Sunday, December 22, 2019

Winter Clothing For The Poor - 1407 Words

Austin Palmer World Literature Mr. Zetzer April 18th, 2015 Winter Clothing for the Poor The combination of prolonged unemployment, some of the century’s worst storms, and shrinking public sector budgets has created a greater need to help the poor. During the winter, the best thing to give someone in need is a winter coat. Not all of the people who need a coat are homeless. Some just don’t have enough money after paying for food and paying the bills while others may have recently been laid off. Despite every different situation, the solution can be addressed the same, with a warm winter coat. In 2009, 31% of United States children lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment. One in five children live in households whose earnings fall below the poverty level in the United States. An estimated 671,850 Americans experience homelessness on any given night. Approximately 34% of homeless are under the age of twenty-four. Health experts report that even a 2-degree drop in body temperature results in a reduced heart rate, loss of coordination, and confusion. Adults cannot work effectively and children find it difficult to learn. A warm coat fixes the problem for most. Bad times have happened before, and they have made people homeless as a result. In the past when workers lost jobs, there were people to take them in whether it was family, friends, or neighbors. Now however, people who are at risk of homelessness have much less to fall back on.Show MoreRelatedFashion of the Times Essay1722 Words   |  7 Pagesthe clothing made by the Queen or for the Queen, nor did they wear the clothes straight off her back. The Elizabethan style, named after the Queen Elizabeth, is simply the clothing that came into style when she became heir. The original settlers of Jamestown, though under the reign of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin and heir- James I, the fashion they wore was still that of the Elizabethan era. During the Elizabethan Era, a law was instated called Sumptuary Law that limited the range of clothing the maleRead MoreComparing Modern Fashion to Fashion of the Past838 Words   |  4 PagesToday’s basic wardrobe will consist of whatever clothing a person needs for work ( a suit or nice dress, uniform, or work clothes), clothing for going out (party dresses, suits, etc.), clothing for sleeping or lounging, and clothing for when you are just living (tees, jeans, sports attire, etc.). For the purpose of this comparison, the fashion of the Victorian period will be used. The Victorian wardrobe consisted of clothing for the day and clothing for sleeping. Many times the undergarments wouldRead MoreChild Poverty Is A Reality New Zealand Essay1463 Words   |  6 PagesChild Poverty is a reality New Zealand. An ongoing health issue in New Zealand is poverty in children. Children are now living without the basic necessities each day in summer and winter to protect against New Zealand weather conditions. General needs that most New Zealanders take advantage of such as shoes that cover and protect their feet, raincoats that keep them dry walking to school and sunblock to protect from cancer in the future, are lacking for children in poverty. Poverty in children isRead MoreThe Social Issue Of A New Zealand1646 Words   |  7 Pages(Unicef). Children might experience poverty differently from adults as they have different and specific needs. They are not living in a normal pattern of modern life which means they could have insufficient nutritious food, often wear worn-out shoes or clothing and they usually live in a cold, damp house. They could also be missing out on activities that the most children in New Zealand take for granted (Child Poverty Monitor). According to the statistics from Chi ld Poverty Monitor 2015 Technical ReportRead MoreThe Inuit People Essay1383 Words   |  6 Pages The Inuit People The word Eskimo is not a proper Eskimo word. It means eaters of raw meat and was used by the Algonquin Indians of eastern Canada for their neighbours who wore animal-skin clothing and were ruthless hunters. The name became commonly employed by European explorers and now is generally used, even by them. Their own term for themselves is Inuit which means the real people. The Inuit developed a way of life well-suited to their Arctic environmentRead MoreThe Unique Sense Of Style The Ancient Chinese908 Words   |  4 Pagesstyle of cloths they wore. Each social class had different garments they worn to show their position within society. In this paper, I will take about the unique sense of style the Ancient Chinese had. Clothes During Ancient China periods, clothing symbolized the Clothing symbolized the harmonious relationship between social class and its citizens. Each member of society dressed differently form each other. For example, peasants and regular citizens dressed differently from high-ranked officials. â€Å"TheRead MoreBrand History Ysl1250 Words   |  5 Pagescreated haute couture for socialites and celebrities.   MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS: 1. Saint Laurents trendsetting clothes not only changed the look of high fashion but also the life of the average woman. 2. Aside from his haute couture clothing, he offered another clothing line for women available in department stores. The designs from this line often turned heads and changed the lives of the women who wore them. 3. In the 1960s and 1970s, when women were joining the workforce in millions for theRead MoreWays to Help Poor People764 Words   |  4 Pagescommentator: Poor People voting is ‘un-American’. Matthew Vadum claim that registering the poor to vote is un-American. Vadum goes on to claim that â€Å"registering the unproductive to vote is an idea that was heavily promoted by the small-communists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven†. What are some ways that we can help poor people? Don’t judge people unless you have heard their story. Don’t judge a person by their circumstances because it doesn’t define their character. We can help the poor in so manyRead MoreThe Criticism Of Clothes And The Philosophers Fear Of Fashion 997 Words   |  4 Pages Criticisms of Clothes Clothing has been heavily criticized by many, and in particular, philosophers. In Karen Hanson’s piece â€Å"Dressing Down Dressing Up--The Philosophers Fear of Fashion†, the author notes that there has been a long standing tradition of what she refers to as a philosophic hostility toward fashionable dress (1990, p. 107). Socrates was critical of how clothing resulted in a desire for things in the physical realm (Hanson 1990, p. 114). As told by Plato, Socrates believed that concernRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass1693 Words   |  7 Pagesexperienced life as a slave on a plantation. He was soon relocated to Maryland at the age of seven to the slave owner’s brother Mr. Auld. Douglass is moved back and forth from the plantation to the city. The areas of food, treatment and punishment, and clothing were contrasting between plantation and city. His narrative reveals the complexity of slavery in the 1800s, and highlights the co ntrasts between his life in the city and plantation. Frederick Douglass describes in his book Narrative of the Life

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Building a Strategic Balanced Scorecard Free Essays

The balanced scorecard has been said to be among the most important tools in business management (Kaplan, R. S (2003), PR Newswire (2003). The usage of balanced scorecard by several companies has led to increase in profitability, productivity and efficiency. We will write a custom essay sample on Building a Strategic Balanced Scorecard or any similar topic only for you Order Now The strategic balanced scorecard has been used by organizations to balance all aspects of organizational practice by providing a framework for effecting change and translating strategy into action. It has for sometime gained acceptance as a way of turning around businesses which were at one time in the brink of collapse (Kerr, D.  L. 2003). The scorecard has facilitated the translation of strategy into action (Kaplan, R. S. , and D. P. Norton 1992). In corporate organizations, is the case with Saatchi and Saatchi, the scorecard has helped many companies out of crisis. In the nineties this organization called Saatchi and Saatchi was experiencing many problems associated with poor growth. This was due to a recession that followed the rapid growth through acquisitions in the 1970’s and 80’s. Particularly in 1995 this organization was almost collapsing due to bankruptcy. To avert the collapse the agency started with strategy reformulation and making some structural changes that began with bringing onboard new personnel at the top to the organization. Bob Seelert who formerly worked at General Foods was appointed as the new chairman and Kevin Roberts as the new chief Executive, while both the Saatchi brothers left the company. With the new leadership in place several financial goals were developed. These goals were: i. Growing the company’s revenue base better than the market. ii. Converting 30 percent of that incremental revenue to operating profit. iii. Doubling the company’s earnings per share. These goals were given as a promise of performance to the shareholders and thus had to be achieved. To achieve them, the leadership of the organization identified ways in which the goals could be achieved and in doing this it was found that all units or locations had different visions. For smooth accomplishment of the goals, all units had to have a common vision. A management tool had to be devised to help communicate and operationalize the new vision. Having a common vision was perceived to aid in achieving of one of the main objectives which was to position the agency at the top rank of the advertising industry. ANALYSIS The importance of measuring strategy and operational plans cannot be overemphasized (Green et al. 2002). After setting up financial/growth goals the company’s senior team focused and had to re-prioritize their investment plans for the different units. First the units had to be categorized according to their size in terms of the number of employees and also revenue contribution. Using the above criteria three categories were created. These were the ‘lead’, ‘drive’ and ‘prosper’. For each category different strategies were formulated. The ‘prosper’ agency is the one with less than 50 employees and is less likely to become a huge agency. Most agencies fall into the ‘prosper’ category. The new strategic focus for this category was that units in it were expected to achieve high margins despite their failure to grow significantly. The other category is the ‘drive’ agency which is estimated to have between 50 and 150 employees. The strategy adopted for it was that it had to maintain or slightly grow its revenue base, not leaving out growth in margins. The ‘lead’ agency is the one in which majority units are located and is the largest with examples being the UK, New York and China. This agency was expected to post rapid growth and also is the one where the biggest share of investment would be allocated. Apart from strategies directed to the different agency categories, Saatchi and Saatchi adopted other strategies relating to a customer perspective. One was paying close attention to the agency’s core client base. This strategy calls for treating the customers well in order for them to love the company i. e. to infatuate them. For this Saatchi and Saatchi came up with what they called are having ‘permanently infatuated clients’ or PIC for short. The other strategy which was encouraging employees to come up with big ideas which were referred to as ‘big fabulous ideas’ or BFIs. The BFIs were supposed to be quality ideas that could change businesses, brands and reputations to Saatchi and Saatchi’s clients. CONCLUSION The strategy for the ‘prosper’ agency of achieving high margins was possible through treating the few customers excellently i. e. making them infatuated. Also the employees in this agency were given opportunity to give quality ideas which were supported by financing from the top management. The ‘drive’ agency charged with responsibility of maintaining or slightly growing their revenue base and growing their margins also achieved their goals through being supported financially by the top management. The agency given the ‘lead’ status which comprised the largest revenue base, such as the UK, New York and China received the lion’s share of investment. As a result this category grew rapidly with the scorecard as the way through which strategy was translated into action within Saatchi and Saatchi. Key success was achieved through the absolute commitment of the most senior management that gave the required resources. EVALUATION For the case of Saatchi and Saatchi Company a set of two strategies were meshed together. These were the financial and customer perspective strategies which worked together reinforcing one another. The reasons which support this position are that in the goal of generating more revenue, more attention was paid to the clients who gave large earnings. On the other hand the goal pf converting 30 percent of the incremental revenue to operating profit was meant to finance changes in the organization. This was through encouraging employees to come up with quality ideas, by giving them incentives and rewards for quality ideas. Finally, the financial goal of doubling earnings per share was achieved through implementation of PICS’ (permanently infatuated clients) hence increasing growth and achieving high margins from clients who love and stick to the company. Also the financial goal of encouraging development of big ideas which could transform business, brands reputation of the company’s clients, was related to the customer perspective strategy. Reference: Business Intelligence: Building a Strategic Scorecard. Saatchi and Saatchi Complimentary Case Study. Available at http://www. business-intelligence. co. uk/PDFdownloads/strat_bsc/Saatchisr. pdf. Accessed on 20. 05. 07. Green, M. , J. Garrity, A. Gumbus, and B. Lyons (2002). â€Å"Pitney Bowes Calls For New Metrics: The Company Used a Balanced Scorecard to Manage Performance and Increase the Bottom Line,† Strategic finance. Kaplan, R. S. , and D. P. Norton (1992). â€Å"The Balanced Scorecard: Measures That Drive Performance,† Harvard Business Review 70(1), 71-79. Kaplan, R. S. , D. P. Norton, and M. Witzel (2003). â€Å"Great Believers in Balance: Guru Guide Robert Kaplan and David Norton,† The Financial Times, August, 11. Kerr, D. L. (2003). â€Å"Accountability By Numbers: How the Lone Star State’s Auditor Introduced a Balanced Scorecard Management System,† Journal of Accountancy 195(6), 61-70. PR Newswire. (2003). â€Å"Got Leverage? September-October Issue of Harvard’s Balanced Scorecard Report Explores Strategic Lock-In, Strategic IT Agility and the Balanced Scorecard,† PR Newswire, September 16, 1. How to cite Building a Strategic Balanced Scorecard, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Collaboration And Growth Of the Knowledge - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Collaboration And Growth Of the Knowledge. Answer: Introduction: Uber is one of the success stories which is basically a ride sharing and multinational company and it has severe leadership problems. It is also an entrepreneurial company which was responsible for transforming the existent taxi industry and it always fought to get its hold on the market share. It is believed that the company failed and several issues where created due to the leadership issues. The heads of the company failed to understand that the theory of winning at any cost and its culture was not the way in which a company could be run. Despite providing several solutions to the customers, the issues which Uber had caused for itself led to its downfall. Background: The Uber Company was found in the year 2009. It was founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick. It is based on San Francisco and it was originally a private car service for executives. The procedure of communication was conducted through emails and codes. The company started growing in the year 2010. Technology was utilized to bring passengers and drivers together for the successful completion of the Companys vision. Uber was regarded as the smartest way to get around. In case a person books a car it comes directly to that person and the payment is also completely cashless. The company targeted as specific segment of the customers. It was aimed at including those people who did not own a car. It also included those people who did not drive themselves to any party or function of any sort. There are certain people who like to travel in style and they also want to be treated as VIPs. They also need a cost efficient and suitable cab at their doorsteps. The relationship with the customers is built on the basis of the social media, which is a result of technological advancement. The customer support is a huge feature of this particular system. It also relies on the customer rating and the system of feedback. The sharing economy of the company is also an important aspect which was responsible for determining the economy of the company. The Uber drivers are responsible for the feedback and the sustainability of their service. It has been seen that the Uber drivers are drawn to the service by its simple and appealing prospects. The ability of the company to cont rol the supply to the drivers and also the exact number of rides which are demanded in pa particular area help them in optimizing the costs which are beneficial to them. The message of requirements is relayed to all the drivers in a particular locality. In several cases it has been seen that the influx of drivers in a particular locality is much more in comparison to the customers (Arendt 2017). The Uber drivers opine that since a long period of time, the Uber drivers have been neglected by the company. This is due to the reason that the company focuses mostly on the establishment of customer relations and much importance is not given to the drivers. Often the drivers have to suffer due to problems the company faces due to the customers. There have also been management issues in the Company (Rogers 2015). This is because of the lack of senior executives to help the company run in a proper manner. The most important strategy for the company is to make a suitable service facility such that the company is able to make money to overcome the costs and the cash which it has retrieved from capital investors. The Company cannot afford to hurt its business due to the problems it has encountered with its CEO. Therefore a proper effort needs to be given to improve the business (Leighton 2016). Another issue is that the company employees are trying to bring the previous CEO back instead of focussing on the betterment of the company and collection of its revenues. Another enemy of Uber in this particular case is the time. The advent of driverless cars is expected to pose a huge threat to the company. The venture of the company in China had failed and therefore it was necessary for the organisation to be cautious for its future attempts. There were several leadership problems which were plaguing the company and these were responsible for the losses and problems to the business. There also were ego problems in the management and the founding teams. The people who had founded the company wrongly felt that they needed to have control over every operation of the company (Rutsch 2015). Problems faced: Leadership issues: The main issue which the Uber Company has faced till now is that of a sort of autocratic leadership. There have been several issues reported where there has been a sort of force of the upper management authorities applied to the Uber workers and employees which is not the ideal scenario in which a company should work. Problems with the behaviours of the drivers: There have been several reports where the drivers have been found to be behave rudely or in a disrespectful manner with their customers or their riders. There have been reports where it has been mentioned that drivers have raped or molested their passengers or in certain cases have not helped them reach their proper destinations (Rogers 2015). Dissatisfaction issues of the drivers: Due to the absence of the tipping services and the absence of any sort of materialistic rewards there has been a sense of dissatisfaction and irritation of the drivers. This has led to the change in their attitudes and the lowering of the quality of the Uber experience (Rogers 2015). Possible solution: Despite the problems which has been faced by Uber, it is still considered to be safer than most rides and taxi services and it has also created an efficient system for the ride sharing which is existent even now. Appointing new and suitable leaders for important posts: The solution to the leadership problems of the company is by appointing new and suitable leaders for the important managerial posts. The company heads need to realize that the structure and the conditions of the organisation are every changing the requirements are not bound to be the same. Focussing on Goodwill marketing: In order to restore the public image, the company needs to correct the issues it has been facing. The company needs to focus on the goodwill marketing. This will help the company capable enough of reacting well in all sorts of tricky situations. The company needs to make a conscious effort to offer free rides at the times of crisis to help the customers and help them get out of any sort of harm (Cramer and Krueger 2016). Allowing riders to utilize their own data: It is better to allow the riders to control their own data. This will help them understand and trust the company due to the level of privacy which they are provided with. The company can also ensure that private rides are given by the company so that information is not shared with the company. Fixing business and leadership issues: The most important change which the company needs to make is regarding the business issues which have been mentioned by the company. The leadership issues of Travis Kalanick and his responses only to social posts are not the only methods to solve a particular problem. The company needs to appoint leaders who are genuine and they have to stop the disruptive culture of the company. There should not be any sort of internal conflicts and in every possible situation the autocratic approach of leadership cannot be applied. There needs to be a participative style in order to ensure that the opinions of all the people involved are taken into consideration (Denning 2015). The style of leadership where the people are bound to follow only the orders from the higher management cannot be suitable as it puts forward the fact that the company does not care for the claims and considerations of the stakeholders. Implications of the positives and negatives of solution implementation: In case the solutions stated are not implemented the image of the Uber company is going to suffer more and their needs to be a conscious attempt to stop that. In case the image of the company suffers there is bound to be the beginning of a blame game which is bound to make matters worse for the company. On the other hand if the issues such as the dissatisfaction of the drivers, the introduction of the tipping system, provision for rewards are incorporated, the drivers will be happy and in turn provide proper services as employees of the company. Recommendations: Uber is a company which is powered by machine learning, collecting data on the requested rides and driver locations. It is utilized to optimize all aspects of the business. Maintaining proper relationship with the drivers: The driver relationship needs to be maintained and the company needs to take it upon themselves to maintain it. In case the drivers are likely to lose money they need to be left in a low driver requested area the rider needs to pay a higher fare. The pricing system needs to be maintained and the consideration needs to be applied to these types of rides in order to compensate a driver for the significant costs. The costs which are incurred in the way of picking up a driver needs to be kept in mind. Adoption of a suitable rating system: There needs to be a proper knowledge regarding the rating system which affects the drivers overall rating. Therefore it is desirable for Uber to switch to a binary rating system as the present situation of rating affects the overall rating of the drivers. On the other hand a binary system would decisively differentiate the rides. The proper description of the ride needs to be mentioned to benefit the drivers. In case an option is given, there is an opportunity for the riders to report any situation they face to the Uber Company. The issue can be solved in case certain changes are made according to the problems which have been faced (Drahozal 2015). Providing suitable rewards to the drivers: The drivers also need to be given either materialistic or monetary rewards in order to appreciate their efforts so that the desire to remain with the company remains. In case a reward system is introduced it can be ensured that the workers have some motivation towards which they all can work. In case they know that they will receive tangible rewards in case they achieve a certain amount of success they can work towards it and ensure that their goals for achievement are met. Introduction of the tipping service: The tipping service which had been excluded from the Uber App needs to be included for better nature of service. This facility will benefit the drivers and the overall Uber system as a whole. In case the riders are pleased with the service they get or particularly with the drivers they can not only rate their ride but also tip the drivers to make their satisfaction known to them References: Arendt, H., 2017.ber die Revolution. Piper ebooks. Cramer, J. and Krueger, A.B., 2016. Disruptive change in the taxi business: The case of Uber.American Economic Review,106(5), pp.177-82. Denning, S., 2015. New lessons for leaders about continuous innovation.Strategy Leadership,43(1), pp.11-15. Drahozal, C.R., 2015. Commercial Arbitration: Cases and Problems. Glss, M., McGregor, M. and Brown, B., 2016, May. Designing for labour: Uber and the on-demand mobile workforce. InProceedings of the 2016 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems(pp. 1632-1643). ACM. Leighton, P., 2016. Professional self-employment, new power and the sharing economy: Some cautionary tales from Uber.Journal of Management Organization,22(6), pp.859-874. Rogers, B., 2015. The social costs of Uber.U. Chi. L. Rev. Dialogue,82, p.85. Rutsch, A., 2015. Growth leadership as practice: Leadership, collaboration and growth of knowledge-based organizations.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Post-Colonial Literature for Children Essay Example

Post-Colonial Literature for Children Essay As members of the culture that has colonised Aboriginal Australia, how can European Australian writers possibly represent Aboriginal experience and perspectives? Through a discussion of 3 key texts outline what you consider are important issues for making these judgements. Australian Literature has come a long way since the arrival of European settlers in 1788. As a nation, we have become a nation in our own right with an identity separate from the British Empire (Huggan, 2007). It is only in the last few decades however, that Aboriginality in a postcolonial context has become prevalent in our literature (Bradford, 2001 and Huggan, 2007). In recent times an issue has arisen: who exactly has the right to tell these stories. In this essay I will be exploring the important issues to consider when making these judgements. I will be referring to the following texts: Deadly Unna? by Phillip Gwynne, Children of Mirrabooka by Judith Arthy and My Girragundji by Meme McDonald and Boori Pryor. I will also make references to other texts where appropriate. Before judgements can be made about who should write Indigenous stories, we need to work out whom the story actually belongs to. There are those stories that are personal biographies that celebrate the indigenous culture through first hand knowledge for example, My Girragundji. Then there are those stories that are set in a wider context, that have indigenous themes as part of the plot for example Deadly Unna? The difference between the two is crucial when making judgments over the custodianship of the literature. The former is a work of fiction. We will write a custom essay sample on Post-Colonial Literature for Children specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Post-Colonial Literature for Children specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Post-Colonial Literature for Children specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer However, it is certainly a personal account of the life of author and Indigenous Australian Boori Pryor (Scan, 2000 Scutter 2001). There is no question here about Pryor being entitled to tell this story after all it is his. Deadly Unna is also in some respects, an autobiography. It belongs to Phillip Gwynne (Ridge, 2000 French, 2002). It tells the story of Blacky, a young boy growing up in a small country town. There are Aboriginal themes, although they tend to be based on perspectives from Blackys narrative point of view rather than assumptions made about the cultural of indigenous people. With reference to the Aboriginal boys on the football team Blacky makes statements such as Its like theyre playing a different game with completely different rules (Gwynne, 1998, p. 5). This shows he is merely noting differences in the two cultures. So, it can be said, that although Australian European authors are known to write about indigenous matters, they can, in certain situations have as much right to tell the story as their indigenous counterparts provided they write with sensitivity to indigenous cultural practices (Clancy, 1997). This being said, when a European author wishes to take on subject matter as sensitive as indigenous issues, things need to be considered regardless of who the story belongs to. Some might argue that it is an authors job to get inside the characters they are writing about. John Marsden for example, writes many of his stories from the perspective of young female characters (Prain, 1997). The same could be said about a white author writing about a black character in the first person. The difference, in my opinion, is the sensitivity of the issue. As a woman, I am not offended by the writing of Marsden in fact I generally relate easily to his methods of story telling, but it has been clear, that the same cannot be said for the writing on the behalf of Aborigines by European Australian authors. Take for example this statement made by Aboriginal writer Ruby Langford (Clancy, 1997) in Old neighbours New Visions (1997, p. 52) Aboriginal people are sick of the bullshit of non-aboriginal people attempting to define and identify the origins of Aborigines. This statement suggests that there are frustrations within the indigenous community, with non-aboriginal people speaking on the behalf of Aboriginal people. To confront the issue of custodianship, authors such as Gwynne chose not to write in the first person from an Aboriginal perspective. Bradford explains in Wielding a black Pen, that it is generally the more culturally experienced authors and those more aware of indigenous issues, that often take the most ethical approaches to representation while others are more foolhardy (2002). Pat Lowe, an author who has done extensive work and research into the Walmajarri culture, says I cant get in the mind of an Aboriginal person (Bradford, 2002 p. 21). This is an important point to look at when making judgements about the telling of a particular story. She tells her stories from a white persons perspective rather than attempting to understand something she believes is out of her ability to comprehend. Gwynne also resembles this attitude in his writing of deadly Unna? This can be seen in Blackys narrative explanation of his Aboriginal mate Dumby. For example: Nukkin ya is Nunga talk for see ya' (Gwynne, 1998, p. 25). This is a cultural observation made by Blacky. Dialogue such as this reflects Gwynnes stance of telling the story from the white perspective rather than make possibly inaccurate assumptions from the point of view of a black character. Not all non-Aboriginal authors writing Aboriginal themed stories take this stance. Take for example Diana Kidd. Kidd is a white author that choses to write in the first person from the Aboriginal perspective. In her book The Fat and Juicy Place, Kidd delves quite deeply into the character of a young Aboriginal child. The use of language is the most identifying feature of this story. For example: Me and Fleabag had a deadly time hunting in the Fat and Juicy Place. We saw this real giant goanna (Kidd, 1992, p. 54). This is culturally identifiable language and poses the question: What gives Kidd the right to take this first person stance? Like with My Girragundji, as I will explain in more detail further on, there is an extensive list of external involvement in the making of the story take for instance the endorsement of the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (Kidd, 1992). This is what helps give Kidd her credibility and integrity as a white author writing from the perspective of Aboriginal characters. According to Linda Burney who is an Aboriginal educator (Clancy, 1997) it can be okay for non-aboriginal authors to tell the stories of Aborigines as long as authors and publishers become more attuned to Aboriginal involvement in the production of the material (Clancy, 1997, p. 39). Lets now look at My Girragundji. The story belongs (at least in an autobiographical sense) to Boori Pryor who is an Aboriginal man. His wife, Meme McDonald is white and worked with Pryor to write this book. It can be seen when reading the long list of acknowledgments in the book, that there were many stories and many people involved in its production. The thanks Pryor and McDonald give to Joe and grace for inspiring My Girragundji also to the Pryor family for so many memories (1997, p. 81) shows this. It is clear from these expressions of thanks and approval that great cultural sensitivity was taken to complete the book. The fact that Pryor deems it as integral to gain approval from his family highlights just how important it is for authors to understand what it is they are writing about on a deep level. Sometimes despite their best intentions, authors struggle to shake the constraints imbedded in them by the colonial power. This can work as a negative in terms of their ability to capture the postcolonial context from the indigenous perspective. I will look now, at Children of Mirrabooka. It is generally safe to say that Judith Arthy is writing in the postcolonial context. After all, the themes in the story relate to issues such land rights and the stolen generation and the stance is pro Aboriginal. When one looks deeper at the story however, there are traces of an in ground loyalty to the colonial power. For example, it could be said that Arthy places the Aborigines in an inferior position that are in need of being saved by Jenny the white girl. It was her role to unravel the mystery surrounding the rock pool (Arthy, 1997, p. 105). This is reflective of the general plight of Aborigines in our country for the past two hundred years (Bradford, 2001 McLaren, 1996). Throughout the novel, the truth of the ghost children at the rock pool is discovered and the children are left in peace all thanks to Jenny. In spite of all the themes relating to land rights Jenny is the one that ends up owning Mirrabooka Mirrabooka was mine. All mine (Arthy, 1997, p. 166-167). This Euro centric attitude towards ownership is contrary to the Aboriginal attitude of belonging to the land. This evidence suggests that despite the best intentions of authors, it is difficult to be completely post colonial when writing stories such as these. It is important for non-Aboriginal authors to be aware of issues such as this. Stories like Children of Mirrabooka although it is unintended, dont always reflect the postcolonial theory of emphasizing their differences from the assumptions of the imperial power (Ashcroft, Griffiths Tiffin, 1989, p. 1). Our culture is born from the British Empire; therefore we cannot ignore the stronghold it has on our postcolonial context. This leads me to my next point. We live in a country where Aborigines and European Australians (not to mention immigrants from all over the world) must live together and work towards reconciliation and cultural understanding. Childrens Literature has an important role to play in this issue. As Saxby explains in Images of Australia (2002) it has been argued strongly in recent years that Childrens Literature places readers in a position where they are forced to form a particular world-view. It is for this reason that it is important to teach the new generation the importance of cultural understanding and identity so we can move one step closer to reconciliation. For this knowledge to be developed in Childrens Literature, it is important for non-Aboriginal as well as Aboriginal perspectives to be told. The two are often very different in terms of their political points of view but they both can offer much in terms of their purpose. Take for example The Rabbits by John Marsden. I could go into a critical analysis of the book as a postcolonial text, but that would take another essay entirely. These books raise discussion about topical issues and this is how children learn. Stories told from the Aboriginal perspective are often about the land, and relationships with the land and each other. They dont tend to be politically loaded like the European contexts. They are generally a celebration of indigenous life and culture rather than an attack on white people. In fact, often there is little mention of white people at all not as a point for discussion at least. An example is in My Girragundji where there are virtually no references to white people at all. The story revolves around a boy and his Girragundji who he shares his problems with our spirits always together you are strong no matter what (McDonald and Pryor, 1998, p. 70). It is important to acknowledge the western and indigenous cultures at play in My Girragundji. There are two authors Meme McDonald and Boori Pryor, non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal consecutively. Using the European literary skills of McDonald and the oral story telling traditions (Van Toorn, 2006) of Pryor (Scan, 2000), the two work together to come up with a successful combination that displays cultural sensitivity as well as diversity. This is an example of how different cultural perspectives can combine to reflect the hybrid lifestyle of many Aboriginal people. Wharton and Pryor refer to this hybrid upbringing in Scutters article Writing the Childhood Self (2001). We require both of these perspectives in childrens literature so that reconciliation between both cultures can manifest (Clancy, 1997, p. 52). It is clear that this issue is an extensive one. Each portion of this essay could have a lengthy analysis of its content. What I have done though, is to point out some of the main issues that non-Aboriginal authors face when taking on the task of conveying Aboriginal stories, points of view and themes. Questions I have touched on ask: Is the story solely an Indigenous one? From whose perspective is the story being told? Is the author unintentionally upholding colonial attitudes in the text? Has there been sufficient Aboriginal involvement in the story? Finally, I looked at the importance of this literature in terms of its role in society and highlighted the fact that both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal can be heard with potentially equal merit.

Monday, November 25, 2019

How to prove youre a leader on your resume

How to prove youre a leader on your resume One of the more common phrases you’ll hear from us and others when crafting your resume is, â€Å"Show, don’t tell.† It’s kind of like explaining a joke- if you have to do it, then your audience has most likely missed your point. And keep in mind that your audience is likely reading dozens, if not hundreds, of resumes that say things like, â€Å"I’m a natural leader† or â€Å"I am detail-oriented.† Anyone can say those things- what they want to see is that you can do those things in a real-life setting. So let’s look at some key words to show, not tell, your leadership skills. The key element here is using strong, active verbs. You’re doing! You’re succeeding! You’re seizing control! You’re not passive! You’re going for Superman, not mild-mannered Clark Kent here. No matter how forceful you are in person, you won’t get the chance to prove that unless your resume gets past the initial gat ekeeper who reads it. Paint a picture with your words and you’ll get to the in-person step where you can wow them with your personality.If you want to show creativity and innovation, here are words you can use:TransformedPilotedRevitalizedRefinedImprovedModernizedRevitalizedCreatedOriginatedDevisedImplementedTransformedIf you want to show financial leadership, here are words you can use:Streamlined costsSpurred growthDrove growthNegotiatedCut costsReduced overheadIf you want to show efficiency, here are words you can use:StreamlinedSimplifiedIf you want to show team leadership, here are words you can use:MotivatedCoachedLedAdvocatedSupportedMentoredHeadedEngagedEnergizedEmpoweredIf you want to show influential leadership, here are words you can use:InspiredMobilizedNegotiatedInfluencedSteeredWon the support ofLobbiedVocabulary choices may seem like extra homework, and that five minutes with a thesaurus will do the trick. But really, you should treat it like a chance to make y our resume a living document, with real-world examples of the qualities you want your resume reader to see right away. After all, the average resume gets about ten seconds of reading time before the reader either puts it into the â€Å"next stage† pile or dumps it in the â€Å"next please† pile. Your chance to make an impression is extremely limited, and good word choices will help you stand out from other people in the crowd who may have similar backgrounds or qualifications.When you’re writing (or revamping) your resume, use these words to come up with more concrete bullet points throughout your resume. Four to six thoughtful, specific examples, combined with these powerful verbs, tell a story much faster and more clearly than six generic bullet points about â€Å"responsibilities.† It shows that you have the experience to back up your statements. And in the meantime, you’re not boring the reader with the 47th rendition of â€Å"I Have Demonstra ted Leadership, Believe Me.† Instead, you’re showing what you’ve done to be a leader.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The evolution of Renaissance architecture between Palazzo and Villa Research Paper

The evolution of Renaissance architecture between Palazzo and Villa - Research Paper Example The Evolution of Renaissance Architecture between Palazzo and Villa: An Analysis between Palazzo Farnese (Rome) and Villa Farnesina (Trastevere) Royal Palaces, magnificent monuments have been built in ancient civilizations all over the world and thus they have been an inseparable part of any culture. They are the evidence of the glorious past of that respective culture. Palaces and monuments play a vital role in conveying the historical and political information of the region. They also depict the story of contemporary social, economic and religious system and focus on the social strata.They are also used to reinforce the primacy of contemporary political power. While describing the role of the palaces, Jessica Joyce Christie, Patricia Joan Sarro state, ' Palaces are more than just residence of the highest – ranking nobles. What distinguishes palaces from the elite residence is the symbolic function of palaces as political statements within their respective societies.' They fu rther state, ‘Palace architecture, including layout, position, and decoration of the palaces as well as their public (or sometimes exclusive) nature, reflects the structure of the political system in which the palaces exist.' The palaces and monuments are either monarchical or built by the elite class. The fundamental objective behind this architecture was to show off the social status of the family, the political power they gained, and their affluence. The palaces and fine architectural buildings are the status issue of the affluent people. Monuments and palaces are always built so that the common people should feel respect, fear about the might dynasty. They are like a strong social, economic and political fortifications built around noblemen and the influential people of the respective era. Because of the palaces and lavish architectural buildings, the bridge between affluent people and common people remain intact. Thus they preserve their social status. The palaces and vil las, built with extraordinary architectural structure, create a sense of pride for the possessor and envy to their rivals. Behind the constructions of almost all the monuments, the social, economical and political factors are majorly involved. These factors were involved in building and designing the two magnificent palaces in Renaissance period in Rome. They were Palazzo Farnese and Villa Farnesina. Keywords: Palazzo Farnese. Villa Farnesina, political, economic and social forces A thorough study of architecture gives a new insight to the cultural, political, economic and social study of the contemporary period, in which the architecture emerges. The style of architecture depicts the political transformations of the region. It narrates the story of economic and social transition. The style and design represent the money spent on building the monument, palace or any architecture. During the excavation process, the entire civilization can be explored with the help of the then excavat ed architecture and the best examples are the amazing architecture of the township of Indus civilization. The Egyptian Pyramids and palaces also represent the socio-eco-political forces. Through the architectural structure of Hawa Mahal in Jaipur in India for example, one can understand what political, economic and social purposes might have influenced the architecture. Hawa Mahal is an exquisite blend of Hindu and Muslim Architecture. It means that the political and social scenario was influenced by two of these dominating religions and there was a rivalry and fierce competition (sometime hatred) between the two religions. The blended architecture further reveals the story of the efforts of Hindu and Muslim kings to preserve their identity. Taj Mahal, one of the finest architectures of the world, depicts the exorbitant wealth and the absolute monarchical power of Emperor Shaha Jahaan and the entire Mughal Empire. Though the style, design of the Eastern architecture is different fro m that of Western Architecture, the political, econom

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT - Essay Example thanks to the right policies set up by government leaders while in office to promote and safeguard sports as an equal and able employer in the country. The leadership of the country, under various prime ministers, opted to adopt and promote various sports policies that would promote and enhance sports development in the country over the years (Houlihan & White 2003, p.192). Tony Blair and David Cameron are the two bigwig leaders of the country, who during their time at the helm of office as the Prime ministers of the United Kingdom came up with different sports policies to develop the sporting sector of the country. The effective implementation of these polices ensured growth and development of sports, especially with government support, from the grassroots all the way t the national level. As such, the United Kingdom continues to shine owing to the sound policies adopted by its leaders to promote and safeguard sporting activities within the country (Blovce & Smith 2009, p.189). Some of the common sports polices designed by these leaders include the school sport and P.E policy, and the policy that interlinks sporting activities and elite performance. Tony Blair is one of the elite leaders of the United Kingdom, and was in government for over 24 years, where he started as a representative and ended as a prime minister from 1983 to 2007. However, his most influential years were when he was in power as the British Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, before his candid resignation and passing on the mantle of leadership to Gordon Brown (Coe 2012, p.55). As a Labour Party Leader, Tony Blair developed several sports policies in order to promote sporting activities throughout the country. Blair’s government had a firm stand on sports and wanted to expand and improve the nature of sporting activities in the country. As such, he and his government came up with a new policy known as the P.E and School Sports Policy, as well as, the elite performance and sports linkage

Monday, November 18, 2019

THE ROLE OF THE TEACHING ASSISTANT(TA) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE ROLE OF THE TEACHING ASSISTANT(TA) - Essay Example The role that a teaching assistant holds can be considered as the main essence of their presence in the education institutions. The qualifications then of teaching assistants should match the said role to be able to work efficiently and effectively for the optimum learning of the students. Thus, it is important to realize the role and responsibilities primarily to be able to present the personal qualities required of a teaching assistant. The main defining role of teaching assistants is the optimization of the learning process which is under the teacher’s command. For that matter, the TA’s main responsibility is to assist the teacher. Due to the wide variety of aspects pertaining to the needs of the students, teaching assistants can assume different responsibilities. In totality, along with the responsibilities of the teacher to attain optimum learning process, the TA’s helps in achieving such goal (Middlesbrough Teacher Learning Centre, 2008). The responsibilities and role of the teaching assistants can be categorized as support for the student or learners, the support for the teacher, the support for the school and that for the curriculum. The primary responsibility revolves on the provision of the support to the student. Based on the said role, the welfare of the students is of utmost priority. For that matter, the needs and methods of leaning are needed to given attention. Based on the needs, the presence of great variety in characters in a particular learning environment can pose a challenge to the learning process. The teaching assistant is required to make the learning process an ease by giving attention to the specific needs of the students specifically those who have special needs. In addition, based on the defined responsibilities of a TA, one of the requirements is supporting the learning needs of the students and managing their behaviours. Included

Friday, November 15, 2019

Sulphide solubility in magma

Sulphide solubility in magma Abstract This essay aims to define the controls on sulphide solubility in magma, such as pressure, temperature and element activity. Chalcophile elements, elements of low abundance, form sulphide and arsenide minerals but are not stable at high temperatures of igneous crystallization. The relation of the processes of sulphide solubility against the relative outcomes for chalcophile elements will be looked into. Introduction Sulphur (or sulfur) is a natural substance; its elementary state is a crystalline solid of yellow colour. Sulphur is found in various forms, as mineral sulphides and sulphates, such as galena and cinnabar. Magmatic sulphide deposits with Nickel-Copper-Platinum-group elements are a result of segregation and concentration of liquid sulphide from mafic or ultramafic magma, and the screening of chalcophile elements into these deposits from the silicate magma. (A. J. Naldrett 2004) Due to the variation of sulphide deposits, it is convenient to relate the magmatic sulphide deposits to the bodies of mafic or ultramafic rock in terms of the composition of the magma associated with these rocks. It is then reasonable to investigate the geochemical and geophysical setting and the processes in which these deposits are formed. According to A. J. Naldrett, 2004, the key aspects in the creation of magmatic sulphide deposits are that the magma saturation in sulphide and segregation of the immiscible sulphide has to be concentrated locally with a sufficient amount of magma concentrating chalcophile elements to comprise ore of economic value. In conditions of normal mafic magma cooling and crystallization, no early segregation of liquid sulphides are noticed. This implies that the magma would have to be saturated in sulphide in the igneous body state. The assumption is that there is a process prior to the magmas extrusion from the ground, and final emplacement, where sulphide saturation is caused. The above assumption is reinforced due to the fact that most basaltic magmas, other than Mid Ocean Rig Basalts, have high contents of Platinum Group elements. The Controls The mantle has an estimated concentration of 300-1,000 parts per million (Sun 1982). This is believed to be the primary source of the sulphur carried in basaltic magmas. The solubility of sulphur is controlled by temperature, pressure, contents iron oxide and titanium oxide and their activity in the melt, oxygen and sulphur fugacity, the oxidation state of the melt and the mafic versus the felsic components in the melt. (Fincham Richardson 1954, Haughton et a. 1974, Shima Naldrett 1975, Buchanan Nolan 1979, Buchanan et al. 1983) These factors, or otherwise conditions, of sulphide solubility in the melt will be explored in order to record the effects of the controls of sulphur solubility against the deposits composition. Leaving the mantle, and entering the crust of the earth, the melts can either be intrusive or extrusive, yet the fundamental pressure temperature relation for sulphide solubility, from mantle to the crust in liquid state, remains the same. Pressure and temperature increase with depth; according to Marvrogenes and ONeil (1999), increased pressure presents a negative effect on a silicate melt, dissolving less sulphide. As pressure decreases and the melt reaches the surface, it ability to dissolve iron sulphide increases. Considering that the majority of melts leave the mantle unsaturated in sulphide, as they reach lower depths, while the pressure and temperature decrease, the sulphide saturation is not achieved; furthermore the temperature decrease can offset this relation, causing further decrease in sulphur solubility. (Buchanan and Nolan 1979) Exiting the mantle, sulphide segregation will occur after the silicates initiate crystallization. Therefore, the sulphides will be assorted with the silicate grain. The simultaneous crystallization, as a function of temperature and pressure conditions along with the composition of the liquid sulphide would produce a sulphide rich deposit (for nickel and copper dominant magmatic deposits against platinum group element magmatic deposits) only if an external factor could intervene. This factor, or condition, would reinforce the sulphide segregation, without further enhancing silicate crystallization. At isothermal conditions of 1200oC, Buchanan 1988, sulphur content in the silicate melt decreases with the increase of oxygen fugacity (fO2) at constant sulphur fugacity (fSÂ ­2). Furthermore, the study displays a correlation between sulphur (wt % S2) content and iron oxide (FeO %), with a logarithmic increase on the field of saturation. On the other hand, the compositions of the melt in terms of the variation of content of iron oxides (FeO) or titanium dioxide (TiO2) diversify the ability of the melt to dissolve sulphide. The increase or decrease of oxide content in the melt is correlated to the sulphide solubility in the mixture. Oxidation is capable of causing the formation of an insoluble sulphide in the melt as a result of a reaction within the liquid between the soluble substances, usually without causing silicates crystallization. Oxygen and sulphur fugacity, and their relation to the pressure temperature setting, along with their ratio, are important factors for sulphide solubility. Induction of sulphur from an external source, and the felsification of a mafic magma are important causes of sulphide segregation. Silicate magma reacts with the sulphide liquid, resulting in the formation of the magmatic sulphide deposit. The ratio of reaction and the composition of both the sulphide liquid and the silicate magma , along with the controls on which the elements react are responsible for the final outcome. Buchanan 1988, determined the solubility of sulphur as a function of sulphur fugacity (fS2) in a basaltic melt containing 17 wt% iron monoxide (FeO) at a range of 1000 to 1400oC. Although the fugacity of oxygen and sulphur remain constant, the rate of increase of sulphur solubility drops from a factor of 10 times per 100oC at 1100oC, reduced to 3 times at 1400oC, implying that there is a threshold of maxima in sulphur saturation with temperature increase; the saturation is achieved in 1450oC. Hence, the actual sulphur content increases with temperature but decreases in rate, although with higher sulphur fugacity saturation is achieved at lower temperatures. The increase in sulphur content with increase temperature is reinforced by the experiments of Haughton et al 1974 and Shima and Naldrett 1975, for which, although the figures are of different nature for direct comparison, the fact remains that the sulphur content actually increases with temperature, making this a control of sulphu r solubility in the magmatic melt. The studies and experimental conditions on which pressure is investigated as a control in sulphur solubility are vast and vary on their conditions. The outcome of different studies such as Haung and Williams 1980 and Wendlandt 1982, indicate that under natural conditions increase in pressure has a negative effect on sulphur content. In contrast, the increase of FeO levels in the melt increase the sulphur solubility and this is confirmed by Mavrogenes and ONeil 1999, where the study of basaltic melts with 6-14 wt% FeO on pressures varying from 5-90 kilo bars and temperatures of 1400oC and 1800oC shows increase sulphur content at sulphide saturation with pressure. Sulphur can be found dissolved in an aqueous fluid. The sulphur content of the fluid is determined by its sulphur dioxide against hydrogen sulphide ratio (SO2:H2S). The ratio (Misra K.C. 1999) increases with increasing oxygen fugacity (fO2) of the initial magma before the start of second melting. Aqueous fluids originating from high oxygen fugacity magmas (I-type; high fO2) may contain large quantities of sulphur dioxide (SO2) as well as hydrogen sulphide (H2S). At lower temperatures on cooling hydrolysis of the SO2 (4SO2 + 4H2O = H2S + 3H2SO4) or its reaction with Fe2+ bearing minerals of the wallrocks (SO2 + 6FeO + H2O = H2S +3Fe2O3) increases the activity of H2S, causing precipitation of sulphide ore minerals from the metal-chloride complexes in the aqueous solution. On the other hand, aqueous fluids originating from low oxygen fugacity magmas (S-type; low fO2) may contain as much H2S as those derived from high oxygen fugacity, but because of lower oxygen fugacity they contain les s sulphur dioxide so the total amount of sulphur is smaller. Thus, aqueous fluids that separate from I-type magmas tend to produce Cu-Mo-Zn-Fe sulphide deposits, whereas fluids from S-type magmas generally precipitate smaller quantities of sulphides, mainly pyrrhotite, and correspondingly larger quantities of oxides, such as cassiterite (Burnham Ohmoto 1980). In either case, the precipitation of sulphides form metal-chloride complexes is accompanied by generation of HCl. The HCl and the H2SO4 produced by SO2 hydrolysis are consumed by acid alternation of aluminosilicate minerals in the wallrocks. (Misra K.C. 1999) Chalcophile Elements The partitioning of Chalcophile metal elements between sulphides and silicate metals are referred to as metals with low concentration, such as Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu) and Colbat (Co) are exchanged with elements of higher concentration, like Iron (Fe). The Nernst coefficient of partitioning, arranged for iron substitution is the ratio of the products of the % (per cent) weights of the elements substituted. References Buchanan D. L. (1988). Development in Economic Geology Platinum-Group Element Exploration. Elsevier. ISBN 0444429581 Naldrett A. J. (2004). Magmatic Sulfide Deposits : Geology, Geochemistry and Exploration. Springer. ISBN 3540223177 Mungall J. E. (2005). Exploration for Platinum-Group Elements Deposits. Mineral Association of Canada. ISBN 0921294352 Misra K. C. (1999). Understanding Mineral Deposites. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0045530092 Whitney J.A. (1989). Ore Deposition Associated with magmas. Society of Economic Geologists. ISBN 0961307439 Vaughan D. J. (1977) Mineral Chemistry of Metal Sulfides. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521214890

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Micro-finance and its Impact on Poverty Essay -- Economy, Interest Rat

Despite the growing body of literatures about the microfinance and its impact on poverty, there are counter growing criticisms against microfinance in issues such as reaching the poor, unchanged poverty level, high interest rate, brutality in repayment processes, financial sustainability, and women empowerment. (Hossain, 2010). In terms of poverty reduction and reaching the poor people, the studies edited by (Hulme & Mosley, 1996) on the impact of microfinance on poverty found that poor people do not benefit from microfinance; it is only non-poor people who do well with microfinance and achieve positive impacts. (Morduch & Haley , 2002) points out that studies that have been conducted to examine the microfinance targeting and impact illustrate that MFIs show considerable diversity in their ability to reach poor people and the MFIs that have excellent financial performance do not imply excellence in outreach to poor people. However, (Odell, 2010) thinks it’s impossible to answer the question, does the microfinance work? (Odell, 2010) argues that the microfinance is a collection of tools and there are different types of MFIs, clients, and offered services .MFIs work in different environments, in different countries and it’s not correct to generalize the findings of a single impact study on the m icrofinance on the world. In addition, the measurement of microfinance impact is surprisingly difficult, because it’s not easy to isolate the impact of microfinance from other factors (CGAP). Fore instance, if the clients who got microfinance services are not doing better in their business than those who didn’t, this not means this caused by the microfinance services. There are other factors that could be involved in this impact such as the ... ... and in the term of physical mobility, ownership and control of productive assets, and their status within the community. A second viewpoint believes that microfinance do little to women empowerment and may contribute to reinforcing existing gender imbalances. (Cheston& Kuhn, 2002) conclude that empowerment is a complex process and MFIs microfinance is not always empowering for all women. MFIs need to improve their services and processes to ensure that they support the empowerment of women. Critique and criticism against microfinance extended to argue many other issues such as considered microfinance as a tool of economic globalization, or creation of technology dependency. Millions poor women and men in the world need access to microfinance.Hoewver; Microfinance is need to be review and evaluated objectively to improve its services and learn from its mistakes.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Appendix G

Associate Program Material Appendix GWireless LAN Vulnerabilities MatrixComplete the following matrix by filling in the blank boxes in the table.Security protection Brief description Vulnerabilities Prevention (if any) MAC address filtering Only allows access to a device if its MAC address matches that of a pre-approved list on the router. MAC Spoofing Don’t rely on MAC filtering alone. Open system authentication (SSID beaconing) Disables SSID from being broadcast so wireless networks are harder to detect. A spectrum analyzer can still be used to find the network name. Create a more complex SSID and password settings in your APWEPStands for Wired Equivalency Privacy. Uses 64 bit or 128 bit encryption. (including 24-bit IV) In larger networks, IV’s can be duplicated and cause collisions, which are easy to detect by outside influences Use WPA2 with AES or similar instead on larger, enterprise deployments.Of the six categories of attackers, the one I would most want to bre ak into my network would be hackers, as they attempt to penetrate your network and expose vulnerabilities, then inform you of them. This is opposed to a cracker, which will do the same thing, only steal the data and attempt to sell it. A script kiddie is very dangerous, as they are generally under-experienced hackers and crackers who use someone else’s codes and almost always have malicious intent.Between MAC filtering, WEP, and authentication, I believe that WEP is the most secure of the three. MAC filtering can be easily overcome by MAC spoofing, and is not part of the 802.11 standard. Authentication is somewhat weaker than WEP, as someone could capture the cleartext challenge phrase and the encrypted response frame and gain access to the network. WEP is the strongest of the 3, but is still weak due to IV collisions which can be monitored and the hacker can recover the security key during those collisions.In fact, hackers can even cause massive IV collisions to speed up the process. It should be noted this is really only an issue on larger wireless networks as there are approximately 16 million IV’s that can be handed out. But in an enterprise application, 16 million can happen in a matter of hours or days.

Friday, November 8, 2019

WSJ and NPR Miss the Mark on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

WSJ and NPR Miss the Mark on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Resume Oblivion has been a hot topic in the news. The Wall Street Journal published an article, Your Resume vs. Oblivion, reporting that the percentage of large companies using computerized Applicant Tracking Systems to screen candidates is in the high 90%; almost all Fortune 500 companies rely on these programs. The article points out that the systems, which can cost from $5,000 to millions of dollars, are efficient, but not foolproof.   Specifically, Tracking software    may miss the most-qualified applicant if that person doesnt game the system by larding [sic I think they mean loading] his or her rà ©sumà © with keywords from the job description. The article offers advice, which I recommend reading, on How to Beat the Black Hole.' However, the advice is not comprehensive.   The first item, for instance, instructs job seekers to mimic the keywords in the job description as closely as possible. If youre applying to be a sales manager, make sure your rà ©sumà © includes the words sales and manage (assuming youve done both!). Pardon me for saying so, but the above advice is 1) rudimentary, 2) a no-brainer and 3) limited in its value. The problem is that 99% of the people applying for a sales manager job are going to have the words sales and manage   in their resumes! Therefore, you will not get higher on any list by including these keywords. The same goes for most of the keywords in the job description, since many job seekers are getting savvy about matching their resumes to the posting. The Wall Street Journal is not the only major news provider who delivered misleading or incomplete information on this topic. Take NPRs 16-minute segment entitled Keeping Your Resume Out of Online Oblivion, where callers related stories of how they got interviews despite the reign of Applicant Tracking Systems.   View it here: You will hear some creative solutions in this spot on how to make it past the computers. You will also hear something misleading:   that hiring managers (i.e., human beings) program the ATS software to screen for certain terms. Do you really think that a company like Google or Starbucks is going to have a human being sit there and punch keywords into a computer for each of the thousands of jobs they post every day? Think again. No, human beings do not program these systems the systems program themselves! The keywords the computers are looking for are determined by the computers. And this is why qualified candidates are so often overlooked.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The eNotes Blog Literary America Ten Places to Visit for National AuthorsDay

Literary America Ten Places to Visit for National AuthorsDay Mark your calendars and make some plans!   November 1st is National Authors Day.   In 1929, the General Federation of Womens Clubs created the day to honor Americas writers; in 1949, the day was officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Congress. The resolution states, in part, that [b]y celebrating authors day as a nation, we would not only show patriotism, loyalty and appreciation of the men and women who have made American literature possible but would also encourage and inspire others to give of themselves in making a better America. Most of these historic places are privately staffed or state-run, meaning that even if the government shutdown continues, you should be able to visit these homes, museums, and locations: 1.  Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, VA Called Americas Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe created or mastered the short story, detective fiction, science fiction, lyric poetry and the horror story. His dark genius has invited children and adults to read and love literature for over 150 years. 2.   Mark Twain Study, Elmira, New York   Built by Twains father-in-law, Twain called this retreat The Cozy Nest.   It is located on the campus of Elmira College.   Twains grave is also located in the town of Elmira. 3.   National Steinbeck Center, Salinas, CA   This interactive, 37,000-square-foot center features seven galleries honoring the Nobel Prize-winning author.   The exhibits include a lettuce boxcar from East of Eden  and a re-creation of Steinbecks childhood bedroom. 4.   Walden Pond State Reservation, Concord, Mass Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond from July 1845 to September 1847. His experience at Walden provided the material for the book  Walden, which is credited with helping to inspire awareness and respect for the natural environment. Because of Thoreaus legacy, Walden Pond has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is considered the birthplace of the conservation movement. Park Interpreters provide tours and ongoing educational programs. The Reservation includes the 102-foot deep glacial kettle-hole pond. Mostly undeveloped woods totaling 2680 acres, called Walden Woods, surround the reservation. 5.   William Faulkners Rowan Oak, Oxford, MS Home to William Faulkner and his family for over 40 years, Rowan Oak was originally built in 1844, and stands on over 29 acres of land just south of the Square in Oxford, MS. 6.   Ingalls Homestead, DeSmet, SD Welcome to Ingalls Homestead! Pa Ingalls set claim to this quarter section in 1880. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote many of her Little House stories about this land. Plan an old-fashioned family day! 7.   Jack London State Historic Park, Glen Ellen, CA   Founded in 1960 with 39 acres including the museum, Londons grave site and the ruins of Wolf House, the park now includes most of Londons holdings and is a National Historic Landmark. 8.   Hemingway Home, Key West, FL   Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote here for more than ten years. Calling Key West home, he found solace and great physical challenge in the turquoise waters that surround this tiny island.   Step back in time and visit the rooms and gardens that witnessed the most prolific period of this Nobel Prize winners writing career. 9.   Alex Haley Museum and House, Henning, TN   The Alex Haley House Museum and  Interpretive Center are educational facilities  dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation, and exhibition of artifacts. The  Museum’s comprehensive collections  represent the life and achievements of the  renowned author Alex Haley. The museum  promotes the understanding and appreciation  of history by presenting a range of exhibitions,  programs, and events for the community and  the world. 10.   The Erskine Caldwell Birthplace and Museum, Moreland, GA Take a few minutes to stop by the humble, one-story home, dubbed The Little Manse,   where Erskine Caldwell (author of  Tobacco Road  and  Gods Little Acre) was born.   Personal items such as Caldwells typewriter, childhood books, and his watch, among other personal items, are on display.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Business Plan Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Plan - Research Proposal Example The shop will not only serve as a bakery, but a small dine in place for people who wish to come alone, have business meetings or with friends & family. The pricing of our products will be premium as we target the high end and upper middle class segment of the market. This segment is diet conscious and wants substitutes of high fat, unhealthy food items. The business plan talks in detail about our strategy, our operations, future plans, financials and industry analysis. 2) Company Description We aim to start a bakery business targeted at the upper middle class, health and diet conscious people. The business will mainly sell products ranging from cakes, cookies and snacks that are sugar free and healthier than normal bakery items. The idea is to give a taste of sweet to diet conscious people with a variety of items. The shop will be located in New York in the beginning and we aim to expand to other cities in next 5 years. Our company will be a private limited entity. 3) Products The ra nge The bakery provides freshly prepared bakery items at all times during business operations. Our product portfolio can be seen in Appendix A. We have decided to keep these 13 as our initial offering after a lot of research into eating habits of our target customers. Our products will belong to the high end, branded, premium high quality category. Sizes There will be different serving sizes for each of the desserts and snacks. Cakes would be served in full size, half size and as single pieces. The cookies would be sold as single unit and snacks will also be sold as single items. 4) Target Market The target market as described earlier are high end, upper middle class diet conscious people who wish to add some sweet in their life by having healthier, sugar free bakery items. Our target population is also increasing in size, with more awareness of the diseases associated with large consumption of sugar and other unhealthy products, and people opting for a healthier life style. And plu s American love desserts; they want something for their sweet tooth after every meal. 5) Business Strategy Our business focuses on serving a niche market by offering quality and premium food products. We want to create high end products for our target market, because they value quality. To achieve these objectives, we will provide the following: Quality baked goods for diet conscious people to enjoy at a premium price. Friendly and lively atmosphere Special diet menus formulated by the advice of local healthcare providers and nutritionists. We will initially start with offering 13 varieties of bakery items to be kept in the bakery, which includes cakes, desserts, snacks, cookies, and savory items. We will start our operation in a posh area of New York City, where our target population is dense. We will include a card of nutritional value attached with each of our products so that our customers become aware of what they are purchasing. Initially we will start with attracting customer s by giving out samples of our best items at Shopping Malls and Grocery Stores. 6) Marketing & Sales Strategy We will be offering different promotional strategies such

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Philosophy - Essay Example However, it’s just as important for those expectations to be clearly stated and reinforced. I know now that behavior expecations and academic goals should be stated at the beginning of each activity and children should be praised when they meet those goals and expectations. Every child can learn when he is provided with the means to succeed. These means include providing different learning style options for the classroom, reinforcing previously taught materials in new lessons and allowing the child to start on his or her own level. Some children learn best through seeing, some learn best through listening, and some learn best through doing. I will combine all of these learning styles in my lessons. I will also keep all of my lessons connected by connecting previously taught material with new material. Allowing a child to start on his own level is also important. Children will come to me with varying degrees of skill. Children who are less skilled will become frustrated if asked to do a task that is beyond them. Children who are very skilled will become bored if asked to do a task that is too easy. It is important to offer differing difficulty levels within an activity. A teacher must not only teach students academic skills, but social skills as well. This process involves discussions with students, modeling of those skills and reinforcing students who are using these skills appropriately. Discussions will take place during morning meetings or when an event has happened that warrants discussion. I will model appropriate academic and social skills to my students each day, but I will also do a weekly skit with students, modeling an academic or social skill. It is also important to praise students when they are using the skills appropriately. It is important for a classroom to be built on respect and responsibility. However, it’s not enough to simply discuss respect and responsibility with the class. I must model these concepts

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Assignment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment - Research Proposal Example Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injuries are the most rare injuries.(1- JM) Most suspected knee disorders become diagnosed first through conventional radiographs (X-rays). These radiographs are effective in demonstrating fractures because the show bones and joint spaces. Their sensitivity to soft tissue conditions remains low except in conditions where the tissues contain mush calcium or fat. X-rays are also relatively insensitive to destruction of medullary bone and loss of cartilage as well. The basic examination consists of lateral and ante posterior (AP) projections of the knee.(Carmen MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Herva ´s) Radiographs and CTs remain effective modalities for post-operative imaging following ACL reconstruction. CTs, however, depict femoral tunnel in more accurate manner than radiographs. The radiation dosage however, is almost double that of the radiographs and this should be effective considered when utilizing CTs over radiographs ( Anagha et al). Plain radiographs provide limited assistance in dealing with sports related injuries. They can only be indicated in circumstances where there is significant impact injury. Positive findings are however, occasionally demonstrated in ACL disruptions, where there is depression of the lateral femoral notch, and segond fracture. Computed Tomography (CT) provides effective analysis for categorizing fracture of the tibia plateau. Ultrasound imaging is utilized minimally together with magnetic resonance imaging when analyzing many knee injuries. Ultrasound becomes reliable in assessment of quadriceps and patellar tendons, when symptoms of injury are located within the anterior joint, and are focal. Ultrasound easily identifies collateral ligaments. Injuries to these ligaments are however associated with derangement and MRI becomes essential in demonstrating the full spectrum of the injury (12- EUGENE G). MRI utilizes high soft tissue contrast and multiplanar capability in

Monday, October 28, 2019

Why Not To Carry A Gun Essay Example for Free

Why Not To Carry A Gun Essay Too often do we hear about people accidentally shooting their family members, and parents committing a family massacre. Even when people buy guns for the best of reasons, somewhere down the road, it goes terribly wrong. Guns cause nothing but harm, and should only be used by policemen. Guns being used by regular people have caused guns to fall into the wrong hands, be used against its owner, give a false sense of confidence, and be used against the wrong person, therefore I refuse to contribute to the problem. When being attacked a gun could easily fall into the hands of the attacker. In the story, A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries A Gun written by Linda A. Hasselstrom, the main character talks about making men get off of her property by the sight of a pistol. She also says that one of the guys was so close to her that he was a few inches away from her face. In present times if someone of more strength is that close to you, it is just too easy to wrestle a gun away from someone. Then next thing you know, you are begging for you rlife. Pulling a gun on your attacker is just too risky. When the gun is turned against its owner, the situation usually turns fatal. There are just too many cases of owners being killed by their own weapons. This reasoning once again applies to A Peaceful Woman It seems that the main character almost purposely gets herself into these situations, to try and prove the pwer of her gun, which seems to be a popular thing among may people. One too many times this power gets turned on the owner, because the owner was cocky, and let their guard down, and in the end there goes another life. When a person has a gun in their hands, it gives them a false sense of confidence. When a person has a gun in their hand they feel that they have all the power. There have been many cases where a person shoots and kills someone just for saying something mean or being connected to an enemy. For example, a close friend of mine in high school, had a friend who was pregnant by her gang member boyfriend. One day she was in front of her house, when someone from a rival gang, drove by and shot her. Needless to  say, she did not live. Tragedies like this happen all the time because it is so easy for anybody to get their hands on a gun. It seems many times that guns are used against the wrong people, such as friends and loved ones. A prime example, is the mistake that my fiancee made almost eight years ago when he was only 18 years old. Him and his best friend were at his uncles house for a get together. While he was downstairs his friend was upstairs playing around with a gun. When his friend, found a bullet, he decided to play russian roulette, not only with his life, but the life of my fiancee as well. When my fiancee entered the room, his friend pulled the trigger, but it was an empty shot, although his friend was not so lucky. His friend gave him the gun, and he wound up killing his friend. My fiancee went to jail for a year and was on probation for five years. The gun caused nothing but problems. No one should be allowed to carry a gun, but they are, so I am taking a stand by refusing to carry one. I have seen and heard too many tragedies to ever be entised by a gun. I may be one of the few people who feel this way, but it keeps me alive, and thats what matters.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Johnson and Johnson Global Business

Johnson and Johnson Global Business In this report, we are using Johnson Johnson as the company for our strategic global business solutions project report. Introduction is formed as the brief background of Johnson Johnson. The focus of this report will be placed on JJs subsidiary Johnson Johnson, Group of Consumer Companies, Inc. Johnson Johnson. We will be focusing and relating this report on the baby product line of Johnson Johnson. The strategic initiatives of Johnson Johnsons skills, strategy, staff, structure, system and shared values will be discussed and examined in this report. We looked into their company functions so as to better understand them to enable effective decision makings. A political economic analysis is conducted to provide global risk insights for Johnson Johnson that is beneficial to JJ manage those risks as potential and risk. In relation to Johnson Johnson `s baby care products, Porter`s forces model is used to analyze the competitive advantage of the firm. One of the key understandings is that the middle-high rivalry is present with less number of competitors on Baby Care product line from competitor like California Baby, Simple. SWOT analysis show that Johnson Johnson holds strong competitive advantages after comparing its pros and cons despite of a few disadvantages of global standardization strategy. The growth strategy of Johnson Johnson will be selected based on both internal a nd external environment factor for the three years plan. These diagnoses are in reference to the SWOT analysis based on the company resources assets, intellectual property, and people. Lastly, the modes of entry will be affected by the several internal factors in this report. It comprises of internal requirement, technology know-how, management know-how as well as pressure for cost reduction. The recommendation part would provide several suggestions for the improvement of Johnson Johnson through the organization structure and Human Resource Management. Introduction We have chosen to work on Johnson and Johnson (JJ) for our strategic global business solutions project report for it is a global American pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. With more than 250 subsidiary companies located in 57 countries around the world and having its products sold in over 175 countries, JJ is a listed company evident with its listing among Fortune 500 and registering its stock with NASDAQ (NYSE: JNJ). With a diverse range of products sold in global markets, JJ adopted the business strategy of global standardization whereby there is limited customization needed for its products for focus is placed on having customers recognise and identify JJ as a household brand. Focus of this report will be placed on JJs subsidiary Johnson Johnson, Group of Consumer Companies, Inc. Strategic Initiative of Johnson Johnson Skills As Johnson Johnson is a global manufacturer with many subsidiaries on a global scale, JJ would hire its employees through a stringent process of selection and focus on ones performance. This implies that JJ recruits people of experience and ability with a global mindset hires third-country national (TCN), indicating that recruitment of people is mainly dependent on being consistent with JJs organizational structure. Strategy With the objective of market growth and maximizing profits in order to be responsible to their stockholders, JJ adopted the business strategy of global standardization. Choice of global standardization strategy is because JJs focus is placed on lowering costs and that there is limited need for customization of products for it generally the same other than slight changes in the products packaging. Staff The employees of JJ can be said to be well motivated to work for JJ has provided their staff with many incentives ranging from personal to performance benefits (i.e. annual incentive bonus, long-term incentive awards, and severance benefits). As JJ have high expectations on their employees, JJ sends their staff on regular employee training that clocks an average of 8 hours or more yearly (i.e. leadership development and management education in fields like finance and marketing). JJ also makes sure that their employees are motivated by giving them the right to voice ones opinion on company issues through JJs Credo survey. Structure JJs organizational structure is dictated by its corporate strategy. JJ initially adopted a decentralized approach to management but in the early 1900s, changed it to a more standardized approach for JJs top executives noticed that their subsidiaries are not well-positioned on a global platform to serve customers directly. The change in corporate management allowed JJ to mitigate limitations posed by the decentralization approach. One instance would be JJ having categorized all subsidiaries into three categories namely, consumer, pharmaceutical and professional. The chairman of each category is given the responsibility of identifying opportunities for leveraging services and expertise across companies in every market and the franchise managers assigned the responsibility of coordinating cross-company sales of a family of products (e.g. baby care products in US, France, Australia). The centralized management approach benefits JJ for it gives JJs top management a better view of its glob al operations and are able to effectively manage and integrate its global operations. This led to the success of JJ in being globally effective in terms of operations for cost of production is lowered in terms of reducing redundancies and duplications during the processing and manufacturing process. Systems In the business of health care, Johnson Johnson is inspired and united by a common purpose: to care for the health and well-being of the people they serve around the world. Caring drives the people of Johnson Johnson in their aim to make the world a better and healthier place through everything that they do. It is core to their business strategy and initiatives, the programs and partnerships which they build, the positions that they take on public policy issues, and their care for the environment. As the company moves forward, it continues to push the innovation envelope as coordinated activities under the centralized control, infusing superior technology and ingenuity into every product they make and every project which the company undertakes. The procedure of the JJ functions as a system in which build from within organization, as 95% of their people start at entry level and then progress and prosper throughout the organization. This not only creates many wonderful opportunities to grow and advance, it creates a special camaraderie among fellow JJers, many of whom came up through the ranks together. Johnson Johnson came up with this credo which speaks about their mission statements, views and their pledges to the customers and society. Robert Wood Johnson, former chairman from 1932 to 1963 and a member of the Companys founding family, crafted Our Credo himself in 1943, just before Johnson Johnson became a publicly traded company. This was long before anyone ever heard the term corporate social responsibility. WILLIAMC.WELDON is the chairman, Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Johnson. He takes pride in the organization work procedures and describe their operation of their day-to-day work is about their response to the unmet needs of their patients and customers and also their response to the needs of their colleagues; their response to supporting the global communities in which they live and work; finally, their response to the call for research and innovation in health care. Style The parent company of Johnson Johnson which is Procter Gamble (PG) has been pioneering products in nearly 50 different categories and their baby product line will be the function in which this report will be focusing on. As the company moves forward, it continues to push the innovation envelope every day, infusing superior technology and ingenuity into every product they make and every project which the company undertakes. The procedure of the JJ functions as a system in which build from within organization, as 95% of their people start at entry level and then progress and prosper throughout the organization. This not only creates many wonderful opportunities to grow and advance, it creates a special camaraderie among fellow JJers, many of whom came up through the ranks together. This also explains why their hiring process is so rigorous. JJ `s system is as such that they are not just offering a job, they expect you to grow into one of their future leaders. From day one youll help develop or support exciting brands you know while working on projects that have a direct impact on their global, $61.9 billion sales in 2009. Shared Values Johnson Johnson`s management style of helping to shape and define what health and well-being means in everyday lives. Their products, services, ideas and giving now touch the lives of at least one billion people every day. They credit their strength and endurance to a consistent approach to managing their business, and to the character of their people. They are guided in everything they do by their Credo, a management document authored more than 60 years ago by Robert Wood Johnson, former chairman from 1932 to 1963, and by four strategic principles. Their company style is deeply rooted in their Credo and deeply in filtered into their employees and leaders. Johnson Johnson `s system is such that their overarching philosophy which guides their business is their Credo, a deeply held set of values that have served as the strategic and moral compass for generations of Johnson Johnson leaders and employees. Above all, their Credo challenges them to put the needs and well-being of the people they serve first. It also speaks to the responsibilities they have to their employees, to the communities in which we live and work and the world community, and to our shareholders. They believe their Credo is a blueprint for long-term growth and sustainability thats as relevant today as when it was written. The company behavioral style is that their values embodied in their Credo guide the actions of the people of the Johnson Johnson Family of Companies at all levels and in all parts of the world. They have done so for more than 60 years. These Credo values extend to their accounting and financial reporting responsibilities. Their management is responsible for timely, accurate, reliable and objective financial statements and related information. As such: They maintain a well-designed system of internal accounting controls. They encourage strong and effective corporate governance from their Board of Directors. They continuously review their business results and strategic choices. They focus on financial stewardship. Synergistic teams All of the above of Johnson Johnson `s skills, strategy, staff, structure, system, staff and shared value formed together and worked in cohesively to form a synergistic team of workforce that oversee the entire operation from sourcing materials ,production lines ,manufacturing to research and development (RD). It is seen as that a synergy is the energy or force created by the working together of various parts or processes. In Johnson Johnson, the baby care products are the result of synergy and quality reassurance as promise by the company. External Environment Environment cannot be controlled; therefore we should analyze the environment first then indicate the strategy that also reflects the organization structure subsequently. Political Economy Analysis The political economy of a nation defines the forms of interdependence amongst the political, economic, and legal systems, and also reflects they interact and influence each other. Political systems The system of government in a nation defined as political system which divided the 200 plus world entities into 2 dimensions that include the degree of collectivism versus individualism and the degree of democracy versus totalitarianism. More practically, individuals would be tied together to achieve the common or collective goals in the high context country, like South Korea, Japan, those people focus on the benefits of society and long-term relationship; individualism means democratic political systems and free market economies like Americans have free rights to vote in election. Myanmar, North Korea act as the totalitarianism that government absolutely controlled by one person or political party. Whereas, China exist the grey area that it has been a move toward greater individual free market economies, but the government is still a totalitarian dictatorship. If the political systems are high stable, the company would be decentralized; otherwise, the company would concentrate in the low stable situation. Although the political systems in say Japan (i.e. change in 3 prime ministers since 2007) is relatively unstable as compared to that of other Asian countries like Singapore, the Japanese government is more open in terms of local market entrance of multinational companies. Economic systems In market economy, production is determined by the interaction of demand and supply; besides, the government encourages free and fair competition between private producers, the representatives of governments like the Great Britain, US and France. The objective of command economy is the good of society; all businesses are state owned in command economy, such as Thailand, South Korea, and Indonesia. India is the typical example of mixed economy in which certain sectors of the economy are left to private ownership and free market mechanisms while other sectors have state significant ownership and government planning. The company would decentralize in the consistent economy system or concentrate in the inconsistent economy system. Legal systems For a business that operates globally, understanding the different legal systems play an important role of the process. Legal aspects help to facilitate business operations so therefore it is very crucial and a necessity for international business operators to have an understanding of the different legal systems around the world. Companies must take into consideration the legal structures of the country in which they operate in. Globalization breaks down barriers between nations and bring nation together in a global platform. But increasing investment among nations also makes it more difficult for those in different cultures to understand the rules of other countries. It is important to follow the legal system of the country in which business is conducted or the government has the right to have legal actions taken should laws be not comply. International Business Laws Businesses operate in a world in which the laws of different governments and judicial systems might conflict as they originated from different cultures. It is therefore necessary to have a basic knowledge of the legal system and also understand how does business law impacts commerce in the companys own country and overseas. The impacts of international business on business law facilitate the inclusion of standards in their company regulations or operations that address these tricky and complex issues. Social cultural environment According to Geert Hofstede Cultural Theory, the global social culture roughly classify as 4 dimensions which considered as costs. Individualism versus Collectivism The individualism and individual achievement is common in the Western Countries, both positive and negative implementation in individualism. The positive side is showed in competition between individuals rather than collective groups and the person get pay-for-performance motivation to compete within organization especially in the dynamism of US economy that encouraged person to take chances and tried new things with unique ideas (i.e. Steve Jobs). However, the individualists just focus task-based, they cannot develop a strong and long-term relationship with others which is the advantage of collectivism. US, Canada Australia is the classical individualist representatives that are different from Asia (i.e. South Korea, China) act as collectivists. Power Distance The degree of acceptance of hierarchy or inequality exists among the organization, the higher power distance (i.e. Japan, Vietnam) reflect in the decision making by the seniorities and reward as the status, position and experiences; in contrast, the decision making and authority took by the task representative and pay-for-performance reward represented in low power distance culture like Denmark and UK. Uncertainty Avoidance The degree of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguous situation, the low uncertainty avoidance reflects the high risk taker and adaptability of new things (i.e. Australia, Singapore); the high uncertainty displayed the low tolerance for uncertainty issues like France and Italy, those countries need the structured organization or rules to obey so that French and Italians are difficult to overcome the culture shock when they sent as expatriate managers. Masculinity versus Femininity Whether the differences of work in gender roles accepted in society, Japan and China should be masculine society; the jobs of gender are distinct and form a male dominant society and person more focus on financial and material possessions. On the other hand, gender roles are overlapping in the femininity country, such as Thailand and Finland, people in those countries focus more on quality of life. Therefore, in the femininity countries, the purchasing power of lifestyle is relatively high which point out an appealing way to Johnson Johnson develop. Overall analysis Those external environments provide global risk insights for Johnson Johnson that is beneficial to JJ manage those risks as potential and risk to take advantage of the relative international business strategy to form and adapt organization structure in the long-term. Competitive Advantages Posters Five Forces Degree of Rivalry The middle-high rivalry is present with less number of competitors on Baby Care product line, like California Baby, Simple; but Johnson Johnson is dominant in the Baby Care industry and the economies of scale so that the firm reflects less intense competition. The cost of competitive advantage and promotions are relatively high, like the advertising and discounts; additionally, JJ has over hundreds history and good image of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) result them remain competitive rather than leave the industry. Next, the high rate of growth display the middle-high competitive situation overall in the industry. Threat of new entrants The threats of new entrants should be low despite of low barriers of entry in the lights of low costs of set-up. The brand equity of JJ is relatively high and it has great impacts in the industry so that a large number of suppliers prefer to sign contracts with it rather than the new entrants that benefit for enhancing suppliers brand and engaging more profits, Lafes Body Care is an example of new entrant who launch a new baby care product line in recent years. In addition to the switching costs for customers, customers are keen on the brand with quality guarantee using for baby or not the less discrepancy of prices. Threat of substitutes Some baby care products from say Pigeon Corporation and Drapolene are suggested by doctors (i.e. responsible to babies), but lack in brand awareness recognized by customers as renowned brands and those products are not easier to buy or package of those products are not portable for customers to bring; compared with them, Johnson Johnson baby care products differ from they could be bought in almost of all supermarkets under the world-wide distribution channels and be convenient to carry about. Hence, threats of substitutes should be low. Power of Buyers There are a lot of alternatives for customers contribute to the high bargaining power of customers, especially for the price-sensitive customers, who are prefer to the high-quality products with the lower costs in the traditional theory research. However, JJs Baby Care products are considered as the essential healthy pharmacy products for baby by an amount of loyal customers. All in all, the bargaining power of customers should be low-to-middle as its healthy baby brand image formed in customers mind around the world, even the adult females prefer to but baby products to care their skins. Power of Suppliers There are thousands of suppliers to provide the materials, goods and services that allow JJ Family of Companies to manufacture products, supply offices and other facilities to service customers around the world. JJ committed to working with small and diverse suppliers in terms of their abilities to support its long-run growth objectives and add value to its business through providing the innovative solutions to their marketing, manufacturing and RD efforts. Even though the various inputs from the suppliers, the competitive situations also exist among suppliers and large amount of substitute inputs contribute to the low power of suppliers. Financial environment Analysis on JJs operation results is essential for it allows its stakeholders to gain an insight on how JJ is performing on the global platform and whether the management strategy employed needs to be consistent or changed according to future market projections. Looking at JJs net sales figures in the last 5 years (Appendix 1), gathered from JJs 2009 annual report, we see a generally consistent growth in its net sales. Though there is a dip in worldwide sales figure of 2.9% ($61.9 billion) from 2008, this can be accounted with JJs spending on research and development ($7 billion) as well as acquisitions and collaborations. Although this will cause a reduction in JJs sales margin, it will benefit the organization in the long-run whereby profits will be reaped upon returns on investment. Currently, JJ is expanding its operations in the BRIC countries (i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, and China) as well as other fast-developing markets. This should be a continued project of JJ for at least the next 3 years to maximize its profits and increase its global market share. This is inline with JJs organizational vision drive superior business results and sustainable competitive advantage. Internal Environment Value Chain JJs corporate vision, to maximise the global power of diversity and inclusion to drive superior business results and sustainable competitive advantage is in line with its corporate objective of profit and growth. Both JJs vision and focus has direct implication on its corporate structure. This is reflected upon the process within JJs value-chain. In terms of JJs organizational structure, Human resource management (HRM) plays a vital role in the direct success of JJ as an organization for it is the people, most valued asset, that contribute to achieving the goals and objectives of JJ. At present, JJ hires experienced and capable leaders to bring the organization to greater heights and JJ does not stop there. JJ provides all top executives in training which include leadership development and management education in fields like finance and marketing. JJ prioritizes on the professional development of every employee for JJ believe that they are capable in developing leaders within the organization by exposing them to diverse fields and giving employees heavier responsibilities to assess their ability. As mentioned above where staff motivation is important, we as consultants believe that JJ should continue to train their employees and appraise the performance of employees in the next three years. This is so that JJ would be able to make better use of their employees capabilities and talents and this will benefit the organization in the long-run when employees are loyal to JJ. Focusing on JJs consumer goods of baby products, the in-bound logistics ties in with operations before linking with outbound logistics, sales marketing and finally, providing businesses and consumers with service. JJs in-bound logistics would include the purchasing of raw materials needed for the manufacturing of baby products and storing the raw materials in various designated warehouses. Operations will then occur whereby factory employees would have to work along a production belt with the help of machines and maintain quality checks as well as bottling of baby products. JJ would then distribute the ready products into containers for shipment, in allocated warehouses or directly to retailers and distributors. To aid JJs employees in convenient dispersal of information to sales staff, they have made use of MultiAid to resolve all marketing resource management needs. This increases JJs operational efficiency and gives the organization a head start on asset management for product ima ge, captured data and distribution to retail trade communities is readily accessible to employees with one click on the computer system. With regards to sales and marketing, JJ advertises by relating consumers with real-life scenario whereby a mother bathes her baby with JJs baby products and having the statement of products for the ones you love. There are two types of service provided by JJ business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C). JJ provides its business partners and suppliers with business opportunities. This means that the degree of success experienced by JJ has direct impact and will benefit companies that do business with JJ. Consumers of JJ are exposed to gathering useful and relevant information when having purchased JJ baby products for JJ has formed a website (i.e.BabyCentre.com) and a online Baby Care Library to increase the closeness in customer interaction. SWOT Analysis Strengths (Internal) Weaknesses (Internal) Abundant financial resources Strong brand name Proprietary technology Respected brand image Wide product lines Economies of scale Committed employees Superior product quality Better marketing skills Good distribution skills Low customization Lack of flexibility Opportunities (External) Threats (External) Opening of foreign markets Rapid market growth Brand switching Demographic shifts Low barriers to entry Economic downturn Introduction of new substitutes products Rival firms adopting new strategies Strengths Johnson Johnson is a well-known healthcare brand which ranks No. 1 within the industry under one decade of its historical development with a wide variety of skincare products and superior product quality. Abundant financial resources are exploited by the RD department to employ the committed staff for creating and even innovating the hygiene products through proprietary technology and build up the respected brand image. Besides, it focus on product leadership excel at product development and professional skills so that it can offer customers the best products in the industry. As the facts show that, JJ expanded internationally around the world, like Asia (Singapore, China) that triggered by the better marketing skills. Additionally, the good world-wide distribution skills due to its global standardization strategy that allow JJ to generate great market shares by cost reduction that come from economies of scale and fast product development what based on stable relationship with local distribution agents and its respected brand image as well as superior product like baby care mainly. Weaknesses Global standardization is the main international business strategy to control cost but this also is its drawback that results in the low customization. In addition to the world-wide product structure, the managers lack of flexibility to face the challenge of changes in local markets. Opportunities In order to bring along the development of local economy, most of countries welcomes the international companies introduce their products to diversify the local economy. The increasing attentions of baby nurturance and its brand image prompt customers to purchase its products and grow rapidly in the global new markets. There is an opportunity to generate more market shares and enhance its brand image in the long-term in the lights of the rise in global demographic population reach to 7 billion that data collected from statistics of 2011, China and India act as the representatives; moreover, the superior product quality of JJ is the critical to attract customers switching from other brands. Threats JJ faces the threats of the low barriers to entry due to the low cost of set-up, and the proprietary product differences will be difficult to protect when the barriers are reduced so that the customers would switch to other brands more possibly. Another threat reflected by the economic downturn, JJ is difficult to manage the exchange rate risk under the global standardization strategy. Most important, JJ would be forced to stay at the passive threat that the customers would be attracted by its competitors and sales would be declined if rivalries adopting the new strategies. Outcome of SWOT Matrix Generally, Johnson Johnson holds strong competitive advantages after compare its pros and cons despite of few disadvantages of global standardization strategy. In another angle, JJ is able to switch the threats to opportunities in the lights of its calculus-based capability and resources. Growth Strategies adopted by Johnson Johnson There are both internal and external environments to be carefully evaluated when planning for a three years growth strategy plan for Johnson Johnson as what happen externally and internally will affect the company. These diagnoses are in reference to the SWOT analysis based on the company resources assets, intellectual property, and people. With careful consideration and by selecting market penetration growth strategy for a three year period, it will help them to gain more market shares through promotion and advertising from their strong marketing teams. Before planned the growth strategies, the firm should generate a lot of information about if the company is selling new, existing or emerging products in a new or existing market. From the diagnosis of the Porter`s model, understanding that the threats of new entrants are low and also credited to the high brand equity of Johnson Johnson, market penetration growth strategy defined by Ansoff is selected in the lights of situation that involves neither new markets nor new products, are forced to grow through this growth strategy. It is a strategy that is designed to give the business a greater percentage of market shares. Market penetration occurs when a company enters/penetrates a market with current products. This type of strategy usually seeks to gain a compet