Evidence of Neocolonialism in African Trade Relations Essay

Athow Brian and Robert G. Blanton present their study of African trade relations before and after European colonialism in â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies: Trade Patterns in British and French Africa. † This study is quite important as it is an effort to scientifically assess the colonial trade legacy in a comparative manner. In fact, it is the only research of its kind analyzing trade relations of previously colonized states of Africa between 1938 and 1985. The authors’ goal is to discover whether neocolonialism continues to exist in the previously colonized African states with respect to trade relations. In other words, do the previously colonized African states continue to depend on the colonialists for trade? The underdevelopment of Africa is attributable to many factors, including the fact that it takes economically powerful governments with a strong sense of their goals to empower their people and develop nations. It is a well-known fact that the European colonialists had their own interests at heart. Their mercenary objectives could not accommodate the goal of developing Africa. African states that came to be ruled by Europeans were forced to produce agricultural goods as well as raw materials to meet European demands alone. The â€Å"traditional agricultural economies† of the colonized states of Africa were forced by French and British colonialists to start specializing in cash crops that were solely meant for export. Although the French and British colonialists came to hold significant political power over the African people, the local needs of the latter were utterly disregarded. No wonder, although Africa continues to appear lush green to the human eye, its people suffer from severe hunger. After all, their needs have been disregarded even after independence was attained from the European colonialists. As a matter of fact, the authors of â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† found that the African states that were previously colonized by the French continue to have France as their chief trading partner. Similarly, African states that were previously colonized by the British continue to trade with the British in addition to other states that had been colonized by the British. What is more, the trading style of the colonialists continues to be used by the African states that were colonized by the French and the British. French colonies of Africa were under a centralized rule. For this reason, they continue to consider France as their chief trading partner. British rule was decentralized to a large extent. Moreover, the British had already established trade relations between the African colonized states and other nations across the world that had been colonized by the British. These trading patterns continue to this day, which is the reason why the authors of â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† refer to neocolonialism in African trade relations. According to the authors, old habits die hard. Africa continues to suffer from severe poverty because its resources do not support the Africans. Rather, previously colonized African states continue to produce for the French and the British peoples. Africans are dependent on the moneys they receive for the goods they export to France and Britain, in addition to previously colonized British states in other parts of the world. Seeing that Africa appears to be on the losing side of this deal, the article, â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† calls for massive structural changes in the political and trade patterns applied in Africa today. It would take African governments to develop a strong sense of their goals to achieve economic independence for the Africans – this time having the interests of their own people at heart. Bibliography Brian, Athow, and Robert G. Blanton. â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies: Trade Patterns in British and French Africa. † Journal of Third World Studies (Fall 2002). Available from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200210/ai_n9134671. Internet; accessed 27 November 2008.

IP Address Schema Design for a Medium-Sized Business Essay

IP Address Schema Design for a Medium-Sized Business The following IP schema is designed to fit the needs of the Warehouse Company. The company has purchased and installed all of the required equipment for the network infrastructure. After consulting with their design team and gathering the required documentation and network designs, we are ready to proceed. The network design requires an IP schema that will minimize the cost of public IP addresses. Due to this requirement we will use a Class B IP address solution with a default subnet mask of 11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000 or 255.255.0.0. I am calculating the need to have 2 possibly 3 public IP addresses. In order to meet the IP requirements for the company’s 367 devices that include 260 hosts for Boston, 80 hosts for Dallas, 12 hosts at Seattle, 4 general servers and 3 DMZ servers, I will use the network address 172.16.0.0/23. The broadcast IP address is172.16.1.255. The subnet mask will be 255.255.254.0. The /23 will support 512 hosts, leaving 145 available hosts. The IP address ranges are assigned as follows: Boston (280) 172.16.0.10 through 172.16.1.40. Dallas (80) 172.16.1.50 through 172.16.1.140. Seattle (12) 172.16.1.160 through 172.16.1.180. General Servers (4) and network equipment 172.16.1.190 through 172.16.1.205. The DMZ servers with out-going rules set will be 172.16.1.210 through 172.16.1.220 The link-local unicast IPv6 network address will be fe80::ac10:0, the broadcast address will be ff00::ac10:1ff. This equals 119 bits and the host range will be from fe80::ac10:1 through fe80::ac10:1fe.

Benefit and Disadvantagers of Internet

bachelor of education (teaching of english as a second language) oumh (1303)  learning skill for open distance learners  the benefits of internet to student and the detrimental effects of the internet on students prepared by: muhammad afeeq bin abd latif matric number: 921125065059001 i/c number: 921125-06-5059 telephone number: 013-9664922 e-mail address: [email  protected] com tutor name: mr. ahmad izanee bin awang  learning centre:kuantan  Table of content Introduction1 The benefits of internet to student A tool to gain information2 Communication3 Online service3 Entertainment4 The detrimental effects of the Internet on students Web addiction5 Pornography6 Reduced physical activity7 Cyber crime8 suggestion9 reference 11 Introduction Nowadays, internet has become something very important to a student. For them, it can enormously help their studies. According to Allen B. Ury (2011), for doing high school or college research, Internet is an essential tool.We can find valuab le material on practically any subject within minutes if not seconds by skillfully using Internet search engines and subject directories. By knowing how to effectively search for and cite reputable Web sites can be an essential part of their academic success for those students who taking courses online. As mentioned by Rahul Pandita (2011), Internet has proved to be one of the most innovative inventions for us. It has made its presence felt in every sphere of our life, be it economy, society, health care, spirituality, etc.Prominent among its benefits is the impact it has had on the education sector. Rahul Pandita (2011) also said that students can now gain access to innumerable research papers, apart from getting latest updates in the field of science, technology and almost everything in conjuction of education. But as they say, â€Å"With great power comes great responsibility†, Internet has created new challenges for the society and most threatening among these is the impa ct it has had on student and children. Young people love to use computers rather than read a book.Web pages  are much more up-to-date than old text books that were previously used for studying, so not only is the information accurate, but it is also designed to engage  students  in a way that they find entertaining. The Internet also allows  students  to research and learn about topics that would previously be unknown to them due to lack of resources. Some schools do not  provide  every single book on a specific subject, but with the Internet, the learning possibilities are limitless, everything is just in their finger tips.The purpose of this task is to discuss about â€Å"The benefits and detrimental effects of Internet on students†. The benefits of internet to student There a few of benefits of internet toward the student : i. A tool to gain information. These days, student’s life without internet is very difficult. They do a lot of work by using the i nternet especially in searching for information. This is because, gaining information from internet is much more easier than those old books, it can shorten our time. Get online information is the freest way in the world.Nowadays, people need to understand more and more. They want to know the newest news. According to Jayashree Parhare (2011), any kind of information is available on the internet as long as on it is any topic under the sun is. It can be done by using the search engines such as Google, Yahoo are at your service on the internet. There is huge amount of information available on the Internet for just about every subject known to man, ranging from government law and services, trade fair and conference, market information, new ideas and technical support, the list is simply endless.According to Ashwini Ambekar (2008), students can use this wealth of information to learn new things about the subjects they are interested in and for their school projects or research and it is particularly relevant. In addition, this internet is a blessing for many schools and universities that are now able to accede projects and work to the students and follow their progress which is can be easily posted on the school or university websites So, since internet provides almost everything, students can use it to help them or to make their work easier on doing research or looking for any information. i. Communication. Communication is very important to a student, and internet one of the way that make student’s communication easier and faster. As a student, they need to see their lecturers, send or submit their task and assignment by hand, call someone by using cellphone which is wasting their money, time and energy. With internet has opened up new avenues for communication, according to Ashwini Ambekar (2008), email facility let people to communicate with somebody with minimum wastage of time.As Matt Remley (2010) said in his article, It is now possible to send an in stant message and also voice messaging to any part of the world through a simple email address and the message is delivered in a matter of seconds. According to Stephen Cook (2008), by using the Internet, there are many type of ways that people can get connected with one another. For examples, email, chat, forums, social networking sites, and real-time  video chat websites. Stephen Cook (2008) also mentioned that the Internet is truly spectacular in how it allows us to get in touch with one another which is you can easily talk to anybody on the other side of the world.With this kind of facilities, students will have more time to do other works rather than finish their time on something that can waste their time. iii. Online services. Online service is one of the greatest benefit of internet towards the student. It can make student’s life easier. There are many types of online services, for example online shopping, online banking and others. Online banking is very useful, ac cording to Edward James (2010), you can access your account within 5 minutes, make a payment, request a cheque book.It is not only for those who doing businesses only, but also to anybody who has an account saving. Furthermore, we can set up direct debits and standing orders, cancel direct debits and standing orders, view historic statements. The list is endless. The best part of it is according to Cody Hodge (2010), when you do your banking online, you are going to skip the drive and just get a phone call after submitting a query to the bank. What sounds easier to you is we don’t have to wasting our lunch hour to go to the bank.Next, according to Ram Gupta (2012) in his article, when online shopping was introduced, shoppers feel that involving themselves in it is a risky affair and uncomfortable to reveal their personal information such as credit cards details. But today, things have change and shoppers became confident to use it and get anything under the sun after realize the benefit of it especially to students. There are a few advantages of online shopping according to Mansi Chitranshi  (2009), online services give you variety of choice and also offers us an extensive range of selection.Not only that, but it also available for 24 hours a day which lets you shop anytime, this is very meaningful to student since time is very precious to them. Last but not lease, Mansi Chitranshi (2009) also said that you can find radically lower prices and cheapest deals with online purchasing. iv. Entertainment According to Kaiz Karen (2009), on internet we can search all types of entertainment from watching films to playing games online. Almost anyone can find the right kind of entertainment for themselves according to their taste. When people surf the internet, there are numerous things that can be found on it.Start from music, hobbies, news and more can be found and shared on the Internet. The best part of it which is love by the students is there are numerous games that can be downloaded from the Internet for free without any charge at any time. As Vibhuti Arora (2006) said we can read those funny e-mails from friends or that have been provided by the internet. Not only that, but you can make all your friends around the world laugh. Even if you are not good at cracking jokes, you can simply download them from the internet and forward them to your friends.This kind of entertainment is important to a student. The detrimental effects of the Internet on students i. Web Addiction. Many students find that internet help them a lot in conjunction of helping them to make their learning easier or use it as a tool to find some information. But without noticing, they are actually wasting their time. According to Joanna, Melinda smith and Lawrence Robinson (2012) in their article, people who in unpleasant feelings such as stress, loneliness, depression, and anxiety, they will turn to the internet just to make them feel better.Joanna, et al. 2012) als o stated that the Internet can be an easily accessible outlet when you have a bad day and or to quickly relieve stress or self-soothe or are looking for a way to escape your problems. Losing yourself online can temporarily make feelings such as loneliness, stress, anxiety, depression, and boredom evaporate into thin air and it will definitely drag your time. Lately, internet has provided many social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs and others. This kind of social networks can drag student’s time a lot because when we sign-in into it, they will get stuck on it.According to Jane Demerica (2009), many people that sign up for the internet find themselves spending endless hours chatting, surfing or â€Å"pimping out† their social networks page. This is an unhealthy addiction and you should probably force yourself to get out of the chair and walk away for a few hours. According to Abhijit Naik (2011) in his article about Facebook addiction, facebook provide new friends, games, event plans and many more. While all these activities are enjoyable, you will forget that you have an actual life to live at times you get so used to them.The time you forget about the fact and start spending your precious time on online, then neglecting yourself as well as people around you, and that mean you are now suffering from this addiction disorder without you notice it. Jane Demerica (2009) also said that, This kind of behavior will disorganize student’s life especially on their schedule. This can lead to unhealthy life for example they will late for their meals which is very important to them, they will be fibrous or not-well taken care because they are too busy with the internet.Last but not lease, as mentioned by Deepa Kartha (2010), student are going ignore their study and it can lead to poor performance at university. ii. Pornography. Jayashree Pakhare said in his article that â€Å"pornography is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of interne t. It allows you to access and download millions of pornography photos, videos and other X-rated stuff. Such unrestricted access to porn can be detrimental for children and teenagers. It can even play a havoc in marital and social lives of adults especially to students† (2011).Studies have shown that almost every men and most women have been exposed to pornography as told by Lifesitenew. com (2002). According to Elisbeth Deffner (n. d. ), there were plenty of opportunities for people to view pornographic images or read pornographic material before the Internet became so prevalent which from videos, magazines, and books. But as for now, people can easily access pornographic Web sites in the privacy of their own homes. It’s part of a larger issue called â€Å"sexual addiction,† which is â€Å"any kind of sexual behavior that a person continues to engage in despite negative consequences† says Dr.Omar Minwalla, the clinical supervisor at the Sexual Recovery In stitute in Los Angeles. Pornography is like drugs, once we get use to it, we will definitely get addicted by it and for sure will give many disadvantages toward the students. According to Joanna, et al. (2012), students can adversely affect real-life relationships, career, and emotional health by compulsively spending hours on the Internet viewing pornography or engaging in other cybersex activities. It could increase the percentage of misbehavior and these leads to adultery, free sex, and even worst child abandonment.As mention by Rahul Pandita (2011), it can cause them to became either sexually-deviant or sexually-addictive, these phenomenon also course the increase of prevalence sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers especially to a student. He also mentioned that the pornography that is present on the Internet promotes irresponsible sex and creates false notions in the minds of students. According to Stephen Rampur (n. d. ), Individuals who are addicted to this type are m ostly teenagers and youngsters. It can have an adverse effect on a child's attitude towards relationships.People who are addicted to online pornography spend hours watching or downloading porn. iii. Reduced Physical Activity According to Rahul Pandita (2011), since internet provides a lot of games and available to play, it has made most student to shut all outdoor activity. If students are lack of physical activity, they can easily fall prey to a lot of lifestyle related diseases for example obesity, apart from failing to develop interpersonal skills. Rahul Pandita (2011) also mentioned that by sitting continuously in front of a computer screen fot couple of hours can seriously and put a strain on our neck and shoulders and damage our eyes.These factors can create life-long problems for them. As Leena Palande (2011) said, when students are busy with the internet, they will definitely lack of exercise and it is the main morbid obesity causes. student spend most of their time in front of the the computer playing video games or computer games and chat day and night, surfing on the Internet which can lead to possibility of gaining weight. Leena Palande (2011) also mentioned, not only student, Even adults also have to spend most of their time in front of a computer, since computers have become an invariable part of every profession, business, organization and education.Use of machines in every field has reduced physical activity significantly. According to Vinci rufus (n. d. ), students are tent to spend a couple of hours in front of the monitor non-stop and not going out could also cause social problems, the most bad part of it,it will make us shy and introvert. Those who stuck to their machines all day aren't getting any exercise. As such their bodies start to be fail, especially when they opt for quick-fix meals that aren't terribly nutritious. This extends to personal hygiene, as well, as we tend not to notice our own stink, said by Matt Bird (2009). v. Cyber-c rime Cyber or internet crime can affect students’ life. There has never been a set in stone definition of cybercrime. According to Charlotte Raynor Piiggush (2008), the easiest way to difine cybercrime is any illegal activity done through or by using the internet or on the computer. Uttara Manohar (2011) also defined in his article that internet crime is a recently escalating form of crime that started with the rise of the Internet era. Any criminal activities, which is carried out through the Internet or by means of the Internet, is generally termed as Internet crime.According to Uttara Manohar (2011), there are a few types of internet crime. Here is the example of the criminal activity that indirectly can make students life chaotic. First is hacking, hacking is a process where someone attempts to exploit the security settings of a computer system is known as hacking. The hackers can hack into several websites or personal accounts and threaten the security on the Internet. E very day, students are expose to it, email to a student is a must. Sometimes, by using email is one of the way of hacking. According to M. J.Joachim (2010), Hackers use email addresses to change computer codes, often sending out messages with attachments that read and detect personal information, this always happen to students when are transferring things like bank account numbers, passwords and all sorts of personal information that they use for their own purposes. It is not uncommon for hackers to change passwords of their victim’s private Internet accountssuch as facebook account, email and others, making it impossible for victims to access their own information, simply by obtaining an email address from their prey.Another cyber crime is viruses. As mentioned by Shashank Nakate (2012), These are computer programs which have the potential to harm and give damage to a computer system. According to M. J. Joachim (2010) also said viruses cause millions of dollars in damage, lo st data and computer contamination each year. A simple email address is all it takes for savvy cyber criminals to implant dangerous viruses and spread them throughout the Internet. Suggestion Eventhough internet gives us a lot of pleasure and make our life easier, but there will always the side effect of it.If we did not monitor it properly and carefully, it will definitely make us suffer one day and then give damages to our life especially to a student. Since students is one of the biggest user of internet, they are the person who easily receive the impact. Thus, it is very important to them to know how to cope and avoid these problem. Here is some suggestion on how to combat it. i. Internet addiction One of the biggest problem of internet is web addiction. Internet can drag our time unnoticeable.As mentioned by Elizabeth Hartney (2011), one of the way is by knowing the symptoms of Internet addiction. Knowledge is the greatest thing, and knowing all the symptoms of internet addicti on will make you to evaluate your own online behavior and be aware of any symptoms that might be dragging your time. Elizabeth Hartney (2011) also emphasize to monitor your own internet usage and behavior. keep track of your internet behavior with my internet tracking form. Use the guidelines that come with it to evaluate your own internet behavior, not what you see or believe other students are doing.Drea Christopher (2010) propose to learn to limit your time carefully by keeping a timer by the computer and only allow yourself a limited amount of hours to spend on the Internet each day or week. ii. Pornography Since porn becoming more easily available through the Internet, some people may struggle with an addiction to it. So, it is very important to student to avoid it because if they continue with it, it will ruin their physical and also health. According to Katy Linsao, et al (2012) there are a few step on how to avoid it. First, make sure that you know that you are an addict.The n, find something else to do to occupy your time and mind, it is because you will not think about porn. You can manage it by going somewhere or spend time with friends. Katy et. Al. (2012) also mentioned, the best part of it is by find a support group or get qualified therapist who can provide guidance. According to Abdul Malik (2011), make sure that you are surfing web when others are around. iii. Reduced Physical Activity Since students relay so much on internet, they are tent to spend a lot of time with. Without noticing that they are actually wasting their time.But, the bad part of it is it can affect student physical problems or health. So it is very important to them to avoid it so because prevent is better that cure. There are many ways to overcome it. First, get yourself busy with other activties rather than finish your time on the internet, such as going for a movie with your friend, sports and others. Socializing is very important. The most important of it is, get some exe rcise to make yourself fit or get sweet. You also can have a hobby such as playing football, badminton, swimming and others.With it, it will divert your attraction from internet. Because if we spend continuously on the internet, we might get obesity. iv. Cyber crime Many students involve in internet crime and it affect them very much. They can take measures to decrease their risk of becoming the victim of cybercrime by adhering to a few simple Internet usage ways of rules. First, you must always remember to log off and shut down your computers when they are not being used. Cyber criminals often scan networks searching for â€Å"always on† computers, which they consider readily accessible and unattended targets.By minimizing the amount of time computers are powered on and connected to the Internet, people can reduce their vulnerability to hacking attacks. (Scot Huntsberry 2012) Next, Scot Huntsberry (2012) mentioned that users have to install and maintain both antivirus and fi rewall programs. These applications serve as a first line of defence against viruses and other malicious computer programs designed to circumvent security features within computers’ operating systems.Additionally, operating system developers regularly release updates or â€Å"patches. To increase your computer’s security, you should install these updates as soon as they become available in order to avoid cyber crime. users should never open or download email attachments from unknown senders because cyber criminals frequently disguise malicious software as images or documents attached to email messages. ( 3327 words )Reference 1. Abhijit Naik, (2011). Facebook Addiction. [Online]. Available: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/facebook-addiction. html 2. Abdul Malik Mujahid (2011). 29 Tips for teen on how to handle Pornography. [Online]. Available: http://www. oundvision. com/info/life/porn/15tips. asp 3. Allen B. Ury, (2009). How To Do Research On The Internet. [Online]. Available: http://news. everestonline. edu/post/2009/07/research-on-the-internet 4. Ashwini Ambekar, (2008). Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet. [Online]. Available: http://www. articleswave. com/computer-articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-the-internet. html 5. 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Available: http://www. helium. com/items/1357121-negative-effects-of-the-internet 12. Joanna Saisan, et al. (2012). Internet and Computer Addiction. [Online]. Available: http://www. helpguide. org/mental/internet_cybersex_addiction. htm 13. Katy Linsao et. Al. (2012). How to deal with porn addiction. [Online]. Available: http://www. wikihow. com/Deal-With-Porn-Addiction 14. Leena Palande, (2011).Morbid Obesity Causes. [Online]. Available: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/morbid-obesity-causes. html 15. Elisabeth Deffner (n. d. ). The Pornography Problem. [Online]. Available: http://www. listenmagazine. org/article/37/archive/the-pornography-problem 16. Lifesitenews. com, (2002). Study Proves â€Å"Pornogra phy Is Harmful†. [Online]. Available: http://www. lifesitenews. com/news/archive//ldn/2002/mar/02031203 17. Matt Bird, (2009). Negative effect of the Internet. [Online]. Available: http://www. helium. com/items/1494952-negative-effects-of-the-internet 18. 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Animal rights and non-western views Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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CLOUD COMPUTING Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

CLOUD COMPUTING - Research Paper Example Mork et al. (2011:13) say that â€Å"cloud computing should be distributed and interactively accessible as it provides interoperability between the new and legacy technologies† Cloud computing is technollogy that utilizes the central remote servers and the internet to mantain applications and data. Cloud computing makes it possible for businesses and consumers to use aplications without the accesss and installation of their files using any computer that is connected to the internet. Therefore, it this technology permits for a more efficient computing by centralizing, data storage, and bandwidth. As the potential benefits of cloud computing are many, they are faced with numerous legal, proffesional, and ethical issues. The paper will discuss how cloud computing has impacted on the legal, social and proffesional spheres with regard to storage and transformation of data and inforrmation. The main objective of cloud computing has been to apply the high performance computimg power mostly used in research, health and military facilities to perform trillions of computations in a second, in consumer oriented apllications, and to deliver personalised information. This infrastructure of shared IT consists of a large pool of sytems that are interlinked. This creates legal and ethical isssues within the cloud (Buyya, Broberg, & Goscinski, 2010:23-26). Discussion As highlighted earlier, cloud computing is a type of technology that utilizes the internet and one remote server so as mantain data and different applications. This makes it a very young concept that is yet to be embraced by the global workforce. Cloud computing provides a cost effective IT resource as the cost on demand IT based on the actual customer’s usage. As a result of the rapid growth, numerous companies have been unable to handle their IT requirement even after having a data center that was inhouse. The usage of cloud services helps to enhance the IT capabilities without investing huge amount s in the new datacenters. As a consequence, this tpye of technology aids companies with an efficient way of computing by centralizing processing, memory, bandwidth, and storage. To show that cloud computing has began having mass appeal in the corporate data centers, it has enabled the data centers to operate on a similar internet through the process of enabling the computing process of computing resources to be shared and accessed as virtual resources in scalable and secure manner. Unlike showing proffesionalism, this virtualization is a compromise to security and ethical issues. Ethical issues are not separable with cloud computing. The major areas of concern are resource/stoarage virtualization, scalability and elasticity, usage optimization, ease of usage, fast information sharing delivery, and control, accessibility, and anonymity. The first ethical issue is privacy. The concern with regard to privacy is that the service providers of cloud have total control over the data and co mmunication stored between user and the host company (Racoma, 2012). This is attributed to the fact that service providers have complete over the data the are storing, and as a conseqence, they are responsible for a lot of private information and data. Once this is out of reach of the users, the fear is that it can be utilised for purposes the user doess not desire. As such, of late there have a push by the privacy advocates for a higher level of transparency from the

Various lit 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Various lit 2 - Essay Example It aimed at educating the children, teaching them morality and assisting them in socialization. The web article entitled Religion, Childrens Literature and Modernity in Europe gives a clear idea about the relevance of religion, the role played by it and the influence it exerted in children’s literature. It says: â€Å"The development of childrens literature reveals a complex pattern of development in its relation to modernity and religion.† (Religion, Children’s Literature and Modernity in Europe). The debut occurrence of the new genre that is children’s literature was in German English and French; and they were circulated widely in Latin countries through translations between 1780s and 1850s. Most of them were conceived with religious values and morality of the old regime. â€Å"When describing the history of books for children, decorated medieval manuscripts and illustrated early printed books are generally considered the precursors of the form.† (Historical Children’s Literature Collection). Gradually the church had to control the production of educational books at the time but the enlightenment which followed French revolution contested this order of affairs. Initially it was religion which dominated but gradually its power both in content and editorial system began to decline. The real character of the national children’s literature emerged, making distance from religion during the period from 1880 to 1950. However, preserving some solid positions of power, the religious establishment elaborated the strategies of adaptations. But later on the moral and religious consensus collapsed and religion became more discrete. Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on 2 March 1904 on Howard Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is better known by his pen name Dr. Seuss. After graduation from Dartmouth College in 1925 he proceeded to Oxford University setting the goal of acquiring a doctoral degree in literature. After returning from Europe in 1927 he

Writing assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Writing - Assignment Example The variables used are time in years against the cars, either cars or light trucks. Further analysis is done on the effect of the car sales to fuel sales at the pump. A graph of fuel is drawn, showing the weekly retail price per gallon. The graph changes from week to week and is directly affected by the number as well as the type of the cars sold (The Wall Street Journal, Para 1). Figure 2.Source: Gold, WSJ research, Global oil glut send prices plunging, October 14, 2014. Gold, Russel. "Global Oil Glut Sends Prices Plunging." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. . In the graph above, a graph is used to illustrate the changes of prices of oil in the different months. Numbers are used to represent the sales in million dollars against the months of the year, and that is from the beginning of June to the end of October (Gold para 1). The graph shows how the fall in the prices of oil affects the output. The low oil prices will serve as an incentive for producers, resulting in high production. Figure 3. Source: Source: Gold, WSJ research, Global oil glut send prices plunging, October 14, 2014. Gold, Russel. "Global Oil Glut Sends Prices Plunging." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. . The graph above shows illustrates the sale petroleum by different oil companies. The sale is represented in percentages starting with the one having the highest percentage to the one with the lowest. This allows easy interpretation of the graph, from the complexity of large numbers involved (Gold para 3). Figure 4: Source: Madigan, Kathleen. "A New Way to Track the Ecnomy." WALL STREET JOURNAL. Dow Jones & Company, 26 Nov. 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.

Wind Moment design analysis Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Wind Moment design analysis - Statistics Project Example To counteract this old technological view, wind moments or wind connections remain as the only simple method design for multipurpose frames. Though developed earlier, the design was initially developed to compensate for the wind loads while the preferred connection method was by angles, bolting or/and small T-stab sections this were used to carry the column flanges and the bam flanges.Wind moment apply to row rise frames of to four or less. The method assume that when structure are subject to wind loads. The connections behave normally as rigid joints (figure1) and that under vertical loads, the connections act normally simple connections; figure 2.Designer view this deign as having more advantage as compared to the conventional design grades.   They are simple and suitable for manual calculations. The frames of the structure are taken to be statically determinate. Internal forces and moments are not depended on the relative stiffness of the individual structural members. In constr uctions, this methodological design is relatively simple of the steelwork in comparison to full rigid construction. It has been determined that the steelwork contractors are always concerned with making steel work connections in the workshops. This increases the cost of construction by as high as 50% of the total cost of the completely erected work. With the wind moment design, the connections are simplified and thus reduced fabrication input.   This has a notable reduction in the total cost of steel frame erection. 1.2.  Connections

Deception in the investigative, interrogation, and testimonial Essay

Deception in the investigative, interrogation, and testimonial processes - Essay Example The fact is that the law often supports police detection, although police action is limited without an arrest or search warrant. The police conduct detection within a contradictory moral order wherein certain fidelities fuse with certain betrayals (Skotnick). The detection process has three stages and deception can and does occur in any or all of these (Skotnick, 1985). These are investigation, interrogation and testimony. Within the policeman's broad moral cognition, the acceptability of deception depends on the level of criminal process: It is most acceptable to the police and the courts at the investigation stage, less during interrogation and least at the testimonial stage in the courtroom. Increasingly stringent normative constrains account for the differences among the levels and stages. Courtroom testimony is given under oath, whereby witnesses sweat to tell only the truth and nothing but the truth. It is the norm to accept that a witness is telling the truth in court. Courtroom lying violates the basic justice system, which all the parties are assumed to uphold. A policeman who lies in the courtroom can work his way out of his predicament by insisting that judicial interpretations of his limitations can get on the way of his abil ity of performing his job. This appears to be true within the context of the forces, which operate within the investigative stage of an adversary system, wherein the end justifies the means. The policeman seems to have the "privilege" of lying to get to the truth in achieving justice through due process (Skotnick). It may be quaint and a contradiction of values and norms but it is also factual that police freely admit to deceiving suspects and defendants to catch them, yet lying policemen and detectives do not admit to committing perjury (Skotnick, 1985). Perjury is as systematic as police work and police know among themselves that they perjure as a norm rather than as an individual error. A study, conducted by Columbia law students on the effect of Mapp v. Ohio on police practices in New York City, on certain search and seizure cases showed that uniformed police fabricated grounds for arrest in narcotics cases in meeting the requirements of Mapp. This does not justify but only explains how police who falsely witness justify the practice for the sake of greater persuasiveness. They resort to lying as routine of shaking themselves out of a predicament or helping one another out of it and because of a skeptical attitude towards a system, which is disinclined towards the truth that would be favor able to the criminal. The law allows a policeman to lie during the investigative stage but forbids it during the testimonial stage in the courtroom where and when he is certain of the guilt of the suspect, unlike during the investigative stage. The lying policeman puts more value on a short-term objective of suppressing evidence than on the long-term principle of due process in protecting the dignity of the accused. The policeman's pursuit is to legitimize the evidence he presents rather than weigh and analyze its sufficiency. He is merely after complying with the arrest laws, although this compliance often involves manipulation

To combat poverty and increase growth in the worlds poorest countries Essay

To combat poverty and increase growth in the worlds poorest countries policy makers need to focus on decreasing world income inequality - Essay Example In the second section I will be dealing with the effectiveness of the policies in reduction of poverty and growth of economy in poor countries. I agree with the statement because, income inequality affects a country’s economy; which comes as a result of poverty in the society. Research done shows that income inequality is reflected in high relation to income poverty rates. Income inequality has also been linked with health problems. This is because income inequality is associated with many issues that affect the health of children adversely (Wilkinson 1996). Many health problems are also associated with the amount of income people earn. In a psychological interpretation, the health status of person affects their income and thus if one is unhealthy, there is a possibility of low income. Income inequality is also associated with mental illness. People with poor living standards are at higher risks of physical and mental illnesses as a result of stress and lack of balanced diet. According to Wainwright (72-69) to help in fighting poverty, equal distribution of income, developments in social and economic environments mus t be looked into. Income inequality affects the economy in ways and it leads to inflation too. It is therefore necessary for the government and the citizen to come up with policies to help curb income inequality which has lead to poverty in the society mostly affecting the poor countries. To combat poverty and economic discrimination, there has to be application of polices that are made and implemented by the society with total assistance by all sectors of the government. The implemented policies should enhance and promote equal opportunities and offer access to basic social services, strengthen collective and individual participation and responsibility in the fight against poverty, establish specific

People Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

People Management - Assignment Example The goals that she is being provided does not match that of the organization and hence leading to more frustrations. All her tasks have become second nature and it is no longer challenging to her which is impacting negatively on her career. Peter can improve this situation by developing new performance goals together with Anne. This will provide Anne with an opportunity to make her own contributions with regards to her roles while considering the organizational goals. On the other hand, Peter should provide Anne with the training opportunity that she requires. This will play an essential role in ensuring that she is motivated. Peter should also consult Anne from time to time so as to make her feel that she is part of the company. All her ideas should be taken seriously and she should be used by peter for the growth of the organization. More challenging tasks should be provided to Anne by Peter for the purposes of ensuring that she is motivated. Making the employees feel that they are part of the company is important in ensuring that they are motivated. HR department should provide Peter with training on how to relate with the employees. The training will play an essential role in ensuring that he is able to develop a healthy working relationship with Anne. The HR department can also provide Peter with training on employee motivation. This is for the purposes of ensuring that he is able to understand the importance of motivating the employees (Mandip, 2012). The HR can also be involved in providing advice to Peter regarding the performance management and review process. Adequate resources should also be allocated to Peter by the HR in order to support him in the process of acquisition of knowledge and skills. The HR can therefore play an important role in ensuring that Peter is able to improve on the situation facing him. Peter should stop using the old and inconsistent performance

Jehovah’s Witnesses Essay Example for Free

Jehovah’s Witnesses Essay They do this because they consider it an honor to spread the word of god. Their religious practices are generally similar to others they worship God, pray to him, and think that all things good come from him. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God can not lie therefore what the bible says will come true and earth will someday be cleansed of all the â€Å"wickedness†. In addition, most religions do some kind of baptizing when a child is young however, Jehovah’s Witnesses only baptise those who want to serve as a Jehovah’s Witness. * * Jehovah’s Witnesses have contributed to American Culture in many ways. For instance, they help with education, disaster relief, and parenting. They contribute in many ways and are modest about the history in the making. Jahovah’s Witnesses set out to help people become law abiding citizens that do right by God. They have also won many court battles about religious freedom issues. Other groups that do not have the same beliefs have discriminated against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been treated poorly or even been victims of violent crimes. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been shunned in many different areas of the world. For instance; in France (2006) the government branded them as dangerous and 71 kingdom halls were burned, firebombed, shot at, and vandalized. In India (2006) door to door Jehovah’s Witnesses were attacked and beaten with fence posts. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were charged with inciting the violence. The sources of this discrimination and prejudice came from governments as well as general population. What I have learned about this religion helps me understand it just as well as I understand any religion. Jahovah’s Witnesses are fighting for what they believe in just as many of us are. They are no different accept their beliefs differ from others. Jahovah’s Witnesses deserve to believe what they want to believe in. Everyone needs to believe in something and they should not be treated differently because the way they practice is not the same as everyone else. Racial/ethnic group: Hispanic and Latino * * Hispanic and Latino culture is different in many ways. Some of these differences include skin color, language, and physical features. Many Hispanic and Latinos speak Spanish and their second language is English. Their culture is defferent in the sense that they try to avoid standing out in their own groups. In addition, Hispanic and Latino children are raised to have a deep connection with family. This group many times has a strong bond with all family including Aunts Uncles, and Grandparents, many times these family members live in the same household or near by. * * Hispanic and Latinos have been treated poorly similar to any other racial group. The efforts to increase border patrol on the Mexican American border have done nothing but increase prejudice and discrimination against Hispanic and Latino people. There have even been reports that women and children are treated poorly as well. Here in Tucson Az. for instance we hear many reports about the border patrol having to work over time to keep them out. Someday I feel it will all come crashing down and anyone who tried to keep them out will have to pay for that in some way shape or form. Hispanics and Latinos should not be told they can not come to the US. Many of them say that the US has better opportunitys and that is why they want to be here. If we can help other countrys organize then why not Mexico as well. Hispanic and Latinos have highly influenced American culture. First and foremost the food thay they showed us is popular all over the world. Tortillas, burritos, chimichangas, and many other dishes that are simply delicious. In addition, the music they have introduced us to has definitely spiced things up in many clubs all over the U. S. Also many students are now required to complete spanish as a second language in school, which at first may have been frowned upon but now is embraced by most parents and students. Some discrimination that Hispanic and Latinos deal with still today is the difficulty to get good paying jobs. Because many of them do not speak english well and have little to no education the jobs they get are in most cases low wage high labor jobs. The sources of this prejudice and discrimination is employers as well as general population. Hispanics and Latinos are looked upon as different especially if they were not born in the US. In addition, in many films Hispanics are often prtrayed as lazy, hyper-sexual, or violent which is simply untrue and not very different from any other ethnic group. What I have learned about this racial and ethnic group does help me understand it. I have never understood why so many of them live under the same roof and now I understand it is because their family is close. In addition, now I know that it is the lack of education the prevents them from getting higher paying jobs and maybe not so much that they are different. The prejedice between my selected racial and ethnic group is similar because it is all in the same category. Prejedice and discrimination is all a way of making a person or a group feel inadequate and that they do not belong. Regardless of the way Jahovah’s wittnesses were beaten and harrassed or the way the Hispanic and Latinos have been cast out and told they are not welcome in the US it is all wrong and should not be tolerated. In conclusion, discrimination comes in all shapes and sizes and can happen to anyone. Jahovah’s Witnesses References: Reference: http://www. jw. org/en/publications/magazines/g201008/what-do-jehovahs-witnesses-believe/ Reference: http://www. knocking. org/ReligiousPersecutionReport. html Reference: http://www. jw-media. org/aboutjw/article44. htm Reference: http://wiki. answers. com/Q/How_have_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_contributed_to_American_culture Hispanic and Latino Reference: Reference: http://www. coedu. usf. edu/zalaquett/hoy/culture. html Reference:

Voter Turnout in Mauritius

Voter Turnout in Mauritius OVERVIEW OF MAURITIUS Mauritius is reflected as one of the best-governed, most established and prosperous African countries. It is an autonomous state that has supported the development of its people since independence in 1968. In general, the government of Mauritius has achieved the economy soundly, with relative fiscal transparency, good facility of education, sanitation, water and health services (EISA, 2008). The Mauritian Constitution’s main features comprise the rule of law and strict separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary. The country has succeeded its ethnic, religious and cultural diversity with maturity and tolerance. The animated business climate has been favorable to investment, with refined financial and communications infrastructure. Compared to other African countries, as well as many developing and developed countries across a range of governance measures, Mauritius appears at or near the top of the rankings. Mauritius has been continually a Dutch, Portuguese, French and British colony. It became self-governing of Great Britain on 12 March 1968 and granted to the position of Republic inside the Commonwealth on 12 March 1992. While many countries can express of their freedom by means of being powered by pro-self-government sentimentality, Mauritius experienced a changed situation altogether: no nationalist sentiment happened in Mauritius. Anti-colonial feelings were articulated by the Hindu majority but large divisions of the added ethno-religious crowds favored to uphold bonds with the mother nation. Mauritius was allocated as given its way towards independence: 44% of the inhabitants voted in contradiction of independence, but independence was lastly approved to Mauritius in 1968. The Constitution of independent Mauritius demonstrated after the Westminster system, is the â€Å"bedrock of Mauritian democracy† (Mohamed Bhai, 2002). Critics have pointed out that contribution of the p ublic in the political process at regional, local and national levels flinches and finishes at the election booth on polling day. In spite of the strains and clashes preceding independence and terror of the large ‘Hindu hegemony’, Mauritius has never industrialized a ‘bullet’ culture, embracing instead a culture of the ‘ballot’. Post-independent Mauritius has had a reasonably sound track record of holding free and fair general elections since independence deprived of any major contestations. Elections have been held in 1976, 1982, 1993, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2005. Procedures before, during and after elections are well valued by all political parties. It is imperative to note, that there has existed a ‘problem’ of incumbency whereby the ruling party has made use of its unfair access to the state media and other capitals. Voter turnout throughout general elections inclines to be relatively high – 81.5 % for the 2005 general election (see the table 3.1.) – But there is a scarcity of study in the country regarding voting patterns and behavior. Studies in the broad field of political science are missing and research on the gender width of politics is even smaller. Table 3.1. Voter Turnout: 1976-2014 Year The year the election took place or a law was passed Voter Turn ­out Total vote Regi ­Ã‚ ­stration VAP Turn ­out Voting age popu ­Ã‚ ­lation Popu ­lation 2014 74.41% 697,231 936,975 71.23% 978,887 1,331,155 2010 77.82% 684,768 879,897 72.63% 942,840 1,213,000 2005 81.25% 664,081 817,356 75.34% 881,457 1,242,821 2000 80.87% 630,292 779,433 79.57% 792,125 1,174,772 1995 79.69% 567,810 712,513 77.09% 736,560 1,116,000 1991 84.08% 573,419 682,000 82.45% 695,500 1,070,000 1987 85.00% 543,565 639,488 84.63% 642,320 1,036,000 1983 87.04% 470,008 540,000 77.04% 610,080 992,000 1982 90% 486,000 540,000 91.46% 531,360 984,000 1976 400,486 84.43% 474,350 894,000 Source: http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=MU There is freedom of association which permits political parties to function without restrictions. But, every political party must be recorded with the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) at least 14 days prior to the nomination of its candidates at any general election. Mauritius marks 1 for political rights and 2 for civil liberties on the Freedom House Index, giving it an average of 1.5, and organizing the country in the ‘free’ group. The Freedom House Index of 1 for political rights reproduces the general freedom of rights and association for all political parties as well as the unrestricted general rights to vote afforded all Mauritian citizens irrespective of race, color, creed and gender. The inferior score for civil liberties designates that there are some restrictions in the country, and more work necessities to be done to broaden the democratic space. For example, trade unions do not have the right to go on strike; they are presently requesting for the right to strike to be involved in the constitution. Democratic governance, this report claims, is not only about having regular and nonviolent alternation of parties through elections that are managed by an well-organized institutional framework accepted across a broad range, it is also about political parties evaluating and accepting the needs of the people and determining and framing policies that respond to those needs. In short, self-governing governance is about economic and social engineering that affords for sustainable human expansion. Although it is true that good actions of legitimacy comprise levels of voter participation, the tendency and enthusiasm of all stakeholders to accept results, and the commitment to participation by political parties, state legitimacy rest on the nature of state society relations, the kind of social contract that is in place, and the suitable illustration of all groups in government. Despite of all these, Mauritius is considered as a successful democracy in the African context. Storey (1997) has debated, though, that Mauritius is a business state where decisions on main issues are lashed outside Parliament, after bargaining between the state and various strong corporate bodies like trade unions, employersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ federation, socio-religious bodies, sociocultural clusters, and so on. The annual compensation rate to employees has remained for long the result of tripartite negotiations between the state, employers and trade union federations. Reform of education concerning the addition of oriental languages for the Primary School Certificate was debated and negotiated between the State (Ministry of Education), religious bodies and other stakeholders. As far as administrative decisions are concerned, government accesses stakeholders and civil society in general, not only over the budget, but also in the outlining of various legislations. Ad hoc consultative co mmittees connecting different partners are at times set up. As for the implementation of policy, NGOs do have representatives on boards of parastatal or statutory bodies, whereby they are intended to be the relay between organized civil society and the implementation body/agency. According to the EISA Report (2008), the civil society is rather dynamic in Mauritius nevertheless organised civil society appointment with parliament is weak. However, Bunwaree (2007) further claims that, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process in Mauritius has been nearly a disastrous one and this may be the best illustration of the softness of the Mauritian organised civil society. On one hand many speak of a lively civil society in Mauritius, while on the other hand the realism is that the country’s civil society organisations are legitimately apathetic with little popular debate (Bunwaree, 2007). Though, civil society has two gadgets to cooperate directly with parliament namely by way of petition and by way of bills supported through a member of parliament. Dukhira (2002) emphasizes that the two vital partners to bring about good governance are government (meaning all state actors such as central government, the civil service and other public authorities) and all the citizens of the country. He assumes that: â€Å"The responsibility devolves on Government, the civil service and the police to achieve social and economic goals, ensure peace and order, exercise authority and enforce laws†. He also adds: â€Å"Participation and citizen involvement should not be mere slogans. (†¦) Nor is participation an end in itself. It is vital to the effective delivery of services and to further democracy. † Moreover, representation and consultation happen in governmental and other public or semipublic institutions that touch groups or the whole population is a fact. Those who are left out from the talks can still have the opportunity to express their views through the media, even though it is the latter which choose which voices are heard. However, the influence of the media to the vivacity of democracy in Mauritius cannot be underestimated. The right to prove also exists, just like the option to start a campaign to care or reject a public or private endeavor. It is thinkable for public gatherings to be organised by citizens and/or organisations to express a position or to voice complaints in contradiction of certain projects, issues, or decisions taken by the Authorities. Organisations are occasionally set up to protest alongside certain projects or issues, and they are now and then successful in making decision-makers review projects that are, for example, not environmentally-friendly (e.g. the case of Vallà ©e de Ferney). However, it is to be pointed out that, certain projects can be announced for political or monetary interests. In 2008, â€Å"Maurice Ile Durable† (MID) is a lengthy term vision set up by the current government, designed at upholding sustainable growth. The key thrust of MID is to create Mauritius a world model of sustainable expansion, chiefly in the background of small-island states. The defense of the environment and the social dimension of improvement are fundamental aspects of MID. At the heart of policy making is consultation with civil society. Since last year, the consultation process for the development of the National Policy for a Sustainable Mauritius has been propelled in guaranteeing that necessities and goals of the Mauritian society are reproduced in the White Paper, which will be submitted to the Cabinet. Several consultative conferences covering of exposed public meetings, special interest groups meetings (NGOs, private sector, women and youth organizations among others), assemblies with district and local government and consultation with the ministries were detained. This consultative process delivers a platform for the diverse stakeholders to contribute in the MID project. From time to time it can be as well too late for the public or any group to respond when decisions have not been made known – not only to the public, but occasionally also to organizations concerned. Information can be at times published in vague newspapers and accordingly, the information not recognized until it is too late to act or react. Even though certain decisions in use by the authorities might be correct, the lack of information, communication, and consultation not just concerning the public, nevertheless regarding current stakeholder bodies authorized for the very specific purpose, as well as experts, or peoples directly alarmed, leave an impression of absence of transparency and of democracy. Babooa (2008) placed specific importance on the role of citizen participation in Mauritius, more accurately in the city of Port Louis. According to him, Mauritian public administration in the colonial era was considered by privacy, restrictive actions and lack of access to information detained by policy-making and policy-implementation government organizations. During the colonial establishment the mainstream of the Mauritians, particularly women, did not have the right to vote and the chance to participate in Mauritian’s governance and administration stated Dukhira (1994). This state of affairs ran to human rights violations, abuse of power, an impassive culture and lack of access to any information concerning the making and implementation of policy alleged by the government institutions. The Mauritian governmental system had arose from a one-sided and â€Å"top-down† approach to policy-making. The impact of the colonial regime is still being touched particularly at th e Port Louis’ local government. If a persistent public boredom and public neglect to participative democracy continues, this could lead to the demise of Mauritian’s unexperienced democracy. The public acts as protectors to encounter the actions or inaction of policymakers and policy implementers. When public participation is ignored, one may see the abuse or misuse of administrative and political power. This was a collective feature in local authorities in Mauritius during the colonial â€Å"top-down† administration which was branded by confidentiality and preventive measures to bind the public from gaining access to and distributing information detained by local government in Mauritius (Dukhira 1994). Even today citizens are prohibited from getting access to information held by government establishments through the Official Secret Act, 1972 (Act 30 of 1972). The Port Louis’ local government looks the challenge of permitting access to public information regarding the making and implementation of policy. Moreover, Port Louis’ local government wishes to grow well-organized mechanisms for letting public participation in the making and implementation of policy. Local government is a perilous aspect of a reformed system of governance and hence its growth in the field of public participation is vital. Dukhira (1994) has distinguished a series of democratic shortages and threatening signs in the Mauritian government. These have been recognized in relative to the functioning of the Westminster model of open-minded democracy in Mauritius. Dukhira (1994) voiced a perspective on defies which exist menacing the survival of liberal democratic form. Certainly, it is claimed that the difficulties tackled by Port Louis’ local government are further compounded by the presence of various types of rigid and complex systems of rules, regulations, by-laws and administrative organizations. All these endow the public officials at Port Louis’ local government with wide optional powers which unfavorably disturb the citizens’ democratic right. A cautious and insensitive culture is also a direct danger to community growth. However, if public participation is well-known at the Port Louis’ local government, it will help retain the rulers responsible to the people and will avoid policy-makers from making policies which are disadvantageous to the general welfare of the community. It is indispensable to note that the ballot box is not sufficient to express the judgment of the citizens at the Port Louis’ local government, but it is also needy on the steady and constant interaction of the public with the creation and enactment of policy. The key objective of steering the background to the phenomenon of public participation was to articulate a clear problem declaration.

Strategic Decisions for Sustainable Competitive Advanatage

Strategic Decisions for Sustainable Competitive Advanatage Introduction Competitive Advantage According to Daft, strategy is the plan of action that allocates resources and activities and aims at dealing with the environment, achieving a competitive advantage and attaining the organisations goals. Competitive advantage refers to what sets the organisation apart from others and provides it with a distinctive edge for meeting customer needs in the marketplace (Daft 2006, p.274). The choice that will make the organisation different is the essence of formulating strategy (Porter 1996). In order to remain competitive, companies need to focus on core competencies, develop synergy and create value. According to Kotler, competitive advantage is a companys ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match (Kotler 2006, p.150). A competitive advantage is said to be sustainable when it has the means to edge out rivals when competing for the favours of customers (Porter 1980). Although sustainability is the ideal case for advantages, the most common competitive advantages are leverageable, which means that a company can use them as a catalyst to new ones. The competitive advantages that companies develop will fail if the costumers do not value them as important. Therefore companies must focus on building customer advantages. Porter argues that competitive advantage results from a organisations ability to perform the required activities at a collectively lower cost than rivals, or perform some activities in unique ways that create buyer value and hence allow the organisations to command a premium price (Porter 1991, p.102). This report will try to investigate the strategic decisions to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Four different theories will be examined: The SCP paradigm, Porters generic strategies, the resource-based approach and the core competences model. These theories, along with the the compliance and choice paradox will be tested through application in practice at the industry of gaming consoles. The SCP framework In the structure conduct performance (SCP) framework (Anonymous 2007), the way in which the organisation acts is determined by external forces in the industry (market or industrial structure). This school of thought argues that the structure of an industry will determine the strategies (conduct) and that this in turn will determine performance. Market structure: the degree of market concentration, product differentiation, barriers to entry and exit, vertical integration and diversification. Conduct: goals of the organisations, strategies, anti-competitive practices, research and innovation, advertising etc. Performance: a number of performance indicators, output growth, sales revenue growth, profitability, technical progress, employment, efficiency, added shareholder value, added economic value. Therefore, the structure of the industry is the key parameter in the formation of strategy. Not all strategies are appropriate for all industries, Successful strategies may fail (not produce the intended outcome) if applied as-is in a different environment. However, this linear paradigm proves itself too deterministic. When strategic managers apply this approach, they take the industrial structure as a given. In this way, their job is to respond to the external forces and plan their strategies in an automated way by analysing the competitive environment. However in many industries the environment follows turbulence change. Strategists tend to change the environment by designing strategies that will shape it to their needs and their advantage, instead of being spectators to the change. In these cases, the industry structure is being shaped by the strategies, and not the other way round as the SCP paradigm argues. Five Forces and Generic Strategies Michael Porters (Porter 1980) work is organisationally rooted in the SCP paradigm. According to his approach, two factors underlie the choice of competitive strategy. Industry attractiveness and the factors that determine it. The determinants of relative competitive position within an industry. In order to analyse the industry attractiveness, Porter developed the Five Forces model. According to that, in any industry competition is mutually influenced by five forces: The entry of new competitors, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers and the rivalry amongst the competitors. Although the Five forces model roots within the SCP approach, Porter differentiates in that he argues that an organisation is not a prisoner of its industry structure. Through their strategies, organisations can shape industry by influencing the competitive forces. For example, industry leaders can influence buyers, suppliers and other competitors, and subsequently shape the underlying industry structure. Competitive strategy is also influenced by the specific relative position within the industry. Through positioning, organisations can possess two basic types of competitive advantage: low cost and differentiation. These types of competitive advantage result from the ability to cope with the industrial forces better than the competitors. Porter introduces three generic competitive strategies for achieving above-average performance in an industry. Cost leadership, when the organisation tries to become the low-cost producer or operator of the industry. Risks associated with cost leadership include: Changes in technology allow new entrants to become themselves the cost leaders. This risk is minimised by constant research and development, but obviously such investments require rise of costs. Margins fall when costs rise (by internal or external factors). In such scenarios, the differentiation advantage may overcome the cost leadership one. Differentiation, when the organisation seeks to be unique within the industry along some dimensions that are valued by buyers (higher quality, more functions etc). If it succeeds, it is then rewarded for its uniqueness with a premium price. However, when choosing to differentiate, companies should seek appropriate ways that lead to a price premium greater than the cost of differentiating. Risks of this strategy include: Costumers may choose another differentiated product which they value more, or their needs change over time. Costumers may choose the low-cost products, especially when the price difference tends to be high. Other competitors may imitate the chosen differentiation. Focus, which rests on the choice of a narrow competitive scope within an industry and the optimisation of the strategy for the target segment. In cost focus an organisation seeks a cost advantage in the target segment. In differentiation focus, the organisation seeks differentiation in the narrow segment. Risks associated with focus are: The focus strategy is imitated. In order for this to be avoided, entry barriers are required (e.g. assets valued by the costumers such as customer care services, reputation, etc). The target segment becomes unattractive. Broadly targeted competitors dominate the segment. Again, entry barriers will sustain the competitive advantage experienced. Organisations that try to position on more than one generic strategy but fail to achieve any of them are stuck in the middle. Not only they do not possess a competitive advantage, but they are in a disadvantage situation, since the cost-leader, the differentiators or the focusers are already better positioned. Although Porters positioning framework is an industry standard for more than twenty years, Mintzberg (1998) argues that it constrains creative thought. Strategists do not think outside the box and the given options (cost leadership, differentiation and focus) tend to minimise the process of strategic thinking. Resource-based view According to Barney (1991), the environmental models of competitive advantage have assumed that organisations within an industry are identical in terms of the resources they control and the strategy they pursue. Further, they assume that if resource heterogeneity develops within an industry, it will not last long since strategic resources are highly mobile (they can be bought and sold). The proposed resource-based view substitutes these assumptions. The model assumes that strategic resources can be heterogeneous and that these resources may not be perfectly mobile. Organisations resources include all assets, capabilities, processes, attributes, information, knowledge, etc, controlled by an organisation that enable it to implement strategies that promote efficiency. In order for a resource to hold the potential of sustained competitive advantage, it must have four attributes. It must be valuable, exploiting opportunities and neutralising threats. It must be rare among existing and potential competitors. A valuable resource cannot be considered as a source of competitive advantage if it is shared amongst a large number of organisations, because all organisations will have the capability to exploit it and will be lead to a common strategy It must be imperfectly imitable. Valuable and rare resources can only be sources of sustained competitive advantage if competitors that do not possess them cannot obtain them. There cannot be strategically equivalent substitutes. Organisation resources are strategically equivalent when they can be exploited separately to implement the same strategy. That is, an organisation may be able to substitute a similar resource that enables it to conceive and implement the same strategy. Further, very different resources may also be strategic substitutes. The proposed framework reasons that resources heterogeneity and immobility within an industry allow organisation resources to be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and not easily substitutable. Such resources will then lead to exploiting opportunities and neutralising threats, in order for sustained competitive advantage to be achieved. It should be noted that a distinction is drawn in the literature between resources (tangible) and capabilities (less tangible) (Anonymous 2007). The framework of Barney unites both resources and capabilities under the umbrella of resources. Core competences There are some capabilities that are much less visible and they are more difficult to imitate and establish competitive advantage. These are referred to as core competences (Anonymous 2007). Phahalad and Hamel (1990) take the resource-based approach one step further, through the notion of core competencies. They argue that in the long run, competitive advantage depends on the ability to build core competencies at lower cost and more speedily. Management should consolidate corporate-wide technologies and production skills into competencies that empower individual businesses to adapt promptly to environmental changes. Three criteria are being used in order to categorise a capability as a core competence. A core competence should provide potential access to a wide variety of markets. It should make a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end-product. Finally, it should be difficult for competitors to imitate. Examples of core competencies include Apples ability to create from scratch and innovate and Sonys ability to miniature. According to this framework, the common mistake that companies do is to outsource and finally lose their core competences, led to this by the strict perception of competitiveness in terms of price/performance. Although a more competitive product may result, competitiveness cannot be sustained as core competences will be surrendered. Another common mistake is that companies often miss opportunities to establish competences that are evolving in existing business. At the Strategic Business Unit level, existing core competencies are often being sabotaged by underinvestment and improper allocation, which may result in atrophy and missing opportunities. Case study: Seventh Generation of video gaming consoles The seventh generation of video gaming consoles is a competition between Sonys Playstation 3, Microsofts Xbox 360 and Nintendos Wii and started on November 2005 with the release of Xbox 360. Although gaming is the main characteristic and attribute of these products, the war of High-Definition (HD) video formats between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, two incompatible formats that tried to improve and replace the DVD standard, affected the industry (ref: wikipedia HD war). Microsoft and Sony approached the market with cutting-edge graphics and expensive technology as well as HD video capabilities. Both consoles target hard-core and casual gamers. Microsoft, being a member of the HD-DVD alliance chose to offer the HD-DVD option as a peripheral for its device, while Sony, a founding member of the Bly-ray alliance chose to integrate the Blu-ray player within PS3. On the other hand, Nintendo chose to differentiate. Nintendo did not take any sides at the format war. Wii targets a broader demographic than that of Microsofts Xbox 360 and Sonys PlayStation 3, as Nintendo planned to attract current hard-core and casual gamers, non-gamers, and lapsed gamers by focusing on new gameplay experiences and new forms of interaction with games. The differentiating feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect acceleration and orientation in three dimensions. Positioning of the rivals Competitive Scope: As analysed before, Microsoft and Sony both targeted the hard-core and the casual gamers. Nintendo on the other hand targeted broader demographic including non-gamers and lapsed gamers. According to Porters framework, the generic strategies can be divided into two categories in terms of the competitive scope: Broad Target and Narrow Target. Therefore, in the console industry Nintendo can be positioned within the Broad Target while Microsoft and Sony are positioned within the Narrow Target. Cost: The choices of the competitors regarding their hardware shaped their manufacturing costs to a great extent. Indeed, Sony chose to compete using a new cpu processor (Cell) with a high production cost as well as by integrating the newly arrived Blu-Ray technology. Thus, Sony became the high-cost producer of the industry, with each console costing around $800 to produce (ref:Joystiq). Microsoft utilised industry standard high-end CPUs and GPUs and although they strongly supported the success of the HD-DVD format, they decided to offer the HD-Dvd option as a peripheral component. This resulted in Microsoft being the low-cost producer of the Narrow Market (Cost Focus). Nintendo managed to keep the manufacturing costs very low by not following the path of high-end graphics. Wii (ref: Kotaku) is not only the console with the less production cost, but it is the only one that has an actual profit from every unit sold (Cost leadership). Differentiation: In the Narrow Target, Sony is the company that differentiates its products with the integration of the Blu-Ray drive, which enables the consumers to enter the High Definition video era (Differentiation Focus). In the Broad Target, Nintendo differentiates the whole idea of gaming experience and fun by installing the Wii Remote (Broad Differentiation). The success on the Nintendos case is that the company differentiated the attributes but the costs did not rise. What is clear from this table in combination with the actual sales numbers is that Nintendo managed well in positioning in more than one generic strategy. That of course was a risk, as Porter (1985) claims that achieving cost leadership and differentiation is usually inconsistent, and may lead to stuck in the middle situations. Also, it should be pointed out that the type of Differentiation that Sony chose (Blu-Ray integration) involved high risks. At the time of the launch the battle for the domination of a new HD format had just started. In the case of a possible win of the HD DVD format, it is obvious that Sony would lose that differentiation competitive advantage and would need to re-plan its strategy. On February 2008 Toshiba, HD DVDs creator, announced plans to cease development, manufacturing and marketing of HD DVD players and recorders, giving an end to this war and announcing Blu-Ray as the winner (ref:wikipedia HD war). Its obvious that Sonys differentiation policy will start to pay-off from now on, but until Toshibas announcement the differentiation policy was not valued highly by the consumers, thus not constituting a competitive advantage. Compliance and Choice: The Nintendo case A question is raised on whether or not an organisation should attempt to shape its industry. If an organisation can lead industry developments, the results will be attractive. If the industry norms that are being questioned prove themselves immutable, the attempt might prove suicidal. When the structure of the industry cannot be influenced, compliance to the industry norms is the strategic rule and managers should adapt the organisations to the industry context. On the other hand, when they have the ability to influence the industry structure they should break industry norms by exercising their freedom of choice. In this case managers efforts should be on the direction of changing the terms of competition on their own advantage (De Wit 2004). Up to the seventh generation of video gaming consoles, the industry rules dictated that the consoles should compete in a range of different characteristics such as graphics power, cpu power and exclusive game titles. If a company could top these characteristics, their console would dominate the industry. Sony dominated the sixth generation taking advantage of their ability to have a wide variety of anticipated exclusive game titles. At the seventh generation, Sony and Microsoft compete by following the industry recipe of cutting-edge graphics and exclusive titles. Nintendo tried to shape the rules, by choosing not to compete on the graphics war, but instead pushed the industry to another direction. The Wii Remote controller makes games more fun and gamers experience new forms of interaction (ref: wikipedia 7th generation). The reception of the console by the press was a great success. The console received many different awards, including an Emmy for Game Controller Innovation by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a Golden Joystick for Innovation of the Year 2007 at the Golden Joystick Awards and the award in breakthrough technology by Spike TVs Video Games. The reception by the market was even greater. Wii is the best selling 7th generation console worldwide. It even outsold Microsofts 360, which launched a year earlier (ref:wikipedia Wii). Nintendos choice of not following the industry recipe paid off. This move granted a competitive advantage because consumers valued the industry shift. If Nintendos estimations regarding the perception of the value were wrong, the company would have failed in this generation. But since they proved correct, they can claim that they are the 7th generation industry leaders. Microsofts Resources and Core Competences Microsoft decided to seek competitive advantage in the industry by utilising their capabilities and competences. One of the main capabilities of Microsoft is creating operating systems and software. Therefore, they developed the Xbox Live service (ref: wikipedia Xbox Live), a unified online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service which integrated many different features that added value to the console, including Friends list and Recent player list Windows Live messenger integration Voice and Video Chat Video Chat Multiplayer online gameplay Parental controls, limiting childrens exposure to other users (Family Settings) This capability of Microsoft is a core competence because it fits the description: It provides potential access to a wide variety of markets (software market, services market, gaming industry). It makes a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end-product. Finally, it is difficult for competitors to imitate, since neither Sony nor Nintendo have software expertise. They both developed online services through outsourcing but they still have not managed to make them as unified and full of features as the Xbox Live. Competing with Sony for the hard-core and casual gamers, Microsoft used its core competences and resources and finally managed to gain competitive advantage. The task was not so easy because the brand name of Playstation was almost a synonym for gaming console in the previous generations. However, the sales numbers indicate that Sony is far behind Microsoft in the 7th generation consoles war. Conclusion The search for competitive advantage is of great importance for every organisation. This report investigated the strategic decisions to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through the examination of four different theories. The SCP framework is a deterministic approach. It is argued that the structure of an industry will determine the strategies and that these in turn will determine performance. Porter, although routed in the SCP framework, recognises that an organisation is not imprisoned by the structure. He introduces the Five Forces framework to analyse the industry attractiveness which plays an important role, but also argues that an organisations competitive success depends on the competitive position within the industry through three generic strategies: Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. However, Mintzberg criticises in that the given options of generic strategies minimise strategic thinking. The resource-based view and the core competences models argue that sustained competitive advantage resides on the development and usage of resources, capabilities and competences. In the 7th generation of video gaming consoles the three competitors tried to gain competitive advantage through different ways. Microsoft utilised its core competences (software development) and resources and established an online environment to support its Xbox 360 console. On the other hand, Nintendo achieved competitive advantage by positioning at both Cost Leadership and Differentiation. In addition to that, Nintendo risked by choosing not to comply with the industry norms of high-end graphics but to try to shape the industry towards innovative gameplay experience. As the numbers indicate the competitive strategies chosen by both Nintendo and Microsoft have paid-off. Sony risked by choosing to differentiate with the integration of the Blu-Ray optical drive. If the format war had ended in favour of HD DVD, Sonys differentiation would have been vanished. In addition, the differentiation introduced by Sony was not highly valued by the consumers while the war was in progress, and th e numbers indicate that Sony has already fallen behind. The application of the theories in practice revealed that differentiation strategies involve high risks. However, if successful, the rewards can be enormous. Not following the industry norms is again risky, but managing to finally shape the industry will show the way to the market leader position. References Anonymous (2007), Strategic Analysis and Choice Module Book Edition 12, Management Centre, University of Leicester Barney, J. B. (1991), Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 99-120. Daft, R. L. (2006), The new era of management, International Edition, South-Western, London De Wit, B. and Meyer, R. (2004), Strategy: Process, Content Context 3rd edition, Thomson Learning, London Joystiq, http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/18/playstation-3-estimated-to-cost-900-per-unit/, [25 February 2008] Kotaku, http://kotaku.com/gaming/wii/wii-autopsy-discovers-manufacturing-cost-221736.php, [25 February 2008] Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. (2006), Marketing Management 12e, Pearson Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (1998), Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Strategic Management, Simon Schuster, New York, NY, 1998, p. 119. Phahalad, C. K. and Hamel, G. (1990), The core competence of the corporation, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, No. 3, May-June, pp. 79-91 Porter, M. E. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, Free Press, New York Porter, M. E. (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance, Free Press, New York Porter, M. E. (1991), Towards a Dynamic Theory of Strategy, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12, 1991, pp.95-117 Porter, M. E. (1996), What is Strategy?, Harvard Business Review, November December 1996, pp.61-78 Seekingalpha, http://seekingalpha.com/article/34357-game-console-wars-ii-nintendo-shaves-off-profits-leaving-competition-scruffy, [25 February 2008] Wikipedia 7th generation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28seventh_generation%29, [25 February 2008] Wikipedia HD war, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats [25 February 2008] Wikipedia Xbox Live, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live, [25 February 2008] Wikipedia Wii, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii, [25 February 2008]

America Needs More Gun Control Laws Essays -- Argumentative Essays, Pe

According to James Madison in his Federalist Papers, â€Å"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms,† (Raymond). Madison may be correct about Americans having more rights than many other countries, but sometimes the government has too much trust in the American people. Taking away all privately owned guns is not the answer, because doing so would consequentially create a communist state. Instead, the best solution is to control who buys guns and for what purpose. There are over 283 million licensed guns in the U.S. (Herbert p1), which does not include the unregistered and illegal guns people own, buy, and sell from the underground economy and other sources. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides the rights to bear arms, but when people are killing innocent people, should all Americans have that right? More than 50% of U.S. homes own one or mor e guns (White p1). It is completely unnecessary for so many men and women to own firearms and have concealed weapons to have ready for â€Å"whenever they feel necessary†. A major problem that the government also has is the horrible regulation system on checking up on gun shops and the N.R.A. Gun shops are supposed to check every person who wants to buy a gun to make sure they do not have any bad history or mental disabilities. Some stores, unfortunately, choose not to do so. The N.R.A. sometimes sells guns to â€Å"bad people† who should not be qualified to possess such a powerful weapon. Privately owned firearms should not be legal because less restrictive laws lead to illegal sale, homicides, and accidental deaths that could all be prevented. Since the Mayflower landed on P... ...k] 24 Apr. 2009, A19 sec. A Culture Soaked in Blood. New York Times. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. . New York Times [New York] 8 Apr. 2009, A26 sec. Columbine Plus 10. New York Times. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. . Spitzer, Robert J. The Politics of Gun Control. Chatham: Chatham House, 1995. Print. Waggoner, Dr. Should Federal Gun Control Laws in America Be Tightened? Fall 2007. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. White, Deborah. Pros & Cons of Gun Ownership & Use Laws for Individuals. About.com. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. .

History of LOTR :: essays research papers

Legend has it that Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien of the University of Oxford was at his desk one summer's day in 1930 wearily correcting examination papers when he came upon a page in an answer-book that was left blank.. "In a hole in the ground," he wrote on the page, "there lived a hobbit." At the time, he had no idea what a hobbit was, much less why it would live in a hole in the ground- but he had to find out. So, during his free time, always at the same desk, he developed a story about a funny creature named Bilbo who was befriended by dwarfs and faced various adventures with them in a quest to steal a dragon's gold. When he finished writing the story, he let some of his students read it. Little did he know that one of his pupils was an employee for Stanley Unwin of the publishing firm Allen and Unwin. She introduced the book to Mr. Unwin and in 1937 Allen and Unwin published The Hobbit. Professor Tolkien was suddenly an author. The book was an instant sensation, popular with critics and the public alike. It very quickly became a classic. Soon, readers and his publisher asked the professor for a sequel. For many years, none was ever presented. Then, in 1954, Professor Tolkien stunned the world with The Lord of the Rings. Nearly fifteen years in the making, LOTR was the polar opposite of "The Hobbit," despite being its sequel. As professor Paul H. Kocher wrote in Master of Middle-Earth "The Hobbit is a story for children about the stealing of a dragon's hoard by some dwarves with the reluctant aid of a little hobbit. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, stretches the adult imagination with its account of a world in peril. Each work has virtues proper to its kind, but they had better be read independently of each other as contrasting, if related, specimens of the fantasy's writers art... The Hobbit was never meant to be a wholly serious tale, nor his young audience to listen without laughing often. In contradistinction, The Lord of the Rings does on occasion evoke smiles, but most of the time its issues go too deep for laughter." It was ultimately decided by the publisher that The Lord of the Rings would be told through three separately released books due to a post World War II paper shortage.