The Triumph of Food Production over Hunting and Gathering...

The human race was once completely dependent on hunting and gathering as its source for caloric intake. Today, this is not the case. We live in a society that is continuously becoming more global, and the large global population is being supported by modern food production. But what factors caused this switch to take place from hunting and gathering to food production? The main contributors over the last several thousand years include: the increase in calorie yield, the stability, and the benefits derived from domesticate-able animals that can all be attributed to food production. To better understand how these three contributors interact with and influence one another, it is beneficial to examine Abraham Maslow’s well-known Hierarchy of†¦show more content†¦These changes can spontaneously produce instability that would ultimately leave hunting and gathering societies with â€Å"the constant threat of extinction.† In contrast, a lifestyle where food production is dominant has an increase in predictability when it comes to calorie retrieval. When a person plants crops, they can reasonably approximate the time of year that the crops will be available to harvest. Once the crops are harvested, the farmers are able to use what they need, and then store what remains for future use in their permanent structures. It varies from year to year, but eventually a pattern is established and the society is able to have a surplus of food. And thus the physiological needs are met and maintained. This extra food gives many benefits to food producing societies that hunting and gathering societies do not see. The most easily observable would be the dramatic increase in population potential. The estimated population growth rate of early agricultural societies was â€Å"around 100 times greater than those† of hunting and gathering societies. After a few thousand years, food producing societies would easily have overcome the numbers of their hunting and gathering rivals. The societies practicing food production would come to dominate the globe simply by their ability to populate if time was the only factor that they had to work with. This lookShow MoreRelatedThe Death And The Afterlife Essay1675 Words   |  7 Pagesbuild temples for these gods and goddesses to stay in their favor. These gods were believed to control everything, and if the Egyptians pleased them they would be rewarded. They worshipped their gods by making offerings. 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But there is little agreement over when the twentieth century c.e. arrived, and there were several points both before the year 2000 (the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, the surge of globalization from the mid-1990s) and afterward (9/11, or the globalRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pages though his name is not mentioned until the conclusion of the section, where there is an irrelevant quotation from his treatise on alchemy (pp.87-90). The author now reverts to his â€Å"Indians† and adopts their doctrine of the superiority of talisman over election, since the talisman, as well as being rendered effective by the power of the constellation which dominates it, receives extra power from the specific qualities (virtutes) of the substances of which it is composed (pp. 90-91). 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The Effects Of Advertising On The Fashion Industry

The misleading body image advertised on the cover of Fashion Magazines such as Vogue and Teen Vogue, create a prejudice among women in the United States that motivates individuals to believe that there is only one body type that is beautiful and successful in society. This harmful advertising has a causal relationship with the increase in eating disorders and depression seen in young women (Kilbourne, 2000). Because Magazines are a powerful marketing tool; this type of advertising leads to a cultural bias known as â€Å"Weightism† (Kilbourne, 2000). Creative directors and editors at Vogue and Teen Vogue should advertise diverse body types on the cover of their magazines in North America. The standard body was much curvier and more attainable†¦show more content†¦Sometimes girls can understand that this superficial body is unattainable, but they feel shame and failure just the same (Kilbourne, 2014). Young women exposed to this misleading body image on the cover of magazines such as Vogue and Teen Vogue are being harmed physically, mentally and financially. Images projected on the cover of magazines can not be directly linked to causing eating disorders among young girls (Kilbourne, 2000). However, these magazines create a cultural prejudice that belittles that do not fit the body image projected in those magazines (Kilbourne, 2014). The ads represented in magazines sexualize beautiful young women. These beautiful women are rewarded in magazines with attention from men represented by these creative decisions that display women as objects (Kilbourne, 2014). Kilbourne, a professional who has dedicated over 40 years to researching the harmful effects of media says that young women are introduced to these type of ads so young that they believe it is normal. 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Porter’s Five Forces Free Essays

Porter’s 5 forces summary According to Porter, in order to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors, analysis of current industry structure is vital because the structure of an industry determines the nature of the competition and the form that a sustainable competitive advantage takes and the industry structure is determined by the five competitive forces; the treat of substitute, the treat of entry, bargaining power of buyer, and bargaining power of supplier and the intensive of rivalry. Porter work simplified to identify five forces and then, to select one of the generic strategies. Last step of his framework is using the value chain from identifying and enhancing the business activities. We will write a custom essay sample on Porter’s Five Forces or any similar topic only for you Order Now His concept is based on the idea that forces facing the industry play a key role in determining success and profitability of an organisation. The analysis of five forces tells how management should respond to and try to influence those forces in a favourable way. Threat of entrants: according to Porter new entry into the industry certainly reduces the existing firm’s profitability. How high the entry barrier of the industry affects the degree of new entry: Simply, internet banking dramatically lowers the entry barrier of bank industry. It is because entry barriers such as ‘economics of scale’, ‘brand identity’ and ‘access to distribution’ do not work any longer. Physical size can only mean high operating cost as well as in efficient and limited degrees of flexibility. The banking market is likely to see the emergence of new small banks that use internet to compete on equal ground with the financial giants. Power of buyer: buyer power affects the prices that firms can charge. Porter theorised that the more products that become standardised or undifferentiated, and hence more power is yielded to buyers. The products of banking market are getting similar therefore it increases the bargaining power of buyers. Also, buyers have full information on demand and cost with internet, it implies that they can play the game more rationally with significant bargaining power. As more new comers are expected to enter the industry, banking customer are facing more alternatives. This is evidenced by the fact that internet banking services are now free of charge. How to cite Porter’s Five Forces, Papers Porter’s Five Forces Free Essays Micheal Porter’s five forces is a structure that analyzes the situation and strategy of a company in accordance to its industry. (Porter, 2008) Bargaining power of customer: Broadway cafe has been satisfying its customers since 1952; however there has been a decrease in its customers for last few years therefore one can analyze the bargaining power of customers is increasing with the passage of time. Also the cafe is not using technology and this can be one of the main reasons for losing of its customer therefore we can analyze that the bargaining power of customers have increased today as they would prefer cafes that offers quick services along with exceptional quality. We will write a custom essay sample on Porter’s Five Forces or any similar topic only for you Order Now Bargaining power of suppliers: Because of the fact that Broadway cafe offers variety of coffees and teas along with bakery products, sandwiches, salads and soup therefore there would be different suppliers for the company hence the bargaining power of supplier would be less because if these suppliers demand more than the company can change its suppliers. Also because Broadway has been in the market for so long and everyone is aware about the brand therefore one can predict bargaining power of supplier to be low. Though, because the company uses special beans as ingredients for preparing coffee therefore only the coffee bean suppliers would be having high power. However, because of Broadway itself being so important for these suppliers therefore this power would be offset and the coffee suppliers would be having moderate bargaining power. Threat of new entrants: With not so much investment required in this type of business, Broadway cafe faces high threats of new entrants. Also because there is variety of goods offered by the company along with high turnover of customers and not much differentiated products, so the threat of new entrants increases and any new competitor can easily enter into the industry. Threat of substitute products As the cafe offers variety of products to its customers and each product has its alternatives. Therefore the company faces high threat of substitute goods. However, there are some substitutes already offered by Broadway cafe like tea is the substitute of coffee and the cafe offers both tea and coffee to attract all types of customers. Competitive rivalry within an industry There are many other coffees bars, cafes that offer tea and coffees and bakeries so Broadway cafe faces stiff competition in the industry. Strategies for e-Business Incorporating Technology in business processes One of the major strategies that Broadway cafe needs to do is to incorporate technology in the business processes. Today customers demand for better services, efficient and quick process, and technology definitely helps in this regard (Paul, 2000). By using technology the cafe can maintain the data of the customers. Besides this the cafe can improve their internal business process and maintain employee data and end result will be less waiting time for the customers and it would result in more satisfied customers. By using technology the cafe can reduce time per customer and hence it can serve more customers in a given day. Company Website Today every business has an internet presence and is available on the internet so that customers can interact, give their feedback and even place their orders. So it is important that Broadway should also have a company website. Create a Forum Broadway cafe can also create a forum where customers can interact with each other and in this way they can know the customers feedback and what they want. Challenges Aware customers After incorporating technology in the business producers the company have to face the challenge of making its customers aware regarding the website of the cafe and online orders and special offers that cafe gives. Train employees With new methods and use of technology, Broadway cafe would have to train its employees how things would work to its employees because many of them would not know how to use it. If employees are not trained then this change of incorporating technology will be of no use (Lior, 2005). Risk As the cafe has to increase its investment for using technology and preparing website, so with increased cost at a time when customers are declining this can be a gamble for the cafe. Benefits Saves time One of the main advantages of using technology is that it saves time of employees and when employees will be free then they will give more attention to customers hence the end result will be more satisfied customers. Also because waiting time of the customers will be reduced, this will allow employees to deal with more customers in a given day. Increase sales With online orders, the cafe can increase its sales provided that it uses the technology to good effect. Reduce Cost Many jobs that were done manually could be performed with the help of advancement of technology for instance, accounting can be done easily and there will be no need of using books and ledgers and a dedicated employee named as accounts manager. So all this will reduce the cost of the company and hence it will be able to earn more profits. Customer Relationship Management Many organizations have used Customer Relationship Management to good effect and in the same way; Broadway cafe can utilize the services of CRM to market customers in a better way. There are number of benefits of using CRM in the business process and some of the advantages are as follows: Pros: Customer Relationship Management helps businesses to know their customers better and this allows the company to produce exactly what they need and demand. Market products accordingly Another advantage of CRM is that the company can market or promote their offerings according to the type of customers. Company can segment their customers into different categories and then market accordingly. This would lead to more effective marketing campaigns. As company will know more about their customers and hence this data can be helpful in producing what exactly the customers want plus the cafe can innovate new products if they know what type of products are preferred by customers. Cons: One of the disadvantages of Customer Relationship management is that this would increase the company cost. Currently the cafe is not in a position to increase its expenditure because it is losing its customers and increasing cost would lead to more risk for the company and if company do not get sufficient return for its investment in the CRM activates then it might backfire (Bose, 2002). Maintaining the current business process is itself a headache and with maintaining and evaluating the CRM data can add up to this if it is not appropriately used. New Challenges Constantly have to improve technology As the company will be starting e-business then it would be a challenge for the company to improve its technology constantly. Providing customer friendly services would be the idea behind improvement of technology. If the ordering process is not friendly for the customers then cafe would not be able to gain much from this additional investment. Marketing Broadway cafe initially has to allocate good amount of budget for its marketing campaigns so that the cafe creates awareness regarding the new website and new methods of businesses to the customers and this will be a challenge for the company. Ethical Issues Keeping confidential the information of the customers is one of the major challenges for every organization. Many customers rely on organizations and provide their personal information to them, but it is the responsibility of the organizations to not misuse these data and because of misusing of data customers today are a little reluctant to give their information (Singer, 2000). Therefore this can be one of the main challenges that the cafe would be facing to provide such a platform so that customers share their information. Innovation and Improvements in the processes If the Broadway cafe needs to attract more customers then it would have to do some innovations and improvements in the way they operate. Traditionally methods of working are no more successful today because of change in people attitude, lifestyle, perception and taste. People prefer quick service along with exceptional quality products. Therefore, Broadway cafe needs to bring in improvements in its process to attract more customers as well as maintain their existing customers and it is just the right time for them because currently it is losing its customers with the passage of time. Works Cited Bose, R. (2002). Customer relationship management: key components for IT success. Industrial Management Data Systems, 102, 2, 89-97. Lior, A. (2005). Understanding the Fatal Mistakes: Passionate and Profitable. John Wiley Sons, Inc Paul, T. R. (2000). Electronic Commerce – strategies models for business-to-business trading. John Wiley Sons, Ltd, pp. 31. Porter M. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review. Singer, P. (2000). Writings on an et How to cite Porter’s Five Forces, Papers Porter’s Five Forces Free Essays string(134) " order to resist the financial crisis; they reduced the number of workers or using different methods to cut the production cost\[5\]\." International Business (C11IB1) How has the global financial crisis impacted upon MNCs? Name: Kanam Liu Reg number: 095922098 Module lecturer: Dr Colin Turner Date: 19th October 2012 Introduction Since world trade began and the economy grows quickly, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are playing a very important role in the global economy in the last few decades. They produce and allocate goods and services for different nations, also help to share ideas, technology and increase innovations throughout the world. Nowadays, there are more than 82,000 MNCs and around 810,000 affiliates operating all over the world and 500 biggest corporations controlled 70 per cent of the international trade, they are very powerful of influencing in both economy and political way[1]. We will write a custom essay sample on Porter’s Five Forces or any similar topic only for you Order Now (Share The World’s Resources, 2012) They operate productive assets in more than one country; they normally based their headquarters in a single country (mostly in US, Western Europe and Japan) and invest their facilities which are located in other countries. Ovidius University, 2010) In order to see how global financial crisis will put an impact on these MNCs, we first need to establish the key factors which caused the global financial crisis. Background of the global financial crisis Financial crises happen very often but when it comes, people are still very surprised and are not prepared. Crises happens almost every 10 years from 19th century, the most important financial crises are the Great Depression in 1929, Asian Crisis in 1997, crisis in Argentina during 2001-2002 and the current financial crisis started from 2007. According to the Reinhart and Rogoff (2008), they indicated that crises were usually led by credit booms and real estate bubbles; it result to fall in house pricing and output, increase unemployment and government debt. I am going to focus on the recent financial crisis (2007-2009) since economists think it was the most serious financial crisis after the Great Depression. This time is different compared to the previous crises because it is affected globally and causes a significant decrease in economic activities. There are a few factors causing the current crisis: firstly, the central bank used the low interest rate policies; secondly, the Asian central banks needed to reach the lax credit requirements by buying debt securities; thirdly, the rapid increased in the housing demand in the US and others nations. In addition, the demand by poor credit rating borrowers increased significantly, there was a high incentive to lend to those high risk borrowers. Therefore, when the house prices started to drop in 2006, it affected the subprime mortgages to be downgraded. Afterwards, the inter-bank lending dried up and central banks needed to inject liquidity into the market. The real effect began when Lehman Bros failed[2] and majority of institutions were affected; inflation, unemployment and falling economic activity started to appear. How global financial crisis affect MNCs Many companies were surprised by how fast the mortgage crisis led to crash of the whole financial system, it was hard for them to keep and predict the information since the situation was changing in a day to day bases. Most of the MNCs were financed by large financial institutions, but since investors withdrew their money from the financial market and liquidity dried up, there was so much uncertainty and risk involved assessing the market. Bank distress led to businesses even harder to raise funding, so many MNCs changed their investment plan. They have been cancelled or slowed down the foreign investment projects and the performance of the ongiong project was declined, some of the MNCs got fewer orders from overseas because of the downturn business cycle. Furthermore, MNCs experienced liquidity problems, capital outflows from the financial markets; this will increase the uncertainty to invest in new projects. (Butt, 2010) Some MNCs are planning to change their strategies, concentrate more on clients in developing countries because they can have lowered production cost, gain greater foreign market shares and higher investment return. (People’s Daily Online, 2009) Impact on MNCs’ finance Since the banking crisis began, banks tighten their lending; some of the MNCs withdrew parts of the revenue or cash reserves in China or other developing ountries to their troubled parent companies. As a result China’s FDI inflows decreased by around 17 per cent in the first half of 2009; Russia’s FDI fell by more than 50 per cent in the first quarter 2009. (News, 2009) Problems were more serious in the US and Europe, MNCs in these countries were more difficult to access credit from financial institutions as the inter-bank ne twork was damaged by the global financial crisis. In addition, most of the banks in developing countries relied on funding from banks in the developed countries. However, since the financial crisis started, they were even harder to get subsidies from those institutions and it affected MNCs’ operation in these countries because of the restriction of getting loans. Many of the MNCs could not resolve their liquidity problem fast enough because of the short of cash reserve and difficulties of borrowing from banks. As a result, they suffered from the financial crisis; the best example of this problem will be AIG. The credit default swaps (CDS)[3] almost led to AIG bankruptcy and damaged the global financial system. This was a very risky business; however, the company was treating it as safe[4]. The profit margin was 83% and the portfolio of CDS was over 500 billion in 2007. Although, when the real estate bubble popped, AIG suddenly needed to pay out the securities which it had insured and began to make losses. After the losses became more significant, it found out that it could not increase funding fast enough to cover their losses. Therefore, AIG shot up from $20 billion to more than $80 billion. (Share the World’s Resources, 2012) Change in employment rate There was lots of news about the increasing in unemployment rate in different countries especially in Europe and the US after the global financial crisis started. Many MNCs wanted to reserve more capital in order to resist the financial crisis; they reduced the number of workers or using different methods to cut the production cost[5]. You read "Porter’s Five Forces" in category "Essay examples" Now, I am going to list out some examples and data to show these methods that companies used to reduce costs. Table 1: Job losses gains in MNCs in Ireland (full time employment), 2000- 2009 | |2000 |2001 | |Aldi 650 Jobs |Dell 1900 Jobs Hewlett Packard -133/ +500 | |IKEA 500 Jobs |SR Technics 1100 Jobs |IBM -120/ +100 | |Hewlett Packard 500 jobs |Intel 300 Jobs |Option Wireless -150/ +145 | |IVAX Phara 165 Jobs |Hibernian 600 Jobs |Pfizer -180/ +100 | |Pfizer 100 Jobs |Tyco 320 Jobs | | |IBM 100 Jobs |Waterford Crystal 250 Jobs | | Source: Gunnigle, et al. As the figures from above, table 1 showed the growth of employment remained stable from 2001 to 2008 but dropped significantly in 2009 and during the crisis full time employment rate fell by 9. 8 per cent in MNCs. Table 2 pointed out that MNCs were having a big restructuring within the organisation in different sectors, it is one of the important effect from the global financial crisis. (Gunnigle, et al. , n. d. ) In addition, because the dropping of handset price and sales which was hit by the spread of global financial crisis. Nokia announced to cut 1700 jobs in 2007 to balance their losses. (Kioskea,  2008) In the recent year, it announced again that will lay off 10,000 jobs worldwide and stop R projects in Germany and Canada (Guardin, 2012). The US and Europe were the most affected area by the global financial crisis. For the US MNCs, the employment rate decreased by 4. 1% to 31. million workers over the world and the job cuts were heavier in home than overseas. (Business,  2011) In Europe, the European banks’ employees such as UBS and Dutsche Bank, they were threatened they would lose their job because of the recession and the problem were more serious in those banks which had close relationship with the US banks. Moreover, since the banking crisis started and Eurozone was the major market for the US businesses to provide direct funding. (ABC  News,  n. d. ) Apart from cutting jobs, some MNCs also launched different methods to reduce their costs. According to the data in Gunnigle’s paper, it showed that average working hours per week dropped 3. 3 per cent in 2009. For example, Waterford Crystal, it closed the plant for three weeks; Bausch and Lorrb, its employees took unpaid leaves for one week per month for six months. The other method to cut cost is freezing pay such as Irish Life and Permanent, it reduced bonuses significantly including cut all the bonuses for chief executive, directors and senior managers, also reduced 75 per cent bonuses to all staffs. (Gunnigle, et al. , n. d. ) Change in sales and export When the financial crisis started, MNCs tried to cut costs to cover their losses. People’s income decreased, so demand and export fell, economies began to shrink and it was hard for companies to pay back their debts. Ford recorded it got 306 billion dollars losses in Europe, therefore, less profits to invest in other countries or products (The  New  Youk  Times,  n. d. ). Moreover, in 2008, Carrefour Romania reported sales decreased in all European markets and there were an increase in MNCs stated their losses after the financial crisis[6]. Impact on currencies and debt The Euro crisis had a great impact in the global economy and affects many of the MNCs. Since Europe is the biggest trading partner to the US, over 20 per cent of the US exports go to Europe. Therefore, European banks have a close link with the US banks, when the European banks were affected by the currency crisis, they were exposed to bad debt problem. Many MNCs based their headquarters in Spain since the labour is cheaper, but the fluctuation of the currency put an impact on the export and import prices. (Business Insider, 2012) Export became cheaper and import became more expensive and the increasing uncertainty of the change in currency, it made MNCs more difficult to pay back loans or borrowing in foreign currency to reinvest. As a result, companies reduced their investment to lower their financial risk. For example, Prakiker’s sales decreased by 15. 6% as the currency depreciation related to the Euro. (Ovidius  University,  2010) Other related effects to MNCs The additional impacts to MNCs were share prices, market value of equities and asset price declined rapidly because the failure of the banks and the incline development of the crisis. Government actions also increased the difficulties of the situation for the MNCs, such as restricted trade or controlled currency and inflation by changing prices or tax laws and tariffs. Conclusion As we can see from the discussion above, the 2007-2009 global financial crisis had a great impact to the MNCs, many companies were struggling from the situation. Although many of them are starting to recover, the process will take a very long period[7] and since it was a global situation, companies were having difficulties to look for capital aboard. Therefore, MNCs are changing their strategies to focus on developing countries such as BRIC[8] as they can see greater opportunities. Since these countries have large resources, low cost labour market with highly skilled workers and higher rate of investment return provided, they can help the businesses growth faster and entry to the bigger market. Appendix A The world’s largest industrial multinational corporations S/No. Company Home nation Industry % of foreign sales 1 Exxon Mobil Corporation USA Petroleum 69. 4 2 General Motors USA Motor Vehicles 26. 1 3 Ford Motor Company USA Motor Vehicles 30. 4 4 Daimler Chrysler Germany/USA Motor Vehicles 32. 0 5 Royal Dutch/Shell Group UK/Netherlands Petroleum 54. 4 6 British Petroleum UK Petroleum 71. 3 7 General Electric USA Electronics 38. 1 8 Toyota Japan Motor Vehicles 49. 6 Chevron Texaco USA Petroleum 55. 5 10 Total Fina ELF France Petroleum 78. 0 Reference ABC  News,  n. d. Five  ways  the  European  debt  crisis  could  affect  the  U. S.. [Online] Available  at:  http://abcnews. go. com/Business/ways-european-debt-crisis-affect-us/ story? id=14830462 [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Alvarez,  R. ,  H. ,  2007. MULTINATIONALS  AS  STABILIZERS? :  ECONOMIC  CRISIS  AND  PLANT  EMPLOYMENT  GROWTH. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. bcentral. cl/eng/studies/working-papers/pdf/dtbc412. pdf [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Barefoot,  K. ,  R. ,  2010. U. S. Multinational  Companies:  Operations  in  the  United  States  and  Abroad  in  2008,  s. l. :  s. n. Business  Insider,  2012. Weaker  Euro  Can  Help  Spain  Fight  Unemployment. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. businessinsider. com/weaker-euro-can-help-spain-fight-unemployment-2012-4 [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Business,  2011. U. S  Multinationals  Increasingly  Hiring  Abroad,  Firing  At  Home. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2011/04/19/multinationals-hire-abroad-fire-at-home_n_851094. html [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Butt,  N. ,  2010. Impact  of  Global  financial  crisis  on  Pakistan. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. scribd. com/doc/26221317/Impact-of-Global-Financial-Crisis-on-Pakistan [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Ceridian,  2009. Easing  the  currency  crisis:  Multinational  companies  benefit  from  paying  employees  in  local  currencies. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. ceridian. com/payroll_services_article/1,6266,15806-70889,00. html [Accessed  14  10  2012]. Ernst  ,  2012. European  debt  crisis  affects  business  worldwide. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. ey. com/US/en/Services/Assurance/BoardMatters-Quarterly-April-2012—European-debt-crisis-affects-business-worldwide [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Ernst  Ã‚  Young,  2012. The  shifting  tide  of  international  trade. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. ey. com/US/en/Services/Assurance/BoardMatters-Quarterly-April-2012—The-shifting-tide-of-international-trade [Accessed  14  October  2012]. EU-Japan  Centre,  2010. Multinational  business  finance  in  times  of,  http://documents. eu-japan. eu/seminars/japan/fdi/report_10_june. pdf:  EU? Japan  Centre  for  Industrial  Cooperation. Guardian,  2012. Nokia  to  cut  10,000  jobs  by  end  of  2013. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. guardian. co. uk/technology/2012/jun/14/nokia-to-cut-10000-jobs [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Gunnigle,  P. ,  Lavelle,  J.   Monaghan,  S. ,  n. d. Weathering  the  storm? Multinational  companies  and  human  resource  management  through  the  global  financial  crisis,  Limerick:  Kemmy  Business  School  University  of  Limerick. Kioskea,  2008. Nokia  to  cut  another  1,700  jobs  worldwide. [Online] Available  at:  http://en. kioskea. et/news/12310-nokia-to-cut-another-1-700-jobs-worldwide [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Ma,  Z.   Cheng,  L. ,  2005. The  Effects  of  Financial  Crises  on  International  Trade. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. nber. org/chapters/c0196 [Accessedà ‚  14  October  2012]. News,  2009. The  Global  Financial  Crisis  Affects  Foreign  Direct  Investment  (FDI)  into  Russia  and  China. [Online] Available  at:  http://www. skolkovo. ru/public/en/press/news/item/1737-2009-09-10-14/ [Accessed  14  October  2012]. Ovidius  University,  2010. ECONOMIC  SCIENCES  SERIE. OVIDIUS  UNIVERSITY  ANNALS,  X(2),  pp. 176-182. Patnaik,  I.   Shah,  A. ,  2010. Multinational  corporations  and  crisis  transmission,  s. l. :  s. n. How to cite Porter’s Five Forces, Essay examples

Business - Society and Environment for Development- myassignmenthelp

Question: Should Business be Reporting with Reference to Sustainable Development Goals? Answer: Introduction On 25th September, 2015, countries have adopted a set of 17 Sustainable development goals (SDG) to end poverty, protect planet and ensure prosperity for all around the world. Each goal has its specific target to be achieved within next 15 years (Undp.org, 2018). The spirit of SDGs is to improve life in sustainable way for the future generation. Moreover, these goals are aimed at eradicating the global issues like economic issues, social issues and environmental issues. SDGs provide an effective framework to the business organizations towards operating transparent and informative business operation. Business organizations can play a vital role in achieving the global SDGs through its sustainable business operations. Hence, business organizations should report in reference with Sustainable Development Goals. This study will discuss the importance of business organizations to report in reference with Sustainable Development Goals. The study will highlight the importance for business organizations in achieving the 17 SDGs adopted by the countries. Moreover, the contribution of businesses in sustainable economic, social and environment development of the planet will be discussed in this study. Discussion Sustainable development goals (SDG) are the global agenda and set of global goals for people, planet and prosperity. It is consisted of 17 global goals, which are actually set by United Nations (Citiscope.org, 2018). These goals are actually intended towards protecting the planet, ending the poverty and ensuring the prosperity for all. Each goal has its own specific targets to be achieved towards achieving global sustainable development. Sustainable development goals are actually developed to replace Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which have been ended in 2015. Unlike, MDGs, SDGs do not differentiate between developing and developed nations. Moreover, SDGs are applied to all countries towards a high level of sustainable global development. According to Keesstra et al. (2016), the target of sustainable development goals is to transform the world and seek to enhance the Universal peace in larger freedom. The agenda has identified that eradicating poverty in all its dimensions including extreme poverty is one of the biggest global challenge. The collaborative partnership among the global countries and its stakeholders can provide collaborative and effective solution to these extreme global challenges. As per Tangcharoensathien et al. (2015), SDGs are aimed at eradicating the poverty and hunger for ensuring that all people are fulfilling their potential in dignity and equality. Moreover, these goals are intended towards enhancing the prosperity of all human beings equally. On the other hand, Lu et al. (2015) opined that the target of sustainable development goals is to protect the planet from degradation including sustainable consumption and production through sustainable management of natural resources. Moreover, this goa l of SDGs is targeted at protecting the future generation through sustainable consumption. On the other hand, SDGs are also majorly focused on high level of social development by creating peaceful and inclusive society, which is free from fear, violence and injustice. Overall, SDGs are targeted at removing the global issues like poverty, health, hunger, climate change, education, gender equality, sanitation, social justice and lot more. It is becoming widely accepted that business has extremely critical role to play towards achieving Sustainable Global Goals. Global goals have provided a perfect framework for the businesses to report their contribution and impact on the societal, economical and environmental development. According to Le Blanc (2015), SDGs allow companies to be highly transparent regarding their operations and enable investors to make informed decisions. Furthermore, the businesses can also give a proper understanding to the government regarding their contribution in economic and social development through reporting on SDGs. On the other hand, Hk et al. (2016) opined that sustainability is moving from corporate sidelines into the mainstream of the businesses. The challenges of uncertain energy cost, looming restriction on carbon emission and concerns about natural resources and raw materials have led the companies around the world to wake up for the environmental sustainability. On the other hand, Bu se and Hawkes (2015) opined that the companies are also coming under greater scrutiny regarding their role in social and economic development. Such scrutiny has encouraged the organizations around the world to be concerned about economic and social sustainability. Increasing pressure and demand from government have forced the companies around the world to be highly focused on their contribution in economic development. Businesses have huge capabilities in the global economic development of the world. Hence, the businesses must report on the economic development of their concerned countries leading to overall global economic development. According to Dyllick and Muff (2016), economists expect business companies to improve economy through improving the quality of goods and services manufactured through competition. In this way, the business companies directly contribute in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nations. On the other hand, Barkemeyer et al. (2015) opined that business companies often leads to high level of foreign direct investment through creating attractive national competitiveness. In this way, such business organizations lead to shared economy, which ultimately helps in global economic growth. While considering the example, the food and beverage industry has 16.7%-20% contribution in the global economic development (Morioka Carvalho, 2016). Such increased economic growth has ultimately led to strong industry infrastructure and innovative products and services, which has direct contribution in achieving sustainable development goals. Business organizations must be reporting in reference to sustainable development goals in terms of creation of employment opportunity. According to Schaltegger and Burritt (2018), employment is created by both government and private business organizations, which ultimately reduces the major issues of unemployment in the developing countries. With the development of international business, the business organizations are not only concerned about creating employment in their domestic countries, but also creating employment in the international countries. In this way, the business organizations mitigate the global issues of unemployment, which enhances the quality of human life around the world. Moreover, the growth of employment rate around the world has been projected by 11 million per year (Prez?Lpez et al., 2015). On the other hand, Undp.org (2018) opined that the employed people contribute in their nations economic development through paying taxes to the government. In this way, inc reased employment created by business organizations directly contributed both in the social as well as economic development of the people. Moreover, increased employment over the world has reduced the poverty level of the people around the world. Hence, the overall economic growth fostered by the organizations leads to high quality of life of the people. The businesses meet the needs for each other, which leads to network of interconnected sectors towards developed industrial infrastructure. As per Siew (2015), certain business organizations render services and provide products or raw materials for other business organization towards their survival. In this way, businesses can help in promotion of business establishment and economy of the countries at a large. For example, the development of tourism business development directly develops the businesses like food and beverages, hotels, transportation, arts and music and many others. In this way, increased industrial development ultimately contributes in the overall economic growth of the countries. On the other hand, Kennedy and Rood (2017) opined that the network of interconnected business establishment ultimately leads to increased employment of the people in different sectors leading people to prosper in their life. Hence, businesses must be reporting in reference to the sustainabl e development goals. The business organizations are under constant scrutiny regarding their active contribution in the societal development through their commercial operations. Such societal development is directly associated with the global sustainable development goals. Hence, the business organizations must be reporting in reference to global sustainable development goals. According to Holden et al. (2017), business organizations constantly generate income for the individuals, which remove the extreme poverty level of the human beings. Moreover, the business organizations utilize the factors like labor, land and capital for generating wage, rent, profit and interest for the factor owners. In this way, the business organizations reduce the poverty level of the people by enhancing their wellbeing. On the other hand, Clark et al. (2016) opined that business organizations highly contribute towards development of education, innovative technology and applying theories for better human welfare. The contempor ary business organizations require highly qualified employees for operating high level of technologies and business systems. Hence, the people need to highly educated to get employed in such organizations. Such increasing demand for educated employees in the business organizations has led to increased education among the people. In this way, the business organizations can directly contribute in the educational development of the society. For example, industrial development has increased the upper educational rate of Australia from 65% in 2009 to 85% in 2017 (Abs.gov.au, 2018). In this way, the business organizations have ultimately contributed in the educational development of the society in Australia. The business organizations often fight for inclusive and equal opportunities of education for all types of people in the society. Moreover, with partnership of NGOs, the business organizations often initiate some programs for encouraging equal educational opportunities in the society. Un.org (2018) pointed out that business organizations have huge contribution in achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls. With an intension to create positive social image, most of the reputed organizations are highly intended to provide equal employment opportunity to employees. For example, the reputed multinational organizations like Coca Cola Company, Unilever, Dominos and many others have get success in achieving equal employment opportunity for the employees. It is evident that women comprise 46.9% or all employed persons in Australia, due to equal employment opportunities provided by the business organization (Lu et al., 2015). On the other hand, World Economic Forum (2018) opine d that global women employee has hit 49% with the equal opportunities of the reputed organizations. The business organizations have both direct and indirect contribution in the health development of the people. According to Holden et al. (2017), the social cause marketing campaigns of the business organizations are targeted at removing the severe disease and disease potential of the people in the society. With an intention to improve social image, the business organization conduct social cause market for promoting prevention measures of severe diseases like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, clean water sanitation, cancer and many others. Moreover, such advertisements promote the social messages like safe drive, social awareness for smokers and many others. In this way, the business organizations can report on achievement of global social development goals. The organizations often provide medical facilities to the people for their health development as a part of their corporate social responsibilities. In this way, the business organizations contribute in the health and wellbeing of the p eople leading to sustainable social development. Global sustainable development goals are aimed at protecting the planet through sustainable consumption of natural resources and maintaining the balance of biodiversity life. Business organizations play an extremely significant role in protecting the environment for sustainable global development through sustainable consumption. According to Schaltegger and Burritt (2018), universal access to sanitation, water and hygiene would not be achieved without the help of private sectors. Several companies are working for managing their water discharge and their impact on local community. In this way, the businesses contribute in achieving access to clean and hygienic water to the people. For example, Coca Cola has spent around a billion dollar for developing wash water treatment plants for reducing water pollution (Kennedy Rood, 2017). On other hand, Clark et al. (2016) opined that business organization have developed renewable energy technologies for sustainable energy consumption. Such su stainable energy is also cost effective, as it uses renewable resources. Such energy is accessible to all kinds of people regardless of their financial backgrounds. Hence, the business organizations ensure equal access of affordable and clean energy for all in the society. In this way, the business organizations can be directly responsible for sustainable global development through sustainable energy consumption. The need for business organization to report on sustainable global development reflects on its ability to develop sustainable cities and communities. Moreover, the business organizations are even taking the responsibility of reducing the number of people living slums or informal settlements. Moreover, Barkemeyer et al. (2015) opined the real estate sector are taking active initiatives in collaboration of Government to provide affordable housing facilities to the middle to low income group people in the society. Such tendency of affordable housing is highly reflected in the India, where the real estate sector has taken active initiatives in developing affordable housing for rural development (Hk et al. 2016). In this way, such initiatives of affordable housing are ultimately contributing in the sustainable social development. Business organizations also have major contribution in responsible consumption and production. Most of the reputed organizations are recently using eco-friendly production system for reducing the amount of waste in the production system. In this way, the global recycling rates are being increased, which are measured through tons of materials recycled. For example, Nike, the most popular footwear company uses 71% its recycled footwear and apparel products to produce new footwear and apparel (Dyllick Muff, 2016). In this way, the organization leads to sustainable consumption of natural resources required for producing footwear and apparels. On the hand, Buse and Hawkes (2015) opined that reputed business organizations are taking urgent actions for combating climate change and its influence through regulating carbon emission and developing renewable energy. Moreover, the organizations should always report on their restriction on carbon emission combating climate change. In this way, th e businesses are contributing in the global environment protection for sustainable global development. Conclusion While concluding the study, it can be said that businesses should obviously report with reference to the sustainable development goals. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intended to protect the planet, end poverty and enhance the property of life of the people. SDGs allow companies to be transparent with its stakeholder and facilitate investors to make informed decision. Business organizations can play a significant role in achieving the target of Sustainable Development Goals. The business organizations are in constant effort to improve the quality of their products and services for gaining competitive advantage over the rivals. In this way, constant improvement of products and services leads to innovation and strong industrial structure and increased GDP of the nations. Business organizations are directly responsible for creating employment for the employees. In this way, such businesses provide sources of income to the people, which reduce the extreme poverty level of the p eople. On the other hand, the demand of the employees to hire high educated employees has led to quality education in the countries. Business organizations are also highly responsible for protecting the planet and natural resources through sustainable consumption. Most of the reputed organizations have started to recycle their waste for producing new products. In this way, the organizations can contribute in achieving Sustainable Development Goals through reporting in reference to it. References Abs.gov.au. (2018).Abs.gov.au. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.abs.gov.au/Education Barkemeyer, R., Preuss, L., Lee, L. (2015). On the effectiveness of private transnational governance regimesEvaluating corporate sustainability reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative.Journal of World Business,50(2), 312-325. Buse, K., Hawkes, S. (2015). Health in the sustainable development goals: ready for a paradigm shift?.Globalization and health,11(1), 13. Citiscope.org. (2018).Citiscope.org. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://citiscope.org/habitatIII/explainer/2015/03/what-are-sustainable-development-goals Clark, W. C., van Kerkhoff, L., Lebel, L., Gallopin, G. C. (2016). Crafting usable knowledge for sustainable development.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,113(17), 4570-4578. Dyllick, T., Muff, K. (2016). Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability.Organization Environment,29(2), 156-174. Hk, T., Janoukov, S., Moldan, B. (2016). Sustainable Development Goals: A need for relevant indicators.Ecological Indicators,60, 565-573. Holden, E., Linnerud, K., Banister, D. (2017). The imperatives of sustainable development.Sustainable Development,25(3), 213-226. Keesstra, S. D., Quinton, J. N., van der Putten, W. H., Bardgett, R. D., Fresco, L. O. (2016). The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Soil,2(2), 111. Kennedy, S., Rood, E. M. (2017). Eco-transformation: a global sustainability wake-up call.RSM Discovery-Management Knowledge,29(1), 5-7. Le Blanc, D. (2015). Towards integration at last? The sustainable development goals as a network of targets.Sustainable Development,23(3), 176-187. Lu, Y., Nakicenovic, N., Visbeck, M. Stevance, A.S. (2015). Five priorities for the UN sustainable development goals.Nature,520(7548), pp.432-433. Morioka, S. N., de Carvalho, M. M. (2016). A systematic literature review towards a conceptual framework for integrating sustainability performance into business.Journal of Cleaner Production,136, 134-146. Prez?Lpez, D., Moreno?Romero, A., Barkemeyer, R. (2015). Exploring the relationship between sustainability reporting and sustainability management practices.Business Strategy and the Environment,24(8), 720-734. Schaltegger, S., Burritt, R. (2018). Business cases and corporate engagement with sustainability: Differentiating ethical motivations.Journal of Business Ethics,147(2), 241-259. Siew, R. Y. (2015). A review of corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs).Journal of environmental management,164, 180-195. Tangcharoensathien, V., Mills, A., Palu, T. (2015). Accelerating health equity: the key role of universal health coverage in the Sustainable Development Goals.BMC medicine,13(1), 101. Un.org. (2018).United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ Undp.org. (2018).UNDP. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html World Economic Forum. (2018).World Economic Forum. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/what-are-the-sustainable-development-goals/

Teaching Methods Visual and Performing Arts Essay Example

Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts Essay Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts Research Report Arts traditionally played an important role in the life of the human society. Naturally, it could not fail to affect education. As a result, nowadays the necessity to implement arts in the process of education is getting to be evident. In such a situation, it is necessary to apply a variety of teaching methods which basic elements and principles of arts are integrated into. Regarding this paper the possible implementation of art, its principles and elements in the educating of the 3rd-grade students will be discussed. In this respect, it is possible to recommend such methods as: Art projects as well as it is possible to involve students in the art by regularly showing them some outstanding pieces of art. The latter may be quite efficient since when students regularly see works of outstanding artists of different genres, they not simply perceive and absorb elements of art that may be found in a portrait for instance, but they learn to understand it. On the other hand, it is also possible to implement art in the classroom. For instance, it is possible to ask students to write a kind of reaction paper on the paintings they’ve just watched or compare some of them. Or else, they may also attempt to project what the paintings and basic elements of art on a literary work. For instance, it is possible to find common art elements for a painting and a literary work, such as value. At the same time, paintings produce a certain impression due to color, line, shape, form, texture, space which form the general picture within students’ mind and help them properly understand and perceive a piece of art. At the same time, in order to increase visualization and affect practically all senses it is possible to recommend to develop art projects which initially could simply be drawings reflecting the events or the main characters of the story discussed, for instance, or else it is possible to ask students to find parallels between the material they learn in the classroom and some painting. Such a comparison can help students better understand basic principles of art, such as balance, contrast, proportion, unity, etc., which are also extremely important and may be applied not only in art but in traditional subjects such as math or physics, where the notions of balance, proportion, or unity are also very important. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Thus, it is necessary to emphasize that the implementation of the two methods and integration of art in the teaching process would stimulate the development and positive perception of the basic principles of arts by students. On the other hand, along with positive emotions of students, the implementation of the two methods would stimulate students’ creative thinking that is obviously positive from both artistic and teaching points of view. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that integrating art in learning process stimulates creative thinking. In fact, creative thinking is an essential condition for creation even a drawing, and certainly for evaluation of a painting and its comparison for a literary work, for instance. Anyway, art, being implemented in teaching using the methods mentioned above, unquestionably contribute to the development of students’ aesthetic views. In other words, it accommodates students to the world of beautiful, perfect and highly cult ural substances. Moreover, the implementation of the methods suggested above can be easily projected on different subjects and students could enjoy them in a different situation. For instance, both role play and drawing can be equally successfully used in literature and history lesson, for example, when characters from a literary story can be substituted by real historical figures in role play, or may also be presented in visual form using drawing. The same may be said about any other subject since the methods are to a certain extent universal, and visualization is essential in any subject. Finally, it is necessary to underline that the two methods suggested in this paper may be easily applied in the classroom for the third-grade students since it corresponds to their level of cognitive, psychological, and socio-cultural development. In fact, it is quite interesting for the students at this stage not only to learn the material of a subject but also reveal the new world of art, which had great masterpieces and long history. At the same time, they also learn basic art elements and principles which may be applied in different subjects. Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that it is extremely important to implement art in the learning process. This implies the development of teaching methods that could contribute to the integration of art in students’ learning. In such a situation visual and performing art, such as theatrical role play and drawing seem to be quite efficient, especially at early stages of students development. In this respect, it is of paramount importance to start the implementation of these methods, as well as other similar methods, at possibly younger age so that the students could get used to such a combination of learning and art. As a result, the basic elements and principles of art would be naturally perceived by students and the learning process would be much easier than if there were no link to arts. Teaching Methods Visual and Performing Arts Essay Example Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts Essay Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts Research Report Arts traditionally played an important role in the life of the human society. Naturally, it could not fail to affect education. As a result, nowadays the necessity to implement arts in the process of education is getting to be evident. In such a situation, it is necessary to apply a variety of teaching methods which basic elements and principles of arts are integrated into. Regarding this paper the possible implementation of art, its principles and elements in the educating of the 3rd-grade students will be discussed. In this respect, it is possible to recommend such methods as: Art projects as well as it is possible to involve students in the art by regularly showing them some outstanding pieces of art. The latter may be quite efficient since when students regularly see works of outstanding artists of different genres, they not simply perceive and absorb elements of art that may be found in a portrait for instance, but they learn to understand it. On the other hand, it is also possible to implement art in the classroom. For instance, it is possible to ask students to write a kind of reaction paper on the paintings they’ve just watched or compare some of them. Or else, they may also attempt to project what the paintings and basic elements of art on a literary work. For instance, it is possible to find common art elements for a painting and a literary work, such as value. At the same time, paintings produce a certain impression due to color, line, shape, form, texture, space which form the general picture within students’ mind and help them properly understand and perceive a piece of art. At the same time, in order to increase visualization and affect practically all senses it is possible to recommend to develop art projects which initially could simply be drawings reflecting the events or the main characters of the story discussed, for instance, or else it is possible to ask students to find parallels between the material they learn in the classroom and some painting. Such a comparison can help students better understand basic principles of art, such as balance, contrast, proportion, unity, etc., which are also extremely important and may be applied not only in art but in traditional subjects such as math or physics, where the notions of balance, proportion, or unity are also very important. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Methods: Visual and Performing Arts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Thus, it is necessary to emphasize that the implementation of the two methods and integration of art in the teaching process would stimulate the development and positive perception of the basic principles of arts by students. On the other hand, along with positive emotions of students, the implementation of the two methods would stimulate students’ creative thinking that is obviously positive from both artistic and teaching points of view. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that integrating art in learning process stimulates creative thinking. In fact, creative thinking is an essential condition for creation even a drawing, and certainly for evaluation of a painting and its comparison for a literary work, for instance. Anyway, art, being implemented in teaching using the methods mentioned above, unquestionably contribute to the development of students’ aesthetic views. In other words, it accommodates students to the world of beautiful, perfect and highly cult ural substances. Moreover, the implementation of the methods suggested above can be easily projected on different subjects and students could enjoy them in a different situation. For instance, both role play and drawing can be equally successfully used in literature and history lesson, for example, when characters from a literary story can be substituted by real historical figures in role play, or may also be presented in visual form using drawing. The same may be said about any other subject since the methods are to a certain extent universal, and visualization is essential in any subject. Finally, it is necessary to underline that the two methods suggested in this paper may be easily applied in the classroom for the third-grade students since it corresponds to their level of cognitive, psychological, and socio-cultural development. In fact, it is quite interesting for the students at this stage not only to learn the material of a subject but also reveal the new world of art, which had great masterpieces and long history. At the same time, they also learn basic art elements and principles which may be applied in different subjects. Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that it is extremely important to implement art in the learning process. This implies the development of teaching methods that could contribute to the integration of art in students’ learning. In such a situation visual and performing art, such as theatrical role play and drawing seem to be quite efficient, especially at early stages of students development. In this respect, it is of paramount importance to start the implementation of these methods, as well as other similar methods, at possibly younger age so that the students could get used to such a combination of learning and art. As a result, the basic elements and principles of art would be naturally perceived by students and the learning process would be much easier than if there were no link to arts.

Types of Scales in Social Science Research

Types of Scales in Social Science Research A scale is a type of composite measure that is composed of several items that have a logical or empirical structure among them. That is, scales make use of differences in intensity among the indicators of a variable. For example, when a question has the response choices of always, sometimes, rarely, and never, this represents a scale because the answer choices are rank-ordered and have differences in intensity. Another example would be strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree. There are several different types of scales. We’ll look at four commonly used scales in social science research and how they are constructed. Likert Scale Likert scales are one of the most commonly used scales in social science research. They offer a simple rating system that is common to surveys of all kinds. The scale is named for the psychologist who created it,  Rensis Likert. One common use of the Likert scale is a survey that asks respondents to offer their opinion on something by stating the level to which they agree or disagree. It often looks like this: Strongly agreeAgreeNeither agree nor disagreeDisagreeStrongly disagree Within the scale, the individual items that compose it are called Likert items. To create the scale, each answer choice is assigned a score (for instance, 0-4), and the answers for several Likert items (that measure the same concept) can be added together for each individual to obtain an overall Likert score. For example, let’s say that were interested in measuring prejudice against women. One method would be to create a series of statements reflecting prejudiced ideas, each with the Likert response categories listed above. For example, some of the statements might be, Women shouldn’t be allowed to vote, or Women can’t drive as well as men. We would then assign each of the response categories a score of 0 to 4 (for example, assign a score of 0 to strongly disagree, a 1 to disagree, a 2 to neither agree or disagree, etc.). The scores for each of the statements would then be totaled for each respondent to create an overall score of prejudice. If we had five  statements and a respondent answered strongly agree to each item, his or her overall prejudice score would be 20, indicating a very high degree of prejudice against women. Bogardus Social Distance Scale The Bogardus social distance scale was created by sociologist Emory S. Bogardus as a technique for measuring the willingness of people to participate in social relations with other kinds of people. (Incidentally, Bogardus established one of the first departments of sociology on American soil at the University of Southern California in 1915.) Quite simply, the scale invites people to state the degree to which they are accepting of other groups. Let’s say we are interested in the extent to which Christians in the U.S. are willing to associate with Muslims. We might ask the following questions: Are you willing to live in the same country as Muslims?Are you willing to live in the same community as Muslims?Are you willing to live in the same neighborhood as Muslims?Are you willing to live next door to a Muslim?Are you willing to let your son or daughter marry a Muslim? The clear differences in intensity suggest a structure among the items. Presumably, if a person is willing to accept a certain association, he is willing to accept all those that precede it on the list (those with lesser intensities), though this is not necessarily the case as some critics of this scale point out. Each item on the scale is scored to reflect the level of social distance, from 1.00 as a measure of no social distance (which would apply to question 5 in the above survey), to 5.00 measuring maximize social distance in the given scale (though the level of social distance could be higher on other scales). When the ratings for each response are averaged, a lower score indicates a greater level of acceptance than does a higher score. Thurstone Scale The Thurstone scale, created by Louis Thurstone, is intended to develop a format for generating groups of indicators of a variable that have an empirical structure among them. For example, if you were studying discrimination, you would create a list of items (10, for example) and then ask respondents to assign scores of 1 to 10 to each item. In essence, respondents are ranking the items in order of the weakest indicator of discrimination all the way to the strongest indicator. Once the respondents have scored the items, the researcher examines the scores assigned to each item by all the respondents to determine which items the respondents agreed upon most. If the scale items were adequately developed and scored, the economy and effectiveness of data reduction present in the Bogardus social distance scale would appear. Semantic Differential Scale The semantic differential scale asks respondents to answer a questionnaire and choose between two opposite positions, using qualifiers to bridge the gap between them. For instance, suppose you wanted to get respondents’ opinions about a new comedy television show. Youd first decide what dimensions to measure and then find two opposite terms that represent those dimensions. For example, enjoyable and unenjoyable, funny and not funny, relatable and not relatable. You would then create a rating sheet for respondents to indicate how they feel about the television show in each dimension. Your questionnaire would look something like this:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very Much  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somewhat  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neither  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somewhat  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very MuchEnjoyable  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  UnenjoyableFunny  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not FunnyRelatable  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unrelatable

The Ethics Of Software Piracy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Ethics Of Software Piracy - Research Paper Example Introduction Software piracy is a process of the illegal replication of applications and software. Additionally, the software piracy is known as pessimistically influencing the users by raising prices as well as minimizing finances for exploration and advancements of upcoming inventions of software. At the present, software piracy has become a well known term and is getting augmented attention of software development firms. In view of the fact that majority of software is utilized with exclusive rights as well as created by other corporations can be used with some limitations (such as duration of software use, license period). In this scenario, software development businesses are implementing severe restrictions along with copyright rules and regulations against such types of the prohibited actions. However, all these measures are not enough. There is a dire need for more enhanced actions and methods for restricting such types of activities (Online Ethics Center for Engineering; BizO ffice). This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of software piracy as an unethical issue in IT field. This paper also outlines the typical reasons that people use to justify their piracy activities. Software Piracy The illegal duplication of computer software is known is software piracy. Though majority of computer users at present know that unauthorized utilization and replication of software is unlawful and unethical, but many of them demonstrate a general disrespect for the significance of considering software as precious intellectual possessions. In this regard, national copyright rules as well as regulations are used to secure the computer software. These rules define that users are not authorized to create a copy of particular software for some other cause than as an archival support without authorization of the copyright owner (archive support means data or information developed through those software such as docs files are developed by MS Word but we can make as many co pies of docs files and store them). On the other hand, the illegal replica of computer software can also be recognized as theft. In this regard, in 1990, the PC software business faced a loss of $2.4 billion in the US only as well as more than $10 billion globally, from some comprehensive approximations by the Software Publishers Association. In fact, computer software piracy is not same as copying other media that is recorded, like that compact disks as well as videotapes, for the reason that there is no deprivation in the value of the copy produced. Additionally, the computer business is the only business that allows the customer to become a developer’s assistant. In this scenario, customer plays an important role in the development of that software. A software application copied again and again will work accurately similar to the genuine. However, the actual software which took years to be built can be duplicated or copied in a fraction of seconds. Though software is costl y to build up, however some low cost Personal Computer can be employed to produce an inexpensive copy of the software (BizOffice; Kayne; Safe-Net). Therefore software piracy is considered as a most serious unethical issue and requires extensive attentions along with public awareness for protection of the intellectual property. Types of Software Piracy There are different types of

Currently on display at the galleria borghese in rome, Gian Lorenzo Essay

Currently on display at the galleria borghese in rome, Gian Lorenzo Berninis - Essay Example Keri A. Miller, an arts professor, makes such an observation upon referencing the minute attention that Bernini gave to the depiction of fear on Proserpina's face, the anatomical accuracy of the sculpted forms, the ferocity of Pluto's expression and the dimpling of Proserpina's skin. The overall effect is one of such complete realism that the viewer tends to loose sight of the fact that the sculpture is in hard, lifeless, white marble. The artistry, in other words, is such that the figures in this sculpture appear to be infused with the vitality of struggle, whether in the rippling of the muscles, the positioning of the limbs, or the expression on the face of either (Miller). As stated in the Wikepedia article on Bernini, his artistic talent was such that it lent "glamorous dynamism to once stony stillness," and brought marble to life ("Gian Lorenzo Bernini"). Possibly due to the realism characterising this particular work, art critics and observers have, over the centuries, interpreted it as something more than an artistic rendition of a particular Greek myth. As briefly mentioned by Emil Kren and Daniel Marx, some have interpreted the sculpture as a highlighting the fusion between life and death.

People resourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

People resourcing - Essay Example These changes offer organizations opportunities and challenges for success in equal measure. These conditions cause the change the nature of human resource planning. Success in the current dynamic market requires companies to improve performance. Improvement includes reducing costs, improving quality, innovativeness, creativity, and speed aimed at productivity. These duties rest on people who make up the organization because they make both long-term and short term organizational solutions. Human resources encompass most important resources in any organization that operates with the aim of achieving success (Wernerfelt 1984, 19). A volatile business environment means that the management of business organizations must comprehend that primary means of gaining competitive advantage have changed. The business world has seen various companies collapse in the economic recession that is slowly being managed. Companies hit by the recession range from world leading insurance, manufacturing, an d processing companies. National governments across the world had to salvage some the companies to save them from imminent collapse. The environment saw other companies close their operations in some parts of the world to minimise expenditure. The economic downturn did not spare national economies with Greece’s economically crumbling. The European Union is struggling to help the country resuscitate its economy. Italy is also struggling. Human resource planning must be used to develop new strategies that will help the company remain competitive in the market. Human resource planning helps the company to consider issues that enable gaining of competitive advantage. The management of companies should recognize that usual sources of success are still reliable but human resource planning enhances sustainability of success. Usual mechanisms that lead to success include economies of scale, production technology that covers both process and product, and protected markets. The input b y success factors offers competitive advantage. Human resources appear at the top of the ladder in the management hierarchy of organizations. This illustrates their importance in the running of business companies. Human resources management conducts job analysis processes before recruiting qualified employees with appropriate skills for specific jobs. It also enhances commitment of employees and makes sure that the company retains the best by taking care of their welfare (Lado 1994, 31). When the human resource department does this, it motivates employees because it takes care of the needs of the workforce. A business organization enjoys a competitive advantage by creating value for its clients. The organization must focus on product and service differentiation. It is important that the company give services and products that are unique. To do this, human resources must single out different markets and treat them as individuals. The concentration should be on particular market segme nts or groups and make sure that the products and services they receive are effective and more efficient than those provided by competitors are in the same market (Wright 2007, 56). In the process of achieving competitive advantage, human resources take a three-pronged approach including cost leadership,

The Short Story The Necklace English Literature Essay

The Short Story The Necklace English Literature Essay Guy de Maupassants short story The Necklace was first published in the Paris newspaper Le Gaulois on February 17, 1884, and he was successfully incorporated into Tales of Night, his 1885 collection of short stories. Like most Maupassant short fiction, it was an instantaneous achievement, and it has become his most widely read and anthologized story (Smith Christopher). The Necklace describes Madame Loisel as beautiful and born into an average family. She is unsatisfied with her impoverished life and decides to borrow a diamond necklace from a former rich friend to fulfill her happiness. Maupassant presents the theme that one should be true to ones self trough his use of situational irony by which he tells the story of Madame Loisel. Maupassant describes Mathildes external conflicts in the story The Necklace. Though she is pretty and charming(1), she does not appreciate anything in life. She feels her life should have been blessed with wealth. Although her husband works at a ministry of education as a minor clerk, the money he is bringing to his wife is not enough for the kind of life Mathilde has always dreamed of. For instance, her vision is to live in a mansion, dinning in famous restaurants, and dance among the riches (1). She is embarrassed of her poor lifestyle, and decides not to invite any of her former friends who become rich to her home. Therefore, she suffers enormously because her whole life has been based on deficiency of luxury. The love of her husband Charles and the efforts he makes to keep his family healthy is not enough to please Mathilde. However, she happens to be a self-centered person who cares only about her appearance, instead of being thankful for the love of her husband. The author anal yzes Mathildes internal conflicts in the story. She is unhappy and miserable. She is disappointed in herself because she thinks she deserves more than she has. Mathilde appears to be a round person; although she is attractive and pretty, she also seems depressed because of the lack of money. She is a dynamic person; she is not content with herself because her husband is not well off financially. Otherwise, she would be a cheerful person if her husband was wealthy. Guy de Maupassant describes the characters verbal irony in the story; Monsieur Loisel makes an effort to invite his wife to a ball dance because he thinks she would be pleased to get out of the house. However, Mathilde chooses to reject her husbands invitation by saying, Give your invitation to some colleague whose wife has a more suitable gown than I(2). She concerned more about her look and what others might think of her. Still, she convinces her husband to take money out of their life savings to buy a lovely dress for the occasion. Mathildes irony in the story is discontentment because she does not have anything to wear with the dress; she realizes she needs a jewel to look her best, so she will not appear as poor as she is among the women at the ministry. Furthermore, Mathilde goes to her former friend to borrow one of her diamond necklaces, which she loses unexpectedly. In the story The Necklace, the situational irony occurs when Mathilda sacrifices her life for years to work tw ice as hard to repay the loan they take to return the necklace. She loses her beauty; she looks older, and there are traces of gray in her hair(4). She ruins her husband and her life by not making a smart choice, and her selfishness causes her familys pain. Nevertheless, the dramatic irony happens when she comes to learn the diamond necklace she loses is an imitation. The resolution of the story reveals that Mathilde realizes she made a fool of herself for not telling her friend exactly what had happened to the necklace. Therefore, she wastes her husbands and her time for nothing to replace something that was not even real. The writer points out the theme of the story as Malthilde cares only about her appearance, and her greed puts her through so much suffering in life. She should appreciate the sacrifice that her husband makes for her to buy the dress. Her attention is to dance joyfully with everyone, intoxicates with pleasure, and to be on a cloud of happiness(3). She does not worry too much about her husbands feeling toward his happiness. However, she comes to discover the diamond necklace she borrows from Madame Forestier is missing, her husband Monsieur Loisel sympathetically helps her look for the necklace. Moreover, he sacrifices everything he can in his life to help his wife replace the necklace. She confidently lies to Madame Loisel about the necklace. Possibly, if she has told the truth, all the pain and misery could have been avoided. Besides all the pain she puts Monsieur Loisel through, Mathilde wishes she married a wealthy man, but she is a poor girl with no dowry to offer (2). Money and m aterial things have stopped her to improve the living she desires. As a result, she loses her beauty and works harder to replace a necklace that is fake. In simpler terms, Mathilde and her husbands lives were touch in a bad way. She only cares about her happiness and does not even think how is her decision is going to affect others and her life later. In order for her to attend the occasion with her husband, she makes Monsieur Loisel go out of his way to purchase a new dress for her. After all, she is not gratified with the effort; she comes to a conclusion to borrow a diamond necklace to fulfill her happiness. At the end, she loses her charm. Not only does she have to pay for it, her husbands life also comes to devastation. In life, she should always be happy with the little she has. Hopefully, Mathilde learns her lesson and recognizes the value of what she has

Sicilian Meta-Network Essay -- Social Issues, Mafioso Families

Mafioso families have network structures that are distinct from those in typical hierarchical organizations—they are cellular and distributed. While most politicians and law enforcement agents have at least an intuitive understanding of hierarchies and how to affect their behavior, they have less of an understanding of how to even go about reasoning about dynamic networked organizations (Ronfelt and Arquilla, 2001). It is even more difficult to understand how such networks will evolve, change, adapt and how they can be destabilized. Clearly social network analysis can be applied to the study of covert networks (Sparrow, 1991). However, it would be a mistake to assume that in order to understand these networks we just need to â€Å"connect the dots† and then isolate the â€Å"key† actors who are often defined in terms of their â€Å"centrality† in the network. To an extent, this is right, as in the case of bridging members embedded within patron-client networks. However, within covert networks such as Cosa Nostra, this assumption belies the difficulty of â€Å"connecting the dots† in terms of mining vast quantities of information, pattern matching on characteristics for mafiosi who often go under multiple aliases, and still ending up with information the may be intentionally misleading, inaccurate, out-of-date, and incomplete. Further, this belies the difficulty in â€Å"knowing† who is the most central when you have at best only a sample of the network. Finally, and critically, this approach does not contend with the most pressing problem—the underlying network is dynamic. Just because you isolate a key actor today does not mean that the network will be destabilized and unable to respond. Rather, it is possible, that isolating such an actor may have... ...ertise is critical. This is particularly applicable to Cosa Nostra considering that, according to Gambetta, mafiosi are highly specialized according to specific tasks. (Gambetta 67) There are two key themes underlying these results. First, it is easier to determine how to impact the performance or the flow of information through an organization than it is to determine exactly how it will adapt. It is easier to destabilize a network than to determine what new goals it will form or new tasks it will take on. This is a function of our lack of knowledge about the processes of adaptation other than learning. Second, the relative impact of destabilization strategies strongly depends on the underlying organizational architecture, that is, on the meta-network itself. As such, a key interpretation of these results is in terms of destabilizing different classes of networks.