Monday, September 30, 2019

Hot Seat Chapter 16 Essay

1 . The fundamental ideas associated with the mercantile theory were: that everything was to benefit the mother country, each nation was trying to achieve self-sufficiency, colonies and agriculture would improve economy and raw materials, and the country must benefit at the expense of others. For the most part, these ideas along with a few other minor pieces helped European nations to conquer much of the New and old world. Great Britain was the most successful with a vast overseas empire through North America, the West Indies, Africa and into India. They governed their colonies effectively and efficiently maximizing power and economic strength over the world. The least successful would probably be Portugal. They initially started out strong, finding trade routes along Africa into Asia and conquering Brazil, however by the 18th century their empire had diminished to slight control of Brazil and almost no other colonies. 2. The main points of conflict between Britain and France in North America were in the St. Lawrence River valley and the Ohio River valley. These areas were huge enters of trade and influence of the Native Americans that both the French and English desired. In the West Indies the conflict was mainly over crops and through naval battles. These skirmishes affected overseas trade and the flow of resources. In India, the conflict was mainly restricted to port cities and factories set up by the early English and French settlers along the Indian subcontinent. 3. Triangle trade was an extremely useful trading method to transport goods, raw materials, and resources between Europe, the Americas, and Africa. European sailors ould travel down to Africa and exchange weapons (mostly) for African slaves from West African kings. These slaves were typically prisoners of war that the rival African cities wanted to get rid of. Europeans would transport these slaves to the West Indies and North American colonies were they would be traded for bullion and raw materials found and grown in the New World. Finally those ships would take the materials back to Europe were they could be sold and traded to the rest of the world. Triangle trade was an effective way for mercantilist empires to become more self- ufficient and grow economically. 4. Initially, the Spanish conquered and controlled the largest empire in the Americas. They had colonies in much of the rich West Indies, all throughout Central America, most of South America, and the South West of North America. They would split much of their territories into Judicial councils called audiencias. Each audiencia had a local official loyal to the Spanish crown called a Corregidor. Before the Bourbon reforms, Queen Isabella had assigned much of the colonial control to the Council of the Indies, hich nominated viceroys for the New World. Trade was mostly ruled by a flota system of yearly shipping with Spain. With the Bourbon reforms, Charles Ill attemoted to reassert Spanish control over the colonies. He allowed more than one Spanish city (Cadiz) to trade with the New World and opened more Caribbean ports. colonists) as the heads of society. They were the elites while the creoles were subordinate. 5. Slavery was introduced to the Americas through the triangle trading networks where large numbers of blacks were brought over form Africa. This wasn’t the first nstitution of slavery, however it is one of the worst recordings of slavery throughout history. Slavery became a fundamental part of the plantation system and completely necessary to the New World colonies’ economies. Without slaves, much of the intense economic growth experienced by the New World and Europe would not have occurred. The plantation system helped drive inhumane treatment of slaves because they were then seen as property, farm tools, that could be replaced. When they misbehaved or didn’t function properly, the plantation owners would either fix them through torture) or kill them. Despite the harsh treatment of slaves, our country and many others would arguably never have gotten to where it is today without them. 6. By the end of the Seven Years’ War, France and Austria came out defeated. In Europe, almost no borders or politics changed. Germany was still disputed and Prussia remained a strong power with England at its back. In North America, France lost all of their colonies and possessions. England and her North American colonies defeated the French and with the Treaty of Paris, cast them out. The only real foothold France now held in the New World were through its West Indies possessions. Great Britain now came out as a world power and probably the strongest nation up until the USA’s uprising. 7. Many European, especially British, events and ideas helped influence the American Revolution and drive the colonists to rebel. The John Wilkes affair which challenged the Kings power and the influence of Parliament. John Wilkes criticized the peace negotiations with France after the Seven Years’ War and gained much support from mall property owners and the nobles who wished to drain the kings power. America saw these demonstrations of proof as to the tyrannical nature of a monarchy. The Glorious Revolution also showed to the colonists how sometimes a new government must be instated to protect the people. Thinkers like John Locke and Thomas Paine also widely influenced the minds of many Americans. The American Revolution also caused a domino effect over much of the New World colonies like Haiti and other South American areas. It displayed the Enlightenment characteristics and helped inspire the French revolution. Great British political radicals saw that taxation of their North American colonies as far and Just. England had protected and defended them throughout the Seven Years’ War and they must share some of the burden. Also, American colonists paid significantly less taxes than the English citizens in Great Britain so they had no reason to complain. Americans were outraged because they were only represented through virtual representation. They felt that if the Parliamen t wished to tax the colonies, they must give them fair representation in Parliament, â€Å"no taxation without

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Accounting Test 2

Exam Chapters 3,4,7 Student: 1. Which of the following is the correct formula to compute the predetermined overhead rate? A. Estimated total units in the allocation base divided by estimated total manufacturing overhead costs. B. Estimated total manufacturing overhead costs divided by estimated total units in the allocation base. C. Actual total manufacturing overhead costs divided by estimated total units in the allocation base. D.Estimated total manufacturing overhead costs divided by actual total units in the allocation base.2. Which of the following would probably be the least appropriate allocation base for allocating overhead in a highly automated manufacturer of specialty valves? A. Machine-hours B. Power consumption C. Direct labor-hours D. Machine setups3. Which terms will make the following statement true? When manufacturing overhead is overapplied, the Manufacturing Overhead account has a __________ balance and applied manufacturing overhead is greater than __________ manufacturing overhead.A. debit, actual B. credit, actual C. debit, estimated D. credit, estimated4. Daguio Corporation uses direct labor-hours in its predetermined overhead rate. At the beginning of the year, the total estimated manufacturing overhead was $224,580. At the end of the year, actual direct labor-hours for the year were 18,200 hours, manufacturing overhead for the year was underapplied by $12,100, and the actual manufacturing overhead was $219,580. The predetermined overhead rate for the year must have been closest to: A. $11. 40 per machine-hour B. $12. 34 per machine-hourC. $12. 06 per machine-hour D. $10. 53 per machine-hour5. Crinks Corporation uses direct labor-hours in its predetermined overhead rate. At the beginning of the year, the estimated direct labor-hours were 11,200 hours and the total estimated manufacturing overhead was $259,840. At the end of the year, actual direct labor-hours for the year were 10,800 hours and the actual manufacturing overhead for the year was $254,840. Overhead at the end of the year was: A. $4,280 overapplied B. $9,280 overapplied C. $9,280 underapplied D. $4,280 underapplied6.Washtenaw Corporation uses a job-order costing system. The following data are for last year: Washtenaw applies overhead using a predetermined rate based on direct labor-hours. What predetermined overhead rate was used last year? A. $3. 55 per direct labor-hour B. $3. 25 per direct labor-hour C. $3. 08 per direct labor-hour D. $3. 36 per direct labor-hour7. A company should use process costing, rather than job order costing, if: A. production is only partially completed during the accounting period. B. the product is manufactured in batches only as orders are received.C. the product is composed of mass-produced homogeneous units. D. the product goes through several steps of production.8. Which of the following characteristics applies to process costing, but does not apply to job order costing? A. The need for averaging. B. The use of equivalent units of production. C. S eparate, identifiable jobs. D. The use of predetermined overhead rates.9. The cost of beginning inventory under the weighted-average method is: A. added in with current period costs in determining costs per equivalent unit for a given period. B. gnored in determining the costs per equivalent unit for a given period. C. considered separately from costs incurred during the current period. D. subtracted from current period costs in determining costs per equivalent unit for a given period.10. The Nichols Company uses the weighted-average method in its process costing system. The company recorded 29,500 equivalent units for conversion costs for November in a particular department. There were 6,000 units in the ending work in process inventory on November 30, 75% complete with respect to conversion costs.The November 1 work in process inventory consisted of 8,000 units, 50% complete with respect to conversion costs. A total of 25,000 units were completed and transferred out of the departm ent during the month. The number of units started during November in the department was: A. 24,500 units B. 23,000 units C. 27,000 units D. 21,000 units11. Diston Company uses the weighted-average method in its process costing system. The first processing department, the Welding Department, started the month with 18,000 units in its beginning work in process inventory that were 30% complete with respect to conversion costs.The conversion cost in this beginning work in process inventory was $44,820. An additional 90,000 units were started into production during the month. There were 21,000 units in the ending work in process inventory of the Welding Department that were 10% complete with respect to conversion costs. A total of $677,970 in conversion costs were incurred in the department during the month. What would be the cost per equivalent unit for conversion costs for the month? (Round off to three decimal places. ) A. $8. 112 B. $8. 300 C. $7. 533 D. $6. 10812.Sanchez Corporation uses the weighted-average method in its process costing system. The Fitting Department is the second department in its production process. The data below summarize the department's operations in March. The Fitting Department's cost per equivalent unit for conversion cost for March was $8. 66. How much conversion cost was assigned to the units transferred out of the Fitting Department during March? A. $480,630 B. $450,320 C. $444,258 D. $510,94013. Designing a new product is an example of (an): A. Unit-level activity. B. Batch-level activity. C. Product-level activity. D. Organization-sustaining activity.14. McCaskey Corporation uses an activity-based costing system with the following three activity cost pools: The Other activity cost pool is used to accumulate costs of idle capacity and organization-sustaining costs. The company has provided the following data concerning its costs: The distribution of resource consumption across activity cost pools is given below: The activity rate for the Fabrication activity cost pool is closest to: A. $1. 65 per machine-hour B. $4. 00 per machine-hour C. $0. 0 per machine-hour D. $2. 40 per machine-hour15. Christiansen Corporation uses an activity-based costing system with the following three activity cost pools: The Other activity cost pool is used to accumulate costs of idle capacity and organization-sustaining costs. The company has provided the following data concerning its costs: The distribution of resource consumption across activity cost pools is given below: The activity rate for the Order Processing activity cost pool is closest to: A. $676 per order B. $780 per order C. $560 per order D. $312 per order16.Bossie Corporation uses an activity-based costing system with three activity cost pools. The company has provided the following data concerning its costs and its activity based costing system: How much cost, in total, would be allocated in the first-stage allocation to the Assembly activity cost pool? A. $196,33 3 B. $209,000 C. $310,000 D. $155,00017. Spendlove Corporation has provided the following data from its activity-based costing system: The company makes 430 units of product S78N a year, requiring a total of 1,120 machine-hours, 40 orders, and 30 inspection-hours per year.The product's direct materials cost is $49. 81 per unit and its direct labor cost is $12. 34 per unit. The product sells for $129. 90 per unit. According to the activity-based costing system, the product margin for product S78N is: A. $4,116. 50 B. $29,132. 50 C. $6,180. 50 D. $5,161. 3018. Wecker Corporation uses the following activity rates from its activity-based costing to assign overhead costs to products: Data concerning two products appear below: How much overhead cost would be assigned to Product V09X using the activity-based costing system? A. 157. 87 B. $91,722. 47 C. $10,385. 22 D. $5,485. 5019. The balance in the Work in Process account equals: A. the balance in the Finished Goods inventory account. B. the balance in the Cost of Goods Sold account. C. the balances on the job cost sheets of uncompleted jobs. D. the balance in the Manufacturing Overhead account.20. Overapplied manufacturing overhead occurs when: A. applied overhead exceeds actual overhead. B. applied overhead exceeds estimated overhead. C. actual overhead exceeds estimated overhead. D. budgeted overhead exceeds actual overhead.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

What skills are needed to make an effective team member

Good communication skills are essential in making an important contribution to a team. Different elements of these are outlined in the following paragraphs. In our event unit 18 I kept an upright body posture to help me communicate my message in a confident way, for example I avoided crossing my arms in a defensive position when speaking to people, when listening to someone else, I would smile, frown, laugh or be silent at appropriate times to show that I understand and to give feedback when working in a team work situation. Tact is a very important teamwork skill. During my event unit I respected others and their ideas; I tried not to consciously abrupt or cut off other people while they are still trying to say something. Everyone in the team is important and deserves respect, so I listened to their ideas and valued their contributions. I was sensitive and tactful in disagreements. Raising team morale and reducing tension in a team is very important when defusing resolving conflict within a team. Once there was a disagreement between two team members and I resolved this by stepping in and trying to identify the positives in both positions; making it a ‘win-win' situation. It is even better if you can anticipate conflict as actions can be taken before hand to avoid it. Conflict generally occurs when people have different ways of working, different characters, or give different values to their own contribution to the team. If one person is likely to try to force their view on others without listening to alternatives – then I would encourage others to put forward their views first. Earlier in my assignments I have studied that the difference between a group and a team is that a team is all about shared responsibility in achieving goals. We have also studied that there are two main elements of teamwork – concern to complete the task and concern to support the process. Concern for team members is a vital process skill. Tasks are completed better when everyone is pulling in the same direction a united team is a motivated team. A genuine concern should be displayed so team recuperation and performance will increase to a higher level. Many of us pay little attention to the quality of our listening, leaving a gap between hearing others and really listening to what they have to say. Real listening involves three steps: 1. Hearing – this is listening well enough to catch what the speakers have to say. E.g. if the speaker is talking about team roles and says that it is important to have a leader. You hear jus enough to repeat this fact- then you have what was said. 2. Understanding – you absorb what has been said and understand it in your own way. When you heard the speaker say that it is important to have a leader then you understand that the speaker could be suggesting that the team should have a leader. 3. Judging – this is when you understand what the speaker has said and you will want to judge whether it makes sense. To get to stage three you really need to listen carefully. So attentive listening can create a good team listener- someone who is willing to see that the sum of the team is greater than the individual parts. I have felt this before as I have seen that other people have good ideas which are better than my own. Questioning is useful, it helps clarify issues in a team and displays awareness for areas that need clearing up. If people don't ask questions they are more likely to make mistakes. I have found in my event unit that by asking a question politely, when you are unsure of something, the chances are that someone else in your team is also not sure but was too polite or scared to ask. Sincerity is important. Sincere and honest people are preferred to the superficial. One of the main criticisms of team members is that they are ‘two faced' or ‘insincere'. Teams should be built on trust. In our event unit, all team members put forward their ideas and contributed to the team in a sincere and open way, which is why we created a powerful team. You need to feel sure that your ideas are worth sharing if you want to speak clearly and confidently. Focusing on the key message that you want to get across and avoid getting sidetracked into irrelevant issues. Long pauses and ‘ers' and ‘ums' that break up the flow of your message should be avoided. When presenting powerpoints in my event unit or speaking with customers and team members I would take this into account. In one circumstance, I had to speak to a member of the management staff and I was told I speak articulately. A good team member needs to be organised, areas to work on will include the following: * Preparation for meetings – it is important to be effectively prepared for your meetings. Ensure you arrive on time and have done the appropriate background work. E.g. if the meeting is to discuss an action plan, you need to ensure that you have completed all the actions required from the last meeting. If you are being asked to present information you should ensure that it is set out in a summary paper that is clear and easy to understand. Dates of meetings and other important team activities should be put into your diary, you need to monitor that you haven't double booked meetings on your calendar. * As a team member it is important to be able to identify key issues facing your team. Consider what these issues are and then about the best ways of presenting them to your team. E.g. an issue we had in our event unit was that we didn't confirm what we were going to sell so we had a team meeting to resolve this issue. Having identified what the root causes of these issues were it was necessary to broach them in a tactful and sensitive way. * Teams should create schedules laying out when activities have to be carried out. Team work activities usually involve targets and deadlines. Scheduling involves identifying the key stages and processes that need to be completed. Dates should be attached to the completion of these activities and team members allocated responsibilities on a clear schedule. Our event unit required us to create schedules. A crucial element of scheduling activities at the personal level is effective time management. In order to develop this skill it is necessary to allocate time in a well organised way. By focusing on one activity at a time it is possible to maximise attention on that activity before moving onto another prioritised area. In our event unit our teacher advised to us to use a method of allocating time through a value analysis of time called the ABC analysis. * ‘A' activities are those that are ranked as very important. They can be effectively carried out by the person involved or team working with that person. * ‘B' activities are important but can be delegated. E.g. in our event unit it was my job to obtain a game console, I did this by myself but as another team member working in the same department as me, as a backup, so if I could not obtain the game console he would. * ‘C' activities are less important but usually represent the lion's share of the work. They include routine tasks such as paperwork and telephone calls. In our event unit we had to create flyers, leaflets etc to promote our business. To meet deadlines, we focused on the most important ‘A' task and completed one or two ‘A' tasks each day then a further two to three ‘B' tasks and set aside some time for ‘C' marks. This helped us to complete tasks on schedule when new carefully prioritise activities and gave appropriate time to the most important ones. * Responsibility – allocating responsibility is important in team work. At the end of the day the team needs to take responsibility for getting team tasks completed to a standard on time. But within the team it is vital to allocate responsibilities to individuals. A vital teamwork skill thus involves taking on responsibility. We were all allocated by our manager in our event unit 18. Self management is when we are able to manage ourselves effectively in our interactions with others. This is very important because as people are asked to take on more responsibility in organisations it can lead to increasing levels on stress and frustration if others do not accept their responsibilities. However we were a well managed group in our event unit 18 so this situation did not occur. * Responsiveness – good team workers are responsive to the needs of their team and to the needs of other team members. They respond to emails, they respond to other forms of communication and they respond to the challenges of creating a great team. A responsive team member rises to any team challenge that comes their way. * Adaptability – team workers need to be able to adapt to changing situations. Modern organisations are characterised by change, in our event unit 18 team workers are frequently asked to adjust to changing situations by: * Making decisions for themselves when dealing with customers. * Taking on more responsibility * Dealing with situations they have never faced before * Taking on new team roles – perhaps roles that they have not played before e.g. to chair a meeting. * Consideration of options – in most problem solving and decision making situations there are options to choose from. Teams are likely to generate more options than individuals working alone. A good team member will seek to find out as many different options as possible. They will then consider the options and help the team come up with a decision to choose the best option. A poor team worker will only consider one option- their own. For example in our event unit 18 we all had different ideas what to do for the event. * Maintaining focus – people tend to be only to concentrate on tasks for a relatively short period of time. Then they lose focus. This means that a team project can get off to a good start before losing momentum. Jus before the deadline date people regain focus- but often it is too late. This happened quite a lot in our event unit 18 as, to be honest, we are teenagers and easily distracted by internet gaming, online shopping, but thanks to our manager and teacher we were motivated to maintain focus and we held a successful event before it was too late. * Openness to criticism – we should all be open to criticism in order to improve ourselves, good criticism should focus on processes rather than judgments about people. E.g. when I created a business logo, I went round the group and asked them whether they liked the design or not, from their feedback, I tweaked my the original logo and created a couple of other logos, from which the whole group, picked one, this brought the group together and made us feel more like a team. ‘That didn't work, perhaps we could do it this way' is positive criticism which helps the team move forward. If providing criticism is focused on processes then we should accept it in a good spirit. Process criticism helps us to make improvements to our practice. I think that these skills were important for my unit 18 event and in general too.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Edward abbey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Edward abbey - Essay Example Abbey attended University of Mexico in 1951, where he did B.A. in Philosophy and English and also completed his masters in Philosophy. Abbey’s writings are inspired from his life experiences. Desert Solitaire, published in 1968, which is considered one of the best narratives in nature writing, tells about Abbey’s experience in Utah where he worked as a ranger. Abbey’s writings are not only engaging and entertaining but they also serve as a wake-up call for the conservation of nature. Abbey’s long list of essays and books include Jonathon Troy, Fire on the Mountain, Black sun but the book that earned him the greatest acclaim was ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang’ which was published in 1975. The book coined the word ‘monkey wrenching’ which meant to sabotage for the defense of environment. It is also speculated that the book inspired the formation of the militant group ‘Earth First’ (Cahalan). His orneriness over environmental i ssues made Abbey a hero among the activists of his time. This protagonist of radical environmentalism died at the age of 62 and was buried in the state of Arizona. Works Cited Cahalan, James M. Edward Abbey: A Life . University of Arizona Press; , 2001. Print

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Technological Stimulus of the Industrial Revolution Essay

The Technological Stimulus of the Industrial Revolution - Essay Example The technology that continued to drive the Industrial Revolution came in the form of invention and innovation. Invention, and the implementation of the invention, was merely the first step in the process. It is estimated that the period of invention terminated in 1780 (McCloskey 251). All progress after that date was due to innovations on existing technology. Initially, the textile mills located their factories near sources of water that were needed to drive the water wheel technology. The introduction of the steam engine radically changed the economics of the textile industry. No longer forced to relocate workers to the site of the source of power, manufacturers were free to build factories at the population centers that provided a ready supply of cheap labor. Aside from solving the labor issue, steam power was not subject to the changes in weather and seasonal variations that water was. Water was subject to drought and in the attempt to make up for losses in the dry period, water driven mills were often forced to employ child labor during high productivity periods. The loss of this labor source reduced the value of water. Though the cost of water may have been competitive, it could never be a reach the production levels of steam. Without the introduction of the invention of steam, the textile industry could never have reached an economy of scale. ... However, there were some major differences in the economy of the production of iron. Iron experienced an unprecedented level of growth in production during the period of 1780-1860. However, it did not see an improvement in the productivity that was noted in textiles (McCloskey 251). While the cost of textiles fell dramatically during this period, the cost of iron fell less sharply. McCloskey has attributed this to the rising cost of inputs, mainly coal, that were required in the production of iron (251). The production level of iron was spurred by improved technology, but an influx of capital could not significantly raise the level of productivity. The inventions and innovations also aided the high levels of production and improved productivity during the Industrial Revolution in transportation. Transportation not only increased trade, but also facilitated the transport of local raw materials and finished goods. While McCloskey puts the value of transportation during this period at about 6% of the national income, it may have been a resource whose dynamic effect is difficult to calculate (258). The development of roads and waterways was reflected in the overall cost of transporting cloth from a remote mill to a commerce center. The eventual reduction in the cost of transportation through technological improvements would further raise the level of productivity. Transportation moved the finished goods and allowed for the importation of raw cheaper materials. Critics, however, have argued that the peripheral economic benefits of transportation, including the expansion of trade, amount to very little (McCloskey 258). However, even outside the textile sector, exports grew among almost all manufactured goods though they were

Home work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Home work - Essay Example aty incorporated more enforcement provisions, there would be lower environmental degradation and environmental clean up would never be a burden to the citizens. Zapatista National Liberation Army’s point of opposing NAFTA and free trade was grounded on the concept of â€Å"Land and Liberty†. That is, the rebellion was ecologically motivated. The revolt region, Chiapas, had three distinct ecological zones, threatened by industrialization. With NAFTA, the indigenous people would be affected because of increased tariffs, which the Zapatistas viewed as a death warrant for the native people. The US government pays farmers not to produce portraying the program as environmental protection initiative. However, the program substituted price support programs fro farmers and is clearly a form of income support initiative. This practice should continue as long as there is enough food supply to the US citizens and farmers are actually willing to give up farming. The fourth agricultural revolution might focus on growing food in areas of close proximity to the market to reduce the impact of emission through burning fossil fuels during transportation of farm produce to markets. It is likely to entail utilitarian urban ecology with green roof tops. In early periods, natives of LDCs were ferried to Europe and America, depleting LDCS, especially Africa, of its workforce and pumping slaves in their own systems for development purposes. Also, global economic policies are in such a way that they favor developed nations while they oppress LDCs. However, LDCs are also to be held responsible for their underdevelopment for numerous reasons. First, LDCs are characterized by poor leadership that lacks accountability. Second, LDCs population growth is far much above the rate of economic growth, putting a lot of strain on available resources. Third, LDCs are characterized by political instability, which is an enemy to development progress. Rapid population growth reduces development

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Class learning log Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Class learning log - Research Paper Example The term competitive intelligence is not as old or common as marketing or finance, neither it is separable from the other operations of any organization. It signifies continuous effort of a company to maintain its position in the era of cut throat competition and bring value to its stakeholders. The two most significant learning in the Competitive Intelligence class for me has been the Intelligence Cycle and KITS (Key Intelligence Topics). Both these processes have different significance. The Intelligence cycle consists of stages of Planning, Collection, Analysis and Dissemination and an extension of the traditional competitive intelligence. At the same time, KIT is the process of identifying and prioritizing the key intelligence needs for the senior managers. Interestingly the six CI question of the beginning of the first class created much of interest. This class talked about the recognition and respect of the profession, applicability of law, disclosure of information, confidentiality of information, conflicting issues and ways to avoid conflicts of interests in fulfilling one’s duties, ethical standards and many more. This was the first experience of knowing understanding different aspect of business environment can bring an opportunity to leverage on as well as negligence can be fatal for the survival of the organization. Understanding of environment provides an opportunity to change it. Deeper is the profile and intelligence, broader is the understanding of elements of environment and easier it will be for a business professional to get clues from the environment as warning and develop strategies that can either help in preparing for unforeseen circumstances or leverage on that too. There are various terms given to competitiv e intelligence such as foresight, insight, environmental scanning, peripheral vision, competing through analytics and business

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Case study week 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 3 - Case Study Example Auditing requires enough time and thus fixing time within the company’s busy schedule may delay the process. Finally in a high competition industry, determining inherent risk is important since there are higher complex valuation issues and thus more experienced staffing is needed. This will affect the client in the sense that the cost of increased staffing digs into the company’s profit margins which are minimal in such an industry. The year 1998 was faced with allegation from the delloitte auditors on misappropriation of the audit results due to the wrong facts provided by the vice president of Just for Feet. Below are the risk factors that are likely to have affected the company. The affected parties here were Just for Feet, Logo Athletics, Reebok and Deloitte Being in Thomas Shine’s position; working related ethics did not allow him to engage in such a fraudulent conversion with Don Allen Ruttenberg. The wise decision here was to ask Ruttenberg to organize a conference where the executives of the vendor companies would decide and thus he would have avoided the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Scientific misconduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scientific misconduct - Essay Example on the other hand, refers to manipulating research equipment, materials, or processes or omitting (changing) results or data such that the study is not correctly represented in the records. Plagiarism is the stealing of another individual’s processes, ideas, words or results without giving proper credit. Scientific misconduct has dire consequences (Broad & Wade, 1982). It can ruin careers of researchers who knowingly write publications based on false research. If this is done by clinical researchers, some patients may suffer due to the wrong information on different types of treatment. A proper example is an article on fraud by Lancet published in Wakefield et al. (1999) (Koocher & Keith 2010). It linked a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella to autism. This caused a massive drop in vaccinations that could have resulted in several deaths, in children who were not protected. Falsification also does delay scientific progress especially when researchers misuse research funds, as well as waste time, following false research. A case in point is false claims by physicist Jan Hendrik Schon that he had built high performance plastic transistors, plus the world’s organic laser. This resulted in several laboratories wasting resources and years trying to duplicate his findings (Koocher & Keith 2010). Scientific misconduct ruins the image of the field in which the falsified research is carried out. It diminishes faith in science. Unfortunately, concrete information on the escalating cases of fabrication or falsifying of research in science is not available. The only estimate of the rise in research misconduct is a survey by Koocher & Keith (2010). According to the findings, approximately 1.5% of all research done annually is false. Out of the 155,000 researchers supplied by the National Institution of Health (NIH) funding, there were 2,335 incidents of poss ible misconduct yearly, sixty percent of them involving falsification or fabrication of data. It is worth

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Teenage Awareness of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Barbados Essay Example for Free

Teenage Awareness of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Barbados Essay During the course of this project many persons provided their assistance to me. Firstly I’d like to thank Ms. Baptiste my CAS teacher for her patience and guidance, as well as the members of my survey for their participation. Finally Id like to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement. Introduction The topic I have chosen is the levels of awareness of the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases among Barbadian teenagers. I have chosen this topic because of the severity of impact it can have on Barbadian society without proper knowledge. Without knowledge our Barbadian teenagers can make careless decisions and cause an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases. Sexually transmitted diseases, more commonly known as STD’s are among the world’s most commonly caught diseases. They are painful, irritating, contagious and sometimes fatal. Sexually transmitted diseases are very easy to catch, but they are also very easy to prevent. There are very many different types of STDs, some more harmful than others, such as Chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, and HIV/aids. In this study I will attempt to analyze fifteen teenagers from Queens College with different ages between 11 and 19 through a survey. From the results of these questionnaires, organisations such as can benefit from these by taking my results and placing in effect measures to educate Barbadian teens on sexually transmitted diseases to prevent widespread outbreaks. Literature Review Teens are often at increased risk for STDs compared to other age groups. This is likely due to the fact that teens are more likely to have unprotected sex as well as multiple partners. A lack of available information about prevention and treatment options, as well as a perceived stigma surrounding STD’s, may also deter teens from seeking help when they need it. This was stated by Susan Carney from Youth Development (USA), April 2nd 2008. This study on teens will be proven/ disproven in my study through my surveys among the 15 teens I will analyze. In my research I also found that, 10,000 Teens will contract an STD this year and of those 10,000, 5500 Teens will contract HIV or Chlamydia (more common among teens than older adults), Gonorrhoea also is found to have higher rates in teens than older adults. As many as 15% of sexually active teenage women are infected with HPV, many with the type of HPV linked to cervical cancer. Many STDs were found to have few or no symptoms and were NOT a part of Standard STD Testing. This information was taken from observations of statistics made by Glen Davis from the â€Å"StopThinkDecide† organisation in 2007 (USA). Awareness of the dangers of HIV/Aids is decreasing among young people at a time when fewer are practising safe sex, as revealed by Owen Bowcott in 2009. He conducted a survey on young people to discover how unaware they are of the risks of Hiv/Aids. His findings showed that nearly 60% of 16- to 24-year-olds questioned thought they were not at risk of contracting the infection after having unprotected sex and 8% believed taking a contraceptive pill offered protection against infection. Furthermore, almost 14% thought the fact that they were not gay ensured they could not contract HIV/Aids. This survey of 2,550 young people was carried out for the Staying Alive Foundation charity, which is supported by MTV UK and the Body Shop. Data Collection Sources  Each of the literary texts that I have reviewed has helped to gain a better understanding of this overall topic. This is because the statistics discovered, have been generalized from a percentage of the world’s population. If this method was to be repeated with another percentage of the population and both surveys’ results were reviewed and compared, this would prove them to be reliable as the results would be the same. This is because School education has an age requirement before a child is given more information about STDs and sexual intercourse worldwide. Therefore, children of the norm worldwide would have the same awareness level as the other at a specific age. My method of study (questionnaire and survey) has helped in bettering my knowledge of this topic since I was able to gain quantitative data that supported the statistics of other literary texts and surveys. Also, I was able to gain a minimal amount of qualitative information that allowed me to understand more about the specific areas of this topic Teens are unaware of. This was minimal as most effective questionnaires and surveys have set questions which must be generalised to the public. Presentation of Findings The amount of people who chose the correct sexually transmitted diseases on my survey is shown below in the bar chart. All of the respondents chose HIV/Aids as an STD. Figure below shows a bar chart with results from STD choices. Approximately 11% of students aged 11-19 did know that sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted through oral sex Over 22% of students thought that all STDs can be seen by ones physical appearance while 78% chose that it is not always shown by ones physical appearance. A total of 44% of individuals studied in the questionnaire thought that homosexuals had a lesser risk at contracting STDs while 33% said they did not know and 23% thought that homosexuals had a higher risk at contracting STDs. 22% of students tested did not know that sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted through blood transfusions. The question was asked, What age groups are most affected by STDs? and 56% of people answered that the ages 16-20 are more affected by STDs. This is shown in the chart below. 00% of people who took the survey chose that all people were susceptible to STDs. Although 33% of people answered that they thought 11-20% of Barbadian were living with Aids, 33% of people also didn’t know. Shown in the chart below. 56% of students chose contraception as a method to help prevent STDs, while 78% of students chose abstinence. This is shown in the graph below. 89% of those surveyed chose the internet and health clinics as ways to obtain information on STDs. This is shown in the chart below. 7% of students chose HIV/Aids as the most contracted disease throughout the Caribbean. This is shown below. 67% of students chose a sore that hurts and doesn’t go away as the main symptom of STDs. Interpretation of Findings Findings have shown that the awareness of sexually transmitted diseases has often been questioned amongst the younger generation. After conducting a survey to investigate just how aware Barbadian teenagers are of these STDs, results conveyed that factual information was lacking significantly amongst the youngest of the young population, ranging from 11-13 years old. According to my evidence, I believe these youngsters lack this key information due to the vague education received about sexual intercourse, and STDs from School environments. However, even though these young people do not have a broad awareness of these diseases from their School. My findings have shown that School education is still the primary source for young adults to gain this sexual knowledge. This is evident since other school children that were surveyed that ranged from the ages of 14-19 showed a much more in-depth understanding of STDs and forms of contraception. Statements made by some, illustrated that this awareness was mostly received from their school education. Therefore, as we can see, older aged students have more awareness of STDs, whereas the younger ones do not due to School systems having an age requirement. This is in order for students to learn more about these sexually transmitted diseases when they are ready. Discussion of Findings It was shown in the survey that between the ages 11 and 13, students were disturbingly unaware of the various ways of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, furthermore the different types of sexually transmitted diseases. This was not shown in the past researches collected in my literature review. It is shown that all teens studied are moderately aware of the various diseases and are well aware of ways to contract them. The government has put a sufficient investment into making teens more aware of sexually transmitted diseases. It was studied in my lit review that many teens were unaware but the country the surveys were taken from were different and may have less education on the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases in teens. My study was also taken in a very small scale whilst studies such as Susan Carney’s were taken in much larger scale making her study much more likely to be accurate. Limitations Since the survey was small and was only done on 30 students, the survey may not be accurate for the entire percentage awareness of Barbados. Also because some of the questions may have been too personal to ask, some of the required information could not be gathered due to the delicacy of the subject. The survey was only handed out at school where people may have been more educated, therefore more aware so the results may not be accurate. Recommendations My recommendations are that the government should teach students from a younger age about sexually transmitted diseases due to the high rate at which 11-13 year olds answered the questions wrong. Since the age at which teens are having sex is getting younger and younger it is only necessary to educate our future generations to help prevent an epidemic outbreak of STDs in the near future. Parents should also play a vital role in this by talking to their children from early ages so that they can be aware of the seriousness of STDs. Conclusion The lack of awareness seems to be at younger ages yet they are still those of age without knowledge of contraction of STDs. With the high amount of infected people in the Caribbean these respondents should be more aware. My conclusion is that young people should be made more aware of the impact of STDs on society and how to prevent the outbreak of these STDs.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Effects Of Globalisation The Algerian Case Media Essay

Effects Of Globalisation The Algerian Case Media Essay Globalisation is a phenomenon which describes the integration of regional and international communities through societies, economies and culture as an ongoing process through global networks of trade and communication. It is driven by various combined factors which include biological, technological, political and socio-cultural factors. Globalisation promotes circulation of languages, acculturation and ideas in the different countries. Culture has its own qualities but can be dynamic. Humans are all different and have different characters in their different societies. Culture is learned and through absorption from the social environment. It is never static and is always transforming. Culture is an incessant process that is gradual to change and influence. It does not change abruptly or suddenly, but a process which gives a community a sense of continuity, identity, security, dignity and keeps the society together. The effect of globalisation on culture has been diverse and immense. P eoples cultural behaviours have been affected in various ways. Globalisation demands countries to pursue common economic policies regardless of their development or economic nature. It in addition demands that countries open up of their boundaries to trans-national corporations in an indiscriminate manner. This has been the major gateway for globalisation affecting many nations in broad ways especially developing countries. Classic examples include India in Asia and the African continent. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of globalisation in developing countries focusing on Algeria, perception and the measures or programs employed by these countries to protect their national culture from the effects of globalisation. Culture is the identity of countries and communities and it is being continuously threatened by globalisation. Furthermore, this research is expected to be expanding on the issue of globalisation from exclusively economic definitions to more of h umanistic cultural approaches to globalisation. INTRODUCTION: George Bernard SHAW is known for saying Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Globalisation spread will definitely carry changes to the parts of world it attains. Does it mean that traditional norms and values will be abolished? Definitely not, but change is an indispensable ingredient of life. Todays communication and new technologies such as new global media (Internet amongst others), have demonstrated an influential means of projecting long-established culture. The fact that US cultural merchandises are unbeaten reflects that American cultural exports are influential and strong. It also reflects that the US economy is successful all over the world. Generally speaking globalisation, which has greatly affected local culture, does mean some integration of culture. The positive aspects are that there is a widen information, cultural exchange and all this can lead to a worldwide cultural growth. However, there is also another aspect of global culture: a lot of people see globalisation of culture as a new way of a cultural Americanisation. A report emanated from the UNESCO in 2005 showed that the worlds cultural trade has been estimated at 1.3 trillion dollars and is rapidly expanding. According to the report, international trade in cultural products increased from 38 billion Dollars in 1994 to attain 60 billions Dollars in 2002. The report examines cross-border trade on selected media products. In the only year of 2002 United States, China and the United Kingdom, produced 40 % of the worlds cultural trade products in 2002, while Africa and Latin America together produced for less than 4 %. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2010) Anglo-Saxons products were overriding at the core of the entertainment industry (music, film and television). Because rules of the WTO (World Trade Organization) do not allow countries which ban cultural imports, one of the globalisation effects will be the end of cultural diversity. We are driving towards a world in which the verb to have is becoming by far more important that the verb to be. (Akulenko, 2008) According to Scholte this point of view stresses that: Globalisation introduces a single world culture centred on consumerism, mass media, Americana and the English language. (Scholte, 2000, p 53) In addition of being helpful for businesses and technologies globalisation has greatly impacted the world by helping cultures spread all over the globe. While this can be thought as a reality, there still remains difference of opinion about whether cultural globalisation will be advantageous for everyone. According to Bhargava, (2003), some people consider that globalisation will boost the opportunity for the great nations to take advantage of the economic weaknesses of the developing countries as well as to reduce the cultural diversity and make it a global-culture, while some others argue that it does have the possibility to create opportunities for growth all over the world. However, there are people who say that globalisation is anything else but the westernisation of the world. Some are afraid to lose their values or that their language disappears and they feel threatened by the influence exerted by other cultures in their country. Even though some people consider that this phen omenon may be dangerous for their culture, some others perceived globalisation as an amazing opportunity rather than a threat. Although we are not attentive to it, globalisation which is a very fascinating event, had affected everyones existence. From the Chinese sewing needle to the Brazilian coffee, we are encircled by merchandise from all over the world. Thus, it is definitely an issue which concerned everyone. For that, it must have an effect on the way people think, on their norms and values, and accordingly on their Cultural Identity which I am going to look at. Taking into account such a fascinating event, I would be interested to find out if this phenomenon had an impact on national culture and whether this fundamental value must be protected from globalisation effects. I will propose to investigate the effects of globalisation on developing countries and whether this influence is harmless or damaging national culture. In addition to that, my project will focus on why some Multinational Corporations find it difficult to invest in Arabic countries markets especially Islamic ones. Multinational Corporations which want to invest in foreign countries must learn a lot from Schein (1992) who emphasises the importance to carry out a cultural analysis in order to implement a successful and effective management which can transcend the national and ethnic borders. He also argues that this analysis represents a key factor of success for the leaders. RESEARCH QUESTION: The main research question is Does the national culture have to be protected from the effects of globalisation? A focus on Algeria, to ensure that the research question is fully-covered the sub questions below will be used: Are Algerians (or Muslims) obliged to abandon their traditions and dump their cultural values, norms beliefs to take part in the cultural globalisation? Is the relation between cultural globalisation and westernization strong enough and permanently established so that everyone have to accept western cultural invasion if they want to flourish? Is it possible for Arabs Muslims to protect their cultural identity in the rise of too much American culture influence? Is cultural globalisation a means of hegemony of the western over the developing countries and their cultural values? Can globalisation be seen as positive or negative for the Developing countries Culture traditions? RESEARCH ISSUE: In the Western World, Globalisation is often seen as having only positive effects on the national culture of developing countries. However, after analysis these benefits brought to countries of the third world have been frequently reconsidered. Therefore our intention is to focus on how Algerian cultural identity has been affected by colonisation first and then globalisation. We will look at both how globalisation has impacted Algerian cultural life? why the young generation have dumped their traditions, left their norms and beliefs and given up their social values? RESEARCH PURPOSE: The purpose of our research is to accomplish a study through which we will show that globalisation has had both positive negative effects on culture but only negative impacts on Arabic/Islamic culture. This papers objective is to highlight the nature of the clash between Algerian Islamic identity and cultural globalisation, a Western concept in its nature, and heavily sponsored by Western ideologists and politicians as being the New World Order. LIMITATION: While culture and globalisation are two different fields of study in their own, this paper attempts to show the connections between them, the effects of globalisation on culture and whether globalisation affects national culture positively, negatively or not at all. However, this is a less-travelled path, and to be sure, the quantity of books published on the only link between them is quite modest. METHODOLOGY: The focal point of this chapter will be on elucidating the general approaches of the research, data collection and data analysis. This will be followed by explaining the methods chosen as well as critical evaluation of resources the research method limitation. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH (Research Approach): The success of any study is determined by the nature of approaches that are adopted in the research. The research approach used in all studies is mainly guided by the nature of the issue and set hypotheses. Globalisation is an ongoing process for which secondary data will be the main sources used in the study. The rationale in the consideration of this design is therefore availability of data. DATA COLLECTION: Data collection will play a significant role to guarantee the exactness of the gathered information related to the subject. With the aid of the broad search interface offered by electronic databases, researcher will look for articles in the area of the research using the title of the thesis as being the key words. Another central consideration is that the sources used to collect data should all be recent and must have complete referencing details. RESEARCH DESIGN: Once the research objectives and questions have been determined the next issue I will face involves deciding which source of information will answer these questions. Data, or source, is referred to as either secondary or primary. According to Kolbs Marketing Research for Non-Profit, Community and Creative Organizations (2008), Bryman Bell (2007), Swanson Holton (1997) in Human Resource Development Research Handbook: Linking Research Practice and Andersons Research Methods in HRM (2004), data can be collected from two different ways, primary and secondary data. While primary data is all about information that is collected directly from research contributors, the other source of data, which is the result of research conducted previously, is secondary data. Information of secondary data has already been gathered through either qualitative or quantitative studies by other individuals, companies/organizations or government departments. Qualitative secondary data is also obtainable through different sources such as textbooks, articles, journals and online sources such as websites and blogs. There are some disadvantages using qualitative secondary data. Firstly, the data were not initially designed and collected to answer my specific research questions, thus its answers may not exactly fit my research questions. Secondly, I may have less control over how the data were collected. And finally there may be biases in the data that I dont know about. However, since the data are already collected, and frequently cleaned, using such a data is very beneficial because it includes lowering the costs of the research, finding information which helps in the design of the research methodology and savings of time. The secondary data can be reached rapidly and usually of extremely high quality. Another major advantage of using secondary data is the breadth of availability of data. Therefore, my methodology for this dissertation is going to be using qualitative secondary data through Annotated Literature Review. Within this annotated literature review I wont be merely summarizing the source but assessing and reflecting by asking how the source would fit into my research as well. During the last 2 months, I have been reading a large number of articles, journals, selecting documents obtainable online and textbooks each of which related to my subject. Academic websites like Emerald, InderScience Publishers, Sage, CIPD, Genamics Journal Seek, Athens, Mintel, JSTOR, Oxford Journals, Academic One File and Science Direct, which give further information, will be used to collect secondary data. To analyse the impact of globalisation on Algerian culture inductive approach is chosen because it is based on todays study and results from present analysis. Through my approach I will try to find common definitions of both globalisation and culture and the link between them in order to enable me to design hypotheses, which I can then look at and develop some general conclusions by interpreting them. My research will be essentially qualitative since I will try to progress in the reflection on whether the national culture must be protected against the globalisation. DATA ANALYSIS: Analysing the collected data is very essential for arriving at any conclusion. For the qualitative data analysis I will be using constant comparison/grounded theory technique. Coding in qualitative data analysis will be in constant state of potential revision and fluidity (Bryman Bell, 2007, p: 586). These will give best result and proof for my research. To achieve the final aim of my project, focus will be on the secondary sources of information and collection of data will be from some of the abundance online sources as well as printed documents. These sources of information will be in diverse forms such as journals, publications, press reports, books and annual reports of Algerian companies. Internet is a valuable source, it will help the researcher to have up to date information on globalisation and its effect on developing countries. In order to give a better perception to my research and to improve the exactness of my judgment, my methodology of collecting data will be using secondary data collection. Due to differences between national cultures as well as different perceptions of globalisation and its effect on culture among schools of thought, the sample for this study will be difficult to find. Since my research is essentially more qualitative, the specific hypothesis about effects of globalisation on national culture that I have in mind can change as the research progress because qualitative research brings in depth analysis to an argument based on individual case studies. CRITICAL EVALUATION OF RESOURCES: As it is mentioned above my research will be exclusively secondary data-based which can be considered as a limitation in its nature. Regarding electronic sources such as internet, because of their great abundance and their different purposes dedications it is easier said than done to judge their validity. LIMITATION: According to Bryman Bell (2007), there are some disadvantages using qualitative secondary data. Firstly, the data were not initially designed and collected to answer my specific research questions and researcher is less flexible for designing data collection in a way that is extremely related to the subject. Secondly, I may have less control over how the data were collected. And finally there may be biases in the data that I dont know about.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Teenage Addiction to the Internet

Teenage Addiction to the Internet Research Topic Teenagers and Internet Thesis Teenagers’ time on the internet is increasing day by day and it’s becoming a bad addiction, so it’s the duty of their parents to have proper checks on them and find ways to reduce the time spent on internet. SUPPORT Section 1 Health of the teenager. Idea 1 -Time spent on the internet. Sources Idea 2 -Adequate sleep routine. Idea 1- (Charles, 2010) Studies has indicated that several parents are investing a lot of time and money on how to keep their teenagers from spending or wasting most of their time on the computer and the internet. Idea 2- (Norbert, 2010) If a teen likes to play online video games, there are chances that he may not be alone. It should be noted, that a teen does not extensively misses many social opportunities or spending almost a day in a week in the online gaming arena, there might be something wrong. It should be noted that how much exactly your teenager is spending time on the internet. Idea 3- (Ilyas, 2012) It is the duty of the parents to have a check on their teenagers’ health and appearance. To notice possible impacts on their health good or bad, and then decide what needs to be done as their next step. Idea 4- (John, 2010) Teenagers should be more encouraged to participate in outdoor activities and not just sit on the internet and waste their time because spending too much time on the internet badly affects teenagers’ health and involving in other outdoor activities contribute to advancement in health. Idea 3 -Possible impacts Idea 4 -Alternatives SUPPORT Section 2 Are the teenagers’ giving enough time to their parents? Possible impacts on the relationship? Idea 1 -Teenagers’ space. Sources Idea 2 -The environment. Idea 1- (Charles, 2010) If your teenager is using extensive internet and you know about it because you are concerned, approach him/her as you are friends, don’t push too hard that they start hiding things from their parents. Idea 2- (Ilyas, 2012) Parents should start off by setting a fixed time allowed to use the internet or their teenager. They should be responsible of regularly checking what their teenagers are doing on the internet. Spending too much hours on the internet should discouraged by the parents. Idea 3- (Norbert, 2010) Joint efforts should be made by both parents and teenagers. It’s the responsibility of teenagers’ to win the confidence of their parents so that they share a relation of trust and things do not get out of hands. Idea 4- (Russ, 2014) Freedom is everyone’s right and it should be given to the teenagers but it should also be noticed that too much freedom spoils the teenager, like too much freedom on using the internet should not be granted by parents. There is always a limit to everything. Idea 3 -Teenagers’ responsibility. Idea 4 -Freedom. SUPPORT Section 3 Social problem that arises when teenagers’ are addicted to the internet. Idea 1 -Opportunities Sources Idea 2 -The goods and negatives Idea 1- (John, 2010) Experts have concluded that more than 90% of the teenagers agree with the fact that internet has made their life convenient and they really need it. Additionally, it was also stated without internet a teenagers’ life becomes non-social, no information about what is going on and they cannot even shop online. Teenagers’ want internet in their lives to connect with people and they are unaware of the fact that wasting too much time is draining out their energy which could be spend somewhere more productive. Idea 2- (Norbert, 2010) Taking account all of the activities that teenagers are doing on the internet, parents should be able to identify when the time to set limits on the use of the internet is or when their teen’s habit is turning into a bad addiction. However, it could be argued that there are teenagers who would use internet to assist them in their studies and as the time has passed more and more teenagers are using internet to earn money. Using internet can either build a teenager’s life or destroy it. Idea 3- (Charles, 2010) Parents these days have become more concern about their children turning teenagers, and as the time is passing their addiction with the internet are increasing time to time. Parents are the only people who can take care of this problem involving their teenagers’ life. Idea 4- (Norbert, 2010) It is good that your teenager is actively taking parts in social activities and making a lot of friends but at the same time there is something that needs to be considered that not everyone on social platforms using internet can be trusted and this may lead to destroying your teenagers’ life because there are many cases of such nature. Idea 3 -Solution to the problem. Idea 4 -Social life. COUNTERARGUMENTS What are the possible effects of internet? Idea 1 -Internet and Positivity. Sources Rebuttal -Teenagers’ productivity using internet. Idea 1- Russ, W. (2014) Internet has become more than just a resource and is not capable of making people earn using the internet in their house and this can be considered a very positive effect on a teenager who is earning through the use of the internet. Idea- 2 (John, 2010) Teenagers as of today has access to numerous of services easily obtainable on the computer with the help of the internet. Teenagers of today have stopped using telephone and they are more comfortable using instant messaging or chatting. They prefer posting their photos in MySpace and share them with thousands of friend, mostly of them are friend they haven’t met. They have all the information and the news using the internet on their smartphones. Idea 3- (Ilyas, 2012) Using extensive internet can destroy the life of a teenager. Internet is a resource with numerous possibilities and people around the world are actually using this in the most illegal way. So, it is the duty of the parents to have certain checks as their teenager does not get involved in any sort of illegal activity. Idea 2 Internet and virtual information. Rebuttal -Having knowledge and information is a good thing, actually it is considered as a skill in a teenager to be active and know about what’s going on but it should be always noted that this thing does not get out of hands for example having information of illegal stuff or activity or even getting involved in one using the internet. Idea 3 -Negative effects Rebuttal You cannot just stop your teenager from using internet because this would be inappropriate. However, if you sense some suspicion in your teenagers’ activities then you can confront him/her and make them aware of the possible consequences. Sources Charles, L. (2010). Teenagers, Computers Internet. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Teenagers,-Computers-and-Internetid=3619685 Ilyas, G. (2012). Teenagers cannot survive without Internet (Essay). Retrieved from http://fal0014gp10.blogspot.com/2012/10/teenagers-cannot-survive-without_2365.html John, W. (2010). Teenagers and Internet Use Teens Outsmart Parents. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Teenagers-and-Internet-UseTeens-Outsmart-Parentsid=4609326 Norbert, G. (2010). Your Teenager and the Internet The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Your-Teenager-and-the-InternetThe-Good,-the-Bad-and-the-Uglyid=3758823 Russ, W. (2014). Without WiFi, Life Would End (aka Teen Internet Addiction). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russ-warner/without-wifi-life-would-e_b_5367578.html

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Film Trailer Portfolio Essay -- Papers

Film Trailer Portfolio When the task of creating a film trailer was first put to us, I had several ideas for the movie's context. The first was of a movie in the action genre that dealt with revenge, whilst the other two were in the horror genre. The horror genre appealed to me more, as a low budget film can still have the desired effect by use of different filming techniques, and I wanted to depend more on a psychological aspect. My first idea was to do a film about a poltergeist. I had watched several films such as "Poltergeist", but wanted to create a film that relied less on visual effects, something that leant towards the style of Albert Hitchcock, who is still seen today as the "Master of Suspense". This Poltergeist idea did intrigue me, but I could not think of a plot thick enough, or original enough to capture an audience. The remaining idea was more original, and would create the correct feel of the horror genre. This idea leant more towards several horror films from the 1970s, when a crop of films also used religious undertones to great effect. My idea was for an ancient relic to be uncovered that posed a threat to religion, an idea that didn't require special effects or large production values. I took this idea and tried to further it by thickening out the plot for the trailer. To do this, I researched other films in the same genre. I looked directly at three films from the last three decades, "The Exorcist", "The Name of the Rose" and "The Sixth Sense". I was first attracted to these films by the techniques that had been used to produce the desired effect on the audience. The Exorcist (William Friedkin 1973) ... ... on a Panasonic Digital Camera, and was edited using Pinnacle Studio software on a PC. All of the footage was shot without the use of a tripod after several experiments to see what presented the storyline the most effectively. Most notably at the beginning of the trailer, a short zoom shot towards a radio speaker was attempted with a tripod, but the elegant and fixed camera movement lacked the character and ambience that was available when recorded handheld, especially with the emotional sound bite that accompanied the shot. I decided to use two different tints Editing during "I dare not say" I wanted the speed of the trailer to change when I was editing, from calm and mellow camera movement with slow transitions, to brisk and abrupt movement with quick transitions. This was my idea of representing chaos.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Sirens of Titan :: Sirens of Titan Essays

The Sirens of Titan Marek Vit "It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved." (Vonnegut:220) The Sirens of Titan is Kurt Vonnegut's second novel. He has written it in 1959, seven years after his previous Player Piano. It has been described as a pure science fiction novel and, after only one reading, it really can be considered to be one. The intricate plot and fascinating detail may obscure the serious intent of the novel. If compared to other novels by this author, it makes much smoother reading because there are much fewer subplots, digressions and simultaneous developments. The storyline of Sirens of Titan is much more straightforward than in the other works (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five, Galapagos, Hocus Pocus, Breakfast of Champions etc.) "The Sirens of Titan, for all its wonderings, futurity and concern with larger, abstract questions, transmits a greater sense of direction and concreteness. Rather surprising, too, is the fact that the novel with its science fiction orientation, with its robots and near-robot humans, and with its several central characters who are intentionally presented as being rather cold-hearted, generates more human warmth than Player Piano which is directly concerned with the agonies of exploring and following conscience, emotion and love. Three possible explanations for this fenomenon present themselves: first, Vonnegut's skill has grown in the intervening seven years; second, the science fiction mode affords the author more detachment, and he is less didactic in this work; third, the positive forces, particularly love, carry more weight." (Reed:66) The Sirens of Titan has been, as many other Vonnegut's books, influenced by his experiences from World War Two (The Fire-bombing of Dresden was a benefit just to one man, to Kurt Vonnegut. Over the years, he got five dollars for each corpse, as

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Unemployment Rates in the United States

Unemployment Rates in the United States According to the most recent report put out by the United States Department of Labor, in the month of February, 49 states saw a decrease in nonfarm employment while Louisiana was the only one where they had seen an increase in nonfarm employment. California had a decrease in jobs since January by 116,000 with Florida in second with 49,500 jobs lost. While Alaska seen the smallest decease in unemployment by just 100. And again Louisiana is the only state to see an increase in employment since January by +0. percent. Louisiana seems right now in this economic bad time has no effect on the job level. Since last February, Louisiana has seen an increase in jobs by +0. 3 percent. Louisiana along other states (Wyoming, Alaska, and North Dakota) have seen an increase in jobs with Wyoming leading the way with a +1. 6% increase. Let take a different take on unemployment by breaking it down by regions. Which region would you think would have the biggest l ost in jobs? Was it the Northeast, the south, Midwest or the West. Well in fact it was the West (9. 2) and The Midwest (8. 6%). This really don’t surprise me since most of the automobile manufactories are based out in these areas with the trouble they have been having with the ill stated economy we are in right now. While the Northeast seen the lowest unemployment rate at a 7. 7%. While all of the four regions reported a jobless rate increases from February 2008 until February 2009, the largest increase in the unemployment rate was the West at a +3. %. The one state that has suffered the most in the state unemployment stat was again Michigan at an astonishing 12. 0%. While Wyoming had the lowest at 3. 9% unemployment rate, while Louisiana had an unemployment rate of 5. 7%. Louisiana has seen an increase in unemployment since February 2008 until now by 1. 9%. Michigan on the other hand has seen an increase by nearly 5% from one year ago. The unemployment rates in the United States have seen a drastic change since 2008 and so on. Many because of the tough economic times we are in. Most job losses came from the manufacturing area because of great fear of the economy and the cut backs that companies have to make due to the hard times. Although some states haven’t been hit as hard as others, like for example Louisiana, we have actually seen an increase in jobs from January 2009 until now, while others have lost more than 100,000+ jobs like in Michigan. Works Cited

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Jade Peony–Sek-Lung Is a Marginal Character

A strong, intelligent, independent boy is what every traditional Chinese family wants. Unfortunately, Sek-Lung is not such an ideal child. In the novel, The Jade Peony, Sek-Lung is a marginal character. He is rejected by the dominant group, first being made to feel insignificant and second to feel uncomfortably visible. Sek-Lung is born in Canada, with a sick body, being considered inferior and unimportant. To begin with, he gains a reputation because of his brainlessness. Referring to his own feeling, â€Å"everyone knew [†¦] I was brainless† (Choy 145). For example, â€Å"I would say ‘Third Uncle’ instead of ‘Great Uncle’ † (Choy 145).That is because he is stuck between two cultures. In English, kinship terms are simple, but in Chinese, they are complicated, and Sek-Lung is so confused. Another reason is because he is not allowed to go to school due to a lung infection, and he cannot receive proper education, neither from English school nor Chinese school, which restricts his knowledge. Every time he uses improper Chinese, he is insulted by being called brainless. In addition, the lung infection makes him very weak, and he has to stay at home, while â€Å"everyone in the family is caught up with work and school† (Choy 186).In fact, â€Å"Kiam was fifteen and was getting all A’s at King Edward High; Jung was twelve and was learning how to box [†¦] at Hastings Gym† (Choy 148), and his sister can â€Å"read rapidly† (Choy 176). His siblings impress him so much with their amazing abilities. In contrast, Sek-Lung can do nothing, which makes him feel inferior. Furthermore, he recognizes that he is a burden in his family. He thinks, â€Å"I did everything to ruin their time with me, if they stayed around at all† (Choy 224). For instance, each family member needs to take turns to teach him.He notices that he is wasting their time, and actually they do not like spending time with him. In brief, Sek-Lung is brainless, not as good as his siblings, and he is treated as a waste. Sek-Lung, growing up in an unusual background, is made to stand out, because he is different from others. First, he is insecure, and he is afraid that he will not get along with other students. When he first goes to school, â€Å"Jung’s tough-guy reputation protected I from the school bullies† (Choy 174). A marginal character is always unconfident.Because of his weakness, brainlessness and different cultural background, he worries about getting into trouble. Second, Sek-Lung, spending all his childhood with Poh-Poh, is the only person who sees her ghost. For example, after Poh-Poh dies, every time the windows mysteriously close or make noises, Sek-Lung insists, â€Å"It’s Grandmama† (Choy 181), â€Å"[†¦] and everyone [glares] at [him]† (Choy 181). Poh-Poh is his closest family member, and he cannot get over her death. He believes that Poh-Poh’s soul will come back and protect him. However, in his family’s eyes, he is acting strange, and no one believes him.Besides, his family thinks he will shame their name. For example, sister Liang refuses to take him out because people will see or hear him. Similarly, â€Å"Chinatown people turned away, muttering behind my back† (Choy 178). He is not only noticeable in his family, but also well-known all over Chinatown. People think he may be crazy or he really sees a ghost, which shows that he is unlucky, and either point of view will make him be rejected by society, because no one likes abnormal persons at that period. To conclude, Sek-Lung becomes marginal by being treated as insignificant and distinctive.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The Automotive Industry and Green Awareness

After suffering massive market losses to foreign cars which were considered to be fuel efficient, American automotive industry has reawakened to the green awareness campaign advocated by consumers, which is represent the future of the industry.There has been increased call by the consumers for the American auto industry to develop cars which emits less green house gases to save the environment.The industry has responded by putting efforts on development of electric cars and hybrid plug-in in vehicles to adapt to the market needs and to sustain the growth of the economy.Green technology presents the future and the American automotive industry must grow along this line to compete effectively in the market.With a large segment of their market lost to foreign automakers, the American auto industry and the government in general responded by taking measures to enforce a green auto industry. For example California passed a law which required 2% all the cars sold in the state to have zero em ission which led to the development of the electric cars (Kilkenny, 2006). However, conspiracy between leading auto makers like Ford and the oil industry led to the mysteriously death of the car (Shnayerson, 2006).Realizing that the future of the auto industry is green, the industry has responded by investing in research and design which has seen the development of hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, electric cars, lithium batteries which will support the future green auto industry, and various innovations in auto components. These inventions are likely to see the end of the use of gasoline powered engines which have been the leading environmental polluter. (Kaho, 2008)The future of the auto industry is green. In order to compete effectively with other auto makers in the world, and ensure the contribution to the industry to economic growth and sustainability American auto industry must continue with their efforts in the development of a green auto industry. (Globe, 2008)The auto industr y green awareness is an important topic of concern to all Americans and the rest of the world. Our country is still the leading emitter of green house gases to the atmosphere and the auto industry has been one of the leading contributors to this emission.Reference:Globe, (2008): Future auto motive industry. Globe Foundation, March 2008Kaho, T. (2008):Â   2008 Washington Auto Show: Technology and green future. GREENCAR.comKilkenny, N. (2006): Who killed Electric Car? Accessed from http://www.reformation.org/who-killed-electric-car.pdf on 4th August 2008Shnayerson, M. (2006): The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle. Random House publishers

Saturday, September 14, 2019

The Preventing Workplace Discrimination

a. People with disabilities or drug abuse problems can be accommodated in several ways. It is especially important to accommodate those with disabilities. The physical workplace setup can for example be arranged in such a way to be more accessible to the blind or wheelchair bound. Those with hearing disabilities can be accommodated by providing interpreters during meetings or interactions with the rest of the workplace staff. In terms of drug abuse, programs and workshops focusing on the problem, its consequences and its management can be offered. If not voluntary, such persons can be forced to attend under threat of losing their jobs. b. Personality, attitude toward work, and future upward mobility are very important considerations for hiring future employees. In terms of the first, it is important to consider whether the employee will be better suitable for teamwork or individual tasks, for example. The personality in this case will determine which requirements the employee will be best suited for, and must be aligned with the requirements of the job being applied for. Attitude towards work is probably the most important consideration. An employee with a positive attitude is much more valuable and more likely to succeed in any job situation than one with a negative attitude. Upward mobility is a consideration that will carry particular weight according to the nature of the job being applied for. An employee that is upwardly mobile will probably be more motivated to perform well than one who is not. c. I believe that Title VII can and will override the employment environment and conditions in a written employment contract. The reason for this is that an employee signing a contract may be unaware of the current legislation regarding such conditions. An employee's willingness to work under certain conditions does not change the law regarding these conditions. It is the job of the employer to educate him- or herself regarding the newest legislation, and complying with this. Non-compliance can result in legal problems and a negative public image for the company.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Critical Thinking Essay #2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical Thinking #2 - Essay Example Although the industry does not own provide a very huge share of the nation’s national product, it is greatly contributes to the budget of the government, and besides, it is the factor behind the huge economic growth of Iran (Karl, 1997). The export of oil is the main source of direct revenue for the Middle East nations governments taking into account their lands are desert. Moreover, it also provides indirect revenue through the taxes that are levied on imports as well as several other activities that are financed by the money from oil and besides, foreign exchange be also earned. All these are beneficial as they maintain other sectors within the economy of the Middle East countries (Karl, 1997). In addition, agriculture is also dependent on imports that are financed by oil; hence, Middle East nations’ food supply is alleged to rely on imports. However, food supply also depends on the annual rainfall as well as several other conditions. Despite the number of benefits brought about by oil, in Iran, for instance, the nationals of the country have lived to be haunted by its discovery. Thus, the presence of oil reserves in the Middle East affects the states economically, politically, as well as socio-culturally but the sector, which is highly affected, is the nations’ political economy. Insecurity is also brought about by the presence of oil; similarly, oil has made Middle East to be vulnerable to interferences from the foreign nations, leading to the damage of the historical development of the nations in Middle East (Henry & Springborg, 2001). Monetary resources within the region have greatly been increased by the discovery of oil in the nation. Because the region is endowed with numerous resources, the problem of allocating the fund also comes up. Foreign Super-powers always intervened in Middle East nations that have too much oil and tend to manipulate their governments. Moreover, international oil firms always aim exploit oil

Thursday, September 12, 2019

READING OF ARTICLES for CHAPTER 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

READING OF ARTICLES for CHAPTER 2 - Essay Example l have been eÃ'•timated at $96 billion in loÃ'•t income to federal Ð °nd Ã'•tate governmentÃ'• Ð °nd $3 billion in additional welfare expenditureÃ'• (JoneÃ'•, 1977). In general, â€Å"students who do not complete school cost taxpayers billions of dollars in lost revenues, welfare, unemployment, crime prevention, and prosecution† (Joint Economic Committee, 1991 as cited in Lehr, et al., 2004, p. 7). PerhapÃ'• more importantly, on an individual level, thÐ µ failure to complete a high Ã'•chool education haÃ'• been aÃ'•Ã'•ociated with an individualÃ'• increaÃ'•ed likelihood to engage in criminal activity (FitzÃ'•immonÃ'•, Cheever, Leonard, & Macunovich, 1969; Levin, 1972; Ð…trothÐ µr, 2006; Ð…troup & RobinÃ'•, 1972) Ð °nd to live in poverty (Hahn, 2003; HeÃ'•Ã'•, 2006; William T. Grant Foundation, 2004). These assertions have been validated in the last couple of years as Cataldi, Laird and KewalRamani (2009, p. 1) state that high school dropouts â€Å"make up disproportionately higher percentages of the nation’s prison and death row inmates.† Furthermore, dropouts between the ages of 25 and older, regardless of income, have been proven to have worse health than their counterparts who finished high school (Pleis and Lethbridge-Çejku, 2006 as cited in Cataldi, Laird and KewalRamani, 2009, p. 1). These show that in the past and more so at present, a high school diploma is an enabling factor for success. ThÐ µ current work force, driven by a highly technical global economy, haÃ'• different demÐ °ndÃ'• Ð °nd complexitieÃ'• from thoÃ'•e Ð ¾f paÃ'•t agrarian Ð °nd induÃ'•trial economieÃ'•. Today, â€Å"almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, [so] having a high school diploma and the skills to succeed in college and the workplace are essential† (The Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009). And so, studentÃ'• who drop out Ð ¾f Ã'•chool today are confronted with Ã'•ignificant job competition, work environmentÃ'• driven by Ã'•ignificant technical

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Education Funding Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Education Funding - Research Paper Example From its beginnings, debate and contention has surrounded the funding of education: with primarily imbalances and inequities being pointed to as major problems within the US education system. The initial legislation making Federal support possible was enacted in 1965, with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) according to which federal grants could support elementary and secondary schoolchildren from lower-income families. At the same time, the federal funds were directed towards school libraries, textbooks, education centers and services, State education agencies, research in education, and professional development for education staff (Spellings, 2005, website). Again in 2001 federal funding was allocated to national education with the No Child left behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) intending to ensure that the achievement levels of all students, nationwide, are raised, and that the achievement gap across the nation is narrowed (Federal Education Budget Project website (febp), 2011). Notably, historical court decisions have continually favored the idea that American education should be made more equal. The United States Supreme Court (USSC) decision in the Brown v. Board of Education overturned on constitutional grounds, for example, the â€Å"separate, but equal† court decision in the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). The outcome of the San Antonio v. Rodriguez (1973) case went further in this move toward equalization of education, by recognizing education as a fundamental right, and this meant that States had to fund education equitably. But in the matter of increased funding for education, the courts have been less successful. The courts are able to interpret and rule on existing law, but cannot in effect change it. Funding for K-12 education is legislated, not judicially determined. The education funding issue it appears will have to be solved by the interest groups surrounding it – the parents, administrators, teachers and legislators who feel the effects of changes in educational funding most directly (Sanchez, 2011). And the consistently decreasing federal and State spend on education is clear to observe. By the 2004-2005 financial year federal spending on education was estimated to be $536 billion, an allocation that exceeded national tax-spend on defense (Spellings, 2005, website); in 2010, the education discretionary budget was $64.1 billion; and in 2011, the request for the 2012-13 financial year for the discretionary education budget is $77.4 billion (U.S. Department of Education website (A), 2011). In nominal terms, educational funding actually declined between 2006 and 2008, and thanks to economic stimulus legislation, showed a one-year real growth in only in 2009 (febp website, 2011). At the end of 2010, though, the federal stimulus money had been spent. States faced serious shortages, and anticipated that they would have to lay off thousands, and cancel numerous popular school programs in many States. Although they had saved teachers’ jobs, States had cut their own expenditure on education, and replaced these shortfalls in their budgets with stimulus money (Cavanagh & Hollingsworth, 2011). With the current view that reform rather than increased spending is the route to take, and that federal subsidies will continue to be cut for the foreseeable future, opposition to the direction being taken by the Obama administration’s proposals has been widespread. An important group of

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Management and Leadership Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management and Leadership Paper - Essay Example The founder of Wal-Mart was Sam Walton. He opened up the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. The goal of the Mr. Walton when he opened up the first retail store was to save people money to help them live a better life (Walmartstores, 2009). The company took off very fast and by 1969 the firm became a publicly traded company. The company’s trading symbol on Wall Street is WMT. Today the corporation enjoys a great level of success. The company is the market leader in the retail industry due to the fact that the service and prices the entity offers are superior to the competition. In fiscal year 2009 Wal-Mart generated $401 billion in global revenues while serving nearly 200 million customers per week (Walmartstores, 2009). Leadership and effective management are two critical success factors that enabled the company to achieve high levels of success. Management and leadership are two completely different business concepts. Leadership can be defined as a special case of interpersonal influence that gets an individual or group to do what the leader wants (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003, p.286). Management is the act of performing the four managerial functions which are planning, leading, organizing and controlling. In order for a person to become an effective leader the group has to trust the individual. Leadership is not a trait that is limited to the managerial staff. Anybody within an organization can display leadership. It is very common for leadership to manifest itself within a team setting. In such a setting leadership provides the vision to achieve the end state goal (Kumle & Kelly, 2009). I have personally worked in teams in which I became the leader of the team in order to ensure that the team completed the project at hand. Depending on the circumstance a manager has to decide whether to act as a manager or as a

Management Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management Research Methods - Essay Example Nonetheless, different problems in management continue to be subjected to research, even as more amicable ways of preventing and solving them are developed. This paper discusses employee turnover as a major management research problem, as identified from an online news article, and presents a solution to this problem using the qualitative research method approach. Most companies today continue to grapple with the problem of high employee turnover. Employee turnover refers to the proportion of employees that leave an organization in a given period. Most of the employees leave their organizations through resignation. This has a negative impact on any organization; hence the management of all organizations have one of their goals as reducing employee turnover. In the year 2014, employee turnover has been identified as a major problem to organizations and management. An article published in the HSBC’s business news section provides evidence to show that employers in 2014 face high employee turnover. The findings of a study conducted by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) in April 2014 in the UK showed that a fifth of employees plan to quit their job this year. There were different reasons that influenced the employees’ decision to quit their jobs. Of the 10001 employees that were interviewed, 16 percent wanted to quit b ecause they felt undervalued; 31 percent wanted to find an organization that provided them work-life balance; 28 percent wanted to find an organization that would provide for employee development, while 11 percent desired an organization that would motivate them to perform to their best (HSBC 2014). This therefore, is considered to pose a problem to management, hence calling for appropriate strategies to address it. In order to find strategies to address the problem of high employee turnover, it would be appropriate to conduct a research on this problem. Through the research, it will be

Monday, September 9, 2019

Practical and Written Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Practical and Written Assessment - Assignment Example As far as the profitability of the company was concerned, it has been quite impressive in past decade in the automotive industry, as the growth and profit margin of the company in Figure 1 reveals. Figure 1: Growth of Profit and Margin of Porsche Source: (Moffett, 2005) The strategy that Porsche followed for both Cayenne and Boxster was a combination of outsourcing, licensing and in sourcing to influence the investment of the shareholder. Due to this strategy of the company, they enjoyed high return on the invested capital (ROIC), as the increasing sales of the product line shows in Figure 2. Figure 2: Augmenting Sales of Various Product lines of Porsche Source: (Moffett, 2005) During the fall and summer of 2005, two significant announcements were made by Porsche, which changed the directions. The first announcement was that Panamera would be manufactured by the company through company’s own funds and in their own factories. The second decision was that Porsche invested around 3 billion in Volkswagen AG at an interest rate of 20 percent, which was an underperforming automaker of Germany then (Eiteman, Stonehill and Moffett, 2010). In this section of the study, the focus of discussion would be on the strategic decisions that the company has made which augmented its ROIC. ROIC signifies the efficiency of the company in allocating the capital, such that it can get profitable returns on investments. The return assures how well the company is utilising its funds for generating returns. The ROIC can be calculated by subtracting dividends from net income and dividing it by the total capital. All the product line of Porsche, especially Cayenne had a high operating margin as can be seen in Figure 2, in comparison to any other European automobile company. As it has been discussed that Porsche incorporated pioneering strategies and business decisions embedded with technology and capital for Cayenne and Boxster, which was evident from the sales figures. Porsche Boxs ter was manufactured in Finland by Valmet. So the company skilfully utilised other’s money to manufacture and sell its products. It was working through licensed manufacturing agreement trough which Valmet utilised its own tools and factories for manufacturing Boxster. This decreased the capital requirements of Porsche, which the company utilised to support its own business (Moffett, 2005) Porsche invested around $3 billion in Volkswagen AG, which was though the worst performing company in the industry, but prospects of the company to excel in future were immense, which is why Porsche entered into a strategic alliance with Volkswagen. Due to this reason, it was responsible for approximately 30 percent of automotive manufacturing of Porsche and also assembling. Porsche co-manufactured Cayenne with Volkswagen. The chassis of Cayenne was assembled by Volkswagen on the same assembly line of Volkswagen Touareg. This again reduced the capital requirement of Porsche and allowed the c ompany to focus its capital towards the development of the company. The above strategic decision of the company resulted in the augmenting ROIC of Porsche (Eiteman, Stonehill and Moffett, 2010). Answer 2 The section question of this case is regarding Veselina Dinova’s point of view regarding the attitude of the company towards creating value towards shareholders. Vesi was in dilemma whether Porsche’