Africa’s Political and Economic Problems and How to Eliminate Them

The picture of Africa has long been depicted as one with Africans who are malnourished and dying from disease and starvation. This is in irony for Africa being the second largest and second most populous continent in the world very rich in minerals, gold, diamonds and other natural resources. Much of these unsightly images of Africa can be attributed to the political and economic factors that attributed much to its poverty and political unrest.As such, Africa’s political and economic problems are herein enumerated and discussed so as to be able to evaluate and eliminate the aforementioned factors that contribute to Africa’s plight as a continent in poverty and distress. This, with the objective of determining the best possible solutions so as to give sustainability, if not prosperity to Africa that has long been needed and sought for by its people.Africa’s Political ProblemsAfrica has been suffering from the turmoil of instability, corruption, violence and author itarianism since colonial period. Although there are a number of African nations today that are under republic governance with forms of presidential rule, only a few have been able to take advantage and sustain democratic governments.This can be attested by several leaderships that failed to give the people their power of sovereignty and freedom in what can be called misguided democracies.   An example of such leadership abuse happened during the 35-year-rule of Mobutu Sese Seko as head of a â€Å"democratic† government   in Zaire (renamed Congo in 1997) when he and his ministers sold and pocketed the lucrative mining rights to Zaire’s substantial cobalt, nickel, and diamond mines (Payne & Lee).Africa’s Political and Economic ProblemsAfrica has also been suffering from civil wars, violence and crimes as violence is being used as a mechanism for resolving disputes and for bringing about change. Both colonial and apartheid regimes used violence and repression to maintain power and some degree of social order, and on the other hand, opposition movements resorted to violent tactics as a means to attain political change (Rauch).Moreover, violence and crimes have been resorted to during transition periods of repressive, authoritarian governments to more democratic forms of government. For example, following the dramatic reform announcement of   State President F.W. De Klerk , the transition in South Africa was marked by extreme social conflict and violence which can be attested by statistics of more than eight South Africans dying daily as a result of political violence (Rauch).Conflicts and political violence are also triggered or aggravated by poverty in Africa, along with racial and ethnic division, and a culture of political intolerance. Many African states have also cycled through series of brutal coups and military dictatorships. The number of coups and politically motivated crimes are appalling. The period from the early 1960s to th e late 1980s for example, saw more than 70 coups and 13 presidential assassinations in Africa.

Discuss and critically appraise how personal experience informed the political thought of Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft has been seen to be the founder of feminism, with radical ideas in terms of education, marriage and female emancipation. However it is necessary to consider what shaped those ideas, which lead to the emergence of feminism. It is necessary to consider what circumstances events and ideas circulating at the time influenced the politic thoughts of Mary Wollstonecraft. In order to understand what formed the basis of Mary's thoughts we will need to identify their thoughts in the context of a number of factors. Mary's ideas could be regarded as liberal feminism. Her ideas focused mainly around the individual woman and her rights. Her proposals were mainly for women's equality with men. Mary believed women should be treated like men and placed a lot of focus around women's education as being inferior to men's when in fact women were as intellectual as men and therefore should have a more equal education. Her reasoning for this was based around the idea that women need to be well educated to be successful mothers. Mary also emphasized in her writing the need for sexual freedom and argued how marriage could be dangerous to women as it leads to further oppression. Equality was needed in domestic relationships. However all though initially her focus was on equality for women it eventually shifted to equality of humanity. It needs to be contemplated that there are a number of influences in the ideas outlined above these include Mary's own personal experiences, social change and other events occurring at that time. Many people suggest that Mary's political views are ‘grounded in experience'; her personal life explains much about her proposals for women's equality, education, marriage and humanity. 1 Mary had a very varied background, she moved house six times in total with each time representing a downward social and economic mobility. This gave her insight into in to regional, class and gender divisions of eighteenth century Britain, enabling Mary to perceive class inequalities in society, and campaign for equality of every class rather than just women. In addition to this it could also be argued that another way in which her personal experience shaped her views on class inequalities was working for the kingsborough's, which allowed her to observe the lives of an affluent aristocratic family compared to the lower classes. This shaped her political thought in terms of her â€Å"resentment of the power and emptiness of privileged lives†2 and the injustice faced by the working classes. However It could be argued that Mary Wollstonecraft ideas were centred round achieving equality for middleclass women as much of her work is focused on how disadvantaged so called ladies of leisure are in having mere existences rather than equality faced by working class men and women. Mary still regarded women's domestic role as acceptable she believed women should still have the role of caring for children, family and other domestic duties; â€Å"mothers should stay at home and care for their children†. 3 It could be argued that this was because of the role she had to play in regards to her position in the family. For example, Mary had to leave her job as a lady's companion in 1781 to go back home to nurse her mother, which was considered as a female's role in her family. It is evident that her ideas of equal education were actually to enable women to become better mothers (she still saw women in a domesticated role), which could have stemmed from experience in her family of having such roles. Conversely it could be considered that her ideas for women still looking after children could be due to the values of society at the present time. A great deal of Mary's political thought was based around the education of girls. In her book entitled â€Å"Thoughts on the education of daughters† she reflects concern on adequacy of female education. She believed that women were constrained in their education compared with boys and it should therefore be more rational. It could be said that these ideas about the inadequacy of girl's education were based around her experiences of education. Mary attended a local day school for girls. Her school discouraged ‘to high notions' and attended to housewifery and morals to make girls such as Mary marriageable. It could be assumed Mary was an intelligent girl and she found her education â€Å"short and inadequate†3 this may have influenced her view about how inadequate women's education was and pushed her to campaign for reforming women's education. Mary gained knowledge in male dominated areas such as arithmetic, which showed to her that women could be just as capable as having the same knowledge as men. However it could be contended that rather than personal experience influencing her ideas on education her class ideology directed her ideas on reforming education. This could be shown in Mary's belief of selected education where the mechanically minded children should be placed in separate schools to those of superior abilities5, which was a typical attitude of the middle/upper classes. In her book ‘A vindication of the rights of women' Mary highlights her views on the subordination of women in society. Mary argues against the social forces that keep women ignorant and the superficiality they are encouraged to engage in6this enables men to remain dominant over women as women become physically and economically dependant on men. Mary believed that women needed freedom as they were being dominated by male patriarchy and in this sense were open to abuse by males. It seems apparent that the above ideas and assertions on male abuse and dominance of women stemmed from her own life experiences and those of her female relations as she witnessed male abuse to family around her; As a young girl Mary used to be subjected to witnessing her fathers drunken violence against her mother. By viewing her mothers abuse and helplessness Mary came to realise the lack of protection available to women. Her past experiences of her and her family may have also influenced her views on relations with males including marriage. In a letter to George Blood in 1789 Mary describes marriage as â€Å"legal prostitution†6. Mary had witnessed cruelty of men to her mother, sister and friend fanny in their marriages. She believed that her sister condition of ill health was due to the mistreatment of her husband; she took steps to help Eliza arrange legal separation. â€Å"On three different occasions Mary did see the lives of women ruined by cruel dissipated, husbands† (Bouten 1922:131). Witnessing the abuse faced by three people close to her in their marriages may have guided her ideas on marriage which she regarded as slavery and influenced her decision not to marry through most of her life. Alternatively it could be said that her ideas arose from the laws of society at the time, as there was little recourse from the victims of abuse. The laws also gave rights to the husband and took them away from women at the same time in the procedure of marriage. The norms of society may have therefore informed Mary's political thought as it made obvious inequalities in marriage and the dominance of women. There were some aspects of feminism that Wollstonecraft didn't consider such as legal property rights of women and voting rights. This may be due to her not experiencing these issues in her life, which further confirms her ideas were based around her personal experiences. However it has to be considered that her personal experience was not the only factor contributing to her political thought. In the 18th Century Mary was subjected to experiencing and participating in a series of social revolutions both in Britain and in France. One was enlightenment, which put reason as the focus of human identity and as the main justification of rights. 7 This may have influenced Mary's political ideas as she based her argument for equal rights on the fact that both men and women had the same human identity, which echoes the ideas of enlightenment. Britain was also experiencing rapid change with the industrial revolution. These rapid periods of change may have influenced Mary to challenge the existing social order regarding the position of women as traditional institutions and conceptions were being outgrown; â€Å"The time was ripe for an intellectual questioning of society†8. Although Wollstonecraft's feminist thought went against the traditional ideas of sexual opinion reflected in 18th century Britain, it could be argued that her political ideas actually reflected the spirit of innovation around at the time; â€Å"the century prior to the rights of women had seen a steady flow of writings by enlightened literati of both sexes arguing for higher valuation of woman's characters and an enhancement of female intellect and status†. In which case it could be said that Mary's political thought was informed by changes in society. It also has to be considered that the late eighteenth century there was an expansion in literature as a profession for women. 9 This may have encouraged the thoughts of Mary's, which may have developed due to her writing. It is possible that the French Revolution that begun in 1789 with its struggle for social justice also influenced her political ideas especially in terms of her ideas on the rights of humanity. Prior to the French revolution Mary concentrated on the rights and freedom of women, but later on changed her focus towards the rights of humanity as a whole including men, This lead to her considering the rights of women in terms of the rights of men. â€Å"Her vindication was that of men but in relation to men, the human race, and the entire human experience† 10. Therefore it could be argued that the revolution influenced the change of Mary's political ideals from concentrating on women to human kind. On the other hand it could be argued that the French Revolution did not influence Mary's ideas, which were primarily based on equality for women, as the new constitution of France did nothing to remove the inequalities between men and women. Many supporters of social justice in the French revolution were the most active opponents of women's rights. 11 Religion is another possible factor outside Wollstonecraft's personal experience that may have influenced her political thought. Wollstonecraft believed that education would make women more virtuous. This could be regarded as one of the reasons for her views on education of girls. Mary believed education would give women the chance to prove in the reality of good and evil and she put her faith in to the goodness of god. 12 Alternatively there is also reason to suggest that Mary Wollstonecraft wasn't religious as she rejected many religious doctrines such as pacifism of Christ. An alternative argument regarding the reasons behind Wollstonecraft's feminist thought is put forward by Freudian Psychiatrists. They argue the basis of her political thought was due to her hatred of men. â€Å"Hers was hatred of creatures that seemed capable of doing everything while women seemed to her capable to her of doing nothing†13 They therefore argue her feminist thoughts arose out of her illness of being neurotic and compulsive. 7 However it could be argued that Freudian analysis is subjective and therefore has no objective basis for explaining reasoning for Wollstonecraft's political ideas. Overall it is clear Mary had many painful experiences and experiences of social changes in her life, which helped shape her political views. Therefore it can be attained that personal factors influenced political thought, although it also has to be taken into account that her political thought was also influenced by outside factors such as social change and institutions such as religion. This coincides with concept of the â€Å"personal is political† where the experience of our personal lives are defined by broader political settings. To feminism personal experience such as that encountered by Mary can be seen as a valid way of knowing the social world and deriving political thought. However it could be argued that the experiences of Mary didn't provide a sufficient claim of truth, as it doesn't necessarily mean that Mary has political insight. Therefore it could be said that this isn't the most objective way to gain an insight into the political sphere of society.

Language and society Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Language and society - Research Paper Example Cultural diversity has brought in different ways through which people interact and communicate to each other. In our informal and formal interactions, we use various titles to show honor to our colleagues, to identify gender and to recognize the marital status of an individual. Different cultures use titles differently due to difference in the languages that we use. Various titleshave been used for many years in Anglophone cultures to show gender and marital status. Other languages, e.g. French, also use equivalent formsof these titles to show gender. The main concern is how the different languages use various titles to show gender and other aspects of the human life such as education, respect in the society, marital status and so on. This paper investigates this matter in a more elaborate way since it uses data from various cultures, does comparison of these data to find if there exists any differences in how the world uses titles. It therefore uses both practical and theoretical ap proach to this matter. The Anglophone cultures have widely used titles to indicate marital status and gender.The general title for men is ‘Mr.’, while for women it is ‘Mrs.’ for those who are married and Miss for the unmarried. These terms have a long history since their use started in the olden days (Buxton, 2014). This shows how sexism is seriously emended in this culture and how it stresses on women’s marital status. The same case exists around the world in other cultures. Let us take for example the Portuguese language, which uses the following titles: The main question is whetheruse of these titles mark marital status. In the history of the Portuguese culture, marital status did not bring in name changes, i.e. women did not adopt their husband’s names. This phenomenon has changed over the recent past since nowadays women do adopt the names of their husbands. At the same time, women

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Supply chain management - Essay Example One of the major issues that businesses face while switching to the ‘e’ channels is the fact that they can convert themselves to the same in isolation; however, the supply chain network does not allow isolated implementations to be a success (Ginkel, 1998, p. 313). For higher chances of a success i.e. to reduce the risk of failure, a business should move towards ‘e’ or any other channel in collaboration with its network of stakeholders, in particular its supply chain (Houlihan, 1985, p. 17). Traditional Supply Chain Mechanisms Traditionally, prior to the era of 80s, supply chain management was assumed as a part of the business, and restricted to the supplies of inventory or raw material, depending on the nature of the business under consideration. The era of 80s and 90s has brought about changes in the way supply chain looks today (JOHNSON and WHANG, 2002, p. 411). Serving as the era of transitional changes, the big names of the business industry such as Uni lever and P&G realized that streamlining the supply chain can prove out to be a highly cost effective solution for running their business. Thereon, the phase initiated in business history, where supply chain networks gain importance (Wisner and Tan, 2000, p. 35). As the era of mid and late 90s saw the rising need of supply chain integration and businesses moving towards the ‘e’ channels, the early years of 2000s saw the application of ‘e’ channels across the supply chain network, keeping it tightly integrated from the rise of the raw material to the selling of the final commodity in the retail stores (Vickery et al., 1999, p. 18). Impact of e-business and e-commerce towards supply chain The add-on of the ‘e’ variable in business cycle has had a significant impact on how businesses have been conducted (Audy et al., n.d., p. 111). However, prior to moving forward with the discussion, it is critical to define the difference between e-commerce and e-business. Despite the fact that the terms tend to be used interchangeably today, e-commerce is about conducting a transaction which could either be B2B or B2C, or even C2C. On the contrary, e-business is about the application of the technology to enhance or improve a process or even replace it on the whole (Carter et al., 2000, p. 17). Adding up ‘e’ towards the business and commerce activities pulls the supply chain towards the core business processes for ensuring the network is integrated in a manner that does not allow any loophole, as that can turn out to be fatal for the business (Gurnani et al., 2011, p. 301). Classical example of how ‘e’ factor on the business and commerce can tightly couple the supply chain requirements is shown in the case of Dell. Dell, long back, has implemented e-business and e-commerce to their business; e-processes in terms of build-your-own-pc and e-commerce in terms of online purchases (Harland, 1996, p. S64). Such an appli cation requires extensive cooperation from the supply chain; the process of supply chain remains transparent to the customer. As a customer assembles their computer on the website, at the back-end, the support team needs to ensure that the required components are readily available or

Introduction to Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Introduction to Business - Essay Example The safest way that a bank can safeguard my money is through insurance. What more can banks do to further ensure this is true? Effective banks with strategies of safeguarding depositors’ money should take covers against losses from insurance companies with good reputation, good history, and strong financial base. The insuring company should have been in the insurance industry for a considerably long period of time to have proven its competence. According my job, I am planning to retire at the age of 60 years. I will be no longer productive in my profession hence it will be time to rest and enjoy the fruits of my hard labor. I want to serve my people in the best way I can in order to build a base for prosperity for the future generation. Steps I have taken? I am working hard to ensure that all my children will be through with their education and living a better life before my retirement. What more do I need to be doing now to make sure it happens? I need to invest in profitable business opportunities. I am directing a good portion of my income to educating my children as well as in ventures which have promising returns by the time I retire. I am also saving part of my income in credible banking institutions. I have also engaged my income into a good life insurance scheme to cater for my old age at that time as well as my family while I am

International Finance & Capital Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

International Finance & Capital Markets - Essay Example The company has the desire to acquire China COSCO Holdings Company Limited, which is mainly a logistics and shipping supplier company. The plan for acquisition is evaluated in order to examine whether it will be a success for both the companies. Babcock International had been planning for expansion internationally for the past few years. However, they were targeting the Chinese market in particular. The acquisition plan has been in the negotiation stage and thus there is a need for providing the Board of Directors of Babcock International with recommendations from the financial director regarding the collaboration with COSCO. The cross border acquisition brings a number of issues like the exchange rate risk along with the cross border trade. The plan is evaluated by evaluating the solvency, liquidity and the profitability position of both the companies. The balance sheet of the companies is compared in order to make a decision regarding the collaboration plan. The recent acquisitions of Babcock International are also examined in order to evaluate the strength of the company and get an idea whether it is capable for the acquisition of COSCO. Introduction Babcock International Group PLC is an established company in United Kingdom which is the part of the European Union (EU). The European economy is the world’s largest importer globally in 2011 (16.4%). It is also the largest exporter in the world, exporting 15.4% of all the exports across the globe. Rules and regulations are very strict in EU which possesses restrictions to the companies at different levels of business. Thus it is important for Babcock to obey the rules and regulations of the country and take decision regarding the acquisition China COSCO. The EU also provides investors with a unique market for investment after passing the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) in 2008. Merger and acquisition is viewed as the change agent for any company. The action is taken for expanding or co ntracting the basic operation of the firm which is also known as corporate restructuring. There are different types of acquisition which includes the cross border, local country and home country acquisition. Babcock is panning for cross border acquisition as it is deciding to acquire China COSCO which is leading logistics and shipping Supplier Company in China. The acquisition plan of China COSCO by Babcock will be successful if the following conditions are fulfilled: 1) The creditors and the properties of China COSCO are protected by courts. 2) Babcock has clear knowledge regarding China COSCO. 3) The growth of China COSCO encourages rapid market penetration of China. 4) The entry barriers are considerably high. 5) The cultural difference between UK and China are low. 6) Babcock is relatively larger than size of China COSCO. 7) Babcock has the ability to take the risk of acquisition. 8) Babcock has experience of the local markets of China. 9) Babcock is quite late in entering China market (Clark, 2002) The above conditions are necessary to be fulfilled if the acquisition has to be successful. Babcock has a plan for entering the markets of China for a long time. The proposal of the acquisition is examined by evaluating the financial strengths of both the companies. The benefits of the investors are also concentrated upon. The negotiation

Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Portfolio - Essay Example al environment and achieve the objectives of the organisation. To do everything possible to promote and improve organisational standards through adherence to defined standards of work. To continually expand my knowledge and skills through continuous professional development. To work with creativity and initiative, through team work and deliver my best with full readiness to adopt and learn new skills in any dynamic field. To utilise the knowledge and skills I have acquired to serve the organisation efficiently and dedicatedly. To learn new ideas, skills that will enable me to acquire expertise, while serving the organisation. To serve the society without discrimination and help each individual achieve their desired objectives in life. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: ********** ************ *********** *********** ************* *************** JOB EXPERIENCE ********* *********** Extracurricular Activities and Hobbies Watching documentaries Playing and watching football Travelling Participati ng in talks and debates Painting REFEREES: **** **** **** Discussion The C.V. contains a description of my personal, educational and professional life. The career aspirations and goals resonate with the skills disclosed in the skills audit section. The information contained in the C.V is very helpful as it can be used by a potential employer to assess my qualification, skills and capability. As such, the C.V. has been written coherently to reveal my strengths such that potential employers can understand why I could be the best candidate for a particular position, which I will be interested in. Therefore, this CV is designed to attract an employer’s attention by making it possible for them to assess my unique qualities in the shortest time possible. For that reason, the CV has started by highlighting what I can offer to the employer at the beginning. Ideally, my CV captures the following skills which were also the main components in the skills audit.1 My teamwork capability ha s been emphasised in the CV. As part of my career objectives, I have disclosed that I want to be a team player. This issue is fundamental considering that most of the organisational goals cannot be achieved without people working together as a group, and therefore any potential employer will be on the lookout for those potential employees who are driven by the spirit of teamwork. In my profile, I have mentioned that I am a strong communicator, a quality that resonates with written and verbal communication skills mentioned in the audit section. Certainly, any business activity involves communication and many employers are interested with employees who have strong verbal and written capability. Strong initiative and creativity is also empathised in my CV, because as explain in the skills audit, this skill will make employers to realise that I can add value in the companies because creativity will help solve problems and come up with new ways of doing things. This unique quality differ entiates me from a crowd of applicants. Also my strong computer qualifications as disclosed in the CV

Nurses' Responsibility in the Prevention of medications errors Essay

Nurses' Responsibility in the Prevention of medications errors - Essay Example The nurse administrators can reduce the nurses’ workloads in order to help reduce the errors. Another remedial procedure is to requiring all nurses to implement error reduction procedures. Reduction of nurse burnouts reduced medical errors. Nurses must responsively prevent or lessen of medication errors to permissible levels. Evidently, the findings indicate healthcare professionals, especially nurses, should responsively prevent or reduce medication errors to allowable occurrences. Keywords: medication errors, remedial action, burnout Nursing Professional’s Responsibility to End/lessen Medications Errors Introduction Healthcare entails the nurses’ role in the patient’s recuperation. The research delves on the types of medication errors. The research delves on medication error reduction strategies. Medical errors may cause the patients’ death. Medical errors can be reduced. Healthcare professionals, especially nurses, and other healthcare facility w orkers are responsible for the prevention of medication errors. The nurses are required to exert all efforts to eliminate medication errors. Most of the medication errors occur during certain situations. One of the situations is during the nurse duty shifts. One medication error occurs when the prior shift nurse forgets to give the medication to the patient. The next duty nurse erroneously does not scrutinize whether the prior duty nurse gave the patient the required medication. The error can be prevented by requiring all the next duty nurses to compulsorily scrutinize the prior nurses’ chart notations (Kalra, 2011). Further, Dorit Pud and Anat Zahavy reiterated â€Å"one of the best strategies to reduce medication errors is to scrutinize possible loopholes in the entire healthcare process and not focus on individual isolated medication error cases† (Dorit & Anat, 2010, p. 794). The loopholes include unintentional recording of medication intakes. Forgetting to record t he patient’s actual medicine intakes may persuade the next nurse to erroneously give the same medicine to the patient. The overdose may cause severe health effects on the patient. Further, M. Wernli and D. Schwappach insist that â€Å"patients can play an important part in reducing medication errors by persuading the patients to immediately report any perceived errors to concerned medical professionals for immediate remedy† (Wernli & Schawppach, 2010, p. 285). Another possible medication error may occur during patient transfers. The patient is originally staying at hospital’s left wing. The patient is transferred to right wing in order to lessen the time needed for the resident medical doctor to move from doctor’s office to the patient’s ward bed. When the patient is transferred to the right hospital wing, another nurse committed medication error when she made a new chart. The error can be avoided by requiring all nurses to exert more time and effo rt to ensure that the patient’s chart is religiously replicated to eliminate the medication errors (Kalra, 2011). Nurses must implement medical intervention requirements to eliminate medication errors (Zerwekh & Claborn, 2010). When the nurse discovers an error in the drug order, the nurse should immediately question whether the drug order is correctness. When the nurse gathers enough evidences to prove there was a medication error, the nurse must immediately report the medication er

Strategic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Strategic Marketing - Essay Example Figure 1: Effectiveness of analysis tools (Source: Ferrell, Hartline, 2008, p. 119) Of the four elements of the SWOT analysis Strength is the most effective element which is needed to be evaluated by the company. Identifying the strength of the firm gives better understanding of the market scenario in accordance to the company’s position. With more strong position in the market the company will be able to minimize its weaknesses in the market. Also SWOT analysis facilitates the company to find new opportunities in the field which shows stronger position for the company. As for example if a company has strong financial condition it’s a good opportunity for the firm to invest into expansion strategy as the strategic plan. When a company has good understanding of its strength and weaknesses the company will also be able to cater with the threats which might arise in the business process. But conducting a SWOT analysis is not an easy task for the organization. Several issue s might arise in the process. ... Planning and estimation of the business activities can help the company to understand the prospect of the new business and act and implement accordingly for building strong base into the market. Cash Flow Forecasting is one of the most important plans for the company to document its planning process. Calculating the Break Even point in the business can give a good start for the company as it is the point where the expenses equal the sales revenue generated by the company. At first the company needs to calculate the fixed cost of the different operations and then the variable costs of the goods like labor, materials etc. Then estimation of the output production unit will then help to calculate the breakeven point of the firm by dividing Fixed Cost with the difference of Unit price and Unit Cost of the product. The projected balance sheet of the company will give a snapshot of the assets and the liabilities of the company along with the equities involved in the business. The company ne eds to forecast its sales and income statement to understand its profitability position in the business process. Here is an example of a breakeven point where the portion above the line represents profit where as below the line represents loss for the company. Figure 2: Break Even Point graph (Source: British Columbia, n.d., p. 16) QUESTION 3 Identify Two (2) Malaysian companies that you believe have high brand quality. Why do you suggest so? Give reasons to support your answer. How does having high brand equity help them compete against competing companies? In service industry the most crucial factor for conducting business in a competitive environment is maintaining customer relationship through quality service and maintaining high brand value in the mind of the

Man in the Crowd Essay Example for Free

Man in the Crowd Essay The epigraph at the beginning of â€Å"The Man in the Crowd† brings up the interesting question of what it really means to be alone. While the actual definition of alone is â€Å"quite by oneself, unaccompanied, solitary,† (â€Å"Alone†) the story, through the narrator’s thoughts and the observations of the nameless man in the crowd, can serve as a different perspective on being alone if applied beyond the situation in the tale. The epigraph says how terrible it is to never be alone, and the story serves as a metaphor for Poe to comment on how he views someone’s ability to actually be apart from the crowd. The story goes to show how social norms, thoughts of others, and inherent desires limit someone from ever being truly alone. Poe seems to believe that people are always a part society and are never fully separate and that possibly no one actually wishes to escape the crowd entirely. The thoughts of the narrator of the story represent how thoughts of others create unknowing connections that make it so no one is alone. The narrator serves as a direct example of the opinions people form while viewing others. He â€Å"regard[s] with the minute interest the innumerable varieties of figure, dress, air, gait, visage, and expression of countenance† (Poe, 233) of the individuals in the crowd. If he sees a person with â€Å"a filmy dimness of eye† and talking with â€Å"a guarded lowness of tone in conversation† then he assumes he is a gambler that â€Å"prey[s] upon the public† (Poe, 234). He uses the aforementioned characteristics to determine what type of person he or she is and ranks them on a â€Å"scale of what is termed gentility† (Poe, 234). Each person is objectified in the narrator’s mind upon observations of their clothing, cleanliness, and facial expressions. The narrator thinks that he can guess the occupation and lifestyle of a person by simply seeing them for less than a second. He then forms opinions of the people he sees and they have no way of knowing that he has those thoughts. Although, a person is unaware of the thoughts of others, thoughts create a connection between people. The narrator is connected to the people in the crowd because he is thinking about them. They are oblivious of the connection, but because of the narrator and his thoughts, they are, in a sense, there with someone else. The mysterious man that the narrator sees demonstrates that even when alone, it is impossible to be alone in the true sense of the word. Even in the large crowd, the people who are not walking or talking with anyone still combine with everyone else to make â€Å"continuous tides of population† (Poe, 233). They, although not interacting with anyone else, are always a part of society. The man that intrigues the narrator is a loner that, although unique, is still a part of the crowd. The man fits into no set group of people that the narrator names because of his contradictory and confusing appearance. His clothes were made of â€Å"linen, although dirty, (with a) beautiful texture† (Poe 236), suggesting that he is wealthy but does not care enough to look presentable. The â€Å"idiosyncrasy of (his) expression† (Poe, 234) is the greatest contributing factor to why the man cannot be grouped. The man does not fit any of the social norms of society, yet he combines with all of the people to form the crowd. Poe might be suggesting that even though the man in the crowd believes he is alone, he has the narrator following him and thinking about him. Since he is occupying the narrator’s mind for so long, the man is making a bigger difference in the crowd than he thinks he is. Poe proves through the mysterious man that even when alone, a person is making a difference and influencing his or her surroundings. The narrator’s feelings towards the crowd and the man’s anxiety when he is not within a crowd represent the need the narrator has to be a part of it. The narrator having been sick for a few months is craving the sight of others and is filled with â€Å"a delicious novelty of emotion† (Poe, 233) when he sees the crowd. The narrator’s joy at seeing others shows his unspoken desire to be a part of the outside world. He is drawn into the crowd because of the innate wish to be involved with others and his natural curiosity for them. The feeling of being together with others gives him a sense of belonging a purpose. The narrator says that the man â€Å"with every mark of agitation, pursues rapidly a route which brought (them) to the verge of the city† (Poe, 238) because â€Å"he refuses to be alone† (Poe, 239). The man wants to be surrounded by people and shows visibly that it is upsetting to not be so. Poe could be using the man’s agitation as a symbol of how the narrator subconsciously feels about the crowd. The mysterious man represents how the narrator desires to be with others and feel a sense of belonging to the crowd. Poe’s definition of being alone in the story, if applied in more general terms, seems to be if a person can actually separate from others in society. From the narrator and his pursuit of the mysterious man, it can be concluded that Poe does not believe that the separation is possible. It is the thoughts of others and the influences of actions that make it impossible for someone to escape the outside world. But more importantly than the fact that people cannot elude the opinions and preconceptions of others, is that people want to be noticed. Making a difference and influencing something is an inherent goal for the majority of people. The combination of the inability to escape everyone else and the desire people have to be apart of a group make it impossible to be, at least in the story, alone. â€Å"Alone.† Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. Poe, Edgar A, and Gary R. Thompson. The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe: Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton Co, 2004. Print.

Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC) Assurance Operating Functions

Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC) Assurance Operating Functions The assurance line of service in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) deals fundamentally with the audit of financial statements for both statutory and regulatory purposes, as well as, accountants reports for legal purposes. It encompasses of five operating units. The Operating Unit One and Two focus on insurance, real estate, pharmaceutical and life sciences. Operating Unit Three focuses on transportation, logistics, Government, Energy, Utilities and Mining. Operating Unit Four focuses on technology, and specialised fields such as financial services Practice, whereas the fifth operating unit (OU5), in which I was attached to, deals mainly with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore, 2010). Structure and manpower of the Department The structure of the department was designed in a way that the staff from the lower ranks report to their seniors or managers of the next rank. With the increase in portfolios from the previous year, the company has been expanding their intake of high calibre candidates to join the profession. As of Dec 2010, the strength of the department was 132, being assisted by 5 administrative staff. The organisation chart of the department is laid out in Appendix A. Systems software used in carrying out the department functions The applications used in the department were both general and specialised for its functions. For example, the email application used for communication is Lotus Notes. In our department, the manager would select the team members for their engagements via an online booking system. Upon confirmation of the bookings, the administrator would proceed to update the scheduler Retain application and it will be used by the staff to keep track of their engagements. In addition, PwC uses Aura and MyClient to document the audit work done for every engagement. MyClient was the precedent of Aura which was introduced around two years ago. The implementation of Aura improves the documentation of the clients profile, work done, controls, risks assessments simultaneously as well as allowing the easy coaching and feedback from the engagement leader and manager to the team members. During the engagement, the team members carry out fieldwork at the clients place. These team members will then document the work done and their respective findings in Aura. Once they are done, they can mark the work as prepared and replicate with the server, so that the engagement manager can carry out review of the work and attach any coaching notes if needed. Lastly, the claims for expenses such as taxi fares and charging of hours worked would be done using the iPower application. iPower allows the staff to submit their claims and get approval from the manager in a standard format as the forms were generated electronically. Performance Indicator of the Department The department ended the calendar year 2010 with a blast. The performance exceeded its expectations as set previously. In 2010, the department has achieved the following performance: Diagram 1: Assurance OU5 Financial Report (Year ended June 30) Performance Indicators July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 Monthly Actual Revenue ($000) 1,083 949 847 839 988 960 Billable hours per month 12,158 9,868 9,198 10,246 9,456 10,977 Key challenges facing the industry Ability to maintain a consistent professional image globally One key challenge facing the assurance industry would be the ability to maintain a consistent professional image globally. Because of globalisation, it enables information to be transmitted at a faster rate, and the resulting impact will be multiplied. The discoveries about fraud in Lehman Brothers, as well as in the organisations locally, namely Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Red Cross Society, and M1 Limited, have casted doubts on the auditors credibility in signing the true and fair of these accounts The rising cases of these scandals, in light of ever-changing business conditions, high turnover rate and pressures to improve profitability and operations, have caused worries in stakeholders and many expect that the accounting and assurance personnel to be the watchdog to ensure the true and fair of the accounts. Similarly, organisations look to them to establish sound internal controls with proper organisation structures, so as to boost stakeholders confidence in them and to m aximise shareholders wealth. A common misconception would be that auditors are responsible for the discovery of fraud, which is incorrect. The management, as explained in the auditors report, is the responsible party. Furthermore, auditors do not perform audit on the 100 percent of the population as it would be cost-ineffective and time-consuming, they select samples that they considered as higher risks. Therefore, the auditors would only be able to provide a reasonable assurance based on the work done that the financial statements provide a true and fair view of the affairs of the company. If the auditors do not manage the risks well, the public would scrutinise the auditors and this would result in reputation loss. To remain ethical and independence at all times Another key challenge facing the industry would be to remain ethical and independence at all times. Professional services practitioners such as lawyers, accountants, auditors and doctors, are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the code of Professional Conduct Ethics of their respective boards. Unlike doctors and lawyers, an unique principle guiding the auditors would be independence, where they are expected to act with integrity and adopt an objective approach to professional work. This is because the client would pay the firm to audit their accounts, in which, the resulting opinion would be used by the other stakeholders, such as shareholders, investors and banks for decision-making. However, in my opinion, it is challenging to maintain independence and ethical. The managers bonuses are partially tied to the recoverability of their portfolio. As a result, they would succumb to raising the audit fees and controlling the time charged to the engagements. When faced with tight deadlines, the engagement teams would decide to reduce their coverage and sample sizes, increasing risk of exposure of detecting misstatements and control deficiencies. Recent developments in the sector No internal controls system in this world is perfect. Furthermore, it would be difficult to implement a sound system as each organisation operates in an environment that taps heavily on technology, and has different reporting structure and policies. To attain efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the agencies employed the use of information technology, wide span of control and have resulted in the concentration of duties in the hands of a few highly qualified technical personnel. As a result, segregation of duties, an essential element in internal controls, might be ignored. In June 2010, a fraud involving Singapore Land Authority (SLA)s experienced staff has been uncovered. Senior staff with SLA, Mr Koh Seah Wee was faced with 249 charges for a S$12 million fraud case. It was found that Mr Koh awarded and approved the payments for the contracts through the GeBiz system to fictitious firms. Fake invoices and fictitious services were said to be provided. As reported, each of the contract amounting from $2,600 to as much as $60,000. With these gains, Mr Koh purchased luxurious cars as well as private properties and investments in unit trusts. If fraud cases could occur in government agencies which the public held in high regards, there will be higher expectation on auditors to be alert during their fieldwork. Although our department do not deal with government agencies, there are still implications and learning points for us. The agencies and the SME firms have a lean organisation structure and very often, the staff strength is just sufficient for its operations. As such, one of our key concerns would be the controls over segregation of duties. During the engagements, we paid attention to the approval of the authorised personnel especially expenses incurred by top management, and vouched to ensure that these controls were actually carried out. Secondly, for one of the engagements, I vouched to the supporting documents for proof of authorisation, and found out that that the logistics manager did not sign on the delivery documents to indicate that she has matched the details in purchase order, delivery order and invoice. The reason given was that she was on maternity leave and there was no other available staff that was trained to cover her duties during that period. She was even asked to shorten her maternity leave to resume her work earlier. Furthermore, I observed that that logistics assistant actually signed for the manager, with the signature similar to her superior. From these, I have learnt that there if the client has the intention to hide information from the auditors, it becomes harder for us to detect any misstatem ents. In such situation, we must perform alternative testing, observe and make logical deductions in order to uncover the truth. Hence, we conduct a stock-take observation, which was required by their internal auditors. True enough, there was $20,000 worth of stock discrepancies because the differences were not rectified immediately when there were errors on the delivery documents. Recommendations For the recommendations for PwC, I suggested that the vocation trainees to be involved in the training sessions. During the internship, the trainees would follow the scheduled engagements and assist their seniors at work. However, the trainees do not receive any updates or attend any lessons, which were compulsory for their seniors. Without the updates such as incentives introduced the latest budget, the knowledge that we have would be restricted to what we have learnt in school. Hence, this might result in improper application of concepts. Furthermore, regular trainings would provide more opportunities for the trainees to familiarise themselves with the various templates, audit methodology, testing methods etc. Hence, it would also reduce the time spent for the seniors to explain the procedures during engagements. The company may have thought that it might not be cost-effective to spend time coaching the trainees as the internship would only be 6 months. However, I felt that if we a ttend the same events as our seniors, such as trainings and workshops, it would allow us to have a better view of the work environment in the company and appreciate the emphasis and efforts to promote continuous learning. After all, to achieve competitive advantage, trainings would be instrumental to develop and bring out individuals abilities. To have competitive advantage in the professional services industry, the professionals, which are the most valuable assets, must be able to increase their knowledge and develop skills at a faster rate than the competitors. As discussed with my senior, she agreed with my suggestion as she experienced difficulties and delays due to time taken to explain the concepts to her juniors. Secondly, the company should consider streamlining its expense claims process. Currently, for all staff, they would submit the expense claims on the portal iexpense. The expense claims would be processed via GIRO to the claimants accounts two weeks later. However, for vacation trainees and temporary staff, their expense claims can be converted to cash and be claimed upon approval from the manager. Because of this, we were approached by managers to claim the expenses under our names, so that they could receive the cash earlier. We were caught in an ethical dilemma and the expense claims for each of us were exceptionally high. In addition, I noticed that there is lack of segregation of duties, where there are cases that the managers incur expenses because they took taxis to the clients place for field review and they are also the one who approved their own taxi claims. Since they are also the approver, they could approve the taxi claims which were not used for business purposes. To de ter this happening in the future, I am proposing that the expense claims for vacation trainees and temporary staff to be processed via GIRO too. This move will reduce the cases where the trainees be asked to claim on behalf of the permanent staff, as we would also require the two weeks processing period. Furthermore, it would be cost and time-saving as the trainees do not need to proceed to finance department personally when we are always out on engagements and the GIRO application is swift and easy. For the expense claims incurred by the managers, they must be approved by the directors and partners of the engagement. While I understand that the lack of segregation of duties could easily be override by managers, by simply passing the receipts to their support and asking them to claim under their names. Random checks could be conducted with the knowledge that the managers would proceed to the clients place for field review at least once for each engagement, hence, logically, we would expect at least one claim relating to the particular client. There could be also a whistleblower avenue for the claimant to report to the finance department where their identity would be kept confidential. As discussed with my senior, she agreed with my suggestion and encouraged me to propose this to the finance management as she was also asked to do when she was a junior. As for the school, I would suggest that we remove elluminate chat session. The purpose of the chat session, in my opinion, was to provide a platform for the students to share their experiences and reflection with their liaison officers online. However, I felt that it was not as effective as the internet connection may lag or some students were working over-time and could not rush back in time. Also, when the liaison officers post a question, we did not have much time to think through. The chat session was in a hurry and we could not catch what our friends were saying before commenting. I would suggest that we adopt the use of online collaboration tools such as Stixy. It is a personal online notice board where each of us could input reflection, add photos, links and even share with other peers (Stixy, 2010). Please refer to Appendix C for screenshots of its functions.The assessment could be set in a way where the deadline could be stretched over a period of time rather than a 30-minut es chat session. Each student will be asked to decorate and update their notice board, with certain minimum requirements such as not more than 3 pictures allowed and reflection should have a minimum word requirement. After the deadline, the notice board will be shared to the rest of the students who are on the same internship to comment on. This collaboration tool is free, hence it reduces the cost of implementation. Secondly, it gives students the flexibility to carry out this assessment over a period of time. Furthermore, it encourages students to be creative in their presentation, ability to express themselves other than in words, which we usually do in discussion board. Secondly, I would like that the internship programme be much more structured in terms of preparing students, the activities, expectations and goal setting, so as to achieve an enriching experience for the interns. During the internship, I noticed that some of the interns felt lost, or even felt unjustified because they were asked to do administrative work. It is therefore important to put in place an integrated internship programme where in the companys perspective, the conversion of these interns to permanent staff and to in the students perspective, to eliminate the mentality of just an intern. To prepare them mentally and emotionally, I believe that these have been subsequently enhanced from the previous semesters, by the Dress to Impress! Workshop organised by BA Plus (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 2010) and the compulsory year 1 module, CQ at Work conducted by the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 2010). The school could discuss with the Human Resources Departme nt to come out with a list of activities that balances the on-the-job trainings with networking opportunities and community services. I also felt that the internship would be fruitful if the learning goals set at the commencement were achieved or if not achieved, be valuable learning experiences for all. The briefing given was not sufficient because it was a one-way communication from the module leader to the students. At the beginning, the interns should be asked to fill up a form on their expectations for this internship to allow the LOs and supervisors to better understand what they were expecting to achieve during this period. During the internship, the supervisors would spend time following up with the interns with their expectations set previously and keep track of their learning process. I understood that this form of goal-setting has been implemented in PwC. A sample of expectations questionnaire is attached in Appendix D. These expectations would then be followed up with the competencies chart, as attached in Appendix E, to allow the liaison officers and students to keep track of their learning process on a regular basis. I understand these additional processes would take up time and may not be well-received by students. However, going back to the objectives of the internship, it would be to provide practical experience for students and to effectively measure their learning process, it would be useful to guide them through their goal and expectation setting, so that they enter the work force with a fresh attitude and direction, rather than just learning from what they have been tasked. For example, if they are interested in financial services audit, even though they have not been given a chance to be involved in one, they should note down what are the different resources that they have seek from. The companies have rich databases sources and definitely, seniors would be willing to share their experiences with them. Key takeaway personal achievement As I reflect, I felt that the key takeaway for me is to maintain a positive attitude and zest in the tasks I do. Positive attitude that I am referring to, are the eagerness to learn, initiative to ask, taking ownership, the courage to make mistakes, the perseverance in getting the right solutions, the flexibility to try other suggestions, along with the energy and support to complete the engagement. These may sound a mouthful, but it does stem from having a positive outlook to things in life. Attitude is especially significant to me because I have seen how I was shaped from the start to the end of this internship. At the beginning, I was disappointed with myself as I was slow in understanding the concepts and in carrying out vouching. Moreover, my team in-charge told me on a personal note that I was not suitable for auditing. From then on, I was afraid to clarify my doubts and tried to avoid all troubles if possible. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to speak to my engagements manager during a casual chat. She told me that the evaluation that I got was reasonable and encouraged me to continue with my internship. I thought to myself that maybe this could be an isolated incident. I should not allow other peoples opinions to affect my aspirations. I should have been more sensitive with my seniors workloads by researching in the databases before approaching them with questions. For the next few engagements, I proceeded with a changed attitude. With enthusiasm, I approached my team in-charges to ask if there was anything that I could help with. Normally, they would ask me to map the trial balance and read last years documentation. When there are any documentation that I am unsure of, I will read the audit programme and find out the rationale for the testing methods. Sometimes, I am unable to complete the mapping of the trial balance, I will discuss with my senior and update them on what I have done and which are the areas that they need to clarify with the previous audit teams. I took my seniors feedback seriously and in order to expedite my work, I would read up the walkthrough documentation and familiarise myself with the key management personnel and the filling system. During the weekends, I would also read up the audit guide, and would check with my seniors if they are available before I clarify my doubts. The brand new attitude was like the key that opens the doors of opportunities. If I did not walk out from the setbacks, I would have resigned myself to merely vouching and not be able to be in-charge of sections. There are bound to be challenges ahead, but I believe that the attitude will see me through. Conclusion As interns, the challenges that I have mentioned above may not be affect us directly as we do not sign the accounts. However, this does not necessary mean that we play a small part in the audit of the financial statements. From assisting with planning, fieldwork and all the way to its completion as mentioned in my interim report, these six months was never easy. As I reflect, I was once affected by the seniors feedback and was even demoralised for not being appreciated for the efforts that I have put in. I was surprised that I have the perseverance and commitment that go through thick stacks of documents, worked till midnight and on weekends too. It was then a chance to discover my interests and strengths. The internship programme has definitely given me a broad view of the rigorous corporate world which demands a lot of efforts from one self. It has allowed me to apply what I have learnt in school as I felt that we learn continuously in life and witness what I have sow, is not so much about the results, but to see that these skills have been put to proper use in the future. Speaking of which, I have utilised these skills and learnt some, especially soft skills like communication skills, the courage to speak, people-management skills that will stay with me for life. This internship was especially significant because the information that I obtained from the clients and source documents went under my hands, something lifeless and raw were eventually translated into audit documentation to test the reasonableness and to achieve the audit objectives. It was even more satisfying when the whole team saw the work that worked so hard during many late nights were eventually drafted into the financial statements. While skills are important, I felt that the people that have came into my life weighs more. The bonds that I have formed with my colleagues and clients were priceless. They were the ones that you could pull a chair and chat with them for an hour, took initiative to ask if they could help you. I felt the support and comfort from them as work was particularly enjoyable. To sum it up, this internship programme has given the exposure that I needed and created the environment that I could explore and learn. Appendices Appendix A Organisation Structure of Department OU5 (As of Dec 2010) Reporting to 132 Appendix B Newspaper Article It could have started earlier than thought ; Ex-SLA executives alleged involvement in fraud may have begun in 2005 Leong Wee Keat Leong Wee Keat 20 November 2010 TODAY (Singapore) (c) 2010. MediaCorp Press Ltd. SINGAPORE In a further twist to the largest suspected fraud in the civil service, investigators now believe that one of the accused began cheating the State years before he joined the Singapore Land Authority, where his alleged crimes were first discovered. On Friday, former SLA deputy director Koh Seah Wee (picture) was charged with cheating the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) when he was assistant director of its Information Technology Department from July 2004 to March 2007. Koh, 40, purportedly conspired with Chartered Systems Services to enable the business to win IT contracts from Ipos. The company would submit payment invoices for fictitious goods and services, which Koh would certify even though nothing was delivered. Eight fraudulent transactions, amounting to about $286,000, are thought to have occurred between December 2005 and March 2007. Investigations against Kohs activities in Ipos are continuing, according to a joint statement from Ipos and the Law Ministry. While a previous cheating scam involving former Trade Development Board chief executive officer Yeo Seng Teck had gone on for a longer period for five years, between June 1988 and July 1993 -investigations into Koh have turned to his time at the Supreme Court, where he was deployed before July 2004. Koh now faces a total of 302 charges, while former SLA manager Christopher Lim Chai Meng, 37, faces 309. Both men bought luxury cars from the alleged $12.1 million they siphoned from SLA between November 2007 and March this year. Ipos conducted its internal investigation after the purported SLA fraud came to light in June. An independent review panel was convened and it recommended improvements to Ipos internal controls, systems and processes, which have since been implemented. These included strengthening internal audit structures and processes, centralising the procurement process and ensuring the purchasing officer and the receiving officer are different individuals, read the joint statement. Ipos said its financial statements and accounts were audited externally, not by the Auditor-Generals Office, during the time the alleged offences took place. This was done in accordance with the Auditor- Generals requirements. The audits conducted were statutory audits of financial statements and compliance audits designed to ensure compliance with finance procedures and processes. These types of audit may not always be able to pick up such fraudulent activities, Ipos said. Disciplinary investigations of officers whose lapses in supervision may have contributed to the fraud going undetected are in progress. Action will be taken, if found appropriate, said Ipos. Kohs case will be mentioned again on Dec 3. Appendix C Stixy Appendix D Setting of expectations Internship Programme Expectations Company: ______________________ Supervisors name: ______________ Liaison Officers name: ___________ Student Name: __________________ What are some of expectations that you have for this internship programme? What are some of the activities that you hope to attend during the internship programme? What are some of the learning goals that you hope to achieve by the end of the internship programme? How do you think the company can help to enrich your internship experience and your career aspirations? Appendix E Competency Chart

Te Great Gatsby :: Essays Papers

Te Great Gatsby Setting This story takes place at West Egg in Long Island, an unfashionable town. It is in the early 1900’s. Characters A. Nick Carraway- Nick is the story narrator. He is a young man from Minnesota who moves to the east after fighting in the First World War. He is Jay Gatsby’s next-door neighbor. B. Jay Gatsby- Jay is the title character. He is a wealthy man who lives in a gothic mansion in West Egg. He was born with the name Jay Gatz on farm in North Dakota. C. Daisy Buchanan- Daisy is Nick’s cousin. She is the woman with whom Gatsby is in love. She lives right across from Gatsby with her husband Tom. She is bitter and a little cynical. D. Tom Buchanan- Tom is Daisy’s husband. He is arrogant and hypocritical. E. Jordan Baker- Jordan is Daisy’s friend who becomes romantically involved with Nick during the story. She is a talented golfer but cheated her way into winning her first tournament. F. Myrtle Wilson- Myrtle is Tom’s lover. Her husband George owns a run-down garage. Summary Like the setting says, the story takes place at West Egg in Long Island. The narrator, Nick, is not like the people of West Egg. He drives out to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom where he is introduced to Jordan Baker, the woman who he will begin a romantic relationship with. She informs Nick of Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s secret lover. As the summer goes on, Nick learns more about his mysterious neighbor Gatsby. He throws extravagant parties at his mansion every Saturday night to impress the women he loves, Daisy. Nick arranges for Gatsby and Daisy to reunite. After this they fall in love and start and affair. Tom finds out about his wife’s wrongdoings and confronts Gatsby at a suite in the Plaza Hotel in New York. Tom claims that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand. He also tells Daisy that Gatsby’s fortune comes from bootlegging illegal alcohol and other criminal activities. On their way home Nick, Jordan and Tom discover that Gatsby’s car struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car that struck Myrtle, but Gatsby intends to take the blame.

Global Imperialism :: essays research papers

Global imperialism began to take its toll on the world; a policy in which stronger nations extended their economic, political, or military control over weaker territories. As the United States began to plunge into the trend of overseas expansion, many wondered if the nation could justify its reasons for imperialism. The answer, my friend, is yes. It all began with European imperialism as Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Spain competed for African raw materials and markets. Soon after, Japan joined along with the European nations. There was much competition going around and surely the United States of America would not want to miss out on this opportunity to improve economy as its nation was producing more than it could consume. American businesses looked toward the rest of the world as a pillar of support for their growing industries. Senator Alfred Beveridge believed that imperialism was justified by the demands and economic competitions among the industrial nations. Today we are raising more than we can consume. Today we are making more than we can use... Therefore we must find new markets for our produce, new occupation for our capital, new work for our labor... Ah! As our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe and the highway of the ocean - carrying trade to all mankind - will be guarded by the guns of the republic. And as their thunders salute the flag, benighted (ignorant) peoples will know that the voice of liberty is speaking, at last, for them... that civilization is dawning at last, for them. --Senator Alfred Beveridge, 1898   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another reason that fueled America into imperialism was its belief in the creation of a strong naval force to contend in the growing political and military competition. Admiral Alfred T. Mahan desired military strength and argued that the U.S. Navy defend peace time shipping lanes. He suggested that the nation strategically locate bases in the Caribbean where fleets could refuel, as well as construct a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and acquire Hawaii and other Pacific Islands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Americans and Europeans alike held a strong, superior Anglo-Saxon belief, claiming responsibility to civilize and Christianize the world’s â€Å"inferior† peoples. This idea based on social Darwinism gave many Americans the concept of making it their duty to civilize the natives. Not only did they feel it as their responsibility to do so, many claimed it was God’s Will.

Evolution Within a People in A Dolls House and An Enemy of the People

Evolution Within a People in A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen In all cultures it is easy to see the effects of change. Change can be a revolution, a new form of thought, or a new idea surfacing. No matter what these changes are, they often emerge from the minority. In several cases this results an uprising, turning the social system on end. Simple examples of this type of change can be seen in the French or American revolutions, and even in the hippie movement of the 1960's. These changes depict how an idea shared only by a select few can snowball into the mindset of thousands. Within A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People, Henrick Ibsen shows his standpoint on the benefits of social change, and evolution within a people. A Doll?s House presents a revolutionary change for Norway in the 1880?s. During this time period women were seen as second or even third class citizens, and though numerically this is not true, a minority . Ibsen presents his character Nora as a plaything, sorely manipulated by the men in her life. As the play pro...

A V R Essay

Appearance vs. reality explores how the more persistent illusion will triumph over what the individual want to be true. While reality is persistent, appearance it is less convincing as it based upon the fragile network of an individual’s values, expectation and deepest desires. Pleasantville (1998) directed by Gary Ross examines this idea through the protagonist who escapes his troubles and unforgiving reality to Pleasantville; a fake world that reflects his utopic vision and 1950’s American society.Similarly Robert Frost’s poem â€Å"Birches† shows no matter how hard he tries to escape his reality to a better illusion he was made for himself, reality is persistent and will always bring him back. In Pleasantville the idea that reality will triumph over appearances is shown by David’s negative view of his family and yearning for the family he sees in Pleasantville.. The appearance that David sees in Pleasantville is peace, calm, relaxing and great bu t in his reality it is the opposite of Pleasantville as he has difficult problems with his family.This is shown by of contrast of the perfect family living the American Dream in Pleasantville compared to David’s own family. The montage of shots of all the members of Bud’s family in Pleasantville contrasts heavily to the empty and wide shot of David and just his mother, emphasising how his family is so different from his ideal family on Pleasantville. Although David wants to become part of Bud’s family, he realises this is just an illusion based on his desires.This is clear when he realises Bud’s family isn’t as perfect as it seems through the uncomfortableness he feels with the repetition of the word â€Å"swell† to describe what he thinks is good and returns to his persistent illusion of his real family, his mother. Reality is shown to be the more persistent illusion through the corruption of values in Pleasantville. Jennifer instigates the corruption of Pleasantville by bringing in values and practices of her reality to the untainted illusion of Pleasantville.When Jennifer has sexual intercourse with skip on Lover’s Lane, there is a change in the scenery shown in the close up shot of the grey rose turning into a bright red. The previous monotone colours represent†¦. And the red represents†¦.. This shown that reality is more persistant than the illusion of appearance as†¦. FILL IT IN! Another example is shown through when Betty sees Mr. Johnson for the first time and she starts to feel different from seeing him. The technique that is used is contrast of colour and grey background. The wife changes as she ealise her true feelings, and it is this persistent emotion that overcomes her role as the faithful wife in the American Dream. This shows the wife is being seeing her true feeling and her true reality from Mr. Johnson, ultimately breaking the illusion of appearances . Similarly, in Frost’ s â€Å"Birches†, reality is illustrated as persistent reality that will triumph over any illusions of appearances but does this through the poet who reminisces about his childhood past with the birches tree. The poet feels a strong connection with the illusion he has made of the birches as a sentimental figure of his past time.He does this by portraying birches during the autumn time as †like girls on hands and knees who throw their hair before them†¦ to dry in the sun†. The personification combined with simile to reinforces the illusion the poet has created from his expectations and desires. However,. reality attempts to bring the poet back from his constructed illusion that has been â€Å"shattered and avalanched†¦. [reduced to] broken glass to sweep away†. This is emphasised by the â€Å"black† branches surrounding the â€Å"snow white trunk†.The black branches symbolise the persistent illusion of reality trying to bring him back to what is more real surrounding the white trunk that symbolises the dying purity and untainted illusion he has created of the birches, showing that reality is more persistent than appearances. Unlike Pleasantville, where David does not want to return to the persistent callings of his reality , the poet in â€Å"Birches† realises that although he can visit his â€Å"heaven† using his childhood memory of the birches, he would â€Å"then come back to it [earth] and begin all over†.The nostalgic tone emphasises that he cannot go back to his illusion of appearances as he recognises the reality is more persistent. Through the close study of the Ross’s â€Å"Pleasantville† and Frost’s â€Å"Birches† it is clear that reality is more persistent than appearances. Pleasantville shows the corruption of values and the perfect family based on the American dreams to shows how reality will triumph over appearances similarly â€Å"Birches† us es the poet reminisces that frost can visit his appearance but when he returns to his reality he understands that reality is the more persistent one.

Evolutions vs Creationism

Creationism Vs Evolution Attention-getting opener: Tonight I am going to talk about Creationism Vs Evolution. Do you know that 800 million people have died in religion’s wars?. * Introduction 1. The  creation–evolution controversy  is a recurring dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe. 2. The creation-evolution controversy began in Europe and North America in the late 18th century when new interpretations of geology were demonstrated in the  fossil  geological sequence  prompted  early ideas of evolution. * PreviewIn this speech I’m going to talk to you about 3 important topics. 1. The Creation by the hand of God. 2. The origin of species and natural selection by Darwin. 3. A combined view of the creationism and evolution. * Transition 1 In the first place, let’s talk about the creation by the hand of God. The Creationism  is the  religious belief  that  life, the  Earth, and the  universe  are th e  creation  of a  supernatural  being. All made in the image and likeness of God and explains the facts based on the assumption of a supernatural, completed process. Transition 2 Also, I'll speak of Darwin's theory. The evolution by natural selection, it’s when more offspring are produced than can possibly survive. When members of a population die they are replaced by the progeny of parents that were better adapted to survive and reproduce in the environment in which natural selection took place. In other words, only the strongest will survive. * Transition 3 Lastly, I show you a combination between Creationism and Evolution.This is a theory that not too many people believe in it, because those who believe in the creationism, not believe in the evolution and vice versa. * Conclusion Given these facts, everyone is free to choose which theory is better for himself. Once the person has established his beliefs, should be respected and he should respect the others beliefs to avoid as many fights and wars as possible and live in a better place. * Memorable closing remarks If you wish to believe in creation or evolution, that is fine, but please don't judge other people just because they have a different belief than ours.

Motivation Essay

1. Define and discuss motivation. Which theory of motivation offers the best chance, if handled properly, of increasing productivity in your workplace? Motivation can be described as a process that accounts for an individuals intensity, direction and persisitence of efforts towards attaining a goal (Robbins, 2004). While general motivation is concerned with motivation towards the achievement of any goal, this paper will be discussing motivation in relation to organizational goals, as the focus is on work related behavior (Robbins, 2004). With regards to the definition, there are 3 key elements related to motivation. Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries to achieve a goal. But in order for intensity to trnaslate into better performance it has to be channeled in the right direction. So, the quality of the intensity is very essential. Persistence is another dimension to motivation. It is a measure of how long a person can maintain his or her efforts. There have been numerous theories on motivation, devised and tested multiple times. But the theory I find most relevant and important to a workplace, the work be of any nature, is the expectacy theory, put forward by Victor Vroom (Robbins, 2004). Expectancy theory focuses on three main relationships. The effort-performance relationship, performance-reward relationship and the reward-personal goal relationship. In more practical terms, expectancy theory says that when an employee puts in effort o his job it is partly because he believes his effort will translate into better performance, but this performance alone would be useless to him, until and unless there are obvious benefits attached to better performance, i.e. rewards. These rewrds may be monetary or non-monetary and may vary from a promotion or pay increment to a pat on the back from the boss and a word or two of appreciation from the supervisor. This would motivate the workforce, as every individual will perceive that with this job he would be able accomplish his personal goals. 2. Define and discuss leadership. Which style is presently used in your own workplace? Which style is needed, or which style do you believe should be used to increase productivity? Leadership theories have great applications in business settings. For example, some organizations look for leadership traits when choosing a candidate for a leadership position.   Most organizations that we normally encounter look for specific personality traits of individuals such as their openness to experience, social behavior, extraversion etc. These are the traits that are associated with good leaders. Extraversion is a trait that is mostly associated with leadership emergence because extraverted people are quick to establish contacts, have usually good communication skills and are emotionally aware of others. Similarly, openness to experience is a good indicator of a leader’s ability to encounter and deal with new situations. Contemporary theories of leadership such as Charismatic leadership and Transformational leadership fit very well in the dynamic situation of the contemporary world. Contemporary leadership theories view leaders as individuals who inspire their followers through their words, ideas and behaviors. And this is so true of today’s successful leaders (Kotter, 1995).   Charismatic leadership theory can be applied to leaders such as New York mayor Rudy Guiliani, African President Nelson Mandela, and African-American leader Martin Luther King. Through his rhetoric, Martin Luther king was able to consolidate the civil rights movement and became one of the most inspiring leaders (Kotter, 1995). Contemporary leadership theories are forward looking as they emphasize on leader’s vision. A clear vision is described as one of the qualities of charismatic leaders because it is their vision that binds their followers and becomes the impetus for change. Moreover, contemporary leadership theories put emphasis on leader-follower relationship as in Leader Exchange Theory (Robbins, 2004). As employees become more empowered, leader-follower relationship becomes even more important and contemporary leadership theories provide valuable information in this regard. So, in essence, leadership has a huge role to play when it comes to the employees’ attitude towards work. Because, if a leader can inspire and motivate his or her followers, it may help bring out a more positive attitude from them, and ultimately this would have a positive impact on the productivity of the company.

Motor Vehicle Safety Laws and Public Health Essay

â€Å"The U. S. Congress responded with the National Highway Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Highway Safety Act of 1966, creating a new federal program to address motor vehicle safety† (Waller, para. 5). This act allows the federal government to implement laws regarding motor vehicle safety. This act created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). William Haddon, public health physician, was the first director of the NHTSA. He was the first to set safety standard for motor vehicles and the first to administer programs for driver’s licensing, impaired driving from alcohol, motorcycle safety and etc. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are applied to new motor vehicle. â€Å"Legislation enacted in 1966 requires the federal government to establish safety standards for new motor vehicles sold in the United States, whether of domestic or foreign manufacture† (Waller, para. 16). These standards have prevented people from getting seriously injured during a motor vehicle accident. FMVSS, including softer instrument panels, head restraints, energy absorbing steering columns, and high penetration-resistant windshields, have saved thousands of lives and prevented tens of thousands of injuries† (Waller, para. 17). FMVSS also requires safety belts and child safety seats meet certain safety standards. State Laws Every state is required by law to follow the federal government’s standards. Most states have additional safety standards and programs regarding motor vehicle safety. The state of Maryland follows federal motor vehicle safety standards, as well as, their own safety standards. As of last year, Maryland set a new standard of no texting and talking on cell phones while driving, even at red lights. â€Å"Texting and talking on a cell phone while driving is illegal in Maryland; it is not safe for anyone and it can be especially dangerous for teens† (Young, para. 1). Texting and talking on cell phones while driving can become a huge distraction for drivers and has caused a lot of accidents. Maryland also has standards for unattended children in a motor vehicle. Every child that is unattended in a motor vehicle, especially during extreme hot and cold conditions, can get seriously injured which is why it is illegal. Legislative Laws These laws, federal and state, fall under legislative laws. Legislative laws are first called bills that are enacted by Congress, General Assembly and the President. For federal laws, the bill has to be passed through the U. S Congress and then signed by the President. Fore state laws, the bill has to be passed through the General Assembly and then signed by the State’s Governor. The U. S Congress can veto the President’s decision if the majority of Congress agrees. The same thing goes to the General Assembly. If the General Assembly disagrees with the Governor’s decision then the majority of the General Assembly can veto his decisions. For Motor Vehicle Safety, each state has to follow federal laws but they can pass their own laws to prevent motor vehicle injuries. State laws cannot contradict with federal laws. Most motor vehicle accidents occur from impairment driving from alcohol, recklessness and inexperienced. Public health is preventing people from injuries and diseases. With the help of these laws, there will be fewer motor vehicle accidents which will cause fewer injuries and deaths. â€Å"The reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor-vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century† (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, para. 1). Every standard that is regulated is there to prevent motor vehicle accidents from occurring. â€Å"In 1966, passage of the Highway Safety Act and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act authorized the federal government to set and regulate standards for motor vehicles and highways, a mechanism necessary for effective prevention† (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, para. 3). Every new vehicle is designed to protect people from serious injuries when involved in an accident. Relating to Public Health Every year, the amount of motor vehicle deaths has decreased. Reductions in motor vehicle injury and death represent a major public health success† (Waller, para. 1). Motor vehicle accidents are still one of the largest causes of deaths in the United States. â€Å"Traffic crashes are identified as the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, and it is estimated that by the year 2020 traffic crashes will be the third largest cause of death and disability in the world† (Waller, para. 3). With setting more safety standards, motor vehicle accidents can decrease if everyone follows these standards. Preventing injuries from motor vehicle accidents will save many lives. â€Å"The record of motor vehicle injury prevention nevertheless represents a major success in public health in the United States† (Waller, para. 4). The estimation of motor vehicle accidents being the third cause of death and disability by 2020 can change by then if more safety standards and programs are issued. Federal and State Government It can take a lot to prevent motor vehicle accidents but if all standards are regulated then fewer motor vehicle accidents will happen. State and local governments have enacted and enforced laws that affect motor-vehicle and highway safety, driver licensing and testing, vehicle inspections, and traffic regulations† (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, para. 5). The federal and state government should continue to play a role in preventing motor vehicle accidents. If the federal and state government does not play a role in motor vehicle safety then there will be more injuries from accidents. The only reason why there has been a reduction in motor vehicle accidents is because of the standards regulated by federal and state governments.

Organization Growth Strategies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organization Growth Strategies - Assignment Example In 1805, Henri-Louis Pernod founded the Maison Pernod Fils company in the town of Pontarlier, near France's border with Switzerland. This company produced an absinthe-based beverage, which was very popular during its time. However, in 1915, absinthe was banned. A few years after that, Pernod merged with two other companies to form Les 'tablissements Pernod (The Pernod Establishments) which manufactured liquors that used anis as a base. In 1938, the company launched the brand Pernod 45; in 1951, it started selling its first pastis, Pastis 51. In the very first year of its production, Pastis 51 sold almost two million bottles to caf's. On the other hand, in 1932, Paul Ricard produced the first pastis, named after him, in 1932 in a place near Marseilles. Soon, Ricard's company rose to take its place beside Pernod as one of the leaders in the French spirits industry. After four decades of intense competition, Pernod and Ricard decided to come together. Between 1971 and 1974, the management of the two companies had prepared meticulously for the merger. Pernod Ricard was born in 1975, with a consolidated turnover of 2.5 billion francs. Pernod-Ricard today is the world's second biggest company in the wine and spirits sector. It has occupied key positions in every continent. It is the number one wine and spirits company in Europe and in the Asia Pacific, and number two in the Americas. The group has fifteen key brands of international renown: >Ricard >Ballantine's >Chivas Regal >Malibu >Stolichnaya >Havana Club >Beefeater >Kahlua >Jameson >The Glenlivet >Martell >Mumm >Perrier-Jouet >Jacob's Creek >Montana These premium brands play a central role in Pernod Ricard's development, but "the Group's success over the years owes as much to the talents of its employees, to its core values and to a decentralized structure unique to Pernod Ricard", according to the company's website. The map below shows the reach Pernod Ricard had in 2006. Source: History of Pernod Ricard, www.pernod-ricard.com At present, Pernod Ricard employs 19,000 people in more than 70 countries all over the world. Pernod Ricard has 113 production plants distributed worldwide. The journey from 1975 to 2009 From the very beginning, Pernod Ricard's main aim was internationalization of its products. For achieving this, Pernod Ricard followed a clearly chalked-out, almost aggressive policy of acquisitions right from 1975 itself. The first acquisition made by Pernod Ricard was that of the Scottish Campbell Distilleries, which made Scotch whiskies, in 1975-76. Next, in 1976, Pernod Ricard purchased Cusenier (Argentina), which made liquors from extracts of grains, fruits, and other parts of plants. In 1979, Pernod Ricard made its first step outside France, in an effort to maintain its sales growth. In 1980, while Austin Nichols, the England-based maker of bourbons, was acquired, Pernod Ricard launched a massive marketing campaign amounting to nearly $50 million in England, Spain and Germany. The campaign included gimmicks like giving away products at discos. The same year, Pernod

Summary and reflect two articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary and reflect two articles - Essay Example They also reveal the way the masking process on the way product is produced has implications on the organization and environment. Therefore, they recommend that organizations should address the ongoing social and environmental process under capitalism. Hudson and Hudson (2003) reveal the way fair trade attempts to make visible for both social and environmental relations of commodity production and exchange process. This is vital because it enables the producer to make a shift in the production nature; thus solving the issues of product impact to both producers and the environment. The main purpose of the authors was to examine the degree to which the fair trade is effective in addressing or solving the commodity fetishism problems. Thus, they wanted to address this issue through identifying the barriers, which fair trade encounters in an attempt to unmask production process of commodities. Plant, B. (January 01, 2005). Socially responsible investing: the maturing of financial analysis. Policy Options, 26, 6, 39-43 is the article, which focuses on the way being socially responsible, can contribute to successful economic performance of Canada. Plant argues that one can become wealthier, or an economy can achieve economic development through being socially responsible. She asserts that by looking beyond the investments bottom line should not necessarily mean forgetting the profits but rather helps to shade light on the financial issue (Plant, 2005). The author focuses on the way Canadian government has made significant efforts of establishing environmental, social and governmental responsibilities in order to improve the competitive nature and stability of the Canadian economy. Although others argue that being responsible can enable an individual to become rich, the research indicates that no one receives penalty for being socially responsible. However,

Sartre's No Exit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sartre's No Exit - Essay Example Although taken as a quasi strategy for the Existentialist movement, the transcription of this lecture was the only pamphlet that Sartre amenably regretted seeing in print. Yet, it continues to be the foremost introduction to his philosophy to the general public. One reason both for its fame and his discomfort is the precision with which it displays the cardinal doctrines of existentialist thought while enlightening Sartre's attempt to widen its social application in reaction to his Catholic and Communist criticism - it offers us a sight of Sartre's thought â€Å"on the wing.† In his play ‘No Exit’, he is determined to prove his famous argument; â€Å"hell is other people† and perception that there is no God is widely unleashed. He wants the reader to catch his philosophical perspective of belief and reason. No Exit, the Jean- Paul Sartre’s play, coined the famous slogan â€Å"Hell is other people!† Anybody may wonder on hearing such a harsh de claration, if this is a portrayal of manhood or just a portrayal of certain categories of individuals who make life more problematic than it ought to be. Sartre's unique vision on hell takes us to an isolated hotel located in an extremely hot place with numerous rooms to be occupied that are better referred to as the damned (Contat 33). This particular play involves majorly three people who died and went to their eternal destination, the Hell. They are three rather selfish and depraved individuals, seeing them in one light. Contrariwise, you can say they are three delicate souls desperately in need of something. However, they have no ability to offer of themselves. Like vampires imbibing the best of all mankind, wanting to be satisfied, yet unwilling to care for anybody, but only themselves. Our first character to meet is a journalist who owns what he calls pacifist newspaper by the name Joseph Garcin. He was shot during the Second World War, although he had deserted his position an d fled to Mexico. He is constantly trying to escape from Gomez judgment and others who think he is a coward because he fled in war time. His paramount accuser is himself, the only person he could never escape. Joseph was also a drunk and an adulterer. He deliberately cheated on his wife habitually; even making poor women to serve coffee to his mistresses and him. He was so heartless that he did not care how much he caused his poor wife pain. She died of a broken heart soon after him. Next we have Serrano Inez who is a self declared sinner and foul to the ground. She describes the nadirs of her immorality in the following declaration: â€Å"When I say I am cruel, I imply I can not get on devoid of making people suffer. Just like a live coal – a live coal in others’ people hearts. When In am alone I sparkle out† (Hudson 78). Despite her unkind nature, Inez has a virtue; she calls them by way of seeing them. Inez is similar to a vampire because she lives for her bo dily desire. She was a lesbian and guilty of ending a marriage and spinning a wife against her spouse. She made that woman her love, and together, they collaborated and killed the husband of her lover. She can look at her wickedness, and accept it as a portion of who she is. Inez consents being in hell and she does not anticipate anything enhanced. In hell, she lusts for