Why are some parts of China so rich while other parts are so poor?

In China there are so many places where most people are sleeping in poverty, living on streets and begging for money everyday. But so many people were rich as well, the extremes from rich to poor are in the same country. The main reason for the different economy in China is that the country is communist, under the control of Jiang Zemin. Communist means that the country runs by paying each person the same wages even if they are a more authority over people and are higher up the hierarchy. Some families were also very poor because they would have a lot of children, which they could not afford to bring up. There is a lot of poverty in rural areas, whilst many people in cities are getting richer. In China there are around 1. 28 billion people, there are about 14 million unemployed people in urban areas and there are about 120 million in rural areas. This means that something must be wrong about China and why so many people can not get jobs. It is wrong to say that the main cause of the situation of people being so much rich in some areas than in others go back only to 1976. Things like the incident at Tiananmen Square in 1989 where thousands of innocent people died and got mowed down by machine guns. Through this many people were on a hunger strike where many people starved and so people got ill and couldn't afford medicine and poverty was the inevitable which was the cause of Deng. In China when Mao was emperor he had many ideas and most of them failed or did not help him get out any competition. Some of his ideas were ‘The great leap forward' and ‘100 hundred flowers campaign. ‘ In ‘the great leap forward' Mao told the peasants to make steel to make their industry more successful. But this failed because the steel was weak and the crops had been forgotten about and the dry weather made the country have a famine. The ‘100 hundred flowers campaign' in 1957 was meant to let the peasants have a say in the government and new ideas, Mao said ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom' which was meant to let new ideas bloom. But this didn't happen, all that happen was that Mao new who his rivals were put in jail and the campaign ended. After this people where even more afraid of speaking out against Mao, which meant they could not improve their lives. When China was under control of the Emperors there were people called the Mandarins who were the Emperor's local officers that taxed and tortured people. At this time 80% of people were peasants and they worked very hard and tried to grow rice or millet. Population growth was a problem because in 1750 there were 100 million people and at the end of the 19th century there were 400 million people. This obviously made families poor and not enough food for everyone, which means that poverty and famine became a problem. By 1962, however, Mao began an offensive to purify the party, having grown increasingly uneasy about what he believed were the creeping â€Å"capitalist† and antisocialist tendencies in the country. As a hardened veteran revolutionary who had overcome the severest adversities, Mao continued to believe that the material incentives that had been restored to the peasants and others were corrupting the masses and were counter revolutionary. To arrest the so-called capitalist trend, Mao launched the Socialist Education Movement, in which the primary emphasis was on restoring ideological purity, rein fusing revolutionary further into the party and government bureaucracies, and intensifying class struggle. The Cultural Revolution saw rapid industrial growth mainly because unlike the rural sector after the Great Leap Forward, the urban sector still concentrated upon heavy industries. The Cultural Revolution did have an adverse impact on China's foreign trade however, as trade was attacked as humiliating to China and as worshipping things foreign. Throughout the period of the Cultural Revolution, China in effect cut off from the rest of the world. However, it still conducted trade relations with other countries it did not recognise, but only on a limited scale and with very little growth. Until 1976, three key elements were central to Mao's economic policy, these were the collectivisation of land, centralised control over the accumulation and reinvestment of capital, and state ownership of major industries and banks and entailing strict limitations on foreign capital and external economic factors. Land reform was the first step in the collectivisation of rural areas. However, the redistribution of land away from the landlords and rich peasants to smaller private holdings was not as successful as Mao initially hoped. Private farms were not a part of Socialist policy, and new divisions, exploitation and uneven land ownership showed signs of re-emerging. During the 1950s, therefore, collectives were established that enabled Mao to control the means of production even further, and were given quotas to supply the state with a portion of their output at pre-determined prices and also acted as pools of labour that could construct irrigation networks, roads and railway tracks. Collectives also enabled the generation of a gross operating surplus that paid for education and health services. Mao felt that industrialisation was still too slow and in a bid to quicken its pace, collectives were further organised into ‘people's communes' under the guise of the ‘great leap forward' in 1958. Peasants were directed to build roads, dams and other projects relating to improving China's infrastructure. Millions of ‘backyard furnaces' appeared, producing mainly low quality pig iron and steel of little use for anything. Cotton was also planted throughout China – at the expense of staple crops – but had little success because of wide climatic variations. This futility came at the expense of agriculture, and resulted in widespread famines and illness. As for the industrial sector, large-scale industrial enterprises were allowed to operate independently from the state for a short period of time after liberation. But from the early 1950s on, the nationalisation of industries commenced China made a rule that every couple could only have one child and this helped the amount of people and helped families with money. One of the short term problems with Deng's one child policy is the lack of girls. Due to population growth in China, Deng thought up a one child policy, this meant that couples are only allowed to have one child between them. Deng made a graph of the population growth for each family if they had 1, 2 3 or four children. The graph concluded that for China to have plenty of food and wealth families were only allowed to have one child. Families then chose to have baby boys and not girls, reason for this is mainly long term. Boys have been favoured over girls for most of China's history, so when only one child was allowed per family boys were an obvious choice. But people can't choose what the sex of their child will be, so why are there so many boys? Is there a drug that stops women from having girls, no the reason is much more sinister. If a baby girl is born they are thrown in with the rubbish or left somewhere to die! This is very brutal but it happens all over China. If a women has two children then there is great punishment, even when she is pregnant, they are forced to have an abortion, then they are sterilized and imprisoned. The harsh punishments given is enough to put anyone off having a second child. In 1974 the article in the ‘People's Daily' it tries to encourage modern attitudes â€Å"There is still the attitude that ‘women go home to cook meals, feed the pigs and shut up chickens, while men go home to smoke their pipes and wait for food and drink. ‘ Some even laugh at those males comrades who help their wives with the housework. † When the Chinese people had more than one child it would usually cause money problems because people didn't have enough money, so this made families poor and so they could not help themselves. With the population getting greater and greater more and more people with no money which made the divide between rich and poor bigger. I think the reason for China being so different in economy is that the country had been so communist for many years that some people did not have good enough paid jobs and with so many children it was hard to pay for everything. The way that so many people did not have work and that China as a country did badly in exporting and importing, this made people have bad pay and long hours. This situation did not just go back from 1976 because of events like in Tiananmen Square. Deng Xioping is not to blame for the problem of poverty because he tried to help the workers by motivating them, but was just discredited by Mao. I think that that the most important person that helped create this problem was Mao because of his ideas and plans that went wrong and that when people tried to speak out and make a point across to him he just put them in jail and murdered them, so the Chinese people could not help themselves from him.

“King Charles is totally to blame for the civil war.” Do I Agree? Essay

The English Civil War took place in 1642 when Charles I raised his royal standard in Nottingham. The split between Charles and Parliament was such that neither side was willing to back down over the principles that they held and war was inevitable as a way in which all problems could be solved. The country split into those who supported the king and those who supported Parliament. Some historians say that Charles is totally to blame for this war, while some say that parliament is totally to blame for it. I am going to tell you about it. There were many reasons for why the king was to blame one of the reasons for why the king was to blame was because of his money problems. Charles was not good with money and always had very little. He had closed down parliament and had to think of ways of getting money without asking the parliament’s help. He had used old laws like ‘Ship Money’, which was a special tax to help the navy he used this idea to get money off the people of England. This made him very unpopular. Another reason for why the king was to blame was the way he had handled with religion. As he was the king, he had thought that he had the power to make the Scots use English prayer books. The scots were so furious that they decided to fight Charles I instead. This also made him unpopular to the scots as well as the people of England. When the scots had defeated him Charles had to pay lots of tax money which he couldn’t afford. So, Charles had to recall parliament, as only tax voted by parliament got rid of the scots. Charles believed in divine rights that God had chosen him to be king so he and Archbishop Laud started to decorate the church which he said that if the church is decorated, you will be closer to God. He also married a catholic princess from France which was very unpopular. Oliver Cromwell and Parliament still wanted more power and no return to the Catholic religion. To make things worse for Charles the Catholics in Ireland killed 100,000 Protestants. Also another reason why parliament is to blame is because the king and parliament always used to argue about who controls the army and parliament made the king angry by taking over them without his permission.

Exploring Transgender Troubles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Exploring Transgender Troubles - Essay Example Over the years many people have thought and associated transgender to gays or lesbianism. Being a gay would therefore mean that one is transgendered, deep study has however proved otherwise. Since the formal definition of lesbianism and gay, reports have claimed both contemporary and historical transgendered people as gay and lesbians. It is worth noting that transgender people have for long been unclaimed or unrecognized as homosexual. Since time immemorial, transgender troubles has been a topic of discussion with many arguing that, even homosexuality was not personhood until the late nineteenth century. Although transgender is a good term, not everyone talks good about transgender people, different societies, cultures and institutions have continually viewed it as an immoral and non acceptable. There is therefore, a lot of criticisms and hatred to individuals who exhibit transgender traits. How then can we define transgender people? Through many writers, a comprehensive understandi ng of the term has been made and thus transgender people are individuals who in one way or the other may fail to develop their gender identity that keep up a correspondence to identity as to whether male or female. In these people, it is not a surprise to find a male who exhibits a female characteristic and vice versa. These people may not as well respond to their gender roles appropriately as imposed by the society in which they come from. This aspect has thus lead to transgender troubles with many societies considering transgender behavior as a serious crime which ought to have a capital punishment, a good example is a country like Saudi Arabia. Transgender troubles are also apparent in its contents. It is unclear about what is contained in transgender. According to the general understanding of transgender, it is basically gender variance. Therefore, the question remains, what are factors considered in gender variance. The answer remains unclear and contradictory. It is therefore not easy to establish who is to be included in the transgender bracket and who is to be left out. Transgender behavior has sparked troubles in many countries, take for example, European and in North America, there are certain forms of violent behavior against these group. Many people have even gone ahead and considered this behavior as one of the major psychiatric illness is so serious that even justifies institutionalization. In trying to avoid all these discrimination and transgender troubles, communities with these restrictions have forced victims with transgender behavior to conform to their birth sex norm to avoid stigma and social violence surrounding them (Meyerowitz and Meyerowitz 24). Their attempt to achieve a new sex reassignment will not be allowed or supported. For authorities which only accept heterosexual marriages, official transgender changes can result to serious implications related to privileges and rights like inheritance, medical decision-making or even child c ustody. Another transgender trouble appears during classification. It becomes very difficult to classify these individuals because generally many countries or organizations only recognize two classes of people: male or a female. Doctors, transsexuals and journalists

A Possible Israeli-Palestinian Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

A Possible Israeli-Palestinian Solution - Essay Example Many Palestinians continue to live in disastrous situations in Gaza and the West Bank, while the Israelis continue to expand their settlements into Palestinian occupied territories and defying previous resolutions that have been passed. The ongoing negotiations have flirted with a resolution for some time, yet nothing substantial has been reported about resolving the conflict. This analytical research paper will argue that the grand debates on finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict still make headlines after a long standstill due to cultural and religious differences between the two parties, nationalistic rhetoric coming from the politicians, and Israel still holding anger over the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recognizing Palestine as a non-member observer in 2012. The Two-State Solution (TSS) focuses on the creation of two separate states and will potentially give rise to a new Palestinian recognized state alongside a Jewish state. On the other hand, a one-sta te solution calls for the reunification of Palestine into a single state and creates a common nationality for both Jews and Palestinians and would ultimately end the current Jewish state (Allegra & Napolitano, 2011). The continued growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, confiscation of Palestinian land in Gaza, building of security barriers, development of Jewish housing estates in East Jerusalem, and proliferation of checkpoints in Gaza and the West Bank have led a number of Palestinians to conclude that a two-state solution may no longer be possible (Kelman, 2011). As a result, many Palestinians, particularly from the Diaspora (not from the West Bank), now advocate for a one-state solution while considering the difficulties of the Jews leaving expanding settlements in Gaza. There are growing fears among Jews, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, that the possibility of a two-state solution that would force them to leave their settlements and return to Israel in order to pave way for a Palestinian state (Kelman, 2011). However, opposition to a one-state solution dislike the fact that this would place Jews together with Palestinians and likely involve abolishing the Jewish state and merging both entities to create single state for both the Jews and Palestinians to dwell in. This would mean abandonment of the Zionism project that aims to establish a Jewish majority state. It also implies that a one-state solution would have unanimous opposition from both the Palestinians and Jews. Therefore, the chances of a one-state solution are reduced and the likelihood of a two-state solution becomes more viable. In fact, the current Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, publicly declared the necessity of a two-state solution in his Bar-Ilan speech on June 14, 2009 (Kelman, 2011). Consequently, the only viable and possible solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict would be establishment of two parallel states, one each for the Jews and Palestinians, to mak e it possible for each side to achieve complete autonomy in the establishment of Palestinian and Jewish states.  

THE MEXICAN MURALISTS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

THE MEXICAN MURALISTS - Assignment Example This resulted in feelings of hostility between the upper and the lower or middle class. This hostility later grew into ultimate animosity towards the upper class and anything even related to the upper class. Between 1923 and 1928, Diego Rivera was appointed to create murals and many researchers believe that it was Rivera’s art which set the foundations for the Mexican Muralist Movement. (Magazine, n.d.) In 1910, Mexico was in despair due to the dictatorship of President Porfirio Diaz. Vast majority was suffering from impoverishment and poverty. The Muralist Movement originally served as the mouthpiece to represent the vision and history of ideology of the government. Later on, it depicted the struggle of the lower and working class against the oppression. This movement was led by three artists, Diego Rivera, Josà © Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros who later came to be referred to as, Los Tres Grande which means â€Å"the three great ones†. They formed the Labor Union of Technical Workers, Painters and Sculptors and dedicated their art and murals to express the Mexican history and the opinions of the society. The Los Tres Grande used the traditional form of fresco painting and displayed their murals in the public places, which they regarded as the most convenient avenue to communicate to the public. (Flores, 2014) Orozco, Siqueiros and Rivera were analogous in many aspects but they all had very diverse approach in their art and motivation styles. Orozco had a European style of expression and he was broadly influenced by symbolism.

Gandhi's VS. Martin Luther King's Views on Nonviolence Essay

Gandhi's VS. Martin Luther King's Views on Nonviolence - Essay Example Nonviolence is the â€Å"doctrine, policy, or practice of rejecting violence in favor of peaceful tactics as a means of gaining political objectives† (TheFreeDictionary, 2012). Nonviolence can also mean the â€Å"abstention from the use of physical force to achieve goals† (TheFreeDictionary, 2012). While Martin Luther King considers nonviolence as the fundamental code of life in all situations irrespective of the complexity of the circumstances, Mahatma Gandhi believed in a balance between violence and nonviolence to attain a holistic control over both the external and the internal factors influencing one’s life. This paper draws a comparison between the views of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi regarding nonviolence. Martin Luther King’s Views on Nonviolence Martin Luther King thought of the society as one unit in which if one is affected by the violence in some way, its consequences are borne by all people in the society indirectly.Therefore, the fi rst and the foremost responsibility of every citizen is to feel this sense of belongingness and concernedness when somebody experiences violence. Martin Luther King believed that a nonviolent campaign basically consists of four steps; determination of the existence of injustice by collection of facts, dialogue, self-purification, and lastly, the direct action. None of these steps imparts the need for one to be violent in one’s attempt to eradicate violence from the society and spread peace. Even the â€Å"direct action† which apparently seems to be a little rough approach towards the resolution of the matter is not-so-rough in the real sense, as it is also nonviolent. Examples of the nonviolent direct action are marches and sit-ins. The only purpose of these nonviolent direct actions is to convince the other party to conduct dialogue and negotiations with the concerned party to ease the tension. While negotiation is a fairly effective way of reducing tension between tw o or more parties, the results are not always very objective and solid because of the non-seriousness of some people in the concerned groups. Mahatma Gandhi’s Views on Nonviolence Unlike Martin Luther King, Gandhi has considered violence not only a useful but also compulsory way of attaining control over the external factors. â€Å"Violence is needed for the protection of things external, non-violence is needed for the protection of the Atma, for the protection of one’s honor† (Gandhi cited in Kripalani and Radhakrishnan, 1958, p. 86). From this quotation of Gandhi, it can be inferred that Gandhi considered one’s self to be incomplete without either of the two; violence and nonviolence. Gandhi considered that it was equally important, if not more, for an individual to be violent as nonviolent. Conclusion Comparing Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King’s views of resolution of issues, it becomes clear that Martin Luther King and Gandhi were on oppo site ends of the continuum with respect to the acceptability towards self-violence in life. Gandhi’s approach is rougher but more practical as compared to that of Martin Luther King. The approach towards the resolution of issues proposed by Marin Luther King requires an individual to display extreme endurance and patience, which does not always lead the individual to the wanted results in the right time. In the contemporary world in which discrimination and segregation on the basis of caste, creed, and culture is so common, it is beyond doubt that the ones enjoying the superior status do not like to step down to the level of the victims of discrimination and segregation so that negotiation can be carried out. The first and the foremost prerequisite of

Marketing Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Models - Essay Example Presently, marketing aspects such as advertising need to utilise persuasive communication, creative strategies and planning in order to capture the interest of the target group. The most significant feature in the marketing environment in the 21st century is the increasing active role of the consumer and the emergence of new technologies. This means that an effective and elaborate communication process must exist for a company to attract consumers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). There are various reasons for marketing especially when a product is in the mature stage of the product life cycle. In this stage, the sales are high but they tend to stabilize and without the right marketing channels, they can decrease. Therefore, the company needs to come up with a marketing strategy that stands out from its competitors and promotes the products in an extraordinary way (Kile, 2013). In the maturity stage, marketing plays significant roles with the consumers as it help them to associate with the brand by building trust with the customers. It also helps in increasing sales as more customers are attracted to the brand and since it is an established brand, they can trust the company to provide quality products. The company gains a favourable reputation through marketing (Brown, 2001). Marketing is significant for a company as it helps it to adapt to the constant changes occurring in the marketing environment. As many companies are embracing globalisation, information transparency and the use of the internet, their technological capabilities and business models are changing. This phenomenon has made marketing a crucial function in many organisations as they try to differentiate their products to suit the new consumer needs and expand their markets. Markets are also unpredictable following these changes, therefore, a company has to market its products to ensure that the consumers are retained and also capture the minds of new or prospective

An Overview of Management Practice of Whole Foods Essay

An Overview of Management Practice of Whole Foods - Essay Example It was an opportune time since consciousness of people on the healthy lifestyle has begun; there is an increasing educated age and wealthy population, and environmental concerns are spanning across the globe. 2. Brief Overview of the Company Whole Foods was formed in 1978 by two friends, John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy from a borrowed capital of $40,000 to sell natural foods in Austin, Texas. It was originally known as Safer Way, to be distinct from Safe Way that was also in Austin, Texas. Expansion and mergers has been part of its business strategies as, within only two years after it was formed, it entered into a partnership with a grocery store that resulted into the opening of the Whole Foods Market in 1980. It didn’t stop there since from then on; WFM had several acquisitions of companies carrying organic products. In 1992, the company went public trading in NASDACQ Global Select Market. It sales revenue saw successive growth that reached $11.7 billion in 2012. Correspo ndingly, shareholders earnings have steadily increased, from $0.82 in 2008 to $2.52 per share in 2012. In 2013, its stores are located in 335 sites in North America, Canada, and United Kingdom with prospects of aiming for more stores opening in years to come. The store offers perishable foods, grocery, meat and poultry, seafood, bakery, prepared foods and catering, specialty beer, wine and cheese, coffee and tea, nutritional supplements, vitamins, body care, educational products, floral items, pet products and household products (Whole Foods Market 2012 Annual Report). WFM is the world’s leading retailer of organic foods and is the first grocer to be certified as â€Å"organic†. Its corporate mission is â€Å"to promote the vitality and well-being of all individuals by supplying the highest quality, most wholesome foods available†. This has been translated to a core mission, of â€Å" promotion of organically grown foods, healthy eating, and sustainability of t he eco system†. 3. Motivational tools and strategies such as Work Life Balance, Benefits ,Virtual Work, Rewards, Recognition, Performance Management, Training and Development Fortune List has ranked WFM for 15 consecutive years as â€Å"One of the Best Companies to Work for in America†. This recognition acknowledgment bears out WFM’s commitment to fulfill its core values of â€Å"Supporting team members’ happiness and excellence.† . As motivational tool, WFM has designed a â€Å"Total Health Immersion and Healthy Discount Incentive program to promote health of its employees. This program aims to educate members and create awareness of the benefits of healthier habits that contributed to year-over year decreases in participant medical claims and inpatient stays in hospital, and an increase in annual preventive wellness exams. WFM recognizes team member’s efforts so much so company supports them in many other ways. Part of its package compensa tion plan includes a generous store discount, medical care, dental and vision plan, life insurance, retirement savings plan, gain-sharing program, stock option plan and emergency funds, paid time off and leaves of absences. A salary cap limits cash compensation (wages plus

Raising children Essay Example for Free

Raising children Essay Raising children in this country is extremely harsh, many children are introduced to abuse, violence, neglect and exporiation. During the years of war, hundreds of children have been used as suicide bombers and are daily put in harms way. According to Swanson (Swanson Swanson,2011) â€Å"Conflict and political violence force millions of children and their families to flee their homes and as a result displaced families spend years in situations of uncertaniity and insecurity.† Role of genders In this country, discrimination of women and girls is a daily occurrence. During their childhood years 70% of girls do not even attend school, according to Swanson (Swanson Swanson, 2011) a staggering 94% of female births are not even registered at their births. Boys are considered to be soldiers and at a young age are taught to kill. Afghan men believe all boys even at a young age are already considered to have a promiscuous nature and are encouraged to act on it. Marriage Marriage in this country is a process, most men and women do not have an opportunity to meet each other, the wife is usually chosen for the man through family members. In the case that a man does choose a wife from an unknown family, the parents usually will perform background checks on her to try and gain knowledge of her beauty, morals and any other family affairs  that may be of importance. (Muzaffiray,2013) Aging The average life expectancy in this country its 59 years for men and only 61 years for women. This expectancy average comes from taking into consideration their way of life in regards to housing, their food, housing and medical attention. Due to this expectancy, the government does not even offer a pension plan for those not working for the government. Violence For years violence has been an ongoing issue in this country, A group calling themselves a â€Å"special envoy† believes in honor killings which gives men the human right to abuse women and is considered justified. This group has raised the percentage in deaths and injuries by 20%. Boys are taught to be soldiers at a very young age are expected to be a cause of violence against others. Drug use According to Ahmed (Ahmend, 2013) between the years of 2005-2008 the use of drugs according tho the United Nations Office on drugs and crime has raised more than 40%. Afgans are considered to have huge addiction problem on their hands, some even considere Afghanistan to have a growing army of drug addicts. Suicide As one may expect, suicide is a huge problem in this country. Many people are trainied to be sucide bombers. However, there are those that commit suicide for other reasons such as not being able to take their way of living anymore, some women take their own lives due to not being able to handle being married to abusive drug addicted husbands. Men take their own lives simply due to not wanting to go on anymore. Authority Afghanistan has been for years a country struggling with authority issues. These struggles date back to the 16th century of the Mughal Empire and continues with the Taliban today. These historic struggles are responsible of the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of our world. There have been many attempts from other groups to try and â€Å"conquer† the land but have to this day failed on all attempts. Beauty According to the Guardian, (the guardian.com) many people are only able to see the harsh, violent side of this country through news reports and other television shows, and do not have the chance to see its beauty. If one is able to visit this country, they could hopefully see past the negative and view the God’s beauty in country in landscapes and beautiful mountain tops.

Pepe jeans Essay Example for Free

Pepe jeans Essay The company maintains contact with its independent retailers via group of 10 agents and each agent is responsible for retailers in a particular area of the country. Pepe is convinced that a good relationship with the independent retailers is vital to its success. Pepe’s requirement to place firm orders six months in advance with no possibility amendments, cancellation, or repeat ordering. Some claimed that the inflexible order system forced them to order less, resulting in stock outs. Pepe felt that a change was going to be needed soon. The easiest solution would be work with the Hong Kong sourcing agent to reduce the lead time associated with orders but this was going to increase the cost significantly. Even with the significant increase in cost, consistent delivery schedules would be difficult to keep. Another suggestion was to build a finishing operation in United Kingdom. Pepe was interested to see how system worked at U. S. operations. They found that they would have to keep about six weeks’ supply of basic jeans on hand in the United Kingdom and they have to invest ? 1,000,000 worth of equipment. They also estimated that it would cost about ? 500,000 to operate the facility each year. They could locate the facility in the basement of current office building, and the renovations would cost ? 300,000.

Growth and Development in Venezuela

Growth and Development in Venezuela Growth and Development are terms that are often used synonymously to indicate progress or movement in the forward direction. However, the nuances of these two terms differ. While growth is a more short-term, spurt-like movement, development encompasses a whole array of progressive moves in different aspects of life. Economic growth is indicated by an increase in a countrys  gross domestic product, or  GDP which is an economic model that reflects the value of a countrys output. In other words, a countrys GDP is the total monetary value of the goods and services produced by that country over a specific period of time. Economic development is usually indicated by an increase in citizens quality of life. Quality of life is often measured using the  Human Development Index, which is an economic model that considers intrinsic personal factors not considered in economic growth, such as literacy rates, life expectancy and poverty rates. Economic growth adopts a quantitative approach and takes place at a revolutionary speed. It is interested in quick/immediate gains, in the market period. As against this, economic development prefers to take a qualitative approach, emphasizing on the quality of the production and equitable distribution rather than its quantity. It is more evolutionary, and follows a sequential pattern of outcome. It has immediate as well as futuristic gains i.e. it is more sustainable. Economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition of economic development.There is no single definition that encompasses all the aspects of economic development. The most comprehensive definition perhaps of economic development is the one given by Todaro:‘Development is not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a multi – dimensional process involving reorganization and re orientation of the entire economic and social system.’Amartya Sen defines economic development in terms of personal freedom, freedom to choose from a range of options. While economic growth may lead to an increase in the purchasing power of people, if the country has a repressed economy, there is lack of choice and hence personal freedom in restricted. Hence once again growth has taken place without any development. While economic growth may result in an improvement in the standard of living of a relatively small proportion of the population whilst the majority of the population rema ins poor. It is how the economic growth is distributed amongst the population that determines the level of development. This shows us how important growth is for development to take place, but also how growth in itself is not enough; It should instead be a necessary ‘pre-condition’ to ‘takeoff’ for a country to leap forward. (Rostow’s stages of growth) In the country of Venezuela, let us see whether there is consistent growth, and if there is, then whether there is an effective turnaround from growth into development. Country Profile: Venezuela is officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is part of the latin American countries. It lies on the northern coast of South America. It has a dense population of 29,100,000 approx, in the country area of 916,445 sq.km. It was first colonized by Spain in 1522, and later in 1811 got its independence and was one of the first Spanish-American colonies to be free. Later in 1830, it gained complete independence as a sovereign nation. The main interest in colonial Venezuela for Spain was geographic: its geographical position was a very strategic one and gave protection against enemies. Also, later in the 1620s, Venezuela became well known for its cocoa production and export. The sizable profits earned from this industry were carried away by the Spanish. Oil, as a commodity was virtually ignored until the 1900s. In Venezuela, the benchmark or watershed year can be counted as 1989. In this year, there was the launch of an ambiguous liberalization policy called â€Å"the Great Turnaround†. This entailed huge exchange rate devaluation, liberalization, privatization of trade, financial deregulation including free interest rates, no restrictions on foreign investment and new tax reforms. Post the economic boom in 1974, the economy was dragged into a downswing and GDP declined by 15%; this led to political pressure on the country by private companies. Liberalization was brought in to help the economy to revive itself. The final push to implement the liberal policy in 1989 was given by a balance of payments crisis in 1988. During 1970-2012  consumption expenditure per capita  in Venezuela increased by 8344 US dollars (in 12.3 times) to 9084.1 US dollars. The average annual growth of Consumption expenditure per capita in Venezuela was 198.7 US dollars or 26.8%. GDP per capita USD= 6401.91 PCCE/PCI= 9084.1/6401.91=1.4189 Gross Savings (% of GDP) = 26% (in 2012) The main economic driver of the Venezuelan economy is the production and export of crude oil. Venezuela is endowed with rich natural resources and has the largest oil reserves in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was also the world’s third largest exporter and ninth largest producer of oil. Its national petroleum company- Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (PDVSA) is the third largest international conglomerate of oil. In 1990, Venezuela was also deemed to become an international leader in the export of its abundant mineral wealth namely- coal, iron, steel, aluminum. The production and export of crude oil forms the heart of the Venezuelan economy. The period of the oil industry in Venezuela can be roughly traced over four periods, namely: 1912-1943: the discovery and the initial production of oil. 1943-1974: Affirmation of Venezuela’s control over the oil industry. 1974-1998: The boom in oil production and prices, and also the nationalization of the oil industry. 1999-2003: Government’s attempt to regain control over the industry to curb its growing independence. (Refer Appendix, [1] for period from 1980-2000) In 1912, the petro-state of Venezuela was born and from then on, it took its baby steps to becoming the world’s second largest oil producer following U.S in 1929.In a short span of 15 years from 1920-1935, Venezuela’s oil share of exports exponentially shot up from 1.9% to 91.2%. This had an immediate and direct impact on the economy called as â€Å"the Dutch disease† [2] by many economists. This implied massive declines in agricultural production and also in industrialization. In 1943, Venezuela aimed at strengthening the industry and hence passed the Hydrocarbon Act. This tied the state income more closely and tightly to oil revenues. The law affirmed that foreign companies could not make more profits from oil than they paid to the Venezuelan state. This led to a growing reliance on the state. {This can be compared to the MRTP act initiated by the Indira Gandhi government in India} However, in the 1950s, the world oil industry felt the effects of the oversupply of oil (especially from the middle east) and hence oil prices drastically and chronically reduced. To confront this problem of oversupply, in 1960, the OPEC was formed as a cartel. Venezuela also created the Venezuela Oil Corporation, which formed the basis for oil nationalization. Post the formation of the OPEC, in 1973, oil prices and Venezuelan revenues from it increased four-fold, from 1972-1974. This lump sum increase made development a nearer goal to achieve. President Perez called his project â€Å"La Gran Venezuela† or â€Å"sow the oil† which encompassed fighting poverty through price controls and also the diversification through import-substitution techniques. This was also accompanied by the nationalization of the Oil company namely, PDVSA. The windfall gain from the oil boom ushered in an era of positives for Venezuela, but it also brought chronic inflation and massive indebtedness. This can be shown by the business cycle in appendix [3]. After the periods of boom, the economy got dragged into a slowdown due large scale inflation. Later in 1998 when oil prices lowered (because of oil members breaking their quotas) the economy of Venezuela took a hit and the per capita income steadily decreased. This is again shown in the business cycle in appendix [3] with the depression phase. The election of President Chavez in 1998 strengthened OPEC countries to maintain oil prices at a high rate. He persuaded all the head of states of the OPEC nations to stick to their quotas and to not oversupply oil. His efforts had immediate results and the price of oil rose for the firm time since 1985, to more than $27 per barrel. Thus, we see how oil revenue and government income in Venezuela are indivisible. President Perez indirectly wished to adopt the ‘unbalanced version’ of the ‘Big Push Model’. He claimed ‘sow the oil’ which in other words meant increasing revenues from the oil sector would fuel development in other sectors such as agriculture and industry. But this failed to happen since with a four-fold increase in oil revenues, government expenditure also increased and even surpassed the newfound revenues. When the oil prices took a hit, the government spending could not decrease as easily it was first increased. This gave rise to deeper debt. In between 1970 and 1994, public debt rose from 9% to 53% of GNP. Also, due to growing importance given to the oil industry, agriculture was neglected and contributed merely to one tenth of the economy in 1950s when it was one third of the GDP in 1920s. Presently, agriculture comprises of only 6% of the GDP. Thus, the Big Push to just one sector did not help in the case of Venezuela as other sectors did not benefit as much. Politics and Oil The oil economy of Venezuela left an imprint on its politics. The ‘clientelistic’ [4] nature of the state led to being increasingly bureaucratic. Maximum people working in the formal economy (approx 50% of the working population), about 45% of them are employed in the government, or rather in the government –run oil industry. Yet another consequence of Venezuela’ss oil wealth, is what political scientist Terry Lynn Karl calls â€Å"a pacted democracy.†This entails democracy which is held together through an agreement amongst elite groups, usually opposing, and powerful interest groups. It is a kind of truce among them which is struck to maintain their personal interests and privileges. Differently put, even when a single party won the elections, the revenues from oil had to obligatorily be shared among members of other parties, more or less among the voting results. This guaranteed the different interest groups access to jobs, contracts and ministries and even the power of the union federation, CTV was similarly divided. Thus, this level of bureaucratization in Venezuela, the clientelistic trends, and the ‘pacted’ nature of its democracy made Venezuela resemble a one-party socialist regime. In Venezuela, during the rule of President Hugo Chavez, his manifesto drew heavily on the Marxist ideology. Marx fought for the proletariat or the ‘have-nots’ of society, claiming that they were the ones who did the real labor (manual labor) as against the bourgeois or the ‘haves’ who only indulged in intellectual labor, took advantage of the labor class, usurped their profits and exploited them. Chavez, in 1992, attempted a coup because he believed that the president was corrupt. When later he was elected as president, he vouched to end poverty and exploitation and redistribute the profits earned by wealthy businessmen. Owing to a leftist and socialist ideology, he aimed at attaining and asserting control over privately owned property. Thus, eventually, he gained control over all the factors of production- land and its resources (oil), capital, labor. He did as he told he would do, and his governance was labeled as â€Å"petroleum socialism†. Oil was used as a measure of control in terms of the domestic economy as well as the international political affairs. PDVSA is the Venezuelan state-owned petrol company. In 20002, Chavez claimed that 10% of its revenues must be invested in social programs. The kind of domination control over oil that a corrupt or unstable government claims is detrimental to the country’s economic development. Chavez implemented many social programs to combat poverty and reduce inequality. These programs were supported by the PDVSA and were fabricated to meet the basic needs of the people. Some of them are: Health: Mission ‘Barrio Adentro’ or â€Å"inside the neighborhood† has set up clinics and made doctors available in areas previously lacking these facilities. Mission ‘Alimentacion’ or Mission Food, a food plan funded by the government in order to supply products through grocery stores (Mercal and PDVAL) without the aid of intermediaries. Also to set up community kitchens to provide three free meals per day. This mission has benefited about 15 million people. Mission Sonrisa or Mission Smile which addresses to the oral health of the people by the setting up of many new dentistry clinics. Mission Christ Child and the inauguration of a neonatal intensive care unit and enhance the quality and access to facilities for pregnant women. Education: Mission Robinson was created with an aim to eliminate illiteracy. This mission taught approx 1.8 million people to read and write. Mission Rivas aimed at integration of Venezuelan people into the elementary and secondary education and proved beneficial for more than a million. Mission Sucre had been set up to help improve the access to higher education. About 700,000 people profited from it and successfully completed their graduation. Housing: Mission Habitat, in 2004, helps the people secure housing through credit facilities and also helps in creating integrated communities. Employment: The Great mission Knowledge and Work hopes to integrate 1 million jobless people into the labor market, which will also help reduce unemployment. All these missions did a great deal in alleviating poverty and reducing inflation and unemployment in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez concentrated on an expansionary fiscal policy through social spending. Social expenditure from 1911-2011 accounts for more than 60% of revenues- this is nearly double of the expenditures made in previous periods. The number of households living under the poverty line in 2003 was 55% which by 2011 fell to 26%., and those families living in extreme poverty has fallen to 7% from 25%. In 2003, there was again a spike in poverty, inflation and unemployment due to a coup to overhaul Chavez’s government. There are other factors which show an impact of the missions of the overall welfare of the country. For example, infant mortality rates and malnutrition victims have fallen; while school enrolment and graduation rates have risen. The Gini coefficient of Venezuela, which measures inequality on a scale of 0-1, is 0.394. Thus, these missions were effective instruments for alleviating poverty, by tackling urgent needs of education, food, health, housing etc. They began in 2003, and 36% of state revenue went into funding them between 1986 and 1998, while 60% of revenue was spent between 1999 and 2011. Politicization of the missions: But, there are claims that Chavez’s social missions served two very different purposes: they were subject to political manipulation (i.e. to buy votes) and also allowed for a direct distribution of oil rents to the low income population. The government used these funds clientelistically and also distributed them to the very poor. It is seen that Chavez distributed these oil revenues to primarily those poor section which were sure vote banks for him. Thus, the missions helped to buy votes. Chavez’s government also laid emphasis on providing all citizens with identification cards. These cards would be required by them at the time of gaining access to cash transfers. At the time of election, this card got automatically transformed into an election card and was required by the National electoral Council for voting purposes. (Mission Identidad) These missions have been dispatched to the masses and seem to be catering at a mass scale. Therefore, they are more quantitatively-aimed than quality-oriented. The infrastructure is not well maintained, the teachers are paid a pittance and schools seem to be largely used as a site for ideological indoctrination. Wrt health-Some of Venezuelas public hospitals are closing. Others are ridden with crime. Many physicians are quitting medicine starting new careers in Venezuela or emigrating, upset at being paid a pittance or not at all. Medical supplies are in short supply. Wrt job and employment conditions- Investors are running away from here since the government is taking over many companies. There is an outward movement of the educated class of engineers, doctors and other professionals to other countries where the pay is better. There is an influx of migrants, mainly for blue-collar jobs.

Solar Powered Housing Essays -- Energy Pollution Essays

Solar Powered Housing With the increasing energy consumption rates and increasing pollution rates as a result, it is important for our society to focus on cleaner, more renewable energy sources. Because households are a major consumer of energy throughout the world, families could contribute greatly to the use of renewable energy sources through the use of solar home systems. If more and more people agree to the use of solar home systems, our fossil fuel consumption rates will drop and we will notice profound improvements throughout our environment. This essay will discuss various topics that are necessary in order to understand the function of a solar home system. First, for a solar home system to function effectively, one must first reduce the amount of energy consumed within the house. This can either be achieved through efficient house design or through efficient energy consumption. Efficient design features include proper sealing of windows, doors, and cracks, proper insulation, proper window design for passive heating, proper air infiltration, and the use of proper materials for heat absorption. By designing your house efficiently, you greatly reduce the amount of energy consumed and therefore reduce the cost and size of your solar home system. Efficient energy consumption is also extremely important when using a solar home system. Energy consumption can be greatly reduced by such acts as buying efficient appliances, keeping doors and windows closed to reduce heat loss, turning off lights and appliances when they are not needed, and turning down A/C levels. These acts also contribute greatly to a reduction in the size and cost of your solar home system. The basic idea behind solar home systems is th... ...reducing the use of fossil fuels while still meeting their energy needs, should definitely consider the use of an SHS in their home. Works Cited About Photovoltaics. 25 October 2002. U.S. Department of Energy. . Advanced Energy Group. 1999-2002.

Educational Equity :: essays research papers

Develop an argument on or some ideas of understanding about curriculum as multicultural text by relating the works of Darling-Hammond, French, & Garcia-Lopez, Delpit, Duarte & Smith, Greene, Nieto and Sletter to your experience of curriculum, teaching, and learning as affirming diversity. You could think specifically about the following questions: Is there a need for diversity in curriculum studies and designs? Why? What measures do you think will be effective in incorporating such a need into curriculum studies and designs? What is the relevance of diversity to your career goal, to education in your family, community, and school, to education in Georgia, and to education in general? In which way can you develop a curriculum which helps cultivate empathy, compassion, passion, and hope for citizens of the world, and which fosters social justice? â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Declaration of Independence,1776) This quote is symbolic of the expressed opinions and ideology of the founding fathers of America. History, especially the history of the American educational system, paints a contradictory portrait. Idealistic visions of equity and cultural integration are constantly bantered about; however, they are rarely implemented and materialized. All men are indeed created equal, but not all men are treated equally. For years, educators and society as a whole have performed a great disservice to minorities in the public school sector. If each student is of equal value, worth, and merit, then each student should have equal access and exposure to culturally reflective learning opportunities. In the past, minorities have had a muted voice because of the attitude of the majority. Maxine Greene summarizes a scene from E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, after which she poses questions that many minorities have no doubt asked silently or loud. â€Å"Why is he unseen? Why were there no Negroes, no immig rants? More than likely because of the condition of the minds of those in power, minds that bestowed upon many others the same invisibility that Ellison’s narrator encounters† (Greene,1995, p. 159). Multicultural education is needed because it seeks to eradicate â€Å"invisibility† and give voice, power, and validation to the contributions and achievements of people with varied hues, backgrounds, and experiences. Multicultural education is a process of comprehensive school reform and basic education for all students. It challenges and rejects racism and other forms of discrimination in schools and society and accepts and affirms pluralism (ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious, economic, and gender, among others) that students, their communities, and teachers reflect (Nieto, 2000).

Energy Drinks Case Study Essay

Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages Case Study There are new coming items in beverage industry during the mid-2000s, which are energy drinks, sports drinks and Vitamin-Enhanced beverages. These items focus on different flavors, specified consumers, efficient distribution systems, and products innovation in the beverage market. They compete with water, soft drinks, juices, tea, and other common drinks, which are in low prices, good and long history of brand reputation, easy to accept the taste. From 2005 until now, alternative beverages grow fast and take more and more market share in the whole world beverage market. The main alternative beverages companies are Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Red Bull and Hansen Natural Corporation. Energy drinks, spots drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages use many strategies to find a good position in the beverage industry in the Global market, which also give us some ideas about how to operate beverage companies. Firstly, alternative beverages take the action via wider product selection, better product quality, good delivery system to gain sales and market share. For example, PepsiCo develops 12 flavors of Amp Energy drinks and 28 varieties of SoBe vitamin-enhanced drinks (Gamble, 2010, p. C-83). Again, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola through their own soft drinks distribution channels to deliver energy drinks at the same time, which reduce much time and cost. Secondly, energy drinks take big actions to enter emerging market opportunities, like most Asia countries and South America. For example, alternative beverages take 31. 5% market share in Asia-Pacific in 2009 (Gamble, 2010, p. C77). Thirdly, Energy drinks, spots drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages try to acquire or merge with other small companies to strengthen market standing and competitiveness. For instance, PepsiCo has a multiyear distribution agreement with Rockstar to distribute Rockstar energy drinks in the United States and Canada (Gamble, 2010, p. C-83). Coca-Cola also has a multiyear distribution agreement with Hansen Natural Corporation to distribute Hansen’s Monster energy drink in some areas of the United States, Canada, and six European countries (Gamble, 2010, p.C-84). SWOT Analysis Strengths| Weaknesses| * Healthier than traditional soda. * Global brands * New product development * Strong manufacturing and distribution capabilities * Strong support of parent company| * High price * Consumer limitation| Opportunities| Threats| * Growing demand for healthy drinks * High growth developing markets * Cost reduction measures| * Traditional drinks competition which includes price and taste * Regulations and law * Health risks * Environment problem * New entrents|. To solve weaknesses and threats, alternative beverages industry companies set up business models to match the customer value and gain profit. Firstly, Energy drinks, sports drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages companies develop many different flavors to match different customers’ taste. Second, these companies also focus on different customers’ demands. Third, they sell products in many different locations, not only supermarkets, but also convenience stores and vending machines around every corner, which give convenient service to customers. Fourth, alternative beverage companies always try to follow the state law and regulations. Try to avoid risk ingredients. Fifth, to pretend the health risk, some companies placed warnings on their products labels. Sixth, because many people and organizations are focus on environment issues, alternative beverages’ plastic bottles and cans are really concern by these people. To solve this problem, beverage companies recycle plastic bottles and cans to keep pollution away. I also have some recommendations to alternative beverage companies to grow bigger and faster in the global market. First, try to make innovation on the local taste in different countries. Do research on people’s taste in various countries. McDonald’s is a good example in promoting global market. McDonald’s knows Indian people don’t eat beef and pork and love spicy food, so McDonald’s over there never have any product with beef or pork but with more spicy taste. Again, don’t put sensitive ingredients in the drinks. People are more curious about health and drink ingredients. Many organizations are strict with it, too. Try to produce healthier and more nutritious drinks to the market. Moreover, drinks’ function attempts to everyone, but not only for a small group of people. Nowadays, teenage boys always buy energy drinks, people who do sports, fitness, or other strenuous activities bought sports drinks; adult consumers are interested in buying vitamin-enhanced beverages (Gamble, 2010, p. C-77). What I recommend is alternative beverage companies should develop beverages suitable for most people. White collar can drink energy drinks; sports people also suitable to buy some kinds of vitamin-enhanced beverages. Additionally, don’t publicize the function too powerful. Some alternative drinks have some special effects, but not like what the advertisement said. If the company wants to operate for a long time running, it should be honest and act in good faith. Last but not least, incumbents of alternative drinks use strong brand preferences, high degrees of customer loyalty, significant cost advantages to keep new entrants out of the market. References: Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-77. Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-79. Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-83. Gamble, John E. (2010). Competition in Energy Drinks, sports Drinks, and Vitamin-Enhanced Beverages. Crafting & Executing Strategy. p. C-84.

Policy in Theory and Practice

What is the social administrative tradition? Social administration developed when the welfare state was undergoing a period of growth, when there was a high level of optimism about its potential achievements and a high degree of consensus about the fundamentals such as Education, the National Health Services, and public housing. Social administration was concerned with social needs and problems, and with the response to the problems; social policy. It became regarded as the natural provider of welfare, apparently at the expense of others. Social administration is linked to the growth and development of welfare services, which have existed since the turn of the century, but were expanded and consolidated in the 1940s. It adopts a rational approach to solving social problems, which are often thought of as having an objective existence. Social services provided by the state were viewed as the proper method for causing progressive change. Fabianism was a movement designed to promote democratic socialism. The impact of Fabianism, as a coherent set of ideas, held that socialism in Britain was well-matched with the institutions of state and should, therefore, be implemented through a parliamentary system. Supporters of Fabianism wanted to utilise academic knowledge on social problems to create pressure on the state to research and conduct in-depth analysis in order to influence welfare reforms. The ideological and empirical alliances with Fabianism were associated with a concern regarding policy action; specifically what is done by policy action and how it is done, rather than why this is done. Two hugely prominent members of the Fabian Society were Sydney and Beatrice Webb. This couple believed that collective provision for welfare through the state was essential in order to develop a British capitalist society. Social policy in Britain became more concerned with the practical issues of education for experimental research on recognized problems – social administration tradition. During the decades of the 1960’s and 1970’s the view of Social administration as social policy became discredited, and since then a more holistic approach to social policy developed. What is meant by liberal welfarism? Liberalism welfarism is about protection of the individual in terms of freedom, markets and kind limits the state. Welfare in liberal philosophy is not something that is provided but something that is achieved and developed through the free and independent actions of a free will. The welfare of each individual promotes the well-being of the entire society by increasing the sum total of freedom in which its members live. Liberalism promotes equality of opportunities that is rooted in an inequality of outcomes. Freedom is intrinsically linked to responsibility, so as the state takes over in the role of providing welfare for the population a diminished freedom also means diminished individual responsibility. This is damaging to society, and in order to minimise the damage the state must take a less central role. It was thought that the state should refrain from interfering in economic processes such as income policies, laws regarding minimum wage and employment protection legislation, w hich in turn would decrease the role of trade unions in economic and political life. This forms the foundation for a legal background which enables individual freedom along with economic prosperity, and has been of great influence in economic, political and social welfare. The economic policy of laissez-faire was an attitude in which the government refused to interfere. This eventually began to give way to a new collective ideal called new-liberalism, which imagined the state playing a positive in the enhancement of social problems. New liberalism led to a transformation in the nature of and relations between the state and the market. Explain the parliamentary policy-making process. Within the parameters of British state, the central state may be considered to be crucial as it is where many decisions are made. Constitutionally Britain operates a tripartite division of powers between the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. Crucial to this is the role of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, which are pivotal in the making of policy. The job of the legislature is to debate and consider the introduction of new laws. Members of parliament exercise the power through the system of Parliamentary committees, where they are able to question Ministers and senior Civil Servants. New legislation passes through the laborious process of First, Second and Third Readings in the House of Commons, interspersed with detailed discussion of a Bill’s content at the Committee stage. A Bill will then receive consideration from the House of Lords, and during this process the MP’s and Lords from the government and the opposition have the opportunity to question and debate the principles and provisions of new legislation, and to suggest amendments. Finally a Bill receives Royal Assent and passes into law as an Act of Parliament. Detail the New Right critique of the welfare state. During the 1970’s both the Conservative and Labour Party attempted to halt the apparent economic decline, yet neither were successful. Both parties experiences an increase of radical activity in the far wings of the party. The ‘New Right’ formed as a branch of the Conservative Party, campaigning for a break from the previous reliance on Keynesianism as part of economic and social policy.From 1979-1997, Britain was governed by a Conservative Party that was under Thatcher’s leadership and was inspired by the New Right, and was rooted in economic liberalism combined with social conservatism. According to the work of the theorist Friedman Britain began to build up a neo-liberal analysis of state welfare during this time. His main argument was that public expenditure was being driven up by the increase of state intervention within welfare services. This interfered with the operation of the market economy. The New Right arguing that free welfare services only encouraged useless people to become dependent upon benefits and provided no incentive for families to protect themselves and their welfares through savings. The Conservatives tried to shift the costs of welfare through changes in taxation and the benefits system, burdening the poor and disadvantaged, and this served only to increase the amount of citizens who were in need of state support. This was further intensified by policies that sought to achieve wage discipline through mass unemployment. Neo-liberals wanted to roll back the state and reduce the role of the government, with the aim to restoring Britain’s international competitiveness. Welfare benefits were seen as detrimental to labour market flexibility, as they kept up wages. Bibliography Alcock, C, Payne,S, Sullivan, M, 2004, Introducing Social Policy, Essex, Pearson. Baldock, N, et al, 2012, Social Policy, 4edt, Oxford, Oxford University Express. Loney, M, Boswell, D, Clarke,J, 1988, Social Policy & Social Welfare, Milton Keynes, Open University.

Knowing your Audience Paper and Communication Release Essay

When a company needs to pass information to another organization or a group of people it is very important that the company knows their audience. If the information is regarding a disaster, it is even more important to make sure the company knows their audience. One example of a company needing to know their audience was the Chilean copper mine in South America. On Thursday, August 5, 2010, A collapse of one of the shafts in the Chilean copper mine left 33 workers trapped approximately 300 meters underground. At once, rescue efforts began but just two days later another collapse in the mine halted the efforts of the rescue crews for many hours (Weik, 2010). In such a disastrous circumstance, the company would need to take great care in how the world found out about the disaster. If not done properly then the companies audience, the world, would view the company is a much worse light then if they had properly released the information. There are two ways in which the company would be releasing information. The first would be to the families of the workers and the second would be to the other employees and then to the press. The representatives chosen by the company to handle these releases will have to take great care in how it is done to keep the reputation of the company intact, while making sure that all information is truthful and accurate. This disaster affected many people. Not only did the collapse affect the 33 miners that were in the mine, it also affected the families of those workers. The families were in agony while they waited to hear if their loved ones would make it out alive. It is the mining companies responsibility to make sure the family member are aware of everything that is happening and what is being done to get their loved ones rescued out of the mines safely. This communication process is more important than anything being told to the other workers or the press. Not knowing your audience in this first step could prove disastrous overall for the company. Once the families have been informed it is important to let the fellow co-workers know what is happening. Many of the men trapped would have friends who also work for the company and they would want to know what is happening. By making sure the other employees know about what is happening, the company can try to keep them from saying too much to news reporters and it will help ease their minds. Once the employees have been notified, make it clear that all information to the press needs to come from the company. When something is said to an audience that was not properly prepared for that audience, it could have disastrous results. Through the press the company will next have to handle the communication on an international level. Because the mine company was global they were on the world stage. The company owned mines in many other parts of the world, not just in South America. In a situation like this one, rumors began to fly without much hesitation and although rumor control was important with the company, it is impossible to stop. Another aspect of communication that was not very publically known was the communication with the investors, owners and stockholders of the company. It is very important to keep this audience informed with what was going on because if information was withheld then it could potentially cause a panic. Once in panic mode, the investors could damage the company more by stopping funds, dumping assets and plunge the company into bankruptcy. Money is very important to investors and when they receive news about their investments, good or bad, it weighs heavily on how they will react. For the good of the company’s future, it was very important that they inform this group personally and not let them hear it from the news organizations covering the story. There are many different ways to deliver communications like the ones previously reviewed. When speaking to the family members of the workers it is best to do so face to face so they feel important about where they stand in this type of situation. Calling with the information on the phone would seem impersonal and would give the families thoughts that they are not as important. An example of this would be when monetary damages were to be paid to the families of the workers; many family members who were not known to the company came forward looking for money (Prengaman, 2010). Whenever a company needs to approach an audience it is vitally important that the company knows who the audience will be and that they tailor their communications to that audience. In the communication should be all the details that can possibly be put in and the company needs to be as truthful as possible. Waiting a long time before a communication is released could also damage the situation further. The best possible way to assure the communication is effective is to deliver it in the best format to the audience (Cheesebro, O’Connor, & Rios, 2010).

Internal Alignment Essay

Executive Summary We recommend a single internal structure that includes all job families, and uses the same job point evaluation plan to evaluate all positions. The single structure will allow us to evaluate employees on an equal level and it will be easier for the employees to follow. The job point evaluation consists of a grand total one thousand points with 25% weighted towards Education, 20% weighted towards Experience, Technical, and Creativity/Innovativeness, and lastly 15% weighted towards Skills & Abilities. Internal Strategy The recommended internal alignment for FastCat would be to have a single structure based on compensable factors relevant to their success. Each factor has different levels based on the requirements needed for the factor. For example, there are only three levels for creativity, while there are five levels for experience (Refer to Exhibit 1 in the Job Manual). This allows FastCat to cover the entire company with the factors chosen, yet still be specific enough for the individual jobs. This design will help FastCat direct employee goals towards company goals, and still be fair to the employees. It also will help FastCat be more cost-effective, in that the jobs will be thoroughly evaluated based on the levels they receive for each factor. There are five factors chosen to be the most important for FastCat they are: Education, Experience, Technical, Creative/Innovative, and Skills & Abilities. The first factor, Education, was chosen because of FastCat’s need for highly educated peop le. The software that FastCat designs calls for specific knowledge that a degree can provide. Experience was chosen because of its importance to FastCat. Almost every job at FastCat requires at least some experience in that certain area; therefore experience was deemed extremely important for FastCat. Technical ability refers to the amount of impact an error would make for FastCat. For example, an Administrative Assistant miss-spelling something will not have a huge impact on FastCat’s business, however, a Technical Marketing Consultant going after the wrong segment will have a profound impact on FastCat. The Creative/Innovative factor for FastCat is also extremely important. The mission statement for FastCat even states that â€Å"We must produce innovative, high-quality solutions.† Last, Skills & Abilities was chosen because of the  range that the factor could cover, as well as the fact that we can select the most important items relative to FastCat. This internal alignment will allow FastCat to strictly define some factors, while leaving other factors more loosely defined, in order to support employee development. This system will also be extremely simple for employees to follow, and to see the way that the system has been set up, in order to ensure fairness. The structure will also be similarly easy to administer, as well as to communicate to employees. It will be easy to administer because the jobs are already evaluated, and will not change anytime in the near future. Another reason why it will not be difficult to administer is because employees will be able to see the differences in pay, and why they are the way they are. The recommended way of communicating this plan to employees is by giving each employee a copy, and then holding several small meetings in which employees can ask questions about the new structure. Rationale for Recommendations The recommendations we proposed for FastCat will benefit the company for its future success, and will help the company regain its competitive edge, while also achieving its compensation objectives. The first recommendation is for FastCat to use a single internal structure. Since the company is currently undergoing some restructuring, this system will be easy to help reorganize those departments, and it provides for a much less bureaucratic working environment. Also, a single internal structure will allow for better management because rather than having the manager’s focus on trying to organize and understand two or more structures; they can simply focus on one. Second, we recommend that FastCat use a job point evaluation system. By using this point system the company can clearly state what they feel are important skills, and can place a numeric value to them. This way the most qualified employees are easily identified, and the employees can be correctly compensated for their w ork. This system will also help direct employees towards FastCat’s objectives. Lastly, we recommend that Fast Cat include five compensable factors that will help the company get back in all consumers’ evoked set. The five compensable factors we recommend would be Education, Experience, Technical (error), Creative/Innovative, and Skills & Abilities. To help Fast Cat in its future success they are going to need highly educated people who have the experience in the market, but make  little technical errors in doing their job. Also, they will need people who are creative/innovative to help create new products, but these people must also posses the skills and abilities necessary to complete their job. This system will also help direct employees towards FastCat’s objectives. By placing emphasis on creativity and technical ability, FastCat can direct employee behavior towards their objectives. Overall, these recommendations will help Fast Cat achieve their compensation objectives, because the single internal structure is easy to understand and organize , the job point evaluation and compensable factors will help to select the correct amount of compensation for each job. However, while there are many benefits to these recommendations there are some risks associated with them. Listed below you will find some of the risks, and potential solutions for the risks, associated with the proposal for FastCat. Risk 1: Since it is recommend that FastCat use a single internal structure some employees may feel they will not be recognized for achieving certain goals. Potential Solution 1: FastCat can have some other ways of recognizing employee’s when they achieve goals. For example, FastCat having Employee of the Month, Profit Sharing, Gain Sharing, or just recognition for employees by management or the President of FastCat. Risk 2: Managers and/or employees may feel that it is not fair to place them on the same level as non-managerial or managerial employee. Potential Solution 2: Explain to employees how the point system works, and why they are on the same level. Especially emphasize the Skills & Abilities Level 2 and above Ranks, where managerial skills are listed. This will show the employees that FastCat is paying more for managers. However, there may be another factor that places the employee and manager within the same point range. Risk 3: If an employee ranks high on the job point evaluation then he/she may feel as if they are indispensable. This could cause them to not be focused or to slack off on their responsibilities. Potential Solution 3: FastCat could occasionally remind employees that their compensation is based on the fact that they are doing their job. If an employee believes he/she is indispensable, and therefore either slacks off or becomes not focused; then maybe FastCat should remind them of employment at will. Risk 4: Since FastCat does value creativity and innovation, employees who are in positions where creativity and innovation are not needed could feel that any ideas they do have would not  be very important. Potential Solution 4: FastCat could have a suggestion box, or encourage all employees that have an idea to tell their superior. FastCat would need to tell employees something to the effect of: there are no bad ideas, just ones that are not yet developed. This would encourage employees to voice any ideas they have, and feel like their ideas are valued. Overall, our recommendations provide more benefits than risks to the company, benefits such as: helping FastCat to be successful in the future, helping the company regain its competitive edge, while also achieving its compensation objectives. However, as with all things, there are some risks, but as long as FastCat is aware of those risks and handles them promptly they should have no problem succeeding using our recommendations.

American Airlines Strategy Paper Essay Example for Free

American Airlines Strategy Paper Essay Currently the airline industry as a whole seems to be on the road of recovery. We, American Airlines, the fourth largest carrier recently avoided bankruptcy, but had a summer full of pressure due to ongoing union struggles and questionable executive compensation packages. After having incurred such big losses, this recovery has come about because of the government bailout and many of our large competitors’ abilities to survive the turbulence in the industry. So far, the prospects look promising. Revenue has improved across all regions of the business. Domestic unit revenue was up almost 10 percent and Latin American revenue has increased by close to 11 percent in the last quarter of 2012 compared to the same period the prior year. We are performing better than other airlines that have filed for protection and have done so without slashing capacity. In short, American is doing the right things to return to business efficiency and customer effectiveness. In order to establish a sustainable position for the future, American Airlines must adopt a three-pronged strategy moving forward. First, we should focus on low priced operations and increased marketing strategies to improve customer demand. We have to enhance customer experience and our volume of loyal customers to build a stronger presence in Airline Industry. Second, we must focus on increasing and improving the routes to cater to large customer base. Lastly, we must address the difficulties our company might face in integrating with the culture of US Airlines. Our future success is highly dependent on these two entities efficiently operating as a single organization. US Airline industry today is dominated by five major domestic carriers. United, Delta and Southwest each has more than 15 percent market share. American is fourth, with around 12 percent and US Airways is fifth with around 10 percent. Four of these five are profitable — all but American. We lost $2 billion in 2011 and $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Our emphasis in 2013 is on operational flexibility, international growth through alliance and selective network expansion, and domestic partnerships to reduce operational and balance sheet risks. American’s market differentiation is based on emphasizing and meeting the needs and expectations of high value customers (particularly large global corporates) and better alignment with the one world airline network and value proposition. Also, being the lead carrier between not only the United States and Latin America but, increasingly, the world and Latin America—connecting through Dallas, Los Angeles, or Miami. This strategy makes sense; if they can get all labor work groups on board, they should be able to make it happen. That is still the main challenge, as is competitor contestation, particularly from larger traditional rivals like Delta and United. Improve Customer Demand Lower Operational Costs American passenger division which already has 57 fewer planes in service than an year ago, should further shrink by another 57 planes this summer. This would improve operational efficiency. Current service levels include 275 cities with a fleet of over 1000 aircraft. American carries about 80 million passengers daily and receives more than 329,000 reservation calls, handles more than 293,000 pieces of luggage and flies more than 4300 flights in one typical day. In order to reduce costs further over 27000 jobs will have to be eliminated. Because of high competition in the industry, substantial price fluctuations occur related to fares. Increase value added services offered through our interactive website, AA.com. Any differentiation that convenience added capabilities offer is the center of focus. Busy hiub systems and schedule patterns need to be looked at to improve efficiency and routing effectiveness, thereby enhancing customer experience. We need to do rigorous marketing to attract more customers. Our marketing is currently focused on seasonal and business travelers and much analysis is taken in order to optimize peak travel seasons as well as frequent flier miles programs and pints systems. The Making More Room in coach program is the original marketing ploy of American to project a perception of higher passenger comfort levels. As increased advertising and intense market share is gained, we will continue to remain a key player assuming passenger demand goes up as projected. We will focus on upgraded in-flight entertainment systems, football game special fares, and buy-on board meal options to further enhance customer experience. American Airlines’ new network strategy is designed to improve profitability by offering the routes and schedules that attract and retain not only their own high value customers but also those of alliance partners, an important source of revenue through codeshare agreements and closely aligned loyalty programs. The network is the core product that works in concert with lie-flat seats, onboard amenities, and customer service. Latin America is a prominent focus, due in part to our strong presence in key hubs to Latin America such as Dallas and Miami. This is where the profits are. Passenger growth forecasts for Latin America for 2013-17 are 6 percent for Latin America North (Central America and the northern rim of South America) and 8 percent for Latin America South (southern cone countries such as Brazil and Argentina). This compares with 3.6 percent for Europe and 4.4 percent for Asia. To follow the growth markets, we must change our portfolio mix to focus more on international rather than domestic routes. This is a gradual process, moving from 38 percent international and 62 percent domestic capacity in 2013 towards a 44/56 percent balance by 2017. As we refocus more of our flying towards international opportunities, it is likely to look towards increased code-sharing with domestic carriers like Alaska Airlines, jetBlue, and others to further enhance our network in places like Los Angeles and New York City. This is likely to have initial teething problems, due to terminal colocation and product disparity issues. For instance, the business passengers that we are pursuing may be disgruntled by jetBlue’s more restrictive carry-on baggage policies or by extra time and added security checks if they are required to change terminals. Our plan is also to diversify our domestic feed by increasing the number of regional carriers with which we do business to reduce operational and balance sheet risk. Today, we primarily get a feed from our wholly-owned subsidiary, American Eagle, which has higher costs than some other regional carriers. American Eagle is going through its own restructuring to lower its costs, and it may ultimately be spun off. Merger with US Airways will result in the largest carrier in US. It would create roughly $1.2 billion in financial benefits. American Airlines Strategy Paper. (2017, Jan 20).

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Marketing - Assignment Example I browsed several sites online like the career center of the Denver University website, onetonline.org, mymajors.com, and myplan.com. From these sites, I learned that the competition in this field of work is fierce, and since I am already keen on starting my internship the soonest possible time, the other thing I need to prepare is my resume and cover letter. Resume writing can be overwhelming because it is hard to balance which data to include, and which to leave out. Some resume help sites offer tips in writing effective cover letters and resumes. I learned that it is a good idea to study the target company first before indulging into any cover letter or resume writing to ensure that the information included in the resume and cover letter will catch the eye of the hiring manager of the company. Some companies will be very specific in who they are looking for, and I learned that it is wise to customize the cover letter and resume in a way that will highlight the skills I have that the company looks

The Rock Musical Hair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Rock Musical Hair - Essay Example The songs that originated from that idea are about letting your hair grow long, wild and free with lyrics like "My hair like Jesus wore it, Hallelujah, I adore it, Here, Baby, There, Mama, everywhere, Daddy, Daddy, Hair, Hair, Hair, Hair! Keep on growin', Keep it flowin' my Hair!" The music was loud, joyous, soulful, angry and celebratory, capturing the spirit of the New Generation of Baby Boomers who were rebelling against their parent's generation of values that stood for right-wing conservatism. The musical Hair debuted on Broadway in April 1968. It had undergone a transformation with new staging and 12 new songs added. Hair was unusual in it's staging in that it had the performers running into the audience, handing out flowers, and inviting them to participate at the end of the performance in a big "be-in" on stage. It was also unique in that much of the cast, dressed as Hippies, was scantily dressed or even appeared nude. They even had some staging where performers swung from ropes over the audience and the stage, while singing. In The New York Times, Clive Barnes wrote an enthusiastic review, praising the original production: "Mr. O'Horgan has worked wonders. He makes the show vibrate from the first slow-burn opening - with half-naked hippies statuesquely slow-parading down the center aisle - to the all-hands-together, anti-patriotic finale." 1 The unique stagin

Punjabi Music Bhangra Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Punjabi Music Bhangra - Essay Example Bhangra music is a genre that was developed in the 1980s in England. It entails both folk and classical music from various western regions as well as the Punjab region of India. Some people refer to Bhangra as a kind of dance since it was earlier used as a celebratory folk dance that meant spring or Vaisakhi was nearby (David, 2011). Concerning India’s partition, members from the different partitions started to interact and mix their varied form of Bhangra. This mixture resulted in a hybrid form of Bhangra that in cooperated many different styles. Some people also referred Bhangra as a folk dance.It is dated to begin as folk dance in 11th century by Punjabi farmers celebrating forthcoming of their seasonal harvests. The various moves used in Bhangra of this form depicted how the farmers farmed their land (David, 2011). It is then that this hybrid dance emerged to become Bhangra. Later, the folk dance was popularized in the West by Punjabi musicians. Today, Bhangra dance exists in many different forms and styles including in film sound tracks, pop music, cultural shows and collegiate competitions (Clint & Jasject, 2009). Bhangra music In late 1960s and early 1970, Bhangra music was popularized greatly in the United Kingdom by many Punjabi bands. Example of music bands existing in those times were The Jambo boys, The Black mist and the Saathies. It was their success that created a fan base and inspired more new artists. (David, 2011). These bands used to get a lot of support from both Indian Punjab and the Pakistani. This led to the creation of an alternative to Hindi film music and Ounjabi folk singers Punjabi. Some artists that are still alive today include Alaap band, Apna Sangeet, Heera Group, Chiraq Pehchan and the new pardesi music machine. After 1994, some bands dissolved due to the introduction of electronic Dj loop sampling and dhol drum (Clint & Jaskect, 2009). In the 1980s (Big Bhangra) Punjabi Immigrants invented Bhangra music in the 1980s afte r taking the folk sound from their home country and started experimenting on it by altering it by using instruments from other countries. The Bhangra music quickly gained popularity in Britain and by so, replacing the Punjabi folk singers (David, 2011). This was made possible by the music in cooperating aspects of rock sounds in their music. Since rock music was popular at that time in Britain, that incorporation really assisted it to get more fans. Bhangra music by in cooperating rock sounds signaled the development of a distinctively rebellious and self conscious Asian Youth culture .That time, young Asians in Britain associated themselves more with Bhangra music as it depicted the need to want to become free from expressing themselves (David, 2011). At that time, there was wide silent rebellion by the Asians in British and they expressed it through gestures, language, bodily signification, and many ways. Such times, there was racism and the Asian people never wanted to be discrim inated nor alienated, and so Punjabi music, gave them a sense of pride and identity in such hard times. In the 1980s, some Bhangra artists sold many record labels even some made their way to the Top 40 UK chart. These times, the melody was played out using a harmonium or a guitar and the composer received as much attention from the fans like the (David, 2011). It was during this time that the very first Bhangra boy band, Sahotas, composed of 5 brothers from the UK emerged. It was evident that their music was a mixture of Bhangra, dance and rock. The Golden Star UK was one of the biggest Bhangra stars of that era. Its lead singer, Malkit was mentored by Proffessor Inderjit Singh and improved his skills in Bhangra dancing and Punjabi folk singing while in College. In 1983, from his hit song,† Gurh Naloo ishq Mitha†, he won a gold medal and later in cooperated it in his album, Nach Gidhe Wich that was released in 1984.This album was a strong hit among South Asians (David, 2 011). Another group, Alaap, led by Channi Singh,

International Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Political Economy - Essay Example This paper stresses that the spread of globalization today is not viewed as simply an invasion into the markets of nation-states but as also an encroachment of the political stability experienced by sovereign states. Globalization has brought with it the erosion of state sovereignty such as the change of their monetary policy leaving them at the mercy of the global economy. Although the development of regional organizations and international agencies is on the rise to ‘protect’ the privileges and sovereignty of nation-states, they are also under the control of a political power and its actions are highly influenced by it. This is a major problem in the International Political Economy since some nation-states are retaliating from opening their markets for globalization in the feat of losing control of their democracy, morals and governance as demonstrated by countries in the Middle East. This report makes a conclusion that the challenge of globalization is a difficult one since it grows on a daily basis, the best remedy that the International Political Economy can try to implement is to make sure that global political influence is limited. the International Political Economy faces a lot of challenges most of which are minor , and can be easily remedied with the implementation of regulations on a global level the realization of a purely independent and free International Political Economy is not far not is it close because it has to overcome all of its challenges first.

Case Brief U.S v. Hinkley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Brief U.S v. Hinkley - Essay Example The defense attorneys also presented medical evidence in the Court which supported their claim. On July 21, 1982, the jury acquitted Hinckley of his crime by accepting that he was suffering from insanity. The district court ordered him to be removed to St. Elizabeths Hospital for treatment of his mental condition till the time that he ceased to be a threat to himself and the community. (United States Vs Hinckley, n.d) The legislation governing â€Å"insanity† in the District of Columbia stated that a person accused of committing a crime could not be held responsible for his actions if, during the time of commission of the act, the accused suffering from a mental disease or illness â€Å"lacks substantial capacity to know the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law†. It was evident that, there was a sound legislation in the Columbia district to prevent the legal system from prosecuting mentally unstable persons who had accidentally trespassed the law. Therefore, the main legal question which had to be ascertained in this case was whether John Hinckley was really mentally sick when he had attempted to assassinate President Reagan. The verdict of the case depended on this crucial finding. (Fuller, 1982, p1) During the process of trial, Hinckley’s defense lawyers argued that he was suffering from schizophrenia: a mental impairment which compels the patients to assume different characteristics during their interactions in society. In most cases, the patient while functioning as a specific individual is completely unaware of his identity as another individual which he has assumed unknowingly. The attorneys further declared that Hinckley was obsessed with an American feature film named â€Å"Taxi Driver† and his actions on that fateful day were significantly influenced by the events in the movie. The film portrays how the protagonist undertakes an attempt to assassinate the President of his national country.