Using Literacy Narrative Essay Topics

Using Literacy Narrative Essay Topics Citations and extracts from assorted sources have to be formatted properly. It's more appealing and understandable in the event the words you're using are interconnected and are extremely suitable for the subject issue. It's personal enough, it permits you to play with words, and it's both interesting and edifying for the general public. Up in Arms About Literacy Narrative Essay Topics? An additional subsection within this category is connected to learning process which is centered on individuals. Some students utilize the very first idea that arrives in their head and work on it, but the outcome isn't profitable. In some instances, it represents a quarter of your overall grade. In some instances it represents a quarter of your overall grade. Or maybe you write from the point of view of somebody who is as baffled as ever. An individual's literacy level is wholly based on practice. Never forget that although the very first person pronoun is normally used, it ought not be overused. Somebody gets essential wisdom and experience there. Know the sort of essay that you're writing. In that case, then you ought to try out writing narrative essays. A narrative essay is permissive in terms of picking the topic. Writing a superb narrative essay is dependent mostly on this issue you chose. Here are the important points in building a narrative essay. Many renowned quotes exist about the subject of literacy. Read the essay examples on literacy and you will notice how simple it can be. Argumentative Essay Topics for science dissertation projects There are lots of argumentative essay topics for college students simple to find, but you need to choose something quite intriguing. Don't forget that a high degree of detailing is a feature of all fantastic narrative essay examples. The best way of organization is going to be a literacy narrative essay outline. While writing this sort of essay you're able to omit strict structure regulations. You are likely to use that outline to compose your essay, so you are certain that you do not leave out any essential points. Your outline will allow you to compose a First Draft. Be attentive to the size it must be and begin writing the narrative essay outline. Top Choices of Literacy Narrative Essay Topics It's a significant chance to boost our writing. The aid of writing service is really valuable to compose your mind and the story amusing. In addition, a customer may ask the writer to submit part of the job for review and, if needed, ask them to make corrections. If you're an amazing listener, you can produce an outstanding story around this one of a kind personal feature. So, it's a significant foundation for assorted epic stories! The climax ought to have the ability to draw the reader in and to keep on reading the story. Books are the ideal model for people who wish to become more skilled as writers. Locating a fantastic story in the Bible is a challenging situation to come by. Great titles offer you potential readers the reason behind reading the essay in the very first location. There are not any strict requirements, the only thing which you should fulfill is to make an intriguing story which will capture the reader's attention from the initial sentences. There's no need to discover extraordinary stories to compose a narrative essay that's interesting to read. An excellent ending is when it's linked to the very first portion of the start of the story, and it ought to be correlated to the whole portions of the story. The exact same thing goes with writing.

School Uniforms - 1566 Words

The Need for School Uniforms A safe and structured learning environment is the first requirement of a good school. Children who feel safe and secure will better learn basic American values. In return they will learn the basis of good citizenship and become better students. In response to growing levels of violence in our schools, many parents, teachers, and school officials have been forced to look toward school uniforms as one potentially positive way to reduce discipline problems and increase school safety. It has been observed that the adoption of school uniform policies can promote school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment. The potential benefits of school uniforms include decreasing violence and theft.†¦show more content†¦A uniform policy must also prohibit students from wearing a button bearing a gang insignia. A uniform policy must also prohibit items that undermine the integrity of the uniform, such as a sweatshirt that bears a political message but also covers or replaces the type of shirt required by the uniform policy. There is another big issue within the implementation of school uniforms. Schools must determine whether to have a voluntary or mandatory school uniform policy. Some schools have adopted completely voluntary school uniform policy, which permits students to freely choose whether and under what circumstances they will wear the school uniform. On the other hand, some schools have determined that it is both warranted and more effective to adopt a mandatory uniform policy. When a mandatory school uniform policy is adopted, there must be a determination as to whether to have an opt out provision In most cases, school districts with mandatory policies allow students, with parental consent, to opt out of the school uniform requirements. Some schools have determined, however, that a mandatory policy with no opt out provision is necessary to address a disruptive atmosphere. A Phoenix, Arizona school, for example, adopted a mandatory policy requiring students to wear school uniforms, or attend another public school. That Phoenix schools uniform policy was recently upheld by a state trialShow MoreRelatedSchool Uniforms And Schools Uniforms1211 Words   |  5 PagesSchool uniforms began their revolution in private schools; they represented a unique appearance, and provided a safe environment for the students attending. Private and Catholic schools were clever enough for implementing school uniforms, because without their influence public schools would have not adapted on creating a dress code for students. By introducing school uniforms in school policies they have managed to impact students learning environment in reducing stress, changing students’ behaviorRead MoreUniforms in School726 Words   |  3 PagesThe standard issue school uniform of khaki, navy and white once exclusive to the private parochial institutions is becoming a common requirement in public schools across the nation. This trend that was first suggested for public schools in 1980 by then D. C. mayor, Marion Barry, to help diminish the social stigma of low income stu dents has grown significantly in both numbers and reasons (Lawrence, 2013). In 2010, it was reported by the National Center for Education Statistics, that nearly 19% ofRead MoreSchools and Uniforms733 Words   |  3 PagesSchool Uniforms Uniforms in schools are a big debate around the world. Should we have uniforms in schools? The answer is yes because uniform help the schools. They bring to table a great deal of help because students are getting bullied, killed, and some may not have as much as other when shopping for clothes. Having uniforms bring safety to schools and what goes on after school. Why do we need uniforms? Most student have their own style, but a common argument against school uniforms is thatRead MoreSchool Uniform And School Uniforms937 Words   |  4 PagesSchool Uniform School uniforms keep students focused on their education not in their clothings. When all students are wearing the same outfit, they are less concerned about how they look and how they fit in with their peers. It’s easier for parent and students do not spend time choosing appropriate outfit for school day. It helps students can only concentrate on their schoolwork. Education is one of the big institutions for every kid that go to school. Also education is the roots that will help peopleRead MoreSchool Uniforms And Schools Uniforms819 Words   |  4 Pagesas school uniforms, many are quick to deem them as unjust and avoidable. What these individuals do not know is that, in fact, school uniforms would enhance how the learning environment functions. Surely, when schools provide their students with uniforms, they are not providing their students with dreadful apparel, they are providing their students with an opportunity to change; whether it be a chance for a student to change t heir role academically, or a chance for a student to fit in. School uniformsRead MoreSchool Uniforms1143 Words   |  5 PagesSchool uniforms make things more complicated Firstly, school is the place where all of us step in at a very tender age. In one word, life begins at school. It’s not just education but school gives us the platform to nurture our faith, emotions in such an early stage of life. The importance of making friends, working as a team- we learn all these in school. And wearing the same dress definitely brings a sense of unity among students. In every school there are students from different backgrounds butRead MoreSchool Uniforms: Yes or No?2109 Words   |  9 Pages3 March 2011 School Uniforms: A Non-Military Proposal for Swedens Students The word school uniform has negative connotations for many people. It makes them think of war, of soldier, of death, brainwashed airheads doing exactly the same as everybody else. It makes them think of reformed, collectivized groups of people with no personal identity. There are, however, reasons for the existence of the uniform; one of them being, as the name suggests, the purpose of uniting. At schools all around theRead MoreDress Codes And School Uniforms1248 Words   |  5 Pagesembarrassing than being dress coded at school? Enforcing a dress code among children is unfair because it not only discriminates against people but it destroys someone’s whole day. Dress codes and school uniforms are meant to increase student achievement and make everyone equal but instead it only hurts people. Most school dress codes are unnecessary and are sexist. Enforcing dress codes is suppose to boost student achievement but instead is racist, sexist and unnecessary. Schools should take in to considerationRead MoreShould School Uniforms For Wear Uniforms?969 Words   |  4 Pagesrequired to wear uniforms? In today’s society this is a very controversial subject across America. Many object uniforms because they feel uniforms don t allow students to have the freedom to express themselves the way they want. People feel uniforms undermine children s individuality. However, taking into consideration facts from both sides, what remains most important is the child s academics. To improve academics, schools should require all students to wear a uniform. Though uniforms may not be theRead MoreAre School Uniforms Beneficial Or Not?1098 Words   |  5 PagesAre School Uniforms Beneficial or Not? How does dressing and feeling the same as everybody else sound? Would it be enjoyable, or would it be no fun? According to Procon.org, the first recorded use of school uniforms in the United States was in 1994. In Europe around the early sixteenth century, school uniforms were made to tell the difference between poor students to the charity schools as opposed to other children. In London people thought that schools without uniforms were to be looked at as lower

relate plate tectonics to the formation of crustal features Example For Students

relate plate tectonics to the formation of crustal features Term Definition Plate tectonics the theory that Earths outer layer is made up of large, moving pieces called tectonic plates; the theory explains how plates interact and how those interactions relate to processes such as earthquakes and mountain building Crustal features include those expressed on the surface, (such as mountains, rivers, and lakes) as well as those not as visible (such as volcanic feed pipes, earthquake fault lines, Geological formations, and aquifer formations.) Tectonic plates a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle Oceanic crust the relatively thin part of the earths crust that underlies the ocean basins. It is geologically young compared with the continental crust and consists of basaltic rock overlain by sediments. Continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. Volcanic island is an island that was made from volcanoes erupting from the ocean floor. Mountain range a line of mountains connected by high ground. Subduction zone is the biggest crash scene on Earth. These boundaries mark the collision between two of the planets tectonic plates. The plates are pieces of crust that slowly move across the planets surface over millions of years. Earthquake is the perceptible shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. Converging plates form when 2 or more plates move towards each other in a collision zone. Transform fault boundary a strike-slip fault that offsets a mid-ocean ridge in opposing directions on either side of an axis of seafloor spreading. Folded mountains are created where two or more of Earth’s tectonic plates are pushed together, often at regions known as convergent plate boundaries and continental collision zones. Divergent boundary A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the Earths surface between the two plates. Subduction boundary A geologic process in which one edge of one crustal plate is forced below the edge of another. Convergent boundary is an actively deforming region where two (or more) tectonic plates or fragments of the lithosphere move toward one another and collide. Mid-ocean ridge is an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It consists of various mountains linked in chains, typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine.

The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Research Paper Example Essay Example

The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Research Paper Example Paper The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Essay Introduction Deanda Jones The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms The first questions we have to ask ourselves; do animals have rights, do they have feelings, do they feel pain, do they need as we do? To find the answer, one needs merely to think back on empirical data if one has ever owned or been around an animal, a dog or a cat, or horses or farm animals. Take for instance a mother cat. When a mother has kittens, she looks for a sheltered, warm, safe place to do so. When they are borne, she cleans her kitten instinctively until the sac it is born in is eaten and the kitten mews loudly, letting the world know she is alive and hungry. If the mother feels her babies are threatened, she will move them to a safer place, averting danger. If anything threatens her kittens, she will fight to the death to protect them. If any animal is in pain, it yelps (a dog), or mews (a cat), or moo’s (a cow). When a cow is separated from her calf, she bellows, likewise, the calf balls for its mothe r. When any animal is cold, it will look for shelter, in the bushes or leaves or a barn. The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Essay Body Paragraphs If a puppy mill gets shut down because of its appalling conditions, such as the birthing dogs living in their own feces, and very little space to live in with no shelter, the community is outraged (some are not, I suppose) and the dogs are taken away to better homes. Animals do feel pain; they instinctively care about the members of their herd or litter. They hear and see, they suffer and feel. They form bonds to man, that if broken, they too suffer feeling of loss or abandonment. Most community’s or state’s have laws in place on the ethical treatment of animals. As long as they are used as pets or bred for pets. On the other hand, the treatment of animals raised for meat production is largely unregulated (Herzog and Golden, 2009) ie. factory farms. Factory farms; poultry-turkeys, chickens eggs, beef, pigs and dairy—their goal is to raise as much livestock in as little space as possible for as little time as possible, for as little money as possible so the bottom line is bigger. Because they are in such a small space, chickens get their beaks clipped so they don’t kill each other. When they go to slaughter, the room is darkened so they are calm (http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=u-uYSafpKmk). Use of antibiotics is a ecessity with factory farms, to stave off disease of so many animals living so closely together. And the list of horrors grows longer. Watch a clip from this film and if you can, check it out from your local video source and watch the whole film: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=yh8c9OUti4c In factory farms, animals are products or commodities, not animals, not pets; they have no rights. After watching some of these films, you get the sense that the world has gone askew some how. That something has gone terribly wrong. You get the feeling that animals are raised in some sort of concentration camps, tortured for life, and then killed. Is an animal raised in such a way, healthy to consume? Large corporations that run facto ry farms can run so cheaply that they have driven the small farmers out of business (Andre’ 2009), which is a sad derivative of factory farming. Their excuse is â€Å"Who else is going to feed the world† (http://www. tyson. com/Consumer/CoreValues. aspx)? A hundred years ago, when people had family farms, everyone grew and raised the food they would consume. They raised their own cattle, sheep, chickens, and pigs and grew a garden. If they wanted something they weren’t raising, they often traded a neighbor for it. County fairs were a place to show off your ingenuity in farming and husbandry skills. Enter the Industrial Age and WWII. Factory’s to get food to the soldiers sprung up everywhere. Convenience food was born and embraced by the ‘modern’ woman. People moved into the city and had to buy food for the first time. People forgot about farming because they didn’t need to. There are some farmers who have stuck it out and still run the ir farms with humane treatment in mind. The philosophy is that happy and content animals make great food. So do we really need to eat animals anyway? With such global access to so many different kinds of food, there is absolutely no reason for westernized country’s to have to eat animals. The new food pyramid called MyPyramid (MyPyramid. org) displays 6 colored bands that represent the different food groups. The protein band, which is purple, lists not only meat and fish, but also beans, peas, nuts, seeds and eggs as protein sources. There are many meat analogues made from soybeans or wheat, which are very popular and are found in the frozen breakfast isle at your local grocers. Utilitarian’s would say, â€Å"No, there’s enough food, you on’t need to treat animals the way we’re doing for food or experiments, but it needs to be implemented in small baby steps so as not to hurt the welfare of man also (Francione, 1997). But if there are starving peo ple in the world and they painlessly kill and eat an animal is morally permissible to do so. Tom Regan, and animal rights proponent argues that â€Å"what is important for moral consideration are not the differences between humans and non-humans but the similarities†-the ability to experience life and to care about oneself regardless of what anyone else thinks, this in and of itself deserve moral consideration (http://plato. tanford. edu/entries/moral-animal/). Animals, Regan says, have value. Consider factory farming, the most common method used to convert animal bodies into relatively inexpensive food in industrialized societies today. An estimated 8 billion animals in the United States are born, confined, biologically manipulated, transported and ultimately slaughtered each year so that humans can consume them. The conditions in which these animals are raised and the method of slaughter causes vast amounts of suffering. Given that animals suffer under such conditions and a ssuming that suffering is not in their interests, then the practice of factory farming would only be morally justifiable if its abolition were to cause greater suffering or a greater amount of interest frustration. Certainly humans who take pleasure in eating animals will find it harder to satisfy these interests in the absence of factory farms; it may cost more and require more effort to obtain animal products. The factory farmers, and the industries that support factory farming, will also have certain interests frustrated if factory farming were to be abolished. How much interest frustration and interest satisfaction would be associated with the end to factory farming is largely an empirical question. But utilitarians are not making unreasonable predictions when they argue that on balance the suffering and interest frustration that animals experience in modern day meat production is greater than the suffering that humans would endure if they had to alter their current practice. ht tp://plato. stanford. edu/entries/moral-animal/ Bentham would say, because he likes quality, and if he likes meat, that it will be alright to humanely raise animals for food. He would have his servants out in the fresh hay-filled barn massaging his beef with beer like the Kobe steaks are. His barn would be cooled in summer, heated in winter to make all of his animals happy, therefore, good to eat. Because of the 7 circumstances from Bentham, he would not at all approve of factory farming, because it doesn’t start well and doesn’t end well for any of the animals involved. see Bibl. below) Deanda Jones Bibliography Western Carolina University, Journal of Social Issues, Harold A. Herzog and Lauren L. Golden Vol. 65, No. 3, 2009, pp. 485—498, Andre Peter, Alternatives Journal Feb2009, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p14-17, 4p http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=u-uYSafpKmk http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=yh8c9OUti4c mypyramid. org http://www. tyson. com/Consumer/CoreValues. aspx) Animal Rights Theory and Utilitarianism: Relative Normative Guidance, Gary L. Francione, 3 Animal L. 75 (1997) Publish Date: 1997 Place of Publication: Lewis amp; Clark Law School We will write a custom essay sample on The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Research Paper Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Research Paper Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Humane Treatment of Animals vs. Factory Farms Research Paper Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

It Started With a Vision essays

It Started With a Vision essays The creative mind of George Lucas has developed many different movies with different subject matter. Many of these movies, namely Star Wars, have pushed the envelope in the realm of special effects and sound. His demand for better special effects and sound increased the overall technology in the film industry, and continues to do so today with his company Industrial Light and Magic. In all of Lucas films, his main concern is getting his view across to the audience. He wants to portray his vision in the most vivid way possible so the audience can hopefully get a grasp of what message he is trying to get across, or what item he wants to address. Trying to get his idea across became an obsession for Lucas. The scene had to be almost entirely what he envisioned. In fact, Lucas would go to excessive lengths in creating a near perfect scene in comparison to other directors of his day. He further displayed his perfectionism when he wrote out screenplays. For example, he only used No. 2 lead pencils, making his tiny print almost impossible to read (Pollock 143). On the set, Lucas was a mastermind and a compulsive creator of visual imagery. Off the set, he was a creative coordinator. He spent countless hours developing the plot, story line, and dialogues of his movies. He then spent what time he had left pitching those scripts and ideas, and developing new ones. George wrote in a letter to his wife during the filming of Star Wars, I forget how impossible making movies really is, I get so depressed, but I guess Ill get through it somehow...(Pollock 168). If a person lives largely in a duality of something (having a passion for it, and then occasionally hating it), why would they continue with that line of work? Simple, Lucas had a vision he alone wanted to get across. Ideally, George would like to come up with an idea for a film, have somebody go out and shoot it, and then get all ...

Definition and Examples of Syllogisms

Definition and Examples of Syllogisms In logic, a syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Adjective: syllogistic. Also known as a  categorical argument or a standard categorical syllogism. The term syllogism is from  the Greek, to infer, count, reckon Here is an example of a valid categorical syllogism: Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded.Minor premise: All black dogs are mammals.Conclusion: Therefore, all black dogs are warm-blooded. In rhetoric, an abridged or informally stated syllogism is called an enthymeme. Pronunciation: sil-uh-JIZ-um Examples and Observations Among this countrys enduring myths is that success is virtuous, while the wealth by which we measure success is incidental. We tell ourselves that money cannot buy happiness, but what is incontrovertible is that money buys stuff, and if stuff makes you happy, well, complete the syllogism.(Rumaan Alam, Malcolm Forbes, More Than I Dreamed. The New York Times, June 8, 2016)Flavius: Have you forgot me, sir?Timon: Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;Then, if thou grantst thourt a man, I have forgot thee.(William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act Four, scene 3 Major Premise, Minor Premise, and Conclusion The process of deduction has traditionally been illustrated with a syllogism, a three-part set of statements or propositions that includes a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Major premise: All books from that store are new.Minor premise: These books are from that store.Conclusion: Therefore, these books are new. The major premise of a syllogism makes a general statement that the writer believes to be true. The minor premise presents a specific example of the belief that is stated in the major premise. If the reasoning is sound, the conclusion should follow from the two premises. . . .A syllogism is valid (or logical) when its conclusion follows from its premises. A syllogism is true when it makes accurate claims- that is, when the information it contains is consistent with the facts. To be sound, a syllogism must be both valid and true. However, a syllogism may be valid without being true or true without being valid.(Laurie J. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, The Concise Wadsworth Handbook, 2nd ed. Wadsworth, 2008) Rhetorical Syllogisms In building his theory of rhetoric around the syllogism despite the problems involved in deductive inference Aristotle stresses the fact that rhetorical discourse is discourse directed toward knowing, toward truth not trickery. . . . If rhetoric is so clearly related to dialectic, a discipline whereby we are enabled to examine inferentially generally accepted opinions on any problem whatsoever (Topics 100a 18-20), then it is the rhetorical syllogism [i.e., the enthymeme] which moves the rhetorical process into the domain of reasoned activity, or the kind of rhetoric Plato accepted later in the Phaedrus.(William M.A. Grimaldi, Studies in the Philosophy of Aristotles Rhetoric. Landmark Essays on Aristotelian Rhetoric, ed. by Richard Leo Enos and Lois Peters Agnew. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998 A Presidential Syllogism On  Meet the Press, . . . [Tim] Russert reminded [George W.] Bush, The Boston Globe and the Associated Press have gone through some of their records and said theres no evidence that you reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972. Bush replied, Yeah, theyre just wrong. There may be no evidence, but I did report. Otherwise, I wouldnt have been honorably discharged. Thats the Bush syllogism: The evidence says one thing; the conclusion says another; therefore, the evidence is false. (William Saletan, Slate, Feb. 2004) Syllogisms in Poetry: To His Coy Mistress [Andrew] Marvells To His Coy Mistress . . . involves a tripartite rhetorical experience which is argued like a classical syllogism: (1) if we had world enough and time, your coyness would be tolerable; (2) we do not have sufficient world or time; (3) therefore, we must love at a faster rate than gentility or modesty permit. Although he has written his poem in a continuous sequence of iambic tetrameter couplets, Marvell has separated the three elements of his argument into three indented verse-paragraphs, and, more important, he has proportioned each according to the logical weight of the part of the argument it embodies: the first (the major premise) contains 20 lines, the second (the minor premise) 12, and the third (the conclusion) 14.(Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter and Poetic Form, rev. ed. Random House, 1979) The Lighter Side of Syllogisms Dr. House: Words have set meanings for a reason. If you see an animal like Bill and you try to play fetch, Bills going to eat you, because Bills a bear.Little Girl: Bill has fur, four legs, and a collar. Hes a dog.Dr. House: You see, thats whats called a faulty syllogism; just because you call Bill a dog doesnt mean that he is . . . a dog.(Merry Little Christmas, House, M.D.)LOGIC, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding. The basic of logic is the syllogism, consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusionthus: Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man.Minor Premise: One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds;thereforeConclusion: Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second. This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary) It was at this point that the dim beginnings of a philosophy began to invade her mind. The thing resolved itself almost into an equation. If father had not had indigestion he would not have bullied her. But, if father had not made a fortune, he would not have had indigestion. Therefore, if father had not made a fortune, he would not have bullied her. Practically, in fact, if father did not bully her, he would not be rich. And, if he were not rich . . .. She took in the faded carpet, the stained wall-paper, and the soiled curtains with a comprehensive glance. . . . It certainly cut both ways. She began to be a little ashamed of her misery.(P.G. Wodehouse,  Something Fresh, 1915)

Three major political approaches to fixing the problem with the Research Paper

Three major political approaches to fixing the problem with the national debt - Research Paper Example During a meeting in Cleveland, President Obama proposed a tax breaks and, directed corporate to eliminate one hundred percent of their ventures in industries and machineries. This move was further supported by Dave, a senior member of the Republican Party. In addition, a senior director of tax at Cato institute Edward Chris supported the three positions by arguing that the proposed approaches of fixing the problem with the national debt will help to revive the U.S economy. Mann Thomas a political scientist also advocated for the three proposed approaches by president Obama. Thomas asserted that the three approaches will help to promote economic growth tremendously. Additionally, the minority Leader Boehner John R-Ohio supported president Osama’s proposal to cut down budget and increase tax breaks (Raum, paras.1-5). The three positions have further been substantiated by the law whereby, the law provides corporate a chance to obtain fifty percent of the cost up front and the out standing balance to be settled within twenty years. Senior political official substantiated the move to implement tax breaks by proposing its benefits to the individual and to the entire economy at large. Some of the benefits include increase both individual and corporate investments which intern will lead to employments creation. The three proposals will further help to promote economic growth and expansion of small business (Raum, paras.3-7). ii) Give the pro’s and con’s of each approach. The pro’s of the first approach which involves cutting down government expenditures and give more tax breaks and incentives to small and big business include: it will help to eliminate government deficit and foreign debts because this approach helps at ensuring that the their readily available resources to be utilize productively. This approach further provides members of the public especially low income earners and middle class families with an opportunity to improve their s tandards of leaving. In addition, this approach will help to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor as well as promote growth of small medium enterprises (Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, p.158). On the contrary, the first approach tends to have some con’s. Among the con’s of this approach include: increase in negative externalities such as pollution because cutting down government expenditure limits the availability of funds to provide social services to the public. Reduction in government spending will causes a reduction in aggregate demand. This further leads to a reduction in economic activities as well as increase in unemployment problems. In addition, this approach discourages income distribution among members of the public. The approach will further affect those people who rely on social welfare benefits because they would not receive as much as they had expected to receive. This will further affect their budget and speeding (Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, p.158). The second approach for fixing the problems with the National budget involves putting more emphasize on our exports by lowering our dollar value or forcing our trade partners – China – to regulate more accurately its currency. This approach tends to have the following pro’

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) Case Study

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) - Case Study Example d contraction has tremendously adverse effects on landscape, namely roads and buildings, causing cracking of walls and foundations, and, thus, devaluing of the property in a remarkably short time. It also costs millions of money on repairs. Studies also show that expansive soils, when on slopes, can cause landslides. Care and treatment, therefore, has to be taken before construction of buildings on this soil. Engineers have to carry out soil tests, in order to determine the nature of the soil, before commencing construction, due to the adverse effects of expansive soil. Expansive soil can also be detected just by direct observation. If the soil is found to be expansive, various treatments could be applied so as to avoid the effects of the expansive soil: This involves compacting the subgrade at the appropriate moisture content. This will â€Å"produce a subgrade that absorbs less water, provides slightly higher strength, and will not expand or swell as much..†.( ACPA, 2008). Selective grading may be the most cost effective method of treatment, if expansive soils are not the predominant soil type along the roadway alignment. This will include blending and cross hauling. If the profile grade can be designed to keep expansive soils out of the top of the subgrade, (ACPA, 2008), selective grading may also be sufficient in controlling the shrink and swell potential. This is used when the subgrade soils consist of primarily expansive soils, and it is not economical to import non-expansive soil. This provides an effective means to control the shrink-swell potential of a soil. This method can also be economical on some projects, compared to selective

Pronoun Usage Essay Example for Free

Pronoun Usage Essay Someone had left their tennis shoes in the middle of the floor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This sentence has a problem with pronoun usage in that there is a plural personal possessive pronoun, but someone is a singular pronoun.   Therefore, the sentence contains an error in agreement.   One can fix this error in four different ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first is to correct the error.   Someone had left HIS or HER tennis shoes in the middle of the floor.   This uses a singular personal possessive pronoun of his/her which does agree with the singular someone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way to correct the sentence is to use a plural subject.   For example, both of my brothers left their tennis shoes in the middle of the floor.   Here, the pronoun BOTH agrees with the pronoun their in that they are both plural.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A third way to fix the error is to remove the pronoun altogether.   The sentence would sound like this:   Someone had left tennis shoes in the middle of the floor.   Of course this one does not imply that the shoes left necessarily belonged to the someone in question.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally, one can avoid the confusion with the pronoun someone by using a more obviously singular subject.   For example, a person left his or her tennis shoes in the middle of the floor.   Or, my mother left her tennis shoes in the middle of the floor, or my father left his tennis shoes in the middle of the floor.

Marijuana Essay -- Hemp Mary Jane Pot Weed

Marijuana Wether you call it Hemp, Mary Jane, Pot, Weed; it doesn't matter. It is still Cannabis Sativa, or cannabis for short. And it is still illegal. The use of marijuana as an intoxicant in the United States became a problem of public concern in the 1930s. Regulatory laws were passed in 1937, and criminal penalties were instituted for possession and sale of the drug. "Marijuana" refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, which contains the non-narcotic chemical THC at various potencies. It is smoked or eaten to produce the feeling of being "high." The different strains of this herb produce different sensual effects, ranging from a sedative to a stimulant. The term "marijuana" is a word with indistinct origins. Some believe it is derived from the Mexican words for "Mary Jane"; others hold that the name comes from the Portuguese word marigu-ano, which means "intoxicant". The use of marijuana in the 1960's might lead one to surmise that marihuana use spread explosively. The chronicle of its 3,000 year history, however, shows that this "explosion" has been characteristic only of the contemporary scene. The plant has been grown for fiber and as a source of medicine for several thousand years, but until 500~ AD its use as a mind-altering drug was almost solely confined in India. The drug and its uses reached the Middle and Near East during the next several centuries, and then moved across North Africa, appeared in Latin America and the Caribbean, and finally entered the United States in the early decades of this century. Marijuana can even be used as "Biomass" fuel, where the pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant can be burned as is or processed in to charcoal, methanol, methane, or gasoline. This process is call... ...ke of argument - that marijuana has no medical value whatsoever, despite the fact that it has a several thousand year history of medical use and that a prescription drug is made from its primary active ingredient. Let's assume - for the sake of argument - that all these medical marijuana patients are just fooling themselves. Even in that case, what would we stand to gain as a society by punishing sick people and putting them through an already overloaded criminal justice system? Even if they are deluding themselves- what benefit is there to prosecuting sick people?" In conclusion to this, it is important to state that there have been hundreds of studies showing that smoking cannabis is potentially harmful to the brain and body and the same number of studies contradicting what these have stated. Bibliography Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia 1996 Marijuana

Maternal Stress and the Effects of Childhood Development Essay

In conducting my research on developmental studies, I had the chance to review many academic journals with many different studies. I chose to read, â€Å"The Role of Prenatal Maternal Stress in Child Development,† by Janet A.DiPietro in the, Current Directions in Psychological Science journal. The title of the study itself does identify the independent and dependent variable. The independent variable is the effect of stress, and the dependent variable is the child’s development. In reading the introduction, I learned that throughout history people have thought that the emotions and experiences of a pregnant woman impinge on her developing fetus. (DiPietro, 2004) I also learned that there are no direct neural connections between the mother and fetus. (DiPietro, 2004) The journal went on to describe the physiological processes involved in mother to fetus bio-chemical and hormonal functions. The main studies used in determining theoretical explanations throughout history, have been in animal studies. According to DiPietro (2004), â€Å"the most compelling evidence between maternal physiological functioning and later development in offspring is found in animal studies.† (p. 1). The hypothesis of this study suggests that maternal stressors are more far-reaching on child behavior than previously suspected. (DiPietro, 2004). The main way that this hypothesis has been studied is by utilizing animal research. In a series of studies done with rhesus monkeys, when the mothers were exposed to loud noises throughout pregnancy, the offspring showed delayed motor development and reduced attention. (DiPietro, 2004) It does seem that most of the studies conducted on animals have reported negative consequences. Although reports of either no effects or beneficial ones make it clear that much is left to be learned about the specific characteristics of stressors that either accelerate or retard development. (DiPietro, 2004) The subjects used in the methods section were humans. Although, according to the article, this is difficult to study in the human because of the physiological differences during the pregnancies of the different species, and the fact that researchers are unable to control events that transpire after birth in humans. (DiPietro, 2004) Therefore, there are no graphs, charts or statistical measures seen in this article. There were several methods used to analyze the data in this article. One was the survey. Surveys were done with mothers who had witnessed a catastrophic even such as the World Trade Center disaster, or an earthquake. Although the study was able to show that the mother was indeed stressed during pregnancy, there was no study conducted on the outcome of the child. (DiPietro, 2004) Another method had mothers report about their stress incurred during pregnancy, and then an observer and not a parent rated the infant’s behavior. The article suggests that even the resulting information in this study may be skewed, because the studies relied on the Mother’s reports of their children’s problems. It finally became apparent through this study that the only way for the researchers to examine the effects of stressors on the fetus was to subject women to a non-invasive stressor and then measure fetal response. (DiPietro, 2004) They gave these women a standardized test called the, Stroop Color-Word Test. (DiPietro, 2004) The test caused the women to feel cognitively challenged, therefore inducing increased physiological responses in mother, but interestingly, not in the fetus. Fetal motor activity was actually suppressed, according to the study. (DiPietro, 2004) The final results of the study showed that higher maternal anxiety midway through pregnancy were strongly associated with better motor and mental development scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. (DiPietro, 2004) Interestingly, the research conducted on humans, showed that the effects on the developing child are opposite of the effects on animals. The article ends with this statement, â€Å" Too much or too little stress may impede development, but a moderate level may be formative or optimal. It seems that there is really too little research on this area of study to come to a conclusion. I found this study to be very interesting and relevant to today’s issues within society, and especially the question of nature versus nurture. It makes me think about children who are displaying such violent behaviors such as shooting their classmates and parents. It makes me ask the question of what was going on in the mother’s environment during pregnancy? Did she have an easy, stress free, supported pregnancy, or was there fighting and unrest during the pregnancy? Could factors such as these affect the child and develop into what we label as sociopathic? It would be interesting to conduct a study of pregnant women in a prison setting versus pregnant women in an ideal pregnancy situation, and to study the offspring from birth to five years old. Would the affects of the pregnant woman in prison create certain developmental issues in the children? Does it even matter? These questions and many more within the psychology realm are what make this a fascinating discipline to study. It truly is the nature of ourselves that we get to ask questions about, and find the deeper, hidden meanings. References DiPietro, J. A. (2004, April). The role of prenatal maternal stress in child development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(2), 71-74. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20182913

Rhetoric Essay Essay

Rhetoric devices make persuasive writing very effective and more interesting to read. Studying rhetoric devices in English class, I have learned how to use and see these in effective writing. While some may argue that persuasive writing is not strengthen by rhetoric devices but by evidence, I certainly believe that rhetoric devices connect and deliver very strong persuasive writing to an audience. Rhetoric devices, mainly ethos, logos, and pathos, make persuasive writing very effective because they support and strengthen the arguments. Ethos is the art of connecting or appealing to an audience ethically. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Jordon are well known and have many supporters; therefore they are very credible, and many people would listen. Hundreds of people come to the speech and thousands more listen to it afterwards; these events, due to the size of the audience, draw more and more supporters. Being well known is very important because it gives a foundation and support to build on. Using facts, logos are very strengthening because it shows how some goals can be achieved. Barbara Jordon use of logos is one of the major reasons why the speech is. A perfect example of this is Barbara Jordon’s All Together Now speech. Being very truthful, Jordon is able to strengthen her argument and appeal to her supports. She shows that democrats have made mistakes and how racial segregation affected her life. She also is able to show that equality, regardless of gender, race, religion, or economic position, is necessary and how is transforms the country as a whole. Martin Luther King, although not as much a Jordon, uses logos to define his speech. Bringing a different view, he is able to convey how life would be better without the segregation. He tells about the dreams he has and says that it is possible to gain. Logos show the facts; however, it is not the strongest element when it comes to persuasion. The most effective of the rhetoric devices, pathos connects deeply to the audience by using emotional characteristics. Because it shows that the speaker knows and experiences what the audience does, pathos gives a very important reason on why the audience should support the speaker. Unlike Barbara Jordon, Martin Luther King uses pathos very efficiently throughout his speech, I Have a Dream. Civil rights activist, MLKJ gives the speech to increase the support for equality. Being segregated against and viewed upon as different, King is easily able to connect to his audience, who are also segregated against and viewed differently. In his dreams, King  tells about his children, however speaking as a whole community, he emotionally expresses that not only his children, but also the children of the audience should be able â€Å"live in a world where they are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character†. Using repletion, King shows confidence and how everything he talks about is possible. that Barbara Jordon also uses this technique by asking question and showing, like the audience, she does not know the answer to everything. She also shows this by showing the audience the effects of a national community, where everyone is equal. To sum up, rhetoric devices are crucial elements when it comes to persuasive writing. Ethos, logos, and pathos are examples of rhetoric devices that support and strengthen the arguments being made. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Jordon both use rhetoric devices and are able to create very strong and effective speeches and bring more supports f or their cause.

Francis Bacons Classic Essay of Studies

Francis Bacons Classic Essay of Studies Francis Bacon, the first major English essayist, comments forcefully in Of Studies on the value of reading, writing,  and learning. Notice Bacons reliance on parallel structures (in particular, tricolons) throughout this concise, aphoristic  essay. Then, compare the essay to Samuel Johnsons treatment of the same theme more than a century later in On Studies. The Life of Francis Bacon Francis Bacon is considered a Renaissance man. He worked as a lawyer and scientist throughout his life (1561-1626.)  Bacons most valuable work surrounded philosophical and Aristotelian concepts that supported the scientific method. Bacon served as an Attorney General as well as Lord Chancellor of England and received his education from several universities including Trinity College and the University of Cambridge. Bacon has written over 50 essays beginning with Of in the title and following the concept, such as Of Truth, Of Atheism and Of Discourse. A few interesting facts about Bacon: Bacons uncle was the Lord Keeper for Queen Elizabeth I. He helped symbolize the approvals for key documents.He is known as the father of the scientific method which was influenced by his own Baconian method based on reason and observation.There are rumors that Bacon was mostly attracted to men, due to his late marriage in life, amongst other ​theories. Interpretations of Of Study Bacons essay expresses several comments in Of Studies that can be interpreted as the following: Studying is helpful for better understanding and provides a knowledge that develops experience, as well as  a character that grows.Reading provides delight and fun, ornament and showing off, and the ability for success.Bacon expanded upon different fields of study depending on ones goal; for example, to master clarity with language, study poetry. Of Studies Excerpt by Francis Bacon* Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric a ble to contend. Abeunt studia in mores [Studies pass into and influence manners]. Nay, there is no stone or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores [splitters of hairs]. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt. * Bacon published three editions of his essays (in 1597, 1612, and 1625) and the last two were marked by the addition of more essays. In many cases, they became expanded works from earlier editions. This is the best-known  version of the essay Of Studies, taken from the 1625 edition of  Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral. Below, for the sake of comparison, is the version from the first edition (1597). Studies serve for pastimes, for ornaments, for abilities; their chief use for pastimes is in privateness and retiring; for ornaments in discourse; and for ability in judgment; for expert men can execute, but learned men are more fit to judge and censure. To spend too much time in them is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar; they perfect nature, and are themselves perfected by experience; crafty men contemn them, wise men use them, simple men admire them; for they teach not their use, but that there is a wisdom without them and above them won by observation. Read not to contradict nor to believe, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some are to be read only in parts, others to be read but curiously, and some few to be read wholly with diligence and attention. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready, and writing an exact man; therefore, if a man write little, he had need of a great memory; if he confer little, he had need of a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning to seem to know that he doth not know. Histories make wise men; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.

Using Photographs and Illustrations to Support Reading Comprehension

Using Photographs and Illustrations to Support Reading Comprehension Whether they are the cave drawings in the south of France, the cartoons of Hogarth or Satellite pictures, illustrations and photos are powerful ways for students with disabilities, especially difficulty with text, to find and retain information from textbooks and non-fiction. That, after all, is what reading comprehension  is about: understanding and retaining information, and having the ability to retell that information, not performance on multiple choice tests.   Often students with reading difficulties are so stuck I find, when working with struggling readers, that they get so stuck on the code - decoding unfamiliar multi-syllabic words, that they dont get as far as the meaning. More often than not, they actually miss the meaning. Focusing students on text features, such as the illustrations and the captions help students focus on the meaning and authors intent before they actually have to read any text.   Illustrations will help students Understand what the author believes is important in the text.Visualize the context of the non-fiction text (especially history or geography) or content of the chapter/article.  For students who struggle with text, the visual representation of content will help them see the important content.  Learn text specific vocabulary.  An illustration of an insect in a biology text or a plant in a botany text will be accompanied by captions or labels.  Be sure that students note that information in the text.   Using Pictures and Illustrations in Conjunction with Other Text Features An essential part of SQ3R  (Scan, Question, Read, Review, Reread) a long term strategy for developmental reading is to Scan the text.  Scanning basically includes looking over the text and identifying important information. Titles and Subtitles are the first stop on a text walk.  Titles will also help introduce the important topic spedific vocabulary.  Expect a chapter about the Civil War to have specific vocabulary in the subtitles. Be sure to have a list of focus words for flash cards before you start your text walk: Give (or have available) 3 by 5 cards available for students to write down the text specific vocabulary as your do the text walk together.   Captions and Labels accompany most pictures, and should be read as you do the text walk.  Be sure students record all of the important vocabulary, even if they can read them.  Depending on your students sophistication, a picture or a written definition should go on the back.  The purpose should be for your students to be able to define the vocabulary using their own words. The Reading Strategy - The Text Walk The first time you teach the strategy, you will want to walk the child through the whole process.  Later it will be better if you can fade some of your support and have students take more responsibility for the text walk.  This would be a great activity to do in partners across abilities, especially if you have students who benefit from the structure but have stronger reading skills. After reviewing the titles and pictures, have students make predictions:  What will you read about?  What do you want to know more about as you read?  Did you see a picture that surprised you?   Then scan together for vocabulary they should have on their flashcards.  Make a list on the board or using a document on the digital projector in your classroom.

Pierre Auguste Renoir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pierre Auguste Renoir - Essay Example Renoir born on 1845 February 25 and died on December 3 1919 was a French artist who contributed greatly to the movement of Impressionism. The movement is about the artists were not allowed to conduct exhibitions privately. They have to give their paintings to the official salon. Renoir gave some of his paintings to the salon and also at he same time dared to conduct exhibitions privately. He was very innovative and always experimented with his work and brought out new methods of paintings with which the work looked exclusively special. The paintings of Renoir give an impression that the figure in the image is coming out of the image, as though the sunrays are falling on the hats or window, as though there is so much delight in the life of a women or the one portrayed, as though some thing special is hidden in them. The freshness and the openness make us feel divine for a moment and we feel are we in the heaven where there is nothing but joy. One must have an artistic heart to understand the art. Renoir's paintings when viewed, I learned that he frequently painted the landscapes along with other artists of impressionism. He imitated other artists like Cezanne, with small parallel strokes of brush. It is also observed that he was fairly capable enough of painting landscapes but failed experimenting with them. I have chosen the work of Pierre Auguste Renoir because they are not only great but also pretty and whose work seems always to have been done in paradisiacal temperatures. There might be probably no artist to compare with Renoir whose work is with attractive sentiments of charming people. The images look so lively as though she is alive there with living skin. Not only fresh but the way they look can't be explained. Renoir paintings show joy even in the modern days with some chocolate box qualities. People considered his paintings as just pretty and superficial but infact they are profound and done away with intellectuality of the posers and sitters. From the artist the technique to show the bright sun light, the shaded areas, the strokes of brush and the apt color compositions to the nature are the things to learn. Renoir made a self-conscious attempt to make the grand painting through which he conquered the high society and the painting salon or the exhibition as informality of eighteenth century. The painting showed his novel combination of fluid impressionist technique. Here one must remember Vigee-Lebrun. Catulle Mendes was a celebrated poet, publicist, and impresario. He survived with his wife Augusta Holmes, a legendary beauty and a talented musician and his five children. The golden tresses of her were inherited in her daughters also. Renoir's painting "Madame Charpentier and Her Children" fetched much fame and to recall that fame and success he requested his friend Mendes for his consent to paint his three beautiful daughters. His friend Mendes was a publisher of Symbolist poetry and a well-known writer. Mendes wife and his companion Augusta Holmes, an expert pianist and a composer, was the mother of these girls whose names are Claudine, Huguette, and Helyonne. Renoir appealed to his friend like "I beg you to tell me immediately if you want portraits done of your beautiful children. I shall exhibit them [at the Impressionist exhibition] in May, so you can see why I am in a hurry. I shall do the drawings at your house and the portrait at mine". In the painting the eldest girl is seated at the piano and turns to her

Elements of a Contract for a business Research Paper

Elements of a Contract for a business - Research Paper Example Contracts make clear what each party’s expectations are, and what each party is ready to give in return for the expected results. Elements of a business contract are many e.g. the Parties of a contact, which are the entities that are involved in the agreement. There is also the Consideration, which states and explains what the involved parties stand to gain from the agreement or arrangement. Terms and Conditions of business contacts do stipulate the obligations and rights of each party. Competent Parties; the parties involved must also be competent ones since a contract can be considered invalid in case it can be conveyed that a party was not mentally competent at the time of the contract agreement and signing. A business contract has to be of or for a Legal Purpose so that it can be regarded as being valid (www.expertlaw.com). Consideration is what both parties give to the other as the approved price for the others promises. Regularly, but not a must, the consideration is the payment of cash. It can be anything valuable including the promise of not doing something, or to desist from applying some right. The payment does not need to be fair. The courts will not intercede where a party has made a hard negotiation unless unconscionable conduct, duress or fraud is involved. If the consideration is there, then I as the former employee to the fabulous hotel will have to compensate them in one way or the other. Together with the hotel, would agree on what the compensation should be (www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au). With in a contract, only what has been offered can be accepted. This implies that the offer has to be accepted precisely as it has been offered without conditions. If any new terms are suggested, then they are considered to be a counter offer which can be rejected or accepted. There can be numerous offers and counter offers before an agreement is reached. Who makes the final offer is not significant;

Global studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Global studies - Essay Example on the quality of life in American society reveal that African Americans are the most disadvantaged and continue to lag behind the whites in every aspect in the society. For instance, African Americans tend to have low quality education, have difficulty getting employed and also accessing quality health care among others and this clearly indicates the depth of racial inequality in American society. This paper discusses how different individuals understand the issues of civil tights and racism in American society today and it covers the liberal ideals that assisted in promoting civil rights movement. The civil rights movement was a struggle by the African Americans to achieve equal civil rights as the whites including equal employment opportunities, good housing, quality education, voting rights, equal access to public facilities and most importantly the right to be free of racial discrimination. Therefore, this movement was particularly â€Å"organized to protest the unfair treatment of black Americans† (Wright 4). Basically, this movement aimed at ensuring that African Americans enjoyed the citizenship rights assured by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of the U.S Constitution. These amendments were very important to the civil rights movement as they guaranteed every American citizen equal citizenship (Hasday 8). Generally, the civil rights movement prompted gains for African Americans, women as well as persons with disabilities among others. African Americans’ rights of citizenship had been worn by the segregationist Jim Crow laws in the South because unde r these laws, African Americans were denied the right to vote; they were subjected to segregation; and disadvantaged when it comes to access to education, employment and healthcare among others (Ferrante 190). However, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1866 which highlighted numerous civil liberties including the right to make contracts, own and sell property and receive equal treatment under

Analysing Structure Changes due to Sony in Restructuring Mode

Analysing Structure Changes due to Sony in Restructuring Mode As directed by the Board of Directors of Sony, this report will analyse the structure of Sony Corporation from 1999-2005, the problems faced together with its responses and underlying rationales and recommendations for the benefit of the future directions of Sony. Being a multinational corporation in the electronics business, the company faces significant macroeconomic challenges. The decreasing trend in profits could be seen since 1998, possibly the main reason that prompted the need for an organisational restructuring. Whether the organisations strategy influences its structure or vice versa, the structure of Sony has to be evaluated first. In 1999, after the restructuring, the company became a tall hierachical structure with three main business areas electronic, entertainment and insurance and finance. Alongside with the unified dispersed model to face the constant market demands, the company became a divisionalized form with decentralization of dispersion of power to ease decisi on-making. The divisional structure of the electronics business is divisionalised due to its low interdependency level, adhocracy in entertainment business and professional bureaucracy in the insurance and finance business. In 2003, Transformation 60 saw a more centralised structure of Sony management-wise and financial-wise . It was found that Transformation 60 still had the company in a divisionalised form but a stronger pull to formalize in its technostructure. One of the problems faced include rapid evolution of technology causing top management to respond by investing heavily and restructuring of the organisation using a Value Creation Model and Transformation 60. Stiff market competitions resulted to partnership and takeovers for off-shoring purposes and to benefit the AV industry. The election of Howard Stringer as CEO will cause the problem in management style due to the differences in national culture. It can be concluded that Sonys management and business strategies affec t its organisational structure as it was the drop in profits that had the shareholders to pressurised the change of top management. Recommendations include the need to combine both Western and Eastern cultures under Stringer and comprehensive considerations in investment strategies. Contents Pages 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Business Description and Corporation Strategy 2.1 Key Figures 2.2 Correlation between Organisation Strategy and Organisation Structure 4-6 3.0 Organisational Structure 3.1 Structure of Sony in 1999 3.1.1 Internal Structure of Sony as a Whole 3.1.2 Divisional Structures of Sony 3.2 Structure of Sony in 2003 3.2.1 Divisional Structure of Transformation 60 3.2.2 Financial Structure of Transformation 60 7-12 4.0 Problems and Responses 4.1 Rapid Evolution of Technology 4.2 Market Competition 4.3 Differences in National Culture 13-16 5.0 Conclusion 17 6.0 Recommendations 18 Appendices 19 Bibliographies 20-22 1.0 Introduction As directed by the Board of Directors of Sony Corporation, this report will analyse the companys situation from 1999-2005. Sony, a world class consumer electronics makers, was facing serious concerns since the late of 1990s, such as Asian financial crisis in 1997, the tech bubble and the terrorist attacks in America in 2001. Besides, the ever increasing competition from competitors and rapid market changes are eroding the market shares of Sony. The top management confront their difficulties bravely and executed a series of actions to respond to those difficulties. This report focuses on the structure of Sony in 1999 and the restructuring in 2003, as well as the analysis of difficulties faced by Sony and how the management responded to those issues. The structure of the report starts with the business description and the corporation strategy which has significant relationship with the following sections. Then, the focus will move to structure 1999 follow with the restructuring of Sony in 2003 called Transformation 60. After the discussions about the business structure, the report will concentrate on analysing the issues associated with Sony and state the responses taken by the management and its underlying principle before concluding and with appropriate recommendations. 2.0 Business Description and Corporation Strategy Sony is one of the worlds top consumer electronics makers and employs over 167900 workers (Sony, 2010). The business operates in over 200 countries and covers the games, electronics, financial services, entertainment markets and others (ibid.). After 65 years of growth, today, the group has established a world class brand and the strong brand image can benefit its bargaining power and make the business move into new markets easily. 2.1 Key Figures Some key figures of Sony from 1997 to 2010 are listed below (Graph12). The Sales figure remained in the reasonably floating level before 2007. Unfortunately, the management and shareholders are unsatisfied with the profits, since 1998 the profits reduced nearly every year, this might have been the trigger to ignite the restructuring of Sony. Graph 1 Source: Sony Annual Report 2001, 2006, 2010- Five-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data Graph 2 Source: Sony Annual Report 2001, 2006, 2010- Five-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data 2.2 Correlation between Organisation Strategy and Organisation Structure Strategy and organisation structure are correlated to each other, even the debate of whether strategy or structure comes first is still in existence (Lynch, 2006). Therefore, to understand Sonys corporation strategy (Graph34) is significantly important before discussing the structure and restructuring of Sony. Besides, an essential portion of the study of Sonys actions is an understanding of the nature of business strategy for the Sony corporation as a whole (Mullins, 2010). Graph 3 Source: Sony Annual Report 1998 pp6, 7 Sony Annual Report 1999 pp26 Graph 4 Source: Sony Annual Report 2003 pp5-management discusses key issues 3.0 Organisational Structure This section is classified into two parts, 3.1 focuses on the structure of Sony in 1999 while section 3.2 concentrates on the restructuring in 2003. 3.1 Structure of Sony in 1999 Sony as a world class player in a diversified high-tech market was challenged with the fierce competition during the late 1990s (Sony, 1999). Therefore, the restructuring was necessary for Sony to survive in the competitive market. The group announced the organisations restructure plan in March 1999 to seize further growth opportunities in the new century and the Internet era (Sony, 1999). The structure of the organisation is determined by its age and size, technical system, power and environment (Mintzberg, 1979). Furthermore, in relation to the environment, the diversity of the environment will largely determine the structure of organization and directly affects the organisation functions into goal-seeking activities through the formal structure to achieve aims and objectives (Mullins, 2007; Mintzberg, 1979). In this diverse environment, different structures will be taken in specific department to meet different aspects of situation for Sony. 3.1.1 Internal Structure of Sony as a Whole The internal structure of Sony is a tall hierarchical structure as Sony consists of three main business areas which are electronic business, entertainment business and insurance and finance business (Graph 5). Besides, the setting up of the unified dispersed management model is to face the rapid change in market in the aforementioned pillars of Sony (Ravi, 2005). As a result, the overall structure of Sony in 1999 was divisionalized form. Schwartz and Thompson (1986) suggested that the divisionalization form can facilitate the various divisions to compete fiercely among them, with effective operations to face rapid changes in external environment. Graph 5 Source: www.Sony.net, Press Archive, March 29, 1999 Besides, centralization and decentralization depends on how organisational power is dispersed and is determined by the organization structure for decision-making and problem-solving (Schmidt, 2006). The structure of Sony in 1999 displayed Sonys trend to be decentralization to distribute the power yield. For example, Sony set up a unified dispersed management model which facilitates more functional and operational autonomy (Ravi, 2005). 3.1.2 Divisional Structures of Sony After the discussion above, the focus now moves to the structure of different divisions. The electronic business consists of various subsidiaries (Graph 6). Each subsidiary is responsible for its own different products and makes business decisions in different markets. There is little interdependence that exists between each other. Thus, the structure of electronic business was divisionalized form. Entertainment business displayed adhocracy due to its little formalisation of behaviour. Insurance Finance business displayed a Professional Bureaucracy structure due to its complex environment with highly trained skills and knowledge to offer standardisation of products and services (Mintzberg, 1979). Graph 6 Source: www.Sony.net, Press Archive, March 29, 1999 Each business division has the autonomous to make decisions in its daily operation. The Group headquarters concentrated on coordinating these business divisions to make a long-term business strategy. Nevertheless, under the complex, diverse and dynamic environment, perhaps the more organic and decentralized structure is more suitable for Sony. 3.2 Structure of Sony in 2003 Indeed, Sony restructured its organisation in 1999 into a more divisionalized and decentralised form using the unified dispersed model as a means of a Value Creation Model. Transformation 60 saw some changes in the architectural structure of the organisation with it becoming more centralised, management-wise and financial-wise. It was aimed to refining the organisational responsibilities in carrying out the operating strategies and restructuring the marketing strategies in profitable niches. The goals are to achieve more profit margins, reducing annual cost, and component outsourcing (Sony, 2003). 3.2.1 Divisional Structure of Transformation 60 Transformation 60 saw the convergence of the three pillars of Sony electronics, entertainment and financial as opposed to the unified dispersed model. The following are the divisional changes: In the electronics business, the management combined the Semiconductor Network Company, Home Electronics, Mobile Electronics and Information Technology (Sony, 2003). The entertainment business saw the joint of assets of pictures, music, game, electronics and services to enhance its position as a worldwide media company. The constructed financial holding company absorbed Sony Life Insurance Company Ltd, Sony Assurance Inc. and Sony Bank Inc. By these convergences, Sony clarified the operational structure and concentrated on the engineering, innovation and financial resources. According to the converging strategy, the new operation structure of Sony seems like a basic Machine Bureaucracy structure (Mintzberg, 1983). Although it is less dispersed than the structure in 1999, the pull to formalize by the technostructure of Sony could be seen in Transformation 60 (Mintzberg, 1981). The restructuring of Sony in 2003 was more centralised than before as a result of the serious convergences of several businesses. The tactical and strategic plans were permitted to each sectors, which points that the divisionalized form still existed. However, the power on personnel issues was controlled by the top management, as well as the supportive finance and the ultimate goal were allocated and formulated by the headquarters (Ravi, 2005). Moreover, the restructured Sony in 2003 did not belong to any specific structure of Mintzbergs pentagon t heory but the combined one (Graph 7). Graph 7 Sony organisational chart: electronics-related business (as of 1 April 2001) Source: www.sony.net, Press Release, 29th March 2001(a) 3.2.2 Financial Structure of Transformation 60 In the light of improving its fiscal position, the consolidation of fixed costs and the combining of assets reflected the change of a more centralized structure in Sony. The company aims to achieve an annualized cost reduction of approximately  ¥300 billion (Ravi, 2005). The cut in employees due to the off-shore strategy to China establish the Contribution equal to Compensation principal of paying for performances, as Schein (2004) stated that employees have worked well enough to be considered valid. Deactivating employees from Sony had cost the company financially and it might have explained the poor financial performance of Sony after the transformation was done. 4.0 Problems and Responses This section will discuss the problems associated with Sony alongside with the responses taken and its rationale. The difficulties faced by Sony have been separated into different categories mainly the rapid evolution of technology, competition in the market and the differences of national culture. 4.1 Rapid Evolution of Technology The rapid evolution of technology as pointed out by Idei (Ravi, 2005) has affected the electronics, entertainment and insurance and finance sectors of Sony. The constant improvements in technology have caused the company to respond to the demand of the market. The following are the responses made by the company alongside with its underlying rationale: Investments: Sony invested heavily in RD, capital equipment and facilities in order to meet demands and improve profitability. Technology for Inspiration and Shared Experience and Creating New Value are Sonys RD missions (Sony, 2011). The company believes that technology is capable of linking inspiration and shared experiences on top of creating new values and capturing emotions of customers (ibid.). Investment strategies link to the capability of top management of Sony. Organisation restructuring: The Company believes that the new group architecture can help gain market share besides increasing shareholders value (Sony, 1999). In this Value Creation Model, the unified dispersed management method saw changes in the electronics operations, establishment of Digital Network Solutions (DNS), changes in composition of workforce which could ultimately affect the morale of employees, implementation of new value-based performance measurement system and the separation of headquarters into two distinct functions (Ravi, 2005; Sony, 1999). Indeed, the model brings competitive advantage to Sony (Jayaranam Luo, 2007). In such a stiff market, it is understandable as to the measures taken to seize every opportunity. Unfortunately, in 2001, the September 11 attacks caused the consolidated drop in sales, affecting the fiscal position of the company (Sony, 2001b). This has proven that the Value Creation Model had loopholes, hence Transformation 60 took course. Severe cost saving measures were taken but by 2005, as a result of pressure from shareholder, a top management reshuffling with Howard Stringer as CEO (Ravi, 2005). This proves that investors of Sony began to lose confidence of the previous management team therefore it was necessary for the company to overhaul its board. 4.2 Market Competition Among Sonys competitors are LG, Samsung, Sharp, Dell and Canon. Each competitor seemed to have an advantage over Sony in different products. Below are among the steps taken by Sony to beat the competition in the market: Partnership with Solectron Corporation in year 2000 and off-shoring to China were to aid the outsourcing process of production of electronics was a step to help the company meet fluctuations in demands, cost reduction, quality improvisation and customer satisfaction (Sony, 2003; Sony, 2000). Outsourcing may be beneficial to the company as a whole but it could ultimately decrease the motivational level of employees, as there is a tendency of decrease of power of managers, and failure rate is between 40%-70% (Purse, 2009). This may explain the Sony Shock (Ravi, 2005) incident that happened in 2003 despite the laborious process of organisation restructuring. The cost-benefit consideration was not given much thought before the outsourcing was done. The takeover of Aiwa Co. Ltd. as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2002 was for the benefit of the electronics business of the company, particularly the audio and visual (AV) industry (Sony, 2002). The takeover became part of Transformation 60. It helped accelerate the structural reform of the electronics business of Sony on top of the creation of synergy as a result of the merger. 4.3 Differences in National Culture As Howard Stringer took over as the CEO of Sony in 2005, a major problem he would experience would be the differences in organisational culture. Culture refers to the way we do things around here (Sanchez, 2004). Being one of the few foreigners to be part of the top management in a Japanese company, Stringer has the responsibility of considering whether to impose the Western culture in a Japanese company. Azumi Mcmillan (1975) found that both the U.S. and Japanese culture are quite highly centralized and companys rules and procedures are abided. In Sony, although divisionalization form can be seen, the Headquarter still plays its role as a coordinator, meaning that ultimately, the decision-making process will need approval from the top management. Also, in Japan, traditional values that emphasises on hard work and details are a common practice due to its religion influences but in the U.S., creativity and innovation are the common values (Webster White, 2009). Hence, in U.S., risk-taking is very much observed. The open management style of Stringer, his understanding towards Sonys tradition and his international viewpoints could be the key to influence the cultural organisation (Sony, 2005). This can explain Stringers successes in streamlining Sonys movie and music businesses. 5.0 Conclusion Due to the external environment effect such as the Asian financial crisis, the ever increasing competition, as well as the internal business issues like the low efficiency, the profits of Sony has been reduced dramatically since 1998. Therefore the management had to execute some restructuring plan to respond to those concerns. According to the restructuring plan announced in March 1999, the structure of the group was divisionalized and more decentralization, in order to seize further growth opportunities in the 21st century. Besides, the group launched a unified dispersed management model to ensure that the business operate more efficiently and to be able to survive the rapid change of environment. Sony did a mass of changes to adapt to the market changes; unfortunately, the pace of the latter was overtaking the managements expectations. Consequently, Sony had to accelerate the reform plan and announced another restructuring plan called Transformation 60 in 2003. The change in 2003 s aw a stronger pull to formalize in the technostructure although it can be seen that there is a mixture between the machine bureaucracy and divisionalized forms. Convergences in the three sectors saw power being more focused at the top management. The change of technology, market competition and the differences in organisational culture, especially after the takeover of Stringer, were the main concerns of Sony. Organisational restructuring and investment strategies were among the solutions in coping with technological changes. Market competition forced Sony to deal with vast partnerships, joint ventures and mergers with other companies for outsourcing purposes. Finally, the change to a foreigner to lead a Japanese company spark concerns on the future of Sonys organisational culture. Nevertheless, based on the analysis that has been done, it can be concluded that Sonys management and business strategies affects its organisational structure. It was the drop in profits that led investors to force the overhauling of top management, as a result, the unified dispersed model and Transformation 60. Unfortunately, both measures failed to bring positive impacts to the companys fiscal positions. In light of the situation above, the new team led by Stringer with the probable change in organisational culture could probably help turn things around. 6.0 Recommendations Two main recommendations should be taken into account: Firstly, the future of the organisational culture of Sony has to be determined from two aspects based on the organization structure and the differences in national culture since the takeover of Stringer as CEO. Perhaps, Stringer could consider integrating the Eastern and the Western cultures to obtain the best of both worlds. Next, investment strategies of Sony may have to be re-evaluated again, as after the study of the company was done, there are hints of possibilities that failures in the companys fiscal position may have been caused by past investment decisions. Outsourcing may be beneficial but a thorough cost-benefit analysis has to be done. Investment decisions will reflect the capability of top management to stakeholders. Appendices Value Creation Model refers to the combination of intangible assets and monetary items to create additional value of the business for stakeholders, particularly shareholders (Qureshi, Briggs Hlupic, 2006; Haksever, Chaganti Cook, 2004). 2 The performance measurement system is capable of reflecting the current cost of capital of Sony 3 Before being elected as the CEO of Sony Corporation, he was the Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America. Bibliographies Azumi, K Mcmillan, C (2004) Culture and organisation structure: a comparison of Japanese and British organisation, International Studies of Management and Organization. Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 35-47. Available from: Business Source Premier. [Accessed 16 January 2011] Datamonitor (2010), Sony Corporation-Company Profile, pp4, 5 and 21, Publication date: 12 Mar 2010 Elkington, J. Masaki, T. (2004) CSR Report 2004, [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/issues/report/2004/index.html [Accessed 5 January 2010] Haksever, C, Chaganti, R Cook, R (2004) A model of value creation: a strategic view, Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 291-305. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 27 December 2010] Jayaranam, V Luo, Y (2007) Creating competitive advantage through value creation: a reverse logistics perspectives, Academy of Management Perspectives. Vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 56-73. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 23 December 2010] Lynch, R. (2006). Corporate Strategy, 4th edition, Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H. (1979). The Structuring of Organization.Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff Mintzberg, H. (1983). Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations. Prentice-Hall Inc. pp 169-175, pp 190-200, pp 215-222, pp 273 Mintzberg, H (1981) Organization design: fashon or fit? Harvard Business Review [online]. Vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 103-116. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 16 January 2011]. Mullins, L, J. (2007) Management and Organisational Behavior, 8th edition Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Mullins, L, J. (2010) Management and Organisational Behavior, 9th edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Purse, K (2009) Outsourcing myths and workers compensation claims administration, The Australian Journal of Public Administration Vol. 69, no. 4, pp. 446-458 Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 4 January 2010] Qureshi, S, Briggs, R Hlupic, V (2006) Value creation from intellectual capital: convergence from knowledge management and collaboration in the intellectual bandwidth model, Group Decision and Negotiation. Vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 197-220. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 27 December 2010] Ravi, M., (2005) Sony in restructuring Mode: Stringers Challenge (B), ICFAI Knowledge Center Sanchez, P (2004) Defining corporate culture, Communication World [online]. Vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 18-21. Available from: Business Source Complete. [Accessed 27 November 2010] Schein, E. H. (2004). Organisational Culture and Leadership 3rd editions, John Wiley Sons, Inc. Schmidt, T. (2006) A review of Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations Schwartz, M. and E. Thompson, 1986, Divisionalization and Entry Deterrence, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 101, 307-321. Sony (1999) Press Releases: Sony announces new group architecture for network-centric era [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199903/99-030/index.html [Accessed 23 December 2010] Sony (1999) Press Releases: Sony Announces Organisational Structure For New Network Companies [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199903/99-038/index.html [Accessed 23 December 2010] Sony (2000) Press Releases: Sony and Solectron announce cooperation in electronics manufacturing [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200010/00-1018E/ [Accessed 4 January 2011]. Sony (2001a) Press Releases: A New Group Structure for the Next Stage of Integrated, Decentralized ManagementTransforming Sony into a Personal Broadband Network Solutions Company.[online] Available from http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200103/01-017E/ [Accessed 3 January 2010] Sony (2001b) News and Information: Consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended 30 September 2001 [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/qfhh7c000000kl5e-att/qfhh7c000000kl6g.pdf [Accessed 27 December 2010] Sony (2002) Press Releases: Accelerating structural reform of the Sony groups electronics business  [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200202/02-0228aE/ [Accessed 5 January 2011]. Sony (2003) Press Releases: Transformation 60 confirming Sonys position as a  leading consumer brand in the 21st century [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200310/03-047E/ [Accessed 4 January 2011] Sony (2005) News Releases: Sony Corporation announces new management structure [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200503/05-014E/index.html [Accessed 16 January 2011]. Sony (2010) Sony Annual Report 2001, 2006, 2010- Five-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/Archive.html [Accessed 1 December 2010] Sony (2010) Sony Annual Report 1998 pp6, 7 Sony Annual Report 1999 pp26 [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/Archive.html [Accessed 1 December 2010] Sony (2010) Sony Annual Report 2003 pp5-management discusses key issues [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/Archive.html [Accessed 1 December 2010] Sony (2010) About Sony Group-Sony Corp. Info [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/index.html [Accessed 3 December 2010] Sony (2010) Technology: RD Mission [online]. Available from: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/technology/rd/index.html [Accessed 20 December 2010] Webster, C White, A (2009) Exploring the national and organisational culture mix in service firms, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science [online]. Vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 691-703. Available from: Springerlink. [Accessed 30 November 2010]

Story of an Immigrant :: Sudan Lost Boys Immigration Essays Papers

Story of an Immigrant The focus of this paper is Shimma. His tribal home is in Sudan. He is believed to be 21 and has resided as a refugee in the USA since August 2001. He is known as a â€Å"Lost Boy of Sudan.† I met Shimma while shopping at Wal-Mart in central Phoenix. I had been fascinated by the reports of the Lost Boys that I had heard on TV and read in the newspapers. I knew that some of the Lost Boys were being relocated to Phoenix and hoped to meet some of them along the way on my travels through out Phoenix. I had seen them at bus stops and around the city walking. They have a very distinctive appearance, not your typical African-Americans. They are tall and thin with high cheekbones and dark black skin tone. While shopping at Wal-Mart I rounded a corner and there he stood tall, dark and smiling. I got excited about finally meeting one of the Lost Boys and began to ramble. I introduced myself and inquired into his status as one of the Lost Boys. He introduced himself and confirmed that he was indeed one of the Lost Boys I had been reading and hearing about. I asked him for an interview and he offered his name and telephone number. I repeatedly tried to contact him and weeks later he agreed to meet me at a local restaurant. The day of our interview after many phone calls he arrived over an hour late, which I accounted for as cultural time difference. Shimma is a very busy man. He works at Wal-Mart and attends ESL classes two days a week at Phoenix Community College. Much of our study in this anthropology class has centered on voluntary immigration due to economic circumstances. Shimma did not migrate for economic reasons, he is a refugee seeking safety and sanctuary from his war ravaged country. The book that we read in class about refugees was a case study that considered the plight of the Hmong in Wisconsin. The Hmong are refugees from Laos who fled after US forces pulled out of the Vietnam War. I also read a book about the Hmong that dealt with a case study in California and a little girl of Hmong descent that encountered great difficulties with the medical institutions after she was diagnosed with Epilepsy.

Microeconomic Factors in Automobile Industry in India

Automobile Industry Hailed as ‘the industry of industries’ by Peter Drucker, the founding father of the study of management, in 1946, the automobile industry had evolved continuously with changing times from craft production in 1890s to mass production in 1910s to lean production techniques in the 1970s. The Asian countries, mainly by Japan, China and India, registered a 9% increase in production over last year, constituting 35. 9% of the global production. In fact China and India posted positive growth rate over 2003.This supply mainly catered to meet the demand from households where the automobiles constituted the second largest expenditure item next only to housing. Thus the global automobile industry dominated by Europe, US, Japan, and of late by China and India, continued to have a significant influence on economic development, international trade, foreign direct investment and environment-friendly practices. Total Sales Trend of Four-wheelers in India Demand Factor s 1. Financing Options Auto industry observers cite car loans as the biggest driving factor for the expansion of the Compact Car segment.At present, almost 85 per cent of all new car sales are  backed by auto finance, compared to 65 per cent five years ago. Interest rates on car loans have come down drastically in the past four or five years, which helps prospective buyers, take the plunge. The growth of the CC-segment in the  past few years can be mainly credited to factors such as rise in income levels leading to increased affordability and simultaneous reduction in interest rates leading to lower  EMIs. The drop in interest rates usually helps very few people to probably shift from the base model to a deluxe model.A larger shift happens if people are willing to take long-term loans, like five years instead of the earlier three-year loans. 2. 2. Advertising And Marketing Due to the advertising techniques adopted by all the manufacturers in the CC-Segment the sales have risen drastically. It is all due to because the companies now days are using even aggressive selling techniques for which they are even coping with the Film celebrities and Cricket stars, like Maruti has contracted Irfan Pathan as the  brand ambassador of Zen and for Santro Hyundai has contracted for Shah Rukh Khan.And the companies are even trying to approach to the customer as to their demand for  a vehicle at special interest loans, etc. They are using data according to the customers return and earning capacity for attracting the customers for their vehicles. 3. Price of the Car One of the major factors that affect the demand of any commodity in the market is the  price of the commodity. As the law of demand also states that with an increase in  price the demand of the commodity decreases and vice versa.Since, in the compact car segment market even there are very less competitors there is stiff price competition. Like the price of Zen in 2001 was Rs. 3. 93 lacs which increased to Rs. 4. 01 lacs in 2005, but still the sale of the Maruti brand keeps on increasing it was due to the company’s reputation with the customers. 4. Income of Consumer / Buyer The income of the consumer or buyer of the car is a very important factor of demand. In recent time we have seen that due to increase in the Income of the general public, there has been a shift from the Lower CC-segment cars to the Upper CC-segmentcars. 2Due to the recent increase in the number of multinationals in India, the income level of the employees have risen drastically and has made CC-segment cars an entry level car for a lot of people. The average age of a CC-segment car owner has also dropped from 35 years to 31 years in India. 5. Increase  in  Affordability The demand for passenger cars is driven mainly by greater affordability, which in turn increases the aspiration level of the customers. Today with high amount of disposable income in the hand of Indian youth, who forms major portion o f the population, P-marker has larger addressable market. 6. Demographic DriversCars being aspirational products, purchase decisions are influenced by the overall economic environment. Increase in per capita income increases the consumption tendency of the customer. Growth in per capita income and rising aspirations and changing lifestyle is leading to increased preference for cars over two-wheelers, which is also having a positive rub off on car demand. 7. Availability of Easy Financing Options A majority of PV purchases are financed through financial institutions. Over the past4-5 years car industry has been benefited through significant increase in affordability due to the decrease in EMIs.Car finance rates dropped from 17% in 2000-01 to 11%in 2005-06. However it has increased and averaged at 13. 75% in 2006-07. The current hardening of interest rates is expected to affect demand by reducing affordability. 8. New Offerings Car sales increase when a new model hits the market. Due to escalation in competition in Indian car market, frequency of new model launches has increased. In the past one year only the Indian car market has seen many launches namely SX4,Swift Diesel, Zen Estill, Spark, Logan, etc. 9. ExportsThe share of exports from domestic production is currently at 12-13%, which is much lower than current export hubs. Currently, India’s share of global passenger cars export volume stands at less than 1%. But India is fast emerging as a manufacturing hub for leading global car makers, and several manufacturers have already firmed up  plans for setting up manufacturing bases in India, which will also be used for exports. 3 Supply Factors 1. Presence  across  Segments Manufacturers with presence across various product segments can ensure higher  volume and better capacity utilization by using the common manufacturing capacity.Typically a customer upgrades from one segment to higher segment and the presence across various segments ensures th at the company retains its existing customers. 2. Efficient Operations Competition in PV segment is very intense and this requires the existing players to initiate steps to reduce their cost of production. Effective and successful operation methods like platform commonality, reduction in vendor base and workforce rationalization can help a company immensely. 3. Wide  Dealer Network and Availability  of FinanceA wide dealer network helps the company serve customers over wide geographical area. For e. g. Maruti has used its available wide service network as point of difference over competitors. The companies are tying up with the financial institutions having rural presence to provide additional financing options to customers in such areas. 4. Access  to Latest Technologies Indian PV segment is highly competitive with as many as 14 players operating in it and more than 80 models on the offering. But still any new model launch meets with increase in sales volume for the company.M oreover in a time when a substantial  portion of Indian customer is looking to upgrade in higher segment, companies with latest technologies and latest models will catch more attentions 5. Price of the Car Price of the car is one of the major factors that affect the supply as well as the demand of a car. If the price of the car is high in the market, the manufacturer or the supplier  will want to supply more units in the market so he can earn more profits. In the automotive industry where the market type is oligopoly, if one company drops its price for the car, there is a huge impact on the sales of the other cars as well as the same car.In the market the price of one car is inter-related to the price of the other  cars in the same segment. The best solution is that market equilibrium should be achieved so that the amount of the quantity demanded should be equal to the amount of the quantity supplied to achieve maximum profits. A Market Equilibrium is achieved at the point of intersection of the demand line and the supply line. The point is the equilibrium point where the quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied. 6. Factors of  Production There are some factors of production which influence the supply of a car likeCost of Raw Material Labor Cost Machinery Input Cost. These factors influence the supply of a car largely. If the cost of the raw material (Steel, Spare Parts, Rubber) increases there will be an increase in the cost of  production leading to decrease in profit margins. Costs like labor costs, machinery and input costs also influence the supply with the increase or decrease in these costs. 7. 7. Government Policies and Taxes If there is a change in the government policies regarding the increase in the road tax charged or the tax which is to be paid per unit sold, the supply of a car will fluctuate with the nature of the change.Recently the government has reduced the custom duty on inputs and raw material from 20% to 15% which has increased the supply. Conclusion Market economies are assumed to have many buyers and sellers, high competition and many substitutes. Monopolies characterize industries in which the supplier  determines prices and high barriers prevent any competitors from entering the market. Demand and supply refer to the relationship price has with the quantity consumers demand and the quantity supplied by producers. As price increases, quantity demanded decreases and quantity supplied increases.On the other hand, elasticity tells us how much quantity demanded or supplied changes when there is a change in any of the factor. The more the quantity changes, the more elastic the good or service. By studying various demand and supply factors affecting  the automobile industry we can conclude that an upturn or downturn in this sector is due to an aggregate effect of  multiple factors. These together govern the economies of automobile sector. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of Indian Automobi le Sector Industry Rivalry Bargaining Power of CustomersBargaining Power of Suppliers Threat of New Entrants Threat of Substitutes Industry Rivalry Bargaining Power of Customers Bargaining Power of Suppliers Threat of New Entrants Threat of Substitutes 1. Industry Rivalry * Industry Concentration: The Concentration Ratio (CR) indicates the percent of market share held by a company. A high concentration ratio indicates that a high concentration of market share is held by the largest firms – the industry is concentrated. With only a few firms holding a large market share, the market is less competitive (closer to a monopoly).A low concentration ratio indicates that the industry is characterized by many rivals, none of which has a significant market share. These fragmented markets are said to be competitive. If rivalry among firms in an industry is low, the industry is considered to be disciplined * High Fixed costs When total costs are mostly fixed costs, the firm must produce capacity to attain the lowest unit costs. Since the firm must sell this large quantity of product, high levels of production lead to a fight for market share and results in increased rivalry.The industry is typically capital intensive and thus involves high fixed costs * Slow market growth In growing market, firms can improve their economies. Though the market growth has been impressive in the last few years (about 8 to 15%), it takes a beat in even slight economic disturbances as it involves a luxury good. Aggressive pricing is needed to sustain growth in such situations * Diversity of rivals: Industry becomes unstable as the diversification increases. In this case the diversity of rivals is moderate as most offer products which are close to standard versions and the competitors are also mostly similar in strength Highly competitive industry: The presence of many players of about the same size little differentiation between competitors, and a very mature industry with very little g rowth were the features of a highly competitive industry. Higher the competition in the industry lower would be the profit margin. To remain ahead in competition, auto-makers were tempted to offer value added services to the customers incurring more costs 2. Threat of New Entrants These are the characteristics that inhibit the entrance of new rivals into the market and in turn protect the profits of the existing firms.Based on the present profit levels in the market, one can expect the entrance of new firms into the market or not. The entrance is however also affected by the start-up costs * Economies of scale: The Minimum Efficient Scale (MES) is the point at which unit costs are minimized. The greater the difference between the MES and the entry unit cost, greater is the barrier. Economies of scale are becoming increasingly important as competition is driving the profit margins to lower levels. Also being a capital intensive industry economies of scale have important consequence * Government policies: Automobile Industry was delicensed in July 1991 with the announcement of the New Industrial Policy * The passenger car industry was delicensed in 1993. No industrial licence is required for setting up of any unit for manufacture of automobiles except in some special cases * The norms for Foreign Investment and import of technology have been progressively liberalized over the years for manufacture of vehicles including passenger cars in order to make this sector globally competitive * At present 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permissible under automatic route in this sector including passenger car segment.The import of technology/technological upgradation on the royalty payment of 5% without any duration limit and lump sum payment of USD 2 million is allowed under automatic route in this sector * The automotive industry comprising of the automobile and the auto component sectors has made rapid strides since delicensing and opening up of the sector to FD I in 1991 * The industry had an investment of about Rs. 50,000 crore in 2002-03 which has gone up to Rs. 80,000 crore by the year 2007.The automotive industry has already attained a turnover of Rs. 1,65,000 crore (34 billion USD) * The industry provides direct and indirect employment to 1. 31 crore people. The contribution of the automotive industry to GDP has risen from 2. 77% in 1992-93 to 5% in 2006-07. The industry is making a contribution of 17% to the kitty of indirect taxes of the Government With all the policies regarding the FDI and Tariff barriers as mentioned above, it has become easier for the foreign players to enter the Indian automobile industry. 3.Threat of Substitutes * The replacement market is characterized by the presence of several small-scale suppliers who score over the organized players in terms of excise duty exemptions and lower overheads. * A product’s price elasticity is affected by the presence of substitutes as its demand is affected by the chang e in the substitute’s prices * The cost of the automobiles along with their operating costs was driving customers to look for alternative transportation options * The new technologies available also affect the demand of the product E. g. In case of Maruti’s products, the threat of substitutes is high. The competition is intense as several players have products in the categories given by Maruti. However, in the 800cc range it is the market leader and the threat of substitute products is low. Price performance comparison favors heavily towards Maruti in most product categories. Also the high availability and quality of services offered by Maruti gives the customer a better trade-off 4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers * Suppliers can influence the industry by deciding on the price at which the raw materials can be sold.This is done in order to capture profits from the market. * Steel is a major input in this industry and so steel prices have a sharp and immediate impact on the product price * The industry being capital intensive switching costs of suppliers is high, other than steel as raw material which is highly price sensitive and the firm may easily move towards a supplier with lower cost 5. Bargaining Power of Buyers * It specifies the impact of customers on the product * When buyer power is strong, the buyer is the one who sets the price in the market.Here there is purchases of large volumes * There is prevalence of alternative options * Price sensitive customers were some of the factors that determined the extent of influence of the buyers in this industry E. g. : In the case of Maruti, the sales volumes have shown increasing trend over past so many years. The customers are more or less concentrated in metros or other tier two cities. The industry is also concentrated in these regions mostly. Most of them are have good amount of knowledge about the product.Except the 800cc range in other categories brand loyalty is only moderate. Also it is dif ficult to measure since repurchases are rare. Product differentiation is high as there are many categories in the passenger vehicle segment. Buyers get incentives in the form of cost discounts and better after sales services * The major focus of Indian Component suppliers is Quality as suggested by one of the Japanese Quality focus firm. The Industry association ACMA reports that over 170 of its members have already received ISO-9000 certification and 23 have received QS9000 certification.There are examples of Indian suppliers becoming single source global suppliers for leading OEMS (GM and Ford), and also becoming global leaders with Sundaram Clayton receiving the Deming award but there are few drawbacks as shown by A. T, Kearney survey which found that defect rates in India are in the range of 1000-2000 ppm against Japanese average of 100-200 ppm * The rising gasoline price is bound to influence the buyers Taxation India has a well-developed tax structure. The power to levy taxes and duties is distributed among the three tiers of Government, in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Constitution.The main taxes/duties that the Union Government is empowered to levy are:- Income Tax (except tax on agricultural income, which the State Governments can levy), Customs duties, Central Excise and Sales Tax and Service Tax. The principal taxes levied by the State Governments are:- Sales Tax (tax on intra-State sale of goods), Stamp Duty (duty on transfer of property), State Excise (duty on manufacture of alcohol), Land Revenue (levy on land used for agricultural/non-agricultural purposes), Duty on Entertainment and Tax on Professions & Callings.The Local Bodies are empowered to levy tax on properties (buildings, etc. ), Octroi (tax on entry of goods for use/consumption within areas of the Local Bodies), Tax on Markets and Tax/User Charges for utilities. Excise Duty Central Excise duty is an indirect tax levied on those automobiles which are manufactured in India and are meant for home consumption. The taxable event is ‘manufacture' and the liability of central excise duty arises as soon as the automobiles are manufactured.It is a tax on manufacturing, which is paid by a manufacturer, who passes its incidence on to the customers. Types of Excise Duties Basic Excise Duty: This is the duty leviable under First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 at the rates mentioned in the said Schedule. Special Excise Duty: This is the duty leviable under Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 at the rates mentioned in the said Schedule. At present this is leviable on very few items.Basic Central VAT (CENVAT) or Excise Tax Structure for Automobiles Year| CommercialVehicles| MUVs| Cars| 2 Wheelers| 3 Wheelers| Unit| | | | | ? 75 CC| > 75CC| | | 2001-02| 16| 32| 32| 16| 16| 16| %| 2002-03| 16| 32| 32| 16| 16| 16| %| 2003-04| 16| 24+1*| 24+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2004-05| 16| 24+1*| 24+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2005-06| 16| 2 4+1*| 24+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2006-07| 16| 24+1*| 24/16**+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2007-08? | 16| 24+1*| 24/16**+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| Source: Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturing (SIAM) – Based on Government of India Notifications,  ?Additional higher & Secondary Education Cess of 1%,  *National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) of 1 %,  **16% on cars (up to 4000mm in length &1200cc for petrol & up to 4000mm in length & 1500cc for diesel) and 24% for rest National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD): Normally known as NCCD. This duty is levied as per section 136 of the Finance Act, 2001, as a surcharge on specified goods. Excise Duties and Cesses Leviable under Miscellaneous Act:On certain specified goods, in addition to the aforesaid duties, prescribed rate of excise duty and cess is also leviable.Education  Cesson excisable goods is levied in addition to any other duties of excise chargeable on such goods, under the Central Excise Act, 1944 or any other law for the time being in force. Customs Duty Customs Duty (Import duty and Export tax) is a type of indirect tax levied on goods imported into India as well as on goods exported from India. Taxable event is import into or export from India. In India, the basic law for levy and collection of customs duty is Customs Act 1962.It provides for levy and collection of duty on imports and exports, import/export procedures, prohibitions on importation and exportation of goods, penalties, offences, etc. Basic Customs Tax Structure for Automobiles Year| CVs1| MUVs2| Cars| Two Wheelers| Three Wheelers| Unit| 2001-02| 35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2002-03| 30| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2003-04| 25| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2004-05| 20| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2005-06| 15| 100/60/15| 100/60/15| 100/60/15| 100/60/15| %| 2006-07| 12. | 100/60/12. 5| 100/60/12. 5| 100/60/12. 5| 100/60/12. 5| %| 2007-08| 10| 100/60/10 | 100/60/10| 100/60/10| 100/60/10| %| Source: Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturing (SIAM) – Based on Government of India Notifications, *For Used Vehicle/New CBU/CKD & Components respectively,  1CVs = Commercial Vehicles  2MUVs = Multi-Utility Vehicles   Ã‚   Export duties are levied occasionally to mop up excess profitability in international prices of goods in respect of which domestic prices may be low at the given time. But the sweep of import duties is quite wide.