Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Essay on Japanese Business Etiquette - 4018 Words

Japanese Business Etiquette Content: I. Introduction II. History a. What is the country ¡Ã‚ ¦s political tradition? b. Is there a dictatorship or other form of the government which means that the government will be closely involved in your efforts? c. Is there a history of colonization or occupation by another state? d. Are there any tensions with neighbors? e. Is the country secular or not? f. Religion? III. Concepts for doing business a. How does this culture see time? b. How does this culture gather information? c. How does this culture fit into the other models presented in class? d. What are the important values in this culture; is there understanding of these values†¦show more content†¦Though the king or queen may be regarded as the governments symbolic head, it is the Prime Minister, who actually governs the country. Japan has a royal family led by an Emperor, Akihito (born December 23, 1933) is the current and 125th Emperor of Japan, but under the current constitution he holds no power at all, not even emergency reserve powers. Sovereignty, which was previously embodied in the Emperor, is now the domain of the people. The Emperor is defined as the symbol of the state. Japan has a parliamentary government, which consists of three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. This system is comparable to that in the United Kingdom. b. Is there a dictatorship or other form of the government which means that the government will be closely involved in your efforts? The first Imperial Diet was established in 1890 and made Japan the first country in Asia, which was ruled by parliamentary politics. The Diet was the legislative organ of the state and had the highest power, for example initiating constitutional revisions or designating a prime minister. The upper house of the Imperial Diet consisted of the privileged class, for example the peerage, monarchs and the sovereignty ruled by the emperor. Today the emperor does not have any effective power but is only the symbol of the state. In 1946, during the occupation by the Allied powers the presentShow MoreRelatedBusiness Etiquette in Japanese Negotiations2984 Words   |  12 PagesBusiness Etiquette in Japanese Negotiations The world economy is dependent on trade between countries. As globalization of the worlds economy increases, companies depend on international negotiations to build strong relationships and extend their services to a larger market. Since World War II, Japan and the United States have become dependent on one anothers markets to fuel their economy. Japan is the second largest supplier to the U.S. and the United States is the largest supplier of importsRead MoreJapanese Business Norms And Customs, Culture, And Etiquette Before One s Journey805 Words   |  4 PagesJapan’s business norms and customs, culture, and etiquette before one’s journey begins. Japanese Business Norms and Customs: Geert Hofstede studied that Japanese business culture has much influence from the power distance aspect. This element deals with the equality of the Japanese from a hierarchy standpoint. Japanese society has a somewhat high power distance rating of 54. Decision-making is taken very seriously within this particular culture and is a very slow procedure to finalize a business decisionRead MoreJapanese Culture And Japanese Business1244 Words   |  5 Pages whether it is in personal life or business life. 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In spite of this, many Japanese are able to understand English to a certain extent since English is the foreignRead MoreEssay about 3 Cultures Research Assignment745 Words   |  3 PagesMexico, Japan, and Kenya. This assignment will help guide you in understanding the basic communication styles, business etiquettes, and conflict management styles within their corresponding countries. Sincerely, Christian, Candace, and Fabiola Mexico As you travel to Mexico, there are a few tips you should consider to ensure a smooth visit. The communication styles, business etiquette, and conflict management styles vary differently with whoever you are dealing with. Mexicans place great value

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

The First Charter Of Human Rights - 1147 Words

The early Persian Empire was governed by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus was a brilliant, powerful, and thoughtful Persian king that wanted to enlarge the Persian kingdom by conquering nearby lands and then tried to unite them into one empire. Throughout Cyrus skillful leadership and strong military, he was able to create a huge empire that lasted for more than two hundred years. Cyrus was very skilled ruler that does everything the right. He take up a policy of toleration toward the people he goes against. For instance, he accepted them to speak their own native languages, practice their own rituals and religions, and stick to their own old ways. He had so many respected for those people that he announced the first Charter of Human Rights. This charter was the one that set forth Cyrus’ goals and policies. Since, he was a well-respected man among the people that helped him create a peaceful and stable empire for the people to live. Cyrus built was the one that built the foundation of m ail system. Then after his deceased, Darius built a communication network that connected to all the 20 provinces which helped the Persian Empire tremendously. Unfortunately, Cyrus passed away and that created a chaotic period under a delicate emperor that almost destroyed the Persian Empire. Afterward, Darius I, became the ruler and he started building on what Cyrus had accomplished while he was the leader. Darius separated the Persian Empire into several provinces to make it much easier to governShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms1628 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted under the Pierre Trudeau government on April 17, 1982. According to Phillip Bryden, â€Å"With the entrenchment of the Charter into the Canadian Constitution, Canadians were not only given an explicit definition of their rights, but the courts were empowered to rule on the constitutionality of government legislation† (101). Prior to 1982, Canada’s central constitutional document was the British North America Act of 1867. According to Kallen, â€Å"TheRead MoreDoes the Canadian Chart er Effectively Protect our Human Rights?636 Words   |  3 Pageslaws in Canada’s constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is an important law that affects every Canadian’s rights and freedoms. It was created in 1981 by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to provide legal protection for the most important rights and freedoms. These rights include fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, mobility rights, and legal rights. Most but not all articles included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are protected in the constitution. However,Read MoreEu and the Fundamental Rights..1449 Words   |  6 Pagesexpressed through treaty provision and case law that the protection of the fundamental rights of EC citizens is vitally important. However, the EC itself is not currently bound to a set of agreed fundamental rights. For years, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has respected and protected fundamental rights by considering the position of state constitutions and the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Yet, the ECJ is not bound to follow these. It is not bound to the ECHR, as itRead MoreThe Earth Charter : A Declaration Of Fundamental Principles1460 Words   |  6 PagesThe Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a safe, sustainable, and peaceful world. It strives to identify the critical challenges and choices facing humanity. The Earth Charter provides moral framework for the development of the emerging global civilization. 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The Earth Charter website states that, the Earth Charter â€Å"is an extraordinarily diverse, global network of people, organizations, and institutions thatRead MoreBill 60, a.k.a. The Quebec Charter of Values678 Words   |  3 PagesQuà ©bec since 2012 (Parti Quà ©bà ©cois, n.d.). Pauline Marois and the Parti Quà ©bà ©cois proposed Bill 60, also known as the Charter of Values, in fall of 2013 (Riga, 2014, para. 7). Therefore the purpose of this paper will be to analyse the goal of this bill, the ways it may be achieved, and the central criticisms of it. First of all, Bill 60 is officially defined as being a â€Å"charter affirming the values of State secularism and religious neutrality and equality between women and men, and providing a framework

Monday, December 9, 2019

The Day of the Jackal Essay Example For Students

The Day of the Jackal Essay The Day of the Jackal:This book, a suspenseful narrative by Frederick Forsyth had its origin by means of the observations he made as a Reuters correspondent in Paris. The basics of this plot are very simple, one man wants to kill de Gaulle, and another man wants to stop him. The Day of the Jackal begins as Charles de Gaulles grants Algeria their independence, by means of this decision he creates a certain political tension in France. To avenge what they regard as a betrayal, leaders of the OAS (Organisation de lArmee Secrete) plot de Gaulles death. After several attempts on de Gaulles life all resulting in failure, the OAS decides it is time to hire a killer at the top of his profession, a man known as the Jackal. He is a tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A man, whose mission is so secret not even his employers know his name, an assassin with a contract to kill Charles de Gaulle, the worlds most heavily guarded man. Although the Jackal is not aware, his main obstacle is a simple policeman, Deputy Commissaire Claude Lebel. Some consider him among the best detectives in France, but he himself cannot feel much confidence due to the fact of knowing that his objective is to track down a killer that has no identity what so ever. But the assistance given to Lebel from police all over the world, slowly allows him to piece together the Jackals image in time to prevent this international incident. In this book we follow the Jackals meticulous planning step by step. The intelligence of the Jackal leaves me perplexed, the way he is able to avoid being captured and how he devises his brilliant plan by means of theft of passaports, forgery of documents and a great alternation of identities. All in all, The Day of the Jackal is a masterpiece of suspense.

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Halo Effect free essay sample

In business world, things happen fast, markets emerge, markets disappear, and competition is keen. Therefore, business managers would like to find a formula, or at least some factors, to explain the success and failure of corporations and companies. But as the business world is so complicated, and becoming more complicated and uncertain in todays globalized world, it is hard to determine factors and solid solutions to business problems. Even massive data are gathered and with long time of studies, secrets of success are still not easy to uncover. So it is tempting for giving the promise of breakthroughs and secrets and quick fixes. From journalists to academics, people are searching for ready-made answers, plug-and-play solutions and marriage of convenience. When a company adopts a new initiative, a new strategy, it would a brilliant strategy if it is successful, and would be concluded as a bad move when it fails. So when Lego, the toy firm, failed its launching of Harry Potter figures, people criticized it was drifting from its core. We will write a custom essay sample on The Halo Effect or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But when GE successfully went to launch the financial services then, nobody criticized it was straying from the core. So whether it is a good thing or bad thing to stray away from ones core business? There are lots of business writings, no matter they are from press or academic journals, use the ends to justify the means. We see what we want to see. And we are deceived by delusions. The fundamental problem is we all like to read stories, not only reports. Many good researches about company performance, which are carefully done, tend not to provide clear and definitive guidelines for action. These are reports to show the facts we dont like to read. We want clear implications for action, we want to explain things. A bestselling business book, Good to Great, which brings fame and fortune to the co-author Jim Collins, is one of those business books full of halo effect. One of the â€Å"great† companies focused by the book is Fannie Mae. But we can see from Figure 2, its stock price soared sharply before the book was written and reached its peak during when the book published. But after that, the performance of Fannie Mae was quite disappointing. Even we don’t include the current sub-prime mortgage crisis which made its stock price dived to new low, the stock price was in a downward trend. The good to great strategies featured by Jim Collins wasn’t effective at all. Are all those promises, strategies and focuses suggested by one of the best selling business books are only delusions? Figure 2. The stock price of Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2008 (Source: Bloomberg) The Halo Effect provides the answers. It is a book to show the common delusions of the business writings. And to show us how to avoid these delusions and be critical to read the business researches. Most management book ask the first-order question: What leads to high performance? But this book tries to answer a different question: Why is it so hard to understand high performance? A message like, you, too, can transform your good company into a great one, is very comforting. But the business world is not as simple as that. In this report, we will show that how The Halo Effect leads us to an uncomfortable war against cliches and delusions. What Does This Book Talk About The story of Cisco From the Bloomberg graph in Figure 1, we can see that by the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, the stock price of Cisco sky-rocketed to US$80 from around US$30 in few weeks. Then the business press and the academics all praised that Cisco was doing everything right Cisco had a great and visionary leader, John Chambers (who is still the CEO of Cisco currently); Cisco was remarkably skilful in acquiring companies (Fortune observed Cisco excelled at digesting acquisitions smoothly); and Cisco was credited with extreme customer focus. Fortune wrote that, â€Å"no net-workers have ever had the laser focus on customers that Cisco has had from day one. And John Chambers became the best CEO in the information age. However, the reversal at Fortune arrived in less than one year. Tech stocks began to slide in mid 2000. By November, Cisco stock was trading at just US$50 and by April 2001, Ciscos stock worth only US$14. More than US$400 billion vanished in just one year. Now Fortune reported Cisco was doing everything wrong – Cisco had exhibited a cavalier attitude toward potential customers; Cisco was failing at acquisitions and forecasting; and its senior management, including best CEO John Chambers, were arrogant and basking in a culture of confidence. From the story of Cisco we can see that, for all the attentions that Cisco received, for all its prominence in the press over several years, even experienced journalists and respected academics had trouble identifying with any precision the reasons for Ciscos outstanding success or its stunning decline. Figure 1. Stock Price of Cisco from 1999 to 2008 (Source: Bloomberg) The Halo Effect As George Bernard Shaw said, The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how shes treated, the business press offered reasonable explanations for Cisco when it was successful or when it failed. The same management style or technique can be good but suddenly turns bad in less than one year. Obviously, the business reporters descriptions of the company were colored by the stories they want to tell. Facts were assembled and shaped to tell the story of the moment, whether it was about great performance or collapsing performance. Journalists have deadlines, they have to file their stories in short timeline. So it is hard to blame them for convenient opinions. Sometimes journalists will have their conclusion first and then find the facts to support this conclusion. And they will surely try to write things people love to read. And people love to read story, things with clear causal relationship. The Halo book explains, it is a natural tendency to make inferences about specific traits on the basis of a general impression. Like the Cisco case, as long as it was growing and profitable and setting record for its stock price, journalists and professors inferred that it had wonderful abilities to listen to its customers, a cohesive corporate culture, and a brilliant strategy. And when the bubble burst, observers were quick to make the opposite attribution. Our evaluations depend on whether we think were seeing a lady or a flower girl. Sometimes we may not know whether it is an attribute that makes a company successful, or it is because the company is successful, so it could afford that attribute. Like good people, we dont know whether it is the good people lead to a successful company or it is a successful company which could recruit good people. As so many things we commonly think contributing to company performance are often attributions based on performance. Beside this halo effect, there are other kinds of delusions which are quite common in business writings described by the book which listed in Appendix 1. The author concluded, for a company to perform, only two things matter – strategy and execution. But there are no â€Å"sure-win† strategies, as strategy always involves uncertainty and risk. Each company must formulate its own least risky strategies base on its internal and external situations. For execution, there is also no â€Å"flawless† execution in the world. And what works in one company may not work in the others. And real life is much more complicated than just few simple steps. Critiques of The Halo Effect This book itself is a critique itself, pointing out that there are no quick fixes and winning formulas in the business world. And it makes us rethink how much a business bestseller, like Good to Great and Built to Last could really tell us. We must say the contents are very insightful and critical. However, after all the finger-pointing, this book doesnt clearly show us the way what should we do next. The just pointed out what we should not do and what we would not be possible to do. He didnt show what he would do differently or how should the business research should be conducted. He only said it would be very difficult to eliminate the halo effect. It seems the Halo book try to point out that most of the business books and business press don’t tell use much, if not useless. But we think spending time to do some researches with possible biases, is better than not doing any research at all. Flaws maybe in most articles and researches, yet they still could give us some stimulation and reference, if not insights. What we should do is to read them carefully and critically, not ignore them at all. Conclusion The Halo Effect is a rare category of business book. It has no solutions to business problems. It doesn’t provide comfort for managers. Yet it is a very important business book. After reading it, we have to rethink what we have learnt in this course, such as the Judo Strategy or the Growth Strategy, could really help our companies. They could, maybe, or they are not suitable to us. This book tells us not to blindly apply what we read and learned, but to think critically whether we could benefit from them. Those books may be the result of halo effect researching. And it shows that there are no winning formulas, no quick fixes and winning strategies in the real world. But we must point out that, even we know some researches or business articles are full of halo effect, it doesn’t mean that they are of no use to us. We just need to be careful in distilling those researches and apply what could be suitable for us critically. To conclude, even strategic management requires thorough analysis and calculation before making decision, it is a subject more of an art than science. And it is much more complicated than reading few business bestsellers. Appendix 1 1). The Delusions of Correlation and Causality Two things may be correlated, but we may not know which one causes which. The challenge is to untangle the direction of causality. Does lower employee turnover lead to higher company performance or does higher performance lead to lower employee turnover? 2). The Delusions of Single Explanations Many studies show that a particular factor leads to improved performance. But since many of these factors are highly correlated, the effect of each one is usually less than suggested. E. g. If market orientation explains 25 percent of performance, and corporate social responsibility explains 40 percent, does that mean that together they explain 65 percent? Are these separate effects and therefore additive? 3). The Delusions of Connecting the Winning Dots If we pick a number of successful companies and search for what they are in common, well never isolate the reasons for their success, because we have no way of comparing them with less successful companies. E. g. In In Search of Excellence, Peters and Watermans studied a sample made up entirely of outstanding companies. Therefore their sample selection based on outcomes, and which is a classic error. The business bestseller, Built to Last, was committing this same classic error, though Jim Collins said they did a very thorough study. 4). The Delusions of Rigorous Research If the data arent good quality, it doesnt matter how much we have gathered or how sophisticated our research methods appear to be. No matter how horough the research, quantity of data is entirely beside the point if the data arent of a good quality. 5). The Delusions of Lasting Success Almost all high-performaning companies regress over time. The promise of a blueprint for lasting success is attractive but not realistic. From a McKinsey study, the golden company that continually performs better than the market, has never existed. High performance is difficult to maintain. In a free market system, high profit tends to decline thanks to what one economist called the erosive forces of imitation, competition, and expropriation. Suggesting that companies can follow a blueprint to lasing success may be appealing, but its not supported by the evidence. 6). The Delusions of Absolute Performance Company performance is relative, not absolute. A company can improve and fall further behind its rivals at the same time. Companies are often described as succeeding or failing on the merits of their actions alone, as if performance were absolute. But in a competitive market economy, the performance of one company is always affected by the performance of other companies, or rivals. Just like Kmart, a retail chain, was performing brilliantly from 1994 to 2002, but it was one of the losers, because if compared with Walmart, its performance was poor indeed. 7). The Delusions of the Wrong End of the Stick It may be true that successful companies often pursued a highly focused strategy, but that doesnt mean highly focused strategies often lead to success. 8). The Delusions of Organisation Physics Stanley Bing wrote in Fortune in 2004, We seek to minimize the feeling that our world is governed not by laws of nature but by mad, impetuous barbarians driven by greed, need, and the desire for maximum power and booty. Company performance doesnt obey immutable laws of nature and cant be predicted with the accuracy of science, despite our desire for certainty and order. Like Built to last, it examined a long time period in a single gulp but could not show how actions taken at one moment led to results at a later time. If the business world really did run with clocklike precision, some promise in the business book like Good to Great would be reasonable. Yet the most important questions in the business world dont lend themselves to the predictability or replicability of physics.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Purpose of the Narrative Arc in Literature

The Purpose of the Narrative Arc in Literature Sometimes simply called arc or story arc, narrative arc refers to the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. Typically, a narrative arc looks something like a pyramid, made up of the following components: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. A Five-Point Narrative Arc These are the five elements used in a narrative arc: Exposition: This is the beginning of the story in which characters are introduced and the setting is revealed. This sets the stage for the story to play out. It usually includes who, where, and when. You may also be introduced to the main conflict that will propel the story, such as issues between different characters.Rising Action: In this element, a series of events that complicate matters for the protagonist creates a rise in the storys suspense or tension. The rising action may further develop the conflict between the characters or the characters and the environment. It may contain a series of surprises or complications to which the protagonist must react.Climax: This is the point of greatest tension in the story and the turning point in the narrative arc from rising action to falling action. The characters are deeply involved in the conflict. Often, the protagonist has to make a critical choice, which will guide his or her actions in the climax.Falling Action: After the climax, events unfold in a storys plot and there is a release of tension leading toward the resolution. It can show how the characters have been changed due to the conflict and their actions or inactions. Resolution: This is the end of the story, typically, in which the problems of the story and of the protagonists are resolved. The ending doesnt have to be a happy one, but in a complete story, it will be one that feels satisfying. Story Arcs Within a larger story, there can be smaller arcs. These can flesh out the stories of characters other than the main protagonist and they may follow an opposite course. For example, if the protagonist story is rags to riches, his evil twin may undergo a riches to rags arc. To be satisfying, these arcs should have their own rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. They should serve the overall theme and subject of the story rather than being superfluous or appearing to simply pad the story. Smaller arcs may also be used for maintaining interest and tension by introducing new stakes in the conflict of the main protagonist. These plot complications increase tension and uncertainty. They can keep the middle of a story from becoming a predictable slog towards a typical resolution. Within episodic literature and television, there may be a continuing story arc that plays out over a series or season as well as self-contained episodic story arcs for each episode. Example of a Narrative Arc Lets use ​Little Red Riding Hood as an example of a story arc. In the exposition, we learn that she lives in a village near the forest and will be visiting her grandmother with a basket of goodies. She promises not to dawdle or talk to strangers on the way. In the rising action, she nevertheless does dawdle and when the wolf asks where she is going, she tells him her destination. He takes a shortcut, swallows the grandmother, disguises himself, and awaits Red. In the climax, Red discovers the wolf for what he is and calls out for rescue from the woodsman. In the falling action, the grandmother is recovered and the wolf is defeated. In the resolution, Red realizes what she did wrong and vows that she has learned her lesson.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Evolution of the Human Heart into Four Chambers

Evolution of the Human Heart into Four Chambers The human heart does not look much like those Valentines Day candies or the pictures we drew on our love notes when we were in elementary school. The current human heart is a large muscular organ with four chambers, a septum, several valves, and other various parts necessary for pumping blood all around the human body. However, this amazing organ is a product of evolution and has spent millions of years perfecting itself in order to keep humans alive. Invertebrate Hearts Invertebrate animals have very simple circulatory systems. Many do not have a heart or blood because they are not complex enough to need a way to get nutrients to their body cells. Their cells are able to just absorb nutrients through their skin or from other cells. As the invertebrates become a little more complex, they use an open circulatory system. This type of circulatory system does not have any blood vessels or has very few. The blood is pumped throughout the tissues and filters back to the pumping mechanism. Like in earthworms, this type of circulatory system does not use an actual heart. It has one or more small muscular areas capable of contracting and pushing the blood and then reabsorbing it as it filters back. However, these muscular regions were the precursors to our complex human heart. Fish Hearts Of the vertebrates, fish have the simplest type of heart. While it is a closed circulatory system, it has only two chambers. The top is called the atrium and the bottom chamber is called the ventricle. It has only one large vessel that feeds the blood into the gills to get oxygen and then transports it around the fishs body. Frog Hearts It is thought that while fish only lived in the oceans, amphibians like the frog were the link between water-dwelling animals and the newer land animals that evolved. Logically, it follows that frogs would, therefore, have a more complex heart than fish since they are higher on the evolutionary chain. In fact, frogs have a three-chambered heart. Frogs evolved to have two atria instead of one, but still only have one ventricle. The separation of the atria allows frogs to keep the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood separate as they come into the heart. The single ventricle is very large and very muscular so it can pump the oxygenated blood throughout the various blood vessels in the body. Turtle Hearts The next step up on the evolutionary ladder is the reptiles. It was recently discovered that some reptiles, like turtles, actually have a heart that has a sort of a three and a half chambered heart. There is a small septum that goes about halfway down the ventricle. The blood is still able to mix in the ventricle, but the timing of the pumping of the ventricle minimizes that mixing of the blood. Human Hearts The human heart, along with the rest of the mammals, is the most complex having four chambers. The human heart has a fully formed septum that separates both the atria and the ventricles. The atria sit on top of the ventricles. The right atrium receives deoxygenated blood coming back from various parts of the body. That blood is then let into the right ventricle which pumps the blood to the lungs through the pulmonary artery. The blood gets oxygenated and then returns to the left atrium through the pulmonary veins. The oxygenated blood then goes into the left ventricle and is pumped out to the body through the largest artery in the body, the aorta. This complex, but efficient, way of getting oxygen and nutrients to body tissues took billions of years to evolve and perfect.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Involving Parents Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Involving Parents - Coursework Example This will lead to immensely corporative children as they feel they have caring and considerate parents. This will lead to a society that has enhanced core values and ethics, which are deemed important. The desired outcome in this plan is to enhance partnership between parents and their children. It is a confirmed belief that children need care, protection and guidance from their parents. However, this can only be ascertained from close relationships. First, this will be an approach of parents noting the progress of their children. It is decreed that close monitoring and association with children will enhance their focus on their performance. Parents will be able to note areas of strength in their children. Similarly, the parents will be able to note the children’s weak areas. As such, there will be a better approach into rectifying the weak areas while enhancing their strengths. Secondly, parenting and corporation is a long-term activity, which is not propagated overnight. The refore, there should be initiation of some activities that will enhance the bond between parents and children (NCPIE, 2010). This could be an initial plan of the frequent activities that will enhance partnership between parents and their children. ... This is done through perfect communication and understanding. Therefore, this activity will be an initiation of corporation between parents and their children. This will have long-term results in enhancing trust and honesty in children. A budget is fundamental in this activity. First, there will be budget allocations for snacks and food. During the event, the children will serve their parents with a series of drinks and snacks. This is to teach the children the responsibility of serving their parents. Apparently, this will be a step to enhance the relationship between parents and their children. Secondly, there will be a budget allocation for entertainment. It is noted that the concentration of an audience is enhanced when there is a series of entertainment. Entertainment for both parents and children will evidently enhance the concentration of the meeting. In essence, the entertainment will help ease the audience as they are expecting a bonding session with each other. Thirdly, ther e will be a budget allocation for a venue. In essence, it is an inclusive meeting between parents and their children (NCPIE, 2010). This will help in ensuring all the people in attendance are comfortable with the environment. Fourthly, there will be a budget allocation for the meals. Sharing meals is one activity that many parents do not have with their children. This is partially due to the scope of their work. Some parents spend allot of their time working, which reduces the time for having meals together. Therefore, this dedicated day will be sharing most of the basic activities together. The plan is to have a whole day dedicated to corporation between parents and their children. This will be a day to enhance the relationship between the parents and their

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Food in the Mediterranean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Food in the Mediterranean - Essay Example The Mediterranean cuisine is particularly suited for workers who are looking for an alternative to the cafeteria or vending machines at work. Discussion Mediterranean food is considered, by Martha Rose Shulman, to be the â€Å"World’s healthiest cuisine,† which is why her book, Mediterranean Light is subtitled â€Å"Delicious Recipes from the World’s Healthiest Cuisine† (Shulman, 1989). Shulman states that part of the reason why the region’s food is so healthy is because the food is prepared with fresh ingredients. This is due to the fact that many of the countries in the Mediterranean region are poor countries, so the cuisine reflects the fact that the citizens in those countries take advantage of what nature has to offer, as opposed to eating processed foods. Thus, they are more apt to â€Å"live off the land,† and their recipes reflect this ethos. Moreover, Shulman states that part of the reason why the food is so healthy is because of the ingredients – for instance, olive oil is a staple in many of the dishes in Italy and Spain, and olive oil is thought to reduce bad cholesterol in the people who consume this kind of oil on a regular basis. Vegetables also form a focus in this kind of food, including tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, artichokes, sweet peas and beans. These are all known to be very healthful ingredients as well. The fruits which are a part of the cuisine are also healthy, and they include figs, melons, peaches and apricots. These dishes are also centered around lean protein, such as rabbit, chicken and fish. Shulman also praises the Mediterranean cuisine because of the flavor that it receives from the fresh, wholesome ingredients and herbs. Because the herbs are so pungent – common herbs include parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme, sage, coriander and mint, along with a lot of garlic – the cuisine is flavorful without adding a lot of sodium and fat. Other in gredients which are used in the Mediterranean, including Parmesan Cheese, are so flavorful that a little goes a long way. Even the desserts in Shulman’s book, such as fruit enhanced with honey and lemon, are healthy and low-sugar (Shulman, 1989). Shulman’s book consists of food from throughout the Mediterranean, so she has recipes from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, and the Middle East. The website â€Å"AroundSicily.com† zeroes in on Italian food, and the benefits of this kind of cuisine. This website states that Italian food, true Italian food, centers on fresh ingredients, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, dairy products, fish, poultry, eggs and moderate amounts of wine. This website states that a typical Italian breakfast consists of yogurt, milk or coffee; snacks are fruits and juices; lunch is a pasta and salad; and dinner consists of fish, meat or chicken with a vegetable side dish. Pizza, the Ita lian dish that many non-Italians consider to be a staple, is only consumed sparingly in Italy, with most Italians eating this once a week (AroundSicily.com). Nestle (1995) is particularly concerned with Mediterranean food, and its current status of being somewhat of a lost art. She states that the Mediterranean people show the rate of chronic diseases to be the lowest in the world, with some of the highest life expectancies in the world. For instance, Nestle notes that the Cretes subsist on a diet of olives, cereal grains, wild

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Dead Man’s Path by Chinua Achebe Essay Example for Free

Dead Man’s Path by Chinua Achebe Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story is generally depicting the theme which is said to be modernity versus old. The old is characterized by the villagers which still continues doing their rituals and also it is characterized by the pathway (Nerdicity).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The new or modernity is characterized and depicted by the institution and the new headmasters who aimed for renewing almost all of the old staffs at the school (Nerdicity).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The institution, as depicted in the story as the explanation for the theme, tends the humanity of that generation to be liberated with regard to newer and or modern things (Nerdicity). They are also trying to liberate the villagers that the villager’s old beliefs and practices are wrong which includes the practice of their belief about the pathway (Nerdicity). Theme explanation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme in the story is about Modern versus Old. It is said that Chinua Achebe came up to this theme based on how the new Nigerian thinks. The new Nigerian’s way of thinking explains their ideologies on beautifying gardens (Nerdicity).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this theme as explained in the story, Michael Oli wanted a development at the institution abut the problem is; the villagers are a source of hindrance to his development plan for the school.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme is explaining how certain people wanted a more liberated and modernized society for a better living but still there are some who does not want to go with this modernization issue. They are contented following their old practices. The theme also explains how extinction of old practices including tradition and cultures because of the rapid development and its being imposed to the people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme also explained that imposing new ideas to people who believes and appreciates old practices is a hard thing to do that will need your patience and understanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Imposing new is better for it will benefit a lot of aspects in life but it will be better if instead of making all things new, people can combine new and old instead that will be more effective for everyone as it won’t be a source for any conflict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Example of new versus old is the modernity versus traditional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It conveys the lesson which states that traditions should not be changed into new ones and it should also be not ignored.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme is said to be effective for people to realize that old beliefs are said to be influential and important so it should not be disregarded. Traditions are somehow an alternatives in teaching morals, it is said to be much more influential because there are lessons that people can learn through this (Cindy). About the theme   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author created the theme because he wanted people to be informed and to realize that endorsing such modernity over traditional matter in a bad approach will create a negative consequence (LLC).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chinua Achebe wanted to impose that when a certain person intends and tries to block a certain essential aspect of that person’s existence, the act could create or lead into a negative reaction and consequences (LLC). This is depicted when Michael Obi blocked the path where it is part of the villager’s important ritual in respect for their ancestors whenever someone dies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme was generally made for people to see the negative impact of modernity to traditional activities. The impact in the story depicted through the theme is explaining that in order to convince people to accept certain ideologies, the one who imposes should also possess the characteristics that others would respect (LLC). This characteristic is important in order for other existence to accept the ideologies that a certain person imposes (LLC). Universal truth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indeed, the story expresses universal truth because people can’t deny the fact that there are really some people at any part of the world that endorses betterment in certain people but does it in a negative approach. People would be insulted through this kind of approach that provokes them to start a misunderstanding and conflict to each other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An example of this is when a certain person preaches something according to his views and beliefs. If a certain person imposed his ideologies and forced people to believe by threatening their lives or their own beliefs, the act will cause into major conflicts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This statement is an example situation based on the theme of the story by Chinua Achebe.   Symbols used in the story   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the story, there are a lot of instances that symbolizes the given theme. One of this is when Michael imposed the modernity by renewing almost all of the old professors in the school and changing them into new and younger ones (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Michael could have imposed his aim of modernity through adding new teachers hence still allowing the old ones to perform their teaching in the school but he did the other way. Michael aimed to remove the villager’s right to practice their important rituals instead of respecting it (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Michel did not respect the rituals and beliefs of the villagers hence he also disregarded what the priest advised him. Michael blocked the pathway to avoid the villagers from walking though it and he did it to prevent them from ruining the property (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By doing the certain act, Michael is said to have insulted the villager’s beliefs and ritual practice. He could have just let the villagers take that certain part and took another part to accomplish his project due to beautifying the school. Lastly is when Michael ignored what the villagers asked of him to be able to resolve the arising conflict. The villagers asked him to do a heavy sacrifice in order to conciliate his fault from the villager’s ancestors (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is implying the disrespect to someone’s beliefs. Instead of following what they asked of him, he ignored the idea and continued on imposing what he wanted. Symbols   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The school ground as the pathway, this symbolizes the tradition and beliefs of the villagers. It is explained in the story that it is a part of the villager’s ritual to take that certain path whenever someone dies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The blocking of the pathway; this symbolizes the unacceptance and disrespect of Michael as the main character. He disrespected the villager’s practices which they’ve done always. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author came up to the theme by implying his view on respecting one’s beliefs and traditions. If a certain person wants his ideologies to be accepted, he should impose it in a kind manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If a certain person wants to succeed imposing his ideas, he then should also respect other’s ideologies to prevent things from leading into conflicts and negative reactions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Author of the story in my opinion is aware that tradition might be forgotten because of the developments and liberations that the society imposes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Achebe showed through his story about his respect to certain people’s beliefs even if it is not evidently true, thus it is everyone’s right to practice their cultural and traditional beliefs as long as it wont be a reason for other people’s oppression (Cindy).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is what the theme implies through the story Dead Man’s Path by Chinua Achebe. Works Cited Cindy. Dead Mans Path. 2007. Classroom, The Global. Dead Mens Path Chinua Achebe , 2006. LLC, Mega Essays. Chinua Achebe, Dead Mans Path. 2007. Nerdicity. Dead Mans Path. 2006.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Fifth Child Essay -- literary Analysis, Doris Lessing

The intricate complexity and astonishingly realistic descriptions of space in Doris Lessing’s The Fifth Child masterfully illuminates society’s dire inability to cope with it’s imperfection. Society demands immaculate perfection, a world free of defect, and the lust to live in a flawless utopia drives the identification and elimination of crude invalids. These desolate individuals are feared and deemed to be barbarous degenerates who must be placed beyond the boarders of functioning society to assure an uncorrupted world. Less desirable beings are cast into heterotopias or â€Å"counter-sites† while society denies their existence and feigns perfection. Lessing’s novel tears this image down and hastily exposes society’s despicable attempts to marginalize, blame, and exile those regarded as abnormal and dysfunctional in the supposedly immaculate world. In The Fifth Child the precisely executed heterotopia of the institution draws on this theor y of a parallel space as a capsule for undesired bodies and Harriet, the mother of a repugnant beast, is victim to society’s brutality. Harriet is an outcast and her remarkably horrific interaction with the cruel institution further alienates her from her family and miserably casts her into her own tumultuous heterotopia. Throughout the novel Harriet’s striking differences are juxtaposed against the societal trends of the time and she is commonly viewed as a misplaced oddity. Early descriptions in The Fifth Child define Harriet as abnormal and her image places her outside of the robust and transitional society in which she lives. Harriet is a curious misfit and she â€Å"sometimes felt herself unfortunate and deficient in some way† (10). This recognition of inexplicable peculiarities soon establishe... ...ly illuminates and exploits the despicable views and problems in society. The novel exemplifies society’s elitist attitude and unjust marginalization of individuals who are regarded as degenerate, invalid and grotesque through Harriet. Her harrowing interactions with the magnificently developed and horrific institution highlights the pathetic attempts of society to displace individuals and dispose of them beyond their functioning boarders. In addition, Harriet’s parallels with the institution lead to her alienation from the world. She is regarded as grossly unnatural, criminalized, and left alone to raise her difficult son Ben. It is clear that Harriet’s unfortunate interaction and connection to the ghastly institution uncovers society’s unforgiving demeanor and demonstrates the terrible and irreparable rift between misunderstood, peculiar individuals and the world.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Califonia Consort: Piano Quintet Essay

The consert was my first time and delightful that I had a opportunity to listen to classical music through the first concert, two Piano Quintets performed by Karen Follingstad, Alyze Dreiling, Susan Ung, Lorie Kirkell, Bert Turetzky at the Incarnation Lutheran Church on February, 19, 2012. The performance consisted of two pieces and the first piece performed was Piano quintet, Op 87 written by J.N. Hummel in the end of classic era and the second piece was Piano Quintet, Op 114 written by F. Schubert, also as well known as â€Å"The Trout.† It was interesting that Hummel composed this quintet in 1802, almost 20 years before Schubert wrote the Trout in 1819 and their composition were widely played during their lifetime; in addition, the both of them have a common in that those two are famous Piano quintets. I thought that the melodies were quite and resounded magnificently in my mind. I could even subconsciously focus on the notes and release feelings of tension. First of all, the Quintet Op.87 is a masterpiece; the first movement (Allegro E Risoluto Assai) at once captives and impresses the hearer with its power and passion. After this follows the Menuetto Y Trio, Largo, Allegra Agitato, is full of light-hearted merriment and ends with a brilliant and effective close. While listening to it, the melody reminded me of Mozart’s pianistic style and The Trout, which would be performed just next to it and, actually, Hummel studied with Mozart. Especially, the first movement of Quintet, OP.87 sounded like tango to me and it started with the violin by Alyze Dreiling, then, the piano sounded to make harmony. I felt that the piano sound was extremely live and rhythmical, whereas, the others created nervous tension for making harmony with the piano. As I said above, everything including Violin, Viola, Cello and Contrabass seemed to be harmony with another, the sound reflected to be able to emphasize each instrument and piano quintet. The second movement, Menuetto Y Trio, Allegro con fuoco, started quietly but, soon, it made a highly elated atmosphere which I was going into and let myself to the flow of continuing intensive melody. On the other hand, it sounded for me to ease tension occasionally. At that time, I could even felt melancholy strain. It repeated to raise tensions constantly, which it was the first time that the melody made me high tension emotionally and I was  impressed by the harmony of the piano quintet because I had never been to any orchestra or concert. After that, the third chapter, Largo, started and then, the sound of piano a bit went up with its fast pace and increased tension more and more, which I felt like sadness and depressed emotion; however, I could retrieve my mental stability by focusing on listening to it. My sentiment was raising highly as it was flowing fast little by little and, finally, was connected to the Finale, Allegra Agitato, the last movement. In the last movement, it became mild, warm and brighter again as if the first movement, the violin and cello sound much attracted my attention because of the wonderful and lilting sound. In the end of the Finale, it went up with high pace again and presented the peculiar principal theme which was of a somewhat martial feature. It ended up with the climax, tension of harmony. I could understand little why it is particularly interesting in its scoring and receive hummel’s great dramatic works by listening to it. Secondly, after Piano quintet, Op 87 performed, they played Piano Quintet, Op 114, widely known as The Trout. It was not first time to hear it but was first time to see the performance at the concert. It consists of five parts and is also immensely popular and famous because it was made by F .Schubert. As the name is The Trout, I felt the piano sound was fresh and animated as if trout was swimming lively from the first movement. When hiking the mountain and seeing the water of a brook, we can feel being full of life, animation and restfulness. I felt just like when I see the water of a brook and could even imagine the figure of trout. In the first movement, Allegro Vivace, the four instruments made harmony slowly based on the piano sound and, especially, the violin and cello stood out clearly. The powerful sound of the cello by Lorie Kirkell was so great and played a role as bridge. I was impressed by a merit of cello sound again and again. The second movement, Andante, was so lyrical melody that I could feel stability and richness like I had lived in village and been satisfied with my life; in addition, The three of the violin, viola and cello melodies definitely showed to advantage. I personally would like to listen to the music with lyricism because it radiates feeling of relaxation. From this part, I started to think this tune was made for cello because the cello sounded  ever-greater part of this music. After the second chapter, the third movement, Scherzo, was as if the piano and others were talking to each other to make harmony. It was greatly cheerful that it made me pleasant and it went up with fast pace. The light each sounds added zest to the melody. The reason why I listen to it again and again is this part because its flow was interesting to me like trout was playing in the water. In the fourth movement, Andantino, I felt different sensation of lilting due to the many times of playing a variation and foun d the other liveliness by hearing this chapter. This part was why it was named The Trout because it impresses that trout settles down to active, indeed. I also could imagine that trout was going all over in the water and playing; moreover, I could know this part was made of cheerful feature entirely. The Finale, Allegro Giusto, also was brimful of vigor. The four string instrument played theme and the piano repeated it in high speed. This part also made an impression which was fulfilled of vitality to me. I would like the music going on continuously fresh tune of the four string instrument’s sound. Somehow it made me feel like Hungary wanderer too because of the delightful melody. This performance was fascinating enough to hold attention of audiences. I was captivated by the great wonderful sound. By listening to these two piano quintets, I took a new step on the classic music. I was unfamiliar with classic music but, now, since I attended this concert, I sometimes listen to classic music and relieve stress. Now I realized that classical music has its own distinct charm compared to new age and the impression from the melody could be amplified when I appreciated musical pieces on the spot. It was today when I sank into a deep emotion with classic music, precious harvest to attend the great concert and listen to classic music.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Fireworks Factory Essay

Jerry Yu is an American born Chinese man with an MBA who runs a small family chain of businesses in New York. He is faced with a decision to invest in the Chinese fireworks industry. Jerry must assess the attractiveness of the fireworks industry along with the risks involved. Throughout this paper we will analyze the pros and cons of entering the market of Chinese fireworks. In our opinion, Jerry Yu should not invest in the Liuyang fireworks factory. While there are many factors that could give Jerry the opportunity to be successful, the low profit margin and the high instability of the market outweigh the chances of success. The regulations throughout the fireworks industry varies from market to market. For example, China’s domestic market has deregulated since 2005, while the American market remains regulated. The high competition paired with the low selling prices due to undercutting has caused the profit margin to decrease, especially for new entries. The reason for this is that the established fireworks companies have long term contracts with suppliers, causing Jerry to sell his fireworks at a lower price. Established companies also cause a problem because of their relationships with the raw material suppliers. Due to their longstanding relationships, these companies have a right to supplies before the new entries. This results in the new entries receiving lower quality materials, leading to a worse product and less safe working environment. Even though technology is involved in the production of the fireworks, the cheaper quality materials cause a greater risk of an accident during the manual mixing of powders, which is the most dangerous step. The risk of an accident is so high that most factories are built in rural areas near a water source with separated departments in case of an explosion. Another factor that should be considered is the environmental hazards of fireworks production and use. With an increase concern for the environment and â€Å"going green†, stricter regulations have been put into place. With the new restrictions and concern to avoid pollution, the consumption of and desire for fireworks could eventually fade away. Substitutes have already entered the market that are more environmental friendly. These substitutes include popping of red balloons and laser light shows. Considering all of the risks, along with the entrance of substitutes, we advise that Jerry Yu not invest in the Chinese fireworks industry. Jerry Yu has many factors to consider involving risk  associated with the Chinese fireworks industry; however, there are many advantages in investing that he should not overlook. The Chinese fireworks industry is a highly competitive market. With over 6,000 companies, it is hard to differentiate products. The attractiveness of investing in the industry is that there is easy entry. In Liuyang, there are over 400,000 laborers working in the industry, and this makes for low cost labor and easy access to skilled labor. While the majority of workers in China are not skilled, the residents in Liuyang have gained experience with producing fireworks. Jerry has an opportunity to use this to his advantage. If he can rework the business structure of the company previously run by the village, he can set his factory apart from the average family run and operated businesses. Jerry Yu must recognize that in 2009, the current market size is $675 million, and if he plays his cards the right way, he can grab a large portion of the market share. In order to do this, his factory should have a competitive advantage. The question is, how can he go about this? We believe that he can achieve this goal by building his factory to be different from all others in the industry and specializing specifically in fireworks instead of firecrackers. Jerry Yu needs to create a niche where he, and only he, has the ability to make the highest quality of fireworks in the world. He must create a marketing strategy that has not been introduced to the current market, and he must hire the most qualified engineers to make the safest and most extraordinary combination of fireworks that exists. In doing so, Jerry has an opportunity to push the technology bubble to a place that fireworks have never been before. Creating a more unique, high quality product that will blow the competition away will give Jerry the ability to set his prices higher than other manufacturers. Jerry does not need to concentrate his sales upon the low cost average firework sales that sell in bulk, but he must sell a few high quality fireworks that give him a large margin. He needs to stay away from the price competition, and the way he will do this is by creating a niche firework that the world has never seen before. One way that Jerry can set his factory apart from other firework competitors is to embrace the new and changing technologies. Instead of looking at lasers and music as negative competition, he can make an alliance with them. Jerry can team up with a laser light show and a music show to complement the firework display. Creating a bundle package for the most  elite firework show that the world has ever seen is an answer to the niche market that Jerry should pursue. Jerry Yu should also focus on brand advertising and brand awareness, so his brand of fireworks can stand out above the other businesses in the market. He could create a marketing campaign that emphasizes that his fireworks are the best in the world, as well as the safest. A major objective for Jerry Yu should be to aim for a specific, high paying target market. The competition is high in the basic firework industry, and entering this market would result in price gouging; this would be too hard for Jerry to gain market share at this level. He will have to set his product apart from what already exists. He should guarantee that his fireworks are the safest and highest quality, which can give him the competitive advantage to target high paying customers. For example, Jerry Yu does not need to concentrate his sales to the common buyers. He should aim to get his product to a popular show, such as the Beijing Olympics, or to high paying customers in the United States and Europe where the price is not a huge concern. In ensuring his high paying customers of safety and quality, there will be very few businesses, if any, that can compete with Jerry. While the objective of Jerry Yu should be to aim at a particular market, this goal is not in the best interest of Liuyang Firecrackers and Fireworks Industry Department to go that route. In our opinion, Jerry Yu should advise Liuyang to encourage its citizens to consolidate its family owned businesses into bigger corporations. As of now, one of the only ways to differentiate products is by undercutting other manufacturers’ prices. The entire industry should focus on a way that each company can pull away from price gouging and work together to make sure the prices stay at a constant medium that will benefit all of the manufacturers. One way businesses could do this is to designate certain types of fireworks and firecrackers to be made by specific manufacturers or areas. In doing so, the designated companies could increase productivity and steer clear of price gouging. After analyzing the circumstances associated with entering the Liuyang fireworks factory, we believe Jerry Yu should not invest his time and money into the market because the risks highly outweigh the benefits. The market is too unpredictable, restricted, and saturated to guarantee a successful investment. If Jerry Yu did take on this investment opportunity, the costs he would endure to improve the company would not be  worth it in the long run. With the industry being the way it is, it would be difficult for Jerry Yu to become profitable.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on Berlin Blockade

Berlin Blockade The blockade of Berlin was the first serious crisis of the Cold War. By 1948, the Western allies began moving towards consolidating their occupation zones in Western Germany into a single independent German state. As part of that process, the U.S., France and Britain took steps to reform the currency in the parts of Germany they occupied, in order to promote economic recovery. The new currency, over which the Soviets would have no control, was also to become legal tender in the Western sectors of Berlin. The USSR, which had been invaded twice by Germany, was alarmed at the prospect of a strong Germany. The Soviet leadership responded to the Western allies' currency reforms by installing their own new currency in East Berlin just 24 hours before the West mark was to go into circulation. They also imposed a blockade on West Berlin, cutting off all land and rail routes into the Western sectors. Lucius Clay, the military governor of the American zone of occupied Germany wrote: "When the order of the Soviet Military Administration to close all rail traffic from the western zones went into effect at 6:00AM on the morning of June 24, 1948, the three western sectors of Berlin, with a civilian population of about 2,500,000 people, became dependent on reserve stocks and airlift replacements. It was one of the most ruthless efforts in modern times to use mass starvation for political coercion... " Initially the Soviet authorities thought the plan was working. "Our control and restrictive measures have dealt a strong blow at the prestige of the Americans and British in Germany. " The Soviet authorities reported. But the Western Allies responded immediately by mounting a tremendous airlift. Under the leadership of General Curtis LeMay, ten-ton capacity C-54s began supplying the city on July 1. By the fall the airlift, code-named "Operation Vittles "and often referred to as "LeMay's feed and coal company ," was bringing... Free Essays on Berlin Blockade Free Essays on Berlin Blockade Berlin Blockade The blockade of Berlin was the first serious crisis of the Cold War. By 1948, the Western allies began moving towards consolidating their occupation zones in Western Germany into a single independent German state. As part of that process, the U.S., France and Britain took steps to reform the currency in the parts of Germany they occupied, in order to promote economic recovery. The new currency, over which the Soviets would have no control, was also to become legal tender in the Western sectors of Berlin. The USSR, which had been invaded twice by Germany, was alarmed at the prospect of a strong Germany. The Soviet leadership responded to the Western allies' currency reforms by installing their own new currency in East Berlin just 24 hours before the West mark was to go into circulation. They also imposed a blockade on West Berlin, cutting off all land and rail routes into the Western sectors. Lucius Clay, the military governor of the American zone of occupied Germany wrote: "When the order of the Soviet Military Administration to close all rail traffic from the western zones went into effect at 6:00AM on the morning of June 24, 1948, the three western sectors of Berlin, with a civilian population of about 2,500,000 people, became dependent on reserve stocks and airlift replacements. It was one of the most ruthless efforts in modern times to use mass starvation for political coercion... " Initially the Soviet authorities thought the plan was working. "Our control and restrictive measures have dealt a strong blow at the prestige of the Americans and British in Germany. " The Soviet authorities reported. But the Western Allies responded immediately by mounting a tremendous airlift. Under the leadership of General Curtis LeMay, ten-ton capacity C-54s began supplying the city on July 1. By the fall the airlift, code-named "Operation Vittles "and often referred to as "LeMay's feed and coal company ," was bringing...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Changing Font Properties in VB.NET

Changing Font Properties in VB.NET Bold is read-only in VB.NET. This article tells you how to change that. In VB6, it was dead easy to change a font to bold. You simply coded something like Label1.FontBold, but in VB.NET, the Bold property of the Font object for a Label is read-only. So how do you change it? Changing Font Properties in VB.NET With Windows Forms Heres the basic code pattern for Windows Forms. Private Sub BoldCheckbox_CheckedChanged( _ByVal sender As System.Object, _ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _Handles BoldCheckbox.CheckedChangedIf BoldCheckbox.CheckState CheckState.Checked ThenTextToBeBold.Font _New Font(TextToBeBold.Font, FontStyle.Bold)ElseTextToBeBold.Font _New Font(TextToBeBold.Font, FontStyle.Regular)End IfEnd Sub Theres a lot more than Label1.FontBold, thats for sure. In .NET, fonts are immutable. That means once they are created they cannot be updated. VB.NET gives you more control than you get with VB6 over what your program is doing, but the cost is that you have to write the code to get that control. VB6 will internally drop one GDI font resource and create a new one. With VB.NET, you have to do it yourself. You can make things a little more global by adding a global declaration at the top of your form: Private fBold As New Font(Arial, FontStyle.Bold)Private fNormal As New Font(Arial, FontStyle.Regular) Then you can code: TextToBeBold.Font fBold Note that the global declaration now specifies the font family, Arial, rather than simply using the existing font family of one specific control. Using WPF What about WPF? WPF is a graphical subsystem you can use with the .NET Framework to build applications where the user interface is based on an XML language called XAML and the code is separate from the design and is based on a .NET language like Visual Basic.  In WPF, Microsoft changed the process yet again. Heres the way you do the same thing in WPF. Private Sub BoldCheckbox_Checked( _ByVal sender As System.Object, _ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs) _Handles BoldCheckbox.CheckedIf BoldCheckbox.IsChecked True ThenTextToBeBold.FontWeight FontWeights.BoldElseTextToBeBold.FontWeight FontWeights.NormalEnd IfEnd Sub The changes are: The CheckBox event is Checked instead of CheckedChangedThe CheckBox property is IsChecked instead of CheckStateThe property value is a Boolean True/False instead of the Enum CheckState. (Windows Forms offers a True/False Checked property in addition to CheckState, but WPF doesnt have both.)FontWeight is a dependency property of the Label instead of FontStyle being the property of the Font object.FontWeights is a NotInheritable class and Bold is a Static value in that class Whew!!  Do you think Microsoft  actually tried to make it more confusing?

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Creation of Web Portal and Database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Creation of Web Portal and Database - Essay Example The business needs that will be achieved through the creation of a web portal within the institution includes an improved financial status, increased capacity and efficiency of service delivery, increased institution membership, increased student numbers and retention and enhanced satisfaction among the clients. The system implementation methodology should be applied within the institution in the adoption and installation of the web portal. This will ensure that the objective of the implementation process will be focused at appropriate design, adoption and application of the web portal within the institution (Villeneuve and Aminah, 2003). Additionally the institution will be able to ensure that the adoption and use of the web portal will be congruent with the policies and organization of Brisbane Institute of Art. The capability of the organization to implement the suggested solution is determined by the availability of resources and expertise that will design and maintain the web po rtal. Additionally, the organization must establish security policies that would play a role of securing the information within its databases through regulation of access. It is assumed that the organization has adequate financial resources that will be allocated for the adoption and implementation of the web portal. ... Therefore a cost benefit analysis will be conducted in relation to the strengths and weakness of the company to implement the opportunities of an effective web portal in its functions. More importantly, the stakeholders of the institution must be able to see the benefits that will be achieved through the implementation of the web portal (Griffith, Tansik and Benson, 2002). Solution Scope/Details The solution for Brisbane Institute of Art’s problem is the creation of an up to date website and database for effective management of its operations and enhanced communication among its stakeholders. The design and creation of the website should be compatible with modern software applications. This will enable the institution to enable more features within its website such as the use of multimedia as opposed to the current use of outdated Joomla package which is characterized by evident inefficiencies in processing data. More importantly, there should be creation of a database within the institution for efficient management of records. The creation of the database should also include sub databases such as student record management databases for finances, examinations, personal details and activities. Furthermore the solution for Brisbane Institute of Art should include a database for effective management of its human resource such as instructors to alleviate the problem of increased employee turnover. The creation of an up to date website will affect all areas of the institution. This includes the admissions, administration, human resource, records and human resource departments. For example the admissions department will be able to advertise on the

Friday, November 1, 2019

Advertising Strategy and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advertising Strategy and Planning - Essay Example About 6% of the UK population is vegetarian which approximately 3.5 million individuals are. In early 1990’s this population was about 3-4% (Case study notes). The diet for vegetarians comprises of nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and grains and at times eggs and products. Fundamentally a vegetarian does not take fish, meat or poultry. There is a considerable section of the UK population that inclines towards minimizing meat in their diet. According to the survey conducted by TGI, 6.3% of the people admitted to be vegetarian while 13.3% admitted to have done away with meat diet on voluntary basis (Case study notes). The largest populations of vegetarians are women aged between 20 and 44 years and those living in the southern part of UK (The Vegetarian Society 59). There is a close relationship between the high consciousness of issues to do with environment and the vegetarians like carbon footprint, sustainability and global warming. The forces for the pattern in consumption of less quantity of meat are attributed to the current lifestyles and an interest in wellbeing and health. The five day campaign launched by the government in 2003 encouraging five segments of vegetables and fruits per day is attributed with the supporting awareness of the advantages of consuming vegetables and fruits (The Vegetarian Society 59). The rise in ethnic food has resulted into more foreign spices and savoring into the diet of the country and supported increased shift away from the conventional diet of two vegetables and meat. There are about 110,000 restaurants in UK with joint sales revenue of  £25 billion (Powers and Cathy 47). Even though majority of the restaurants provide vegetarian foods, reasonably very few offer exclusively vegetarian alternatives. To use 5% of the advertisement budget on social media, 39% on digital advertisement, 27% on public relation, 18% on

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Business & Society case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business & Society case Study - Essay Example Market stakeholders aid Disney Corporation in delivering its services to the community, notably the provision of job opportunities to the surrounding communities, though commuting from the less expensive surrounding community since the area is considered to being a business location and not for settlement. The first key market stakeholders are the creditors who play an important role in the day to day running of the business in most corporations as they provide the unavailable funds that companies and businesses require to invest in as the aim to boosts its business activities (James E. Post 6). Disneyland is a business location in which their major business is the tourist and resort centre which is a booming industry. The creditors of the companies involved in the tourism and resort business are the major stakeholders because they have lent their money expecting the returns of capital principal as well as the interest (James E. Post 15). The second key stakeholder in this case study are the employees who contribute the relevant knowledge and experience as the workforce to the company in which, in return, they get wages benefits, salaries and the chance for personal realization and satisfaction. The third suppliers who are the holding key backbone on the going concern of the tourist and resort business in Disneyland, the suppliers supply services, energy, raw materials, other various inputs in return for payments. The final non-market stakeholders are the wholesalers, distributors and the retailers who are the main chain of the distribution in the whole process thus aiding its movement to the final consumers (Post et al. 25). In this case, the non-market stakeholders are the surrounding society, the general public, media, non-governmental organizations and the business support groups. All of these non-market stakeholders are generally not affected by the economic exchange of the company. It is important to note that the decisions of

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Effects of Raising Interest Rates on Inflation

Effects of Raising Interest Rates on Inflation What causes inflation? How is inflation bad for the economy? How can raising interest rate lower inflation? (1000) Introduction Inflation is defined as continuing rise in the general level of prices, such that it costs more to purchase a typical bundle of goods and services that is produced or consumed or both. In simple words, inflation leads to a decline in the real value of money. Sloman (2006) explains that the rate of inflation measures the annual percentage increase in prices. Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is published every month, is used to measure the rate of change in consumer prices. Undoubtedly, inflation is an undesirable condition for an economy. Prior to discussing the consequences of inflation in the economy, it is important to understand the causes of inflation. Inflation may be caused by demand side factors or supply side factors. As it can be seen from the above diagram in the case of demand pull inflation the AD curve shifts to the right because of an increase in demand which leads to an increase in output. Thus it is associated with a booming economy. The suppliers will only be willing to supply more at a higher price therefore increase the level of price. Whilst in the case of cost push inflation, there is an increase in price as a result in an increase in the cost of production independent of aggregate demand. This may occur as a result of increase in wages, or it might be that import price has increased irrespective of an increase in demand. There might be an increase in the level of taxes as well. Therefore any factor which contributes to an increase in the cost of production which leads to a rise in inflation causes cost push inflation. As a result of which there is a shift in the AS curve to the left. The suppliers will not bear the increased cost of production and instead will shift the price to the consumers by increasing prices and as a result fuelling inflation. Amongst several harmful effects highlighted Gwartney et. al (2000) argued that inflation distorted the information delivered by prices. They further stated that people responded to high and variable rates of inflation by spending less time producing and more time trying to protect themselves from inflation. Furthermore, inflation results in increased uncertainty which reduces the level of investment. A reduced level of investment would hamper economic growth, which further restricts people having a better standard of living and may also lead to unemployment. Further criticisms are that inflation redistributes income away from those on fixed incomes and those in a weak bargaining position to those who can use their economic power to gain large pay, rent or profit increases. Higher levels of inflation also worsens balance of payments position, a higher rate of inflation makes a country’s export less competitive in world markets and imports become cheaper and more attractive. Bes ides, extra resources are used to cope with the effects of inflation. Increasing interest rates has been one of the solutions offered to combat increasing level of inflation. Inflation has for long been considered a monetary phenomenon and economists believe that inflation can best be tackled by adopting the monetary policy approach. The UK economy recently has been a good example of such measure. Inflation was 3.79% well above the 2% target and after the increase in interest rate in the past months to 5.5% and also an anticipated increase in interest rate has led the inflation rate to fall to 2.8% in April (Website: BBC). In the UK Bank of England sets the interest rates which controls the money supply and in turn controls inflation as well. The UK government follows a target and instrument approach to keep inflation under control. Increasing interest rates with a view to controlling inflation works in a manner that it reduces the money supply. People have an incentive to save rather than spend, therefore controlling the increasing rise in prices. Thi s measure is a useful approach though the government should be careful to not continuously raise interest rates and curb spending because it would then adversely affect aggregate demand thereby slowing economic growth. Besides interest rates, the government could also opt for fiscal policy measures by increasing level of taxes or may be reducing government spending and in that manner controlling supply of money, To tackle cost-push inflation, government could provide tax relief or provide subsidies to firms so that the cost of production reduces which could lead to the producers maintaining the level of prices rather than increasing them. Some economists have also stated that costs of inflation may be mild if the inflation is kept in single figures. Conclusion From the preceding paragraphs it can be said that increased level of inflation is not a desirable situation for an economy. However, a certain level of inflation is required in the economy to incentivise producers to produce more and better variety of goods and services. Inflation poses to be a problem when the level of increased prices dampens exports, reduces the competitiveness of a country and starts affecting the economic growth of the country by creating uncertainty and therefore leading to reduced level of investments. However, fiscal and monetary policy measures can be taken to control the increasing level of inflation. Increasing interest rates, leads to a restricted flow of money supply, resulting in reduced level of spending, saving more, demanding less of goods and services and therefore leading to a slower increase in price levels. Fiscal policy measures could also be used to combat inflation. More importantly for an economy to grow reducing levels of inflation is an imp ortant macroeconomic objective. In conclusion it can be said inflation can be adversely affect levels of economic growth if allowed to go out of hand and increasing interest rates is undoubtedly one of the ways, though not the only way, to tackle inflation. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dornbusch, R., Fisher, S., Macroeconomics, (2000), Eighth Edition, Mc-Graw Hill Education Griffiths, A. and Wall, S., Applied Economics, (2001), Ninth edition, FT Prentice Hall Gwartney, James D., Stroup, Richard L., and Sobel, Russell S., Economics Private and Public Choice, (2000), Ninth Edition, The Dryden Press. Sloman, J., Essentials of Economics, (2004), Third edition, FT Prentice Hall Howells, P and Bain, K, The Economics of Money, Banking and Finance, (2002), Prentice Hall Journals and Articles Carlstrom, Charles., Money Growth and Inflation: Does Fiscal Policy matter?, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, April 15, 1999 Internet and Other Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6656899.stm

Friday, October 25, 2019

Some Surrender :: English Literature

Some Surrender I have recently reviewed the short story â€Å"Some Surrender† written by Bernard MacLaverty. It deals with the relationship between the father and the son however wider issues including bigotry and prejudice are also incorporated into the story. Maclaverty choose to set the story in Belfast and the strained relationship between the father and son. The two men are meeting to celebrate the fathers 75th birthday. They meet on a local hill on the outskirts of Belfast. We see the symbolic relationship between the struggle up the hill and the men’s relationship. â€Å"†¦.The steep angle of the hill†¦.† They have not been speaking to each other for the last 20 years and only in recent times have the met. We soon discover the source of the struggling and damaged relationship is the mother. After marrying a roman catholic and having a baby with his wife before they were married he was shunned from his family as his actions conflicted with his mothers strong sectarian beliefs. The father also mentions â€Å"†¦.done this climb since you were small†¦.† This shows that much time has passed and also that the characters are familiar with the setting. The son based a book he has created of photos taken in Belfast this also shows that the son has returned to Belfast in the past but not to be with his family. The title of the book is â€Å"Some Surrender† which is based on the protestant slogan â€Å"No Surrender.† The story is divided into four parts during which we learn about the characters and plot. It is also told in present tense. The first part forms the climb of their journey. We learn about the background of the two men their secret meetings and the son’s alienation from the mother. The story is told in the dialog of the two men through which we see humour, honesty, strain etc between the two characters. They are celebrating the fathers 75th birthday and are reminiscing and catching up with each other. The main focus is on Roy we hear of the broken relationship with his mother and the damaged relationship with his father. We learn that Roy is a photographer with some success. â€Å"I see your postcards all over the place. Supermarkets even.† He lives in Dublin and is now separated from his wife. We also her how much is his mother disapproved of the son’s marriage. â€Å"She wasn’t even a good catholic.† It is evident that bigotry is the main cause of the problems. In the second part we hear again through the humour and dialog of the characters the problems that exist in Ireland and why each thinks the

Thursday, October 24, 2019

A Study on the Effects and Treatment

Alcohol related mishaps and accidents remain the largest concern of society and in response to this more and more sectors of society have been implementing rules to curb the negative effects of teenage drinking.   There is no doubt that society has seen the negative consequences of teenage drinking.In a national probability sample of 4,023 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17, it was found that 15% of the sample used alcohol, 10% used marijuana, and 2% reported hard drug use in the past year (Farrell, 2006, p 284)).   This means that the problem of underage or teenage drinking is even more prevalent than other substances.Although some alcohol consumption among adolescents is considered normative, there is great concern for the number of teens who are exhibiting signs of alcohol abuse or dependence with 7% of the above sample meeting diagnostic criteria for alcohol, marijuana, or hard drug abuse or dependence.Trends in alcohol use reported in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in dicate that binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion during the 30 days prior to the survey) has shown little variation over the past several years, ranging from 31.3% in 1991 to 33.4% in 1997 to 31.5% in 1999 (Eaton, 2005, p. 79).Drinking continues to be a problem among youth and needs to be targeted specifically.   This drinking problem has led to a number of problems such school absenteeism and failure, depression, risky behaviors (especially driving under the influence), addiction, and death.This brief discourse, shall tackle the issue of alcohol abuse in teenagers as well as the possible treatments that can be done.   It shall also provide an etiological perspective of the problem in order to show the different factors that affect teenage alcoholism.Working as a school counselor for this age group, I agree with the American Academy of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry’s Report (2007) which states that the following groups are most at risk for alcohol abuse: 1) teenagers with a family history of addiction, 2) teenagers suffering from depression, 3) teenagers suffering with low self-esteem, and 4) teenagers that have academic problems.It has been shown that from the following groups the teenagers with a history of alcohol have higher rates of alcohol addiction with over 42% of the sample size coming from that background.The next group is that of those who were drinking because they were upset with a rate of 40% while the rest admitted that they usually drink because of low self-esteem and peer pressure which accounts for 25% of the teenagers (Farrell, 2006, p.284).   The number of teenagers that drink due to academic problems has steadily been on the rise since 1998 and is now at a rate of 25% of the teenagers.   From the list, one could argue that most teenagers have been in one or more of its categories at one time in their lives.Etiological Approach:The article, Etiology of Alcoholism Reconsidered, is an insightful article that p rovides a biophysical analysis of the problem.   Alcohol related mishaps and accidents remain the largest concern of society and in response to this more and more sectors of society have been taking steps to understand the nature of the problem.   One such approach is the biophysical approach conducted by Vailliant and Milofsky on the Etiological Approach to Alcoholism.It is theorized in the study conducted by Vailliant and Milofsky that there are other factors that must be considered when studying the problem of alcoholism.   According to the authors, there are personality and childhood influences that must be examined in order to arrive at a better understanding of the problem.In the study conducted, Vailliant and Milofsky studied many different factors and collected different types of date including ethnicity, heredity, psychological instability, childhood and adult personality variables, and family background (Vailliant and Milofsky, 1982, p43).   The data that was colle cted from all of this was then used to quantify the variance of each of the different etiological factors.It was from the data analytic strategy that Vailliant and Milofsky were able to draw the conclusion that whenever there are correlations that exist between alcoholism and certain behavioral patterns or symptoms, it is usually alcoholism that is the cause of such behavior or symptom rather than it being the result (Vailliant and Milofsky, 1982, p483).Alcoholism is, according to the authors, not so much a disorder whose etiological causes are personality and behavior but rather, it is a precedent for such behaviors.   It was also noted from the study that â€Å"premorbid antisocial behavior† is a major contributor to the etiology of alcoholism.Another important finding in the article is the fact that while Vailliant and Milofsky greatly downplayed the role of child antisocial behavior, it played a significant role in most of the categories.As with the other etiological fa ctors, it has been shown that there are correlations that have been overlooked or underrepresented in the study conducted by Vailliant and Milofsky.   As such, this has led to the theory of Zucker that in order for there to be an accurate etiological study, there must be a study that is conducted over â€Å"developmental time† and inclusive of â€Å"different levels of data† since it is only through this process that a proper understanding can be arrived at (Zucker 1986).There are, however, still certain researchers who argue that this study was not significant in that it failed to account for certain factors or relationships such as that of antisocial behavior and personality factors which was thought to be underestimated in the study.   This does not detract, however, that the study process used presented an angle that was quantifiable and perhaps accurate of the etiology of alcoholism. 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