the amazing mental capacity of all its members to create the kind of processes that will improve its own" (Dixon, 1994) "A Learning Company is an organisation that facilitates the learning of all its members and continually transforms itself" (Pedler, Burgoyne & Boydell, 1991) "Organisations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learn together" (Peter Senge, 1990) The following are the important characteristics of the learning organisations: Learning organisations adopts the external environments. They are flexible and continue the process of change. Depicts the combination of individual and collective learning. Keeps on learning with the outcomes. Learning can be done in two ways. 1) Single loop 2) Double loop In single loop learning people learn in a way prescribed to them by the organisation. In double loop learning people, people not only learn in a