Thursday, December 26, 2019

Theme Of Character Development In Song Of Solomon

Song of Solomon’s protagonist Milkman plays a crucial role in the novel’s major focal point of character development. The novel can be appropriately labeled a Bildungsroman due to its clear and continuous creation of Milkman’s characteristics. Throughout the text readers can see changes made within the character, such as his reactions to situations and the language he uses when he is talking and thinking. Milkman commences the novel as a confused, spoiled young man who feels he deserves the world. However, at a certain point in the novel, it is clear that he reaches an epiphany, a change in heart, that matures him. The pivotal point in Milkman’s moral and psychological development is when he is alone hunting in the mountains. In this†¦show more content†¦This moment of clarity matures the protagonist of the novel. A major aspect of the plot is a hunt for gold; Milkman travels hundreds of miles to find a bag of gold left behind by his aunt P ilate or father. However, it can be inferred through the text that Milkman’s hunt for gold symbolizes his search for his family history. He is intrigued by his family’s past and wants to understand who he came from. This quest, however, brings Milkman not only knowledge of his ancestors, but maturity. The â€Å"gold† Milkman finds is in fact clarity. The monologue in this scene depicts his accumulative awareness of his actions and who he is as a person. He realizes that â€Å"...he thought he deserved only to be loved- from a distance, though- and given what he wanted† (Morrison 277). This comprehension of his selfish, merciless manner is truly the â€Å"gold† he was looking for. This hunting scene is not only significant for Milkman’s newly-found perception of himself and his actions, but it gives the protagonist a feeling of humbleness and independence. Throughout the novel, Milkman has always been extremely dependent; when he is not relying on his social status, Milkman utilizes his wealth and luxury to support his fragile personality. The Deads are a very affluent and successfulShow MoreRelatedThe Development Of Memory And Truth. After Doing Research1194 Words   |  5 PagesThe Development of Memory and Truth After doing research on Post Traumatic Stress disorder, there seemed to spark a striking argument of truth in memory based on how it is retrieved and convoluted with people’s previous perceptions. Truth and fact can be altered based on one’s viewpoint of a subject and preceding experiences. Authors can portray common themes in novels using drastically different methods such as character development, stylistic structures, and literary devices. In the novelRead More Essay on Flight in Song of Solomon1579 Words   |  7 PagesTheme of Flight in Song of Solomon    Clearly, the significant silences and the stunning absences throughout Morrisons texts become profoundly political as well as stylistically crucial. Morrison describes her own work as containing holes and spaces so the reader can come into it (Tate 125), testament to her rejection of theories that privilege j the author over the reader. Morrison disdains such hierarchies in which the reader as participant in the text is ignored: My writing expects, demandsRead MoreEssay on The Song of Solomon2983 Words   |  12 Pages Book Title Song of Solomon Author Toni Morrison Summary The first black boy ever born in Mercy Hospital in a town in Michigan comes into the world the day after an insurance agent named Robert Smith kills himself by trying to â€Å"fly† from the roof of the hospital across Lake Superior. The boys mother, Ruth, nurses him until he is eight or nine years old, thus earning him the ridiculous nickname Milkman. Milkman befriends an older boy named Guitar, visits his Aunt Pilate, and falls in love withRead MoreAnalysis Of Mark Twain s The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn2267 Words   |  10 Pagesgroups have gained seen many changes in their freedom, they are still being oppressed. Oppression is a common theme throughout American Literature, weaving in and out of many that are seen as classic American novels and poetry. Some of these books include Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the poetry of Langston Hughes, Richard Wright’s Native Son and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. The form of oppression that is evident throughout all these works, is racial oppression, and narrowing itRead MoreAn Austrian Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart1185 Words   |  5 Pagesmusical genius. Wolfgang was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart on January 27th, 1756. Leopold, his father studied philosophy, but never finished school. (Solomon) He later became a very talented violinist and organist. Leopold and Anna Maria had seven children together, but only two survived, Wolfgang and his older sister Maria Anna. (Solomon) Leopold was responsible for his children’s education, and also was the one to teach them music. Throughout his life, Wolfgang had written over 600 piecesRead MoreCharacter Development In Song Of Solomon1739 Words   |  7 PagesSong of Solomon By Toni Morrison Ayanna Higgins Mr. Amoroso AP Literature Topic #1 Maturity comes with experiences in life. Some are exposed to those events early while others encounter them in their adulthood. These transitions cause character development within the protagonist, Milkman Dead. In the bildungsroman, or coming of age, novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Milkman evolves from an ignorant and selfish being to a responsible and caring man. While trying to become an independentRead More Rastafarian Symbolism In The Visual Arts Essay5414 Words   |  22 Pages thisJamaican pridehas led to somewhat of a commercialization of Rasta-inspired art. That is to say, the Rastas works have become something like collectors items, and the Rastafarian themes have been used in art without being backed up by true spirituality of the artist. RasTspeaks of this:The Rasta theme is now a convention. Years ago no one would stoop so low to paint a Rastaman. Today it is the thing. For many it has become a commercial gimmick.(Barrett, 188). ThiscommercializationisRead MoreA nalysis on Fate of a Cockroach3961 Words   |  16 Pagesel-Hakim The cause of serious drama, at least in its textual form, was in the process of being given a boost by one of the Egypts greatest littà ©rateurs, Ahmed Shawqi, Prince of Poets, who during his latter years penned a number of verse dramas with themes culled from Egyptian and Islamic history; these included Masraa Kliyubatra (The Death of Cleopatra, 1929), Magnun wa Layla (Driven mad by Layla, 1931), Amirat el-Andalus (The Andalusian Princess, 1932), and Ali Bey el-Kebir (an 18th-century rulerRead MoreEssay Prompts4057 Words   |  17 PagesDarkness The Sun Also Rises Invisible Man Their Eyes Were Watching God Joe Turner’s Come and Gone The Things They Carried King Lear The Turn of the Screw Major Barbara Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf 2004 (Form B): The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as whole. AvoidRead More Independent Reading Project: Creating a Museum of Living Literature2134 Words   |  9 PagesLesson The focus of this project will be to share the literary analysis of major twentieth century works. The book choices will come from the list of books most likely to appear on the AP exam. Choices might include works like Catch 22, Song of Solomon, Siddartha and Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. A list of ten or more book selections will be offered to the students. In order to familiarize students with the content and context of each work, the teacher and/or librarian will present

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Liberal Absolutism Vs Liberal Liberalism Essay - 1805 Words

The objective of this paper is to firstly, compare and contrast the Hobbesian notion of liberal absolutism with Lockean liberal constitutionalism and secondly, elucidate how these similarities and differences impact the American presidency. I will begin by explicating liberal absolutism and liberal constitutionalism and then proceed to articulate their points of similarity and difference. Next, I claim that these two liberalisms can blur the lines in understanding the role of the executive. Let me explain this. I argue that at times, it can be unclear whether the president is exercising a form of absolutism (even though his or her intention may be to act in a way to preserve the constitution) or constitutionalism. From this argument I aim to demonstrate that the president is an elected monarch and we have construed an image of the executive that has lead us to believe otherwise. I will then provide a possible objection to this assertion. Hobbesian Liberal Absolutism Thomas Hobbes defended the idea of an absolutist government in his piece Leviathan. In order to understand his notion of an absolutist government, I must first articulate his understanding of the state of nature. The state of nature can be understood as the condition in which people lived prior to establishing a government or society (Leviathan, 150-1). For Hobbes the state of nature is a condition where everyone is equal and posses a â€Å"natural right† to act as they please (Leviathan, 151). Hobbes articulatesShow MoreRelatedThe Four Perspectives Of International Political Economy2519 Words   |  11 Pagesthe American University in London Outline I. Introduction A. What is IPE? B. The role of IPE theory C. Benefits of IPE II. Methodology A. Research methods B. Research design C. Research strategy D. Time Horizon III. Theories of IPE A. Liberalism B. Mercantilism C. Structuralism and Nationalism D. Realism IV. Globalisation, financial crisis and state market societal relations and their impact on the political economy A. In WWII B. Cold War C. Communist and Socialist societies D.Read MoreLaw and Justice4680 Words   |  19 Pagesif they produce greatest possible benefit for the well off in a given scheme of inequality (â€Å"the difference principle†) iii) â€Å"fair equality of opportunity † and the elimination of all inequalities of opportunity based on birth or wealth[10] Rawls vs. Utilitarianism The basic principles and theories of both Rawls and utilitarian have been discussed. Thus there exists must difference between the principle of two. Rawls theory differs from utilitarian in three significant ways: Firstly, utilitarianRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pages Training in International Management The Impact of Overall Management Philosophy on Training The Impact of Different Learning Styles on Training and Development Reasons for Training 520 522 523 524 Types of Training Programs Standardized vs. Tailor-Made Cultural Assimilators Positive Organizational Behavior 526 526 529 530 xxvi Table of Contents Future Trends The World of International Management—Revisited Summary of Key Points Key Terms Review and Discussion Questions Internet

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Atomic Bomb 5 Essay Example For Students

Atomic Bomb 5 Essay On the morning of August 6, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb in history was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Soon after, on August 14, 1945, the Japanese abruptly surrendered, abandoning their ancient customs regarding honor in war. The fact that only two bombs were able to bring an entire country to its knees is a true testament to the awesome power they held. There is nothing in modern warfare that can compete with the devastating effects of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese were a major threat to the Asian World. On December 7, 1941, when they decided to attack Pearl Harbor (a US naval base in Hawaii), it was evident that their intentions were not limited to Asia. The United States entered World War II as a result of this attack. The war continued for six long years, and involved most of the major World Powers. During this time, there were many battles between the United States and Japan, including one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, which took place at Okinawa. If allowed to expand, Japan posed a serious threat to the allies. During the war, one of the most brilliant scientists in history, Albert Einstein, hypothesized that if the true power of the atom were released in a weapon, the results would be devastating. This was soon confirmed by a large portion of the scientific community. Whoever possessed such a weapon would be in complete power. Many government officials felt that such a weapon could put an end to the war. For this reason, in 1942, the United States decided to pursue the atomic bomb. Later that year, Franklin D. Roosevelt began the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a massive engineering enterprise aimed at the ultimate goal of creating an atomic bomb. At one time it employed over 129,000 workers. The United States was the only nation in the world with the capacity to work on such a high level. Though it cost approximately $2 billion dollars, many officials who knew about the Top Secret project felt it was well worth it- if the Atomic Bomb proved useful. Another major expense of the United States government was the development of the B-29, a bomber plane specifically designed for dropping Atomic Bombs. The estimated cost of this project is $3 billion dollars, bringing the total cost of the new atomic weapon to $5 billion dollars (approx. $50 billion 1998 dollars). If the Atomic Bomb failed, not only would many people lose their jobs, but the outcome of the war might have changed. For this reason, the Manhattan Project employed many of the top scientific minds of the world. Unbeknownst to the Allies, the Germans decided not to pursue an atomic weapon. They felt it was more important to spend the money on troops and machinery, and thought that they would have won the war before they were able to obtain an atomic weapon. They were also unaware of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The Japanese conducted small research on the possibility of building a bomb, but never fully pursued it. If the Germans had decided to build a bomb, and obtained it before the United States, they most certainly would have used it against the Allies. This is why it was so crucial for the U.S. to complete the Manhattan Project as quickly as possible. A German victory would have resulted in a history that is completely different from that which took place. If the Axis Powers had developed the Atomic Bomb, they would have been unstoppable. A nuclear weapon harnesses the power of the atom with a process known as an Uncontrollable Fission Reaction. In this process, a neutron (a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of atoms) is bombarded with the nucleus of a radioactive atom, such as Uranium or Plutonium. This causes the nucleus of the radioactive atom to become unstable, and split into two new atoms. To stabilize the new atoms, more neutrons are released, which move on to bombard with another radioactive nucleus. .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 , .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .postImageUrl , .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 , .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:hover , .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:visited , .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:active { border:0!important; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:active , .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40 .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u43b901e66b9a0970b471190587679c40:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: What Is Art? Essay The energy released comes from the binding energy (the energy required to keep the nucleus together) .

Monday, December 2, 2019

Mcdonaldization Essays (1600 words) - McDonalds, Fast Food

Mcdonaldization The way that Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers does business and markets it's product to consumers is due to the change in our society to where the consumer wants the biggest, fastest, and best product they can get for their money. This change in society can be attributed to a process known as McDonaldization. Although McDonaldization can be applied to many other parts of our society, this paper will focus on its impact on Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. My belief is that the process of McDonaldization, where the ideology of McDonald's has come to dominate the world, has caused Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers to emulate McDonald's style of running a franchised restaurant chain in terms of efficiency, calculability, and control. However, since McDonald's has become the epitome of fast-food in our society, Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers has had to change their focus to giving the consumer a higher quality product in a relatively fast amount of time. So, Wendy's still caters to a Mc Donaldized society in terms of giving them a meal as fast as possible but making quality their number one priority to give people a viable option from McDonald's. In addition, I have used my girlfriend who manages at Wendy's and observations I gathered while at McDonald's as further information for this paper. First, before I discuss the impact of McDonaldization on Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, I will define what McDonaldization is. McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society, as well as, of the rest of the world. (Ritzer 1998,Page 1) George Ritzer created this concept of McDonaldization as a continuation of Max Weber's theories on bureaucracies. Max Weber defines a bureaucracy as a large hierarchical organization that is governed by formal rules and regulations and has a clear specification of work tasks. Its three main characteristics are that it has a division of labour, hierarchy of authority, and an impartial and impersonal application of rules and policies. (Newman 1997, Page 271) Thus, from that definition of a bureaucracy, one would conclude that both McDonald's and Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers are bureaucracies. The fact that both restaurants are bureaucracies is supported by the fact that each assigns workers to a specific job where each worker individually contributes to the overall success of the restaurant by doing his or her job. For example, workers at each restaurant could be assigned to working the grill, making fries, working the front register, or taking orders at the drive-thru window. Both restaurants have a hierarchy of authority from worker, crew chief, shift manager, salary manager to owner of the store. Also, each restaurant enforces an impartial and impersonal application of rules and policies. Both McDonald's and Wendy's have standard, impersonal greetings at the register and at the drive-thru window. The exception when this impersonal attitude towards the customer is changed is when a worker knows the customer outside the restaurant. In this case, the worker will probably ask their acquaintance how they are doing or what they are up to. The worker might even throw in an extra cheeseburger that a regular customer might not get. Despite this exception where standardization is broken, both these restaurants have become bureaucracies because they are the most efficient means of managing large groups of people. That leaves one to wonder why the process of McDonaldization has been so successful for both companies. The first reason is that it offers efficiency where consumers know that it means the quickest way to get from one point to another. In the case of McDonald's, it offers the best available way to get from being hungry to being full. This is so important in today's society because so many people are in a rush to get from one place to another. Therefore, the quick, efficient setup of McDonald's allows consumers to eat a fast-food meal without having to leave their car. On the other hand, Wendy's strives for as efficient service as possible without effecting the quality of their product. This is because McDonald's already has imprinted on people's minds throughout the many years of its existence that they will get the same burger each visit

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Why Dickens Wrote A Christmas Carol

Why Dickens Wrote A Christmas Carol A  Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the most beloved works of 19th century literature, and the storys enormous popularity helped make Christmas a major holiday in Victorian Britain. When Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in late 1843, he had ambitious purposes in mind, yet he could never have imagined the profound impact his story would have. Dickens had already achieved great fame, yet his most recent novel wasnt selling well and he feared his success had peaked. Indeed, he faced some serious financial problems as Christmas 1843 approached. Beyond his own worries, Dickens was keenly attuned to the profound misery of the working poor in England. A visit to the grimy industrial city of Manchester motivated him to tell the story of a greedy businessman, Ebenezer Scrooge, who would be transformed by the Christmas spirit. Dickens rushed A Christmas Carol into print by Christmas 1843, and it became a phenomenon. The Impact of 'A Christmas Carol' The book was immediately popular with the public, becoming perhaps the most famous literary work associated with Christmas. It elevated the popularity of Christmas, which wasnt the major holiday we know, and established the idea of Christmas charity toward those less fortunate.Dickens intended the story as a strong condemnation of greed, and the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge provided a popular optimistic message.Scrooge became one of the most famous characters in literature.Dickens himself became associated with Christmas in the public mind.A Christmas Carol was transformed into stage plays and later films and television productions. Career Crisis Dickens had achieved popularity with his first novel, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, which was serialized from mid-1836 to late 1837. Known today as The Pickwick Papers, the novel was filled with comic characters the British public found charming. In the following years Dickens wrote more novels: 1838: Oliver Twist1839: Nicholas Nickleby1841: The Old Curiosity Shop1841: Barnaby Rudge Dickens reached literary superstar status with The Old Curiosity Shop, as readers on both sides of the Atlantic became obsessed with Little Nell. An enduring legend is that New Yorkers eager for the next installment would stand on the dock and yell out to passengers on incoming British packet liners, asking if Little Nell was still alive. Preceded by his fame, Dickens visited America for several months in 1842. He didnt much enjoy his visit, and he put his negative observations into a book, American Notes, which alienated many American fans. Dickens was offended by American manners (or lack thereof), and he restricted his visit to the North, as he was so offended by slavery that he wouldnt venture into the South beyond a foray into Virginia. He paid attention to working conditions, visiting mills and factories. In New York, New York, he exhibited his keen interest in the poorer classes by visiting Five Points, a notorious slum neighborhood. Back in England, he began writing a new novel, Martin Chuzzlewit. Despite his earlier success, Dickens found himself owing money to his publisher, and his new novel was not selling well as a serial. Fearful that his career was declining, Dickens desperately wanted to write something that would be very popular with the public. A Form of Protest Beyond his personal reasons for writing A Christmas Carol, Dickens felt a strong need to comment on the enormous gap between the rich and poor in Victorian Britain. On the night of Oct. 5, 1843, Dickens gave a speech in Manchester, England, at a benefit for the Manchester Athenaeum, an organization that brought education and culture to the working masses. Dickens, who was 31 at the time, shared the stage with Benjamin Disraeli, a novelist who would later become Britains prime minister. Addressing the working-class residents of Manchester affected Dickens deeply. Following his speech he took a long walk, and while thinking of the plight of exploited child workers he conceived the idea for A Christmas Carol. Returning to London, Dickens took more walks late at night, working out the story in his head. The miser Ebenezer Scrooge would be visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Marley, and also the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Finally seeing the error of his greedy ways, Scrooge would celebrate Christmas and give a raise to the employee he had been exploiting, Bob Cratchit. Dickens wanted the book to be available by Christmas. He wrote it with astonishing speed, finishing it in six weeks while also continuing to write installments of Martin Chuzzlewit. Countless Readers Touched When the book appeared, just before Christmas, it was immediately popular with the reading public as well as with critics. British author William Makepeace Thackeray, who later rivaled Dickens as a writer of Victorian novels, wrote that A Christmas Carol was a national benefit, and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness. The story of Scrooges redemption touched readers deeply, and the message Dickens wanted to convey of concern for those less fortunate struck a deep chord. The Christmas holiday began to be seen as a time for family celebrations and charitable giving. There is little doubt that Dickens story and its widespread popularity helped Christmas become established as a major holiday in Victorian Britain. Popularity Has Lasted A Christmas Carol has never gone out of print. Before the decade ended, it was adapted for the stage, and Dickens performed public readings from it. On Dec. 10, 1867, The New York Times published a glowing review of a reading of A Christmas Carol Dickens had delivered at Steinway Hall in New York City: When he came to the introduction of characters and to dialogue, the reading changed to acting, and Mr. Dickens here showed a remarkable and peculiar power. Old Scrooge seemed present; every muscle of his face, and every tone of his harsh and domineering voice revealed his character. Dickens died in 1870, but  A Christmas Carol lived on. Stage plays based on it were produced for decades, and eventually films and television productions kept the story of Scrooge alive. Scrooge, described as a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone at the beginning of the tale, famously snapped Bah! Humbug! at a nephew who wished him a merry Christmas. Near the end of the story, Dickens wrote of Scrooge: It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Why Being a Perfectionist Can Be Harmful

Why Being a Perfectionist Can Be Harmful If you are a perfectionist, you are probably familiar with the feeling of wanting to get everything just right. You may struggle with handing in papers, agonize over projects at work, and even worry about small errors from the past. High standards are one thing, but perfectionism  is quite another. And as some researchers have discovered, pursuing perfection can have serious consequences to both mental and physical well being. What Is Perfectionism? According to researchers, perfectionists hold themselves to unrealistically  high standards  and become self-critical if they believe they haven’t met these standards. Perfectionists are also likely to feel guilt and shame if they experience failures, which often leads them to avoid situations where they are worried they might fail. Amanda Ruggeri, writing about perfectionism for BBC Future, explains, â€Å"When  [perfectionists] don’t succeed, they don’t just feel disappointment about how they did. They feel shame about who they are.† How Perfectionism Can Be Harmful Although many people see the pursuit of excellence as a good thing, researchers have found that on the extreme end, perfectionism is actually linked to lower mental health. In one study, researchers analyzed how perfectionism was related to mental health across previous studies. They looked at a total of 284 studies (with over 57,000 participants) and found that perfectionism was associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders. They also found that people higher in perfectionism (i.e. participants who more strongly identified with perfectionist traits) also reported higher levels of overall psychological distress. In an article published in 2016, researchers looked at how perfectionism and depression were related over time. They found that people higher in perfectionism tended to have increases in depression symptoms, which suggests that perfectionism may be a risk factor for developing depression. In other words, although people may think of their perfectionism as something that helps them succeed, it appears that their perfectionism may actually be harmful for their mental health. Is perfectionism always harmful? Psychologists have debated this point, with some suggesting that there can be such a thing as adaptive perfectionism, in which people hold themselves to high standards without engaging in self-criticism over mistakes they make. Some researchers have suggested that a healthier form of perfectionism involves pursuing goals because you want to, and not blaming yourself if you fail to meet a goal. However, other  researchers suggest that perfectionism is not adaptive: according to these researchers, perfectionism is more than just holding yourself to high standards, and they don’t think perfectionism is beneficial. Is Perfectionism on the Rise? In one study, researchers looked at how perfectionism has changed over time. The researchers reviewed previously collected data from over 41,000 college students, from 1989 to 2016. They found that over the time period studied, college students reported increasing levels of perfectionism: they held themselves to higher standards, felt there were higher expectations placed on them, and held others to higher standards. Importantly, what increased the most were the social expectations that young adults picked up on from the surrounding environment. The researchers hypothesize that this could be because society is increasingly competitive: college students might pick up on these pressures from their parents and from society, which would increase perfectionist tendencies. How to Combat Perfectionism Since perfectionism is associated with negative outcomes, what can someone with perfectionist tendencies do to change their behavior? Although people are sometimes hesitant to give up their perfectionist tendencies, psychologists point out that giving up on perfection doesn’t mean being less successful. In fact, because mistakes are an important part of learning and growing, embracing imperfection can actually help us in the long run. One possible alternative to perfectionism involves developing what psychologists call a growth mindset. Researchers at Stanford University have found that cultivating a growth mindset is a crucial way to help us learn from our failures. Unlike those with fixed mindsets (who see their skill levels as innate and unchangeable), those with growth mindsets believe they can improve their abilities by learning from their mistakes. Psychologists point out that parents can play a crucial role in helping their children develop healthier attitudes towards failure: they can praise their children for making an effort (even if their results were imperfect) and help children learn to persevere when they make mistakes. Another potential alternative to perfectionism is to cultivate self-compassion. To understand self-compassion, think about how you would respond to a close friend if they made a mistake. Odds are, you’d probably respond with kindness and understanding, knowing that your friend meant well. The idea behind self-compassion is that we should treat ourselves kindly when we make mistakes, remind ourselves that mistakes are part of being human, and avoid being consumed by negative emotions. As Ruggeri points out for BBC Future, self-compassion can be beneficial for mental health, but perfectionists tend not to treat themselves in compassionate ways. If you’re interested in trying to foster more self-compassion, the researcher who developed the concept of self-compassion has a short exercise you can try. Psychologists have also suggested that cognitive behavioral therapy can be a way to help people change their beliefs about perfectionism. Although perfectionism is linked to lower mental health, the good news is that perfectionism is something you can change. By working to see mistakes as learning opportunities, and replacing self-criticism with self-compassion, it’s possible to overcome perfectionism and develop a healthier way of setting goals for yourself. References: Curran, T., Hill, A. P. (2017, Dec 28). Perfectionism Is Increasing Over Time: A Meta- Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences From 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000138 apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000138.pdfDahl, M. (2015, Sept 17). Is it possible to be a perfectionist without driving yourself nuts? The Science of Us (New York Magazine). http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/09/perfectionism-but-without-driving-yourself-nuts.htmlLeahy, R. L. (2017, Mar 15). Successful imperfection. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anxiety-files/201703/successful-imperfectionLimburg, K., Watson, H. J., Hagger, M. S., Egan, S. J. (2016). The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(10), 1301-1326. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22435 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311939754Neff. K. Definition of self-compassion. http://self-compassion.org/the-t hree-elements-of-self-compassion-2/ Pruett, K. D. (2017, May 18). Being parents of a perfectionist. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/once-upon-child/201705/being-parents-perfectionistRuggeri, A. (2018, Feb 21). The dangerous downsides of perfectionism. BBC Future. bbc.com/future/story/20180219-toxic-perfectionism-is-on-the-riseSmith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Rnic, K., Saklofske, D. H., Enns, M., Gralnick, T. (2016). Are perfectionism dimensions vulnerability factors for depressive symptoms after controlling for neuroticism? A meta-analysis of 10 longitudinal studies. European Journal of Personality, 30(2), 201-212. doi: 10.1002/per.2053 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b6ad/6f32c90beb8b2c2e6f3a0b698bd781bed0ba.pdf

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Research - Essay Example hat, in situations where there is the need to optimize the use of resources especially in the low income countries, there is a tendency to scale down the local strategies for quality to enable the practitioner and the constrained health providers to serve a larger population. The growth of the health sector has thus concentrated on geographical coverage and based more of their services to providing universal health at the expense of the quality. Most of the resources are focused to expansion leaving loopholes for inefficiencies and incompetence if not unprofessionalism. According to the article by the world health organization, there is a need to address the health issue from a systems perspective (World Health Organization, 3). For this research proposal, I will review previous data on the topic and develop the various problems encountered in health care, examine them in the light of the efforts to mitigate them and come up with a plan to work out the inefficiencies and ensure there is an optimal allocation of resources and optimal gains, as a result. When we look at health care in an economic perspective, health care involves the provision of services and the receipt of payment for the services (Lebrun-Harris, Lydie A., et al., 44). However, the rate with which an individual seeks health care largely depends on his/her resource endowments especially in cases where they are not covered by insurance cover and have to pay through an out-of –pocket basis. Access to health care is thus limited by the constrained resources. However, healthcare in the modern day has become more of an enterprise, and the providers are aiming at expanding more and reaping more profits for their services. This has led to the use of incompetent personnel in place of doctors, the use of low quality alternative medicine, application of procedures that undermine the patients’ health status, for better monetary rewards; among them carrying out a caesarian section where the patient can have

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Renovation of Bathroom of Syracuse University Residence Hall (Dat Article

Renovation of Bathroom of Syracuse University Residence Hall (Dat Hall) - Article Example Importantly of the three viable options and the three budgeting conclusions, investigations revealed that each of the viable options will not require significant pipeline changes in the plumbing system, thus reducing costs. Option one will give freshmen the opportunity to have some privacy while showering or using the facility. Option two would not be costly as option one but will still give the bathrooms modernized feel students are used to in everyday life. The last option focuses on the student’s complaints about broken showers and old tiles. This report recommends that Day Hall renovates using option two as it will give the bathrooms a modernized feel, besides installments can be completed through SU staff reducing cost. For the purpose of providing a more comfortable residence experience for incoming freshmen, the communal bathrooms in day hall are fairly old and raise concerns over privacy and cleanliness issues amongst students currently living in the dorm. Amongst the issues for improvements, privacy ranks as of greatest importance, including sinks, showers, and toilets that are very close together. The bathrooms are very open and lack the privacy many students would like when moving to college. Therefore, to provide more personal space, renovations or separation of the toilets, showers, and sinks in the bathroom area can accommodate new and old students satisfactorily. To renovate the Day Hall’s facilities will add comfortability to the student’s need for usage, besides eliminating the health risks that may arise as a result. The primary concern of this feasibility study is the cost, duration of downtime, and the availability of SU staff.  

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Dwi case with multiple fatalities Essay Example for Free

Dwi case with multiple fatalities Essay Driving while being intoxicated is a serious crime. This becomes more serious when the charge is juxtaposed with multiple fatalities including DWI charges. These charges include underage driving, underage drinking, resisting against arrest and public damage. (Kar, 145) Such an incident took place in Middletown in 1999. This is a perfect example of the multiple fatalities while driving. Henry Bitchel was 15 when he crashed his 1966 Ford on a public telephone booth. The officer in charge booked the offence and tried to measure his blood alcohol level suspecting him being drunk. To this Henry resisted and thus offence was created against the law. However with the help of force the officer registered the blood alcohol level was placed in a much higher than the permissible level. (King, 126) Thus four major charges were lodged against Henry. The first was of underage driving without a valid license, the second charge was underage drinking as he was 15 years of age. The third was resisting arrest and it should be stated that Henry could have well done without this one. The last one was damage of public property in form of a telephone booth. The fifth and the main issue that was charged against Henry was the case of drinking while driving. (Lamb, 243-245) It should be noted that the law is enforced for the betterment of civic society and the good of the civilians. Therefore it is evident that the citizen should follow these rules. Otherwise, as in the case of Henry, there could be multiple fatalities including DWI charges and that is a must avoidable scenario. Works Cited: Kar, P; History of US Automobile Market (Kolkata: Dasgupta Chatterjee 2005) pp 145 King, H; Civic Fitness Today (Dunedin: HBT Brooks Ltd. 2005) pp 126 Lamb, Davis; Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata. (Wellington: National Book Trust. 2004) pp 243-245

Friday, November 15, 2019

Essay --

The theme for the final work of art "introduction to political science" is: feminist IN LATIN AMERICA. The theme is related to the number VI unit precisely with the text "citizenship and politics. Towards a citizens 'identity' Sebastian Barros. And with the unit VII, with the theme Social Movements. " I start looking for the answer to a question that haunts my head Why women have been relegated from the public sphere, has not had the same "rights" as men to venture into politics? And doubt perhaps more importantly, what was the reason that led to the woman, now to "liberate"? through which it has reversed the situation that happened before. In the late 60s', a generation of young women gave rise to the feminist movement in the large cities of the United States and Europe. Influenced by these experiences and contact with literature that came from the core countries, many Latin American-mainly middle-class began forming groups of reflection and activism for the rights of women. Initially women were middle class, a significant portion came from the wide sides of the left. The arisings of these groups occurred in the setting of acute radicalization of class struggle in the continent, was manifested in the labor and popular ascent whose expressions were most prominent Chilean industrial laces, cordobazo in Argentina, mobilizations student in Mexico, etc.. These facts can be considered as the most acute experiences and as a result, the arrival on the scene of many movements of urban and rural guerrilla. The massive and regionally movementist expression were the feminist meetings, every two years first, then three. They feminist advances, shared strategies, conflict perspective and visions enhancing strategies and discourses expr... ... women the same rights, capabilities, possibilities, ... that man. Always relegated to the care and upbringing of children, to serve her husband, etc ... In the situation where he was, how much she could give more came, and now it has been proven that women work more than men, but earn less by the mere fact of being a woman is as capable as the man performing any work that is proposed, etc.. So I think it important to note that although the status of women today in Latin America is not like a couple of decades ago, still has a long way to say that it has definitely exceeded oppositions that has had and continues to have . Thanks to movementist women today still continues to fight for the differences to shorten and hopefully get to the day when we can say that the feminist movement beat, and could change the way in which power is exercised, and thus change society.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Business Environment in China

Every country has its own rules and regulations according to the needs, requirements and environment of the business in that country. So for any company, thinking to expand the span of business to another country and wants to invest for long term in that country, especially where production in that country involves, it is very important to understand the business environment, government policies, restrictions and future perspective of business in that country. The business has to assess whether the company has ability to incorporate most of the business needs and it should also be considered that whether the culture of the company can be integrated with the culture of that country. So the business operations will be different in different ways which have been discussed below: Import/export restrictions: There are certain types of goods and services which may be prohibited in the country where the business has plan to expand. For example, in Islamic countries like Dubai, Saudi Arabia etc, it is prohibited to expert or import alcoholic products except in some situations. Certain types of quality measurement might be imposed on the companies in order to import goods in the country. Another aspect of restrictions regarding export are the restrictions regarding the quantity which is being exported by the company. Governments can restrict the quantity of any specific product or service to be exported in order to avoid shortage in home country. China has imposed custom levy on the import as well as export of the goods. In addition to this levy, china has fixed a quote for imports of different types of products in the country. These restrictions on imports allow the home countries to produce more for the residents of China and less amount will be spend on imports and hence improve trade surplus for China which will help China to increase foreign reserves and hence make the economy of China more strong. Recently, China has imposed different types of restrictions on the export of 17 metallic elements which are important for different types of manufacturing good which also includes inputs for automobiles as well as wind turbine. It has made a big issue in the world. Other export restrictions include export duties which comprises of three types; regular, temporary and special, export quota for certain types of goods including mass consumption goods. Export license is required to be the exporter (Ambler, T. , Witzel, M. & Xi, C. , (2008). So if MNE has planned to come into the China for long-term investment, cost-benefit analysis should be carried out. However on the other hand, china support different types of exports and give reliefs for home productions which makes the business in china more attractive. Labor relations: It can be described as the relations between employers and employees, which are either unionized or non-unionized. Under the umbrella of labor relations, employees protect their labor right. Different countries have given authority to employees for their rights to different extents and as a result in some countries, labor has more power. So it should be considered while moving to another country that what are the conditions of labor relations in that country and hence how much the employees are powerful and how they can exert their power. It will help the companies to carry out stakeholder analysis as well as stakeholder mapping and hence can improve working conditions as well as can improve business operations. China has implemented labor relations law in 2008 (China Enacts Labor Relations Law, Effective in 2008, 2007). It has given more power to employees within the country. It has been made harder to lay off employees now. For the company like ACME or other MNE, it is very important to be noted that during last year, there was a strike by employees within factories in order to increase their wages. It was said by the employees at that time that companies are making huge profits and they are the people who are working behind the success of companies so their share must be increased and aligned with the profits of the company. So companies should understand the risk that low production costs, which are due to low wages, will no longer be attractive in future. Companies should make strategy to deal with the employees in a way which provides them job security, human rights protection, motivation along with the level of work required by the company. China’s manufacturing market is very feasible for labor intensive industries at the moment. Good relations between employers and employees can be made by providing good working conditions whether they will feel satisfied with their work. Supplier financing: It is the finance management in the situation where the products are being exported. All the credit terms are included in the contract between importer and exporter and credit agencies play their role in the process and reasonably insure that the contract terms will be fulfilled by importer and exporter will be able to receive payments. At the same time it also ensures that importer will not be liable, to the agreed extent, to pay the risks which can be the political risk or economic risks. Companies while trying to operate in other countries must think how much it is sure that they will be able to meet the contract terms and if own company or other company will not honor the contract then what will be role of supplier financing in it how the laws and regulations of countries will support to force the either company to honor the contract. Tax rules: Tax rules and policies play an important role in order to make the strategy for the business. Countries might have tax treaties with each other as a result company can have the benefit from it. Tax rules applied to foreign firms are sometimes stricter than for their home firm. Such type of tax rules decides that how the finance will be arranged and how the income distribution will be managed in order to increase the business for the company. Policy for deferred tax and tax policy for the export of products from china should also be considered. Many countries have higher tax rates which may also impact on the financial statements of the business. Tax treaties play an important role in the implications of taxation policies. If home country and the country where company wants to invest have tax treaties then it would be beneficial for the company as it will not have to face double taxation. China has incentivized companies by in regards of taxation. Tax rules have to be followed but they are not very strict. There are many companies which are enjoys tax rates as low as 15%. Many other companies have also lower tax rates by increasing the exports from China (CCH Tax Editor, 2008). Overall, China is an attractive market in regards of the incentivized tax rules. And hence it is feasible to invest in China. Depreciation Schedule: Depreciation has its impact on the financial statements of the business especially when the companies have high value for their fixed assets. Some countries allow capital allowance on depreciation and hence which becomes the source of tax savings. Straight line method and reducing balance methods etc are permitted methods in IFRS and IAS. China has flexibility in choosing the method of depreciation. However whichever method company has chosen, it will not be able to change the method in future. Depreciation will become the source of tax savings so company can choose any method which will provide more tax savings to the business. However it should be noted that companies are required to assess the suitability of depreciation method before selecting it. At the same time, companies are also required to check if depreciation needs to be revalued. All the information, regarding revalued depreciation amount and if new asset has been purchased, should be submitted to tax authorities. Minimum depreciation period in China is 20 years for land and buildings and for other types of fixed assets; it is 10 years (Yan, X. & Pitt, D. , 2002). Companies have to think the time period for which the company is going to work in China. Currency properties and restrictions: It is the control over the inflow and outflow of cash by imposing different rules which are set in monetary policy of the country. It is also the control of fluctuations in currency rates within country using different ways like interest rates and money printing etc. These restrictions might impact on the business as they will not allow the company to export money from their country above some predefined level. It might affect the cashflow statement of parent company which is basically a foreign company. Currency properties restrictions might restrict the company to own properties in their country where the company is going to invest. Such types of consequences increases the risk of business as for a huge size factory, it might be required for the business to have its own premises as moving from one land to another land even within the same country is not an easy task (Riedel, J. , Jin, J. Gao, J. , 2007). China’s policy to keep its currency undervalue is the point of concern for most the countries in the world. China keeps the currency undervalued in order to support exports. It helps exporters to export for more Yuan for the export of one dollar. On the other hand, it discourages imports in China. So companies have to consider this type of currency control and should make policy regarding the restrictions by china on currency. Sources of long-term and Short-term debt: Companies are required to arrange finance for the expansion of business and to run the activities of the business smoothly in the long run. This finance can either be arranged either by raising equity of the company or it can also be arranged by debt as sometimes equity financing sometimes consume more time and shareholders’ WACC for the company is relatively high as compared to debt in most of the cases. Short term or long term debt includes loan from commercial banks or financial institutions and it will be measured that what is the interest rate for that short term finance and whether it is feasible for the company to arrange finance in foreign country or not. China is an attractive market because of easy sources of arranging debts. However china is going to make more strict changes in its short term debt policy. Treasury bills have been proved to be one of the most effective short-term debt tools in china. China has been proved to one of the most efficient market for long term debt especially in aisa. It is relatively easy to obtain long term debt at a competitive rate. Government of China is still working for more efficiency in long term debt market. Bonds are one of the most powerful long term debt tools for the companies working in China. Ethics: There must be integrity in the information provided to CEO. I will include the information about condition of human rights, labor welfare as well as all other information which belongs to the business. It is ethically necessary to provide the information because it will also help to protect the employees when company will start operating in China as company will already knew that what are the conditions are there and how these conditions can be improved (Norton, A. & Hughes J. , 2009). Although it might have a bad impact on CEO but for the purpose of integrity as well as honesty, I will include all the information. However I will also include the outline solutions to the problems.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Grant/Lee a Comparison and Contrast Essay

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee are two of the most effective military leaders in American history. These men have become symbolic of the two nations at conflict during the Civil War. Both had very different backgrounds and personalities that caused them to differ in their military leadership and accomplishments. Even though General Lee would surrender his army to General Grant, Lee throughout the course of the war proved himself to be a better military leader. The childhood of Robert Edward Lee played a pivotal role in the way he would see the world as a man. Lee was born into an aristocratic family of Virginia with a deeply rooted American history. Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee, Robert E. Lee’s uncles, helped draft resolutions that would lead to the Declaration of Independence, both would sign it1. Lee’s father, Henry â€Å"Lighthorse Harry† Lee III was a revolutionary war hero and one of George Washington’s most dependable fellow countrymen . In 1771, Washington, also from Virginia, wrote: â€Å" I know of no country that can produce a family all distinguished and clever men, as our Lees.†2 Lee’s mother and father were strong influences in his life for very different reasons. Lee’s father would define everything Lee did not want to be. Lighthorse Harry lacked self-control and failed to take care of the family. Ruined by failed financial ventures, Lee’s father would be sent to debtor’s prison. His mother, Anne Hill Carter Lee would raise young Robert to love God, to serve God and to serve his country. Lee’s rearing helped him to develop the highest standards of honor, self-denial, self-control and duty that would earn respect from both friends and enemies.3 Ulysses S. Grant came from a more humble upbringing. Like Lee, Grant traces his ancestry deep into American history in his memoirs. Grant’s ancestors settled in Massachusetts in 1630.4 Grant’s father, Jesse R. Gran t came from a broken family and was fostered by the parents of John Brown. 5 The same John Brown that would attempt to start a slave rebellion by attacking the United States armory at Harper’s Ferry in 1859. Men under the leadership of then Colonel Robert E. Lee ended that raid.6 Grant, was not born into the land owning aristocracy like Lee, his family was frontier men. Grant â€Å"†¦had come up the hard way†¦No man was born to anything, except perhaps to a chance to show how far he could rise. Life was competition (Catton, para 5).†7 Grant’s competitive upbringing would give him the motivation to push forward and the demand results needed to defeat Lee. Robert E Lee would carry the lessons he learned as a child with him to the Military Academy at West Point. While attending West Point, Lee was very studious and did not join 8other cadets for evenings at the local taverns. General Lee graduated second in his class at West Point and received no demerits for misconduct. This record has never been matched and will not likely ever be achieved again. By graduating with honors, Lee was assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The time Lee spent with the Army Corps of Engineers gave him valuable knowledge of different types of terrain and fortification constructions that would serve him well in the Civil War.9 The childhood of Ulysses S. Grant would also affect him at West Point. Grant was not interested in a military career; he was more interested in agriculture.10 It was Grant’s father who requested his appointment to West Point.11 Grant stated in his memoirs, â€Å"A military life had no charms for me, and I had not the faintest idea of staying in the army even if I should be graduated, which I did not expect (Grant p19).†12 Grant spent most of his time at West Point reading novels and avoiding â€Å"†¦books related to the course of studies (Grant pg 20).†13 Unlike Lee, Grant would not excel at West Point. Grant graduated 21 out of 39 in his class, just below average.14 The Mexican American War would be both Lee and Grant’s first battle. Lee and Grant would both serve un der General Winfield Scott, a man whom they both admired, during his campaign to Mexico City. General Scott saw greatness in Lee and stated his â€Å"†¦success in Mexico was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee.†15 Scott was also heard commenting a few years later that; â€Å"Lee is the greatest military genius in America.† 16 Grant, only a first lieutenant, did not get an opportunity to show much leadership. Grant did however serve with valor. At the Battle of Monterey, Grant would gain some respect among his peers by successfully carrying much needed ammunition to his regiment while under fire.17 During the Civil War, Lee and Grant would implement skills learned while under the command of General Winfield Scott. In the spring of 1861 as the nation leaned toward Civil War, both Grant and Lee would be forced to make very difficult decisions. Grant would only have to decide between being a patriot or a traitor. In a letter to Grant’s father he wrote: â€Å"There are but two parties now, Traitors & Patriots and I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter. . . (Grant p 957)†18 Lee was torn between a successful career in the United States Army, his devotion to the Union, an appointment as commander of the Union forces and the love he had for his family and homeland. In a letter to his sister , Lee wrote: â€Å" With all my devotion to the Union†¦I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. 19 The decisions these two men made would send them on a collision course in one of the most costly wars the country has every waged. Throughout the Civil War, Robert E Lee would prove himself to be unmatched in leadership. When Lee took control of the Army of Northern Virginia in June of 1862, the Union army â€Å"†¦was thundering at the city gates†¦(Lee p150)†20 of the Confederate capital of Richmond. In three months, Lee would achieve what his predecessor General Joseph E. Johnston could not. Lee defeated the invading Union army and turned the war in favor of the South. It would take President Lincoln almost one year to find any competition for General Lee. That competition would be General Grant and the vast resources the North offered him. The vast resources and the advanced railroad system of the North would give Grant the advantage he needed over Lee. In a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Lee expressed his concern that â€Å"†¦Every train brings recruits, and it is stated that every available regiment at the North is added to it†¦(Lee p108)†21 The Army of Northern Virginia’s lack of provisions were â€Å"†¦so great†¦I cannot see how we can operate with our present supplies (Lee, p 108).22 Before Lee ever met Grant on the battlefield he was trying to prepare for multiple retreats that would allow him to resupply his army. Lee pleaded with Jefferson Davis that â€Å"Every exertion should be made to supply the depots at Richmond and at other points (Lee, p 108).† 23 Grant carelessly used his resources to attack Lee and â€Å"†¦after thirty days of marching†¦fighting and a with a loss of more than sixty thousand men, General Grant†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 24 arrived at Petersburg, â€Å"†¦which he could have done†¦without the loss of a single man.† 25 The sixty thousand men that were expendable to Grant was more than Lee had in his entire Army of Northern Virginia. Lee eventually was forced to surrender his army of â€Å"†¦less than eight thousand men†¦to Grant’s army of 150,000†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 26 Prior to the surrender Union officers had â€Å"†¦always estimated your [Lee] force at about seventy thousand men.†27 The leadership displayed by Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee throughout their military careers is directly related to their childhood and education at West Point. Grant’s childhood made him competitive but his lack of interest in the curriculums at West Point would set him back militarily. If Grant did not have the expendable resources that were available to his Union Army, he would have failed against Lee’s ability to fight with such limited resources. Lee’s self struggle to lead by example combined with his devotion to duty and the men in his army resulted in many victories over impossible odds. Lee did not surrender to Grant’s leadership traits; Lee â€Å"†¦was compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources (Lee p 138)†28 1 James A. Henretta, David Brody and Lynn Dumenil, America: A Concise History, 3rd Edition, 3rd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), 157-58. Bibliography Henretta, James A., David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil. America: A Concise History, 3rd Edition. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. Lee, Fitzhugh. General Lee. BiblioLife, 2009. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. CreateSpace, 2009. Lee, Robert. Recollections and Letters. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble, 2004. Bruce Catton Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts, available from http://users.ipfw.edu/ruflethe/grantandlee.html ; Internet; accessed 16 August 2010. Allen, Walter. ULYSSES S. GRANT. Houghton Mifflin,1901. Long, Armistead Lindsay. Memoirs of Robert E. Lee: His military and personal history [embracing a large amount of information hitherto unpublished]. University of Michigan Library, 1886. Grant, Ulysses S. Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America). First Edition ed. New York, N.Y.: Library of America, 1990.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Using the French Passive Infinitive

Using the French Passive Infinitive Even though the French infinitive translates as to verb, the French infinitive sometimes needs to be preceded by a preposition. This phenomenon can be divided into two categories: verbs that must be followed by a preposition (see lesson) and the passive infinitive, which you will learn about in this lesson.The passive infinitive occurs when a sentence is written in such a way that the infinitive has a passive, rather than active, meaning. This construction requires the preposition . Compare these two sentences:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je veux dire quelque chose.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai quelque chose dire.The first sentence, I want to say something, is active - this want is an active state of mind. The second sentence, I have something to say, is passive: the speaker is using this construction to emphasize the something to say, rather than the action of actually saying it. It might help to literally translate it as I have something to be said.The passive infinitive occurs most commonly with indefinite wo rds, including negative indefinites. This is not a definitive list, but it should give you a good idea about when and how to use the passive infinitive. Indefinite Pronouns   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je cherche quelque chose lire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im looking for something to read.  Ã‚  Ã‚  En voici un autre corriger.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Heres another one to correct.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aimes-tu les films  ? En voici plusieurs voir.  Ã‚  Do you like movies? Here are several to watch. Negative Pronouns   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il ny a rien manger.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Theres nothing to eat.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elle nen a pas une seule partager.  Ã‚  Ã‚  She doesnt have a single one to share. Indefinite Adjectives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je cherche une autre voiture louer.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im looking for another car to rent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il regarde chaque peinture vendre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He looks at each painting to be sold.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il y a maintes choses faire demain.  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many things to do tomorrow. Negative Adjectives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je nai aucun argent te prà ªter.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I dont have any money to loan you.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il ny a pas un seul ordinateur utiliser.  Ã‚  Ã‚  There isnt a single computer to use.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il na nulle sagesse communiquer.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He has no wisdom to impart. Indefinite Article or Number   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il me reste une maison vendre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have one house left to sell.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elle a trouvà © un chien adopter.  Ã‚  Ã‚  She found a dog to adopt.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai achetà © quatre tartes partager avec le groupe.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I bought four pies to share with the group. Presentatives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cest difficile dire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Its hard to say.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il y a beaucoup de choses faire Paris.  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are a lot of things to do in Paris.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Voici les và ªtements laver.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Here are the clothes to wash.Note that sometimes cest and il est must be followed by de rather than - learn more. Sentence Fragments The passive infinitive may also be used in fragments:  Ã‚  Ã‚   vendre  Ã‚  Ã‚  For sale  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maison louer  Ã‚  Ã‚  House for rent

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Expressing Enthusiasm or Joy in Words

Expressing Enthusiasm or Joy in Words Sometimes you’d like to express just how much you really, really want to do something. In other words, you’d like to express your enthusiasm. Another way to put this is to say that you’re pumped and you want tell to tell the world just how stoked you are about something.  Use these phrases to express enthusiasm for something you are doing, or to support someone else.   to be pumped to be very excited and physically ready to do something Im pumped to welcome Mario Stranger to the stage!Are you pumped for vacation next month? to be stoked to be very enthused about something Shes stoked about her trip to Tahiti next week.No, Im not stoked about the test. I hate tests! Expressing Enthusiasm for Something You are Doing These expressions are used to express something about your own projects. You can also use these forms to state that someone else is excited about his / her own project. Below you will find expressions to use when supporting or showing your enthusiasm for someone else.   Subject be (really, very, quite) excited about something Use this form for a special event or opportunity: I’m very excited about working with Tom on the new project.I’m quite excited about my new car! Subject be (really) looking forward to something Use this form when you are anticipating a meeting or other event in the future. This expression is common in business settings: I’m really looking forward to opening the new store next week.She’s looking forward to taking some time off work. Subject cherish   Use  cherish  on special occasions as this form is quite strong: I cherish the time I spend with you.Jack cherishes every opportunity to speak to a client. Expressing Enthusiasm with Adjectives Here is a text full of adjectives that express your enthusiasm for a person, place or thing:   Its amazing that youve come to this site to study English. Just the fact that you found this site shows awesome dedication to learning English. I think youre an incredible student! The  adjectives amazing, awesome, fantastic, incredible  and  unbelievable  are  known as extreme  adjectives and express your enthusiasm. Used at the right moment, these adjectives add special emphasis and are used to show enthusiasm and joy. Be careful not to use these too often as they lose their impact when overused. Here are a few examples of appropriate moments to use these adjectives: Wow, that’s amazing! I’ve never seen a sunset like that before!Look at that mountain. It’s awesome! I Can’t Believe It! The phrase I can’t believe is often used to express something that surprises you in a good way: I can’t believe how much fun that ride was!I can’t believe how much I love you! Expressing Enthusiasm for Someone Else Here are a number of  phrases used to express enthusiasm when we hear someones good news. Subject be   (so, really, very) happy / excited / delighted   for you / them / him / her Use these adverbs and adjectives in combination to express happiness for someone: I’m really delighted for you. Good luck!She’s so excited for her husband. Congratulations! / Congratulations on the / your ... You can express enthusiasm for special achievements by beginning with congratulations: Congratulations on your new house!Congratulations! You must be a proud father! Subject must be   (so, really, very) happy / excited / delighted Use the modal verb of probability  must to express your belief that what you say about someone else  is true: You must be so excited!She must have been thrilled! That’s great / fantastic / wonderful! When someone shares their enthusiasm they expect you to react to their good news. Here are some phrases to help you spread the joy: Your wife is pregnant. That’s fantastic!That’s great! You should be proud of yourself. I’m (so, very, really) happy for you. Use this phrase to express that you truly wish someone the best: I’m really happy for you. I’m sure you’ll be great at your new job.I’m so happy for you and your husband. Would you like a boy or a girl? You deserve it! Use this phrase to express joy when someone has worked hard for an achievement. You deserve it  is also used to say that someone deserves a special gift or consideration. I heard about your new job. Congratulations! You deserve it.Lets go out to dinner. You deserve it. At Work Here is a dialog that might take place at work. Two colleagues are speaking, so they feel comfortable sharing their joy. Notice how each expression of enthusiasm is used. Practice this dialog with a friend or classmate. You can raise your voice to show your enthusiasm.   Colleague 1: Hi Tom. Do you have  a moment?Colleague 2: Sure, what’s up? Colleague 1: I’m really stoked about the new project.Colleague 2: Why’s that? Colleague 1: I’m really excited about the opportunity. If things go well with this, who knows what will happen!Colleague 2: I’m really happy for you. I’m sure you’ll do a great job! Colleague 1: Thanks. I hope so.Colleague 2: Of course, you must be very proud of yourself. Colleague 1: Yes, to tell you the truth, this is something I’ve wanted for a while.Colleague 2: Well, you deserve it! Colleague 1: Thanks. I appreciate it.Colleague 2: My pleasure. Between Friends Its always great to share your enthusiasm with those close to you. Heres a dialog to share with your friends: George: Doug, Doug!! Annie’s pregnant!Doug: That’s fantastic! Congratulations! George: Thanks. I can’t believe we’re going to have another baby!!Doug: Do you know the sex? George: No, we want it to be a surprise.Doug: Really, I’d want to know so I could buy all the right stuff. George: You have a point. Maybe we should find out.Doug: In any case, I’m really, really happy for your two. George: Thanks. I just had to share the good news.Doug: Let’s go get a beer to celebrate! George: That’s a good idea!Doug: My treat. Expressing enthusiasm is just one of many language functions. This is the opposite of  expressing sadness  and calls for very positive words.  Learning language functions can help you learn specific vocabulary for specific situations.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Globalisation as a Cause of Poverty and Inequality Essay

Globalisation as a Cause of Poverty and Inequality - Essay Example    However, the international capital inflows can be reversed to create boom-and-bust cycles that can be detrimental to the social welfare of the affected regions. Globalization encourages labor mobility (Lecher and Boil, 2012). However, skilled and specialized labor force may take advantage of the global market to access markets with high demand and low skill supply. Globalization may also enhance immobility; unskilled workers are prevented from migrating to developed nations. Currently, globalization poses a scenario based on the idyllic view of the general globe where technology and capital have a free flow in a market where access to knowledge and information is vast, efficient markets, and where there is equity in market participation capacities among the households. Globalisation can partially be attributed to the increasing improvements made in the technological field, minimized costs of transportation, as well as due to some deliberate choosing on behalf of many nations to further integrate their economies with the global economy. In essence, globalization refers to capital market liberalization, trade restrictions’ removal, for instance, quotas and tariffs, and free movements of human resources. All these can be considered to be economic globalization’s indicators. The 80s and 90s saw many countries open up their borders leading to reduced restrictions on direct foreign investment as well as curtailing quantitative controls on imports which reduced the tariff rates.   In general, the process of liberalisation and globalisation leads to reduced poverty and high economic growth and development. Globalisation comes in many facets hence a mixed set of outcomes. The argument brought about by anti-globalists is that globalisation has adverse effects on poor people in LDCs. Countries such as the US had thrived in managing the process of globalisation incisively proving that globalisation can be a driving force to economic growth and development and those incapable of managing the process ended up with dismal economic growth and development as well as increased poverty and high inequality in income distribution, showing the adverse effects globalisation can have. A number of issues have been highlighted linking globalisation to inequality: i. Inequal ity rates have increased since the 80s. ii. This high inequality rates are caused by other factors other than the traditional factors i.e. urban bias, education inequality, and concentration of land. iii. High inequality levels can decrease

Friday, November 1, 2019

Value Creation - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Industry Thesis

Value Creation - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Industry - Thesis Example The dominance of the US and Europe in the current global financial services landscape means that most European and American banks enter new markets outside their region through transatlantic M&As. These developments are not lost on bank CEOs, who must keep a watchful eye on competitors’ strategies and assess what these acquisition moves mean to their own bank’s position. With their massive increases in market capitalization due to mergers, leading banks are in a strong position to invest heavily in new products or services and to make even larger acquisitions. This would pose a significant competitive threat that would require other banks to respond. Indeed, all acquisitions will result from value enhancing unless there exists some element of market inefficiency, i.e., imperfect competition in either the product and/or labour market and/or agency conflicts. Most large mergers and acquisitions fall short of achieving the desired synergies. In January 1999, The Economist reported that study after study of past merger waves has shown that two of every three deals have not worked. And at least 50% of major mergers since 1990 have eroded shareholder returns. Reasons for failed mergers are diverse and complex, but most can be attributed to losing something: critical people, customers, market confidence. Uncontrolled costs, hidden losses, unrealized benefits, avoiding decisions, cultural barriers, and power struggles can also undermine the most promising unions. Despite the high failure rate, M&As that succeed can pay large dividends. The most successful acquiring firms have clearly established and well-understood acquisition processes, both for ensuring good strategic decisions before the acquisition decision is made and for integrating the acquired firm once the deal is complete. This has created an interest amongst other banking firms to make a research on the M&As and the reasons behind their success or failure.  Ã‚  

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Issues Of Abusing Study Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Issues Of Abusing Study Drugs - Essay Example Any student abusing the study drugs respective authorities ought to arrest him or her because these drugs end up doing more harm than good in the end. These study drugs have very many side effects. They include increased blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and changes in sex drive or impotence, in the long term. In the short term, the drugs may cause restlessness, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, dizziness, mouth dryness, paranoia, suppressed appetite, diarrhea or constipation (â€Å"The University of Texas†). In addition to these drugs having mild to severe side effects, the drugs have a potential overreliance (â€Å"The University of Texas†). These study drugs should be banned and every student abusing them to be arrested since they have many side effects that could have long-lasting effects on the user in addition to causing dependence. The fact that study drugs are abused more than marijuana and are easier to get is a worrying fact. Research shows that over 30 percent of students in the university have illegally taken the drugs, with the number being more for the upperclassmen. This is quite worrying since the federal government lists the Adderall as a schedule II drug. The schedule II drugs have the highest potential for abuse and a dependence profile (Cooper). Moreover, according to Dr. Kotwicki, these drug produce euphoria, they may temporarily work but in the end cause problems with functionality. Students abuse drugs such as Ritalin to enhance their alertness and attention leading to better performance. However, according to CBC news, evidence suggests that the drugs do not increase cognition (â€Å"CBC news†). It is so sad that students abuse these drugs thinking that it helps them but they end up harming them.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Motives, Triggers And Barriers To Internationalization

Motives, Triggers And Barriers To Internationalization In general, internationalization occurs when the company expand its business activities into foreign markets. There might be several reasons for this. Of course, the most frequent reason is to expand profits, but this is not the only one. The motives and triggers for internationalization are a key concept for firms that are planning to enter the global market since both concepts will shape the internationalization strategy or path (Äijà ¶ et al) and main characteristics of this process. Table 2 and Table 3 present the main motives and triggers. If the main reason to start exporting is to increase profits and growth, the potential new markets will be those where the competition is less fierce and margins can be set on a higher level. If the goal is to reduce costs by expanding the economies of scale, the target countries might be anyone, independent of the profit level that the company can achieve there as long as there are positive. If the fierce competition in the local market is the driver to star exporting, then the foreign market will be determined as a defensive strategy mainly by forces external to the firm. Another crucial concept is the barriers hindering the export initiation. If any one of this factors or a combination of them is available in the firms context, it may hold back the internationalization of the firm for a long period or even forever. According to Hollensen (2008), the critical factors hindering internationalization initiation are mainly internal. Table 4 summarizes these barriers. In the Day Chocolate case, and based on the general information analysed and on the company history, it will be assumed that the primary motive to start the internationalization process is to increase profits and to grow in revenue. In addition, some foreign market opportunities could be considered as a motive. On the other hand, Competitive Pressure as a reactive motive could also have been stated, but it does not seem the main one according to the information analysed. The Day Chocolate is a small company and usually the firms that react to competitive pressures are larger than they are. Furthermore, Days revenue and market share are increasing according to companies figures, so the competitive pressure is not really a problem yet. The rest of the motives in Table 2 were discarded after a careful examination. The main trigger found in the The Day Chocolate case can be the Perceptive management. The company management is highly professional, includes people with many different backgrounds and the fact that the headquarters are in London -a well known international financial and trade centre- provides another good reason to support this interpretation. The second trigger might be the Importing as inward internationalization. Although the products and the headquarters are I the United Kingdom, the production facilities are located in Germany and the final product is exported from there to the U.K., according to the BBC[19]. The knowledge accumulated by importing the product from one European country to England can be used to make easy the export process to any other European nation. In order to be able to answer the question regarding to which country they should go (export or invest in) it is assumed that no barriers hindering the export initiation exists or that if they exist, they are preventable at an affordable cost. It can also be assumed that these barriers will not stop the internationalization of the firm but rather slow the velocity at which the company expands abroad. 2.5.2. Strategic approach to internationalization Once it has become clear that the firm can, needs or wants to export or expand their operations abroad, there is a need of knowing how and where to go. In order to answer these questions it is necessary to have a framework to guide the analysis. For The Day Chocolate case the guidebook presented in Internationalization Handbook by Äijà ¶ (Äijà ¶ et al. 2005) was the most appropriated. This structure is presented in Figure 5. According to Äijà ¶ the first part (Part I) in Figure 5 is the selection of the appropriate Internationalization Path. In his book, he presents three typical pathways that the internationalization process of a software firm may take, but his steps and conclusions can also be expand to any firm in the confectionery market like Days chocolate. This area under discussion is also the same as the one that Hollensen refers as Internationalization theories or models in the third chapter of his book Essentials of Global Marketing. For the purpose of this work, the 3 pathways presented by Äijà ¶ can also be increase with the many other presented by Hollensen. Among many models, paths or theories, the most well known are the one presented in Table 5. Based on Days corporate webpage statistics and from private sector publications[20], like Tranchell Doherty, it can be assumed that the company started it internationalization process by choosing an Organic growth path. The timeline on the firms webpage confirms that Devines management decided to begin their operations abroad in markets that are very close in location but also in culture and institutions like the United States and that the internationalization process has been taking place in small but incremental steps. The size of the company and the market where it operates also support this view. In contrast with what happens with large companies, where the internationalization process happens in a relatively continuous and incremental fashion, for SMEs (like The Day Chocolate) in general this process is made in small incremental steps. According to Hollensen, usually for SMEs the internationalization process is relatively discrete and every project is distinct and individual. The fact that the company operates in the confectionery industry and not in the IT sector, among other facts, is also a good reason for not considering this firm chocolate as a born global company. Freeman (2002) also states that for Small and Medium Enterprises managers tend to gather and look for relevant knowledge and information before becoming internationalization ready, which is consistent with Devines history and with the Uppsala model[21]. In 2007, the company took the next step in its internationalization process by setting a foot in the United States market by opening offices there. According to Johanson, and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975) that would have constituted the third stage. 2.5.3. The country choice Once the company has determined the path for internalization, its management needs to start the potential markets selection process (Part II in figure x.1). To address this problem, the screening process detailed in Rugman and Collinson (1995) will be used. 2.5.3.1. First screening: determining what product to offer to the world market This first screening is crucial in determining the potential of the companys goods in markets other than the local. This task can be carried on successfully by using a wide number of market research tools. International trade statistics inspection, competitors financial information analysis and research papers or databases that are offered by international multilateral organizations like FAO, the World Bank and the IMF could be valuable tools as well. In general, chocolate confectionery is offered in all almost the countries of the world. In this sense, initially there are a large number of potential countries where to choose from. However, in this case, the company is selling a very specific product (high quality + socially friendly chocolate) that limits the scope of this first screening. One drawback when dealing with this kind of specific and one-in-a-kind characterized goods is the lack of information or the excessive cost of getting it. A first measure to identify the potential foreign markets for The Day Chocolate would be analysing the world trade evolution of Fair-Trade products. That might help the firms management in recognizing the most active markets for this kind of products. As it is shown in Table 6 and according to the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) in 2009 they were many countries showing a dynamic market for this kind of products. Among them, it is necessary to highlight Canada, Finland, Australia and New Zealand where the surge in the transactions was higher that 65% in the first case and about 60% in the other tree cases. Other nations with a remarkable performance were Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Sweden. Although the U.K. and the United States presented a performance below the average growth rate of 15%, it is necessary to state that they are still by far the most important markets in volume for organic and fair-traded goods. Regarding the specific case of this companys main product, a NGO -TransFair USA- declare that during 2008 the imports of fair-trade certified cocoa into the U.S. rose at rates of more than 50%.[22] Finally, the genuine potential of every market will be ultimately determined by the interaction with other factors such as socio cultural forces and economic conditions. 2.5.3.2. Second screening: Macroeconomic and financial conditions The last World Economic Outlook report from the International monetary Fund (IMF)[23] clearly shows what to expect for the upcoming years. The developed countries GDP will grow on average 2,5% in 2011, still trying to recover from 2007s financial crisis. The U.S., Germany, and the U.K, together with some developed Asian countries such as South Korea will be presenting above average growth rates. However, some countries like Spain, Italy and France will show a growth rate between 0% and 1%. On the other hand, developing nations are expected to growth on average 6,5%, with Developing Asia and Latin America leading among these regions. From a macroeconomic point of view, the next years are going to be very good ones for most of the developing countries and also for some developed nations. For the purpose of this document, the countries will be segmented in four categories, considering that The Day Chocolate should focus in the short run on those that are not experiencing a recession. Table 7 contains this information. However, the product that they are offering is not a cheap one. It is a premium product and usually the prices are above the average. In this context, the income levels of the consumers are also an important factor to be considered. This is what Rugman Collinson (1995) called the Market intensity. Figure 6 shows the relation between the per capita income level for all developed countries and the expected GDP growth for 2011. As it is shown, there are 1 group that is more desirable for the company. The second quadrant comprises all countries showing both very high income level and high expected level of economic activity. However, the companys management might find also attractive potential markets in countries that do not have a very high level of per capita income, but whichs economies are growing very fast (Quadrant 4). 2.5.3.3. Third screening: Political and Legal forces This step covers the examination of the political and legal forces in every potential market. There might be trade barriers that obstruct the export process or the lack of solid institutions can represent a serious risk in the form of the future losses. One way to detect this serious problems is by addressing to the World Economic Forums (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)[24]. This index includes a weighted average of several different components, each one of them measuring a diverse feature of the competitiveness. Those components are grouped into 12 categories or pillars. The first one of these pillars is Institutions. The GCI is calculated for 140 countries and the results are available free of charge. Table 8 presents the most important variables and their weight within the first pillar: Institutions. Table 9 provides some of the results obtained by the WEFs researchers for the 2010/11 index[25]. There it can be seen that the countries with the most stable or trustworthy are in general also those with a higher level of economic development. 2.5.3.4. Forth screening: socio-cultural forces A multinational corporation or a company desiring to become one should examine the main social and cultural disparities between the potential market and the home country. The concepts of cultural distance and psychological distance as presented in Hollensen (2008) have the potential of disturbing the normal flow between the foreign market and the company. Language, religion, work habits, ethnicity, age and many other socio-cultural factors may influence the decision regarding where to locate the operations. Maps 1 and 2 illustrate this theory by presenting the world distribution of the main religions and of the English speaking nations. For The Day Chocolate to avoid problems generated by cultural distance it will be recommended to establish operations or to export to anglo-saxon countries, like former British colonies or commonthwealth nations. Other european nations, specially those from German and Nordic origins, might be suitable in this first stage of internationalization. In a future stage, and after reducing these distances by means of the learning process, the firm might also attempt to gain a foot in more culturally distant markets. Focus groups activities and consumer surveys can help the firm in determining the main differences and similarities between the foreign market and the headquarters values and culture. 2.5.3.5. Fifth screening: Competitive enviroment This last stage of the analysis focuses on the competitive forces. Confronted with comparable and equally desirable potential markets, the firms tend to internationalize to those where the competition is less ferocious. The lack of competition can provide the company with some degree of monopolistic power that might have the power to increase the earnings. In the case analyzed, there were detected many new actors entering into the market in the last years, also some big players in the industry like Nestle and Cadbury are making efforts to tap this fast growing segment[26]. Despite these facts, competition is still not a barrier in most of the national markets analysed. Special attention should be paid to Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where several small and medium local producers have a long lasting tradition manufacturing chocolate products of world recognized quality[27]. 2.5.3.6. Final selection According to The Day Chocolates website, the firm currently operates in 11 markets. In the U.K.[28] and in the United States, the company has direct control over its business. In the rest of the countries, they rely on other companies, which are in charge of the distribution channels (Canada, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Japan). Trough the screening process and its five stages many countries were considered as potential new markets: Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland and Romania. Germany and Switzerland were discarded mainly because of the competitive environment and in second place because some possible cultural distance. South Korea was finally not considered fundamentally because the huge cultural distance and also because the physical distance. Due to the market size and growth projections, the chocolate per capita consumption[29], the similarities in the socio-cultural environments, the reliable legal and political framework, the expected friendly competitive context this document concludes that The Day Chocolates management should make an effort to analyse in more detail the potential of the following new markets: Australia, Finland, Belgium and New Zealand.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Baroque music Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

The Music of the Baroque Era The style of polyphonic music containing elaborate ornamentation and contrasting elements, that is how Baroque music is defined. The Baroque era was a kind of transitional era in art and music. The Renaissance means rebirth and is typically regarded as such. The Baroque era in music is not a set style in music but many diverse styles which may be broken down into at least three distinct periods. A renewed interest in art and music was experienced throughout the Renaissance which then led to the Baroque era which was more of a transitional stage leading up to the maturity of classical music in the Classical era which began as Baroque ended. (Howard n. pag.) The origins of the word Baroque itself is as obscure as the melodies contained in its music. Many people believe that the word baroque came from two different places. Some believe that it came from the word barocco, which is Italian and means bizarre or strange. Others believe that it is Portuguese and it came from the word barroco meaning distorted or irregularly shaped pearl. The barroco was considered more beautiful because of its uniqueness. Either way the name stuck. The era began in 1600 and ended with Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) death in 1750. Bach is likely the best known and most widely appreciated composer of the era, although Antonio Vivaldi and George Fridiric Handel were certainly very important composers of the time as well. The music of the Baroque itself is very colorfu...