Monday, September 30, 2019

Alexander the Great Essay 9

Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was a king and conqueror. He is commonly referred to as â€Å"the most powerful leader of all time. † What is it that makes him such a powerful leader? What has he accomplished that has made him so significant? Were his accomplishments positive or negative? These are all questions that when combined as one create a debate that has been going on for decades. There are those who admire Alexander’s military achievements and ability to carve out the largest empire the world has seen. Then there are those who perceive him as a selfish, cruel madman with drinking problems. This paper will outline the different sides taken on Alexander and the question as to what his significance/influence was and whether it was good or bad. Alexander the Great was the son of Phillip II, king of Macedonia. Phillip had always done much to prepare him for a military and political future (Lewis 48). Alexander served as a regent for his father at the young age of 16 for the start of his military career. After the assassination of his father he obtained the throne in 336 B. C. E. and leader of the League of Corinth. In 335 B. C. E he crushed Macedonia’s borders and destroyed the city of Thebes. This caused Athens to join the league with no fight. 334 B. C. E. was the year of his first great victory, which opened Asia Minor to conquest. He then, in 333, met the Persian King for the first time and caused him to flee by charging even though Alexander was outnumbered. This was the beginning of the end for Persia. Alexander went on and in his 13 year reign was conquering the Mediterranean, forming new cities, and producing an empire touching on 3 continents and encompassing 2 million sq miles (O’Brien 44). Such work is something one should be proud of and many agree that conquering all of Persia in such a short amount of time is Alexander the Greats biggest accomplishment. Balcer obviously agrees with that stating that Alexander succeeded in forming the largest western empire of the ancient world and removing Persian intervention in Greek affairs (Balcer 121-122). Sacks obviously agrees as well saying that his â€Å"principal achievement was the conquest of the empire of Persia,†(14). The perspective of many scholars is that Alexander really was â€Å"the greatest leader† and through the conquering he undertook he achieved many great things. This is the side of the debate in which scholars find Alexander’s significance to be a positive thing. It is argued he was a â€Å"military genius with iron will and boundless ambition,† (O’Brien 45). Scholar Edmund Burke clearly supports this idea in saying that in his accession to the Macedonian throne his foundation of Alexandria, conquest of the Persian Empire and his strategic and tactical genius makes him a â€Å"legend† (Burke 67). He was not the only scholar to refer to him as a legend for a professor at Boise State notes that Alexander exhibited tremendous bravery, didn’t let a wound stop him, never lost a battle, had those around him believe he was invincible, and knew and loved his men. Combining all these factors created an army that could not be stopped and its accomplishments outdid anything that had been seen yet. Alexander and his troops had become a â€Å"legend,† (Knox). Alexander had also been seen as the reason for successfully spreading Greek culture that still exists today. Oriental and Greek cultures blended and flourished as a result of the Empire, making Greek culture his true legacy (Balcer 124). The Hellenistic Era took place right after Alexander’s death and he is said to be the one who ushered this fascinating era. (O’Brien 46). The scholars are right, Alexander truly is a legend for he was the finest battlefield commander of the ancient world and remade the map of the ancient world (Sacks 14). Not just anyone can achieve such success, there seems to be something extraordinary about this man. Yet, not everyone agrees that he was so extraordinary. Yes, he did carve out the largest empire and at an amazingly rapid pace but his aims and ambitions were different than spreading Hellenism throughout the western Mediterranean and near the east. He was a self-confident man who only wanted to conquer for self-pleasure. Alexander is the reason that corruption and peculation were treated with casualness during this time. His pleasure was when his peoples were loyal to him and that was all that was necessary for his approval. It was because of him that Macedonia lost its manpower through the strenuous battles he continuously fought. He left it as a weakened kingdom. His empire is given so much credit but it was only based on rapid military conquest and died right after his death (Stoneman 92-94). It is believed that Alexander conquered to rule, not to blend cultures. Heavy drinking led to disastrous incidents and hastened his death. An example of such a disaster was the burning down of Persepolis in a drunken revel. This is not an attribute of a good leader. He also lacked long-range planning and neglected his kingdoms future by exhausting himself in warfare while he delayed fathering a royal successor. His selfishness is proved by his act of casually killing any threats to the throne at the beginning of his reign (Sacks 15). Those who see Alexander in a negative manner obviously have quite strong opinions about it. They see him as more of a madman than the most powerful leader. It is easy to see where they get their assumptions from for they look at the bloodshed part of Alexander’s reign. Instead of focusing on the rare ability he had to conquer so successfully the use the old journals and other texts used to learn about Alexander and don’t see past the drunken stories and jump to the negative side of his actions to make them cruel. Those who make assumptions about him being the greatest military leader of all time look at the historical records we have of them and analyze his tactics realizing they really are extraordinary. No other person has conquered so much, so fast and left such a legacy. I agree with those who see him as a significantly positive influence so its easier to see where they are coming from. I look at the whole picture; his achievements were unlike anyone else’s in history and as a King he was only trying to do the better for his country. He deserves the credit he has received for spreading Greek culture; there is no other way it would have happened. Scholar Burke put it perfectly when in his article he states, â€Å"when mention is made of a man of action and genius, there is perhaps no one of the ancients who so quickly comes to mind as Alexander the Great† (Burke 67).

Sunday, September 29, 2019

he growth of New Social Movements is evidence of a post-industrial society

The aim of my investigation is to see whether the society we now live in is the fragmented post-industrial society that is described by post-modern thinkers and whether the growth of New Social Movements is actually evidence of this fragmentation. I have chosen to study this area because of the low interest shown towards party politics at the 2001 General Election which had a turnout of just 59%. My first objective is to look into whether there has been a so-called death of class in voting behaviour. Traditionally, the working class were seen to vote Labour and the middle class conservative; this is often referred to as voting on class basis. Secondly, I am going to examine reasons for why there is disillusionment with the ability of the state to distribute welfare as I saw on some government statistics that the approx 74% of the wealth in the UK is owned by the richest 25% of the population. This means that the welfare is distributed unevenly with the wealthier being at an advantage, so therefore 75% of the population of Britain has less than adequate welfare. Finally, my third objective is to investigate the disillusionment of ideas offered by political parties because they seem to make promises and often not carry them out. I am also interested in this aim because when political parties offer lower taxes no matter who comes into power the taxes always seem to rise every April. Context Post-modern sociologists generally see the society that we now live in as a fragmented post-modern society. Post-modernity as a whole entails a declining faith in party political organisation because of the disillusionment of the ideas offered. A research questionnaire carried out by Michael Llangberg (2001) on a small scale at a university in America showed that out of every 10 people he questioned 4 of them felt that political parties offered ideas that were worded to sound a lot better than they actually were. This finding links to my third objective of my rationale as I am investigating into this area. My three objectives stated in my rationale are interrelated social developments, which are used by some as evidence of a post-industrial society, one where traditional class struggle and political issues no longer exist. For Hallsworth (1994) the term New Social Movement â€Å"is one developed to refer to the wide and diverse spectrum of new, non-institutional political movements which emerged in Western Liberal Democratic societies during the 1960's and the 1970's. Some sociologists see New Social Movements (NSMs) as reflecting a move away from class-based politics, which mainly focused around economic issues. NSMs encompass gay rights, animal rights, environmental issues and more; they are seen to draw support from individuals across class divisions. Paul Bagguley argues that a key difference between traditional (old) social movements and NSMs is that NSMs are less interested in economic issues but more in a post-modernist sense of focusing on lifestyle and/or identity politics. This helps to link to the so-called death of class based voting discussed in my rationale because it shows how people are more interested in NSMs (a move away from class-based voting) which in turn is shown by the 59% turnout of the 2001 General Election. For those attracted to postmodernist ideas, ‘NSMs are important as they indicate the existence of a new type of society and a new type of politics where class divisions are no longer a central political issue around which debates may focus' stated sociologist Ulrich Beck in his book Risk Society. This more evidence for my first objective in my rationale. Butler and Stokes' (20th century) study into voting behaviour maintained that there was a strong relationship between occupational class and voting behaviour. When it was a two-party system, Butler and Stokes argued that about 4/5 of the middle-class electorate voted Conservative and 2/3 of the working classes voted for Labour. If you refer to my first objective in my rationale, you will see that these results reflect it. They also argued that this partisanship was learnt through a process called political socialisation at an early age. Then, in the 1980's a political scientist, Ivor Crewe presented a number of studies of voting behaviour in Britain and argued that the partisan relationship between class and voting behaviour was breaking down. Crewe concluded that although still significant, class has declined considerably in importance and that voters had to be seen as acting rationally when voting rather than simply voting on class basis and political socialisation. Whereas other sociologists argue that, the apparent decline in class-based voting simply reflects changes in the class structure and a more complex political system. In my rationale, my first objective can be looked into thoroughly using this material. Heath et al, argue (from their study) that class-based support for the major parties has remained at a significant level since the 1960's, although there has been a slight decline in the relationship between class and voting. As there is many studies into my first objective from my rationale that all have the result of yes or no to a decline in class-based voting behaviour I will have to ensure I conclude this for myself from my research. Refer to my second objective in my rationale and you will see that when New Right thinkers Marsland and Murray argue that the welfare state has created a dependency culture and that the correct role for the state is simply to protect the freedom of the market to enable it to function effectively. In this way, the state would not act in a biased way protecting the interests of one class, but would enable all to have the opportunity to maximise their potential. According to Marsland and Murray, reducing the state to the minimum institutional framework necessary for this task would empower all citizens equally and thus the distribution of the welfare state would be equal. Methodology I have chosen to use a questionnaire for my investigation so that my research will be representative of a wider group. For my research to be of sociological value, I need to address the issue of the relationship between my situation research and the wider society. In order to do this I feel that using a quantative method of surveys and a technique of stratified sampling will work best. Practical and ethical issues also have their influence on research. Possible practical problems that may arise include time, money and access. Time should not be a problem for my questionnaire as it is on a relatively small scale and it is low cost so therefore money is not a problem either. Some social groups may not be willing to participate in my questionnaire because they may feel it is a biased questionnaire or for other reasons. The research participants that will partake in my questionnaire are informed at the top of the sheet that it is confidential and that they do not have to answer any questions they do not want to because participants have a right for the research to be confidential and private. My questionnaire is not covert research; therefore, I do not need to discuss this area. My sample will be a small-scale representation of the sampling frame ensuring that my research can be related back to the survey population. The advantages of using a questionnaire include the possibility to obtain a large number of respondents in a short amount of time and the advantage of the respondent having time to consider the questions. This will help ensure that my answers are more accurate. My main concern is the possibility of a low response rate as I have decided to allow respondents to take the questionnaires away ensuring more confidentiality. Another concern is that the questions can not be explained to the respondent if they do no understand what the question is asking; to limit this, I am going to try and make my questions simple, easily readable and explain my questions in brackets after that particular question. As questions can be either open or closed I have decided to use a range of both. I will include a majority of closed questions to give me comparative data while also including a few open questions so that the respondent feels they can explain their opinion on the issue. This will give me more of an insight to feelings about my topic. An example of my questionnaire is show in appendix A. Looking at appendix A. 1, you can see the population of the UK in age and gender, from this I have worked out how many people I will need to survey to get address the issue of the relationship between my situation research and the wider society. I am not going to be using any of my population aged 0-14years as I feel that they are not capable of understanding my questionnaire or for most of them reading it. Therefore, my final survey population total will be 39 males and 42 females with a grand total of 81. My table on appendix A. 1 shows you the ages and number of people to be surveyed for each age. Evidence As you can see (refer to appendix B answers to question 1) only 29. 62% of the population I surveyed felt that they were represented by a certain political party. All of these people felt they were represented by one of the three main political parties and these same people felt they were strongly part of the social class they ticked. In addition, approx 90% of these people said they are more than likely going to vote at a General Election. This shows that even though there has been a decline in class-based voting, there has not been a so-called death of class in voting behaviour patterns. This finding from my research agrees with the study by Ivor Crewe (discussed in context) but on the other hand conflicts with the conclusions made by Heath et al (also discussed in context). The results from my questionnaire answers 3a showed a large number of respondents to be supportive of single issue politics whereas the answers to 3b showed that a considerable percentage of those respondents did not know who to go to deal with their single issue. Answers to questions 4 and 5 showed some strong support towards New Social Movements although the number was small, as discussed earlier many respondents did not know where to go with their single issue. The previous two findings from my research agree with Paul Bagguley's research, which was discussed in my context. The low percentage of people voting on class-basis and the higher percentage of people supporting New Social Movements agree with some sociologists when it is said that NSMs, which are mainly focused around economic issue such as gay rights, are also reflecting a move away from class-based politics. Therefore, I have considered my first objective discussed in my rationale and according to my small-scale study there has not been a death of class-based politics, just a decline. My second objective in my rationale should be answered by question 7b on my questionnaire. One answer by a 24year old female stated, â€Å"The welfare of Britain is unfairly distributed by the government among the top social classes, it is unfair but I feel there is nothing I can do to change this as the government seem to show fair distribution but it is not that way at all. † I feel this sums up the majority of the other answers I received in this particular question which shows that there is a disillusionment with the state to distribute welfare. The majority of scoring for the Sectors discussed in 7. focused around the 6-8 areas, which shows there is a general feeling that the sectors discussed although worryingly there are a range of scores with some people obviously being very unhappy with the sector and the way it has served them. If you refer back to my context to the study discussed by Marsland and Murray my findings contradict this as it is stated that the correct role of the welfare state is to simply protect the freedom of the market to enable it to function properly. Obviously, some people are displeased with the welfare state as they scored sectors quite low indeed. Looking back at my third objective in my rationale, I cannot comment on findings as I have realised my questionnaire did not cater for any answers for evidence to this point. Evaluation and Conclusions From my evidence, I conclude that in the Huntingdon area where my research was carried out that there has been a decline in class-based voting but not a complete death of it. In order to link this to wider society I would have to carry out further research as discussed near the end of this section. Secondly, I deduce that there is disillusionment with the state to distribute welfare discussed in my evidence section. Although, I do not feel that I gained enough information to make further conclusions on this particular objective of my investigation. To further my research I need to include some questions in my questionnaire that can answer and reflect my third objective discussed in my rationale. From the information I gathered, I could not make a fair conclusion or judgement on this objective. In order to gain a more accurate idea of the fragmentation of our society in this so-called post-industrial society where class-basis voting behaviour and political issues are no longer as important, it would be sensible to do some further research. Possible ways of furthering my research include recreating a questionnaire that would be suitable to a larger population and then to survey them to get an idea of the wider picture in societies other than Huntingdon area. I would like to continue research into the so-called death of class-based voting behaviour because my questionnaire was not accurate enough to say whether there has been or not. This is also a very popular topic but no one seems to have come through with a definite answer as many sociologists' findings from research and studies is contradictory of each other. I could do this by holding interviews of certain people, analysing questionnaires and government statistics on electorate turn out at elections and the so-called social class definitions to try to understand what is happening in this post-industrial society as far as class-based voting behaviour is concerned. Overall I think my investigation was only valid for my first objective discussed in my rationale because I became to focused on this particular area and did not realise that my questionnaire did not really cater enough for my second and third objectives. Other than that I feel my response from my survey population was excellent as everyone I gave a questionnaire to returned it promptly for me to analyse and evaluate for my research. The respondents were all understanding and answered all questions necessary as I made it clear that it was completely confidential and that ethical issues and been evaluated.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Dually-Diagnosed Individuals

Dually-diagnosed individuals refer to a â€Å"group of patients with severe and persistent mental illness and co-existing drug and alcohol problems† (Burns-Lynch, 1997). Patients are more likely to go through physical, psychological, social, and spiritual problems, not only affecting their families and loved ones, but the community as a whole.Some of these include family or intimate relationship, isolation and social withdrawal, financial problems, employment/ school problems, risky behavior while driving, multiple admission for chemical dependency services and for psychiatric care, increased need for health care services, legal problems, and homelessness (Hamilton, n. d. ).More importantly, the condition of the patients could get worse with psychiatric symptoms being masked by alcohol or drug use, alcohol or drug use or withdrawal that can mimic or give the appearance of some psychiatric illness, untreated chemical dependency that can contribute to a reoccurrence of psychiatr ic symptoms, and untreated psychiatric illness that can contribute to an alcohol or drug relapse (â€Å"Dual Diagnosis or Co-Occurring Disorders†, n. d. ).Certain treatments can be done, such as the care/ confrontation methods (choosing between managers who will care for the patients, or allow the client to care for himself), the abstinence-oriented/ abstinence-mandated programs (which depends on the willingness on the patient to remain abstinent, or abstinence will be made a goal), and the recovery and rehabilitation method/ deinstitutionalization (which focuses on restricting the patient in an intensive setting or allowing him to recover in the community) (Burns-Lynch, 1997).The law requires the safety of every member of the community. Dangers can be posed by dually diagnosed individuals. But it also has to be kept in mind that they too are people who need extra care and understanding. Man has a duty to help other men in times of need. Caring for dually-diagnosed individual s will not only bring safety to the patients, but to all members of the community as well.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Does Fake News Mislead the Public Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Does Fake News Mislead the Public - Essay Example It is distinguishable from pure rumors in that the fake news has additional hype that is unrelated to the rumor and relatively unjustified. Although this kind of news sometimes contain some factual and sometimes substantial information, the main ideas raised by the communicator are fake and undependable. The humor and the hype sometimes help to attract the viewers and a target audience, but the negative effects of fake news to the larger population should be considered. In an era when there are a variety of sources for information, both credible and not so credible, the public is at risk of being misled. It is a notion currently held by many that the news websites previously used are difficult to access and obtain relevant information from. This makes many people, especially the young turn to new sources such as the social media. In these sources, what is most likely to be available, unless it is from media houses domains is comedic information. This the kind of information in which you can hardly tell the hype from the real news. The audience for fake news often becomes the new sources of the news, which is in this case even more complicated and more hype added. The news spread and many people are made to believe in the fake news as if it was real. What then happens is that the general population lose interest in the real news and become so distracted that no new information can change the perception and point of view that the original fake news developed in them. The actual problem arises when the public depends more on the hype and fake news as the most easily accessible source of information. The negative perception developed gain roots and becomes a norm. The mass is then utterly misled and tends to believe in the rumors to a point that every new piece of information is associated with the rumors. The rumors, being more enticing and easily accessible prevail over the genuine news. It is in my

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Counter argument about the Drone Warfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Counter argument about the Drone Warfare - Essay Example Some attack drones like predator and reaper are flown remotely by operators on the ground, far away from the attack areas. Drone attacks have revolutionized how wars are fought and have also advanced surveillance. The war against terrorism has triggered much importance for the unmanned aircraft where an enemy can be hit without engaging military personnel on the ground. This technology has been used by former president Bush administration where the military carried out 45 drone strikes and the Obama administration that has carried more than 100 drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan (655). This has been efficient in neutralizing militants in the remote and inaccessible areas. In this regard therefore, the use of drones should be supported as revolutionary advancement in containment of threats. Major debates are mostly based on the effectiveness of drones in combat and breach of privacy rights of civilians. Many civil organizations around the world have argued that drone attacks ha ve claimed lives of both the targets and civilians. Most drone strikes are conducted in Pakistan and Afghanistan by NATO and US military against insurgents. This implies that unintended deaths may occur. However, drones are better in precision and therefore reduce strike errors by a higher index that manned aircrafts. It is thus incorrect to argue that drones are ineffective without comparing to other options that can be employed for the same task. This also leads to a reduction in pilot deaths in instances where planes are shot down since pilots sit at computer consoles far away from the action zone (658). Many scholars and lawyers have raised argument on whether drone attacks are justified under internationals laws. According to the State Department, the answer is yes. This is because the law allows a State to defend itself from hostile forces that threaten its existence. In Pakistan for example, the use of drones has been targeting suspected militants who are at war with the Unit ed States military. As such, the United States and its allies deserve the right to use drones in such instances. Drones strikes are preferable when the target areas are hostile both in terrain and weather, thus, arrests may be impossible. According to Anderson, a law professor, drone strikes are well in order under the legal doctrine of self-defense and national security. He poses that terrorism I nations such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and other nations pose a direct threat to the United States. Though they operate in sovereign countries, the United States has a role to defend itself and its interest using any means possible (658). As such, carrying out an attack on a hostile target should not be viewed as a violation of sovereignty. Drones strikes are active measures that suppress terrorism. According to David Kilcullen, drone warfare has succeeded in damaging the leadership of top islamists militants who lead al Qaeda and Taliban. From the year 2006, the drone strikes have eliminat ed about 14 top leaders of al-Qaeda (659). The arguments about civilian casualties have often been questionable. This is because the precision of drones allows that the warhead strikes the exact point of interest. It can be argued that the innocence of the civilians killed is questionable. This is because top militant bosses have heavy security making it difficult for civilians to interact with them. Therefore, Christin Fair, a professor on security studies, concludes that drones strikes

Economics of Social Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Economics of Social Issues - Assignment Example Due to the prohibition the supply curve is inelastic. The shortage of kidney is given by q’ minus q*. The market for kidney can be corrected by allowing for the sale and distribution of kidney in a free market. This would address the shortage of kidney and enable people with enough income to buy though at a higher price. The market equilibrium would be at price P* and at quantity Q* as shown in the diagram. The market for kidney is prone to negative externalities. The poor people are subject to exploitation from the rich by selling their organs in exchange for money. Moreover, people with debt may be pressured in selling their body organ to repay their debtor. The negative externality will result to increased sale of the kidney reducing the price of kidney to (p’) at quantity q’. Negative externality increases the production of services above the optimal level and thus the poor become vulnerable at the long

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The influence of women's wear on American fashion and design Research Paper

The influence of women's wear on American fashion and design - Research Paper Example Donna Karan and her influence- Donna Karan’s influence was especially manifested in the sportswear designs, which came to prominence in the American fashion and design industry during the latter years of the 20th century. Other women’s wear influencers - These include Claire McCardell, Bonnie Cashen, Tina Lesser, Clare Potter, Tina Lesser as well as Emily Wilkins. These women and others are explored and the role they played in setting free the American fashion design from the strongholds of the Parisian design, with a new standards of designs, for example corsets and new girdle designs. Women’s wear has dominated the American fashion and design for a long time, and the influence they have is an important subject that designers should embrace and understand well. The American fashion industry is awash with big names from Clare McCardell to Donna Karan, among others, iconic fashion designers who have left a big mark to the industry in not just the American but also the International sphere. The following paper is an assessment of ways through which women’s wear has influenced American fashion and design. The paper will explore the following three influencing factors. Firstly, the works of Claire McCardell and their influence to the American fashion and design industry are explored. The influential work of Donna Karan is also examined. The other influences examined in detail are the influences of various women’s wear during the 1920s and the 1930s, a period when the works of big names at this time made an indelible mark to the American fashion ind ustry as well. The influence of Claire McCardell to the American fashion and design is immense. Together with other women, for example Elizabeth Hawkes, Vera Maxell and Bonnie Cashin, McCardell is recognized as one of the major icons of American fashion. Claire McCardell was a rising star during the 1930s, and Buxbaum writes of her influence

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Select a Film and Analyze Relationships in the Film Essay

Select a Film and Analyze Relationships in the Film - Essay Example The Phantom hails from a cave found beneath opera house in Paris meant for dance performance. On the other side, Christine is a dancer in the opera house; a situation which hints on their possible encounter. In his cave, the Phantom dreams of controlling the way Opera house operates and this leads him to making attempts of frightening the residents in the opera house. Initially, the Phantom had escaped his master after murdering him then meeting the French girl who brought him to the cave. Since she was a resident at opera house, the film brings out several incidences in which the phantom had taught her to sing perfectly. In this case, the main reason for having a close relationship with Christine was to use condition her to changing the running of the opera house. In personality, his face was full of deformations making him more embarrassed and in dire need for an intimate relationship. This leads him to developing obsession and lust with Christine as he continued teaching her how t o sing. At the instance when new owners took over the control of the house, the Phantom fought for Christine to be put as a lead singer. This shows his sacrifice for the relationship since he ends up causing destruction in the house. The sacrifice and the growing relationship makes Christine believe that her father’s dream for an angel to protect her was coming true through the Phantom. The following is a quote made by Christine, which served as a turning point in their relationship: In most of the cases, the Phantom makes use of non-verbal communication in his relationship with Christine. A mutual attraction arises in the relationship between the two. Phantom manages to teach Christine how to sing and brings her to the limelight, while the latter makes the former more powerful because of the company. The beautiful voice of the Phantom makes Christine attracted besides the chaos he creates at the expense of bringing her to limelight. The Phantom goes to the the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Film Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Film Evaluation - Essay Example This paper will evaluate this film with a final aim of convincing people who have not yet watched this masterpiece to watch it. If Only is, in reality, a rather energetic small gem. It circulates around the lives to its two main actors: musician Samantha (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and a business man Ian Wyndham (Paul Nicholls) (IMDb 1). The two really love each other, but Samantha always complains that Ian is too much into his career and does not want to spend time with her (IMDb 1). There was this day when they woke up but Samantha was feeling overly dejected, but manage to recover her mood; it was because Ian had forgotten that it was her day of graduation, which she had been repeating to him for over one month now (IMDb 1). The two ended up arguing and having an awful day which pushes them to the verge of a split when Samantha gets involved in a terrible accident and eventually dies. Also, in spite of all the rush and efforts from Ian to save her, Samantha still dies. However, in the end of it all, he wakes up to find that all those events were nothing more than a bad dream and that Samantha was dead asleep b esides him. Ian, realizing how much his girlfriend means to him, decided to cancel all the day’s events to stay at home with his girlfriend, which made Samantha curious as to why the certain change of attitude (IMDb 1). She kept asking him what was wrong but Ian was afraid to answer. What made him more scared was the fact that some of events that had happened in last night’s dream were started to happen today and he was scared that Samantha might end up dead. This pushed his much closer to his girlfriend (IMDb 1). What I loved about the film was the manner in which its sequences were shown. All of them were well synchronized meaning that the viewer cannot be lost even for a split second. The film manages to keep someone hooked to the screen all

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Economics The Russian Experience Essay Example for Free

Economics The Russian Experience Essay The economy of the Soviet Union was based on a system of state ownership and administrative planning which meant that the state was the single decision organ in economic matters. The economic growth was guided by what was then called Five Year Plans crafted by the national decision makers appointed by the state. This approach made it easy for the resources to be harnessed to achieve set objectives. The economic set up concentrated more in building capital goods, machine manufacture and the chemical industry. The economic setup was top down model that offered little option for feedback to move to the decision makers. This made it hard for the decision makers to assess the effects of their decisions with a view to eliminate destructive ones. It therefore made it hard for the decision makers to abandon earlier decisions that failed to work or that produced negative results. (http://www. answers. com/toic/history-d-the-soviet-union-1985-1991). The economic setup, otherwise called communism, often resulted into the problem of over or under production of goods. The system paid little attention to the production of consumer goods and this led to black markets thriving. This black market had a counter effect on the economic agenda of the planners. The system was also very bureaucratic delaying issues that required urgent decisions. This scenario led to a back logging of decisions, which overwhelmed the decision makers with time. Middle level managers began to agitate for freedom to deal with customers and suppliers directly for them to more effectively respond to the economic laws of demand and supply. This agitation built up to eventually break the Soviet Union because the decision makers and the political leaders of the time failed to respond to these demands responsibly. (http://www. answers. com/toic/history-d-the-soviet-union-1985-1991). The economic setup of the Soviet Union had made some big gains, which enabled them to become industrialized faster than other economic fronts. Failure to respond to arising issues was what contributed to its downfall. Strong institutions had already been setup such as the agricultural sector, foreign trade as well as the financial sector. All capital goods were collectively owned with little exceptions. Individual property ownership was minimal. The ownership controversy also contributed to the Soviet Union breakup. Since then Russia has had to undergo intensive reform program to enable them to respond to the largely capitalistic world economy (Moszczynska, undated) A key sector that is the focus of the reform process is the financial sector. The Russian economy is reliant on oil and the fluctuations of prices affect the economy adversely. To alleviate such adverse effects, the financial sector needs reforms because it offers smoother transition into the envisioned economic setup. A challenge facing Russia and other countries as they transit from command economy to the free market economy is imbalance created by foreign trade. These countries have begun to import goods that were in short supply but on the other hand exports have began to decline. This slows down the recovery process since exports spurred growth previously. When the exports are more than the imports, a country is performing well economically and this is reverse for these former Soviets. Consumption growth had for a time led to an increment is real wages but productivity growth has stagnated those gains. This again is due to the heavy reliance on the oil industry for economic growth (Barnard, 2000). In addition, there is little investment outside the oil and metal industries. This means that as much as the motive is to create wealth for the citizenly, there cannot be much success if no considerable investment is made. In fact investments in other areas has been declining over time. The investment climate in Russia is still hostile which slows down the ability of the reform process to spur growth. The economic system only favor large business establishments leaving small and medium sized enterprises struggling. The government’s authorization requirements are stringent while corruption has been rife. This has led to more resources being allocated to large firms. With the medium sized enterprises grounded, no much growth can be achieved. The banking system is also inefficient since it only lends to the large establishments. The reform of the banking sector has largely depended upon political climate but a legal framework is needed to effectively reform this sector. A better framework to regulate the banking industry has to be put in place (Kahan, 2001). The reform process of the Russian and other former Soviet countries are on the right track. There are enough challenges in the implementation process of the proposals but they are gaining ground. Under performing areas have shown indications of growth. The recovery process, though, calls for political will among the leaders to drive the process. No much progress would be realized if political will is lacking. The effects of the Cold War need to be eliminated from the fore. The Russian economy has great potential and if the strategies respond appropriately to upcoming issues, the Russian economy would perform better. The Russian economy performance had put Russia ahead of other countries. It was not entity based on wrong principles. The major problem was the bureaucratic system that had been set that made it difficult to respond to rising issues. If the economy is to acquire the envisioned status it once had, it has to respond to arising issues.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Dissection Of A Pigs Heart Physical Education Essay

Dissection Of A Pigs Heart Physical Education Essay For most mammals, the heart is an extremely important organ in their bodies. Acting as a pump, the heart can control the blood by alternating the contractions of muscles and their relaxations. Because of this pumping action, the blood can be kept flowing throughout the bodies. Like other mammals, the pigs heart has a complex structure. The heart is made up of three layers, the epicardium, mycardium and endocardium (Pathguy, 2005). It is also divided into four main chambers. They are the right atrium and right ventricle, the left atrium as well as the left ventricle (Lane, 2010b). On both sides, the upper chambers are known as the atria, and the ventricles are lower. Since the left ventricle needs to pump the oxygenated blood throughout the body, it has thicker muscle. The left ventricle wall is thicker than other chambers (Lane, 2010b). It is three times the thickness of the right ventricle ¼Ã‹â€ Skillstat, 2005 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. The right and left sides of the heart are separated by a muscle called septum. The septum is made up of two regions; the interatrial septum and the interventrial septum (Buddyproject, 2000). In the heart, there are a series of valves used to control the blood flow direction. On each side, a special valve separates the atrium and the ventricle. The valve between the right atrium and the right ventricle is called the tricuspid valve. This valve allows blood to enter the right ventricle from the right atrium. And it can also prevent the backflow of blood (Lane, 2010b). Having similar functions, the valve on the left side is the bicuspid valve (Lane, 2010a). Double circulation in mammal consists of the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit (Pickering, 2000). These two circuits are separated. Deoxygenated blood from the body can be received and pumped to the lungs by the right side of the heart (Losos, Mason Singer, 2008). This is the pulmonary circuit. The systemic cycle is that the left side of the heart carries oxygenated blood and pumps it to the tissues and organs. This double circulation is also achieved by the arteries and veins in the heart (Losos, Mason Singer, 2008). The superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava can return deoxygenated blood from the tissues to the right atrium. To oxygenate the blood, pulmonary artery can deliver the deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs ¼Ã‹â€ NHLBI, nd). Oxygenated blood can enter the left atrium via the pulmonary veins. Aorta is principal vessel. It can take oxygenated blood to the body from the left ventricle ¼Ã…’followed by the systemic circulation (NHLBI, nd). Methods Observations: The apparatus in the experiment included a fresh pig heart, container, a dissecting pan, forceps and a scalpel, as well as several pairs of gloves. Procedures of examining the external structure (Lane, 2010a) 1. A heart was washed and placed in a dissecting pan. a. The heart appeared sanguineous colour. Its size was a little larger than human fist. In the upper part, there were some substances appearing cream colour. 2. Using the forceps, part of the pericardium was removed. The pericardium membrane covering the heart was thin and hard to be removed. 3. The heart was turned so that the front or ventral side was facing the observers. Four chambers were located. c. In Figure 1, the half including the apex was the left side of the heart. A groove was on the front of the heart and divided the heart into two sides. The coronary artery can be found in the groove. The positions of four chambers, the aorta and the pulmonary artery were located. There were era-shaped extensions (labeled 1 2) on both sides. 4. The heart was turned over. Other main blood vessels, including the pulmonary veins, the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava were located. d. As Figure 2 shows, pulmonary veins were inferior to the pulmonary artery. Two vessels joining together were located as the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. Procedures of examining the internal anatomy (Lane, 2010a) 1. The heart was cut deep enough to go through the side of the pulmonary artery until the wall of the right ventricle. 2. Dried blood inside the chambers was rinsed out the heart. 3. The right atrium was located. 4. Other main structures in the right side, including the inferior vena cava, the superior vena cave and the tricuspid valve were located. a. As Figure 3 shows, the top of chamber was the right atrium. The tricuspid valve separated the right atrium and right ventricle. The muscle on the right side is located as septum. 5. The heart was cut continually from the outside of the left atrium downward into the left ventricle. b. With a thicker wall, it was harder to cut on the side. 6. The heart was pushed open. Dried blood was rinsed out with water. 7. Main structures on the left side, including the bicuspid valve and the left ventricle were examined. 8. The heart was cut across the left ventricle toward the aorta and then cut to expose the valve. 9. The three flaps or leaflets on the tricuspid valve were counted and observed. C. The bicuspid valve was thick. The aortic valve was between the left ventricle and the aorta (see Figure 4). It had three flaps and a half-moon shape. Results: Figure 1 shows the external structure (anterior view) of the heart. Figure 2 shows the external structure (posterior view) of the heart. Figure 3 shows the internal structure of the right side in the heart. Figure 4 shows the internal structure of the left side in the heart. All these diagrams are attached at the end of this report. Some functions of the labeled structures are also noted on the right sides of those diagrams. Discussion: The heart in a dissecting pan can be imagined that the heart is in the body of a person facing the observers. The left side of the heart is on the right side of the dissecting. This makes the observers easier to be confused when examining the hearts structures. Those cream substances in the upper part of the heart can be deduced as fat around the muscle pump. The left side of the heart has more muscular and firmer than the right one. This provides the left side with enough energy to pump blood to the whole body. It is hard to identify the positions of the inferior and superior vena cava correctly. The superior vena cava returns blood to the right atrium from the upper part of tissues, while the inferior vena cava carries blood from the lower tissues (NHLBI, nd). Therefore, it is more reasonable that the inferior vena cava is below the superior vena cava instead of connecting to each other (As shown in Figure 2). In this experiment, the semi-lunar entering to the pulmonary veins has not been found. The ear-shaped extensions (labeled 12 in Figure 1) may not belong to the structure of the heart. But based on their positions, it is possible that they are the extensions of the right atrium and the left atrium. Conclusion: The heart is a pump muscle. It can pump oxygenated blood and carry nutrients to the tissues throughout the body. A pigs heart has four chambers, the left and right ventricle and the left and right atrium. A series of main vessels are responsible for the pulmonary and systemic systems, such as the aorta, the pulmonary artery and pulmonary veins, as well as the inferior and superior vena cava. The vales between atria and ventricles act as barriers to prevent blood backflow. Each simple structure of the heart is contributed to providing blood for the survival of the tissues in the bodies.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Performance Appraisal Of HBL Commerce Essay

Performance Appraisal Of HBL Commerce Essay Performance Appraisal means to evaluate employees present performance and according to the standards given.At HBL performance appraisal is formal interaction between supervisor/ Manager and employees in an organized way. At HBL performance Appraisal conducted annually for all the employees. Appraisal is conducted by line manager and directors are appraised by CEO which further appraised by the chairman of the bank. If we look towards the branches of banks located in different areas, each branch manager evaluate the performance of their employees of their particular branch by keep on connecting with line manager which evaluate employees who conducted these performance evaluation. Line manager forward to regional office where he sends to human resource department where all appraisals are finalized and issued. HBL use KPIs or targets which they give annually to employees as a criteria such as business results, customers and employees) to appraise their employees and measure their employee performance by observation the achieved targets out of 100% which is standard or a benchmark that is quality of work, team work, goal fulfillments, performance, customer services, behavior with colleagues and supervisors/managers and growth. HBL process of performance appraisal system is they define their expectations, and then they measure or evaluate and provide feedback and hence their performance recorded. They judge their employee on achieving the annual targets which have provided them to achieve, even managers evaluate the performance of employee by behavior of employees and punctuality and how productive they are, how knowledgeable employees are or are they satisfying their employees by giving time to them and the way they dress up. HBL has assigned different weight ages out of 100, employee doing more than 100 or achieving target more than the benchmark that is an excellent job employee performing but if employee performing average discussion takes place between manager and its subordinate if employee becomes defensive, manager could easily sort out through his managerial skills. HR is responsible for training of supervisors to improve their appraisal skills. HBL use GRAPHICAL RATING SCALE METHOD or RANKING METHOD for appraising performance of an employee. HBLs Graphic Rating Scale method appraisal form contains three sheets; one is FORM B1, FORM B2, and FORM B3. Form B1: contains information about employees or the criteria through which employee should appraise. Form B2: contains two points through which they evaluate performance, i.e., FACTORS through which they determine if employee is productive or how the job is performing or the employee knows how to use technology he is being assessed and to see how responsive is an employee towards customers and motivated or dedicated to work and even employees are appraised through the factor of their own personality, i.e., how punctual employee is, behavior, personal hygiene. Even another criteria is determined on the B2 Form is the level of achievement s points being 4 the highest or 1 the least in form of grading A the highest which is 4 and D the lowest consider 1. FORM B3: This form contains the supervisor comments or evaluate the overall performance by given the grading(A,B,C,D) and appraise the comments in the form of agree/disagree then after evaluation is finalized in form signatures take by supervisor who conducted and send to the Hr department. HBL even use Ranking method to appraise their employees in which ranks employee from best to worst on the characteristics and skills. It is the most popular method, in which firstly, list all subordinates to be rated and in this method those names are not included which are well enough to rank. In ranking form indicates the employee measures on highest and lowest, then, choose the next highest and the next lowest. HBL also use Forced Distribution Method is also call bell curved. In this method you place given percentages of ratees into different performance categories. By forced distribution method as demonstrated by manager for example that manager must rate its employees under him according to following distribution: 10% low, 20% below average, 40%average, 20% above average, 10%high.. It reflects the normal curve, a small percentage of group is to be placed on (best and worst performers) larger percentages of ratees are placed toward the middle of the performance distribution. It is used for high executive level Vice president and above him in HBL.A separate bell curve is developed according to function/branch category/division and group. http://managementpocketbooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/image5.png MBO (Management By Objectives) also used by HBL in which objectives are told to the management and employees what targets they have to achieve. This method is easy to evaluate the performance of employees according to the goals and objectives have been told to them and how much they achieved. HBL use MBO to increase performance. MBO includes tracking and feedback  in the process to reach objectives and also for pay for performance. Steps of MBO: STEP1: Review organizational objectives HBLs objective is to make customer satisfy and to create value for them. STEP2: Set Objectives To earn profit for the organization STEP3: Monitor progress †¢Less complaints †¢Timely service is provided †¢Monthly revenue and cost STEP4: Evaluate performance How efficiently or effectively employee achieve his goals and targets Then his/ her appraised with the goals allocated as benchmark to achieve   STEP5: Give rewards †¢Promotion †¢Special salary increase †¢Cash price Problems HBL goes through while making performance appraisal are the employee participation, feedback-seeking and unclear goals and standards, regency effects. Promotable or UN -promotable appraisal interviews both conducted in HBL. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM http://www.da.ks.gov/pmp/images/circle.png Performance management is the process to identify, measure, and develop the performance of the employees in an organization. Basically we are trying to figure out how well employees perform and then to ultimately improve that performance level. When used correctly, performance management is a systematic analysis and measurement of worker performance (including communication of that assessment to the individual) that we use to improve performance over time. Performance management at HBL is a forward looking process for setting goals and regularly checking progress towards achieving those goals. At HBL it is a continual feedback process whereby the observed outputs are measured and compared with the desired goals. Performance management ensures that goals are consistently being met. Performance management at HBL is to evaluate employees to reach their goals and through which company performs better .In HBLs performance management model employees are given opportunities to work on harder projects, paired less-skilled employees with expert employees and employees can direct and make decisions. At HBL growth does not matter but performance does. Tools used by HBL for performance management are: Developmental goal setting Ongoing performance monitoring Ongoing feedback Coaching and support Performance appraisal Rewards, recognition, and compensation At HBL if employee performing good he gets an increment of 10% annually. They monthly evaluate the performance which is effective for the employees to work best. Managers and Supervisors keep on giving their constructive feedback to increase employees performance. HBL performance management system covers all employees under the function sales, operational, finance, Hr, administration. Purpose of Performance Management System To access the performance Basis for reward (Increment Bonus) Basis for promotion Placement Ascertain training and development needs The results of process measured by with the will help in measuring the performance, based on balanced measure approach and to standardize format across the organization, which is the ranking method or graphical rating method, it depends on employee performance on average, below average, low or good. HR performance Management System helps in increasing profit and Reducing Hr turnover.HR measured their satisfaction level through exit interview which can be good, excellent or poor. There is no involvement of stakeholders in ensuring performance management system. PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS There are some flaws in the appraisal system of the bank. In appraisal form of the bank the supervisor enjoy great powers. No body can check his evaluation. The Appraise and appraiser does not sit before each other when supervisor evaluates the performance of the employees. An employee does not have the right to appeal against the supervisor on how he had been marked. . RECOMMENDATION The appraisal form should be based according to the Relevance material, Reliability Acceptability. The employees should have right to appeal against the supervisor if he thinks that he is wrongly evaluated.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Unwritten History of Cave Paintings Essay -- Art History

Religious stories and scientific theories have tried for thousands of years to accurately date the formation of man. However, in the 1860s, a new art was discovered that changed the view of human creation forever. This new insight was cave painting. Cave painting is a form of prehistoric art that dates back hundreds of thousands of years. Analysts are unable to specify the reasoning behind these paintings of objects on cave walls, but many theories have been formulated to surmise the rational behind the art. Questions arise like, â€Å"why did man find a need to paint the walls of caves† and is this part of the foundation of the origin of human life as we know it? (Beacon) The ecumenical belief is rooted at history, cave paintings are man’s unwritten story of evolution. In the Upper Paleolithic period, from 40000 B.C. to 10000 B.C., paintings were created in over 300 caves across the globe. â€Å"There are two types of cave art: petroglyphs, which are pictures carved in stone and pictographs, which are pictures painted on stone† (Cave Painting). The art is usually found in hidden caves that are difficult to locate. For this reason, scientists have taken great interest in discovering why man wished to go to such extremes to produce the artistry. The graphics include mainly animals, geometric figures, and signs but rarely depict any relevance to humans. The visual communication gives valuable clues to the culture and beliefs of that era. The degree of preciseness of the images, being at such a high level, suggests that the art was not merely decorations that covered the bare surfaces of the caves, but were created for purpose. â€Å"The tonal qualities, and the ingenious use of surfaces in the rock, suggest depth and even a kin... ... However which way you interpret it, it still provides us with one thing: history. It has taught us the lives of our ancestry and the society in which they survived. The evolution from that era to today is astonishing. We see it simply in the development from our society daily. Their ideas combined with that overtime have created a new perspective for us about our own history. And before we can learn the history of other things, we must learn about ourselves first. Even through interpretation, we learned immensely from the simple paintings and carvings on a cave wall. It will continue to teach us generation after generation. But in the end, the controversies shouldn’t arise from the ambiguous paintings. If interpretation is all we have to go by, then that is what we do. And isn’t that what all history is? An interpretation of facts versus opinion.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

GCSE English Coursework: The Crucible Essay -- Essay on The Crucible

GCSE English Coursework: The Crucible The Crucible. Arthur Miller, ‘The Crucible’ is a play based upon the events of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The story is about a religiously motivated town. The story is about a group of girls’ who are led by Abigail, who blamed witchcraft for their troubles. Being a strict Christian society the people of Salem believed in the girl’s stories. In conclusion this led into 20 people being falsely accused, and hung. The girl’s stories were easy to believe because of many reasons. Salem town was filled in a Puritanism belief. Everything they did was for God; they were doing God’s work. With this they believed that the bible was the ultimate answer to any question. When something went wrong they would automatically look into the bible and the teachings of God and anything it said they would abbey to it. John Proctor is accused of being a witch when he forgets his 10 commandments. He forgets to mention about not committing adultery. Proctor replies to this by saying, â€Å"I think it may be a small fault†, with Hale replying, â€Å"Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small†. Because they lived in a society that was strict and suspicious about everything because they were paranoid with fear. Hale suggests that because has forgot to mention adultery that Proctor doesn’t see it as a problem and will commit adultery. The people of Salem would swiftly blame the devil as when something bad or evil would happen. Towards the beginning of Act One we see this when Betty falls sick and Mrs Putnam says, â€Å"I’d not call it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick†, this shows us what a strongly religious society Salem was at this time. This makes the ... ...he liked her power. She likes to be in control. The society has a strong pride. With the people of Salem not confessing to the witchcraft. Because they didn’t admit they assumed that they did do the witchcraft, so the girl’s stories were easy to believe even more so. In conclusion the girl’s stories were easy to be believed because the society of Salem was an extremely religious. They were paranoid with fear, which made them venerable to small things: causing superstition. Another reason why the girl’s stories were easy to believe was because people wanted to believe them so they could end old grudges and claim land. People were scared to question the Bible because they would be accused of doing the Devil’s work and then hung. The Religious views about Christianity were taken too literally and as a punishment over 20 people were hung because of it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Americas Cuban Conundrum

MARKETING 505 Assignment #2: Case 5-1 â€Å"America's Cuban Conundrum† ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the key issue that prompted the EU to take the Helms-Burton dispute to the WTO. It will decide who benefits and who suffers from an embargo of this type and it explains the rationale behind the conclusion. It also presents a resolution to the trade situation between the U. S. and Cuba. Finally given the trade relations it determines what type of economic barriers would have to be overcome by a U. S. firm to conduct business successfully in Cuba. Assignment #2: Case 5-1 â€Å"America's Cuban Conundrum† In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act. The President’s actions came after Cuban MiGs shot down two U. S. civilian airplanes, killing the four Cuban-American who were on board. † (Green & Keegan, 2011) The Helms-Burton freezes the embargo against trade with and investment with Cu ba. It is a controversial act since it arouses a lot of negative attention on how the U. S. government is manipulating its power to impose its political views on other countries’ economies.The key issue -that prompted the EU to take the Helms-Burton dispute to the WTO -was mainly because they felt that it violated international rules dealing with trade. The EU had a dispute with the U. S. regarding testing agriculture, trade and investments and biotechnology issues which was brought to the attention of the WTO. It felt as if the United States was unlawfully exercising its jurisdiction extraterritorially, in that it was threatening to punish lawful activity such as trade, investment, and tourism carried out by the residents of independent countries. It is no exaggeration to say that U. S. olicy toward Cuba is now rejected and sharply criticized by the rest of the world. Other nations point out, moreover, that while America insists on maintaining its embargo and other pressures against Cuba because of the latter's human rights abuses, the fact is that Washington has close relations with–and extends Most Favored Nation treatment to–the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and other states that are no more democratic than Cuba and have far worse human rights records, arguing that engagement, trade, and dialogue will do more to bring change in those countries than isolation. (Smith, 1998)It is obvious that the embargo affects a great number of people. To be all fair and neutral it would be necessary to highlight that to a certain extent, both countries are suffering and their benefits are minimal from this embargo. If it was to cease and somehow both countries came to an agreement and decided to put it all in the past and start from fresh, they would both benefit greatly. Production would increase and the producers on both countries would prosper. Cuban resources would be available to the U. S. Market and American producers would imp ort cost effective products that are not available in Cuba.An increase in capital from investors would make the economy run and prosper. A resolution to the trade situation between U. S. and Cuba represent the lifting of abolishment of the embargo. Castro’s regime and that of his successor, his brother Raul, have always talked a good anti-embargo but have not made the least effort to walk the talk, since this embargo may constitute the real reason of their continued hold on power since it gives an â€Å"antagonist† to the Cuban people, to the Cuban progress and it gives them an enemy to blame for the failure of Castro’s socialist revolution.In the U. S. there has been a lot of talk as well. President Obama was in favor of lifting of the embargo in 2004, ever since his views and actions changed, however he continued on implementing new policies that are in favor of establishing some type of relationship with the Cuban community. In 2004 President Obama who was th en a senator said: â€Å"I think it’s time for us to end the embargo in Cuba,† the then-Senate candidate said. And I think that we have to end it because if you think about what’s happening internationally our planet is shrinking, and our biggest foreign policy challenge — and it fits directly into the battle on terrorism and it fits into issues of trade and our economy — is how we make sure that other countries, in developing nations, are providing sustenance for their people, human rights for their people, a basic structure of government for their people that it’s stable and secure so that they can be part in a brighter future for the entire planet. And the Cuban embargo has failed to provide the source of raising standards of living and it has squeezed the innocents in Cuba,† Mr. Obama continued, â€Å"and utterly failed in the effort to overthrow Castro, who’s now have been there since I was born. So, it’s time for u s to acknowledge that that particular policy has failed. † (Speigel, 2009) But in 2008 he declared the opposite: â€Å"I will maintain the embargo,† Mr.Obama said in a speech in Miami on May 23, 2008. â€Å"It provides us with the leverage to present the regime with a clear choice: if you take significant steps toward democracy, beginning with the freeing of all political prisoners, we will take steps to begin normalizing relations. That’s the way to bring about real change in Cuba – through strong, smart and principled diplomacy. † (Speigel, 2009) For change to come about, a major event will have to take place.This situation seems like a non-negotiable on both sides where for the past 50 years they have agreed on disagreeing which isn’t the way to change the lives of all those people suffering and all those people that in one way or another are being affected negatively. In the unexpected event that trade relations resume between the U. S. a nd Cuba, some of economic barriers that would have to be overcome by a U. S. firm to conduct business successfully in Cuba. Firms will always be alert to any risk or uncertainty that can bring about the loss of assets or revenue due to unstable legal processes or corruption.Seizure of Assets for example: â€Å"The ultimate threat a government action to dispossess a foreign company or investor. † (Green & Keegan, 2011. ) Nationalization, expropriation are eminent threats in country with a dictatorship such as Raoul Castro and Fidel Castro. There would have to be some specific amendments to the international law which will pretty much guarantee to the firms and investors, any assets invested in the Cuban Market. Firms and Investors would have to take extra steps in order to protect their selves and clearly recognize the levels of juridical power for Cuba and for the U. S. s well as proactively protect against corruption and piracy which could be a primary issue in Cuba, with a strong intellectual property protection strategy. Any and all can be done once the embargo is lifted, but this would be the first step to greater changes and reforms, without it everything is only assumptions. This paper analyzed the key issue that prompted the EU to take the Helms-Burton dispute to the WTO. It decided who benefits and who suffers from an embargo of this type and it explained the rationale behind the conclusion. It also presents a resolution to the trade situation between the U.S. and Cuba. Finally it has determined what type of economic barriers would have to be overcome by a U. S. firm to conduct business successfully in Cuba. Work Cited Green, M. , & Keegan, W. (2011). Global marketing. (6 ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall. Speigel, L. (2009, April 17). Presiden obama-who once supported, but no opposes, lifting the embargo-seeks â€Å"new beginning† with cuba. Retrieved from http://abcnews. go. com/blogs/politics/2009/04/president-ob-19/ Smith, W. (1998). Our dysfunctional cuban embargo.. (Vol. 42).

Monday, September 16, 2019

Strategy and Serendipity: A Billion †Dollar Bonanza management case study

Mini Case 2: Strategy and Serendipity: A Billion – Dollar Bonanza Key Issue / Problem – Serendipity on how two modern drugs were discovered. – Realising a strategy turnout from a serendipity.Analysis – Researcher develop a new drug for the heart disease, as the drug were a cure for MED, the manager in Pfizer strategise this and make a this unintended results to into a blockbuster drug.Alternatives – Smart planning of changing a failure of a research into an alternative of curing another disease.Key decision to make – Although a drug discovered to treat drug disease became a failure, and turn out to solve MED problem, thus a new strategy to utilise it have to be made Capabilities – An unintended strategy, which were to cure the heart disease, turn out as s serendipity of curing a another dysfunction, and able to generate income of $3 billion dollar per year. Decision Criteria– The strategy of the unintended plan turn out to be a huge sum of turnover. Stakeholders – The investors, researchers, patients.Resources – The managers of Pfizer, reseachers, Implementation plan – To always have a alternative for a strategy which is still under testing. Vision / Mission / Objectives – To create a drug to overcome heart disease – To overcome a mistake, and make a seredipity out of it.Assumption – The smart team on how they able to strategise the need to the new drug for the MED and generate cash flow stream out of it. Discussion QuestionQuestion 1Serendipity is random from my point of view. Occurrence of this is not predicted or there might be not any proven statistic of the occurrence figure. Serendipity means a â€Å"happy accident† or â€Å"pleasant surprise†; a fortunate mistake. Specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it.Question 2Strategic initiative is any activity a pursues to explore and develop a new product and process into new markets. In this case, it has been said to be an unrealised strategy for both Viagra and Cialis. The management initiated their new venture into a drug to overcome a heart disease, and it turn to be a cure for ME, where they have the same market, which is the medical drug supply, but for a different purpose. With its huge demand around the globe, these occurrences have become a serendipity for them.Question 3The model that explains Viagra/Cialis story is scenario planning. In this model, the managers envisions different what if scenario. In the analysis stage, they will be able to brainstorm and identify the possible future scenarios to anticipate plausible futures. This is what shows in the case study above, as the turnout from a strategy of marketing a heart disease drug was a failure, they turned it into a alternative for MED cure disease. The serendipity there is because the drug was able to use for MED. IF, the drug was a failure, then they ha ve must have already planned or strategize something to overcome the losses.Question 4No, the story of Viagra/Cialis will not inspire me to design a strategic management process. I will not be hoping for serendipity happens if my strategy fails, and the utilising the failure as an alternative. I will only plan for a strategy which is practical on that moment and prepare for possible future scenario using different simulations. If something happens as this case, then I would use this opportunity to make use of it and cover the loss for my failure, in a simple way saying it to hedge my position.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Commercialization of Agriculture Essay

Introduction The British rule had pronounced and profound economic impact on India. The various economic policies followed by the British led to the rapid transformation of India’s economy into a colonial economy whose nature and structure were determined by needs of the British economy. One important aspect of British economic policy was commercialization of agriculture. Commercialization of agriculture which can be defined as a process where peasants start producing primarily for sale in distant markets, rather than to meet their own need for food or to sell in local markets, (Roy, 2007) has taken place at different times in response to different stimuli. In the Indian context though a number of commercial crops such as cotton, tobacco and sugarcane were grown fairly extensively even before the advent of British rule (Habib, 1982), since land revenue had to be paid mostly in cash and the prices of these crops were much higher at that time relative to the prices of foodgrains, however, commercialization of agriculture at that time corresponded only to the requirements of traditional â€â€"revenue economy‘ in which the main form of revenue payable happened to be an indistinguishable mix of tax, tribute and rent (Raj, 1985). No doubt the need to pay revenue in cash was the initial compelling force for the marketing of agricultural produce, the large surpluses so extracted from agriculture, without a flow of goods and services in the reverse direction in exchange, was basically an impediment to further commercialization (Raj, 1985). Thus, commercialization of agriculture in pre-British period existed only in its embryonic form. In true sense, therefore, agriculture of India got a commercial orientation during the British rule. Industrialization in Europe and Commercialization of Agriculture in India The commercialization of Indian Agriculture took place not to feed the industries of India because India was far behind in industrial development as compared to Britain, France, Belgium and many other European countries of eighteenth century. The commercialization of Indian Agriculture was done primarily to feed the British industries that it was taken up and achieved only in cases-of those agricultural products which were either needed by the  British industries or could fetch cash commercial gain to the British in the European or American market. For example, several efforts were made to increase the production of cotton in India to provide raw and good quality cotton to the cotton-textile industries of Britain which were growing fast after the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Therefore, cotton growing area increase in India and its production increased manifold with gradual lapse of time. Indigo and more than that, tea and coffee plantation were encouraged in India because these could get commercial market abroad. It was beneficial to the British planters, traders and manufacturers, who were provided with opportunity to make huge profits by getting the commercialized agricultural products at, throw away prices. The commercialization of Indian agriculture also partly benefited Indian traders and money lenders who made huge fortunes by working as middlemen for the British. This regard they acted as conduits delivering the products from peasants to the British company from where it was taken abroad. Though markets and trade in agricultural goods existed in quite organized forms and on a large scale in the pre-British period but the market expansion in the British period marked a qualitative and quantitative break. According to Tirthankar Roy, there were three main qualitative changes. â€â€"First, before the British rule, product markets were constrained and subject to imperfections, given multiplicity of weights and measures, backward and risky transportation systems, and extensive use of barter. British rule and the railways weakened these constraints. By doing so, it enabled closer integration of global, regional and local markets. Second, from the time of industrial revolution, a new international specialization began to emerge as a result of trade. India specialized, in agricultural exports. Third, in turn, changes in the product market induced changes in land, labor, and credit markets‘ (Roy, 2007). The American Civil War also indirectly encouraged commercialization of agriculture in India: the British cotton demand was diverted to India. The demand of cotton was maintained even after the civil war ceased because of the rise of cotton textile industries in India. The commercialization of India agriculture was initiated in India by the British through their direct and indirect policies and activities. Firstly, the new land tenure system introduced in form of permanent settlement and Ryotwari Settlement had made agricultural land a freely exchangeable commodity. The Permanent settlement by giving ownership right to the zamindars created a class of wealthy landlords; they could make use of this ownership right by sale or purchase of land. Secondly, the agriculture which had been way of life rather than a business enterprise now began to be practiced for sale in national and international market. Thirdly, the political unity established by the British and the resulted in rise of the unified national market. Fourthly, the spread of money economy replaced the barter and agricultural goods became market items and the replacement of custom and tradition by competition and contract. Finally, the British policy of one way free trade also acted as sufficient encouraging factor for commercialization as the manufactured items in textile, jute etc. could find free entry in Indian markets, where as the manufactured goods did not have similar free access to European markets. Impact of Commercialization on Indian Agriculture It is interesting to note that though there is little controversy with regard to the role of British in initiating and promoting the forces which led to the commercialization of Indian agriculture, however, the nature of commercialization and its impact on the Indian peasantry had been very controversial issue, both during and after the British rule. To the nationalists, it was not out of the free will of the cultivators– commercialization of agriculture was forced and artificial (Dutt, 1906). This was so because the high pitch of revenue demand in cash compelled the cultivators to sell large portion of the produce of their fields keeping an insufficient stock for their own consumption. On the other hand the colonial bureaucracy argued that it was the market force rather than the pressure of land revenue that was drawing the farmers into the business of production for the market. The commercial crops were more profitable and this economic incentive led them to produce for sale and export, thus making it possible for them to increase per capita income. Furthermore, the imperialist historiography and the colonial bureaucracy viewed commercialization of  agriculture, the expansion of trade in agricultural products and the rising agricultural prices as an indication of the â€â€"growing prosperity of the peasantry.‘ (Satyanarayana, 2005). On the other hand anti-imperialist historiography (both nationalist and radical Marxist) emphasizing the negative impact of commercialization of agriculture and the integration implied that agricultural production in India was to be determined by imperial preferences and needs (Bhatia, 1967). Moreover, other historians following the neo-classical economic theory or with anti-imperialistic orientations (Marxists and non Marxists) have extended their support to either of the two. The commercialization of agriculture was a forced and artificial process for the majority of Indian peasants. It was introduced under coercion of the British and not out of the incentive of peasantry at large. The peasantry went for cultivation of commercial crops under duress. Most importantly the life of the Indian peasant was tied to the highly fluctuating national and international market. He was no longer a deciding factor in agricultural practices. Further, by making agricultural land a tradable commodity, the peasant lost his security feeling. High land revenue demand forced him to take loan from the money lender at high interest rates. Failure to pay debt in time meant loss of land to the money lender at high interest rates. It led to land alienation and increase in the number of agricultural laborers whose conditions especially in plantation industry was pathetic. He had to pay the land revenue due to the British government in time. Moreover, he had to grow commercial crop on a specified tract of his land under the oppression of planters. Also, Indian money lenders advanced Cash advances to the farmers to cultivate the commercial crops and if the peasants failed to pay him back in time, the land of peasants came under ownership of moneylenders. The poor peasant was forced to sell his produce just after harvest at whatever prices he could get. This placed him at the money of the grain merchant, who was in a position to dictate terms and who purchased his produced at much less than the market price. It also resulted in reduced area under cultivation of food crops. The net result of this change was that Indian failed to produce even that much food  crops which could provide even two square meals a day to its population. The misery was further enhanced became the population of India was increasing every year, fragmentation of land was taking place because of the increasing pressure on land and modern techniques of agricultural production were not introduced in India. While the upper class and British industries benefited-from it, the Indian peasants’ life was tied to remote international market. It affected adversely the poor people of India; it became difficult for them to get even sufficient food. This becomes ample from the fact that ill 1880 India had a surplus of foodstuffs to the extent of five million tons and by 1945 it had a deficit of 10 million tons. George Byn records that from 1893-94 to 1945-46, the production of commercial crops increased by 85 percent and that of food crops fell by 7 percent. This had a devastating effect on the rural economy and often took the shape of famines. Bhatia believes that the earlier famines were localized, and it was only after 1860, during the British rule, that famine came to signify general shortage of foodgrains in the country. There were approximately 25 major famines spread through states such as Tamil Nadu in the south, and Bihar and Bengal in the east during the latter half of the 19th century. Great Depression and Indian Agriculture A global economic depression broke out in 1929. However, the causes were more diverse and multi-pronged, with the decrease in costs and economic deflation of the post-war period being one of the main reasons. This deflation was caused by excessive manufacturing activities during the First World War. As a result, huge stocks of goods were piled up without being used. Wartime expenditure had reduced the countries of Europe to a state of heavy debt (Manikumra, 2003). With the outbreak of the Second World War, India was required to provide the resources for financing the war expenditures, which amounted to nearly 38 billion rupees from 194146. Government attached excessive importance in maintaining war related production, as a result of which a comprehensive system of supplying food to the urban areas at controlled prices was put in place. The rural poor were not viewed as being essential to the war effort and so the main burden of war financing was  passed on to them. With the Great Depression, agricultural prices worldwide started falling earlier than industrial prices. As a result, the manufacturing-agriculture terms of trade turned sharply against agriculture. A substantial redistribution took place from the mass of rural producers to urban classes. Thus the combination of the long term trend of decline in per head production of foodgrains, a rise in per head production of exportable and the effects of deteriorating terms of trade created a set of pre-famine conditions in the sense that any substantial shock to the economic system under these circumstances was almost certain to precipitate famine in the absence of countervailing intervention. Taxes were jacked up and deficit financing by printing money was resorted to and money supply is estimated to have raised five folds in the four years from 1940.As a result there was a war boom and profit inflation. Rice price started an upward spiral from the last quarter of 1941, doubled within a year a nd quadrupled within eighteen months. Also, the colonial government from the beginning strongly pushed exportable production by forcible cultivation of poppy in the early 19th century and export of opium to China, culminating in the infamous opium wars and indigo mutiny. With time overt force became less necessary as the pressure of revenue demand transmitted down to the peasant cultivators as the pressure of rental demand and in the case of landlords paying the revenue; compelled peasants to grow more commercial crops to sell and to commercialize food production itself. Famine: Indian Agriculture strained by commercialization and Great Depression The fall in prices had been higher in India compared to the rest of the world, the price of commodities manufactured in India rose dramatically compared to imports from the United   Kingdom or some other country in the world. The Great Depression had a terrible impact on the Indian farmer. While there was a steady, uninhibited increase in land rent, the value of the agricultural produce had come down  to alarming levels. Therefore, having incurred heavy losses, the farmer was compelled to sell off gold and silver ornaments in his possession in order to pay the land rent and other taxes. Farmers who were cultivating food crops had earlier moved over to cash crop cultivation in large numbers to meet the demands of the mills in the United Kingdom. Now, they were crippled as they were unable to sell their products in India due to the high prices; nor could they export the commodities to the United Kingdom which had recently adopted a protective policy prohibiting imports from India. An ex ante excess of investment over savings was converted to equality through forced savings extracted via food price inflation from the rural population. The consumption of food was then estimated at one and a half pound per individual and in 1945 it was 1 pound. Nearly thirty percent of the Indian population was estimated to be suffering from chronic malnutrition and under nutrition. Thus, the commercialization of agriculture in India by the British was also one of the important causes of the impoverishment of the Indian people. This resulted in a combination of famines and epidemics claiming around 2.7 to 3.1 million lives. The most cited example is that of ―Bengal Faminesâ€â€". Romesh Chunder Dutt argued as early as 1900, and present-day scholars such as Amartya Sen agree, that some historic famines were a product of both uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies, which since 1857 had led to the seizure and conversion of local farmland to foreign-owned plantations, restrictions on internal trade, heavy taxation of Indian citizens to support British. The Great Famine of 1876–78, in which 6.1 million to 10.3 million people died and the Indian famine of 1899–1900, in which 1.25 to 10 million people died were the most destructive famines. The Bengal Famine resulted in approximately 3 million   deaths. Generally the estimates are between 1.5 and 4 million, considering death due to starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million populations. Half of the victims would have died from disease after food became available in December 1943. Generally it is thought that there was serious decrease in food production during that time which is coupled with continuing export of grain. However according to Amartya Sen, there was no significant decrease in food production in 1943 (in fact food production  was higher compared to 1941). The highest mortality was not in previously very poor groups, but among artisans and small traders whose income vanished when people spent all they had on food and did not employ cobblers, carpenters, etc. The famine also caused major economic and social disruption, ruining millions of families. Conclusion Since colonial times, opinions would seem to have been divided between â€â€"optimists‘, for whom commercialization marked progress and a growing prosperity for all; â€â€"pessimists‘, for whom it marked regress into deepening class stratification and mass pauperization; and â€â€"skeptics‘ who held that it made very little difference and that its impact was largely absorbed by pre-existing structures of wealth accumulation and power on the land. However, capitalization in the 21 st century is said to create similar impact as colonial times, the only difference being that the later one was forced through oppressive policies, whereas the former would be market driven. The farmer in his choice of crops attached greater importance to market demand and price than o other factors. Capitalism has mixed impacts on Indian agriculture. While it brings about liberalization and globalization that leads to trans-border availability of agricultural products all over the world, it breaks the economic self-sufficiency in India leading to greater dependency on  market forces. Export of food products is one of the major reasons for inflation in India, it reduces the availability of agricultural products in India, increasing the demand and thus escalating the prices. Trade and liberalization has also made Indian agriculture vulnerable to global crisis. However, it provides for a national economy and also brought about regional specialization of crops on an efficient basis. Hence, it is essential to learn from the lessons in the past and formulate policies to mitigate the negative impacts on Indian agriculture while being globally connected and liberalized. References Atchi Reddy, M., The Commercialization of Agriculture in Nellore District: Effects on Wages, Employment and Tenancy. † in Essays on the Commercialization of Indian Agriculture, editors et. al. K.N.Raj, 163-83. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985. Avineri, Shlomo editor. Karl Marx on Colonialism and Modernization. Garden City: 1969. Barber, William. British Economic Thought and India 1600-1858: A Study in the History of Development Economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975. Bardhan, Pranab K. Land, Labor, and Rural Poverty: Essays in Development Economics. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1984. Bhatia, B.M. Famines in India, 1860-1965. New York (1967) Beaud, Michel. A History of Capitalism, 1500-1980. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1983. Bernanke, B.S. Essays on the Great Depression. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2000 Bharadwaj, Krishna. â€Å"A View on Commercialisation in Indian Agriculture and the Development of Capitalism.† The Journal of Peasant Studies 12, no. 4 (1985): 7-25. Chaudhuri, Binay Bhushan. â€Å"The Process of Agricultural Commercialisation in Eastern India During British Rule:A Reconsideration of the Nations of ‘Forced Commercialisation’ and ‘Dependent Peasantry’.† In Meanings in Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics, Editor Peter Robb, 71-91. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996. Dutt, R. C. Economic History of India in the Victorian Age, 1837-1901. London (1906). Greenough, Paul R. Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: The Famine of 1943-1944. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Habib, Irfan (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of India, Vol. 1, c.1200-c.1757 New Delhi: Orient Longman (1982). Ludden, David. â€Å"Agrarian Commercialism in Eighteenth Century South India: Evidence From the 1823 Tirunelveli Census.† Indian Economic and Social History Review 25, no. 4 (1988): 493-520. ———. â€Å"The Terms of Ryotwari Praxis: Changing Property Relations Among Mirasidars in the Tinnevelly District.† In Studies in South India: An Anthology of Recent Research and Critical Scholarship, Editor Pauline Kolenda, pp.151-70. Madras: New Era Publications and the American Institute of Indian Studies, 1985. Ludden, David (editor). Agricultural Production and Indian History. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994. Manikumar, K. A. A Colonial Economy in the Great Depression, Madras (1929–1937). Orient Blackswan. (2003). ISBN 978-81-250-2456-9. Mishra, Satish Chandra. â€Å"Commercialisation, Peasant Differentiation and Merchant Capital in Late Nineteenth Century Bombay and Punjab.† Journal of Peasant Studies 10, no. 1 (1982). Mokyr, Joel editor. The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993. Naoroji, Dadabhai. Poverty and British Rule in India. 1901. http://www.historydiscussion.net/british-india/expansion-and-commercialization-ofagriculture-during-the-british-rule-in-india/640 (accessed on September 4th, 2014) Raj, K.N. Neeladari Bhattacharya, Sumit Guha, and Shakti Padhi (ed.), Essays on Commercialization of Agriculture in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, (1985), p. viii. Rajasekhar, D. â€Å"Commercialization of Agriculture and Changes in Distribution of Land Ownership in Kurnool District of Andhra 9C.1900-1950).† The South Indian Economy: Agrarian Change, Industrial Structure, and State Policy, C1914-1947, 78-119. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1991. Ray, Rajat Kanta. â€Å"The Bazaar: Changing Structural Characteristics in the Indigenous Section of the Indian Economy Before and After the Great Depression.† The Indian Economic and Social History Review 25, no. (3) (1988): pp. 263-318. Robb, Peter. â€Å"Peasant’ Choices? Indian Agriculture and the Limits of Commercialization in Nineteenth-Century Bihar.† The Economic History Review XLV, no. 1 (1992). Roy, Tirthankar. The Economic History of India, 1857-1947. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, second edition (2007), p. 124. Satyananarayana A., Expansion of Commodity Production and Agrarian Market. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, second edition (2005), p. 182. Satyasai, K. J. S., and K. U. Viswanathan. â€Å"Commercialisation and Diversification of Indian Agriculture.† Economic and Political Weekly 31, no. 45-46 (1996): 3027-28. Sen, Amartya K. Poverty and Famines: An Essay in Entitlement and Deprivation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. Shiva, Vandana. Ecology and the Politics of Survival: Conflicts Over Natural Resources in India. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1991. Tilly, Louise A. â€Å"Food Entitlement, Famine, and Conflict.† In Hunger and History: The Impact of Changing Food Productionand Consumption Patterns on Society, Editors Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, 135-52. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Wakimura, Kohei. The Indian Economy and Disasters during the Late Nineteenth Century: Problems of Interpretation of Colonial Economy. http://srch.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/rp/publications/no10/10-06_Wakimura.pdf (accessed on September 6th, 2014) Washbrook, David. â€Å"The Commercialization of Agriculture in Colonial India: Production, Subsistence and Reproduction in the ‘Dry South’, C. 1870-1930.† Modern Asian Studies 28, no. 1 (1994): 129-64.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

July at the Multiplex

DATE:June 12, 2012 TO:Mr. Plex, Owner, Royal 16 Theater FROM: Team 8 RE:Analysis of Liability for Fraud Based off of your request, we have completed an analysis concerning Royal 16 Theater’s liability for fraud assumed by the customer, Tommy. Please contact us if any additional information is needed. July at the Multiplex Executive Summary What are the standards of selling a service or product so the customer will not get furious? If we tried out best but they are still unsatisfied, what kind of response should we give? In this case â€Å"July at the Multiplex†, the plaintiff, Tommy, was not satisfied with the service that was provided with Royal 16 Theater. He demanded the money that he paid be returned. The theater owner, Mr. Plex refused to do so. Therefore, Tommy was outraged and filed a lawsuit against him. Mr. Plex has two choices to make. The first is to negotiate settlement money or defend the lawsuit. As a group, we will give our best knowledge of business law, statistics, and ethics to help Mr. Plex choose the ideal decision. First of all we will compare the fraud and misrepresentation of business law. Furthermore, we conducted tests on Hypothetical test and a Confidence Interval calculation. Lastly, under the ethics theory of cost-benefit analysis, justice vs. fairness and rights, we decided on the best action that Mr. Plex is supposed to take. July at the Multiplex Purpose: This report is intended to analyze the liability for fraud, the results of the statistical conclusions conducted by the movie theater, and the ethical issues involved with screening commercials before the scheduled movie. I. Analysis for Liability of Fraud The analysis for liability of fraud will explain in detail the offer, acceptance, and possible misrepresentation involved in the contract between Tommy and the Royal 16 Theater. The analysis will also cover the  Cao and Cao v. Nguyen and Pham  case and draw conclusions based on the prima facie case. Assuming that a contract exists between Tommy and Royal 16 Theater this examination of the facts will help determine whether Royal 16 Theater is liable at all for fraud. The offer made to Tommy by the Royal 16 Theater complex was a unilateral contract. That means that only one of the parties involved made a promise and they made that promise for an action. When Tommy bought his ticket for â€Å"The Governator† movie, this solidified the unilateral contract between him and the Royal 16 Theater complex. Tommy took the action of buying the movie ticket at the front kiosk and in exchange for that action the Royal 16 Theater complex promised him the opportunity to go inside, find a seat in the theatre, and watch the movie he paid for. Since all of the requirements were met in the contract this made the contact between Tommy and Royal 16 Theater valid. Read also  Case 302 July in Multiplex Valid contracts are contracts in which all of the legal requirements are met making the contract binding to both parties. The contract between Tommy and Royal 16 Theater is a valid contract because it was legal and both parties met the requirements to make that contract binding. Tommy fulfilled his part of the contract buy purchasing a ticket for the movie â€Å"The Governator† and the movie theater performed their part of the contract by screening the movie. Tommy knowingly knew about the contract he was entering into when he gave the Royal 16 Theater his acceptance. The duty of acceptance falls upon both parties seeking to enter into the contract. In a unilateral contract the party seeking to perform an action for a promise must accept the offer made by the offeror by the terms and in the method requested by the offeror. In this case Tommy was the offeree and the Royal 16 Theater was the offeror. Tommy accepted the offer made by Royal 16 Theater and did so in the method requested; making both the offer and acceptance valid for all terms and purposes in this contract. There are certain limitations on the recovery of damages imposed upon the contract that both Royal 16 Theater and Tommy entered into. The duty to mitigate damages falls onto Tommy, the plaintiff, in this specific case. The duty to mitigate damages is the responsibility of the plaintiff because the plaintiff injured by the breach of the contract cannot recover for losses that could have been easily avoided. In this case Tommy fulfilled his duty to mitigate damages and was not trying to recover for any damages that he could have easily avoided. Instead Tommy wants to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentation. A misrepresentation is a statement made that is not unified with the truth. There are two categories that misrepresentation can fall under: either innocent or fraudulent. When a misrepresentation is innocent it was made not intentionally to deceive the other party. A fraudulent misrepresentation is made with the intent to deceive with knowledge that it is false. Tommy wants to pursue legal action against Royal 16 Theater on the basis that they conducted fraudulent misrepresentation. Prima Facie Case The prima facie case that relates to this case between Tommy and Royal 16 Theater is  Cao and Cao v. Nguyen and Pham. In  Cao and Cao v. Nguyen and Pham  the plaintiffs file a lawsuit against the defendant for fraudulent misrepresentation. They said that when they were attempting to buy a property the defendants claimed that the property was in fact a duplex and that multiple families could live there. The city building and safety department revealed that the property was not a duplex and could not become a duplex due to building and safety issues. The plaintiffs then filed a lawsuit against the defendants for fraudulent misrepresentation. The first trial court dismissed the charges and found that the buyers did not prove the elements of fraudulent misrepresentation. When the plaintiffs appealed the results the second court reversed the decision of the first court and decided that the plaintiffs did prove fraudulent misrepresentation. The property sold by the defendants caused reasonable reliance upon the plaintiffs and there were damages because of the reliance. The property was sold to them on the idea that the property was indeed a duplex when the defendants had prior knowledge that it in fact was not a duplex. The defendants knew that the plaintiff would rely on the representations and conducted business anyway. This case relates perfectly to the situation going on between Tommy and Royal 16 Theater because both cases involve the plaintiffs trying to recover for fraudulent misrepresentation. In our opinion, Royal 16 Theater does have some liability for fraudulent misrepresentation when they tell their customers the movie is supposed to start at 1:00 pm, but they play twenty minutes of previews before. A simple solution to this issue could be resolved by printing disclaimers on the tickets sold to a customer that warns them about the commercials before they enter into the theater. That way when customers come to accept the offer from the theater they are bound by the method of acceptance and they agree to the commercials playing before the movie starts. The simple disclaimer will go a long way and will ensure that there will be no more plaintiffs like Tommy pursuing legal action against the theater again (Mallor, 2009). II. Statistical Analysis According to the commission of Royal 16 Theater, they need to decide which courses of actions are more advisable, considering negotiating a settlement of any lawsuit or defending vigorously. The survey is the key to which course of action will be taken. If the result shows that the percentage of people resenting the ads is 10%, the consortium should consider negotiating the settlement. However, if the percentage is less than 10%, Royal 16 Theater should vigorously defend. We have performed a survey which asked 100 random patrons whether they resent the ads. The result came out to be 6 out of 100 resented the ads. This information itself is not enough. We have to conduct several more tests to have a more solid idea of whom and how many resented the ads. First of all, we have to begin with a Hypothesis test, which means that we conduct a test to understand whether 10% of moviegoers resent the ads or less than 10% of moviegoers resent the ads. Our Ho(null hypothesis) should be p = 10% and our Ha(alternative action/hypothesis) should be p < 10%. In this case, the sample proportion would be 6100 = . 06. The calculation is going to be done using a confidence level of 95%. The confidence interval formula for this analysis is p=p  ±z ? p(1-p)n where p is the sample proportion, z is the level confidence from the 95% confidence level and n would be the sample number. = . 06, z = 1. 96, n = 100. If we plug in the numbers into the formula then we will get p  ±E (E is Error = z ? p(1-p)n). E would be . 04655. Therefore, p= . 06 ± . 04655 = 0. 1066, . 01345. Thus, the confidence interval for this analysis would be . 01345 and 0. 1066 which are 1. 345% and 10. 66% if written in percentage form. This says that this result is not accurate and the actual result may vary between this interval. In this case, since our null hypothesis which is 10% lies between the confidence interval, then the null hypothesis is not to be rejected at the moment. We have to perform further research and calculation. By this result alone, we suggest that Mr. Plex should consider the settlement agreement. Type I and II error Before we start with the consortium, here are the definitions of each error according to the textbook â€Å"Statistic for Business and Economics†: * A type I error is an error if we reject the correct null hypothesis * A type II error is an error if we fail to reject the false null hypothesis. Therefore, the Type I and Type II errors are wrong judgments in the testing of null and alternative hypotheses. With the null hypothesis Ho and the alternative Hypothesis Ha, only one of them is true. The result of hypothesis testing must accept Ho when it is true and reject Ho when Ha is true. If the result of Ho is true, but we reject it then we will make a type I error. On the other hand if Ha is true, but we fail to reject it then we make a type II error. As stated before, the Ho(Null Hypothesis) is when p = 10% and the Ha(Alternative action/Hypothesis) is when p < 10%. To illustrate more, A type I error would happen if 10% of moviegoers resent the ads, and they reject it. It would be a careless decision if they decide not to consider the settlement money, even though they understand that their null hypothesis lies between the Confidence interval. Going deeper with error, a type II error would happen if less than 10% of moviegoers resent the ads, and they fail to reject it. It would be a waste of money if they agree with the settlement when in fact, they do not need to and should defend the lawsuit. Hypothetical Statistical Analysis This time, we have a survey of 300 patrons. The result states that 18 out of 300 resent the ads and this 6% is inadequate for finding the answer. Once again we have to conduct a hypothesis test and confident interval calculation. Just like before, the null hypothesis for this would still be p = 10% and the alternative action would still be p < 10%. If 300 patrons are to be randomly selected instead of 100 patrons, and in the end 18 out of 300 patrons agree with Tommy to resent the ads, then the sample proportion would be 18300 = . 06. The calculation is going to be similar as above. This time it is still going to be calculated using a confidence level of 95%. The confidence interval formula for this analysis is p=p  ±z ? p(1-p)n where p is the sample proportion, z is the level confidence from the 95% confidence level and n would be the sample number. p = . 06, z = 1. 96, n = 300. Then if we plug in the numbers into the formula we will get p  ±E (E is Error = z ? p(1-p)n). E would be . 02687. Therefore, p= . 06 ± . 02687 = 0. 08687, . 03313. Thus, the confidence interval for this analysis would be . 03313 and 0. 08687 which are 3. 3313% and 8. 87% if written in percentage form. This time, the null hypothesis does not lie between the confidence interval. Thus, the null hypothesis has to be rejected and the alternative action accepted. Therefore, we suggest that it would be better not to do the settlement and instead defend the lawsuit. Additional Information There are many other factors which we are not aware of that might affect the survey. The most common one is how the survey is taken. In statistics, there are a few types of conducting surveys and each would lead to different outcome. There are Simple Random Sample, Stratified Random Sample, Cluster Sample, Systematic Sample, etc. Beside these types, the time and place of the survey is also a huge factor. To illustrate, there are more teens in a certain area and more elders in a certain are. What teens think and what elders think are two different things. Thus, the place is also a factor. Furthermore, the time is also a significant factor. Surveys taken on weekdays night and weekend afternoon would result in a different outcome. To conclude, we believe that the survey might not be very accurate survey. III. Ethical Analysis The ethical issues that may be involved in showing twenty minutes of commercials before the screening of the movie can be described under three main categories: the cost-benefit analysis, fairness, and the theory under which we believe Royal 16 Theater should act under. Cost-Benefit Analysis Schmidt (2012) believes cost-benefit analysis is when â€Å"both positive and negative consequences of a proposed action are going to be summarized and then weighed against each other† (â€Å"Cost benefit†, para. 1). Using this analysis will help to understand which is the best route for the Royal 16 Theater to take between their costs and benefits. Costs The â€Å"negatives† or cost of Royal 16 Theater showing twenty minutes of commercials before the movie is customers can of course become upset such as Tommy had. If there are more moviegoers that hear of Tommy’s lawsuit, many could follow in his footsteps because they believe in his position on the matter. Another cost the Royal 16 Theater will have due to commercials is they will need to keep their advertisers and stakeholders pleased. According to investopia. om (2012) stakeholders are â€Å"investors, employees, customers, and supplier that have an interest in an enterprise or project† (â€Å"Definition†, para. 1). It will always cost the theater something to keep each stakeholder happy. By showing commercials, the investors will get their money’s worth for finding advertisers to invest their time with Roya l 16 Theater. Employees will not have any benefits from commercials. Tommy has already showed the discontent a moviegoer may have towards commercials. Finally, suppliers can be content with commercials because customers can see their product and need to buy it during or after the movie. However, all this shows a large cost of trying to keep all of these stakeholders pleased. Keeping one stakeholder happy can make another unhappy. Benefits One benefit of showing twenty minute commercials is gaining revenue from commercials. When a customer sees a commercial with yummy chocolate bars or dancing popcorn they are going to be more enticed to go run and get some snacks before the movie starts. The Royal 16 Theater gains much revenue from moviegoers who gain this feeling during commercials. Another benefit from showing commercials is actually towards Royal 16 Theater’s customers. By showing commercials, a moviegoer can show up late and not miss the movie. This is usually what customers will do if they do not care for the commercials or just decide on a last-minute movie trip. Now we can decide on the cost vs. benefit choice for the Royal 16 Theater. Cost-Benefit Analysis Conclusion After seeing both costs and benefits Royal 16 Theater should deal with the cost entailed with dealing with stakeholders and Tommy. We believe this due to the fact that the Royal 16 Theater has too much invested with their stakeholders to stop it all just for one lawsuit. By taking the cost choice Royal 16 Theater will keep its reputation with customers and keep a relationship with the stakeholders. Having the benefits of customer satisfaction would be great; however losing the stakeholders is too much of a risk for the theatre to take. We have discussed the cost-benefit analysis, now we can understand if moviegoers are being treated fairly. Customers Treated Fairly In this ethical issue it is pondered if the customers are truly being treated fairly. This is a yes or no issue. It can be argued that the customers are being treated unfairly because they are not seeing a true representation of an advertisement or time for a movie. However, it can be argued that moviegoers are being treated equally because the Royal 16 Theater does not have an actual contract stating that a movie will start at this time no matter what happens. Neither party has an agreement saying any compensation will be given if the contract does not follow through. Also, movies have always been similar to this routine of commercials and many customers understand that. However, based on ethics the moviegoers are not being treated fairly. It is mainly due to the fact that the Royal Theater states a time slot for a movie to start, not when commercials for the movie will start. It is just good business practice to keep moviegoers happy by not deceiving them. According to Michael Hackworth (1999), â€Å"ethical leadership actually saves money; consider it the role of quality in business† (â€Å"Only the Ehical†, para. 1). We have just discussed if the moviegoers are being treated fairly, now we will discuss the ethical theory which the Royal 16 Theater should act under. Ethical Theory The ethical theory Royal 16 Theater should act under is the stakeholder/utilitarian theory. We believe this theory is the best because it lends itself to the golden rule of â€Å"the greatest good to the greatest number†. We believe this is the best course of action for the Royal 16 Theater because the theater has to act out of its own interest to keep its stakeholders content with performance. Ethically, this decision makes the most sense because by going on with Tommy’s lawsuit it will make the problem go away quicker. By fixing this issue with Tommy, the Royal Theater will make their stakeholders pleased and keep pursing revenue with their other fellow loyal customers. Conclusion In conclusion, we believe Mr. Plex should fight the case against Tommy with the consortium. We consider our evidence of the analysis of liability for fraud, statistical analysis, and ethical analysis enough to show Mr. Plex he will be successful in the case. Reference List Anderson, Sweeney, and Williams T. â€Å"Chapter Nine- Hypothesis Tests†, Statistics for Business and Economics. 10th ed. Thomas South-Western, 2009. Cao and Cao v.Nguyen and Pham, 258 Nev. 1027; 607 N. W. 2d 528; 2000 Neb. LEXIS56 Hackworth, M. (1999). Only the Ethical Survive. 10. Retrieved Jun 8, 2012 from http://www. scu. edu/ethics/publications/iie/v10n2/ethical-surv. html Mallor. (2009). Business law: The ethical, global, and e-commerce environment. (14th ed. ). United States: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Schmidt, M. (2012). Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA). Retrieved June 9, 2012 from http://www. solutionmatrix. com/cost-benefit-analysis. html Stakholder. (2012). Retrieved June 8, 2012 from http://www. investopedia. com/terms/s/stakeholder. asp#axzz1xLL3G6UG