Db1 strategic management of human assests Research Paper

Db1 strategic management of human assests - Research Paper Example Mission statements are considered as one of the most widely used management tools, which help an organization to achieve those important goals and objectives for necessary conditions of long- term activity and market success (Bart, 2001). One of the leading nutrition, health and wellness companies in the world food market is the Swiss Nestle, which aims to provide its consumers with the best nutritious and tasting food and beverage for all occasions. To be the best food company, Nestle invests greatly into the development of its people, using one of its principles for each employee to have an opportunity to develop to the maximum of their potential. It conducts learning in literacy and local and international trainings for its employees, has apprenticeship programs worldwide and gives the possibility to the managers to take part in the external management training. The company actively supports work and life balance of its employees, encouraging them for flexible working conditions if possible. To retain talents within an organization, Nestle should think over the improvement of its strategy towards its employees. Thus, certain surveys will give better vision of what employees expect from the company and how the rela tionship between the management and its staff can be improved. Brodowsky, G. H. (1998). The effects of country of design and country of assembly on evaluative beliefs about automobiles and attitudes toward buying them: A comparison between high and low ethnocentric consumers. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 10(3),

General Motors Analysis: SWOT and Porters Five Forces Analysis

General Motors Analysis: SWOT and Porters Five Forces Analysis Automotive legend of the last century, GM, is one of the biggest corporations in the world. Although GM had big turmoils in its business, it still operates successfully in all over the universe. The aim of this assignment is to determine the GMs business strategies with rises and falls by looking into their history, having the data of what and how did they do in their businesses and analysing their company activities. Being a leader and pioneer of the automobile industry since this sectors infancy times , General Motors Corporation still keeps its successful place in this competitive business. Since 1908, General Motors Corporation (GM) is one of the largest auto producer in the world as measured by global industry sales, whose headquarters is in United States of America. William C. Durant was the founder of General Motors Company with being an innovator in automobile technology. As being a multinational automobile manaufacturer General Motors employes about 280 million people all around the world with the total assets of 149 billion US Dollars. The company manufacturers the cars and the trucks in 55 different countries (exluding US and Canada). General Motors has sub-brands under its management. Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Vauxhall, Holden, Saturn and Wuling are some one the names of General Motors brands. The General Motors Company placed into a global market throughout the 1920s. Meanwhile, the company built itself as a firm which provided prestige, power and the other options. As a competitor, Ford, that focused on lower costs and lower prices, reversely GM targeted customers who had likely money to spend on more featurative products. During the World War II, General Motors Company manufactured armament and military vehicles,both for Allied and Axis forces. GM had improved its business level and becomed the largest corporation in the United States after the world war II. During the 1950s, style, desing, and engineering innovations are applied into the companys production line. In 1960s, GM also focused on insurance, home appliances, financing, electronics, locomotives and banking etc. In request for the smaller cars of European producers , GM introduced Chevrolet Corvair, that was ciriticized for safety issues in following days. In the next decade, oil prices went up and as well as the oil costs , environmental problems are taken into consider at those times. Therefore, there were a shift from huge oil guzzling cars to smaller European cars increased with the first energy crisis. After that , second crisis followed quickly by rising the concern for pollution and controlling of over emission and safety problems resulted GM lose of its market share to more economical and smaller vehicles. Especially between 1980s and 1990s , the Japanese imports rocketed ( See Appendix 1) ,so that, that time of a period was a hardship for GM, which was plagued by high competition with Japanese companies. As a result of this, GM had chenged its strategies like redesingining and reengineering of its car models. However , because of the high production costs , GM had continioued its high losses in the market with huge numbers. In 1990s, General Motors Company had started to close many of its plants and also cut the jobs. With these turmoils among the company, GM followed different strategies ,like buying Saab and Daewoo, and a little portion of Subaru and Suzukis shares, that were sold later for increasing the money. As follows, GM merged with FIAT car company which lasted five years. In the late-1990s, General Motors Company seemed on the way to big recovery, with sales stabilizing and stock increasing. However, end of the 2001 September, the company started to have challenges, and the system was changed again. In the following next few years, General Motors became a survivor in the highly competitive automobile industry with the economic recession in 2008, therefore the company had bailed out by the government for avoiding bankruptcy. (bbc.co.uk, 2010) In the first quarter of 2009, the auto giant posted a 6 billion dollars loss and said that it burned through 10.2 billion dollars of cash in the first three months of the year as revenue plummeted by 20 billion dollars'(about.com, 2010). However, besides these hard circumstances, in the first half of 2010, the General Motors sold more vehicles in China than in the US. (Constantini,2010) 3. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF GENERAL MOTORS Analysing the companys internal and external environments, there are many different frameworks and models exist for companies. By having some strategies enables the firms to get better understanding of the critical factors for their future success. Some sof the strategic analysis methods are Dunnings Eclectic Paradigm (Cavusgil et al., 2008), Porters Diamond and Five forces, Directional Policy Matrix, Mintzbergs School of Thoughts (Mintzberg et al., 2003) Value Chain Analysis (Johnson et al., 2008), SWOT analysis (Kotler and Keller, 2009), etc. The suitable frameworks choosing is depends on what the company needs to address and in what circumstances it needs to do so (Johnson et al., 2008). This is because many firms today operate both on a national, regional and global basis and as such need appropriate strategy for each individual environment (Schlie and Yip, 2000). As being a multinational enterprise, GM operates in approximately 57 countries, including Canada and US, and they serve and operate in variety of services from improvement, marketing, manufacturing of cars, trucks to economy and insurance services (Datamonitor, 2009). A potent tool and a flexible framework that could assist in describing and assessing competitive pressures in an industry and industry attractiveness is the Porters five forces (FF) model (Niederhut-Bollmann and Theuvsen, 2008). The model helps a company to decide how and where to make strategic changes for gaining and sustaining competitive advantages over rival firms and thereby generating above-average return on investments (Niederhut-Bollmann and Theuvsen, 2008). In addition, one the school of the Mintzberg Ten School of Thoughts, The Design School, gives us another highly essential analysis for the firms. According to Mintzberg, The Design School sees strategy formation as achieving the essential fit between internal and external aspects'(Mintzberg et al., 2003:p23). Meanwhile, strenghts and weaknesses are given as the internal capabilities, on the other hand, opportunities and threads are seen as the external possibilities. Therefore, in this assignment, the General Motors Company will be analysed through company strategies. Firstly competitive advantage and analysis will be done according to Michael Porters five forces. Secondly, internal and external analysis will be given according to Mintzbergs Design School by applying the SWOT analysis. Finally, in the last to secion Value Chain and BCG Matrix Analysis will be examined. 3.1. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ANALYSIS OF GM ACCORDING TO MICHAEL PORTERS FIVE FORCES The competitive analysis of a company is an essential element of identifying components which are a threat to reduce profitability. For assesing over the competitive problems , Michael Porters five forces analysis is the one of the most efficient way. Porter (2004) has brought the light of five such factors: (1) Rivalry between existing competitors, (2) Barriers to entry, (3) Pressure of price from Substitutes/Complementaries, (4) Bargaining power of buyers, (5) Bargaining power of suppliers. Therefore, General Motors Corporations competitive advantage analysis will be done according to Michael Porters five forces . 3.1.1. Rivalry Between Existing Competitors: Rivalry occurs, because one or more competitors either feels the pressure or sees the opportunity to improve position (Porter, 2004 :p.17). Additionally, The strategies pursued by one firm can be successful only to the extent that they provide competitive advantage over the strategies pursued by rival firms. ( David, 2011 :p.107-108). Therefore, if we look at the GM motors in this section, in the 1970s and 1980s, competition in the US automobile industry had become much more strong with the increase of foreign rivals such as Honda, Toyota and Nissan (See Appendix 2). Although GM was a leader of the automobile industry at that period of time, its rivals had started to compete with GM providing some different offers. For example, Toyota started to produce cars with lower price than GM cars , whereas the quality of cars were high. So that, the competitros of GM became well-known brands ,while GM had difficulties with competing with them. 3.1.2. Barriers To Entry: According to Porter, new capacity may be brought to an industry by new entrants. Furthermore, gaining the market share, and getting high proportion of resources can be achieved by new entries. Meanwhile, the presence of of new corporations in an any industry can push the prices down and may decrease the profitability. Although these entries may seem as a threat, those may protect the established companies. During the both world wars, GM made a high profit, and it enlarged its business. Being a leader of the sector and being a well-known brand placed the GMs competitors very difficult positon to entry the industry. Especially for the smaller firms, competing with the GM was very hard. In early 20s, GM invented self-starters by differentiating itself from Ford, later on , in 1970s, Japanese and European companies introduced their fuel-efficient models to the industry. 3.1.3 Pressure of Price From Substitutes/Complementaries : All of the companies are in the competition broadly with the industries manufacturing substitute and complementary products (Porter, 2004). In this highly competitive automobile industry, any change in the prices on complementaries such as gas, tires, could have a important effect on the demand for automobiles. If we look at the GM, recent rising gas prices are highly to get a bigger effect on GM. Because, generally GMs cars are energy inefficient. Therefore, this will have great impact on GM. 3.1.4. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers compete with the industry by forcing down prices, bargaining for higher quality and more services, and playing competitors against each other, all at the expense of industry profitability'(Porter, 2004 p:24). As a result of highly improved information technologies, and as well as with globalization, customers of the GM (like for the other companies) became more aware of the what were they buying and how much were they paying. Furthermore, getting the information the rivals of GM from the internet increased the bargaining power of dealers of GM. 3.1.5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Suppliers of an industry plays a significant role for their businesses. They may reduce the quality of the products, or may raise the prices up. For GM, raw materials and machine parts suppliers threat is very low, because there many suppliers for those sections (Nytimes, 2011). However, the powerful labour union, United Auto Workers (UAW), is a potential threat to GMs economical capability and endurance. For example, the liability of pension and health-care costs acquired an additional 1,400 to the cost of every vehicle comes from GM place compared with competitor products (The Economist, 2008). This is a magnificent amount and GM needs to search ways to cut this liability, therefore, GM may get more economical improvement and the growth of the company. 3.2. INTERNAL EXTERNAL ANALYSIS OF GM ACCORDING TO MINTZBERGS DESIGN SCHOOL Mintzberg explained The Design School as in the following: The Design School sees strategy formation as achieving the essential fit between internal and external aspects'(Mintzberg et al., 2003:p23). In this definition, internal factors are given as strenghts and weaknesses. Besides this, opportunities and threats are described as external factors. Therefore, for analysing the GENERAL MOTORS external and internal factors we should do a SWOT Analysis with the light of Mintzbergs Design School. 3.2.1. Strengths: During the 20th century, GM has been the automotive leader in car industry. Although the company had some turmoils, its market share is still very much competitive in the sector. GM is well established not only in US but all around the world. Moreover, GM also have an rising share in the Chinese market (See Appendix 3). If GM takes the right decisions, there will be no reason for GM becoming a boss of the car industry again with. In addition, GM has wide range of brands such as Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Vauxhall. Company operates in more than hundred countries in the world with employing the approximately 250,000 people (gm.com, 2010) . Therefore, General Motors, with its global experience and its huge market share in the world, is still keeps the professional place in the automobile industry. General Motors Corporation uses OnStar Satellite Technology. This technology provides its customers security and safety facilities. For example, in the event of emergency , the system allows the driver to communicate with OnStar personnel just away a button immediately. GM has been controlling the costs by alliance and partnership with corporations like Shanhai Automobile Industry Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Daimler AG. So that, GM improved its cost reduction system by sharing the company costs. 3.2.2. Weaknesses: For analysing the GMs weaknesses, first, we should consider that, this company is an US firm. So that, from its early years until present times, it is still over dependent to US market. The company should take the benefit for expanding globally. According to an article issued by Associated Press (2010), GM had low credit ratio which is determined as junk-credit (BB-). On the other hand, another problem is downsizing. GM put on the market some of its brands and it closed them completely. Additionally, the inactive profitability is the other issue of GM. After the global economic recession in 2008 , companys profit margins and sales went down dramatically. Staying one step behind on alternative energy movement is the biggest weakness for General Motors Company. The competitors of GM like Honda, Toyota, are using fuel efficiently, and also that are producing more ecological and environment friendly vehicles. Therefore, this may led problems such as decrease of market share and loss in company profit. GMs organizational structure is designed vertically. This causes a lack of information between the levels in the company, from bottom to top. So that, many problems can be occur because of the operational and top managerial levels uncommunicative situation. 3.2.3. Opportunities: One of the lightly opportunities of GM is maintaining the Global Expansion. In the last few years, GM achieved a substantial rise in the Chinese market, that made the GM alarm to major on the foreign markets. The other advantage for GM to take is the catching up the hybrid technology cars. Although they had lagged behind the alternative energy, it is not late for the automotive giant becoming again once it was. Recently, GM started to operate Green-Manufacturing systems, such as water-borne technology, reduction goals for hazardous and non-hazardous waste at source ( See Appendix 4). Developing new vehicle models and designs is the big advantage for GM. Because, as we know, what is in today will be out tomorrow. Therefore, focusing on innovations should be the urgent mission through the GM company. 3.2.4. Threats: The threat of the increase in the supply costs is very common in automobile industry like as the other industries. This threat pushes the firms to reduce manufacturing and production costs as much as possible, without carrying away the product quality. For instance, the fluctuation in the steel prices between 2005 and 2010 had a negative impact on GMs production costs, especially as a result of the economic crisis , the rise in 2008, put a negative impcat on GM ( See Appendix 5). The other danger for GM is the increase in fuel prices (See Appendix 6). As same with the rising in the steel prices, after the economic recession in 2008, the sales have plummeted considerably. Therefore, soaring in fuel costs has played a magnificant role in enhancing the advantage for development of hybrid and more fuel efficient vehicles respectively. The increasing competition factor is the another big threat for General Motors. Because, GM is not a leader once it was, currently there are many different brands in the industry, which are working hard for competing with their rivals. Therefore, GM should always keep the innovation on top for competing in the industry. 3.3. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF GM Value Chain is called to add value to the product and remove excess waste of resource consumption, in other word, to maximize the value of work done by the systematic and asset management. Supplier of products and processes that increase the effectiveness of all stages up to final customers and to maintain, so used to gain competitive advantage. Value Chain Management focuses on the destruction of waste inside the company and also focuses on the customers satisfaction inside the company . Value Chain assits to the companies to identify activities where it may well apply its presence potentials (Diez-Vial, 2009) and also identify which activities to outsource in order to decrease prices by getting opportunity of country-specific advatages. One of the compenent of manufacturing is outsourcing which is congress the features of GMs activities that needs a much more labour to the other countries where labour costs are cheaper, and this could relieve GM from employment responsibility . Additionally, recently GM could be able to resolve problems with United Automobile Workers. Michael Porter (2004) examined a set of interconnected generic activities common to a variety of companies. GM, for instance, gives highly importance on its customer relationships. For the theory part, Service activities are the activities that continue and enhance the products value including customer support, repair services, etc. Meanwhile, for the GM strategy, they are using OnStar Technology which enables the customers get in touch with the call center of GM in an emergency situations. 3.4. BCG MATRIX ANALYSIS OF GM The BCG Matrix method is based on the product life cycle theory that can be used to determine what priorities should be given in the product portfolio of a business unit ( Lancaster and Reynolds, 2004) . To ensure long-term value creation, high-growth products and low-growth products should be undertaken by the companies in need of cash inputs and generate a lot of cash respectively. As I mentioned above, determining the factors of industry and as well as firms businesses is playing an essential role for gaining competitive advantage in the global market. Till before the two decades, oil prices had gone up with high percentages. So that, this and the environmental factors had oushed the automobile sector to the fuel efficiency vehicles. With the consideration of BCG Matrix applied to the GM, GM should pull off the brands like Pontiac, Hummer which are fuel-efficiency and oil-guzzling cars. Furthermore, more investment should put into producing smaller fuel-efficient vehicles, and also HEVs ( Hybrid Electric Vehicles). 4. CONCLUSION In conclusion, analysing the General Motors Corporation is done by using some strategical analysing methods, such as Porters FF, Value Chain, BCG Matrix, and Swot Analysis. Searching and applying the systems into the GM is quite broad because of the companys long time history which is more than a hundred years. In to the this content, the Company is analysed in detail according to factors of competitive advantage, internal and external. Therefore , I reached up a conclusion for GM. Of course, every single company and firm can make mistake in their business life cycle, however, minimizing those mistakes is one of the essential area for the firms. If we turn to GM, they had been really successful in the industry when there were no any other competitors. However, once GMs rivals entered to the business, GM started lose its market share globally. Because they overlooked at them, they didnt do many things until they lose their profits. After that , they changed some system, they started to struggled with their rivals. So that, with consideering all the analysed strategic forces above and the company, some recommendations should be done. For forthcoming improvements, first of all, General Motors should describe possible and suitable sector to serve. And also GM should concern about arrangement application and differentation strategy. For example, Focus strategy may assist GM to enable to reduce the costs as GM diverge from broad-line manufacturer to another varieties. By doing his, GM will be able to differntiate its product from the other rivals , because of focusing on a specific niche market that may perform much more better . The other one is to stay ready for even every hard and difficult circumstances, such as financial crisis. Although , generally it is an unexpected factor, companies, and also GM, should gain their SWOT analysis under the line of Threats. Staying in prepare positon always gives high competitive advantage with the other competitirs in the global industry. Last but not least is maintaining the speed of rivalry environment, GM should enhance and improve its product development. Alongside with the product development, environmental factors should be considered as well for gaining the high quality of business. 5. RECOMMENDATION In my opinion, General Motors should follow some strategies such as restructuring, product development, liquidation and market development. If GM does the product development, this would allow them to sustain the speed of rivalry environment. As a pratic example of this theory is Hybrid SUV vehicles, which matches the GM shape with continuing the portion of SUV, basically that allocate the company to keep on with trend models. My another recommendation for GM is reevaluation of the market. Global market is a market that which changes frequently. First GM vehicles had got tradition style, however, among the changing industry, they started to produce big cars, especially for the US market. One practical example for that case is to produce ultra-modern vehicles. If they manufacture that futuristic cars before the Honda or Toyota Company, they would gain an advantage in competitive industry. Lastly, liquidation is very essential for GM. The reason for that is, its assets are much more than its incomes. If General Motors can get the assests through the cash, therefore, GM could be more available finance. Moreover , when they achieving that process, GM wouldnt have to rely on US market, they could be independent in global industry. 6. APPENDIX Appendix 1 Imported Japanese Cars Develoopment: Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlshow=html Appendix 2 Auto Sales Monthly Change: Source: http://www.wstreet.com/investing/stocks/19359_gms_fire_sale_and_auto_sales_preview.html Appendix 3 -China Car Market Soars: Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/243737-outlook-2011-china-says-no-more-cars-down-goes-auto-industry Appendix 4 Green Manufacturing Processes: Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractshow=abstract Appendix 5 Steel Prices Between 2005 and 2010: Source: : http://www.ttiinc.com/object/ME_Materials_Steel Appendix 6 Rise in Fuel Prices Between 2009 and 2010: Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12098981 7. REFERENCES 1. Associated Press, 2010. General Motors Gets Junk Credit Rating From Fitch. Michigan Live LLC. [Internet] Available at: http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/10general_motors_gets_junk_credit.html [Accessed 28 January 2011] 2. BBC News, 2011. Petrol Duty and VAT Rises To Increase Price Of Fuel. Business. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12098981 [Accessed 28 January 2011] 3. Cavusgil, S. Knight, G., and Riesenberger, R., 2008. International Business, Strategy, Management, and the New Realities. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 4. Chu, D.L., 2010. China Says No More Cars, Down Goes Auto Industry. Outlook 2011. [Online] Available at: http://seekingalpha.com/article/243737-outlook-2011-china-says-no-more-cars-down-goes-auto-industry [Accessed 31 January 2011] 5. Constantini, F., 2010. General Motors. The New York Times. [internet] . Available at: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html [Accessed 10 February 2011] 6. Datamonitor, 2009. General Motors Corporation. Company Profile. [Online] Available at: www.datamonitor.com [Accessed 28 January 2011] 7. David, F.R., 2011. Strategic Management Concepts. 13th edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 8. Diez-Vial, S., 2009. Firm Size Effects on Vertical Boundaries, Journal of Small Business Management, 47 (2): 137-153. 9.Generals Motors, 2010. Company Profile. [Online] Available at: http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/company.isp [ Accessed 10 February 2011] 10. Hamer, T. Hamer, M., 2010. General Motors-It Wasnt Always This Bad. Learn About Classics. [Online] Available at: http://classiccars.about.com/od/classiccarsaz/a/GM.htm [Accessed 10 February 2011] 11. Johnson, G. Scholes, K. and Whittington, R., 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th edn. London: Prentice Hall. 12. Kotler, P. Keller, K. L., 2009. Marketing Management, 13th edn. New Jersey: Pearson Education. 13. Mintzberg, et al., 2003. The Strategy Process: Concepts Cases. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 14. Niederhut-Bollmann, C. Theuvsen, L., 2008. Strategic Management in Turbulent Markets: The Case of the German and Croatia Brewing Industries. Journal for East European Management Studies, Vol. 13, No.1, pp. 63 88. 15. Nunes, B. Bennett, D., 2010. Green Operations Initiatives in the Automobile Industry: An Enviromental Reports Analysis and Benchmarking Study. An International Journal. [Online] Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractshow=abstract [Accessed 13 February 2011] 16. Nytimes, 2011. United Automobile Workers. Organizations. [Online] Available at: www.nytimes.com [Accessed 31 January 2011] 17. Porter, M.E., 2004. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Indystries and Competitors. New York: Free Press. 18. Seidenfuss, K. Kathawala, Y., 2005. Voluntary Export Restraint (VER) Without Market Restraints?: The Case Study of the Monitoring Agreement (1991-1999) Between the Japanese Car Manufacturers and the European Union. European Business Review. [Online] Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlshow=html [Accessed 10 February 2011] 19. Silver, D., 2009. GMs Fire Sale Auto Sales Preview. Wall Street Strategies. [Online] Available at: http://www.wstreet.com/investing/stocks/19359_gms_fire_sale_and_auto_sales_preview.html [Accessed 8 February 2011] 20. Schlie, E. Yip, G., 2000. Regional Follows Global: Strategy Mixes in the World Automotive Industry. European Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 343-354. 21. The Economist, 2009. In Pieces. The American Car Industry. [Online] Available at: www.economist.com/node/13145718 [Accessed 8 February 2011]

The Style of the Essay :: Writing Writers Education Essays

The Style of the Essay Prior to reading Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style and William’s Style, I was under the assumption that everyone had their own writing style. Once I had read the texts and listened to the classroom discussions I realized that I didn’t really know what style was when it came to writing. We as writers must all follow rules and guidelines for writing in order for the reader to understand what we are trying to get across. Without these rules and guidelines we probably wouldn’t be able to understand what the author is trying to express. I think that the word â€Å"style† has been thrown around so much that I never really understood its true meaning. Before going further let’s briefly look at the authors backgrounds. The Authors of The Elements of Style, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, have similar backgrounds. William Strunk Jr. was a professor at Cornell University, an Ivy League school on the east coast. E.B. White was a student of Strunk’s in 1919 and also a professional writer. While enrolled in Stunk’s class White and the rest of the students were required to purchase a little text book that Strunk had written to be used as a reference for writing. Thirty-eight years later White revised the text book by adding passages about the power of words and clear expression of thoughts and feelings (87 Stunk and White). Both authors are now deceased. Joseph M. Williams formally an English professor and linguist still alive as of October 2003, is the author of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Style, was originally published in 1981 as a text book and has been revised to reflect the changing times (ix Williams). Strunk and White’s Elements of Style tends to focus more on rules of accuracy, brevity and clarity etc. They offer few good and bad examples of these rules and write more for an educated White Anglo-Saxon Male in the early to mid 1900’s. Professor Strunk wrote the rules in the form of direct orders; â€Å"Sergeant Strunk† as E.B. White has called him focuses on the fundamentals: the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated (xiv Stunk and White). Williams explains the â€Å"styles† of writing more in depth than Strunk and White.

How is Conflict Portrayed in the Poems in the Conflict Section? Essay

The nature of conflict is a clash or coming together. There are many different types of conflict; it can come in varying scales of size and intensity. For example something which starts off as a family feud may end up as a World War. We can look at the causes of conflict, what actually happens or the effects. Tennyson’s ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ paints a picture of the glory and honour of soldiers in battle as it happens. It describes an incident during the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War. Sheers’ ‘Mametz Wood’ focuses on the aftermath and futility of war. Hughes’ ‘Hawk Roosting’ looked at the causes of conflict, someone who has power but wants more and does not think about the effects of what they are about to do on others. Another poem by Hughes is ‘Bayonet Charge’ where there is a soldier in battle trying to escape from getting shot. Tennyson’s poem observes the battle from a distance as if he had a good viewpoint. He was not a participant like the poems of Wilfred Owen or Rupert Brook who wrote their poems and died in the trenches of the First World War. Tennyson sets the scene of battle and creates the atmosphere for ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by the form and structure of the poem. The six stanzas have a clear and powerful dactylic rhythm, representing the galloping hooves of the horses as they race into battle. The reader is carried along with the flow of the poem and the energy of the battle, which is emphasised by repetition, from the first two lines of the first stanza of the poem: â€Å"Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward.† A sense of involvement is created for the reader by repetition such as â€Å"cannon† suggesting the relentless assault from all sides â€Å"Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them† which emphasises the dangers faced by the cavalry and their great bravery. The contrast could not be greater in ‘Mametz Wood’. Although both poems are written in the third person there is a sense of detachment and distance within this poem as Sheers reflects on a futile battle. There is no immediacy of involvement. Whereas the rhythm carries you along in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, the conflict in ‘Mametz Wood’ is between past and present. The poem switches between the death of the soldiers in battle and the grisly discovery of their skeletons in the present. â€Å"Twenty men buried in one long grave† is contrasted with the present gentleness and vision of rolling countryside. A sad and reflective feeling is created through the use of a three-line stanza, long sentences and enjambment â€Å"their skeletons paused mid dance-macabre/ in boots that outlasted them†. The breaks between stanzas give the reader opportunity to reflect on the line of soldiers who their arms linked in a shallow grave – perhaps as a joke by those that buried them. Unlike in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, you are given no indication of the actual conflict which occurred, just some of the results. Pathos is emphasised by boots outlasting the men. Both poems memorialise unnecessary carnage. Both events which they are based on were directly the result of poor leadership. â€Å"Someone had blunder’d† in the decision to attack in the Battle of Balaklava but Tennyson emphasised that taking orders is honourable. â€Å"Theirs was not to reason why, / Theirs was but to do and die†. In ‘Mametz Wood’, criminal stupidity of orders â€Å"to walk, not run† made them sitting targets. Both poet’s honour loyalty and obedience where young, amateur and untrained soldiers died in their hundreds without questioning the orders they had been given. With over two hundred men â€Å"storm’d at with shot and shell† with the alliteration suggesting flying bullets in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, the soldiers in ‘Mametz Wood’ were mown down by â€Å"nesting machine guns†, a powerful oxymoron which gives the machine guns naturalness they do not deserve. In ‘Hawk Roosting’ however conflict is created by the hawk thinking that he is the King of the world and can do anything he likes. The vivid imagery emphasises the barbarity and senselessness of war with death being inevitable. The language used in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ creates a strong sense of the violence. Without questioning orders, 600 soldiers are ‘plunged in the battery-smoke’ whilst all around them cannons ‘Volley’d and thunder’d’ as they obeyed commands and plunged into the â€Å"valley of death†, â€Å"jaws of Death† and â€Å"mouth of Hell† which suggests a predator waiting patiently to eat its prey. By using such powerful verbs, metaphors and personification the image of the battle and the hopelessness of the situation faced is portrayed vividly. However Tennyson glorifies soldiers and praises their strength and courage â€Å"Boldly they rode and well†. In ‘Mametz Wood’, Sheers emphasises human frailty, seeing a life as it passes fleetingly in the passage of time. The colours and textures highlight this. The metaphors â€Å"broken bird’s egg of a skull† and ‘the china plate of a shoulder blade’ represent frailty. In ‘Mametz Wood’ the earth is personified as someone who needs healing. The farmers â€Å"tended† the land creating an image of something which needs nursing back to health. A link is made in the fourth stanza with a simile where the emergence of the bones from the soil is â€Å"like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin†. Unlike â€Å"Death† and â€Å"Hell† the earth guards the dead soldiers’ memories and bodies, protecting them until they are found. Earth is pushing them to the surface so that we don’t forget. This is also a reference that the soldiers were foreigners who should not have been in France. Although ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a famous Tennyson poem I think ‘Mametz Wood’ is more powerful. They both describe real events and the horrors of conflict and show the class divisions between generals giving their orders and the men who follow them. There is an underlying message in both poems about the waste of life in war. The vivid picture of a charge on horseback and the courage of the Light Brigade are to be admired and honoured- not forgotten. However ‘Mametz Wood’ is more powerful in the way it reflects on the futility of war. It is quiet and thoughtful. There is no battle, just men walking to their death due to poor leadership. The emergence from the ground of delicate skeletons trying to yell out something but with â€Å"absent tongues† in their â€Å"socketed heads† suggests that the dead are trying to communicate with the living. Now we hear them, their message and their tragedy. The poem is a form of excava tion as it brings back through words an experience long forgotten. As people say on Remembrance Day every year: ‘We will Remember Them’.

Law and morals

Law and morals Part A Law has been defined by Sir John Salmons as the body of principles recognized and applied by the state in administration of Justice. There are two theories on what law Is, the natural law theory and the positivist law theory Lloyd a natural law theorist defined the law as the constant assertion that there are objective moral principles which depend upon the natural of the universe and can be discovered by reason Natural law theorists believe that for law to be valid It must coincide with natural law.Natural law theorist Aristotle describes natural law to be the law of nature. Positivist law theorists such as John Austin would describe law as ‘a law which exists to be law though we happen to dislike It' positivists such as Jeremy Beneath rejected natural law theories, he describes them as ‘nonsense on stilts' his key argument was that natural law was based on principles that could not be proved. Legal positivists believe that a law that is made In a m anner recognized by the sovereign power of the state is valid irrespective of its content.Legal rules have many different characteristics. For example breach of legal rules can result in state sanctions and reoccurred – a S. 47 PAPA 1861 offence carried and a maximum sentence of 5 years. Compliance is not a matter of choice when it comes to legal rules. These rules are imposed upon all members of society. Compulsory compliance applies to judge made decisions as well. The case of R v R established that man could be found guilty of raping his wife, this was a Judge made law.Fuller would argue that this is not valid law as it is retrospective. Legal rules are made and take affect at a precise time. A precedent is created in the Judgment of case and it applies to future cases and rower courts. The legislation will only start to take effect at a precise time for example the Smoke Free Premises and Enforcement Regulations , implemented a ban on smoking in public places , were made on 13th December 2006 but came in to effect on the 1st of July 2007.Phil Harris defines society ‘Morality as a set of beliefs, values, principles and standards of behavior. Compliance with moral rules is voluntary, so people have a choice as to whether or not they follow these. People make personal decisions as to what they consider moral and immoral. Moral duties of Individuals ray. For example some people may believe that abortion is immoral while others consider It acceptable. Moral rules develop gradually. They often stem from religious rules made thousands of years ago.Over time, what society once considered Immoral, can become acceptable. For example attitudes towards homosexuality continue to change Moral rules are enforced Informally , usually through social or domestic pressure for example John terry lost his title as the England football team captain because of his Infidelity Sir John Salmons describes the relationship teen law and morality as two Intersecting circle s, with the Intersection representing laws with moral values and the separate areas for laws and morals with no connection.Many laws have a moral connection such as the law against murdering another person this can be traced back to religious scriptures such as the 10 Commandments and is punishable by a mandatory life sentence Public morality can influence changes in the law, like abortion was legalized by the Abortions Act consenting adults as society changed to accept homosexuality the more law has followed this change by reducing the age of consent to make it the same for trousseaux couples in 2000. Law reform may result from a campaign to change public morality. Howard league for penal reform persuaded the government to take a look at capital punishment.The government refused to change the laws because society considered death penalty to be morally correct. Subsequently a pressure group was set up, during the years of 1955-1957 public opinion was changed by the campaign; and the government introduced laws to abolish the death penalty Public morality can be influenced by law reform such as the Disability Discrimination Act 995 as by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which makes it against the law to discriminate against disable people in any areas of employment, education, access to goods, facilities and services and the function of public authorities.It can be argued that legislation is introduced to with the aim of educating the public to recognize morally wrong behavior. Thus demonstrating the convergence between the two Some legal rules appear to have no moral connection. Like the fact that smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol is legal but cannabis is illegal. Road traffic laws such as irking on a yellow line. In Britain there is no Good Samaritan law, however we all have a moral duty to help those around us if they are in danger.For example a passer-by will not be legally held responsible if they don't help someone drowning. But they do have a mo ral duty to help them this was shown in 2007 when 2 Peso's were subjected to bad media and moral outcry when they failed to help a drowning boy. The reason for divergence between moral and legal rules is that the moral attitude might not me widespread and they may not reflect popular morality The UK as a large multicultural, multiracial society, with citizens with different views on politics and religion.For example some people regard abortion as immoral while others see it as acceptable for medical reasons only at the second reading of the human fertilization and embryology bill on may 20th 2008 MSP voted against reducing the current 24 weeks abortion limit to 20 weeks. Therefore demonstrating that although there is a relationship between Law and Morality it will always be partial. Art B The wolfed report was issued in 1957; it was set up to consider the law relating to nonsexual acts & prostitution, also to see the function of the criminal law in such cases. The committee said the function of the law is to pressure public order and decency and to protect citizens from what is offensive or injurious and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others, particularly those who are vulnerable.The function of the committee is not to intervene in private life of citizens or to enforce any particular pattern of behavior. The committee made three proposals which were, homosexual acts between two concerting adults should e made legal, soliciting in the streets should be made an offence and selling of services for money should be a private matter. The Hart and Devils debate was prompted by the wolfed report by the wolfed report. The focus of the debate was the extent to which the law can enforce moral rules.Lord Devils set out his view in a book (the enforcement of morals, with Hart setting up his views in his own book that the minority should not be made to conform to the view of the majority when in private. Sir James Stephen argued in his book liberty, equality, fraternity (1874) that o shouldn't attempt to distinguish between self-regarding act and acts which regards others is like an attempt to distinguish between acts which happen in time and acts that may happen in space.The wolfed report supported Harts view that law and morality should be separate, however various cases decided since the report show that Judges are imposing their moral views on their Judgments, for example R v Brown. This is an example of how moral change led to legal change. Devil's views are in line with those of Sir James Stephen, as Devils believed that individual privacy should be respect.

Behaviour in Groups essays

Behaviour in Groups essays The Psychological definition of a group is broken down into 7 categories: 1. Interaction a group is a collection of individuals who are interacting with one another. 2. Perception of belonging a group consists of 2 or more persons who perceive themselves to belong to a group. 3. Interdependence group members are interdependent. 4. Common goals a group is a collection of individuals who join together to achieve a goal. 5. Needs satisfaction individuals who belong to a group are trying to satisfy some need through group membership. 6. Roles and norms members of a group structure their interactions by means of roles and norms. Roles consist of sets of obligations and expectations. Norms imply established ways of behaving that is, uniformity among people in the ways they behave. 7. Influence a group is a collection of individuals who influence each other. The study of individuals in groups and group behaviour has been a core of social psychology since its inception in the early 1900s. One of the first "experiments" in social psychology was by Triplett in 1898, considering the effects of the presence of others on performance. The authors examine this phenomenon as well as group communication, task performance in groups such as problem-solving and decision-making, and leadership characteristics and styles. The definition of group that is used in most research is "people who are interdependent and have potential for mutual interaction, influencing one another in some way". Groups are defined by four specific dimensions: size, goals, duration and scope of activities performed. While groups can be a function of a wide range of these factors, experimental groups that are analysed in laboratory settings are usually small, short-lived and narrow in focus, limiting the generalizability of such findings. Groups in real-world settings must be analysed as w...

List of the Marginal Seas of the Indian Ocean

List of the Marginal Seas of the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is a relatively large ocean with an area of 26,469,900 square miles (68,566,000 sq km). It is the worlds third largest ocean behind the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The Indian Ocean is located between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia and Australia and has an average depth of 13,002 feet (3,963 m). The Java Trench is its deepest point at -23,812 feet (-7,258 m). The Indian Ocean is most known for causing the monsoonal weather patterns that dominate much of Southeast Asia and for being an important chokepoint throughout history.The Ocean also borders several marginal seas. A marginal sea is an area of water that is a partially enclosed sea adjacent to or widely open to the open ocean (Wikipedia.org). The Indian Ocean shares its borders with seven marginal seas. The following is a list of those seas arranged by area. All figures were obtained from Wikipedia.orgs pages on each sea.1) Arabian SeaArea: 1,491,126 square miles (3,862,000 sq km)2) Bay of BengalArea: 838,614 s quare miles (2,172,000 sq km)3) Andaman SeaArea: 231,661 square miles (600,000 sq km)4) Red SeaArea: 169,113 square miles (438,000 sq km)5) Java SeaArea: 123,552 square miles (320,000 sq km)6) Persian GulfArea: 96,911 square miles (251,000 sq km)7) Sea of Zanj (located off the east coast of Africa)Area: UndefinedReferenceInfoplease.com. (n.d.). Oceans and Seas - Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0001773.html#axzz0xMBpBmBwWikipedia.org. (28 August 2011). Indian Ocean - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_oceanWikipedia.org. (26 August June 2011). Marginal Sea - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_seas

Working From Home in a Scientific Career

Working From Home in a Scientific Career What work-from-home opportunities are available in the sciences? Can you transition back into a conventional workplace after being at home? How does working at home impact your finances? There are many ways to work from home in a scientific career field, and answers to all your questions about it. Ways to Work Remotely Freelance writers are self-employed. You might seek a single contract with a particular company or you might look for multiple smaller jobs. Some writers put up notices at schools to write or type papers. Scientists who can write well often help other scientists write articles or prepare proposals. Editorial positions may also be available for scientifically-trained professionals. Many scientists can make the transition to technical writer. Some technical writers have regular employment and others are self-employed. People in this position write user manuals, document safety information, prepare annotated bibliographies, and create similar technical materials. There are many possibilities for telecommuting work in the sciences. There is a market for internet research, literature searches, and more. Some consultants review research plans and professional papers for their scientific merit, as well as give editorial advice. Not everything that can be done at work can be done at home, but many things can. Think about the position you have (or want) and list duties that can be performed at home. Some employers that dont offer telecommuting work may be receptive to the idea, providing you can present a case for this form of employment in a rational manner. It helps if you can increase productivity or decrease costs to the company in your proposal. Thanks to the internet, it is possible to teach without entering a traditional classroom. To find these positions, check out school websites for open positions. Tutoring is usually a part-time position, and some tutors help students in their own home. Check local newspapers and bulletin boards at schools to find jobs. You can call or schedule an appointment with the academic assistance offices at schools to explore unadvertised opportunities. Some companies also hire tutors to help employees in continuing education. As you might imagine, there are certain limitations to doing science at home. The most notable problems are associated with safety, security, and finances. However, if you are creative, its possible to engage in science and engineering from home. If you are a theorist or do computer modeling, you have some excellent options. If you want an affiliation with a corporation or institution, team up with a local school or business. Joining a professional organization is always a good idea, too. You can be an entrepreneur in any field, including science. You can be self-employed without being an entrepreneur, but some of the most attractive employment prospects may result from a start-up venture. Search for work at home jobs. If you have particular skills, for example, with graphics programs, programming, or photography, there may be other positions that will appeal to you. What You Will Need If you work out of your home, you will need to demonstrate the following traits: Self-motivation is the key to success at working from home. When you work from home, you have tasks to complete with a relatively open timeframe for completion. You must be able to motivate yourself to do all of the things you need to do. If you do choose to work at home, be aware there will be times when your self-motivation will flag. Its natural, but you must be able to overcome it.Fortunately, physical organization isnt the same as being neat. However, if you are working from home, you will need to establish good record-keeping procedures and keep your files (whether hard copies or on a computer) within some organizational structure.For most at-home jobs, there is no immediate supervisor handing down priorities, so you will need to determine what needs to be done and how to do it, and then get it done.Its much harder to leave it at the workplace when the workplace is also home. Some people set aside a separate room for work (which has benefits regarding taxes), whereas others hav e less structured divisions between home and work. Some people set strict office hours. Some people have separate computers for work and recreation. Its important to make some sort of division or at least a comfortable integration. Otherwise, youll risk job burnout or else never get tasks completed. Other Issues Most people who work at home dont make a permanent transition. Keep an eye on how your work-from-home experience can be written up in your resume or vitae. When possible, maintain subscriptions to professional and trade journals or visit a library that carries them. Attend meetings and conferences, take classes, write papers, and build up concrete evidence that you are continuing your education and expanding your professional skills. You want to maintain business contacts, so keep up with your correspondence. While many self-employed positions pay less than conventional employment, you may find that you save money on clothes, transportation, and food. You may be able to deduct home office expenses. There are more options than ever before to get health insurance and other benefits as a self-employed person.

My personal philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

My personal philosophy - Essay Example Personally, I have a philosophy that I have to make a difference in someone’s life on a daily basis. Nursing enables me to do that and give the comfort of life I need. I believe in quality healthcare. People should be provided with proper medical attention regardless the social status. As a nurse I aim at ensuring every individual has the efficient access to medical care. I do my best to ensure more lives are saved and people feel appreciated by my field of practice. In person I believe in changing the society in the capacity of my ability. Nursing as an indulging career, there is need for evolution in the field to make it easier and efficient for medical care provision (Frank, 2010). As a nurse I always aim at embracing positive change and disregarding setbacks. Nursing school provides the interested parties with a real picture of the nursing life. It is meant to prepare them for their professional lives. Nursing school is the pillar in the production of quality nurses (Leslie,

Global pharmaceutical industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global pharmaceutical industry - Essay Example As mentioned in the company's annual report (2003, p21), "In the fourth quarter of 2003, the Company reviewed its overall business cost structure, which resulted in a reduction in force at each of its segments. The Company expects this work force reduction to generate annual cost savings of approximately $10.0 million in 2004 and $13.0 million in subsequent years. The Company is evaluating other actions to reduce its cost base in 2004 and beyond". This program was designed to improve the company's ability to retain the profit gained through sales turnover by minimising the cost incurred by the company in maintaining the large number of employees. The company even raised an expense of $8.7 million in introducing and implementing this program in the organisation as mentioned in the company's annual report (2003, 8) as, "incurred an $8.7 million pre-tax charge, in connection with an employee reduction program". Alpharma Inc, as stated above, is said to be one of the giants in the international pharmaceutical industry. The company's business can be segmented into four dimensions of activities i.e., International Generics, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, US Human Pharmaceuticals, Animal Health etc (Annual report 2003, p7). The International Generics are basically the dosage pharmaceuticals that are provided to several countries around the world including the UK, the Middle East, China, and Indonesia etc. The Active Pharmaceutical ingredients consist of antibiotic medicines that are sold to other pharmaceutical industries in the United States, serving as the raw material for certain medicines in such industries. Human Pharmaceutical provides liquid and solid based medicine to other middle businesses in the country. Animal Health business segment provides a range of product line dealing in animal health medicine (Annual report 2003, p7). The company is engaged in doing business activities in around 60 countries around the globe. According to the company's annual report (2003, p7), "the Company conducts business in more than 60 countries and has approximately 4,700 employees at 40 sites, in 27 countries". The company reduced a considerable number of employees in the year 2003, on the rationale to combat the increasing costs and expenses affecting the company's profit margin. The company had been incurring severe losses for the past few years due to the increasing costs and expenses either incurred during the production and distribution, or during the operating activities of the business. However, the company's results for the year 2003 seem to be improving the financial position of the company as the company's management introduced a workforce reduction program, curtailing the number of employees in the company in order to minimise costs. This paper discusses the impact of workforce reduction program in Alpharma on the financial statements of the company for the year 2003. In the pursuit of discussion, financial ratios have been analysed in order to provide a better insight on every aspect of the company's financial position and performance. KEY RATIO ANALYSIS A company's financial statements are the representatives of the company's financial worth i.e., the financial position and performance in terms of facts and figures. In order to get a better picture of the key impact of the employee layoff program initiated by the Alpharma's management on the financial

Tourism analysis (South Korea) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tourism analysis (South Korea) - Essay Example Some of the significant tourist attractions in Seoul are: Museums such as the National Museum of Korea, the National Folk Museum of Korea, the Seoul Museum of Art (located in the old Korean Supreme Court building behind the Deoksugung Palace), Seodaemun Museum of National History, Seoul Museum of Art (located within Deoksugung Palace), and Seodaemum Prison History hall (Choong-Ki, 110). Facilities: Tourists visiting Seoul find hospitality and respect and this characteristic of Seoul tourism has lead to the booming income from tourism in South Korea. Hotels such as Lotte Hotel Seoul, the Grand Hotel Myeongdong and so on, serve tourists a variety of meals according to their taste and monetary preference. In addition to the hotels, restaurants such as Gusto Taco also offer holiday rental bookings for the tourists. Transportation: International tourists enter the country from the Incheon International Airport, though other international airports like Gimpo, Jeju and Busan are also operational most of the times. In addition to airports, the country of South Korea is has an extensive and modern network of trains and buses that make trips to the various tourist destination sites quick (Airline Industry Information). According to the Travel statistics graph above, the number of international and domestic visitors has generally increased over the last ten years. According to the World Travel & Tourism statistics, travel and tourism contributed about KRW26.7 trillion to the GDP of South Korea. This is in addition to the support of more than a million jobs in the country. This shows that the tourism industry in South Korea is increasing in terms of income and visitors every year. The increase in visitors coming from other countries comes from the subsequent reports of peace and enduring environments for the tourists. Tourism regulation and promotion for South Korea is under an organisation called the

American History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

American History - Assignment Example The Spanish also had knowledge of metals such as iron and bronze which allowed them superior weaponry and armor/shields. But the Indians had the advantage of knowing how to live off the land, and its topography, more so than the Spanish. They had natural superior knowledge of the topography and survival on smaller amounts of supplies than the Spanish. If the Indians could have gotten the Spanish out of their comfort zone, they could have resisted Spanish encroachment much more easily. Part B. It was a good point that the Incan Indians were susceptible to European diseases such as small pox and measles. Many Indians were wiped out because of Spanish disease. The Spanish weapons were far superior (more high tech) than those of the Indians, which was a huge advantage. Although the Indians had more numbers of people, the Spanish nullified that with their superior technology and weaponry. Also not mentioned was the Spanish desire to convert and conquer native Indians and convert them to C hristianity. That was a wave of conversion which the Indians were powerless to survive, as the Spanish did so all over the world. Part C. This answer is almost unintelligible.

Apple Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple Inc - Essay Example The paper outlines the history of the Apple Inc. and describes it. The company operates across the globe through its 317 retail stores established in ten countries of the world. It also runs an online store to sale its hardware and software products to the consumers all over the world. It has surpassed Microsoft and has become the world’s largest and most valuable technology company. The company employs 46,600 people as full time employees whereas 2,800 people work as temporary fulltime for the company in different countries of the world. The annual sales of the company reached the level of $65.23 billion in the financial year 2010 whereas its assets are calculated US$ 75.18 billion. Apple Inc. was established in 1976 in California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Steve Job and Steve Wozniak have 45percent of the company’s share each whereas the 10% remaining shares are owned by Ronald Wayne. They created the company with the intention of providing inexpensive and simple to use computers to the consumers. Initially the name of the company was Apple Computer, Inc. It operated with this name for thirty years and in 2007 that word computer was excluded from its name in order to reflect the broad variety of consumer electronic products and services being produced by the company other than the computers. Apple introduced its first system in 1976 with the name Apple I that was sold for $666.66 at the local electronics stores followed by Apple II and Mac. The company continues with the production and released of different models.... Apple introduced its first system in 1976 with the name Apple I that was sold for $666.66 at the local electronics stores followed by Apple II and Mac (Kunkel, 2006, p186). The history of Apple is marked with several important developments and decisions that contributed towards the success of the company at international level however, it has been widely regarded that the success of the company was geared up in 1984 with the production and release of its 1984 commercial directed by Ridley Scott. It was aired during the Super Bowl XVIII. It Big Brother that tell the people what to think and chose giving them no freedom of choice whereas Apple stands as the heroine giving freedom and choice of thinking to the customers. The commercial was interpreted differently however, it played vital role in bringing notoriety to the Macintosh line of computers (Jeffrey, 1988, p32). Apple II was released in 1977 that contained several enhanced features like the BASIC programming language, 16-bit pro cessing using the MOS Technology 6502 1 MHz microprocessor. After the first release they continued working to improve the capabilities and functions of their products and several subsequent models of Apple II were released having improved speed and better designed as compared with the original model of Apple II. The company also released the first ever external 5.25† floppy disk controller, read-only memory (ROM)-based Microsoft-based BASIC language program called AppleSoft and first thermal printer, the SilenType. In 1983, Apple released Apple IIe that became the most popular and best-selling of Apple II model. Some of the initial products of Apple Inc. failed to gain the popularity and success among the masses like the first Apple portable and Newton. However,

Social Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Construction - Essay Example On the other hand, contemporary post structuralist perspective even goes to the extent to deny the very possibility of such an agency or authorship as it was clearly asserted in the famous assertion by Rolland Barthes that 'The Author is Dead'. Rather than posing the arguments on the agency of the social construction of reality by contesting schools against each other, the paper intends to examine the postulate of each school based on its own 'internal validity'. Here, it is important to note that social constructionism as an academic school is much diverse in itself. In other words, considering the internal stratifications within the social constructionist 'movement', it is particularly impossible to delineate a single essential position of social constructionism. Berger and Luckmann (1967) are of the view that consciousness of human beings is always intentional. They argue that it is nothing but intentionality makes the human consciousness so distinct. Therefore, in their analysis, a well-construed notion of intentionality remains central. Here, consciousness is not necessarily considered as being part of either "an external physical world or an inward subjective reality" (Berger and Luckmann, 1967, p.26). Reality is diverse in itself. What is deemed as reality involves different spheres. The different spheres of reality are constituted by different objects. The existence of multiple realities is the defining characteristic of the conscious of the world. To exemplify, the reality of people in dreams and the reality of people in the factories are equally realities. It is believed to be normal and self-evident. The reality of everyday life is the only reality that is of par excellence. The tensions at the level of consciousness are fully expre ssed only at this level of reality. The reality of everyday life is ordered in specific ways. The style of ordering of a particular reality would determine its essence. Reality is nothing but objectification events in day to day life in a structured manner. In the social construction of reality, Berger and Luckmann (1967) see the important role of language as the supreme co-ordinates of life. Common sense too is a constituent factor of reality as based on it people generally interact with each other in everyday life situations. In other words, everyday life has normal and self-evident routines which are shared by people from the standpoint of commonsense knowledge. The reality of everyday life is not only constituted but also constructed by social interactions. Face-to-face is the most real form of the construct of social interactions. One's subjectivity is particular to oneself. Social relations are highly flexible. The better knowledge of multiple social realities could be achieve d through reflection. Therefore, Berger and Luckmann (1967) refer at the social construction of reality as a process through which individuals produce and reproduce the world through social interactions.The very existence of human beings, for Berger and Luckmann, is essentially linked to language. They forcefully argue that the social world and its complexities cannot be understood

Apple Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple Inc - Essay Example The paper outlines the history of the Apple Inc. and describes it. The company operates across the globe through its 317 retail stores established in ten countries of the world. It also runs an online store to sale its hardware and software products to the consumers all over the world. It has surpassed Microsoft and has become the world’s largest and most valuable technology company. The company employs 46,600 people as full time employees whereas 2,800 people work as temporary fulltime for the company in different countries of the world. The annual sales of the company reached the level of $65.23 billion in the financial year 2010 whereas its assets are calculated US$ 75.18 billion. Apple Inc. was established in 1976 in California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Steve Job and Steve Wozniak have 45percent of the company’s share each whereas the 10% remaining shares are owned by Ronald Wayne. They created the company with the intention of providing inexpensive and simple to use computers to the consumers. Initially the name of the company was Apple Computer, Inc. It operated with this name for thirty years and in 2007 that word computer was excluded from its name in order to reflect the broad variety of consumer electronic products and services being produced by the company other than the computers. Apple introduced its first system in 1976 with the name Apple I that was sold for $666.66 at the local electronics stores followed by Apple II and Mac. The company continues with the production and released of different models.... Apple introduced its first system in 1976 with the name Apple I that was sold for $666.66 at the local electronics stores followed by Apple II and Mac (Kunkel, 2006, p186). The history of Apple is marked with several important developments and decisions that contributed towards the success of the company at international level however, it has been widely regarded that the success of the company was geared up in 1984 with the production and release of its 1984 commercial directed by Ridley Scott. It was aired during the Super Bowl XVIII. It Big Brother that tell the people what to think and chose giving them no freedom of choice whereas Apple stands as the heroine giving freedom and choice of thinking to the customers. The commercial was interpreted differently however, it played vital role in bringing notoriety to the Macintosh line of computers (Jeffrey, 1988, p32). Apple II was released in 1977 that contained several enhanced features like the BASIC programming language, 16-bit pro cessing using the MOS Technology 6502 1 MHz microprocessor. After the first release they continued working to improve the capabilities and functions of their products and several subsequent models of Apple II were released having improved speed and better designed as compared with the original model of Apple II. The company also released the first ever external 5.25† floppy disk controller, read-only memory (ROM)-based Microsoft-based BASIC language program called AppleSoft and first thermal printer, the SilenType. In 1983, Apple released Apple IIe that became the most popular and best-selling of Apple II model. Some of the initial products of Apple Inc. failed to gain the popularity and success among the masses like the first Apple portable and Newton. However,

Jeep Grand Cherokees Crash tests Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jeep Grand Cherokees Crash tests - Article Example This design change as per Chrysler was not due to fire concerns but to accommodate the spare tyre. As per Clarence Ditlow, (executive director of the Center for Auto Safety) rear impact crash tests of the Grand Cherokee carried out on the 1995, 1996 and 1999 models showed gasoline leaks that could endanger the occupants of the Grand Cherokee as well as the striking vehicle. The Center conducted similar tests with a 1995 Ford Explorer which maintained an intact fuel system. Based on a request by the Center for Auto Safety, The federal safety agency carried out a preliminary investigation of the 1993-2004 Grand Cherokees. As per the Center for Auto Safety, it had found 172 fatal fire crashes between 1992 and 2008 that caused 254 deaths. In one of the accidents in 1999, the driver of a vehicle that had struck the rear of a Grand Cherokee died while the occupants were severely burned. In another case in 2006, a 4 year old girl (Cassidy Jarmon) sitting in a child seat in the second row wa s severely burned in a Jeep Cherokee rear impact crash. While Cassidy survived the crash she died of burns and smoke inhalation two days later.

How MNEs Budget in a Global Context

How MNEs Budget in a Global Context Ashokkumar Murugesan Discuss how Multi National Enterprises carry out capital budgeting in a global context, and explain aspects which are unique to foreign project assessment. In this chapter, discussion on how Multinational Enterprises carry out budgeting globally is discussed. Various factors that are influenced by these MNCs are demonstrated. Capital budgeting and why it’s implemented is discussed. Companies that decide in doing business abroad and those which are already dealing in abroad have a multiple sources through which they can learn the cultures of foreign countries. Some sources are general talk with employees who worked abroad, managers who travelled abroad, training programmers and consulting with other firms as well. Gaspar, J., et al., (2013). The volume of international transactions has grown rapidly over the past 60 years. National capital markets have changed to unified capital markets followed by international securities. Therefore investors are realizing the huge ability of international portfolio type of investment. The risk found here is more than domestic budgeting as the company’s stock is affected by the riskiness o f capital budgeting and the level of earnings stream. Kim, S., Kim, S. (2009). Multinational companies depend on capital budgeting methods for the evaluation of foreign investment projects. Capital budgeting is a method or issue for adopting stockholders and increasing the wealth as an objective action. There are confusions and complicated situations for capital budgeting in a multinational corporation. Multinational capital budgeting is an issue of foreign direct investment agreements. Foreign investment aims include-Strategic aims, behavioral aims and economic aims. Strategic aims include, Market seekers who produce in foreign and just meet local demands and exports to markets, Raw material seekers who are responsible to collect sources from available places, Production skill seekers who produce goods at countries that are low of manufacturing costs, Knowledge seekers who pay handsome money to developed countries inorder to get their technologies and Political safety seekers who invest in interfering countries related to their business. Behavioral aims are de veloping a market for goods and other products, bringing into usage of old machinery, research spreading and expansion, reinvesting on countries that has lost its link in a particular territory. Economic motives are based on the theory of imperfection on products, financial properties and factors of production. Riahi-Belkaoui, A. (2001). There are four elements of major importance which can be said as the managerial conclusion for capital budgeting as they help in the critical positioning of the Multi National Enterprises compared to that of domestic companies. Firstly investment Oppurtunities are present at a larger scale in MNEs. Secondly they are provided with good information on the input and output benefits of a specific investment strategy. Thirdly risks are reduced due to international changes. Fourthly exploiting international differences in market defects or imperfections are present. In Rugman’s view the capital budgeting process in MNEs characterizes the increasing importance of firm specific action management considerations. This replaces the traditional financing or portal capital elements, specifically in cases of multinational global competition. Capital budgeting in functionally organized MNEs results in less efficiency due to various reasons. A functional structure would encourage opportunisti c behavior by functional managers, even by corporate levels. This would cause difficult situations to separate strategic plans such as operational decisions and capital budgeting. Focusing on the much higher complexity of capital budgeting effective control and sanctioned systems designed a monitoring outcome of the investments that has been undergone. Rugman, A. M. (1996). Global companies with compact operations are at best in being able to design and manufacture regulated products in a few high volume facilities inorder to take advantage of economies of scale. These products are adaptable to the local markets and are sold around the world. The approaches of multinational enterprises are in a decentralized manner where in different regions were held responsible for both production and marketing. The development of a business plan and finalizing its capital expenses are placed in the hands of local managers as they are aware of the global expenditures and expectations. Feist, W. R. (Ed.). (1999). Multinational companies are constantly achieving and showing their assets globally in the course of business. The investments that are made by the company determines their competitiveness in the marketplace and their long-run survival. Capital budgeting for foreign projects focuses on the cash flow of expected long-term investment projects and on constructing retail stores in other countries. There are complexities in multinational capital budgeting such as foreign currency fluctuations, Long-term inflation rates. The parent money invested flows globally to other countries and their value is obtained by the fluctuations in the currency rate within a given period of time. So it is necessary to estimate the future exchange rates under various scenarios. Long term inflation rates affect the competitiveness of the enterprise globally. It affects the cash flow both in terms of prices of inputs and outputs. It will affect the finance between domestic and foreign sources. Saudagaran, S. M. (2009). Foreign investments are unique to domestic investments as they require many formalities to take place before the investment. Foreign investors must prepare an application to the Foreign Investment Committee that contains all the details of the foreign investor. This Foreign Investment Committee has the advocate in favor of the foreign investors. They also give a period of six months to the foreign investors for the approval of the application and executing the contract. Here the income tax rate has a time limit of 10 years and a maximum up to 20 years in case of large projects. Campbell, C. (2007) Capital expenditures decisions regarding permanent and irreversible commitment of funds to projects whose benefits are to be obtained over a long period of time than that of the current year is the most important financial agreement as it affects directly the value of the firm. A distinguish between the present cash flow and the investment expenditures of the projects gives an idea to the firm of what decision is to be made about the project. Capital budgeting for foreign projects is same as that of domestic projects where in the view of the parent firm should be undertaken when the cash flow values exceeds the initial expenditure spent. However there are other situations that make the foreign projects more complicated. Several surveys have suggested that Multi National Enterprises tend to consider foreign projects on both the parent and project viewpoints. These MNCs should forecast a projects true profitability which regulates the minimum revenue and minimum cost associated with th e project. Incremental cash flows to the parent can be confirmed only when subtracting worldwide parent company cash flows without considering the post-investment done by the parent cash flows. The tax issue for the multinational capital budgeting reasons is complicated due to the fact that they have to pay both the home country as well as host country including other factors as well. First the tax is applied in the host country and then when getting the profits it is again taxed in the home country. Thus investments on foreign projects fall under the tax net. Shapiro, A. C. (2008). MNCs use a major principle behind each method they use is to increase their information sources and use them effectively when while reducing inconsistent cash flow and the cost of capital alterations. Generally in practice, the methods used are usually involving the adjustments of cash flows rather than the cost of the capital. This is because the risks are mainly involved in the regular cash flows than the cost of capital. There is nothing in increasing the capital cost of the project and showing its incremental risks as there is a constant change in the cash flows. Stonehill, A. I., et al., (1993). Thus the discussion of Multinational Budgeting is successfully discussed. The reason for investing a huge sum of capital investment in foreign projects has been illustrated. There exist various political, global issues that are all responsible for the MNCs success and failure. By proper analyzing of these above discussed theories in financial markets, financial price developments can be made. Globally many MNCs struggle in the beginning to capitalize them as there would be more of direct investments without any cash flow till a period of time. References: Campbell, C. (2007). â€Å"Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Latin America†. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RwAtZJ4SZYICpg=PA83dq=unique+aspects+to+foreign+project+investmentshl=ensa=Xei=VhCtVPetK4b_UMKogYgN#v=onepageq=unique%20aspects%20to%20foreign%20project%20investmentsf=false Feist, W. R. (Ed.). (1999).â€Å"Managing a global enterprise: a concise guide to international operations†. Gaspar, J., Arreola-Risa, A., Bierman, L., Hise, R., Kolari, J. (2013). â€Å"Introduction to Global Business: Understanding the International Environment Global Business Functions†. Kim, S., Kim, S. (2009).â€Å"Global corporate finance: text and cases†. Riahi-Belkaoui, A. (2001).â€Å"Evaluating capital projects†. Rugman, A. M. (1996).â€Å"The theory of multinational enterprises: The selected scientific papers of Alan M. Rugman†. Vol. (1) Saudagaran, S. M. (2009).â€Å"International accounting: A user perspective†. Shapiro, A. C. (2008).â€Å"Multinational financial management†. Stonehill, A. I., Dunning, J. H., Moffett, M. H. (Eds.)., (1993).â€Å"International financial management†. Vol. (5) Evaluate the UK government response to the budget deficit and the post-2008 recession. This chapter deals about the UK government response to the budget deficit in the 2008 recession. List of factors that had caused this failure are discussed.The United Kingdom’s great recession refers to the period of economic decline between 2008 and 2013. The recession started after the 2007/2008 credit crisis globally and has led to a long-term period of minimum growth and less employment. There were reasons for the bankruptcy of Britain and they were, Export failures due to the global bankruptcy, sudden fall of housing markets which led to unfavorable wealth effects, fall in bank lending’s and credit crisis, due to financial helplessness the confidentiality had been lost, single currency in Europe created extra problems because of higher exchange rates and high bong earnings. The causes of the credit crisis were that in the period of 2000-2007 was a time of good economic growth, less expansion and reduction of unemployment. Even Central Banks were successful in follo wing low expansion and ensuring economic standard. But however under the big economic standard there were lot of problems which became transparent later. Pettinger, T., (2013). The UKs deficit in trade of goods was found to be six quarter per cent of GDP in 2007. The goods trade deficit was a bit changed as there was a small decline in the loss of manufactured goods. These goods were offset by increase in oil and fuel pricings. Overall the United Kingdom’s deficit was about three fourth more than three percent of GDP in the year 2007. It then temporarily reduced to one and a half percent in the beginning of 2008 and again increased to three percent in the second quarter. Great Britain, Treasury. (2008). The key economic developments that has shaped the public finances are, the weakness of simple GDP, high consumer price inflation firmly, productivity puzzle, weak interest rates and asset markets, down turn of real wages, an excessive hit to the financial sector. The economical cash size (nominal GDP) fell far below the expectations in between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. This simple GDP kept increasing even when the actual GDP i.e., the quantity of the goods and services produced in the economy fell. Consumer price kept raising rapidly more than expected. The earnings were incremented very slowly due to the weakness of productivity. High consume price inflation had also been a cause for the incremental of wages. Fair pricings fell apart and short term policy rates along with government financing costs fell badly and remained in a low position. Riley, J and Chote, R.,(2014). Capitalist system of UK has suffered a great crisis in 2008. A great depression has been threatening the whole of economy as there was pressure in the political justice and ideal shift in political economy. It was totally finance driven and was considered as the end of the age of greed. In politics a majority of people thought that by shifting the politics to the left-wing side and by redistribution was acceptable. They thought that new ideas and policies were intelligent approach by dealing them in a new way and implementing them. The government had then realized it was not just the failure of the financial system but also the way it had been regulated by a set of economic theories. It was then decided that the simplicities of illiberal and ill economics as well as an overall mathematical economical view should be rejected. The intuition of the past was to be looked upon inorder to get the clear view of the problem. Recovery had been very slow and new financial pressures have arose which had lead to future setbacks. Political economy had become complicated. The left-wing parties have not yet advanced from the crisis of capitalism. It was then in 2010, an alliance of balanced marketing people took over from a binding party on the left which had a grasp of the market ideology and language. Turner, A. (2012). It was suggested by some evidence that the Treasury’s budget remained up-most even though there were downward revisions. In an average, individual economists forecasted that the GDP growth was 1.6% in 2008 and 1.8% in 2009 which were much lower than the lower border of the Treasury’s forecast. The Treasury’s confidence in the capacity of UK economy in weathering the market flows from accessing the flexibility of the economy. According to the 2008 budget, the growth of underlying gains had been â€Å"rigid† and â€Å"subdued†, although there was crisis and crisis expectations. England’s bank in their 2008 inflation report stated that, â€Å"the pay growth of private sector was muted in late 2007† which rose by 4.2% comparing with a year before. McFall, J. (2008). The macroeconomic adjustments had become more difficult after august 2007. The United Kingdom was struck by two new shocks, the interruptions to global financing markets and high increase in the pieces of food and fuel in recent months. These shocks had heightened the uncertainties about export marketing and output growth plan, disturbed money markets, fused the ongoing correction in the domestic housing market and had increased the rise of risks on both sides. The policies that were implemented then had faced several new challenges. The estimation of the correct posture was very complicated, the communication mechanism had kept demonstrating repeated shocks as the financial markets confusion had played out. Fiscal side had become increasingly difficult to resolve total usage of automatic stabilizers with attachment to the fiscal rules. Due to the confusions, current account rates have been lowered. In prospect of output weakness the bank rate reductions have been started and advance d. They had lowered 75bp and markets had been reducing further rate cuts over 2008. Although there were divided payments by the U.K. banks in 2007, the discharge of value from foreign banks were rejected as their market status was currently low in the global aspects. This had added to the current account loss. International Monetary fund. (2008). There had been deficit of goods and services not only from 2008 but had started ever since 1987. The shortfall had a reached a peak of  £50 billion in the year 2007. These deficits were caused because they remained constant, formed a huge share of GDP, Central bank had less number of resources, the economy had a poor record of repaying debt and no compensating inward flow of investment income or the flow of inward capital account. In UK there was a strong bond between the growing economy and trade deficits. When the economy went into bankruptcy in 1990, the trade loss began to fall quickly. This bankruptcy was overcome in 1993 but the trade deficit had begun to rise quickly and had carried out over the next 15 years. The recent collapse however that took over in 2008 had caused the loss to be reduced in between 2008-2009. The main factors that lead to recession include, excessive growth, high export rates, less productivity, low levels of investment in human and real capital. The U K economy had grown too quickly than the trend rate around 2.5% which as discussed led to failure. Higson, G. (2011). UK had developed its economical, political and market forces shaping its business environment in a successive way since the 2008 recession. Although there had been crisis and trade deficit since 1987, it started to recover only when the deficit had reached its peak. The factors that had led to recession have been discussed above. Reference: Great Britain, Treasury. (2008).â€Å"Pre-budget Report 2008: Facing Global Challenges, Supporting People Through Difficult Times†. Vol.(7484). Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2BS11cCcrnwCpg=PA174dq=britain+deficit+in+2008hl=ensa=Xei=iXqtVN2tLcj6UIe4gaAMredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=britain%20deficit%20in%202008f=false Higson, G. (2011). â€Å"The National Economy: an introduction to macroeconomics†. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=64OWJY-XnDMCpg=PA80dq=deficit+of+UK+in+2008hl=ensa=Xei=L36uVKeSKsWsUfOEgfgHved=0CDwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepageq=deficit%20of%20UK%20in%202008f=false International Monetary fund, (2008). â€Å"United Kingdom: 2008 Article IV Consultation Staff Supplement; Staff report; public information report on the executive board discussion; and statement by the executive director for the United Kingdom†. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ThMMPslQJKoCpg=PA10dq=UK+market+deficit++in+2008hl=ensa=Xei=b2yuVPzOAYT_UvK1gugEved=0CDQQ6AEwAg#v=onepageq=UK%20market%20deficit%20%20in%202008f=false McFall, J. (2008).â€Å"The 2008 Budget: Ninth Report of Session 2007-08: Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence†. Vol.(430). Pettinger, T., (2013). â€Å"The great recession 2008-13†. Available at: http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/7501/economics/the-great-recession/ Riley, J and Chote, R. (2014). â€Å"Crisis and consolidation in the public finances†. Turner, A. (2012).â€Å"Economics after the crisis: objectives and means†.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

â€Å"A man of courage flees towards the start of indifferent things.† In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many dissimilar examples of courageous behavior. There are many different definitions of courage. Some people say that courage is being able to face their fears. Others say that courage is a person with a tough heart. In the novel, Lee describes courage as being â€Å"when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (p.112). Courage is the ultimate weapon against racism, war, sexism and unfair circumstances. It can overthrow the man in the highest position and defeat the harshest of words. Courage. It’s what many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird have and know how to exploit. Courageous people make other courageous people and Scout Finch has made that impact on many. Mrs. Henrietta Dubose starts out cold and distant, but then we later realize that she is just overcoming a stage of becoming courageous. Atticus Finch also happens to be one of the boldest people that I have come into contact with. Scout, Mrs. Dubose and Atticus all have the elements of the most courageous people in the novel. Scout Finch has the spunk and brutality of a boy her age, but in the same aspect a warmer heart than most girls. She starts out being quite a tomboy. She beats people up when she doesn’t know what else will resolve her conflict, for example: when she beats up Walter Cunningham because he made her look bad. She plays with boys, including her brother Jem and friend, Dill. She has a lot to handle at such a young age for just growing up in the society of the 1930’s. Scout can conduct herself in such situations that most wouldn’t be able to manage, yet when she has her buttons pushed, she turns to the one thing she uses to express her grief, using her fists. Despite the fact she is a hitter, she uses her words to defend her father. When Mr. Cunningham was outside of the courthouse mocking Atticus for what he is planning to do for Tom Robinson Scout stood her ground for her father and reminded Mr. Cunningham of the fact he, too, was a man like Atticus with a famil y to care for, children that need him and a man trying to make a living.

Response to The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920s

Paula Fass’s The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920's delves into the social and cultural climate of the 1920’s middle-class youth in America. Fass observes the multidimensional dynamics of the post-World War I society as citizens adjust to pertinent matters such as industrialization, prohibition and immigration. Amidst the ongoing social, political and economical issues of the early twentieth century, youth played an active role in contemporary life. Adolescents responded to issues through altering their habits, behaviors and viewpoints. Their responses became evident in the public setting and American culture evolved. The transformation of American culture was spearheaded by youth who questioned and went against cultural norms of past generations. Societal changes were visible through family, education, socialization, fashion and style and dating and sexuality. Internal changes within family units occurred during the Roaring Twenties. In contrast to Victorian family which was characterized by hierarchical structure and rigid social roles, a new idea of a compassionate family arose. Husbands and wives as well as parents and children shared more emotional relationships. Also, the family unit and social institutions were becoming increasingly separate spheres. The family remained personal, while social environments were impersonal. The notion of an affectionate family framed the emergence of demographic changes. Birth rates fell and the life expectancy rose. From 1900 to 1930, the median age of American citizens rose from 22.9 to 26.5 (58). The youth population from ages 15 to 24 years declined. Thus, there was a higher adult- to- youth ratio and more caretakers available to supervise children. As a result o... ...table. Young women had to be careful in their behavior as they did not want to be labeled as â€Å"fast† (267). It was a social norm for young men and women to participate in petting. Petting was a wide range of physical contact, varying from kissing to fondling. An investigation reported that 92% of women petted at least once in their life (266). Petting parties occurred often and women gained popularity by partaking in petting. Intercourse between married couples was tolerable partly because women felt secure in their role as a future wife. In conclusion, The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920's is a novel that describes several elements that were changed in the Roaring Twenties. Family, education, socialization, fashion and style and dating and sexuality were redefined. Youth challenged pervious cultural norms and impacted modern society.

How to Break Bad Habits

I believe that Study abroad is a really challenge in life. if you have a plan to study abroad, u should prepare everything carefully. first, u should learn how to stand on your own feet, learn the ways take care of yourself, such as learn to cook, tidy up. second, u need prepare your knowledge of geography, culture, politics of the country u will go, it will help in falling in line with foreign land. Third, u should come with opening your mind and your heart to face with everything, making friends with someone will help u feel more confident.Finually, u should keep in touch with ur family and your friends through Skype, Yahoo Messenger or Facebook so that won’t feel lonely. study abroad really difficult, but I think that u will go over and will get satisfactory results. I believe that studying abroad is really a challenge in life. if you plan to study abroad, u should prepare everything carefully. first, u should learn how to stand on your own feet, learn the ways to take care of yourself, such as learning how to cook and to tidy up. econd, u need to prepare your knowledge of the geography, culture, and politics of the country u will go to, it will help in falling in line with foreign land. Third, u should come with opening your mind and your heart to face with everything, making friends with someone will help u feel more confident. Finally, u should keep in touch with ur family and your friends through Skype, Yahoo Messenger or Facebook so that won’t feel lonely. studying abroad is really difficult, but I think that u will go over and will get satisfactory results. —-