Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Financial Management of a Small Burger Restaurant Coursework

Financial Management of a Small Burger Restaurant - Coursework Example They provide a rough idea of how the business can be in future and can even identify areas of concerns that can appear in future. Each head in the projected financial statement is based on certain assumptions; some can easily be predicted while some are difficult to predict as they are outside business’s control for e.g. changes in taxes, an unpredictable event etc. (Lasher. 2000; Covello. 1998) In a small business like burger restaurant operative in a college campus, since there are no proper planning departments and tools, the projection technique of financial management can be useful. A typical small burger restaurant’s sources of revenue can be sale of food and beverages. The main heads of costs could be the material costs, packaging and transportation of food etc. In any other business, the restaurants have operating expenses like rents, utilities, labor wages, cleaning expenses etc. Such businesses are not operative in a very dynamic environment nor are very large businesses which have many complexities and changes to take account of. The estimated projected income statement for such a business for 3 years can be presented as below: Pro-forma 3 years Projected Income Statement YEAR-1 YEAR-2 YEAR-3 SALES REVENUE (NET) ($) ($) ($) Food revenue 505,890 570,276 548,674 Beverage Revenue 151,110 153,884 233,682 Food Cost (143,719) (158,863) (168,542) Beverage Cost (47,906) (44,807) (42,136) TOTAL INCOME 465,375 520,490 571,678 OPERATING EXPENSES Advertising 1,200 2,400 3,000 Depreciation 36,000 28,800 23,040 Utilities and Phones 31,080 33,300 37,200 Wages 344,925 356,423 367,920 Officer's Salary 42,000 43,680 45,420 Rent 7,500 7,500 7,500 TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 462,705 472,103 484,080 OPERATING PROFIT 2,670 48,388 87,598 NET PROFIT 2,670 48,388 87,598 The analysis of the projected income statement for three years is detailed below: Revenue: The business deals and serves meals which include foods and beverages. The restaurant serves food items li ke burgers, apple pies, nachos and cheese and salads etc, while it mainly serves beverages and soft drinks with the meal. This makes two main products as the revenue generating which are food revenue and beverages revenue. Food & Beverages Revenue: The food revenue constitutes around 65% to 75% of the total revenue. We analyzed that on an average a customer spends around $6 on an order. Since we have no information about the units of sales and what items of food are preferred and sold we shall assume that out of the revenue received from each customer on an average, a portion of average selling price of food items can be taken as revenue from the food. Similarly for the beverages no information regarding the number of units sold is given, therefore we shall take the revenue as a portion of average selling price of beverages. The beverages ranges from a price range of $1.29 to $ 1.49; this means that out of the total $6 spend on an order by a customer $1.29 to $1.49 will be spent on beverages, which makes around 25% to 35% of the average order that is $6. Rest 65% to 75% of the remaining revenue will be generated from food items. Based on this assumption in year 1, if there are 300 customers everyday and the business operated 365 days a year and an average customer spending is $6, the food revenue on an estimate can be around 77% which makes $505,890 and the remaining 23% can be

Monday, October 28, 2019

Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Essay During the first scene of the play we are introduced to several character and the setting for the play. The story is set in the Italian city of Verona. Italy was regarded as a wealthy and romantic country where extravagant love affairs took place. Verona is a town that was popular with the rich and classical civilisation. This makes Verona an ideal setting for the tragic romance. The play was written in the 16th Century (1595) and is about forbidden love. A pair of star crossed lovers, find themselves facing death due to their feuding families. We are introduced to two different families with one major thing in common. They despise the other family. Both families will go to extreme lengths to out do the other. They will do anything from biting their thumb at each other, to fighting to the death. Both families take any opportunity to hurt/ destroy the other family. Sampson and Gregory, Capulet servants, are roaming Verona looking for trouble. Well not carry coals. They come across Abraham and another servant from the Montague household. A fight breaks out; Benvolio one of the Montague family tries to stop the fight (part fools). Matters are made worst as Tybalt a Capulet arrives and sets on Benvolio. Talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. The fighting threatens to get out of hand as Lord and Lady Capulet and Montague arrive on the scene. Prince Escalus arrives and orders the families to stop or they will suffer a grave penalty. They are told to throw their mistempered weapons to the ground. The Capulets are ordered to leave. Lady Montague finds out from Benvolio what had happened and expressed her pleasure that Romeo was not there. Benvolio describes Romeos recent strange behaviour and general sadness to Lord Montague. Benvolio discovers that Romeo is in love but that the women he loves has resolved to do nothing with men. Benvolio suggests that Romeo should forget her and examine other beauties. Romeo assures him this is impossible. At the beginning of the scene Romeo is noticeably absent. We discover he is suffering from love sickness, the object of his unanswered devotions being Rosaline. This was the reason why Romeos fit of depression was brought on. He is adamant that there is no other woman for him. This accounts for the confusion that we see in his conversation with Benvolio. His speech is crammed with oxymorons and contradictions as he struggles to make sense of his predicament. Romeos love sounds very artificial, its not true its almost as though he is over reacting and being too false. He is acting very emotionally and in the opposite way to what a respectable young man should act. We first see Benvolio in the market place trying to stop the fight. This shows Benvolio is the opposite of Tybalt and does not want to start a fight. Benvolio is a close and sensitive friend to Romeo able to judge his affections with his own. His response to Romeos dilemma is sympathetic and practical, forget to think of her. He addresses Romeos situation in a very masculine way. He tells Romeo to forget her and examine other beauties. In contrast to Benvolio, Tybalt is hot tempered, vindictive and aggressive. He appears first when Benvolio is endeavouring to separate the aggressive parties. He goes for his sword rejecting Benvolios plea to keep the peace. His response sums up all you need to know about his part in the play: What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. He is obliged to withdraw by the entry and strong words of the Prince but his seething hatred for the Montagues are not eased. Tybalts first appearance establishes him as one who enjoys a fight and will never back down to a fight. Lord Capulets first appearance is him rushing in wearing a night gown calling for his long sword to join the fight. This shows him to be a comic figure in the play (Shakespeare wanted his plays to be humorous and make the audience laugh and jeer) especially when his wife remarks he would be better off with a crutch. The Prince Escalus is a victim of circumstance; he is always just too late to do anything. He is plainly angered by the families feud yet lacks the strength to reconcile their differences. After the third civil brawl the prince threatens Capulet and Montague with their lives. The prince has no real power in the city and finds it hard to stop the families fighting. The families are becoming a major problem in the city and are disturbing everyday life, and injuring innocent people. So far in the play we have been introduced to two rival families. Whose goals are to become the most important family in Verona and destroy the other family. The first family being the Montagues (Lord Montague, Lady Montague. Romeo, Abraham, Balthasar and Benvolio) and the other the Capulets (Lord Capulet, Lady Capulet, Juliet, Sampson, Gregory and Tybalt).

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Nursing Homes And The Lutheran Home For The Aging Essay -- essays rese

Nursing Homes and The Lutheran Home for the Aging Recently, I had the pleasure of having a personal tour of the Lutheran Home for the Aging located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. I chose this area of study because it happened to be convenient in location for me as well as easily accessible to a source of an interviewee that I felt comfortable with and who is also very comfortable with myself. I find it much easier to conduct an interview and get more relevant information from a source that I've already had former contact with and also established a friendship with. I interviewed, age 48, who was a social worker at the Lutheran Home for the Aging for 12 years until she changed career paths that would benefit herself more as well as her family. graduated from the University of with a Social Work degree and is presently pursing a two year Dental Hygiene degree(Associate Degree). She explained to me that at the time she was hired at the nursing home it was not necessary for social workers to have to take a test in order to obtain a license and a position in the social work field, a position that she held for twelve years explained to me how she was "Grandfathered" into her social worker position and did not have to take a test for a license until it was required after years of responsible and professional work in the Home for the Aging. The Lutheran Home for the Aging was founded in 1906 by John C. Koch, with the motivation and desire to promote residential care for his fellow aging Lutheran constituents. Along with the supportive interests of other Lutherans, he purchased approximately eight acres of land. A large house on the property served as the Home's first building and within a year of its founding, it had reached a capacity of twenty members. Today the same desire and motivation has increased the residential population to 313 members, age 65 and over. The founders of the Home did more than provide a place to live for the Aging. They founded a tradition of excellence and quality care that continues even to this day. The mission of the home is to "take a leadership role in resident satisfaction by providing superior services in a Christian atmosphere that meet or exceed the expectations of each resident and his or her family" ("Lutheran Home for the Aging" 1). Through th... ...am B. "Journal of the American Geriatrics Society." Online. Internet. Available http://www.wwilkins.com/wavcat- bin/journals_ops/ID0856948/0002-8614/prod. "Code of Ethics." Online. Internet. Available http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/†¦tml#Ethical Duties and Obligations. Lutheran Home for the Aging. Wauwatosa: Lutheran Home for the Aging, 1996. "Long-Term Care and Nursing Homes." Online. Internet. Available http://freenet.uchsc.edu/2000/senior/nurshome/menu.html. "Nursing Home, Home Health and Hospice." Online. Internet. Available http://www.math.utah.edu/~c-pkse/medfile/hhh.html. "Nursing Homes and Long Term Care Facilities." Online. Internet. Available http://www.medaccess.com/locator/nursehome/nsgh01.htm. Sager, M. Measurement of Activities of Daily Living in Hospitalized Elderly: A Comparison of Self-report and Performance-based measures. Wisconsin: Geriatric Society, 1992. 457-462. "Senior Care Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid." Online. Internet. Available http://seniors-site.com/ads/medicare.html. Lutheran Home for the Aging: "A warm, caring place where life always has quality, value and dignity."

Thursday, October 24, 2019

A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction

How far can humor go? This question is often asked regarding ribald, lewd, or obscene humor. In these cases, critics often ask whether humor has gone far enough.Critics and questioners ask whether what the comedian presents as humor has crossed the line into the offensive and revolting. How far has a particular bit humor gone to the bottom of the barrel and how do we know if it has reached the bottom.How far can humor go? That same question may be asked for Jon Stewart’s 2004 humor book America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction. However, instead of asking how the degenerate the humor is, after reading Stewart’s book, we are forced to ask how enlightening humor can be?Can humor be a tool to scrutinize? To question? To criticize? The likelihood of these possibilities are astonishing, especially when you consider that Stewart’s book is about America and its government and political system.Jon Stewart is the host of the popular comedy program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Daily Show is a satire news program, complete with the familiar news program introduction, faux field reporters and even interviews with current newsmakers. Instead of glorifying news programs, The Daily Show takes pride in crucifying it and the political culture it inculcates.The late-night show is notorious for its no holds barred treatment of politicians and pundits from all sides of the political spectrum. The show prides itself as an equal opportunity offender as it makes fun of all political entities from all sides. This has resulted in great popularity for the show as well as for its host, even generating a spin off show from one of its faux pundits.That said, there are many parallels to be drawn between the Daily Show and America (The Book). While The Daily Show pretends to be a nightly news program, America (The Book) pretends to be a high school social studies textbook. In this regard, America (The Book) is successful as it really does look and feel like a social studies textbook. Its content and outline matches that of common high school textbooks.Its layout is also befitting that of a high school textbook, complete with margin notes, sidebars, interviews with â€Å"noted† individuals and numerous illustrations and figures. It is even complete with end of chapter questions and classroom activities.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Northanger abbey

Thesis In the history of English literature it's difficult to specify a genre, even Gothic novel by resonance and measure the impact on other styles, trends, genres. Chronological framework of its existence, in the opinion of the vast majority of researchers limited the end of the XVIII – beginning of the nineteenth centuries. However, traces of â€Å"Gothic† poetics, especially its artistic language and philosophical thinking can be recognized in the work of writer Jane Austen.Logical and important question is the tatus of the Gothic in Jane Austen, namely in the novel â€Å"Northanger Abbey† – the status of genre, poetological, aesthetic, ideological. In the main part we have given the definition of the Gothic genre, and have found his place in the novel † Northanger Abbey† identified writing style, tone, name origin, setting, we have analyzed plot, identified narrators point of view, found the used symbols.In conclusion, we have learned that the whole work is permeated with hidden quotations, allusions and reminiscences, including literary discussions between heroes around novel and orecasts developments, dense, albeit controversial, parallels at characters, perpetual comparison of weather and scenery of â€Å"udolfskymy† ; We observe the formula CL Pitt the transformation of the Gothic novel (romance) in the household (novel); Also we have explored favorite means writers with the help of which she deliberately changes and scale depicted in the novel offers a look at reality through the eyepiece, in which things, people, events are not given in a close-up, in Gothic but are quite smaller. Northanger abbey Thesis In the history of English literature it's difficult to specify a genre, even Gothic novel by resonance and measure the impact on other styles, trends, genres. Chronological framework of its existence, in the opinion of the vast majority of researchers limited the end of the XVIII – beginning of the nineteenth centuries. However, traces of â€Å"Gothic† poetics, especially its artistic language and philosophical thinking can be recognized in the work of writer Jane Austen.Logical and important question is the tatus of the Gothic in Jane Austen, namely in the novel â€Å"Northanger Abbey† – the status of genre, poetological, aesthetic, ideological. In the main part we have given the definition of the Gothic genre, and have found his place in the novel † Northanger Abbey† identified writing style, tone, name origin, setting, we have analyzed plot, identified narrators point of view, found the used symbols.In conclusion, we have learned that the whole work is permeated with hidden quotations, allusions and reminiscences, including literary discussions between heroes around novel and orecasts developments, dense, albeit controversial, parallels at characters, perpetual comparison of weather and scenery of â€Å"udolfskymy† ; We observe the formula CL Pitt the transformation of the Gothic novel (romance) in the household (novel); Also we have explored favorite means writers with the help of which she deliberately changes and scale depicted in the novel offers a look at reality through the eyepiece, in which things, people, events are not given in a close-up, in Gothic but are quite smaller.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Top Skill Youll Need to Grow Your Career

The Top Skill Youll Need to Grow Your Career When you think of leaders, â€Å"empathy† might not be the word that comes to mind first. Yet many companies find that developing a more intuitive connection with their employees and customers is improving their bottom lines. Companies that respond to needs (rather than demographics alone) are able to focus on providing a service, rather than just a product. It’s not about the touchy-feely notions of empathy that we often see, but rather perceptiveness. This is just as relevant within a company’s walls. Employees who show emotional intelligence and empathy are often promoted and recognized because they deliver what the company (or customers) want. These are life skills that can be fine-tuned into helpful business skills.Here’s how to apply a more empathetic bent to your career growth.Anticipate workplace needsThis doesn’t mean you should fetch coffee for your boss. But you should look at your projects and goals- what are they supposed to achieve? Wh at service do they provide to your boss, your team, your company?Ask for feedbackAsk your manager for a progress report of sorts, or set up a time to talk about your progress on a particular goal. Use your annual performance review to ask questions, and go in-depth on what you’re doing well and what you can change for the coming year. Focus on your achievements, and emphasize how those help your company’s bottom line.Use customer service as a guidePractice by looking around at various companies, both inside and outside of your industry. What do they provide to the public? If it’s a product, what niche does that product fill? What is the company’s relationship to its customers, and what do customers expect?

Monday, October 21, 2019

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the archetypical technique many times in Winter Dreams.

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the archetypical technique many times in Winter Dreams. What is an archetype? An archetype is a noun or an adjective, an author includes in a literary work, which represents something else. For example, water represents life and growth, while dark represents the unknown or the gloomy. Many authors use this to create emphasis on certain things, such as the main conflicts and the theme, without directly stating them. This allows the reader to exercise his mind by reading between the lines and enjoy it at the same time. Another type of archetype is the uniqueness of the characters. For example, there are many archetypical characteristics for women such as the temptress, in which causes the hero downfall. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the archetypical technique many times in "Winter Dreams."As the story begins the reader is told of Dexter's job as a caddy on Sherry Island. This information alone reveals that Dexter is lonely. The reader knows this because of the archetypical significance of island; the word island represents loneliness and isolati on.Judy - On LookoutIt is here on the island where Dexter spots Judy Jones, "The little girl who had done this was elevenbeautifully ugly as little girls are apt to be who are destined after a few years to be inexpressibly lovely and bring no end of misery to a great number of men."(Page 671) The reader infers from this quote that Judy will be the temptress, later causing Dexter to sink. However, right now Dexter has fallen in love with her just by her sight.The story continues and nine years later, Dexter meets Judy near the waters. The water symbolizes life and growth; therefore, the audience assumes he and Judy will get together. This assumption is true. "It did not take him many hours to decide that he had wanted Judy Jones ever since he was...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Definition of Atomic Mass or Weight in Chemistry

The Definition of Atomic Mass or Weight in Chemistry Atomic Mass or Weight Definition Atomic mass, which is also known as atomic weight, is the average mass of atoms of an element, calculated using the relative abundance of isotopes in a naturally-occurring element. Atomic mass indicates the size of an atom. Although technically the mass is the sum of the mass of all the protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom, the mass of an electron is so much less than that of the other particles, that mass is simply that of the nucleus (protons and neutrons). Examples of Atomic Mass The atomic mass of carbon is 12.011. Most carbon atoms consist of six protons and six neutrons.The atomic mass of hydrogen is 1.0079. Hydrogen (atomic number 1) is the element that has the lowest atomic mass. The most common isotope of hydrogen is protium, an atom that consists of a proton or a proton and an electron. Because of a small amount of deuterium (one proton and one neutron) and tritium (one proton and two neutrons), the atomic mass of hydrogen is slightly higher than 1. How To Calculate Atomic Mass

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Domestic Terrorism in America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Domestic Terrorism in America - Research Paper Example However, there often exists a thin line between terrorism and fight for justice. It is worth noting that many countries today trace their existence to struggles for freedom, equality and justice from colonizers or occupiers who oppressed them. The struggle may have been violent at times, leading to injury, death or destruction of property, but is what brought the desired freedom to these societies. Those who may have been hurt or dispossessed during these struggles see those who started them for the liberation of their societies, not as heroes but terrorists. Therefore, as the debate rages on the difference between a terrorist and a hero, some pundits have argued that it is purely a matter of perception and partisanship (Bolt, 2001). The two can easily interchange depending on personal perceptions. Domestic Terrorism in America America is a country of people from diverse origins, colors, religions, cultures, creeds and beliefs, and who have different conflicts and issues but coexisti ng in the same country. Americans have different dreams, perceptions, expectations and struggles that may conflict, leading to desperation, agitation, arguments and illogical approach including terrorism to solve the conflicts. Therefore, faced with all these, it is right to say that most of domestic terrorism in America is either as a result of struggle on the real meaning of Americanism or an effort to push personal agenda on the national front, or as a means to destabilize the empire for its imperialistic attitudes towards other countries. The above is well explained in the discussion below. Early Terrorism America is a country founded on the tenets of freedom, justice and equality among all the people. The constitution of America is among the most progressive supreme laws in the world as it aims at enhancing this freedom, justice and equality for all those living within the country’s borders. However, to attain this, the country had to undergo a brutal seven-year war of i ndependence between 1775 and 1782. Some quarters point at this war as the precursor of domestic terrorism in America. This is because the colonists led by George Washington used violence against the British army to proclaim their independence and establish the United States of America (Zalman, 2012). The violence that occurred during the struggle led to loss of lives and is seen as terrorism in some quarters. However, that remains debatable. White Supremacy Terrorism Before the American Civil war that lasted between 1861 and 1865, slavery existed in several states, in America, more so, the southern states. Therefore, some parts of the society were organized in a master-subject situation. This situation naturally created supremacy of certain races over others. Since it is the black people who were enslaved by the white people, the state of affairs in the American states where slavery existed can be defined as one where whites were viewed as being superior to blacks. However, after th e war, slavery was abolished in America. Measures were also taken by the Congress and the Union military to enforce equality for all people. This move destabilized the state of white supremacy over the black race and did not go well with white supremacists. They felt that their prestige in the society as a superior race disappeared. This led to the formation of Ku Klan Klux (KKK) whose aim was to terrorize the black Americans and their white sympathizers (Gage, 2000). The KKK engaged in

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Regulation of International Capital Doctrine Dissertation

The Regulation of International Capital Doctrine - Dissertation Example There is support for the view that the evolving standard of fair and equitable treatment is living up to its predictions and expectations. It can therefore be argued that contrary to popular belief in the literature, the standard for fair and equitable treatment in international investment treaties has evolved around a lot of uncertainty and inconsistencies. The uncertainty attending the application and interpretation of the doctrine of fair and equitable treatment is further compromised by whether or not there is a universally accepted standard relative to the minimum standard of treatment under customary international law. This research study proposes to rebut the argument that the doctrine of fair and equitable treatment standard has the potential to create a cohesive body of customary international law relative to the movement of foreign investment via BITs. This research study essentially aims to provide a critical analysis of the literature relative to existence and interpretat ion of the minimum standard treatment under customary international law, its consequences for the evolving concept of fair and equitable treatment standard as well as its development. It is argued that the number of treaties, the lack of a uniform standard under customary law, the need for protecting foreign investors and the need for resolving disputes give way to two opposing factors. First, a standard is necessary for sustaining the movement of capital across borders in an increasingly interconnected, but diverse world.

Motorola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Motorola - Essay Example These are in mobile devices, mobility communication solutions, networks and connected home solutions. In the mobile devices section, the company sold a record 46.1 million units of handsets in the first quarter of 2006. This represents 21 percent of the total global market (Motorola, 2006b). Compared to figures recorded during the same period in 2005, there has been 4.8 percentage points improvement in sales. Major competing firms to the company in this sector are Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Lucky Gold (LG), etc. Whereas the market share of some of them (Nokia) dipped (Businessweek, 2005) that of Motorola company saw a rise. The Motorola Company is presently the leader in multi-mode and multi-band communications products and technologies. In a survey of the telecoms sector, Sandage (2003) pointed out that creating and delivering multimedia services to mobile handsets had proved more complicated to many mobile phone manufacturers than was initially envisaged. Any firm with capabilities in this area therefore, is bound to improve its position on the market with time. The Motorola Comp any's present 'seamless mobility" vision seeks to address this problem squarely. The company has pioneered several product developments in this sector. For example, it was the first to introduce a handset with a Linux operating system and Java technology providing full PDA functionality in 2003. Prior to this period, proprietary systems powered these handsets. The company has also contributed significantly to designing more portable and stylish handsets. Its RAZR V3 measures just 13.9mm. This particular gadget has won for the company a gold award in the consumer product category of the Business week magazine's industrial design excellence awards. In partnership with the GSM Association, Motorola company has developed in 2005, an ultra low-cost cellular phone with long talk time for consumers in developing markets. In the same year also, it introduced the Ojo personal video phone. This product has excellent capacity in transmitting full-motion video and audio synchronically over a high speed internet. The company is also the leading provider of push-to-talk over the cellular (PoC) technology to cellular service providers. These developments are important to internet telephony and television. The company has also developed the ROKR portable phone with the Apple Company, with the itune music software incorporated. The Motorola Company is also playing a leading role in the mobility communications solutions sector. It services the needs of individual consumers, business concerns and publicly funded institutions. In recognition of its meritorious services in this sector, the company was honoured with a Malcolm Bridge National Quality Award in 2002. That award was the company's second. The company has fared exceptionally well in comparison with its competing firms such as Nextel communications, American Movil, Western wireless, etc. The Motorola Company is also playing a leading role in the integration of core networks using wireless IP, wireless soft switch and IP multimedia subsystems. The company's networks unit has spawned several new innovative technologies in recent times. In 2000, for example, it introduced to the world, the first 700MHz wideband high-speed data transmission technology. This technology enables advanced solutions to be provided to customers. The linkage between broadband expansion and

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Globalisation and the Mass Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Globalisation and the Mass Media - Essay Example As the report discusses globalisation can mean many things. There is the economic component of globalisation that is defined as â€Å"the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, direct foreign investment, short term capital flows and international flows of workers and humanity in general†. As a by product of this economic globalisation is the flow of ideas and culture across national borders. The other definition of globalisation is â€Å"the freer movement of goods, services, ideas and people around the world†.   This definition encompasses the qualitative aspects of globalisation in the sense that it goes beyond mere numbers in defining the exchange of information in a borderless world.This paper stresses that  trade and commerce between nations has always been the case since the first ships carrying silk, spices and muslin from the east and other exotic stuff from the west has set forth for each other’s shores. In fa ct, the famous voyage of Christopher Columbus is a testament to the ability of nations to seek out markets other than their own for trade. Though the world was integrated in colonial times as well, the process received a setback in the 21st century in the intervening period between the two world wars. It was only after the establishment of the Bretton Woods system that the world economy started regaining some of its interconnectedness.   

Explain and evaluate Hume's ideas on causation Essay

Explain and evaluate Hume's ideas on causation - Essay Example 48). Zubiri’s philosophy concurred with the thought of Hume in that problems faced cannot be solved with the same level of thinking when these problems were created. Hume believes that it is important to go deeper in order to comprehend and examine human intelligence on the same. Apparently, Hume is more concerned when people fail to examine causes adequately in order to perceive the metaphysical conclusions regarding the universe (Demeter, Murphy and Zittel, 2014, p. 324). However, this conclusion may seem skeptical since he does not recognize that functionality is related to the correctness of impression, not its content. Basically, Hume considers causality to play an important role in both in moral building and personal sphere. Hume has problem with scientific evidence. He asks whether these evidences stretch to the brink to be considered good evidence. According to Hume, there is a need to justify and rationalize on the evidence presented in order to belief about the things of the universe especially when these evidences are unobservable presented (Schmitt, 2014, p. 140). For example, one may have different variety of berries in a basket. After sampling of one type of berries in the basket, of which they have similar taste, then we conclude that all berries in the basket have the same taste. The first case is an inductive generalization in the perspective that all the members of a particular class are similar through observation. Two, there is an inductive prediction where the idea of same flavor of the berries is based on the assumption of the preceding observation, and three, there is casual generalization where Hume assumes that there is no way of determining the unseen power of some things. The significant of this problem to science is that, science tends to belief that whatever is happening in the universe is based on induction. The objection thus is science methods are just but mere superstitions

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Globalisation and the Mass Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Globalisation and the Mass Media - Essay Example As the report discusses globalisation can mean many things. There is the economic component of globalisation that is defined as â€Å"the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, direct foreign investment, short term capital flows and international flows of workers and humanity in general†. As a by product of this economic globalisation is the flow of ideas and culture across national borders. The other definition of globalisation is â€Å"the freer movement of goods, services, ideas and people around the world†.   This definition encompasses the qualitative aspects of globalisation in the sense that it goes beyond mere numbers in defining the exchange of information in a borderless world.This paper stresses that  trade and commerce between nations has always been the case since the first ships carrying silk, spices and muslin from the east and other exotic stuff from the west has set forth for each other’s shores. In fa ct, the famous voyage of Christopher Columbus is a testament to the ability of nations to seek out markets other than their own for trade. Though the world was integrated in colonial times as well, the process received a setback in the 21st century in the intervening period between the two world wars. It was only after the establishment of the Bretton Woods system that the world economy started regaining some of its interconnectedness.   

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Collision of the right to privacy and the right to freedom of Essay

Collision of the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression - Essay Example The verdict of the cases, whether they were in compliance with the Human Rights Act, has been made. A discussion of the European Convention and the acts adopted by the Convention has also been made. An evaluation of the prior laws that helped to mould the Human Rights in Europe is also analyzed in the paper. Human Rights are the set of guidelines laid down by legal bodies and organizations that safeguards the rights and freedoms of human beings. The elementary rights and freedoms, which every human being irrespective of cast creed social stature; are entitled to can be collectively termed as Human Rights. Human Rights include civil rights, freedom of expression, political rights, and also equality before a court of law for uniform generation of justice. Civil, economic, cultural, social and political are the various classification of Human Rights. However, Human Rights, although are made for social benefits are not social rights. Social rights are more like objectives which need to be attained, while Human Rights are objectives or norms which are to be followed. Human Rights are laws which need to be obeyed to maintain the social, cultural and legal balance. The different classification of Human Rights is a contribution to it, as it covers all necessary aspects, which needs to be covered for the well being of the civilians. . The history of human rights can be traced back to thousands of years covering cultural, political, legal and religious aspects. Emperor Ashoka of India issued the 'Edicts of Ashoka' back in 250-270 BC, which is a collection of thirty three inscriptions on pillars, made by the emperor. The edicts, being the first form of Buddhist preaching, were moral in nature and were based on doing basic good deeds. The Magna Carta, formerly known as the English Legal Charter was written in Latin and was issued in 1215. It is one of the important historical examples that developed the English law, to protect the rights of the people against monarchial rule. It influenced the development of constitutional laws and common laws. The British Bill of Rights, 1689 was an act that protected the interest of the people against government actions in the United Kingdom. The Geneva Conventions, and the Lieber Code, 1864 can be described as the initiations that laid the basic foundations of International Humani tarian laws. International Humanitarian laws The Geneva Convention adopted by the International Committee of Red Cross was one of the first attempts to safeguard the interest of individuals fighting in wars. It was revised after the World War II and adopted by the Red Cross Community in 1949. Presently the Geneva Conventions are referred to as the Humanitarian law, under the governance of International Committee of Red Cross. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This is a non binding declaration that was adopted after the World War II. The UDHR may be referred to in any national and international cases, and is considered to be a central component of international humanitarian law. (United Nations, 2008) Human Rights Treaties The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) were the two most important treaties that were

Subsidize University Fees For Low Income Group Essay Example for Free

Subsidize University Fees For Low Income Group Essay INTRODUCTION: Globally, there is increasing demand for higher education, especially from the youth population of developing countries, as it is viewed as an important pathway for greater social mobility (Devesh, 2008). According to the World Trade Organization (WTO 2010), private returns from higher education are high for both developed and developing countries. In developing countries, the wage differential between a secondary school leaver and a university graduate is estimated to be as high as 200%. Besides the wage premium, rapidly changing technology in a globalized world is also demanding new and changing competencies that require life-long learning skills, for which mature students often have to go back to college for re-training and re-skilling. Malaysia is one of the most subsidized nations in the world. Its total subsidy of RM74 billion in 2009 is equivalent to RM12,900 per household or 4.6 per cent of GDP even higher than Indonesia (2.7 per cent) Philippines (0.2 per cent). Out of the numbers, RM 30.8 billion goes to Primary, secondary, higher education and scholarships. Higher education in Malaysia is divided into 2 sectors; public and non-public sector, there are about 20 universities and 6 university colleges (the term â€Å"university college† is used to for those tertiary level education institutions that are able to confer their own degrees but have not achieved university status). In the non-public sector there are 559 institutions of varying types including: universities and university colleges and foreign university branch campuses. The term â€Å"non-public† refers to the broad category of institutions not funded by the state. A division between private and for-profit institutions exists within this category, but is not entirely clear. Outside of these categories are polytechnics (24) and community colleges (37), which will not be dealt with this profile. The Higher Education Department within the Ministry of Education, co-ordinates and monitors the activities of public and private universities and colleges. Because of government’s large investments in higher education, issues of government involvement and university autonomy arise. Currently, students  are assigned to specific universities based on their cumulative grade point averages, faculty members are essentially civil servants with highly fixed salaries, and vice chancellors and deans are appointed by the state. Malaysian public higher education students must pay tuition and other fees and cover their living costs (though accommodations on campus are subsidized by the government). Solid financing is the backbone of a well-functioning higher education system. The decision to attend tertiary education has monetary and non-monetary variables. In Malaysia the cost of tertiary education (tuition fees) and associated living costs affect how much a cash constraint can discourage otherwise talented students from enrolling and completing higher education. Currently many kinds of subsidies exist such as government owned and operated school (public and private universities state colleges), subsidized loans, grants and scholarships. THE â€Å"PROS† TOWARDS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY: Why does government need to intervene in the market for education? That is, doesn’t the market produce the â€Å"right† amount of education? If the market outcome is not right, what is the best way to intervene? To answer these questions, we first need to consider the basic model of education. In the economic model of education, every person in society has a certain amount of brain power, skill, knowledge, understanding, and the like. All those factors other than our â€Å"unskilled† labor allow us to produce output. We can think of all these factors as one, the composite factors which is human capital. It is very useful to think of human capital as analogous to physical capital. Durable: continues to have value over time, can decrease over time due to â€Å"depreciation† and can increase due to â€Å"investments†. Acquiring education is like making a physical investment, improves the quantity and/or quality of the human capital. The purpose is to increase productivity and that’s for sure. Hence, there are a few drawbacks if the Malaysian government didn’t subsidized university education tuition fees. Family income determines whether the student can afford the costs of the university or college. First issue related to monetary variables and non-monetary variables will lead to a drop line of a higher education access. This has made many young talents and bright students fail to enter university and are a loss to future generation. This is due to: †¢Cost benefits barrier – the barrier arises when the group decides that the cost of attending university is greater than its expected return to the education investment. †¢Cash constraints barrier – occurs when the students who have decided that the returns to education outweigh the costs still cannot put together the resources to obtain entry to universities. †¢Debt aversion barrier – arises when an individual refuses to use the funds at his or her disposal because part of the funds might be loans, which at some point will have to be repaid. †¢Parental education, race and ethnicity, gender and geographical location – all play a role in the college decision-making process. Of course there are many reasons why government should step in. Subsidy indirectly can reduce crime. Of course crime is clearly an externality in this context. The actions of others affect us and they are not negatively compensated. If we look at current situation there is an extremely strong relationship between crime and education. Well at least for three reasons: †¢Pure human capital motive – education related to income, and people with higher income have less incentive to commit crime. †¢Direct schooling effect – classes makes students smarter so realize that crime doesn’t pay at all. †¢Opportunity cost of time – students are busy at faculty so actually in other words have less time to commit crime. Escalating expenditure for public higher education has ked the government to adopt a cost-sharing system in which students and parents shoulder and increasing share of the costs. The MARA financial aid scheme was converted in January 1998 to a 100% loan scheme except for loans given out under the Excellent Student Scheme. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) was established for the purpose of offering subsidized loans to help students meet the costs of enrolling a local higher education institution.  It is also designed to ensure that there would be loans available for Malays to afford both public and private higher education so that the targeted ethnic composition of enrolment in higher education is maintained. THE DEBATE TOWARDS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY: When the government is in the business of handing out money, interest groups lobby to get it, or advocate receiving more than they are already getting. So, it is with spending on higher education. Over the long run, the funding for those areas has increased dramatically. Taxpayers should be skeptical of the current reasons for subsidizing universities further. There are few arguments are dubious for five main reasons stated below in regards with government subsidy related to university fees. It can be elaborate and debate as the following: There is no link between higher education subsidies and economic growth, and none between universities or college degrees and job creation. Malaysia has spent a much higher proportion of personal income on federal and state government to support for higher education. States with a higher proportion of university and college graduates do not necessarily grow by adding more college degrees. For now, the country is currently experiencing a rather worrying unemployment especially among young graduates. Excess of the graduates is unable to meet domestic open vacancy in any sector since most of them are experiencing the freezing phase of job vacancy. Thus its shows there are no linkage at all between higher education qualifications with job vacancies. Indirectly it could not keep the countrys economy. More subsidies equals to more waste. The number of academicians, staff, administrators and service staff at all 20 universities and 6 university colleges increased at a faster rate than full-time equivalent students over the same time period. At the same time, the compensation for the average employees increased too for sure. Colleges set tuition rates relative to supply and demand, but the government subsidies distort this process and inflate the cost. That’s why private universities such as Sunway International College and Lim Kok Wing University which receive no government funding, do a much better job at keeping down the cost of tuition. At the present time the federal government already spends billions of dollars subsidizing universities, whether it is money for Lecturer’s salaries, buildings, or the millions of dollars provided for research. The cost of classes and tuition picks up only small portion of the tab. Aside from that, there are many people who do not deserve or would not make the best of the education provided. Scholarships and government grants are available for people who have worked hard and earned the opportunity, but to hand it over to everyone for free are insane. When comparing earning power between college graduates and non-graduates, correlation is not causation, and the actual cost of universities or collage matters. Proponents of more funding for higher education almost always cite the same statistic as their main point: Overall, universities and college graduates tend to make more money in their lifetime than those without a degree. But this assumes that the degree caused the higher earnings, rather than the fact that those who complete college are already more likely to be financially successful whether they attend university or not. The common figure cited is that a college degree is worth MYR1 million over the lifetime of a worker. Besides ignoring the point above, this is a poor exercise in statistics. The number is arrived at by taking the difference between the average pay of a university and college graduate and the average pay of a non-universities and college graduate and multiplying it over a 40-year career. First, that only tells us what the average is today, not what the actual future earnings are. Second, this assumes that all universities and college degrees have the same value. For example, it assumes that a Bachelor of Arts in art history is the same as a Bachelor of Science in quantum physics. Most significantly, it ignores many important factors: taxes, the real salary data of today’s graduates, the opportunity cost of going to college (how much someone would earn during those years in school), the fact that large proportions of student’s starts school and do not finish, and, most  importantly, student loan debt. Keep in mind that government may be funding someone’s desire to paint or be involved in the arts which do not advance society enough to justify the cost. Perhaps if everyone were taking physics, biology, or computer sciences in order to contribute in a meaningful way post grad it would be a different story. Also the amount of people in college is at the highest it’s ever been. In fact a BA or BS degree is essentially required now for low level jobs and a Masters or Doctorate is needed to advance up the ladder. Ensuring that everyone has university or college schooling would not enhance the labor market – it would dilute a university degree. The assumption among many is that every career should require a higher education. This belief leads to subsidies for subjects with little practicality in the workforce and areas where a student may be better off doing an apprenticeship or working for four years than attending more school. Pushing for everyone to go to universities or college does not automatically make those students university-ready; it lowers the overall standards of higher education. This has led to a high dropout rate, more repeated classes for those in school and an explosion of marginal subjects in which many degree-holders are forced to work outside that field because of a lack of demand. In short, incentivizing degrees students do not ever use. Higher education may be the next bubble to burst. Much like the housing bubble, higher education is fueled by government subsidies, publicly-backed loans and incentives that say everyone should be doing something. Lately tuition costs have risen steeply well above inflation while colleges compete to expand into areas outside of their main purpose and taking on more debt to do so. At the same time, competition from other sectors, like online education, offer cheaper alternatives to the bread-and-butter of university academia. It is important for citizens to be educated, both to learn a job and to better be able to respond to a changing marketplace. But there is a difference between education and schooling. Spending more money to send  people to get a specific number of degrees at a specific institution is different from education. Education comes in the form of apprenticeships, trade schools and time on the job learning. And education is something you can’t force on someone else. Just putting someone in college does make force them to learn anything. Education is a personal matter, and more subsidies will only influence a persons decision to learn or not to learn at the barest of margins. Higher education can build new skills, enhance old ones and show prospective employers that students are able to put in the time to earn a degree. But the value of a degree varies — by the institution, the cost, the time and the subject. From an individual’s perspective, private universities and colleges may be worth the cost. But for a growing number, it’s not. And government subsidies, where political incentives trump market realities, only worsen that problem CONCLUSION: Education issues remain an important priority in developing countries. Because resources are limited and ensuring adequate allocation is a struggle for many countries including Malaysia itself. The delivery of educational services has become a challenge. Malaysia, like other countries in Southeast Asia, faces similar challenges in ensuring the allocation of appropriate funding for efficient and equitable educational services in order to promote access to quality education for all social groups. While Malaysia faces many challenges amid rapid global chances, we can draw on a number of strengths and unique advantages as we take purposeful policy actions to move forward. Education is not preparation for life; education is a life by itself. From the job market to tertiary education, from UPSR to A-Levels, Education in Malaysia focuses on bringing us the latest news and analysis on our nation’s best bet on the future. The future earnings of the individual typically constitute an adequate return on the gross investment in obtaining higher education. Moreover, providing  subsidy university and college education to all is a rather inefficient way to serve the interest of poor students since a large proportion of students who acquire higher education come from relatively well-off families. Raising demand for higher education and the need to produce a critical mass of highly educated and skilled workers for a knowledge economy has led to the massification of Malaysian higher education. However, escalating higher public education expenditure led the government to adopt a cost sharing system where students and parents shoulder and increasing share of the cost for acquiring a higher education.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Maldives Efforts To Combat Climate Change An Environmental Sciences Essay

Maldives Efforts To Combat Climate Change An Environmental Sciences Essay Global warming has been causing climate change and this has been affecting the Earth at an alarming rate. Maldivian government are aware of the need to cut down emissions. The tiny Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will become carbon-neutral within 10 years. This was the pledge made by Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed on March 15. The low-lying country will be among the first in the world to be inundated by rising sea levels caused by human-induced climate change. The highest point in the chain of 1190 islands and coral atolls is just 1.8 metres above sea level. The latest research indicates that if present rates of carbon emissions continue, global warming will likely cause sea level rises about one metre by 2100. This is close to double the rise predicted by most scientists just two years ago.1 71. For the Maldives, climate change is a real issue. The 16th Conference of Parties (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico from 29 November to 10 December. It estimated that Maldivians emitted 1.3 million tones of carbon dioxide in 2009 via electricity generation, transport, waste and fishing. This was the same estimated amount of carbon emitted by flights carrying 650,000 tourists to the Island each year. The total works out at 4.1 tones per Maldivian compared to 23.5 tones per person per year in the United States. 72. These measures were announced in the face of stark warnings from scientists that rising sea levels could engulf the Maldives and other low-lying nations this century, rendering the Island almost entirely uninhabitable with a rise in sea levels of one metre. 73. Without a global agreement to lower GHG emissions to combat climate change and rising sea levels, the Maldives could disappear from maps in spite of Nasheds efforts.2 74. Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed is listed as the 39th top thinker in the world in Foreign Policy magazine, for his high profile role in combating climate change. Top two billionaires have been travelling the world first to China and soon to India, as well as around the US on a mission to create a global club of Great Givers who will transform philanthropy from a pastime of the wealthy into a calling for everyone who is rich.3 Combat Climate Change. 75. Solar power helps combat climate change, reduces our dependency on imported oil and more importantly cuts out electricity costs. The Maldives stands at the front line of climate change and we dont have the luxury of time to sit and wait for the rest of the world to act. 76. The Maldives which is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels through global warming. The Maldives is made up of nearly 1200 islands that lie of the Indian sub-continent. None of the islands measure more than 1.8 metres (six feet) above sea level, making the country particularly vulnerable to a rise in sea levels associated with global warming. The Maldives face a very real threat from rising sea levels and I share President Nasheeds ambition to prevent the environmental disaster and human rights catastrophe that would befall the islands should the world fail to tackle this problem. 77. Our Climate Change Act is the most ambitious in the industrialized world, committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2050. Scotland also has 25 per cent of Europes offshore wind and tidal resources and 10 per cent of wave potential and the capacity make a significant difference in meeting universal climate change goals. The Maldives to become the worlds first carbon neutral country and in turn create a greener, more sustainable future for our planet.4 78. The international community has welcomed President Nasheeds efforts to raise awareness over the dangers of climate change, which threaten to submerge his low-lying nation. That same international community must not sit back and watch as the remnants of dictatorship try and sink the Maldives fledgling democracy.5 Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum. 79. Alarmed at the pace of change to our Earth caused by human-induced climate change, including accelerating melting and loss of ice from Antarctica, Greenland, the Himalayas, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, acidification of the worlds oceans due to rising CO2 concentrations, increasingly intense tropical cyclones, more damaging and intense drought and floods, including Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods, in may region and high levels of sea-level rise than estimated just a few years ago, risks changing the face of the planet and threatening coastal cities, low lying areas, mountainous regions and vulnerable countries the world over. 80. Conscious that our nations lie at the climate front-line and will disproportionately feel the impacts of global warming, in the end climate change will threaten the sustainable development and, ultimately, the survival of all States and peoples the fate of the most vulnerable will be the fate of the world; and convinced that our acute vulnerability not only allows us to perceive the threat of climate change more clearly than others, but also provides us with the clarity of vision to understand the steps that must be taken to protect the Earths climate system and the determination to see the job done. 81. Recalling that UNFCCC is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change. 82. Emphasizing that developed countries bear the overwhelming historic responsibility for causing anthropogenic climate change and must therefore take the lead in responding to the challenge across all four building blocks of an enhanced international climate change regime namely mitigation, adaption, technology and finance that builds-upon the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. 83. Taking account their historic responsibility as well as the need to secure climate justice for the worlds poorest and most vulnerable communities, developed countries must commit to legally-binding and ambitious emission reduction targets consistent with limiting global average surface warming to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and long-term stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at well below 350 ppm, and that to achieve this the agreement at COP 15 UNFCCC should include a goal of peaking global emissions by 2015 with a sharp decline thereafter towards a global reduction of 85% by 2050. 84. Convinced that those countries which take the lead in embracing this future will be the winners of the 21st Century. 85. All other countries to follow the moral leadership shown by the Republic of Maldives by voluntarily committing to achieving carbon-neutrality. Assert that the achievement of carbon neutrality by developing countries will be extremely difficult given their lack of resources and capacity and pressing adaptation challenges, without external financial, technological and capability-building support from developed countries. Declare that, irrespective of the effectiveness of mitigation actions, significant adverse changes in the global climate are now inevitable and are already taking place, and thus Parties to the UNFCCC must also include, in the COP15 outcome document, an ambitious agreement on adaptation finance which should prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable countries, especially in the near-term. 86. Decide to hold a second meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum in Kiribati in 2010 to take forward this initiative, to further raise awareness of the vulnerabilities and actions of vulnerable countries to combat climate change, and to amplify their voice in international negotiations. In this context, request support from the UN system to assist the most vulnerable developing countries take action in pursuit of this Declaration.6 Copenhagen. 87. The event preceded the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) that began, where 192 parties are meeting with the intention of formulating an agreement to stabilize the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Organizers hope the conference will prove as successful as COP3 in 1997, known as the Kyoto Protocol, which led to agreements on mandatory emission reductions. During the week-long visit to Denmark, over 200 delegates aged 14-17 from 42 countries set up stands in Copenhagen town hall promoting their countrys efforts to combat climate change. The Maldivian delegates confessed theirs was one of the most popular with many people fascinated by the immediate threat climate change and sea level rise poses for the low-lying island nations. Maldivians are an innocent (party) suffering from the actions of developed countries.7 88. The issue has taken on urgency ahead of a major UN climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen. At that meeting countries will negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere. Wealthy nations want broad emissions cuts from all countries, while poorer ones say industrialized countries should carry most of the burden.8 1. The Guardian. 2. http://www.climateactionprogramme.org. 3. http://www.asiantribune.com. 4. http://www.scotland.gov.uk. 5. The Guardian, ibid. 6. http://www.ecs.org.et. 7. http://www.minivannews.com. 8. http://www.msnbc.msn.com.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Jane Austen Sen

Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen's characters always undergo an event that morally changes their being. In Sense and Sensibility this moral change is obvious in Elinor and Marianne. The development of these adolescents into mature, reasonable adults is a gradual transformation seen in Sense and Sensibility. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy begin Pride and Prejudice as arrogant and biased adults and end the story as liberal minded individuals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In Sense and Sensibility the family has been forced to move from the plush lap of luxury into a more modest setting. Mr. Dashwood has just passed away. Since this was a patrilineal society, the eldest son, John Dashwood, inherits all of Mr. Dashwood's estate. John planned to live at Norland with his wife, Fanny Dashwood. Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters needed to relocate. This is a significant adjustment for everyone involved. In addition to the move to Barton Cottage, the family is also experiencing a decline in their income and thus must live a more middle class existence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marianne was Mrs. Dashwood's middle daughter. She was sensible and clever, but eager in everything; her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was everything but prudent.'; (Austen, pg5). Marianne was only seventeen and behaved as such. She was unable to hold back her feelings even in a social setting with friends. Mrs. Dashwood's disposition was similar to Marianne's. They were similar in the expression of emotions. After Henry Dashwood died Marianne and Mrs. Dashwood, 'encouraged each other now in the violence of their affliction.'; (Austen, pg 5). The phrase misery loves company comes to mind to explain how they would commiserate with each other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marianne was full of emotions and thoughts that she would not conceal. Her personality was the extreme opposite of Elinor's The moral development in Marianne has its roots in Willoughby, a young gentleman that rescues her from a fall on a mountainside near their new home. It was a very romantic scene when Willoughby, 'took her up in his arms without further delay, and carried her down the hill'; (Austen, p21). Marianne was excited at the whole situation especially since ;his manly beauty and more than common gracefulness were instantly the theme of general admiration'; (Austen, p21). Willoughby wa... ... the highest kind'; (Austen, p296). Mr. Darcy has completely forgiven Elizabeth and is attempting to prove her opinion wrong. Elizabeth has broken her prejudice and realizes her fault. Darcy comes to Longbourn and Elizabeth's mother comments on him, 'but else I must say that I hate the very sight of him'; (Austen, 333). Elizabeth has overcome her bad opinion of Darcy, but the rest of the family has not. After Elizabeth tells her mother of Darcy's proposal she says, 'We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man; but this would be nothing, if you really like him'; (Austen, p354). Her family is willing to allow the marriage to proceed, mostly for financial reasons. These books show a maturation of character through the trials and tribulations that life grants. In each of these stories there are parallel worlds, one of upper class and one of the middle to lower class. They show that even though two people come from different worlds and have different financial positions, love will conquer all. Works Cited: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin Books, 1996. Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Ed. Margaret Anne Doody. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990.

Friday, October 11, 2019

On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person Essay

† On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person† tells a story of the importance in identifying your own speech and how there is nothing more personal than your own speech. Many people change their attitude, personality and in some cases the way they speak based on their environment and surroundings. The meaning of what the author wants to get across to the reader is exemplified in lines 52-70. In those lines she says how we shouldn’t care how any one speaks no matter what race, color, or where the individual is from. She realizes this in her own experience because her mother, father, and her all speak differently and she asks one of her friends â€Å"does everyone in your family speak alike† they responded â€Å"don’t take this the wrong way, nothing personal†. I believe it is then that the author realizes how personal ones language is and that no person should have to defend the way they speak or what language he/she speaks. I also, found it interesting how Allison, a black woman questioned why black people just drop syllables, and sound lazy, instead of just speaking clear, clean English. She brings this up because her college acquaintances noticed how she spoke like a â€Å"white† person instead of like a black American. The speaker also mentions that her acquaintances seemed sure they knew what a black person is supposed to sound like. The speaker is talking about how her acquaintances have a preconceived notion and stereotype on how black people should sound. There are a lot of cultural assumptions in this belief. There is a stereotype that black people are not as educated as white people. In my opinion, this is simply not true. Also, they may expect her to speak in Ebonics or improper English. The matter of the fact is that you should not be ashamed of where you come from and the way you speak, that is all part of your identity. Finally, people will one day perceive who you really are and respect your heritage.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

A Report to Determine the Benefits of a Good Staff Welfare System

A REPORT TO DETERMINE THE BENEFITS OF A GOOD STAFF WELFARE SYSTEM BY MARK ROSS 21ST October 2012 CONTENTS Introduction1 Executive Summary1 Staff welfare and organisational objectives1 Process for assessing staff welfare2 Actions to be taken2 Communicating responsibilities for staff welfare3 Recording and maintaining staff welfare systems4 Conclusion4 Bibliography4 i 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 This report has been asked for by my manager to determine the benefits to the company of good and well integrated staff welfare system.Recent statistics produced by the companies Human Resources department show that the levels of sickness and absenteeism are unacceptably high. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2. 1 This Report considers 5 main objectives: Discuss the relationship between staff welfare and organisational objectives. Explain the process for assessing staff welfare. Identify the actions to be taken by the manager in dealing with a staff welfare Issue. Describe how to communicate responsibilities for staff welfare to then team. Discuss records that may be maintained to demonstrate that staff welfare is supported. . Discuss the relationship between staff welfare and organisational objectives. The relationship between staff welfare and organisational objectives can be can be a bit of a balancing act but there are many basic requirements we all expect when we go to work: Safe working conditions / work environment (risk assessments carried out) Safety from any kind of harassment e. g. bullying, sexual, racial. Good employee relations with people being treated with dignity and respect. Equal opportunities. Adequate induction into the company and ongoing training.Some of these process's come at a cost and given the current economic downturn many companies may want try and make cutbacks in certain areas namely ongoing training which can be expensive. If we are able to show our staff that we really care about there interests and personnel development it has been shown in studies to incr ease the overall feeling of well-being in the work place, this is proven to increase productivity and reduce rates of sickness and absenteeism which in-turn leads to a positive effect on bottom line profits. A study by Dr Kerstin Alfes of Kingston University Business School found that:Keeping staff happy might not be a high priority for employers in the economic downturn. But a report from Kingston University argues that a contented workforce can help an organisation to succeed and can even make the difference between whether or not a struggling company survives the recession. 1 4. Explain the process for assessing staff welfare. The process for assessing staff welfare can be achieved in several ways, all are based on an open and honest flow of communication from front-line staff up the chain of command using well defined process's.Making the chain of command clear is also very important so staff know the correct approach to take and who to contact with any given issue/grievance. He re are some of the methods we currently have in place to assess staff welfare: Surveys / Questionnaires. Suggestion Box's (Anonymous). Regular performance reviews / appraisals. Near-miss and accident reporting. Back to work interviews. All these process's are based on getting an understanding of how the workforce feel at work and improvements that may be needed to make things run smoother. One process our company hasn't yet developed fully is a workplace counselling scheme.This concept originated in the USA and looks at staff welfare not only in the work place but outside it too, it recognises that many problems affecting productivity and welfare are not only work related. This counselling must be confidential and empathetic to the personal needs on the individual employee. 5. Identify the actions to be taken by the manager in dealing with a staff welfare issue. A manager may deal with staff welfare issues in the following ways, closely assessing the information gathered during the processing of a staff welfare issue and also looking into other relevant information is one of the most important step.We need to get to the bottom of the issue and take a balanced view on all the concerns raised. Actions to be taken: Following of policies and procedures that are in place. Meetings with those concerned with the specific staff welfare issue. Close assessment of information gathered. These actions should lead to a good overall picture of the staff welfare issue and allow use to take the correct approach in rectifying or putting controlling measures in place to minimize the issue. Often policies and procedures may need to be updated to incorporate things we have learnt from individual issues.This can be seen to be good management tool also as it shows our employees that as a company we are always open to continual improvement. 2 6. Describe how to communicate responsibilities for staff welfare to the team. Staff welfare responsibilities can be communicated to staff via newsletters regular meeting appraisals Notice boards eg last accident/near miss currently our company collects data on accident reports/nears misses but it only used as a tool to pass onto higher management and isn't made freely available to staff, In previous jobs this information has been made public knowledge and published on notice board.I feel this can be used as a good tool to show that we're striving to reduce these figures, the same approach could also be taken with sickness and absenteeism. Publishing information such as days lost due to sickness and cost to the company in having to pay for overtime to cover time could show how important we take this issue. 7. Discuss records that may be maintained to demonstrate that staff welfare is supported. There are several ways in which records can be maintained to support staff welfare such as 8. Conclusion 9. Bibliography http://www. kingston. ac. uk/pressoffice/news/59/26-01-2010-a-happy-workforce-is-good-for-business. html

Bahram Ahmadi

A programme of work for the implementation of a strategy is a large set of coherent guidelines that include several activities in the program so as to achieve certain objectives. It involves several processes including organising, coordination, developing, designing, training, building, developing, growing, closing, etc. In any program strategy for a project, the objectives of the organisation play a very important role.The project program strategy gives importance to the manager that would be responsible for carrying out the operations of the project, the timing and the nature of the activities, and the dealing with specific tastes of the customers. Project program strategy is highly specific to a project. However, there may be more than one strategy to be employed to meet the objectives of the project. During the planning stages, the managers would sit down to develop a strategy.These strategies are developed so as to be appropriate with the characteristics of the organisation, hum an resources, geographical location, social features, politics, etc (Walter, 1999). For each project in an organisation, the program of work (workflow as such) is managed independently. The project manager would be looking at several limitations in the resources, including time, money and the scope.A project may fail due to several reasons (including deficiency of resources, lack of goals, conflict issues, problems with the customers, etc), and the manager would have to anticipate these problems right during the initiation of the project and ensure that a problem-solving process is enabled. Each project manager would be determining the ongoing processes in the project through monitoring and evaluation of the performances.The project manager would have to adopt different strategies so that the organisation could achieve certain objectives and hence reach a desired goal (Brentani, 2003, Walter, 1999, University of Texas, 2007 & Rad, 2006). The process of developing a strategy for the project is very simple. The managers would have to sit down and decide the various objectives that need to be achieved by the project. The means of achieving such objectives need to be discussed. The manager should involve other parties including the administration, the portfolio manager and the stakeholders.It may be very difficult to come to a consensus if too many people are involved in the process. This is because several people may have different values, outlines and approaches. The process of setting up the objectives, determining the goals and the ways of achieving them is very tedious and could take a long time. The manager should associate the strategy needed to achieve the objectives. During the final stages, the manager would have to also ensure that the strategy/ies adopted help to meet the objectives (Walter, 1999)On the other hand, portfolio of the project management is an approach in which various projects in an organisation are treated as smaller portions of a much l arger venture (with respect to investment and resource allocations). The project portfolio management would be functional right from the initiation of the project to the very completion. Certain instruments are utilised in the portfolio project management to help the managers (including planning, allocation of resources, evaluation, monitoring, analysing, standardization, etc).This can be considered as a centralised instrument required to effectively handle several projects in an organisation and to study the performance of several projects that may run in an organisation. It can be utilised to compare and contrast various projects. One very important feature of project portfolio management is to determine the costs, expenditure, benefits, investments and other features of the project. In recent years portfolio management has turned out to be a very important aspect of planning, especially in IT firms.IT companies would be managing several projects and programs running in various pa rts of the world through an effective portfolio management system. Studies conducted in the past have demonstrated a little less than half of the IT companies are unable to meet their targets due to inefficient portfolio management (Oracle, 2007, Stanford University, 2007 & UMT Consulting Services, 2007). The portfolio manager mix of projects should be such that the resources of the organisation are utilised effectively.They should be selected in such a way that the risks are significantly reduced. The portfolio manager is in a good position to priortize the projects and accordingly allocates the resources. He should be able to select the project based on their ability to fulfil certain criteria (Crow, 2004 & Oracle, 2007). A portfolio management system would be much broader and would include several other processes such as defining the opportunities, bringing those projects into the focus that would be able to achieve some objectives, monitoring of the projects, etc.Portfolio manag ement should be considered to be an art rather than a science. Frequently, portfolio managers would have to work with the fund managers of the organisation, so that there is effective use of the money. Portfolio management is frequently utilised in several developed, and slowly developing nations are moving towards effective portfolio management (Crow, 2004, Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). A portfolio management system is often utilised by an organisation to bring about success in the project (as many projects could be effectively be handled simultaneously).A portfolio may be funds or resources and can be utilised by the organisation to increase returns over a very short period of time. An organisation would observe that the resources available at any point of time would be less than the amount of resources required by a particular project. Hence, one of the main objectives of the portfolio managers would be to effectively manage the resources of several ongoing projects. The managemen t of the organisation needs to sit and figure out what the commitment of the organisation would actually be.As management of an organisation is a dynamic process, this exercise has to be done from time to time. Besides, actually managing several resources including human resources, logistics, IT, support systems, etc, time also needs to be handled. The management should be very much interested in ensuring that the portfolio management processes are enabled properly. The organisation should ensure that the interests of each and every protject are enabled. If a project is not performing properly, the ideal plan would be to discontinue it, if the organisation does not have the resources to handle it.A proper flow of information of the project should exist so that the process of monitoring is effective. It is very important that the projects be managed in a formal and official manner. The data that would be flowing would be much more accurate and effective in ensuring the objectives of the organisation are met. There should be a clear flow of data between the programs, projects and the portfolios (Brentani, 2003, Walter, 1999, & Rad, 2006). In the portfolio management, all the projects that are ongoing in the organisation are chosen and a standardised fashion of evaluating them is utilised.Portfolio management is very much required for the production, development and the utilisation of ideas and intellectual property in various projects in an organisation. The portfolio manager would be performing various tasks such as reallocating and promoting the staff members (as per their characteristics) in various projects. Thus it can be seen that if an organisation has a very good portfolio manager, he would be using the human resources very efficiently (UMT Consulting Group, 2007). The entire framework of portfolio management involves three steps, namely creating, selecting and managing.The goals and the strategies to be adopted in the portfolio management are made keepi ng in mind the characteristics of the organisation. Accordingly, new opportunities that are present should be identified and resources allocated. The objectives have to be prioritised and the tasks and activities that are to be done are selected. Finally, it is also important that the project be managed in the most efficient and organised manner (UMT Consulting Group, 2007). Many organisations do not have any portfolio management process running.Only the companies that feel that research frequently perform it and development is vital for the well being of the company. Only about 10 % of all organisations in the industry do have a strong portfolio management system in place. If a portfolio management system were not in place, then all the projects in the organisation would be given equal amount of importance or authorisation. This would result in all the projects that are going on in the organisation are given equal amount of resources (Rad, 2006).In an organisation, the project or t he program manager would ensure that the project could achieve its objectives. On the other hand, the portfolio manager would ensure that the operational activities and the maintenance programs in the organisation are smooth and functional. The team leader and the middle scale managers usually do the project management. On the other hand, the higher staff members including the administration do the portfolio management.The higher management of the organisation would be concentrating on the portfolio, rather than the functioning of each individual project (Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). In a project or a program management, the team leaders and the manager would ensure that the staff members meet the specific goals of the project. The organisations main aim would be to deliver quality products or services. The portfolio manager would instead be ensuring that the goals of each and every project are in tune with that of the organisation.In the project management, a lot of importance is g iven to completing the tasks on time and ensuring that costs are limited. On the other hand, the portfolio management would be concentrating to a very less extent on fulfilling completion tasks on time and using the minimal amount of resources. The members of the portfolio management team would include the leader, the stakeholder, advocates, project managers and the office managers (Brentani, 2003, Stanford University, 2007 & Rad, 2006). The project or the program management should work in coordination with the portfolio management.Several processes in the project such as selection of the resources, prioritisation of the targets of the project, and the resource allocation should be performed in the most appropriate manner. The decision-making of the project needs to be very active and dynamic in nature. Informed decision-making and resource allocation is very important for the project to function properly. The project or program manager has to ensure that certain structures or a fra mework in the organisation is in place before the functional activities can be carried out.The project environment should be such that the objectives kept in mind can be achieved. The program manager and the portfolio manager should ensure that an environment is created that would be conducive to achieving the objectives of the organisation. The project members should function as a team so that the objectives are met. The team working on the project should have the skill, experience, knowledge and the competence to carry out the tasks of the project.One of the main reasons why projects do not succeed is because they may take long time to produce the results or may consume a lot of the resources. To ensure the project is effective (to ensure completion of the tasks) and efficient (completion of the tasks with appropriate use of the resources) in its objectives, it is very much needed that both the project management and the portfolio management work in close coordination with each ot her (Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). The management activities of the portfolio management would be repetitive in nature.On the other hand, the management activities of the project management would be cyclic in nature. If the portfolio manager can take care of the functioning of all the projects, then the organisation can be considered to be very competitive. If a project does well, it would have an impact on the functioning of the organisation, but also on other projects (Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). Portfolio management would definitely help the organisation to grow, expand and develop. The wealth of the organisation would increase with an effective portfolio management strategy.The portfolio manager would be bringing in various assets (including infrastructure, support systems, financial resources, human resources, logistics, etc) and securities into the organisation. He would be considering investing in various ways including growth stock investing and value stock investing. From t ime to time, the objectives of the organisation would vary and hence, it is the duty of the portfolio managers to vary the investment pattern in the organisation. A greater amount of flexibility would be required.The management style of the portfolio managers should also vary depending on the needs (Brentani, 2003). A portfolio manager and the program/project manager would be concentrating on different characteristics of the project. The portfolio manager would be using the PPM (project portfolio management) tools, whereas the project manager would be using the single-project management tools. The PPM tools would ensure that the functioning becomes more and more efficient, the costs are effectively distributed and the profits of the organisation are increased.It also ensures that the organisation is following a particular framework whilst managing the projects (Brentani, 2003 & UMT, 2007). Each project has to be carefully planned and implemented in the organisation. The entire proje ct management should be done in phases. The project management tools would ensure that the staff members make effective use of the resources in the organisation and ensure completion of the targets that are required within the project. The project manager would have to motivate the staff so that the work is improved in quality and the project is able to achieve its targets.Only if the management practises of the project are appropriate, could it be able to achieve its objectives (Free Management Library, 2007, Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). The program strategy would be concerning a greater amount of internal issues with relation to the project, whereas the project portfolio management would be concerning the external issues. It is necessary that the portfolio mangers align their objectives as per the strategic objectives of each program.The portfolio processes should be customised to suit other management processes that would be functional in the organisation, simultaneously. Both pr ogram strategy management and portfolio management involve interacting with the clients, and hence demonstrate the importance of clients with respect to management and its processes (Stanford University, 2007). References: Brentani, C. (2003), Portfolio Management, Elsevier, Philadelphia http://books. google. com/books? id=8LJrilH_eEEC&pg=PT14&dq=portfolio+management&sig=x-IYrHl67RaZTocKedqv_fTBX3w#PPT16,M1Crow, K. (2004), A Practical Approach To Portfolio Management, [Online], Available: http://www. npd-solutions. com/portfolio. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Free Management Library (2007), Project Management, [Online], Available: http://www. managementhelp. org/plan_dec/project/project. htm, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Oracle (2007), Peoplesoft Enterprise Project Portfolio Management, [Online], Available: http://www. oracle. com/media/peoplesoft/en/pdf/datasheets/e_epm_ds_projportmgmt_41005. pdf, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Rad, P.F. & Levin, G. (2006), Project Portfolio Man agement, IIL, New York. http://books. google. com/books? id=PUavbSMdP7QC&pg=PA7&dq=project+portfolio+management&sig=Nwscmbzr4s8B_X2cHG26-1hiW9Y#PPA10,M1 Stanford Advanced Project Management (2007), Mastering the Project Portfolio, [Online], Available: http://apm. stanford. edu/courses/MPP. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Stanford University (2007), Portfolio Management Team, [Online], Available: http://www. stanford. edu/dept/its/projects/PMO/files/pmt. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18].Walter, S. L. (1999), Defining and developing program strategies, [Online], Available: http://www. sil. org/lingualinks/literacy/PlanALiteracyProgram/DefiningAndDevelopingProgramSt. htm, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Walter, S. L. (1999), Defining program objectives, [Online], Available: http://www. sil. org/lingualinks/literacy/PlanALiteracyProgram/DefiningProgramObjectives. htm, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. UMT Consulting Services (2007), PPM – Project Portfolio Management Consulting, [Onl ine], Available: http://www.umt. com/site/PPM-Consulting_60. html? PHPSESSID=9917b5631be27d19dbb1d077885e2866, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. UMT Consulting Group (2007), What's Really Driving the Importance of Portfolio Management? (DM Review, February 27, 2004), [Online], Available: http://www. umt. com/site/Why-Portfolio-Management_4. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. University of Texas –DIIA (2007), Project management tutorial, [Online], Available: http://www. utexas. edu/academic/cit/howto/tutorials/project/index. html, [Accessed: 2007, August.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

D2 Review course assignments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

D2 Review course assignments - Essay Example Unit 2 assignment requires the learner to create a memo that describes the strategic decision-making process in an organization, particularly the criteria used in making and testing of the assumptions held by decision makers. The information needed will be obtained through secondary data analysis, particularly browsing the web and reading textbooks. This assignment will improve the skills of the learner in making critical decisions in an organization as a manager or executive. Unit 3 assignment requires one to develop a job grading schedule for appraising the performance of Frontline supervisors (Beck, 2013). To obtain the information on grades and weights for each item, a survey will be conducted in personnel management firms. This assignment information will boost the learner’s personnel management skills, concerning performance management and job evaluation. Unit 4 assignment requires the learner to complete an assessment measuring program-level learning outcomes. The evaluation information will be answered based on the opinion of the student about expectations and experiences in the program. This will facilitate the improvement of the program to reflect current market experiences and skills needed for management students. Unit 5 assignments involve a comparison of the two organizations on various business aspects, mainly organizational strategic management processes, design, culture and management styles (Charles Hill, 2012). The data required for this assignment will be obtained through a survey of the two organizations. The analysis will enhance the learners strategic planning and implementation skills in different companies in a dynamic

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Impact of Technology on Society (Telephone ) Essay

Impact of Technology on Society (Telephone ) - Essay Example Advancement of technology has fueled the use of telephone across the world. This is because telephone devices allow users to send instant messages, offer voice calls, and access to websites. However, the conveniences and pervasiveness have not brought benefits but also some numerous negative impacts (Murphy, 2009). The content of this paper will examine the telephone technology as a form of communication and the impacts it causes to the society. 2. Background 2.1What is telephone technology. A telephone is a telecommunication device that enables two or more parties to conduct a real time conversation when they are not close enough to hear each other talking directly. The device converts sound, efficient and most typically the human being's voice, into electronic signals appropriate for its transmission via data cables or other transmission channel over a wide distance, and replays such signals in an audible form to the users (Murphy, 2009). 2.2 When was the telephone invented and by whom? The telephone technology has resulted in an integral part in today’s life since its invention by Alexander Graham Bell in the 1876 (Murphy, 2009). The nineteenth century was the communication revolution era whereby there was invention of many communication devices. Researches argue that the nineteenth century’s greatest invention was the initiative of invention itself. The invention of telephone technology has had many impacts on the world. Telephone has also brought the current generation into the secondary oral age. The first telephone technology invention in the year 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and additional development by other inventors, the telephone was the initial communication device in world history that enabled human beings to communicate directly with one another over large distances (Murphy, 2009). Rapidly, telephones became indispensable in government, business, households, and is currently the most used small communication device. 2.3 How does t elephone work Telephones operate in a simple way. It captures the user’s voice vibrations through plates and coils and then translates the vibrations into electrical signals. The telephone amplifies these signals and then transmits them to another telephone device where the receiving device changes them to voice signals in the reverse form (Farndon, Manning & Walt Disney Company, 2003). When the receiver picks up the call, the telephone connects him or her to the network. When one dials a phone number, this number goes to the telephone provider requesting for connection with that number’s subscriber. The provider then times this conversation duration and bills it. In many countries, the telephone network is digital, therefore, the telephones behaves in a similar way like a computer, transmitting and receiving audio signals in binary codes (ones and zeroes) as an alternative of a continuous signal. When you convert tens to binary codes, you get an approximate whole numb er, which defines the telephone’s audio sample. This system can be used anywhere not only with telephones and its called PCM. That is how the telephone operates (Farndon, Manning & Walt Disney Company, 2003). 3. Impacts on society 3.1 What was the society like before development of telephone tech

Monday, October 7, 2019

Food Prices in Agricultural Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Food Prices in Agricultural Markets - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Ð µhe ever-rising food prices have brought a lot of challenges to the contemporary society. Most affected by these food price increases are the poor in the society. The main effect of the rising food prices on poor consumers is the reduction in their purchasing power. A number of economic theories and models have been put forward to explain the relationship between rising food prices and their impacts on poor consumers. Engle’s law and the standard demand theory are just some of these theories explaining the effects of rising food prices on poor consumers. According to Engel’s law consumers rely on non-food expenditures if food prices go up. Because the rich spend more money on non-food items, whenever food prices rise, they have excess non-food expenditures to cut and transfer to food expenditures. The standard demand theory on the other hand focuses on the effects of income and price increase on substitute food. The ne gative impacts of food price increase on poor consumers make it imperative that governments and the international community step in to provide for the welfare of the poor. To increase the purchasing power lost due to food price increase, safety net programmes such as food-for-work and cash transfers have been implemented in many countries. Due to certain barriers to the success of safety net programmes, other strategies such as local and international financial assistance and improved accessibility to land, seeds, farm animals, loans, and technical services have been applied in some countries. Introduction World over, people are often guarded against rising food prices, a trend considered as having a number of negative influences on people’s welfare, more so the poorest in society. In fact, rising food prices has been cited as one of the main factors that push the poor into starvation. Besides, rising food prices exert a lot of downward financial pressure on the poor while th e wealthiest in the society are never affected by these food price increases (Westhoff, P. 212). Since majority of the world’s population could be described as poor, rising food prices have thus further dampened the already crisis-prone global economy. However, recent times have realized the emergence of a school of thought, which raises the question of whether food price increases are inherently negative. For instance, increased food costs have been found to be beneficial to farmers, who are the sole providers of one of the most basic human needs, food (Westhoff, P. 212). The argument according to this school of thought is that if farmers do well because of increased food prices, then others will also benefit from the increased food prices in one way or another. The second argument put forward by the school of thought that rising food prices have positive implications is that, high food prices have pushed the agricultural industry to develop genetically modified foods that n ot only resist draught and other natural calamities but also pests and diseases. Additionally, foods have been developed and grown that can survive and do well is marginally fertile areas. In other words, these foods have been quite useful to developing countries in which larger percentages of population live in abject poverty. The increasing food prices have thus made the agricultural industry rather alert in the creation of sustainable food productions, more so in developing and the under-developed countries. This paper thus explores the effects of the rising food prices on poor consumers, focusing on the welfare of this category of consumers and the possible interventions to address these effects. Theories and Models of the Effects of Rising Food Prices Because of the positive and negative effects of rising food prices on poor consumers, heated debates on the exact effects of rising food prices have ensued. Several theories and models seeking to explain the impacts of