Monday, September 30, 2019

People have become overly dependent on technology

The World Wide Web is a huge world that should be controlled. The Internet has many advantages and disadvantages. It is either to be a useful tool or to be a harmful weapon. The Internet had many effects and side effects in the social life, Safety and also purchasing or shopping. If it was controlled all those will be much better and life will be easier. However, if it was uncontrolled that will lead to huge problems. The peaceful tool will convert to be a harmful weapon. It won't kill humans but I will kill nations and cultures. First, the Internet had developed the teaching methods and made the education uch easier and better.The student can look up for any subject that he need in the internet and It will Just pop up to him. It is better than referring to books. Internet will take you seconds to find specific information, while books may take hours and day to look up on them. The student homework's, assignments and projects also require him to use Internet. The students and kids ar e totally able to look up for anything in the Internet, so that can lead to one of two things. First, Either the kids will use that to improve their skills, knowledge and they will catch up with the technology.Second, they will start to look up for pornographic media and it will be easy to obtain. It will destroy a lot of their parents work. They may addict online games as most of the kids in this time. This will cause them their social life. They wont be able to make friends or to contribute with anyone. They will not feel that they are wrong until they grew up and become adults. In that time they will notice that they have no friends or anyone around him. It will be very hard in that time to recover what he did. Not to mention that the kids who stay a lot in the Internet they got some issues.They will have pain in their packs and in their hands. This pain will be noticed after they grew up. But they will feel that their eyes are becoming weaker with time. It is the main reason for why too many people are wearing glasses in these days. They should be censored in what they see, how long they set in front of their computers or laptops and how they set. Second, The Internet can be used by governments to ensure the safety. It is a tool that the governments can use to detect the strange cases and stop them right away. There were some cases those terrorist used emails to contact each other.If their emails were controlled and under the government eyes they would probably save human lives. Governments should also watch the text massaging and instant massaging such â€Å"WhatsApp† or â€Å"skype† because it may used to plan for something. If governments work harder in the telecommunication security side, they would achieve many things that they are trying to do by other methods. They may detect a terrorist or also a murder evident, these things should not be ignored. Other wise we will watch a new type of terrorist that is more crazy than the previous on es.Third, There are types ot thieves and terrorist. In these days the worse type ot it is the hacker. There are a lot of hackers in this time. Those hackers may do small things such hacking an email. They also may do huge things like trying to hack a financial websites and steal the money from it. There are a lot of people who shops in the Internet and they are all afraid from the hackers or the fake website. Since they Just fill in their credit card information. They will find out that they were stolen. There are many fake websites and hackers that use Internet to gain money.The huge what hackers can do is trying to steal a bank. If government do not secure banks, people money will Just disappear. All the financial websites should be secured and controlled by the government so no body get stolen. Finally, The Internet can be a very useful tool to develop and to live a better life. However, this can never be unless that the Internet was secured and under the government eyes. I hope that people understand the meaning of the Internet and how harmful can it be. I also hope that people understand how a useful it is if it was used properly. People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology Humans have been called the animals which make things, and at no time in history has this been so obvious as the present. Today, every human activity is dependent upon various tools, machines, and systems, from growing food to providing shelter to communication, healthcare, and entertainment. Some machines, like the tractor, speed up and make more efficient activities that humans have done for hundreds of thousands of years. Others such as the airplane or the Internet, make possible things that humans have never been able to do before. This collection of devices, capabilities, and the knowledge that accompanies them is called technology. We can say that â€Å"living without technology is like living without air† in this technical world of today. Therefore, we are much dependent on technology. Broadly speaking, technology is how people modify the world to suit their own purposes. From the Greek word techne, meaning art or artifice or craft, technology literally means the act of making or crafting, but more generally it refers to the diverse collection of processes and knowledge that people use to extend human abilities and to satisfy human needs and wants. Technology has been going on since humans first formed a blade from a piece of flint, harnessed fire, or dragged a sharp stick across the ground to create a furrow for planting seeds, but today it exists to a degree unprecedented in history. Planes, trains, and automobiles carry people and cargo from place to place at high speeds. Telephones, television, and computer networks help people communicate with others across the street or around the world. Medical technologies, from vaccines to Stem Cell therapy, allow people to live longer, healthier lives. 00 years ago people’s average age of death was from 40 to 45. But now it’s 75. Furthermore, technology is evolving even as we speak, with new technologies being created and existing technologies being improved and extended. The benefits of technology are usually obvious, if they were not, it would probably never be developed, but the disadvantages and dangers are often hidden. A perfect example is chlorofluorocarbons, or C FCs. When CFCs were invented, no one realized that these chemicals used as refrigerants would eventually damage the ozone layer. Today, the Internet is having profound effects on society, how people interact and communicate with one another, how they do their business, and how they get their entertainment and recreation, but no one knows exactly what to expect from it in future. Computers make our lives easier and give us new ways to learn about the things we're interested in. They make it possible to do many things from the comfort of our own home — we can shop online, keep in touch with our friends online, even go to school online. They make it easier to record and organize information and entertain us with a nearly endless variety of games. However, it's still important to maintain a life outside of the cyber world; a life spent attached to a computer screen isn't a real life. When a computer becomes the central point of a person's life, they undergo a change in behavior; they become lazy and develop anti-social tendencies, and, in some severe cases, simply cannot function without a computer. Some people say that we are not really dependent on technology. We can live without the technology. Our ancestors did it, so why can't we? I would ask these questions: When was the last time you solve math problems without using calculator? When was the last time you went to library to find information instead of searching from internet? Also time has changed since our ancestors era. Has technology really taken over our lives this much? Where we can't go 2 minutes without checking our phone to see if we have a text? Where we can't go a day or two without checking our e-mail, and facebook? We can't even walk across a campus without seeing a student on the phone, laptop or listening to their iPods. All this makes it particularly important that people understand and are comfortable with the concepts and workings of modern technology. Today's people, including me, have become socially inept and too dependent on technology. Now this isn't meant to be a hate technology thread, because technology really can be awesome at times. From a personal standpoint, people benefit both at work and at home by being able to choose the best products for their purposes, to operate the products properly, and to troubleshoot them when something goes wrong. And from a societal standpoint, an informed citizenry improved the chances that decisions about the use of technology will be made rationally and responsibly. But sometimes we take technology too seriously, and depend on it too much. If your computer breaks, don’t get pissed about it. If the Internet goes down, it’s not the end of the world. If your phone is broken, don't kill yourself. And ask this question from yourself: How long can you â€Å"survive† without technology?

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Barilla Spa (A) Case Study Essay

Executive Summary Sales representatives at the Barilla SpA, world’s largest pasta producer, are seeing customers changing due to long re-order lead-time and frequent stock-outs. Even with a high inventory levels, Barilla is still not able to cope with the fluctuating demand. The fluctuation in demand is seen as the bullwhip effect that is caused by sales strategies that have been put into place that is very product focused. This causes excessive demand from week to week depending on the product that the promotion or incentive is been aimed towards. There is also a lack of data sharing and poor communication throughout the whole supply chain which does not bring visibility for production forecast. With the Just-in-Time Distribution (JITD) that was brought in from the logistics manager, neither internally nor externally is supporting the new system. With the lack of understanding of the new system and the positive results it will bring, it will be hard to convince buy-ins from different angles. The initiative should be tested first from Barilla’s own facilities and prove out the methods and be able to visualize the improvements to the rest of its supply chain. During the implementation and test phase, there should be dedicated teams which monitor the data and metrics coming from the new system. Daily meetings should be held to discuss issues and resolve them as quickly as possible. As inventory levels drop, issues with the distribution system will arise which provides a priority of issues to resolve. Once the system has been proven, the results will be the biggest selling points to have the implementation through the whole supply chain and for everyone to understand its benefits. Issues Identification Barilla is experiencing issues to meet their fluctuating demand from the distribution centers even when carrying additional inventory throughout the supply chain. Brando Vitali has came with a proposal of a Just-in-time Distribution (JITD) but neither the sales team in Barilla or the buyers at the distribution centers are agreeing with the approach. At the same time, these teams are already noticing that our customers are leaving due to the lack of servicing we are able to provide. Distribution centers were asked to carry more inventories to prevent occurrences of stock outs but the suggestion was not accepted. In return, they issued a complaint regarding the number of SKUs Barilla has which makes it impossible to manage and the long manufacturing lead-time due to the tight heat and humidity specifications. Environmental and Root Cause Analysis Fluctuating Demand: The fluctuation in demand is caused by a combination of reasons. The trade promotions and volume discounts that Barilla uses as sales strategies are one of the biggest influences. There were also no limits to the quantities that the distributors are allowed to order per each â€Å"canvass† period. The incentive program for Barilla’s sales representatives is also causing inconsistency to the demand; they would be pushing for the SKU’s that would bring them a higher incentive. Barilla is also experience a growth in their export market; it was expected to reach 20-25% per year. With this increasing growth, Barilla does not have any sophisticated forecasting technique that would prepare them to meet the demand. There is a minimal visibility for Barilla to see where the volatility is in the demand is coming from. This is creating the Bullwhip Effect throughout their whole supply chain. The poor communication and cooperation between retailers, distribution centers and manufacturer is the reason that they all are maintaining higher inventory than required. Resistance to Changes: There were many resistances to this new initiative when it was being brought up internally and externally. When there is a lack of understanding of the results that a new initiative will bring, there will always be resistance to change. Sales team fears that that they would see a reduction of responsibilities and distribution centers were defensive when they misinterpret the approach as saying they don’t know what they are doing. Alternative and/or Options Alternative #1 – Continue to promote the Just-in-time Distribution (JITD) initiative To be able to eliminate the Bullwhip Effect, there must be an increase in visibility through the whole supply chain. With better communication and an understanding and trust between vendors, it will eliminate the volatility in demand. This will improve the service levels from distributors to retailers and at the same time reduce the inventory carrying cost. With the visibility, it will better Barilla to forecast their demand and improve their production planning process. While achieving this, it will reduce their manufacturing cost and their inventory cycle. Alternative #2 – Eliminate product focus sales strategies Instead of promoting particular products in each canvass period that will cause excessive demand, Barilla should maintain a constant competitive pricing through the year. Barilla should also eliminate their product-focus incentive policy for their sales representative and create incentive programs that will not allow them to focus on a particular SKU. Recommendations and Implementation Barilla should continue to promote the Just-in-Time Distribution initiative. As this is a new concept for the distributors and retailers, Barilla should prove out this initiative at their own facility. With the results, they can then have bigger bargaining power to promote this idea to its whole supply chain. As for anything else to be successful in a company, it is important for top management to be actively involved. Employees need to be aware of the importance of this project in order for it to be successful and for them to understand positive results it will bring to the company. During the implementation, there would be decrease in inventory levels. Before, the inventory levels were used as a buffer to hide the problems that prevents us from working with a lower inventory level. As we decrease the inventory levels, the problems will arise and it will identify for us what issues we need to resolve as a priority. If the problem requires a longer time to resolve, then the inventory levels can be raise to prevent affecting customers from stock-outs. Then the focus would be to resolve the issue and the inventory levels can be lowered again. With this approach, it will help prioritize the issues that need to be address and which ones will help lower our inventory levels. Monitor and Control To monitor the affects of this initiative, there are a few key performance indicators that need to be set-up. Stock Out Rate – This will immediately show the trend with the current system and be able to visualize that JITD will increase service levels. Inventory Levels – Visualize inventory levels at all firms to demonstrate the win-win scenario that this initiative will bring. Re-order Lead-time – To show with the increase communication, it helps for manufacturers to respond faster There should be daily meetings held with the key departments to ensure that the information is communicated in an effective manner. The meeting should be held at the same time in the same form to create a drum-beat system that will create a habit for the stakeholders to inform of any issues that they have encounter and to gather as a group to resolve.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Brand Management For Fashion Industry

Brand Management For Fashion Industry Introduction Though brand management is not limited to the apparels and accessories it is very evident that fashion industry has given the word a turnaround over the years. From brand fanaticism to Brand loyalty Fashion Brands have the tendency to create a strong Brand identity amongst the minds of the consumers. Many of their brand management strategies have been successful. The global fashion industry is a giant in terms of the impact it has on economy, trade and commerce of many countries, the reach and importance of its products and the strength of its employment. Over the century, growth of the industry has been astonishing in terms of technology and revenue. The innovations had been rapid and growth exponential. Though origin of branding dates back to historical times, fashion industry is one of the industries which capitalized the most of a Brand’s strength. Fashion industry has a strong affinity to brand management, and most successful brand strategies like retailers Zara, Mark & Spencer and Luxury designer brands like Louis Vuitton, Armani, Dior and YSL. The Brand strategy of most fashion brands revolve around the concept of differentiation of products, target customer group and building brand-consumer relationship from which is derived a Brand Personality and Identity of each brand. This identity carves a niche for the brand in the market. But there arise a few questions about this glamorous industries’ brand management strategy. Does a successful brand management strategy mean ethical Brand strategy? Does having a good turnover a year make a brand strategy successful? Can Ethics be inculcated in a brand strategy in an effective way? In the recent years a new concern has developed for the industries worldwide, the Ethics of business. The London fashion week, 2008 states that the fashion Industry has been caught on the issue of ethical and environmental clothing. Though researches have been made widely on Ethics and Business in most of t he fields and industries very few initiatives had been made for the same in terms of brand management ethics and in particular context of Fashion and Apparel Industry. This Proposal aims in studying this less frequented topic of research yet growing concern of ethical consumerism in fashion industry, the requirements and processes involved for a brand to identify itself as a Holistic and authentic ethical brand. Scope of the Study Research Objectives, Questions and Hypotheses Research Objectives To study the brand management strategy of successful and powerful brands To understand the importance of Ethics as a critical factor for any brand strategy To analyze the effects of integrating ethics into the brand strategy and the implications of the relationship Research Questions What is a Brand strategy management? What are the successful brand strategies? What is business ethics? What is the need of Ethical Brand strategy? What are the implications of integrating ethical business and b rand strategic management? Research Hypotheses Hypotheses 1 Strategic management is significant for a successful Brand Hypotheses 2 Business ethics has become an essential factor for competitive advantage of a brand Hypotheses 3 The relationship between brand management and business ethics can form an authentic ethical brand

Friday, September 27, 2019

Perception of The Vietnam War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Perception of The Vietnam War - Essay Example However, America’s involvement in Vietnam began long before the decision to send troops into the region. Near the beginning of 1950, the Ho Chi Minh regime in Vietnam had been recognized as the governing body by Communist China, and the Soviet Union3. Thus, the Truman administration was faced with the decision of whether to allow communism to extend throughout Vietnam, or to attempt to fight it. Three key sources will be examined as part of this discussion, which take different perspectives and approaches to discussion on the war. These are, Vietnam Wars 1945-1990, A Rumor of War and the movie Platoon. This article focuses on the perceptions of the Vietnam War as portrayed in these three sources and argues that to understand the way that the Vietnam War occurred, and its true cost, it is important to examine many different perspectives. The first aspect of this argument is to understand the way that Vietnam veterans were treated, and the attitudes of the country to war. Becaus e of the high controversy that surrounded the Vietnam War, many veterans felt ostracized and mistreated on their return to America. To help mitigate this, some books and movies, such as the ones being discussed in this article, attempted to portray the Vietnam War in a different light. Platoon attempted this by showing harsh reality of the war from the American perspective, without glamorizing the events through propaganda. The film tells the story of a young, naive soldier, Chris Taylor, who enters the war full of high hopes and the desire to serve his country. The director uses the experiences of Chris to enlighten the audience about the confusion that soldiers felt during the war, and to create a connection between the people that viewed the movie, and the soldiers. The approach of personalizing the soldier that was used in Platoon, was also used in the book A Rumor of War, which is a war memoir written by Philip Caputo about his own experiences in the war. Both of these sources take a highly personal and emotionally charged approach to explain the difficulties that soldiers faced during the war. In addition, this perspective helps viewers to sympathize with the soldiers, and to better understand the role that they played in the war. One of the biggest contentions about Vietnam is the politics, specifically, whether the United States should ever have become involved in the war. This approach is considered differently in the sources. In Platoon, Stone does not address the morality of the presence of Americans in Vietnam. His characters do discuss the desire to go home, it is not because of the morality of the war, but because of how bad it is for them. As Chris comments â€Å"Someone once wrote: â€Å"Hell is the impossibility of reason.† That’s what this place feels like. Hell.† Thus, for the soldiers, the politics of the war matter little; they are all involved in their own personal, and deadly, hell. In A Rumor of War, the author expr essly states â€Å"This book does not pretend to be a history. It has nothing to do with politics, power, strategy, influence, national interests or foreign policy†4. In contrast, The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990 focuses almost exclusively on the political aspect. This is indicated by the fact that the author opens the introduction with the question â€Å"Why are we in Vietnam?†5 This question suggests a very different focus to the book, one that is expanded on throughout the introduction and then the rest of the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Reflection paper Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection paper - Article Example In its pure form, which the author is quick to point out has not yet been discovered 'in nature', this form of authority rests on the individual's fitness to fulfill the legal obligations of the office he or she holds. This fitness is based on the person's specific training and demonstration of competence to carry out the duties of that office. Obedience is owed to that office and the legal elements it governs, but does not extend outside of this sphere in any way. The office itself is not a personal space for the individual filling it but is rather a space reserved for the carrying out of the legal duties of the position the person fills. Both in seeking redress and in issuing commands, the order of the established hierarchy is followed and each office within the hierarchy is filled with other individuals equally tested and deemed fit to fulfill the duties of that particular office. In theory, a hierarchy established on this pure form would run like clockwork, each individual acting within the boundaries of his or her office to which he or she is perfectly suited and trained and governed by clear laws of operation. Only the business of the office is conducted with little or no personal overlap of outside interests. To ensure all runs smoothly, there are set salaries for each of the positions within the hierarchy and all compensation is fulfilled in terms of money rather than 'in-kind' benefices. This is because benefices are difficult to quantify and often carry with them external, additional obligations. This type of authority, in an imperfect form, is found throughout the world almost every time you turn around. The republic of the United States is formed on such a system in which the President is elected to his office and appoints a number of supposedly qualified individuals to fill specific offices within his administration, each of which has their own set of obligations and responsibilities, their own hierarchical structure below them, and their own set o f laws to follow regarding how they conduct business. This is only an imperfect example, though, because it is not necessarily true that the electorate will vote for the most qualified candidate for President or that the elected President will place the most qualified candidates within the individual offices within his administration. Compensation for offices are frequently a mixture of salaries based on money and benefices consisting of favors, gifts, or other positive outcomes for the recipient. While behavior is ruled by law, there is often a great deal of politics occurring within this hierarchy, providing means by which laws are bent, broken, amended or over-ruled based upon a different system of obligation. Many of these same issues are also present in smaller organizations in which this form of authority is in place. These include corporations of all types as well as non-profit, philanthropic endeavors. Of course, in these smaller organizations, the rules can be bent to a gre ater or lesser degree simply because they are company policies rather than actual laws. In addition, the appointment of individuals to different offices can be based on things such as personal relationships or favors owed rather than actual fitness and training specific to the tasks of the office. In almost all systems of this sort, there is some reliance

Marketing Management Apple iphone V RIM Blackberry Essay

Marketing Management Apple iphone V RIM Blackberry - Essay Example This means that the marketing activities in the firm must be fully coordinated and well managed and the chief marketing executive must be awarded an important role in company planning. As these moves occur marketing management begins to develop. Marketing management is the marketing concept in action or an orientation of management in the scientific and systematic marketing. A significant characteristic of marketing is its peculiar and sometimes unique requirements. Marketing as a concept .and function is unique in that it faces out from a business. Its purpose is to take things to the market and bring information and ideas back from the market. Because of the dynamics of any market marketing activities and ideas are continuously changing and revising. Marketing for enterprise today will be different to yesterdays marketing and will change to something different again in the future. Because of this dynamic marketing and marketers must constantly seek and gather information. Most ente rprises have established information flows whereby statistics on sales and fluctuations in these will be continuously monitored. However such statically information flows are not enough and marketers gather information and market intelligence intuitively and continuously as an everyday occurrence in doing business. This in turn contributes to and sometimes shapes the constant marketing flux. As the value of marketing to business grows and as new concepts and applications of marketing emerge and evolve so to does the need for up to date market intelligence. Thus marketers need for deep and detailed qualitative research becomes more crucial and its importance lies in the need to understand phenomena and to gain meaningful insights into circumstances and changes. Market-led strategic model is adopting to provide more value to the customers. The new marketing frame work is designed to help to cope with the demand of the new customer. It is customer-oriented approach, as there are new tr ends and realities; mere traditional approach to the marketing is not at all successful in all cases. So a new approach is adopted which is the market-led strategic change. It is all about the concentrating on the demand or value of the customers while adopting strategic change in marketing. In this study some important factors is provided to transform the process of going to market. Business model is important for implementing innovation properly. Business models convert new technology to economic value. Business model serves to link technical input to economic out put. Value proposition is one of the components of business model. Value proposition is a description of the customer problem, the product that addresses the problem and the value of the product from the customer's perspective. Other components of business model involve market segment, value chain structure, revenue generation and margins, position in value network and competitive strategy. With the increase of competition and challenges, mere concentration of advertising, branding, new product launches is not enough to stand up in the market. The drivers of the new marketing is Value strategy, market strategy, internet strategy, process strategy and change strategy. Value strategy is a coherent and customer oriented and gives superior value to each of the customers in terms of matters affecting to the customers Market strategy is a clear and strategic pathway to market which clarify value proposition and identify the way in the process of go

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Physics midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Physics midterm - Essay Example How does the weight of an object affect its motion? And finally what is the effect of other forces other than gravity on the objects motion? The following measurements were taken in the lab: The objects displacement over time during the fall and the Carts displacement over time starting from rest. The time interval for the cart for five different inclination angles and the time interval when the angle of inclination for the cart is constant, and the mass is varied were noted. The measurement taken in the lab relate to the principals used in the experiment. Using the measurements and the basic kinematic equations we have calculated displacement, velocity and acceleration. Therefore the motion of the object in free fall and an inclined plane has been described. The lab relates to the material covered in class since using the data we have confirmed the expected results from theoretical analysis using the actual results. Real world applications of this lab include orbit calculations, explorations of oceans resources, satellite launch, exploration of natural resources and isometric height measurements. Bjà ¶rk, B. C. (2012). The hybrid model for open access publication of scholarly articles: A failed experiment?. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(8),

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

X-ray Documented Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

X-ray Documented - Essay Example This means that materials science and engineering operates in a world characterized by high technological advances because technological advancements created from advanced materials. The significance of materials science and engineering started a long time ago. It has existed for many years. Nowadays, people only look at the names of eras and realize that materials have been helpful in the creation of civilization. These eras include the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. In fact, people have branded the current era as the material era because of the contribution that material engineering has provided. X-rays use materials that are provided by the technology in material science and engineering. The history of the development of science and technology has always been directly linked to the progress of materials science and engineering. In recent times, the expansion of concentration in the surface qualities of solids has become a feature of this field of knowledge. Neverthele ss, it is not surprising that interactions with material are realized through the free surface of the materials. Surface layers can unfalteringly control the application of the whole quantity of material. The free surface is essential for a large amount of material and mechanical features of materials that include yield strength, proportionality limit and material behavior in processes of fragile and low energy fracture (Sham 1012). The concept of X-rays was first discovered by a physicist from Germany called Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. However, A.W. Goodspeed was the first person to make the X-ray discovery, on February 22, 1890. Because there was no information that could prove that he had discovered X-ray, Goodspeed named his discovery an accident and did not take any credit for the work he had done (Dyson 1). In the discovery, Wilhelm enclosed a glass tube inside of a black paper box. He attached a wiring that ran inside the glass tube that resembled the inside of a light bulb. Th is enabled the electrical currents to build up in the glass tube. He then connected the tube to an induction coil apparatus that allowed an electric current to pass through the tube. This way, a faint green colored light could be seen across the room. He decided to do this in a different way to be sure of what he had seen. He lit a match stick and discovered that there was a small screen in the room which was coated with a chemical. The lighting from the match stick sent the current along the tube. This made the exact same light to appear again. As he continued with his experiments, he discovered that these rays could penetrate through objects, such as wood and metal. Accidentally, his hand came in contact with the tube one day, and saw shadows of his hand with darker shadows that represented the bones. When he moved his hand, the shadow on the screen also moved. He named the shadow the first x-ray picture (Lewin, Paradijs and Heuvel 373). X-ray works in a unique way. As the wavelen gths of light diminish, they augment in terms of the energy that is produced. X-rays have lesser wavelengths, which cause higher energy compared to ultraviolet waves. This is the reason as to why professionals consider X-rays with respect to the energy they produce rather than their wavelength. This is partly because X-rays have minute wavelengths. Another reason is because X-ray light works like particles as opposed to waves. X-ray detectors gather definite photons of X-ray light that are remarkably different from the radio telescopes that contain large tableware designed to focus radio waves. When an X-ray of a person’s body is done in a hospital, professionals put X-ray sensitive films on one side of the patient’

Sunday, September 22, 2019

International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

International Relations - Essay Example Realism theory focuses on the continuing tendency for arising disputes between two countries or states, whereas, the liberalism theory helps to identify the various ways to diminish the conflicting tendencies. The radical theory traditionally describes how the entire system of maintaining relations between countries should be altered. In other words, the realists believe that the critical force among countries is to preserve the struggle for power by improving its military security and fiscal welfare in comparison to other countries. Furthermore, the competition between countries is observed as ‘zero-sum game’ in which a country’s gain is a loss for the other country (Dumbaugh 2009). Thesis Statement The paper will discuss the international relations shared between the United States and China for exporting Chinese Tires to the US. Moreover, the paper will focus mainly on the realist and liberal theories for evaluating and better understanding of the relations betw een the two countries. Furthermore, it has been observed that the US government has issued new tariff rules for the US firms in importing tire products from China, which have discouraged many buyers from importing. The issue has bothered many large tire manufacturer companies of China, such as Giti tires which are expecting huge losses (Dumbaugh 2009). Thus, with regard to the challenging policy imposed by the US government, relationship between the two countries will be evaluated. The current situation has instigated a comprehensive list of mutual and polygonal issues that have developed recently (Dumbaugh 2009). Expansive Detail of the Event Hufbauer & Lowry’s findings state that the entire cost to American consumers due to the increased prices which are the affects of imposing hire tariffs to the Chinese tires, was approximately US$1.1 billion in 2011. This has led to job cuts rather than employments which saved nearly US $ 900,000 in the same year. Therefore, the addition al costs that the US citizens had to pay in buying the tires made them reduce the amount spent on other retail products, thereby affecting employment in the retail sector as well. Furthermore, the tire protectionism affected the US economy with more than 2,531 job cuts which were due to the increased losses in the retail sector (Hufbauer and Lowry 2012). The recent updates state that the Chinese government greatly opposed to the decision taken by US President Barack Obama about the tariffs imposed on the tire imports from China. In this regard, this case would be brought under the judgment of World Trade Organization (WTO) as concluded by the Asian country’s Ministry of Commerce. The ministry further said that by imposing higher import duties the US government violated the rules implemented by WTO which was a breach in commitments made by the US at the Group of 20 summits. Thus, it can be stated that the decision to register the case in WTO will affect the international relat ions between the two countries, thereby leading to a chain reaction towards trade protectionism (Bloomberg L.P. 2009). The decision to increase the import duties on tires was followed by a complaint from the United Steelworkers union which is one of the biggest US trading partners. The complaint was to discourage imports from China and encourage using tires produced in own country. Moreover, the steelworkers union that represented more than 15,000 employees working at the 13 tire plants in the US supported the decision as their job cuts were being frequent due to the shutdown of the factories which were being affected by the cheap imports (Bloomberg L.P. 2009). Arguments Realist Theory According to Donnelly (2000), realism is considered as an advancement

Saturday, September 21, 2019

European contact with native North Americans Essay Example for Free

European contact with native North Americans Essay On October 12, 1492, the loud words ring across the deck Land Ho. After 70 long days at sea a tattered bunch of sea dogs jump down into a small rowboat and work there way ashore. The man in charged is named Christopher Columbus. Have you ever wondered what the impact was on the Native American population, when they first met the insatiable intruders of the European continent? When I was in high school I remember learning about Christopher Columbus and others who were credited for discovering the New World. I do not recall being told about the many negative impacts that were caused to the Native Americans. Well I always had this nice picture of Chris and the Indians sitting down and enjoying a meal and exchanging gifts. This is what I was taught in high school but is this really what took place? What really happened was the loss of three items that we as Americans hold in high value they were the loss of life, land, and freedom of the Native Americans! I do not know whether they thought we were too young to understand the overall picture of what took place, or if it is meant to be saved for college level history. During the period of early European settlement there are believed to have been seven different cultural based Native American societies within the present day boundaries of the United States. First you have the Northeast tribes located along the East coast some of which were the Iroquois, Powhatan, Wampanong, Weapemeoc, and there were many more in addition to these. The Southeast Tribes Located around the Florida Coastline was the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and the Choctaw are just a few of them. The Prairies, which consisted of the Wichita, Missouri, and the Omaha and numerous others. The High Plains, which consisted of some of the following tribes Cheyenne, Comanche, Arapaho, Pawnee, and the Tonkawa. The Southwest tribes consisted of Apache, Navajo, and Hopi. The Great Basin you had the Paiute, Shoshone, and the Spokane. And last but not least you had the Northwest tribes, which included the Chinook, Makah, and the Tillamook. Each of these different tribes had engaged in trading networks over vast stretches of the continent for centuries before the Europeans arrived (Nash et al. 13). The European settlers and explores brought the Native Americans something of  unparalleled importance in history, a viral infection that spread like wildfire through a population that had no immunity against it (Nash et al. 5). Everywhere the Europeans landed the natives were infected. It is believed that a 90 to 95% death rate amongst the Native American was caused by these viral infections such as smallpox, measles, and chicken pox (Trickel 32). In most areas where Europeans intruded in the hemisphere for the next three centuries, the catastrophe repeated itself. No matter who came, whether French, English, Spanish, or Dutch, every newcomer from the old world participated accidentally in the spread of disease that typically eliminated, with in a few generations, at least two-thirds of the native population (Nash et al. 26). I am not trying to say that all European contact was bad for them, take the French involvement with the Native Americans. When the French met with the natives they found it to be better to live amongst them. Trade was also beneficial to the natives. The Indians and the French set up many little trading posts and villages along the interior of the Americas, along the Mississippi river valley, and both prospered from those villages. The Dutch and British began early buying land, a practice never understood by the Native Americans, who generally believed that they were granting the newcomers rights to use rather than to own the lands. European settlers started putting up fences and claiming land that did not belong to them (Nash et al.12). To the European the owning of land was a show of ones wealth. This was a concept, which the Native Americans were not familiar; with due to the fact that land to them was communal, it belonged to all. There were no rich or poor in Native American villages everyone shared this was something the Europeans did not understand. I am not saying they did not have boundaries, too, because they did amongst different tribes. So this had a great impact because they were being driven from their hunting grounds and roaming spaces. The Spanish came to the New World looking for gold (Nash et al. 5). Often they married with the Native Americans. French explorers were trappers and traders they often married with the Native Americans and maintained friendly  relations based on trade partnership with the Native Americans. The Dutch and British, in contrast with these other European groups, came to the New World with their families to set up colonies most of them were seeking to settle the land (Nash et al. 68). What was life like in a Native American village before European exploration? I picture a village of many people sharing a land working together for the needs of the village. Some people thought that the Native Americans were savages but is that true? I think not. They had services not as a Christian would believe but they did join as a group and did worship. Who is to say that if you are not a Christian you cannot be saved? They took from the land what they needed to exist; they used every part of what they hunted. They used the skins for blankets, flooring, clothing and they ate the meat and found uses for everything they killed. They believed the people belonged to the land not, as the Europeans held, that the land belonged to people. In Native American societies, women also held subordinate positions, to men but not to the extreme found amongst the European men and women. In Iroquois villages, men sat in a circle to deliberate and make decisions, but the senior women of the village stood behind them, lobbying and instructing. The chief was often a male; the elder women of their tribe named them to their position. If they moved to far from the will of the women who appointed them, these chiefs were removed. (Nash et al. 12). The women played active rolls in all aspects of the tribal affairs and everyday life, such as planting and harvesting. The Native Americans were used in many different fashions during the early exploration and colonization of America. They were often used as guides, slaves, traders, and also as allies or enemies to the many different colonizing factions of the European countries. In Latin America many Native Americans surrendered when faced with European domination. Others were enslaved on plantations, where they mixed together with African slaves and survived, mixed in race and culture. The French found them very useful in the trade and allies along the Mississippi river valley and the interior of the Americas. The English found them to be blocking the progress to  advancing civilization of the coastal regions, but also found them to be useful allies during the French and Indian war. The Indian tribes who lived in and near the English colonies seemed natural subjects for enslavement, as had the Indians in Spanish America. Native American slavery was attempted, but the Native Americans did not make as good of slaves as Africans. For one thing, they were less accustomed to the settled agriculture at which they were expected to labor. Perhaps most importantly, Native Americans were not bewildered foreigners, weakened and cowed by the terrible experience of being transported to a new world. Native Americans were in their own homeland, where they were organized into tribes and nations; they were not so few and scattered as the Africans in the early decades of the colonies. By the time the colonists were sufficiently numerous and organized to enforce slavery on the Native Americans, an easier solution was presented by the ever larger number of more helpless Africans put on the block and sold by the slave traders. The British, who employed them after the British victory in the French and Indian War, started the practice of making treaties with the American Indians in the colonial period. During the American Revolution the U.S. government adopted the treaty system, signing its first treaty with the Delaware. The purposes of a treaty was to obtain tribal land, to determine boundaries between Indian and white lands, and to regulate trade. By adopting the treaty system, the British and U.S. government recognized the prior ownership of land by Native American tribes and status as independent nations. After the American colonists won their independence from England, the American government continued the English practice of treating the tribes as independent nations. Other Indians, particularly throughout the center of America, entered into the economic, religious, and social life of their conquerors and became the lowest class of the U.S. society. The European colonization of the New World had a great impact on the Native Americans In many ways and the majority of them were negative. I wonder it would have been like if it had been the other way around, if it had been the Native Americans who had colonized Europe. I also wonder why I never knew  these facts until I attended a college level history class. I believe that we should be taught the entire truth in high school not given the impression of Chris and the Native Americans sitting down at a table and sharing a nice meal and exchanging gifts. Works Cited Nash, Gary B., et al. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society. Volume One to 1887.4th Edition. Los Angeles: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1998. Trickel, John A. Readings In United States History To 1877: Perspectives on America. Volume 1. New York: American Heritage Custom Publishing, 1

Friday, September 20, 2019

British Trade Unions Experienced Rapid

British Trade Unions Experienced Rapid British trade unions experienced rapid membership growth in the 1970s, followed by a severe membership decline in the 1980s and 1990s and a subsequent stabilisation in membership numbers in the period since 2000. Critically evaluate the various economic, political, industrial and internal union factors which may have influenced these fluctuations; then assess, (with supporting evidence), whether British trade union membership is likely to grow or decline in the next five years. This essay will critically evaluate the various factors which influenced the re-curing decline and increase of the British trade unions from the 1970s to 2000. This essay will also analyse the decline and growth of the trade unions in the next five years. The real beginning of British trade unionism was established by craftsmen in the late eighteenth century who called themselves Friendly Societies. They focus on the individual employee or member by providing services, advice and representing individuals (Simms Charlwood, 2010). Trade union is any organisation, whose membership consists of employees, which seeks to organise and represent their interests both in the workplace and society and, in particular, seeks to regulate the employment relationship through the direct process of collective bargaining with management (Salamon, 2000). Trade Unions are central to employee relations in Britain and other countries. They have suffered loss of membership and other challenges throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Hollinshead et al (2003) states that trade Union membership increased during the 1960s and 1970s from (9.8million in 1960 to 13million in 1979). This was due to the growth in the public sector and white -collar work. Although the decline in trade union membership since 1979 has been among manual employees in the manufacturing sector, union membership suddenly change towards non-manual and public sector employees (Simms Charlwood , 2010). The sustained decline in membership in 1980s and 1990s was due to the int eractions among the composition of the workforce and Jobs, the roles of the state, employers and individual workers and of unions own structure and policies (Gall, 2004). These factors which attributed to the decline in membership will be studied separately but also recognize that there is a considerable interaction among them. On the measure of economic influence on unions due to the Global trade in developed countries, combined with the rapid technological change, have had important impacts in other countries including Britain (Freeman, 1995). Industrialization in other countries has had a massive impact on British trade unions this was due to the increase in competitive product markets that presented challenges to unions. Because of the competitive product markets it made it harder for unions to win concessions from employers. This causes the cost of unionization and collective action to be higher (Brown et al, 1997). Also a rise in unemployment in the 1980s was significant in reducing trade union membership. The shift in composition of the workforce and jobs played a role in union membership decline, particularly from 1970s. Also changes in gender composition had an impact on union membership (Simms Charlwood, 2010). This was due to the decline in manufacturing employment and rise of service sector whi ch led to the removal of the whole sections of highly unionised workforces employing mainly males. There are several reasons for not relying on compositional effects as the main cause of union decline. Union membership fell by 5million in the 1980s and 1990s. Research evidence from British social attitudes survey and labour force survey suggested that only between 1 million and 1-7million of this loss is attributable to the changed structure of the workforce and employment (Millward et al, 2000). Activities and policies of the state had a negative impact on British trade union membership for example legislation promoting or undermining union security, and its influence on the environment in which employers and unions operate. Carruth and Disney (1988) states that Union decline was triggered by the global recession of 1980. This affected Britain most because of the legal reforms of the conservative government and the way they managed the economy. Also, the environment in which the social partners conducted their activities was affected by the attack on public sector activities, the undermining of collectivism and a greater emphasis than previously on product market competition. Public sector unions faced privatisation such as the water, steel, coal and electricity industries and competitive tendering for services provided by local government, the NHS and civil services, which cost job losses in these highly unionised sectors (Hollinshead et al, 2003). Again, collectivism was d amaged by, for example, taking a million teachers and nurses out of collective bargaining and at the same time breaking up the central control of education and health by introducing local management of schools and health service trusts (Colling and Terry, (2010). Industrial relations legislation also affected union decline, by weakening union security and then outlawing the closed shop and interfering in check-off arrangements. The strike threat, a fundamental source of union power was weakened by laws which permitted a union to be sued and also introduced ballots prior to a strike and outlawed both secondary and unofficial action. This legislation both raises the cost of organising and reduces the costs employers face in opposing unions. Freeman and Pelletier (1999) calculated a legislation index according to how favourable or unfavourable various strands of labour law were to unions in each year. These changes in the law were shown to be central to the decline in density in the 19 80s. In 2000, the labour government introduced a new procedure by which employees could seek recognition of a union from their employer. This policy changes contributed in part to the unions slight recovery of union members. Although the policy has been criticised a research conducted by Income Data Services suggests that some 470 voluntary agreements between companies and unions were signed prior to the law taking effect. Furthermore, trade union policies and structure also affected membership, for example structural issues include moves to decentralization, the nature of mergers and multi-unionism. Also, policies regarding the manner in which unions interact with members, employers, potential members, and the state. In 1960 trade unions took a decision to withdraw such that shop stewards became responsible for collecting dues and members. However the shop stewards role was shortly submerged by their collective bargaining function. Such uneven bargaining outcomes, led to a loss of national voice (Bryson 2001). This may have weakened employers associations and coalitions among unions which could have improve the concentration of membership. Brook (2002) suggested that in the 1980s 10 unions with 250,000 members accounted for 60% of membership, but years later 11 unions with over a quarter of million members accounted for three quarters of membership. This fusion was aimed at raising market share, shuff ling of members around than generating scale economies which would release extra resources for servicing and organising. Also, more than one union in the workplace (i.e. multi-unionism) has a positive impact on industrial relations. Research suggested that when organisations have more than one union in the workplace it connects with fragmented bargaining, rather than single table bargaining, where productivity growth is lower and financial performance and strike record are worse than in similar workplaces with just one union (Simms Charlwood, 2010). . Ferner and Hyman (1992) Trade unions depend on their members for income, so when union member declined their income decreased. Due to these changes, unions made a decision to prioritize the representation of existing members rather than expanding into new areas. Policies towards members and potential members also affected membership decline due to the changing workforce increasing diversity, the move to services work and changing patterns of employment and changing lifestyle habits (Hollinshead, 2003). In 1980s the union movement demonstrated it most negative behaviour by opposing the industrial relations legislation despite the fact that the conservative government had a clear mandate and the public supported its proposals. Again some unions challenged the power of the state and they seem not to realise until it was too late the fragility of their situation. This lead to the state withdrawing its support for their activities and many employers followed the state. This lead to the rapid decline of members and unions bargaining agenda became hugely constrained. During the 1990s, TUC general secretary John Monks tried to create new sources of legitimacy power for unions by promoting the idea of a more Europeans style of partnership industrial relation (Heery, 1999). Politicians and policy makers did not support the idea that it will make any substantial impact on union fortunes. Again, many employers were reluctant to engage with unions in this way, and many activists were not comfor table with the idea (Hollinshead et al, 2003). Although the union movement improved in the 1990s it was too late to reverse the sustained loss of members. In 1997 Labour government came into power and repeatedly stated it would not repeal the anti-union legislation introduced in 1979. In addition the Labour Party distances themselves from trade unions which created it. Also the Labour Government took a stand towards public service reform, the level of the minimum wage, and the refusal to embrace more widespread employment rights such as those enjoyed elsewhere in the EU, for example the family friendly policies. They introduced the 1999 Employment Relations Act which sought to widen collective bargaining with unions being granted statutory right to recognition where they have over 50% of a workplace bargaining group. Individual rights have been strengthen by the introduction of the minimum wage, a maximum working week, the right to union representation at grievance and disciplinary hearings and reduction to 1 year of the unfair dismissal qualification period. Ewing (2003) states that the 1997 Labour Government has adopted a notably different, if still broadly pluralist approach, to its predecessors, in that it has assigned a far more comprehensive role to legislation, as opposed to collective bargaining, foe setting minimum employment standards. Also at the same time it has place tight restrictions on the trade union and industrial action whilst granting unions statutory powers to widen their spheres of collective bargaining. Furthermore, British trade unions attempted to address declining levels by placing great emphasis on membership recruitment and organizing new workers. Unions organises workers in workplaces where there has not been a union. It does it this by emphasising the different interests of workers and managers, and by showing how workers can pursue their interests by acting collectively. For example Unite union took a similar approach and has done some innovative work with low-paid cleaners in London, by building local networks and tapping into their local activism (Wills, 2005). This approach was influenced by ideas from America (Bronfenbrenner et al.,1998) and by mobilization theory (Kelly1998). It states that, the collective power of workers will force the employer to listen to them and take their interests seriously. However it is difficult to do this in the current social environment and also, it proves difficult considering the legal constraints on using their coercive power. Gall (200 4) reports that, there are challenges in recruiting workers and that it is often expensive and time consuming, successful outcomes are far from certain, again there is a risk that the employer may counter-mobilize. Secondly, in an effort to renew legitimacy power which declined in both government and many employers, unions decided to work in partnership with employers. Haynes and Allen (2001) states that partnership includes ideas of mutual acceptance of the legitimacy of each partner, cooperation, and joint decision making. Unions suggested that by getting employers to accept the right and legitimacy of the union to express the collective interests of workers, they union hope to use partnership to convince workers that their voices will be heard. Kelly (1996) argues that in using this approach workers may think that because the union works cooperatively with managers it is not an independent body that represents their interests. On the other hand, union may lose the ability to put the workers point of view effectively since it lacks or is unwilling to use its coercive power. Furthermore, employers and unions have benefited from Partnership in terms of increased job security, benefits in wages, and increased union density (Kelly 2004). Finally, In order to improve union membership rates, unions decided to provide better services to members. By expanding the range of services they provided in the hope that this would attract new members. Some example includes providing credit cards or discounts on insurance, but it proved ineffective it was not a priority for workers (Waddington and Whitson 1997). Looking to the past we saw that unions offered financial services such as forms of life insurance or assistance with funeral costs as they have been the most concern of workers. If unions fail to defend and promote their members interest, membership will decline. Finally, in spite of the extensive experiments with strategies for renewal, unions have not seem successful in creating new form of unionism adapted to the changed political, social and economical circumstance. A WERS surveys conducted have traced the decline of union membership and influence in British workplace over the course of 1980s and 1990s (Millward et al, 2000), however there are signs that the rate of decline has slowed in recent years (Grainger and Holt, 2005). The labour force survey indicates that the total number of unions members among employees in Britain actually increase from 6.7million to 6.9million between 1998 to 2003 (Hicks e t al 2005).The economy was expanding at the same time but, in contrast to earlier periods unions were broadly keeping pace. Again, 200,000 members were gained between 1998 and 2003; twice as many were lost between 2003 and 2009. Density fell two percentage points to reach 27.0% in 2009. Also the 2008/9 recession appears to have brought no change in membership decline. This is because the recession has not affected union jobs any more or less than non-union jobs to date. However, this may change if there are large scale redundancies in the public sector. This may result in a disproportionate share of the jobs that are lost can be expected to be union jobs which is likely to result in membership decline. Ferner and Hyman (1992) suggest that future union is likely to depend on the political climate and employer policy. It is hard to predict on the latter that most employers will be welcoming to unions as they were during the post Donovan period of industrial relations reform. This together in shifts in the employment structure suggests that, even with a favourable political situation, unions will find it hard to increase density levels. Nevertheless, some predict that the true turning point towards better fortunes for trade unions may still be some way away (Metcalf,2005). Though there are difficulties, one in three British workers are still members of unions, however the probability that working people will turn to trade unions to develop collective responses is very low (Simms Charlwood, 2010). In conclusion, British trade unions have developed from small localised organisations into complex national institutions and have played an integral and influential role not only in the workplace but also in society. Again, British trade unions have some grounds for cautious optimism in respect of their membership numbers. However, bearing in mind the enormous defeats and severe constraints in the past. Overall it seems trade union membership is unlikely to increase as they face a less supportive economic and political environment. Also, the new coalition government suggested they will introduce more legislation to restrict union ability to take industrial actions.