Ethical Dilemmas Of Police Officers - 2117 Words

Introduction Law enforcers are supposed to hold the ideals of honesty, integrity and responsibility at all times in the line of duty. This is even more profound for police officers whose work should always inspired confidence among the communities they serve and protect. In fact, one of the core values that police officers ought to uphold at all times is inspiring public trust. A huge percentage of police officers use their positions and authority to serve the public while upholding the highest standards of ethics at all times. However, on most occasions, just like in any other profession, law enforcers are faced with a multitude of ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas occur when an officer faces a situation where he does not know the right course of action, when the course of action considered as right is difficult to follow or when following the wrong course of action was very tempting. One of the greatest dilemmas that police officers face on a daily basis is with regard to obtaining and or using confidential information. This is the most sensitive ethical issue that has faced the police force over the past decade. The advent of digital information communication technology has a huge potential of enhancing policing activities. However, most of the information that has the ability to enhance policing is mostly held confidentially. Following the enactment of the Intelligence Authorization act, police were given the authority to request data on when, where and for howShow MoreRelatedThe Ethical Dilemma of a Police Officer Essay1333 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ethical Dilemma of a Police Officer Professions are guided by codes of ethics to aid them in performance of their duties and to ensure maintenance of high standards of conduct. Police officers are faced with a maze of obligations in the performance of their official duties. 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My Opinion On The Defense Team - 837 Words

According to free dictionary.com, â€Å"Glacis are a gentle slope; an incline. and a slope extending down from a fortification† (freedictionary.com). In my opinion glacis is a slope that can lead easy access for attack and fire. Giving a clear advantage for the attacker to go uphill and limiting the ability resulting in the defense team usually have more response time. To have an advantage on the enemy would be the best tactical approach, but there are times where this is not a possibility. To regain control of the situation, we could need to create a distraction so the said attacking team can move in and contain the situation. That said defence team leaving them helpless and having to surrender. In my opinion when necessary glacis is a very†¦show more content†¦There are two ways as said person can activate the bomb. One is, if said person is in proximity of the bomb and activates the device by giving their live for whatever reason. Second is, by said person makes a mechanism of some sort to trigger the bomb. Therefore no longer being needed exactly on site. Discuss the legal considerations for the use of deadly force. According to freedictionary.com the deffination of Deadly Force is â€Å"Police officers may use deadly force in specific circumstances when they are trying to enforce the law. Private citizens may use deadly force in certain circumstances in Self-Defense. The rules governing the use of deadly force for police officers are different from those for citizens.† (Freedictionary.com) This is what comes to my mind when I think Deadly Force, when using deadly force, there are many things to take into consideration such as legal issues and awareness, if it is the best effective way to protect myself or others around me. The legal side of using deadly force is considering the complete outcome. Granted when in a situation that deadly force is needed you won t sit there running through the process, you just act on the situation. Many times when deadly force has occurred, there comes into question if all people involved were in the correct state of mind and if it was the correct way to proceed in the situation. In the case of a Law enforcement officer, there are various degrees on the use of force spectrum,

Coal Is Just Not Black Gold free essay sample

Based on the literature and observations, he then proposes few strategic recommendations to improve organisational effectiveness both to Law makers and to company. INTRODUCTION Coal India Limited (CIL) is a Government of India Undertaking, Maharatna (Country’s Jewel) company which employees 400,000 people approximately as of April’12. In ended last financial year, with net annual sales of 15 billion dollars, and a net annual operating profit of 3 billion dollars approximately by producing coal from its 466 Coal mines across India and selling it to Power generation companies. It is the biggest and only listed company in the sector, where private companies are not allowed to compete, Thus accounting to 80% of Annual national production of Coal in India. CIL has five unions, which represent all the employees in the company. Since the company is only major coal producer and acts more like a monopoly in the sector, wages are low compared to Industry average in other countries. Coal India apart from producing coal on its own also gives few coal mines to private third parties for contract. These mines are smaller in size and remote for the company to allocate resources, hence they are contracted. This strategy of contracting coal mines and not having enough regulations around Coal production has led to few private contractors preferring illegal means of employment in these coal mines and not allowing private competitors to compete with Public sector companies COAL IN INDIA Indian Coal Industry currently occupies third position by producing 400 metric tons per year ( mtpy), after US (1100 mtpy and China 2400 mtpy. Within the country Coal mining is nationalized and accounts for 60 per cent of electricity production. Coal being crucial resource for economic growth, it is safeguarded by government by passing many acts, Indian Mines Act of 1952, Mines and Minerals Regulation and Development (MMRD) act are the key legislative act meant for protecting labour working in mining industry and governing mining and exploration in India respectively. After further revision in 1993 and 2002, National Mining Policy was outlined by Government of India whose objectives are mineral development through exploration in both Onshore and Offshore fields. Policy is meant to promote mineral industry standardize training and research, considering future needs of the country with minimal impact of nature and ensure safety and health of all people involved in the industry. These objectives do make a progress in standardizing the rules, however it has to clearly describe how the law handles informal mines and how to deal with illegitimacy under current law. According to a Journalist expert of small mines Chakravorty (2002), Illegal mines in India constitute of 88 per cent of the total reported mines in count, producing approximately 10 per cent of the total value of mineral production of the country. This number has increased in the last decade , where 30 per cent of illegal mining. These mines comprise of poor people toiling for lowest wages and almost negligible security, health and safety conditions. According to MMRD Act, Mines Act and other Environmental Acts, all minerals are broadly classified into â€Å"Major† and â€Å"Minor† and rest the responsibility of mining with the state. MMRD has further classified mines has Class A or Class B determined based on the mechanical equipment used and Labour employment the mine generates. Based on financial investment, Labour work, Depth of deposits and technology deployed, mines are simplified to different Classes and given for contract. Typically Class B mines are given for contract to subsidiaries by CIL , One such example is Eastern Coal Fields, in state of Meghalaya, where even though they mines are Small, they are labour intensive and needs to have high security and health standards. National Institute of Small Mines (NISM) , a governing body has classified mines based on the production amounts. From various acts above, it can be understood that legal definitions hinge on physical dimensions of mine, which is in turn is used to determine the effort and time required to mine. However for a complex economic activity like mining with close social linkages and unique to the nature of the mine, such reductionist approach and simplifying mines obscures the diversity of mining practices across scales. As large formal processes of mineral extraction, processing and use cannot be applied to such small mines they tend to be rejected and Illegitimated. Clearly, existing laws have loopholes which are inadequate in handling perennial Informal and Illegal mining. Also Illegal miners cannot lobby for recognition, since current structure of the sector is monopolistic with over 80% reserves under CIL. This situation has resulted in dire consequences and well-being of Local society around colliery areas and environment. COAL INDIA , A MONOPOLY Coal India Limited (CIL) established in 1970, is responsible for mining the coal, while the ownership of which is vested with the state. Consequently the organization has played a critical role in meeting state’s growth plans. The decision making on mineral resources is influenced by engineers, geologists, bureaucrats and political groups and governance is solely vested with CIL. The Coal Mines Nationalisation Bill, 2000 allows state governments to mine coal only if CIL certifies with no Intention to mine certificate. The Ministry of Coal ( MoC ) has awarded CIL a near monopolistic power, giving rise to tight control on its country’s reserves and lack of transparency in many areas. Because of lack of more advanced technology for procuring coal and other social costs, it is also noted that mining cost of Coal in India is 35% higher than other exporting countries like Indonesia, Australia, because of poor productivity ( 3 tonnes / man shift ) as compared to 12 tonnes / man shift in Australia. As a solution privatising of coal sector is attempted, however it is still in preliminary stage. The challenge to policy makers in this regard is to ensure how to safeguard the wealth from illegal mining and environment within the region, at the same time benefit people in mining areas by making laws that do not outcaste people and their livelihoods as illegitimate also ensure greater transparency and standardization in pricing of coal. In coming years, demand for coal in the country is expected to increase multi fold, according to IEA 2006, Reuters 2007, hence the need for government to restructure the sector is critical to not only to answer many global implications concerning climate changes and Kyoto Protocol and but also streamline the definite increase in informal collieries which will continue to meet the demands of local consumers and ensure they meet minimum security and health standards of living. SOCIAL IMPACT Coal India Limited has destroyed environment in many coal traces with no or little concern for social implications, Inspire of Forest and environment controls. This behaviour can be attributed to sole monopoly power vested with one company on nation’s coal production. There were other instances of violation of human rights noticed while employee people at Coal mines One such example, It was noted that at Janita Hills, Meghalaya , India. 5000 children less than age of 18 was trafficked from Assam, Nepal and Bangladesh and employed by coal mines in Meghalaya which are contracted to private contractors by CIL . Many such instances were noticed not only in eastern part of India , but also across many nations’ coal traces in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka states. Inspite of the Mines Act , 1952 which doesn’t allow bonded labourers or people below the age of 18 to work. Sometimes even without environment degradations, large mining projects have impacted social lives with serious implications for the livelihoods of local communities around in and around coal traces, where people were forced to leave their traditional occupations for scavenging in left over coal traces, which are not economically viable for contractors. Such instances were noticed in Jharkhand, where government and company officials have neglected social and cultural issues around the mining areas for years impacting the livelihoods of people living in these areas. This has created a need for extreme leftist or Maoist Movements to resist such acts– as observed by Chandra Bhusan, Associate Director of Centre of Science and Environment. According to him Indian Mineralised tracts are mostly in conflict Zones, since Company officials, technical experts and governing bodies never seriously engaged with social issues. Current legal instruments are anti-poor and of colonial vintage and unable to deal with today’s realities. Many Civil Non-Governmental Organisation groups have taken a non-violent approach to use existing judicial mechanisms such as filing Public Interest Litigation(PIL) to bring justice to local communities whose daily lives are impacted. Ex : PIL filed against Eastern Coalfields Limited by Mazdoor Sabha in Country’s Apex court. Although Supreme Court Panel has lashed against CIL, It remained unresponsive SOCIAL LICENSE TO OPERATE Over the past 2 decades many changes were noticed in global mining industry. There is increased and concerted global efforts where nine major global companies supported a global scale project called Mines, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project ,whose direct outcome is to the increasing charges of environmental destruction and irresponsibility on coal mining companies to care socio-cultural changes caused by them in areas of operation are laid out and followed globally. MMSD group of companies agreed that Mining Company in developing countries not only needs Legal license to operate but also Social License to Operate. Under this backdrop At CIL, mining engineers who make all the plans , mining project itself assumes more importance over people living in these mining operations. This view was observed from many bureaucrats in India, CIL uses their rationale that Land Acquisition Act or Coal Bearing Areas Act does not provide assistance for Local people around the impacted areas, thus ignoring local needs and perpetuating illegal mining under its belt. ILLEGAL COAL MINING AND UNSAFE WORKING CONDITIONS In energy-hungry country like India, demand for coal has increased in the last 2 decades, coal production remained fairly stable, causing coal prices to surge in recent years. The lack of reform and rising demand have spawned a seedy underbelly of â€Å"Coal Mafia† and a class of workers that illegally scavenge the mines for coal. The Coal Nationalization act in 1952, revised in 2000 has made it legal for just the centre or state governments to authorize coal mining, i. . , only government owned companies, its subsidiaries and contracted third parties. Apart from illegally mining, scavenging from abandoned mines is another source of obtaining coal. In West Bengal state for instance Raniganj-Jharia region there are many abandoned mines by CIL subsidiaries which have neglected filling up the mines with sand, as per regulation , consequently villagers have ready access to scavenge. It was also observed that open abandoned underground mines release hazardous gases like Carbon Monoxide which are hazardous and can kill people who go to scavenge left over coal. Scavenging can occur in both underground and open cast mines. The later assumes greater significance. In these areas Poor Security of mines storage and transportation was observed where coal is transported with head baskets into awaiting trucks. Coal India also delivers coal to local sale dumps located near the mines and big dumps, pilferage takes place regularly on major highways from long distance. In eastern India, Its not unusual to see women and children work the unsafe mines with the most rudimentary tools. Most are drawn to it in the hopes of earning a better  income. According to World Bank, over 20 million people depend on mineral resource extraction for living. When this number is compared with formal mining industries it is immensely large. PAUPERIZATION IN COAL MINING AREAS IN INDIA In colliery areas where CIL operates, significant amount of social and environmental transformation takes place over a period of time. Within bureaucratic and political circles the notion that Coal as a commodity is being excavated for greater common good by a Central government owned body like Coal India Limited, represents lack of attentions to people’s interests and social impacts of mining coal. Decay of social fabric, erosion of traditional livelihood, rising levels of urbanisation are some of the socio impacts which vary according to physical proximity of the mine to livelihoods. Between 1971 and 2001, people in Ranijang region in west Bengal have slowly moved away from agriculture as an occupation to mining and scavenging , even in non-colliery areas. Women especially from downtrodden caste and below poverty line are most impacted by this migration. In areas of Jharkhand gradual pauperization of people around coal mining areas have taken place in which traditional land and water rights in the region in which they live are lost and few negligible short term benefits of mining are accrued which will is leading to steady extinction of tribal people in remote coal mining areas. In most of the cases, links between the legal and illegal coal mines are more complex than above example. Both the groups either co-exist or coal mining company complains against scavenging to local authorities as law and order problem, however bureaucratic reply is usually pointing the company should take care of its resources. Hence in the existing legal setup both parties formally or informally will try to co-exist peacefully. Similar setup exists between large scale and small scale transportation in centralized control manner controlled by mafia group. Part of the root cause for such inefficient maintenance, transportation and distribution systems lies with CIL and its subsidiaries where they are not standardized and do not consider domestic consumer, In the entire eastern region CIL doesn’t have large depot to cater the needs of domestic consumers. Hence often industry owner applies for a license to grant coal to fire the furnaces or generate power. This permission is difficult to get and consumer need to bribe any intermediate parties from company officials, bureaucrats and politicians leading to significant overhead cost for the company, there by preferring a shorter and simpler coal extracting methods by joining hands with mafia system or illegal mining. STRATEGY MAKING PROCESS FOLLOWED BY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND COAL INDIA In the above sections, various issues faced by the community, company and the system at large are explained. To understand the issue in hand better and to analyse the issues lingering the sector better, Government’s and Company’s behaviour with larger society is compared with few Strategy making processes. According to author, current system has a predefined set of objectives and is thriving to achieve that without considering other subjects involved in entire scenario. This behaviour aptly fits into Classical approach highlighted by Grant (2008). The reductionist approach by MMRD and other acts by the Government can be mapped to this approach Government trying to oversimplify the complexities involved in various mines based on certain factors like Size, productivity etc. , such approach leads to formation of clear goals to the Company and doesn’t allow the company to recognize the emergent behaviour of the employees, people livelihoods in affected areas. Below is a modified representation of Grant’s Classical approach of Strategic Human Resource Management. Figure 1 : Common elements in successful Strategies , Adopted from Grant ( 2008: 7) Author notices that because of monopolistic nature of coal mining sector in India and sufficient support from political circles, there isn’t sufficient pressure on the company for Profound understanding of all the groups involved. In Most of the cases, Long term agreed objectives takes more priority over other priorities mentioned like Profound Understanding of all groups involved, Regular Appraisals of employees involved and Environmental awareness. Hence the company will focus on financial targets to achieve more than Social Impact it creates in thousands of people it impacts. Thus it can be stated that Classical approach readily doesn’t fit in or help in solving the issue. Current Intended strategy of Government of India, behind Nationalization of Coal mining in 1952 is to protect the reserves from exploitation by private parties is well understood, however with the changing times , growing demand and involvement of various other socio-political and technological factors, Intended Strategy is not being completely realized. There is a deliberate effort on its part , to ensure current intended strategy works by allowing illegal mining and scavenging by local people in coal mining areas in order to peacefully co-exist and continue to mine in coal traces. However by comparing the number of court petitions filed by local tribes in Jharkhand, WestBengal living nearer to various collieries, comparing the productivity / person and high cost of mining compared to other export countries it can be understood that , slowly they are moving towards an unrealized strategy where focus is only on net volumes realized and not considering environmental impact . EMERGENT STRATEGY OF STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT In practice organization approach can be explained by Emergent Strategy approach as suggested by Mintzberg (1987) are relevant. According to March (1976) and Mintzberg (1987), planned strategies are not always realized; strategies can often emerge and evolve over a period of time. The Strategy should be moulded over action . Similar such fluid approach can be applied, where an additional dimension as mentioned below in Emergent strategy is required to recover from unrealized strategy and to streamline the company’s goals. Privatization of coal mining along with a holistic review of existing mining policies impacting the sector is the emergent strategy to improve the productivity, transparency of coal production and livelihoods of people involved. However its application remains a challenge. Figure 2 : The Emergent Strategy, source from the strategy concept, California Management Review, Mintzberg. H, 1987. Systemic Approach of Strategic Human Resource management On similar lines to Emergent Approach of Strategic Human resource management, Whittington(1993,2001) systemic approach provides more answers to the issue, where Strategy is shaped by the social system the company operates within. This strategy is shaped by cultural and institutional interests of broader society, since organisations and decision makers are embedded in network of social relations, hence adept understanding of the needs of the society at large and acting accordingly should be key . OUTCOMES Profit-Maximising PROCESSES Deliberate Emergent Pluralistic Classical Evolutionary Systemic Processual OUTCOMES Profit-Maximising PROCESSES Deliberate Emergent Pluralistic Classical Evolutionary Systemic Processual Figure: 3Whittington’s (1993) generic perspective on strategy Author believes Emergent and Systemic approach to planning a strategy is apt and required by all parties involved( both policymakers and industrialists ) in order to operate in complex world with various socio-geo political limitations. This it can be concluded that to effectively manage human esources and to improve organisation performance , integration between human resource management and business strategy holds key for its success. (See Holbeche, 1999; Schuler and Jackson, 1999). EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN COAL INDIA Coal India has both union and non-union based workers. Starting from 2009, it has been recruiting more than 1000 employees every year from premier management and technology schools across India. This is one of managemen t initiatives taken to inject fresh blood and reduce the average age of its labour force. While the decision to recruit young highly talented workforce as change agents is appreciable, 30 to 40 per cent of these employees quit every year for below reasons. 1) Staff felt they were demoralized by senior staff from the beginning. 2) Apart from salary issues, the staffs were under-utilised and faced hostility from seniors. 3) While recruitment, the staff were promised a grade above engineers however not fully implemented even after raising the concern to top management. Hence realized there are limited growth options. Treasurer of Coal Mines Officers Association of India partially accepted the conditions and commented this situation reflects the larger problem of stagnation within the organization It is understood , if the situation continues, the county’s top coal producer is likely to grapple with unprecedented HR crisis across its executive cadre because of limited growth options and 6000 of their employees mostly from executive cadre getting retired every year. Falling on relevant literature , Kochan . T , 2000 has stated that Asian model of employee relations is designed to support an economic strategy that emphasises human resources as a competitive asset- A strategy that requires a highly skilled and committed workforce and a cooperative labour management culture and system. In Coal India, it can be observed that there are required structures in place like Unions for labour management, since the company is too big, management of resources is challenging. Since the company works in a monopolistic structure, there isn’t healthy competition which will push the management to focus on current internal and external problems with more vigilance rather than its current laid back approach and bureaucratic functioning. It can be noted that HR strategies should operate consistently as is a vital part of the overall business plan (Stroh and Caligiuri, 1998). Within the organisation senior management there should regularly conduct analysis regarding the kind of HR competencies needed in the future, and accordingly core HR functions (of procurement, development and compensation) should work together collectively to meet such needs. (see Holbeche, 1999). The 2 core aspects which organization has to focus is Integration of HRM into the business and corporate strategy, and the devolvement of HRM to line managers instead of personnel specialists, thereby ensuring company doesn’t have power blockages and allow it to function smoothly. Brewster and Larsen (1992: 411–12) define integration as ‘the degree to which the HRM issues are considered to formulate long term business strategy’ and devolvement as ‘the degree to which HRM practices involve line managers has responsible rather than personnel specialists’. Similarly (Budhwar and Sparrow 1997; 2002; Hope-Hailey et al. , 1997; Truss et al. , 1997; Sisson and Storey, 2000) also highlighted the concept of devolvement for quicker response in large scale organizations. This process, highlights the need of prioritizing the issues and developing/ training more motivated employees for effective control. Instead of having a narrow hierarchy with in organization, there by leading to stagnation, it can be learnt from this theory that local problems should be resolved by local managers at grassroots level affording more time for senior management. Applying this theory to Coal India Limited, It can be understood that mine managers should be more proactive is liaising with local governments and bureaucracies to form an amicable solution for betterment of society as well as company. Company senior management should work closely and provide required assistance and authority to mine managers to perform their duties. In this context, the Coal India Limited management can learn from other global peers to understand how to deal with employee relations related issues effectively. Below is the summary of one such example stated by an author Young-Kee Kim, in his report on Employee relations. LG group from its inception till 1987 achieved high rates of economic growth with support from Government by suppressing unions, however in the period of 1987-89 it has faced severe hostility and strikes from its workers because of which resulted in 740 million dollars of loss. Post 1990 till 2005, as a result of research and many extensive internal surveys the roup has laid importance to new group level policy that emphasis the promotion of human dignity for employees and the maximisation of customer satisfaction. Voluntary employee participation in workplace organisational improvements has been identified as a critical success factor. Consequently the rapid realisation of co-operative labour relations and enlig htened ER practices has been recognised as tasks of major significance my member firms. * Company has evolved gradually from Passive support of Management perception of union to active partnership with unions.. It gradually made a cautious move from not just maintaining a stable labour relations climate in order to avoid labour disputes, it has invited a voluntary participation of employees and union leaders in management activities. * Unions characteristics of providing weak employee support to being professional in their activities and finally Employee Relations have moved from just dealing with basic issues to providing autonomy and participation of employees From the above example it can be understood that Firstly, without management innovation, co-operative Employee Relations cannot be achieved. For Labour management relations to be a positive sum game, these innovations should enable the company to achieve superior performance and the capacity to provide employees with better rewards. Secondly, much time and effort is required from top management to develop a constructive labour management culture. The Employee relations department cannot achieve the development of co-operative employment relations by itself. The labour management relationship should be viewed as a profit – creating relationship, rather than a cost –creating one. Thirdly, the company should support increased independence and professionalism on the part of the union and provide education for union leaders. A union that lacks professionalism is unable to get a full support of its members and lacks effective management strategies for administering union business because of high turnover of union officials. Fourthly, to be successful all these activities should be conducted consistently and systematically over time. Many companies only seriously consider the labour management relationship when faced by a critical problem. Such focused attention tends to fade when the strike is settled. As explained in the above example, LG group has chosen a different path and spent a year analysing its Employee relations. CONCLUSION IS PRIVATISATION A SOLUTION ? Currently both globally and in India, demand for coal is on the rise, thereby increasing the prices of coal. Due to the volatile times passing through, similar to other commodity sectors like Iron, steel, Coal Mining industry will also undergo divestment and monopoly of Coal India Limited will break. However privatisation is not a panacea for all issues lingering the sector. Time has come for Policy makers, bureaucracy and other parties involved come together to answer few critical questions while restructuring the sector. 1) How to deal with thousands of people making their livelihood from illegal mining of coal ? 2) Will the government able to accept few realities like people living in local region , have rights on mineral resources to strength the lower strata and provide a sense of security to their livelihood ? 3) Can the government, restructure the sector with more robust, full proof, social informed laws protecting and respecting the rights and interests of all involved ? ) With experience from privatising other commodities, after privatising coal mining ,it can be estimated that mushrooming of small coal mining leases can be experienced in an open market scenario. Hence laws and policies safeguarding the interests should be more inclusive than before. Where policies and laws have to deliver sustainable benefits to local and global communities, un like current laws that are focused only on mitigating the negative impacts of mining on the environment and marginalizing small groups over national priorities. Government policies need to take a more holistic approach in understanding about production of â€Å"Illegal mines† as well as marketing and distribution chains through which legally mined coal is illegally distributed. It is vital to integrate local interests in mine management plans to provide access to resources for local people and co-exist peacefully for inclusive growth.. References : Books and Internet Links * Bamber J, Park F, Lee C, Ross P and Broadbent K, 2000, Employment Relations in the ASIA-PACIFIC Changing Approaches, Allen and Unwin, Australia. BeardWell J amp; Claydon T, 1994, Human Resouce Management – A Contemporary Approach, Pearson Education Limited, Great Britian. * LG Group ( 1994) LG Labour – Management Relations Long-term Model Report * http://www. thehindubusinessline. com/companies/article2470720. ece * http://economictimes. indiatimes. com/coal-india-ltd/infocompanyhistory/companyid-11822. cms * http://articles. economictimes. indiatime s. com/2011-10-18/news/30295579_1_iits-and-iims-new-recruits-cil * http://www. firstpost. com/business/labour-pangs-for-coal-india-scrip-melts-in-the-heat-67084. tml * http://in. reuters. com/article/2012/10/12/tci-coalindia-idINDEE89B08G20121012 * http://www. dnaindia. com/money/report_coal-india-to-face-india-s-first-class-action-suit-in-15-days_1770358 * http://www. livemint. com/Companies/jEkLsitce5Qt0wx3gyS3sM/Coal-India8217s-UK-shareholder-to-file-petition-in-Indian. html * http://ibnlive. in. com/news/meghalaya-braveheart-fights-against-child-labour-in-coal-mines/266778-3. html * http://www. amusingplanet. com/2011/05/child-labor-in-indian-coal-mines. html * http://www. elshcoalmines. co. uk/forum/read. php? 4,50329,50370#msg-50370 * http://www. mining. com/los-angeles-times-uncovers-child-labour-in-indias-coal-mines/ * http://articles. timesofindia. indiatimes. com/2012-11-14/guwahati/35111450_1_child-labourers-coal-mines-meghalaya-government * http://www. businessinsider. c om/photos-indias-illegal-coal-mines-2012-10? op=1 * http://www. thesundayindian. com/en/story/the-unfortunate-social-costs-of-coalgate-and-such-scams/42442/ * http://papers. ssrn. com/sol3/papers. cfm? abstract_id=1716581 *

Richard Iii Summary Essay Example

Richard Iii Summary Essay Richard III Shakespeare successfully portrays (his purpose in relation to the values and expectations of the Elizabethan context) through stage play techniques such as, use of soliloquy, dramatic irony, and humour. He also uses language techniques such as visual imagery and sound imagery throughout his play to explore the villainous role and character of Richard which leads to the development of the key themes in his play, Richard III. The first soliloquy informs the audience of Richard’s inner thoughts while also establishing his character, dark motives, and his intention in the play. The opening statement, â€Å"Now is the winter of our discontent†, refers to Richard’s unhappiness as a result of the war ending and the peace that replaces the feeling of villainy. This immediately informs the audience of Richard’s dark personality and the villainy within him. His villainy and evilness is reinforced in â€Å"Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, Our dreadful marches to delightful measures†, emphasizing that he does not want peace or to share happy times, but instead thrives on chaos and violence. We also learn of Richard’s feelings towards his appearance in his first soliloquy, the adjectives used by Shakespeare describe Richard’s physical defects, â€Å"Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time†. This statement reveals his sense of self unattractiveness which is reinforced in â€Å"That dogs bark at me as I halt by them, showing that his appearance has the ability to even scare animals. His evil and manipulative behaviour is shown again when he plans to set his brothers Clarence and King Edward against each other. This informs the audience of his high level of self importance and that he will always put himself ahead of his family to receive the crown, this is also proven as he is planning to take the lives of Edwards heirs in sacrifice for the crown to himself. We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Iii Summary specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Iii Summary specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Iii Summary specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Existent vs. Existing

Existent vs. Existing Existent vs. Existing Existent vs. Existing By Maeve Maddox A reader wonders about the correctness of the following phrase: â€Å"the strengths of the existent organization.† Says the reader: I just read this phrase in an email sent out from the Deans office of a large Midwestern university known nationally for academic excellence. Personally, I would not have written the sentence with the word existent I would have used â€Å"existing.† Did someone not proofread carefully enough? Is â€Å"existent† OK to use? Does it sound too snooty? Although both adjectives mean â€Å"having being or existence in the present time,† existing is the word most commonly used to describe such things as organizations, processes, laws, and amenities: Your IT department might have a list of best practices and guidelines that you can use to streamline information, avoid duplication, protect sensitive data, and use existing systems more efficiently. Use of immunoglobulin heavy- and light-chain measurements compared with existing techniques as a means of typing monoclonal immunoglobulins. The four main methods in reforming law are repeal  (get rid of a law), creation of new law, consolidation (change existing law) and codification. Existent may not be exactly â€Å"snooty,† but it is more often used in discussions of spiritual or philosophical matters than in talking about day-to-day activities: It is commonly accepted that there are two sorts of existent entities: those that exist but could have failed to exist, and those that could not have failed to exist. Entities of the first sort are  contingent beings; entities of the second sort are  necessary beings. Russells problem of the  existent  round square might then be reformulated as  the problem of the existent-cum-modal-moment round square.   One point on which there is agreement [about Existentialist thought] is that the existence with which we should be concerned here is not just any existent thing, but  human existence. When speaking of a health condition that is in existence at the time someone applies for health insurance, the usual term is â€Å"pre-existing condition.† There is a word pre-existent, but like existent, it appears mostly in religious and philosophical writing. For example: According to Baha’i teachings, the individual soul of a human being comes into being at the time of conception and only thereafter is eternal; in other words it is not pre-existent. [They also teach] that God, a reality which human consciousness cannot comprehend, is pre-existent, that is He exists prior to time and to His creation. Arius (c. 256-336 CE) believed that the pre-existent Son of God was directly created by the Father, that he was subordinate to God the Father, and that only the Father was without beginning or end, but that the Son was also divine. The word nonexistent, on the other hand, is quite common in ordinary speech:   Cops Arrest Photographer for Nonexistent Law They [job applicants] bought a bachelor of science degree in biology, dated June 13, 1975, and a masters degree dated June 10, 1988, in Collins name both from Lexington University, a nonexistent school purportedly in Middletown, N.Y. Speakers and writers who replace existing with existent in a non-philosophical context may be creating a back-formation from nonexistent. In standard usage, it’s still best to use existing to refer to such things as laws, customers, and systems, reserving existent for philosophical discussion. The adjective extant, â€Å"continuing to exist,† is used to describe artifacts or structures that have survived beyond the time other things like them have disappeared. Here are two examples of this use: The only extant copy of Clarkes 1619 broadsheet can be found in the British Library. The Yambol Covered Bazaar is the only such Ottoman institution still extant in Bulgaria. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SThe Letter "Z" Will Be Removed from the English AlphabetDouble Possessive

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President James A. Garfield ( November 19, 1831- September 19, 1881) was an educator, lawyer, and a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate and to the U.S. Congress before becoming the 20th American president on March 4, 1881. He served only until Sept. 19, 1881, when he died from complications caused by an assassins bullet 11 weeks before. Fast Facts: James A. Garfield Known For: 20th president of the United StatesBorn: Nov. 19, 1831 in Cuyahoga County, OhioParents: Abram Garfield, Eliza Ballou GarfieldDied: Sept. 19, 1881 in Elberon,  New JerseyEducation: Williams CollegeSpouse: Lucretia RudolphChildren: Seven; two died in infancy Early Life Garfield was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Abram Garfield, a farmer, and  Eliza Ballou Garfield. His father died when Garfield was just 18 months old. His mother tried to make ends meet with the farm, but he and his three siblings, two sisters and a brother, grew up in relative poverty. He attended a local school before moving on to Geauga Academy in Geauga  County, Ohio in 1849. He then went to the Western Reserve  Eclectic  Institute (later called Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio, teaching to help pay his way. In 1854, he attended Williams College in Massachusetts, graduating with honors two years later. On Nov. 11, 1858, Garfield married  Lucretia Rudolph, who had been a student of his at the Eclectic Institute. She was working as a teacher when Garfield wrote to her and they began courting. She contracted malaria while serving as first lady but lived a long life after Garfields death, dying on March 14, 1918. They had two daughters and five sons, two of whom died when they were infants. Career Before the Presidency Garfield began his career as an instructor in classical languages at the Eclectic Institute and was its president from 1857 to 1861. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1860, and he was ordained a minister in the  Disciples of Christ  church, but he soon turned to politics. He served as an Ohio state senator from 1859 to 1861. Garfield joined the Union army in 1861, taking part in the Civil War battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga and reaching the rank of major general. He was elected to Congress while still in the military, resigning to take his seat as a U.S. representative and serving from 1863 to 1880. During this time he had an extramarital affair with a woman in  New York City. He later admitted the indiscretion and was forgiven by his wife. Becoming President In 1880, the Republicans nominated Garfield to run for president as a compromise candidate between conservatives and moderates. Conservative candidate Chester A. Arthur was nominated as vice president. Garfield was opposed by Democrat Winfield Hancock. Acting upon the advice of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield shied away from actively campaigning, speaking to reporters and voters from his home in  Mentor, Ohio, in what was referred to as the first â€Å"front porch† campaign. He won 214 out of 369 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments Garfield was in office for only six and a half months. He spent much of that time dealing with patronage issues. The one major issue that he faced was an investigation of whether mail route contracts were being awarded fraudulently, with tax money going to those involved. The investigation implicated members of his Republican Party, but Garfield didnt flinch from continuing. In the end, revelations from the incident, called the Star Route Scandal, resulted in important civil service reforms. Assassination On  July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, shot  Garfield  in the back in the Washington, D.C., railroad station while he was on his way to a family vacation in  New England. The president lived until Sept. 19 of that year. Guiteau apparently was driven by politics, saying to police after he surrendered, Arthur is now president of the United States. He was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. The cause of death was massive hemorrhaging and slow  blood poisoning, which was later described as being related more to the unsanitary way physicians treated the president than to the wounds themselves. Doctors of the time were unschooled in the role of hygiene in preventing infection. The standard procedure was to devote most of the treatment effort to removing the bullet, and a number of doctors repeatedly poked his wound in an unsuccessful search. Legacy Garfield served the second shortest presidential term in American history, topped only by the 31-day term of William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, who caught a cold that turned into fatal pneumonia. Garfield was buried in Lake View Cemetery in  Cleveland. Upon his death, Vice President Arthur became president. Because of Garfields brief time in office, he couldnt achieve much as president. But by allowing the investigation into the mail scandal to continue despite its effect on members of his own party, Garfield paved the way for civil service reform. He also was an early champion of the rights of African-Americans, believing that education was the best hope for improving their lives. In his inaugural address, he said: â€Å"The elevation of the Negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people.†¦It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both.† Garfields prolonged death is credited with helping to establish the American president as a celebrity. The public and the media of the day were described as being obsessed with  his lengthy passing, more so even than they had been with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln 16 years before. Sources James Garfield. WhiteHouse.gov.James A. Garfield: President of the United States. Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Advantages and disadvantages of a testing system in education Research Proposal

Advantages and disadvantages of a testing system in education - Research Proposal Example Pedagogy depends on the capability of a teacher to test student's knowledge of the material.Testing serves a number of functions,which are the measurement of progress a student is making,and the provision of an incentive for a student to learn the material Without testing, teachers would rely on faith that their students have learning as one of their goals; however, this assumption, especially in the era of compulsory education, is simply out of touch with reality. Having established that testing is a necessary component of teaching, the question then becomes what kinds of testing are most effective in achieving the established ends of teaching, and how does one design a test that achieves these ends. To answer this question, one must consider the context (and the material) being taught and, instead of relying on generalizations, decide based on the costs of efficiency versus effectiveness in measuring genuine knowledge of the material. Although some tend to focus more on efficiency (standardized testing) and others on effectiveness (non-standardized testing), it seems the most appropriate, wide-reaching solution to the problem lies somewhere in the middle. A standardized test is a measurement instrument that is distributed and scored in a standard manner; that is, it is constructed with a particular set of conditions, questions, and scoring procedures that do not differ between individuals (Popham). Popular methods used on a standardized test include multiple-choice questions, which can be quickly and objectively scored on a large scale, making them cost-efficient and time-efficient to use. In contrast, a non-standardized test is a measurement instrument that gives different test takers a different exam, or relies on subjective or partially subjective criteria in the scoring of answers given on a completed test. Common methods used in non-standardized testing are essay questions, mathematical calculations, and open-ended responses. One advantage of standardize d testing is that the results of such tests are empirically useful in terms of a large scale. For instance, public policy decisions can be made by looking at decreasing state-administered tests in public schools if deficiencies in a particular subject are patent. Also, because scores are objectively scored and documented, it is possible to demonstrate validity and reliability with a controlled experiment. If two children from the same classroom score in the same range, it could be said the test is a valid instrument for measuring knowledge. When a test is statistically reliable, it can be shown to be replicable on a larger scale (Kuncel and Hezlett). Aggregation is a term that refers to the collection of scores on the same test from many different test takers; this provides a mean, or benchmark, against which an individual test taker can be evaluated comparatively. This can provide useful information above and beyond subjective assessments from individuals in that elimination based on standardized scores can narrow a search for individuals based on objective criteria and thus make a search procedure more efficient in a useful sort of way. In addition, it is often said this use of objective standards for comparing individuals is fairer than other methods, which may take into account other factors that use subjective methods. Critics of standardized testing believe it is restrictive in that it necessarily confines and segments knowledge into rigid categories, focusing more on broad swathes of reading and math skills, as opposed to initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, or a host of other valuable dispositions and attributes†, which some believe are virtues for accomplished students and successful adults that are simply ignored under the standardized testi

Marketing-Defining a Communication Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing-Defining a Communication Plan - Essay Example Graves Enterprises is doing well in its business activities in the market while it has been focusing attention on business expansion and develop a new customer base for their for their consumer products. However its business operations in particular require the company to adopt far reaching changes to the existing communication strategy and its orientation. Any communication strategy must have a customer retention focus that will ultimately produce the desired results. While this would effectively address the concerns raised by the consumer marketing director, there would be a greater degree of structural changes in communication within and without the organization (Zambardino, 2003). 47% of customers being retained would have a positive impact on revenue and profit related outcomes of the company. However $ 2 per unit in gross profit means nothing in the absence of the breakeven figures. The company may have lot of financial commitments by way of sales cost and therefore the net profit margin can be considerably reduce if the 47% customer retention plan fails. Thus the advertising campaign must be not only focused on the core customer base but also be extended to include the peripheral customer whose retention matters in the long term. As the Marketing Director commercial products suggests the current cash cows of the company would be compelled a carry a greater burden if the slow growth market tend to cash unexpectedly. The company might have a lot of problem children and dogs and as a result there might be a few cash cows and stars. Assuming the communication strategy as based on advertising works out successfully, the net return on the investment must be proportionately higher (Percy, 2008). In other words per unit advertising cost must be much less to support cash cows to move in to sustainable long term profitable stars. Thus the marketing communication plan of the company must be based on a proper alignment of the Boston Matrix with the

Human Knowledge Essay Example for Free

Human Knowledge Essay Anyone writes at one point or another in his lifetime to share his or her experiences, ideas, perceptions, situations, and points of view. Some write everyday in their private diaries to capture their memories. Others write to give way to the expression of their emotions, sometimes, pent up, a fond memory, thoughts, or aspirations, even frustrations. If knowledge is knowing and learning gained through experience then personal essays become one of the rich sources, if not the fountainhead, of knowledge which brings us to the stance of this discourse. The personal and highly subjective approach of the personal essay is not merely entertaining but definitely, it adds much to the stock of human knowledge. There are two bases for the present argument. Firstly, important terms, as they have bearing on the issue, are explained or defined where this discourse attempts to build this position and view on the subjective approach of personal essays as a big contributor to the stock of knowledge. Secondly, Hs’s discussion on the sources of knowledge (Hs n. d. ) not only supplements the understanding of the terms but builds a strong working framework for this argument. On the overall, an understanding of the working definitions of knowledge and personal essays serves as the springboard for the discussion at hand. Subordinated to knowledge and personal essays are the words subjective and entertaining. Knowledge may be understood as defined in several ways but not limited to the following: ‘the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association; acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique; the fact or condition of being aware of something; the range of ones information or understanding; the fact or condition of having information or of being learned; the sum of what is known; and the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by humankind’ and ‘applies to facts or ideas acquired by study, investigation, observation, or experience’ (Merriam Webster n. d. ). Moreover, knowledge refers to the ‘state or fact of knowing; familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study; the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned; learning; and specific information about something (Houghton Mifflin 2000). The accumulation of all possible information in every discipline altogether makes up the â€Å"stock of human knowledge. † On the other hand, the personal essay is one where the writer speaks from his or her own personal perspective about just any thinkable or unthinkable, imaginable or unimaginable (such as fictions) topic – emotions, experiences, places, events, things, animals, etc. A personal essay is very personal to the writer in that it relates to one’s private life rather than anyone else. In this sense, it is to a high extent particular, intimate and maybe found peculiar, but highly subjective. To be subjective is to be biased and one-sided. In the case of a personal essay, the writer has some biases with reference to any particular topic because he or she writes from how he or she views things in the environment. That is what makes personal essays highly subjective and all along carrying that personal touch. These writings become amusing or enjoyable, or contextually, entertaining to the readers on account of an experience where they become vicariously involved. Knowledge (and the accumulation of it) as understood from its given definitions are functions well fulfilled by personal essays. Hs listed and explained the five sources and the ways by which knowledge is gained (Hs n. d. ) – people, books, experience, experimentation and observation, and thinking and pondering. All of these sources heavily point to or at least allude to the voluminous personal essays. First, â€Å"people,† Hs declares â€Å"are the biggest source of knowledge for anybody† because for one reason, many people’s varied experiences can make enough experience in that area from which others may derive lessons from as a consequence of reading them. Since personal essays are highly subjective dwelling on personal anecdotes, it is not surprising that they are saturated with the first person pronoun â€Å"I† in the process of the narration (Cavallari n. d. ). These experiences as expressed through personal essays may affect the lives of others either â€Å"giving inspiration or altering some of your core values and outlook of life† (Oz Essays n. d. ). The things to learn from these numerous people experiences include also their achievements, frustrations, failures, miseries, mistakes, and skills. Furthermore, personal essays make their writer ask themselves â€Å"what experience has taught them about themselves† (Editors for Students n. d. ). And that from the personal stories grows out the points of the experience (Composition Patterns n. d. ). The lessons in life are paramount to the increase of one’s knowledge. Second, reading as much as many books about any topic is another source of knowledge. Take for instance a particular example cited by the author, Hs. The same problem that one may be confronted with must have similarly confronted others. By reading how others dealt with the same problem might just instantly give the solution as used by others. Though not so related but contextually relevant is the old saying that â€Å"there is no frigate like a book† where the reader is able to â€Å"travel† and see the wonders of the world through the eyes of those who undertook the travels and wrote about them. Third, it is true that â€Å"experience is a great teacher† according to Hs because mistakes are corrected and achievements are gained through lessons derived from past experiences not just your own but others’ as well. No matter how rhetoric but it is undeniably true that the best lessons in past experiences tells us that the present must learn from the past to make the present better and plan out for the best future. Fourth, experimentation and observation add to the stock of human knowledge by attempting at finding out, through one’s efforts and those of others through their writings, which attempts succeed that readers might carry on and which attempts fail that they might avoid in their own ventures. Watchfulness and keen observation of others’ approaches to particular situations is a sure way to gain knowledge that can be applied when the situation arises that calls for appropriate actions. What best observations can be had than reading from the personal essays of many people that one cannot possibly physically do all? Fifth, by thinking and pondering on what have been read such as personal essays can lead to a deep understanding of any topic. Take the case of personal essays of uncountable number on â€Å"How To†¦Ã¢â‚¬  like â€Å"How to Become a Millionaire,† How to Study Effectively,† â€Å"How to Win an Election,† How to Deal with Stress,† and many more. They are generally taken from individuals’ own experiences and insights that are shared to the readers. From these personal essays are skills or strategies learned that might as well work for the readers’ own successes. They are not necessarily products of empirical studies worked out from sample populations. Are they not significantly contributing to the stock of human knowledge? The process and later the formation of the habit of writing makes the individual primarily knowledgeable in many ways and secondarily acquiring the appropriate skills in communicative writing. Writing from personal experiences and incidents is actually mirroring one’s self as the lesson emerges from life experiences. Then, they develop the skill to reflect on the intrapersonal and develop the skill to write which is in itself a knowledge earned usable at any point in time especially in the academe. The readers, on the other hand, learn to write and improve, in some cases, hone their skills on the styles of writing based on the personal essays of others. The teaching experience of Andrea Sarvady is an interesting case in point. In an interview with an educator (Sarvady 2007) in a school in Atlanta, Georgia, Sarvady emphasized that requiring and training her 7th and 8th grade students in writing personal essays makes them ‘become better writers †¦ and become better people’. Writing just about anything from fiction to non-fiction, Andrea believes that the two-year personal essay writing program she does with her students is to a certain extent therapeutic but more importantly, she claims ‘it helps a lot of kids look at their own life a little more closely at an age where impulse controls issues are so huge. † The process and the progress to becoming â€Å"better people† is no doubt a consequence of knowledge earned. It is easy to contradict the opinion that personal essays are simply entertaining but does not do much to add to the stock of human knowledge. On the contrary, personal essays have much to offer to the formation of the stock of human knowledge while certainly entertaining at the same time. The argument with focus on science as a discipline, (Crichton n. d. ) carries some truth when he said that the â€Å"personal and subjective approach to essay writing entertains the reader, which adds little in comparison to the attainment of human knowledge. † However, at the same time he was quite negating his position when he said that people’s understanding of the world when â€Å"it grows, expands and then adds to the collective work†¦ once accredited and accepted as plausible, it advances the stockpile of human knowledge through the dispersal of academic essays. † In effect personal essays, although a subjective view of an objective knowledge, cannot be denied that however little, they throw in to the stock of human knowledge. Going further to the argument, human knowledge as based on the five sources of knowledge being the framework for this treatise are largely derived nowhere else but from ‘people’ where many of their ‘experiences’ are captured through their written texts as in ‘books’ narrating their own ‘experiences and observations’ of others that they ‘ponder’ on bringing about a deeper understanding of any subject matter. As a consequence, experiences of people first handedly accumulate to significantly contribute to the stock of human knowledge. Personal essays are written experiences of individuals to share their thoughts, insights, points of view, emotions, skills and abilities, ideas, usually bringing home to a point usually a lesson as a consequence of the experience (Editors for Students n. d. ). People trying out new ways of cooking, through experimentations and observations, are collected into cookery books. Similarly, innovative ways of doing interior home designs are collected into magazines and books on home designing shared by countless others. Landscaping and gardening are available in many books from the ideas of many creative individuals. Skills honing activities in any field of interest are available in books and magazines. Many researches utilize the interview instruments which are generally derived from interviews of real people eliciting from their own experiences. From this wide array of information, generalizations are made into principles, theories, and concepts. The amalgam of experiences and observations found and shared in personal essays accruing make up the colossal stock of human knowledge more than just entertain readers. List of References Cavallari, D. What is a Personal Essay [online] Available from http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-a-personal-essay. htm [June 4, 2009] Crichton, A. A Subjective Look on Objective Knowledge[online] Available from http://philosopherzone. com/philosophy/a-subjective-look-on-objective-knowledge/ [June 2, 2009] Editors for Students â€Å"The Personal Essay – Essay Writing Tip #6† [online] available from http://www. editorsfor students. com/personalessay. html [June 3, 2009] Houghton Mifflin Company(2003). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Languag, 4th ed [online] Available from http://www. thefreedictionary. com/knowledge [June 3, 2009] Hs, S. Sources Of Knowledge How To Gain Knowledge In Any Field [online] Available from http://ezinearticles. com/? Sources-Of-KnowledgeHow-To-Gain-Knowledge-In-Any-Fieldid=500120 [June 4 2009] Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary [online] Available from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/knowledge [June 3, 2009] Personal Essays in the Classroom (March 28, 2007) [online] Available from http://www. visualthesaurus. com/cm/teachersatwork/735/ [June 4, 2009] Interview Oz Essay Personal Experience Essay[online] Available from http://www. ozessay. com. au/personal_experience_essay. html [June 2, 2009] Composition Patterns The Personal Essay [online] Available from http://grammar. ccc. commnet. edu/GRAMMAR/composition/personal. htm [June 2, 2009]

The Moral Decline Essay -- pornography, morality, economy, family, divo

Is our society in a state of moral decline? To answer this question we have to define the word â€Å"moral† first. In Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of the word moral is â€Å"Concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior.† From this definition we can understand that a moral decline is a decline in knowing the different between right or wrong. In another word our moral is like a guide for every choice we make in our life. Therefore anything could affect our moral reasoning would affect our life. So is our society is a state of a moral decline? I think yes our society in a state of a moral decline because of the raise of pornography, the increasing divorce rate, and the economy. First of all, the rise of pornography is one of the reasons that our society is in a state of moral decline. According to the IFR, a new pornographic video is created in the United States every 39 minute. Pornography rapes people from their identity and deliver them as a body part. For example, looking to the women as a sex object. â€Å" A 2009 study at Princeton that used MRI scans to document how pornography encourages men to perceive women â€Å"more as objects than as humans.†(Desmond) This will cause a sexually aggressive behavior toward women because a sex object is they only thing that the man see the women as. On the other hand we don’t see any objecting to the male in the pornographic industry because they are not cheap enough. This double stander will address a male are superiors, which will affect our equal society. Pornography is sending massage to the women that your body is what you are. An example of that are the magazine covers of nude women in a perfect shape. When a 17 year old over weight girl looks at that picture, firs... ... K. Crowder and J. Teachman. 2004. â€Å"Do Residential Conditions Explain the Relationship Between Living Arrangements and Adolescent Behavior?† Journal of Marriage and Family 66:721-738. Manning J., Senate Testimony 2004, referencing: Dedmon, J."Is the Internet bad for your marriage? Online affairs, pornographic sites playing greater role in divorces." CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm Kelly, J. B. and Emery, R. E. (2003), Children's Adjustment Following Divorce: Risk and Resilience Perspectives. Family Relations, 52: 352–362. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2003.00352.x E. Mark Cummings, a professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. With USA News June 15, 2012 http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/06/15/parents-fighting-may-have-long-lasting-effect-on-kids

Life and Oxygen Essay

This assignment requires answering questions based on the exhibit â€Å"The Earliest Traces of Life† at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. The exhibit that you are to see is on the right side as you enter the Rotunda from Jefferson Street. Enter the exhibit hall under the dinosaur banner. As you go through this doorway, the exhibit is located to the right. For additional information on the location, hours, ect., go the museum web site at www.mnh.si.edu and click on the Information desk link. Study the exhibit and answer the following questions. Submit your answers in Blackboard. Please view the short movie that comes along with the exhibit. Early Atmosphere 1. How abundant was oxygen in the early atmosphere? The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere was abundant, however, due harmful radiation waves from the sun, photosynthetic systems such as plants were not able to evolve thus leaving the state of oxygen subtle. 2.What evidence do scientists have that the oxygen content of our atmosphere has increased since the earth’s origin? The O-zone layer is composed of 3 oxygen atoms formed after photosynthetic organisms release an extra oxygen molecule into the atmosphere. 2. Why is oxygen more abundant in the atmosphere today? Because of the high amount of plants that produce oxygen which were not here in the early stages of life on earth 3. What are stromatolites? Stromatolites are the bindings of microorganisms on rocks and stones, usually submerged underwater, these rocks are usually used as samples for the earliest signs of life 4. What do scientists think is implied by the presence of stromatolites in Precambrian rock? Scientists would conclude that life was formed underwater and the process of evolution eventually allowed multi-cellular organisms to make their way off the ocean and/or bodies of water. 5. What is ozone and how is it produced? The o-zone layer is the protective layer made of 3 oxygen atoms, it is usually formed by the extra oxygen resulted from a photosynthetic organism. 6. Why is ozone important to life today? Because it protects us from ultra-violet rays from the sun which are extremely harmful and sometimes fatal to all life forms. 7. What effect did increased levels of oxygen in the atmosphere have on early life forms? It caused organisms that were not light and/or oxygen dependent to disappear as mammals and other multi-cellular organisms began to take over.

Synthesis Essay

â€Å"One person's craziness is another person's reality†(Tim Burton). In this quote, Tim Burton is pointing out that people have our own reality. Philosophically, reality is whatever we think or perceive. There is no true or real perspective. Our perspective depends on our morals and beliefs. All our life, we perceive knowledge and information through different forms of language. Hence, our perspective is also limited by the language. Language is one of the unique things that people have. Language puts limits on our thoughts. For example, when someone says dog, we all picture a different dog, therefore we perceive the information differently. Similarly, religious books influence the way of our thinking through the words or language in the book. Those words are ideas of someone else but we get so influenced by those words that we base our morals on it. Words are part of language which fixes an image in our minds. When we say dog, we picture a dog, not a lion or fish, because we are imprisoned by the language that we ourselves created. Those words in the biblical texts are from a perspective of a different person but we believe in his/her words, borrow the idea and we make our own beliefs which is still inspired by someone's perspective. Those beliefs define the world around us. Thus, through language we create our own limited world and imprison ourselves. Likewise, in the excerpt Cosmic Prison from the book The Invisible Prison by Loren Eiseley, the author argues, that human perspective is limited by language, culture and origin. In the Cosmic Prison, the author, Eiseley attempts to point out that perspective is limited and bounded by language. Language limits our thoughts and imagination: â€Å"Language implies boundaries† (Eiseley 31). Whenever we name a thing, we put limits in our imagination. According to Eiseley, man creates an â€Å"unnatural world of his own, which he calls the cultural world and in which he feels at home†(Eiseley 31). We are comfortable with our cultural world that we created ourselves but at the same time we feel imprisoned and long to escape. Eiseley develops an interesting analogy between man in his prison and white blood cells imprisoned within a living body. Both man and white blood cells a self contained and they don't seem to understand the world outside of them. Their perspective is limited by the boundaries of their realm. A cell may not know that it might be living inside another body. They don't see outside of their world. Similarly, people have their own perspective and they might think that the action done by another person is wrong whereas according to that person, his actions are right. People tend not to go outside of their perspective to walk the world through different shoes. We believe and trust our own perspective which is influenced by human knowledge obtained through language. Our perspective might be influence by someone's words or actions like media uses persuasive language and repetition to make us believe in something. For example, media showed most Muslims as terrorists only, thus making us believe that Muslims are terrorists. It changed our perspective on Muslims and limited our knowledge. Therefore, language creates boundaries and restricts our perspective. Furthermore, culture and our values limits our perspective too. In the article

Writing Grant Proposals Essays

Writing Grant Proposals Essays Writing Grant Proposals Essay Writing Grant Proposals Essay How to Write a Good Project Proposal for Donor Funding by David Ingram, Demand Media Asking colleagues to review grant proposals before sending can reveal areas of needed improvement. Related Articles How to Write a Good Proposal for a Non-profit Orgnization How to Write a Letter Requesting Funding From a Foundation How to Write an Exploratory Project Proposal How to Write a Business Grant Proposal How to Write a Proposal for the Workplace How to Write a Letter of Introduction For Employment Grant proposals are documents used to secure grant funds from institutional or private donors. Writing grant proposals requires specialized skills and experience that allow you to stand out from the wide range of other projects competing for limited grant funds. Small business and nonprofits can hire professional grant proposal writers to increase their chances of winning funding, or company leaders can tackle the process themselves. Knowing how to write a good project proposal for donor funding can give you the edge you need to secure funding for your project. Ads by Google Project Management Software Agile Software Project Mgmt Tool. Download Your Free 10-User Version. www. rallydev. m Step 1 Speak with potential donors before beginning your proposal to determine donors specific giving preferences. Custom-tailor each funding proposal to a specific donor, rather than sending out the same document to multiple sources to increase the attractiveness of your proposals. Each potential donor has a preference for specific areas of need, different types of organizations and different types of projects. Find out what kind of projects each donor has funded before, donors preferred proposal formats and the areas of need that potential organizational donors address with their own services. ep 2 Begin your proposal with a comprehensive needs analysis to set the stage for the project you propose. Your description of your project will have more impact if proposal readers fully understand the why behind what you propose to do. Dig up solid statistics in your proposal to support your claims. A project proposal focused on community education, for example, could share statistics on adult illiteracy and high- school dropout rates in the surrounding communities. Discuss the root causes of the Related Reading: How to Write a Good Proposal for a Non-profit Orgnization step 3 Thoroughly describe the way your project will function, focusing on the impacts it will have in the area of need identified above, to give donors a more complete understanding of your project. Pair a detailed narrative of how your project will work with pictures, graphs, floor plans and any other documentation that will allow donors to visualize the completed project. Be prepared to answer any questions about this section of the proposal with confidence, to show that you know exactly how to put donor funds to the best use. Step 4 Lay out a financial plan showing exactly how you intend to use the money you raise. Even if donors are convinced that your project can effectively serve a need that resonates with them, they will still want assurance that you are going to use the money in the most efficient manner, maximizing the impact of their donations. Draw up a budget for spending the money, including allowances for unforeseen expenses. step 5 Include brief professional biographies of yourself and other top leaders in your organization, focusing on your experience implementing projects similar to the one you are proposing. Use this section to prove that you and the leaders of your roposed project possess the knowledge, experience and contacts to plan and execute a project successfully. Sponsored Links Full-Text Online Libraryonline library of books, Journals, articles. Research online. www. questia. com/Online_Library Producing A Book? Publishing a Book Made Easy. Production Marketing Distributionwww. bookpublishing-companies. com Referred Academic JournalFast Review, Publishing Printing International Journal(US Published)www. iiste. org Research ProposalPublish Your Research Article In International Journal:IOSRJOURNALSiosrJournals. org

Converting Fractions to Decimals - free worksheets.

Converting Fractions to Decimals - free worksheets. All worksheets are in PDF. Remember, look at the fraction bar as a divided by bar. For instance 1/2 means the same as 1 divided by 2 which equals 0.5. Or 3/5 is 3 divided by 5 which equals 0.6. Thats all you need to know to convert the following worksheets on fractions to decimals! Converting fractions to decimals is a common concept that is often taught in the fifth and sixth grades in most educational jurisdictions. Students should have plenty of exposure to concrete manipulatives prior to complete pencil paper tasks. For instance, work with fraction bars and circles to ensure a deep understanding is in place. 1. Worksheet 1Answers 2. Worksheet 2Answers 3. Worksheet 3Answers 4. Worksheet 4Answers 5. Worksheet 5Answers 6. Worksheet 6Answers Although calculators will do the conversion simply and quickly, it is still important for students to understand the concept in order to use the calculator. After all, you cant use a calculator if you dont know which numbers or operations to key in.

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

Methodologies and Methods - Essay Example Research design defined generally is the form or framework the experimenter uses to get the results of the study. There are many different kinds of research designs, both qualitative and quantitative, and flexible designs represent qualitative for the most part, whereas fixed designs represent quantitative type studies. There are also mixed designs. Quantitative research designs such as the one proposed for the current research serve the purpose of showing causal motivations, observing present conditions and longitudinal comparisons, and establishing relationships with evidence from a sample size that is generally large or, in some cases, deferred to a larger statistical research body (Robson, 2002). Qualitative The key theories behind qualitative research involve the development of research questions, rather than the formulation of absolutes through testable hypotheses. The research instrument is definitely qualitative in nature if it represents a standardized measurement test that is predetermined before the research has even taken place, through measurements taken in other studies using the same survey instrument. This is not the type of measurement tool that is necessarily malleable to researcher interaction with the survey group or the addition of new research questions as they come up, which also makes it a less strong methodology in terms of qualitative features. The qualitative approach is perhaps less appropriate for this research because the author is assumedly examining a survey group of more than twenty individuals, and needs a standardized sort of quantitative test to keep data collection simple. In the case of the research experiment, the qualitative study will seek to find common themes and areas of possibility for further study. The descriptive phase follows, in which the demographic and statistical information on the target population and target program emulations are determined in respective forms of their completeness and efficiency as repres entative statistics and program models. Quantitative Quantitative methods are suitable for studies into social issues, despite their scientific background and trappings, because they provide demonstrable measurements which can be attributed to larger populations. Even with a relatively small sample size, quantitative research can present results and findings in a way that is verifiable, reliable, and has a degree of repeatability. In other words, a small survey can be reused with a larger population. Overall there are many different facets of methodology that can be applied to an experimental design. This is a generalization that can be made about these different types of designs, which have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Surveys and experiments are examples of fixed research designs, which are more quantitative than qualitative and have more aspects of this type of theory. Quantitative studies such as the one outlined in the current report’s proposed methodol ogy tend to rely on hard data and statistics that can provide generalizable results about a population, whereas qualitative studies could be more of a case example or subjective viewpoint. As the extant literature states about the difference between fixed and flexible designs, â€Å"Flexible research designs are much more difficult to pin down than fixed designs. This is in part because it is only in recent

Service Quality in Higher Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Service Quality in Higher Education - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the three surveys conducted used various statistical measures such as QFD technique, and some multidimensional matrixes. Some of the research instrument included the QFD model, the QFD matrixes, and the data got analyzed by use of the statistical packages for social scientists (SPSS). Some of the processes that got included in these studies included delivery of teaching, the design of study programs, assessment of students, management of the administrative services and research activities. Others include career orientation services, student admission, and hiring, development and evaluation of the teaching personnel. The conclusive statement got made student’s study program, assessment of students and the teaching process are important aspects of improving education quality and the introduction of quality management in the higher education systems. Service quality in higher learning has emerged as one of the key most fundamental factors that drive ma ny academic institutions towards realizing their set objectives, goals, and educational aims. There are some processes and methodologies adopted by some learning institutions for the main purpose of upgrading the quality of their education services as well as academic provisions. By undertaking this procedure as well as the policies meant for improving their education quality and standards, these institutions have gotten in a position to meet nearly all requirements set by the ISO 9001:2008. There are some strategies taken to improve service quality in higher education, among them including the application of quality function deployment towards upgrading the standards in higher education. In this case, it entails the concerns from the employer’s perspective. It involves the use of the use of various paradigms and investigation procedures which gets implemented for the purpose of purpose of coming up with solutions for realizing high academic qualities.

Childhood Socialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Childhood Socialization - Essay Example If a person lives in American culture, he socializes himself according to the culture of American society. Similarly, if a person lives in an Asian country, he will socialize himself according to the culture of that Asian country. Agents of Childhood Socialization Socialization takes place in all stages of life. Childhood socialization usually takes place in family, in kindergarten, and in school, which are the three primary agents of childhood socialization. All of these socialization agents are extremely important for a child’s proper growth and development. Children learn different behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics from these socialization agents and act accordingly in the society. Let us discuss the influence of each of these agents of socialization on the initial life of a child. Family – First Socialization Agent The first and the most influential childhood socialization agent is the family of a child. A child starts learning different behaviors right from the birth stage. Family includes mother, father, siblings, and other close relatives of a child. This agent of socialization starts working when a child is unable to do anything on his own and depends on parents for everything. Family socialization is very important for a child because of several reasons. ... Parents are the first and the most important trainers of a child. Parents not only educate children how to deal with different people but also make them learn the ways to use different feelings and emotions in different situations. Parents also tell us how to control our emotions and behaviors. There are two main factors, which make family the most effective primary agent of socialization for a child. First of the two factors is the motivational bond that exists between a child and his family. That bond not only motivates a child to learn different behaviors and attitudes from the parents but also socializes a child properly according to the norms and values of the society. The second factor is the control of parents over a child in the initial years of the child’s life. In the initial years, a child is completely dependent on the parents and the parents teach everything to the child, such as, how to speak, how to walk, and how to show different expressions. Socialization of a child is not an easy task for the parents. Parents give proper attention to the child in the early stages of life in order to make him a useful part of the society in future. Therefore, we can say that family is the most effective and valuable agent of socialization because it helps a child perceive and exhibit different behaviors and expressions properly. Peers – Second Socialization Agent Peer groups are the second most important socialization agent for a child. Peer groups include other children of almost the same age. Children influence each other’s minds in the initial years of life. In the earliest years of childhood, parents closely observe the interactions of children with their classmates and other children in order to keep

Reasons For The Fast Global Growth Of Mcdonalds Marketing Essay

Reasons For The Fast Global Growth Of Mcdonalds Marketing Essay McDonalds success can be attributed to their ability to adapt their business to the diverse culture and fast pace of city life by providing quality fast food in a short period of time. Their restaurants are generally comfortable, clean and provide a variety of choices on their fast food menu. The quality of food is generally consistent and prices are low worldwide. This keeps production costs down enabling them to generate higher turnover every year. Furthermore, McDonalds expanded aggressively, opting to franchise rather than operate its new locations, providing new income and little overheads. They managed to provide a product and service to the global middle class, particularly in emerging markets like China, India, and Latin America. This gave McDonalds a massive advantage and great opportunity. By inducing the idea of going global, Kroc managed to attract the fast food market, using Franchised Restaurants, Company Operated Restaurants, and Affiliated Restaurants. To attract the local market Ray introduced a concept of localising the products, so that they will cater to all verities of the local craving. This approach increased the revenue as well as the stability of the company. Krocs strategy of making partnerships with other businesses created huge success to the company. Going in the same successful path, current management has made partnerships with companies such as Wall-mart, Sinopec, and Wall Disney to reach more customers. QUESTION TWO McDonalds needs to adapt to different cultures and conditions when it sets up business in different parts of the world. What problems might McDonalds encounter when it opens outlets in: 2.1 Countries in Eastern Europe? Eastern Europe constitutes an emerging market for most businesses. The collapse of socialism in the region in 1989 facilitated the move of countries to prepare for the participation in the capitalist market. In 1999, most Eastern European countries were working to meet the requirements for the European Community. In 2004, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia became members of the European Union. Membership of a number of European countries in the EU prompted the flow of foreign investments into the country, increasing household income, increasing investment into the region primarily due to cheap labour compared to wages in Western Europe. There was a general trend towards the improvement of the standard of living of citizens of Eastern European countries. However, in the last two years, most Eastern European countries experienced slowed growth due to the increase in the wages of workers that discouraged investments. Nonetheless, wages are still more competitive in Eastern Europe compared to other regions in Europe. Most Eastern European countries are still in the process of completing their transformation from a controlled to a capitalist Economy. Full transition and the stability of the political and economic institutions are expected to boost economic development in these countries. Assessing the potential of a new market for expansion requires the consideration of several factors providing a comprehensive background of the environment that the expanding business firm expect to enter into. In the past unrest created an environment of uncertainty for investors. Products would have to be sourced from nearby countries creating an increase in transportation and labour costs. EU currencies did not have strong buying power, so profit earned would not be enough to sustain the operating costs of the businesses in that region. Consumption volatility could also have an effect on sales on the eastern region due to the rapid increase in income resulting in a change in consumer behaviour. Employment and wage volatility are important factors in deciding to enter a new market because minimal employment and wage volatility translates to regular income for households influencing the stability of consumption resulting to sales and revenue for business firms. The economic condition of the state affects the financial condition of consumers and their ability to purchase the goods and services offered by entering business firms. Although there is a general trend for consumption, employment and wage volatility among European countries, introducing McDonalds into the region is viable for the following reasons: First, McDonalds will develop a market by providing technological, management and marketing expertise to local entrepreneurs enabling them to establish a known restaurant in different areas that creates jobs translating into income to households due to the hiring of local employees and the purchasing of raw materials from the local farmers and businesses. 2.2 Countries in West Asia? If McDonalds was to open a new outlet in one of the West Asian countries, it would have to take a few things into consideration. McDonalds would experience resistance from the Islamic countries for selling American food and culture. Also, Muslims do not eat pork so McDonalds would have to source Halal suppliers and adjust their menu variety to accommodate them. McDonalds has modified its products to cater for local tastes, not least in countries that have special dietary laws. In Muslim countries like Malaysia, bacon is not served in McDonalds burgers or in its breakfast menu, as pork is haraam, or not permissible under Islamic dietary law. In Israel, the nature of kosher dietary laws, forbidding the mixture of meat and dairy products, means that cheeseburgers are not popular among Jewish customers; furthermore, all meat not prepared in a certain manner is considered unkosher by strict observers of the dietary laws. (Spiritus-temporis.com, 2005) 2.3 Countries in Africa? In Africa McDonalds may face various problems when trying to open up new ventures in countries like Ethiopia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Ethiopia borders Sudan and Kenya and it is one of the largest and poorest countries in Africa. Its population consists of about 74 million people. Two major religious groups occupy Ethiopia, Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox, with Muslim being the majority. Unfortunately Ethiopia suffers some the worlds worst droughts in history, which in turn destroys their economy. Agriculture produces 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment for the country. In order to develop a McDonalds in Ethiopia, many major factors such as location analysis, market, competition, facilities style, and menu must be considered. McDonalds already has great marketing programs and strategies in place in other foreign markets so the corporation can help with those variables. Most cultures in Ethiopia will allow consumption of red meat such as hamburgers but not of pork. The bacon used for breakfast and on certain sandwiches can be available but also substitutable with turkey bacon. The Ethiopian culture also doesnt use utensils so they will also be available but optional. Zimbabwe is another country that is filled with Political and financial turmoil over the past few years. McDonalds had indicated its interest in Zimbabwe in 1997 and wanted to open a franchise in the country in 1999 but a political storm that year, which later precipitated an unprecedented crisis that saw inflation levels soaring to record highs, forced the fast foods giant to retreat. (bizcommunity.com, 2011) QUESTION THREE 3.1 Critically discuss McDonalds Globalisation Strategy Globalisation is the integration of markets and technology to a degree never witnessed before in a way that it enables individuals, corporations and nation states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before. Globalisation affects the whole world in ways that may benefit some while disregarding others. Global corporations, such as McDonalds manipulate their advertising to persuade a target audience to purchase and support what I believe to be an unhealthy scheme. Not only has McDonalds changed the way people view the world, but through negative impacts such as health issues, it has also manipulated the everyday life of individuals living in a global community. The faà §ade of healthy eating posed by McDonalds is epitomised through a short TV advertisement displaying the disturbing outcomes due to reliance on quick, easy and convenient food that people pay for, not only with their wallet, but also their health. Globalisation is the outcome of mixing the concepts of localisation and globalisation-as a portmanteau, it is the coming together of the two terms in a manner which suggests that there should be a way for businesses and people to think globally, act locally (Egan, 2007). In practice, this generates business strategies and manners of communication which seek to find innovative ways to blend together the use of a global communication network and scale with the desire to maintain individual areas and cultures, by means of modifying large scale organisations to suit smaller populations (Schumacher, 1967). Consider, for example, McDonalds: as an organisation, it is an incredibly large company which has put branches in many areas and across several different countries. But as they have continued to grow, there has been an increase in resistance against such large scale corporate food chains, as they are seen to ruin the character of a neighbourhood and drain it of culture, as well as provi ding food which is perceived to be substandard and unhealthy. They have therefore had to modify their business practices so as to instil practices which are more welcoming to the local populations, for example by focusing on foodstuffs which are popular amongst the local neighbourhoods and providing healthier, more upscale types of foods on their menu (Towers, 2004). Standardized and adapted approaches to communication are two dichotomous approaches to an advertising or marketing campaign which rely upon two very different methods and achieve differing results. A standardized approach to communication is based upon using the same marketing strategies and techniques regardless of where the campaign is being publicised. This would mean, for example, that the slogans and marketing materials are the same whether the global organisation is approaching a target audience in the United Kingdom or in India (DePalma 2004). A good example of this would be a company like McDonalds, whose campaign slogan Im lovin it remains the same no matter what country it is in-the slogan may be translated out of English and into the local language, but the concept and execution remain the same. The campaign was first launched in Germany in September 2003 as ich liebe es and followed in the United Kingdom and the United States soon after with Im lovin it. The benefits of a standardised marketing plan is that it is cost effective-as it does not require multiple marketing strategies to be drawn up and implemented-and that it helps to create a cohesive global branding concept (DePalma 2004). McDonalds, to continue the example, is easily recognisable the world over for the same branding concepts as any other country. McDonalds has grown from an organisation which had a few branches in the United States to an international phenomenon that has stores in nearly every country in the world. Known for reasonably priced meals with fast food and service, they have pushed even harder to become both a recognisable brand that draws customers in on the strength of their name and brand, but also to adapt to local mores and traditions in such a way to incorporate themselves into neighbourhoods in a strong fashion (Azarya, 2004). McDonalds has had a greater impetus to modify their business practices on a local scale as they are serving food products which are not always locally acceptable. In India, for example, where the Hindu religion prohibits the eating of beef, McDonalds has changed their menu to be primarily chicken and vegetable based, with several items being seasoned in similar ways to the local tradition (McDonalds India, 2010). 3.2 Explain why and how the entry stage of McDonalds was different in China in comparison with the rest of the world. McDonalds made a foray into China in 1990. In China of the 90s ancient belief systems rooted in Confucianism and Taoism were intermingling with Western ideologies, through the narrow window opened up by the Communist government at the helm. This was especially true with regards to thoughts on consumption, consumerism and brands. Although, the hurdles faced by McDonalds in China, like lack of quality supplies and distribution difficulties, were very similar to the Russian experience, it found a more accommodating and efficient bureaucracy and government in the Chinese. The Chinese government wanted to develop its fast food market and wanted McDonalds to take the risk in paving the way. Thus there was mutual interest involved and consequently, on the cultural acceptability front, McDonald did not have to labour as much as it had to in the Soviet Union where it had to stave off an ideological backlash before finding its feet. The interactions between the McDonald brand (and all that it stood for), and the Chinese cultural value system, combined to provide a synergy that resulted in some interesting developments. While in some cases McDonalds became an upholder of traditional values, while in other situations, McDonalds became an appropriate medium for consumers to explore new beliefs and ways of acting. This apparent paradox epitomized the fact that Chinese society was making a transition and elements of McDonalds value orientation were slowly being imbued by the Chinese masses. Two instances are cited to highlight this: McDonalds made a departure from the hierarchical set up of the dining experience in traditional Chinese restaurants, based on considerations of age. In McDonalds the seating arrangements were open, and everyone having equal access as to where to sit and what to order. In this case McDonalds encouraged the Chinese to make a departure from tradition. The lack of alcohol served in McDonalds led some consumers, primarily Chinese women, to embrace being able to be on a more equal footing with men while eating. In this case McDonalds upheld a traditional Chinese custom. In retrospect, in Russia, McDonalds has come a long way from the days of communism inspired anti-globalization backlash. Today, the McDonalds brand is a sign of quality for Russians, so being seen to work for it or supply to it is a highly regarded stamp of cultural approval. By investing in a strong local supply chain and teaching local producers, McDonalds has earned itself an almost unassailable position in the minds of the Soviet people who now view McDonalds as an international brand, run by local people and supplied by local people. It is little wonder that there are as many as 137 McDonalds restaurants in 37 cities with 500,000 customers a day. In a cultural milieu qualitatively different from that of the Americans, McDonalds has done remarkably well in China over the last 15 years. Analyzed from the cultural perspective, today McDonalds does not always denote Westernization in the minds of the Chinese consumers and the interactions are more subtle than that with the result th at McDonalds has absorbed elements of the traditional value system and the Chinese people have imbued elements of Western culture from McDonalds producing a powerful synergy in the process. (answers.com, 2011) QUESTION FOUR Explain some of McDonalds efforts to localize its offerings in China and describe how successful these efforts were. (operational issues) sourced local suppliers, employed local The Chinese fast food market has been booming in the last decade because of fast changing lifestyles and eating habits. The reason for this evolution is that Chinese consumers have accepted the Western-style fast food restaurants as a way of life in China. As a result, the popular American food has become a huge success story, creating a growing market for U.S. frozen potatoes. To position a product in a country, a good marketing strategy is needed. McDonalds success in China is based on a five-point strategy focused on product, price, people, promotion and place. A new trend is the introduction of the sixth P, namely profit. McDonalds also tries to improve the profitability in China. (Edward B. Colby, 2006) PRODUCT McDonalds product strategy consists of three categories. First they try to reflect the tastes and customs of the local markets by offering different kind of menus. The Chicken McNuggets in China come with the traditional BBQ, Sweet Sour, and Honey Mustard sauces, but theres also a Chilli Garlic Sauce, which is very popular in China. (Answers.com, 2007) In 2001 McDonalds Vegetable and Seafood Soup and Corn Soup were introduced. I think that these menu items were introduced because it was in line with their culture and love for foods with exotic taste. Clearly this proved to be a successful marketing strategy as it targeted the palatial needs of the Chinese people because of their ancient history and experimentation with different varieties of food. Furthermore McDonalds went on to introduce a local; version of its Dollar Menu calling it the Value Menu. This also proved a successful concept as most Chinese people are short, tiny in physique and very health conscious. The regular sized meals in the US and other parts of the world suited the BMI (Body Mass Index) height and weight of the average customer. Remember, Chinese people in general are not big eaters thus the reason for McDonalds offering a smaller and cheaper variation of the original product. Due to the urbanization and overpopulated cities, China has many problems with vehicles and parking. McDonalds opened restaurants and dessert kiosks targeting pedestrians and the general working class. Secondly, McDonalds also tries to provide information about their products. In cooperation with their global nutrition team, their local business units develop and implement nutrition information, which can be found on the packaging of the products. The packaging provides information on key nutritional values in a simple and clear format, so that customers around the world can use the information to make menu choices that suit their preferences. Also other communication tools are used, such as advertising both on television as on the World Wide Web to give information about the quality of their food products. (McDonalds Corporation, 2007) Thirdly McDonalds promotes physical activity, for example their sponsorship of the Olympic Games. McDonalds history with the Olympic Movement dates back to 1968. As the Worldwide Olympic Partner and the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games, McDonalds has served millions of athletes. With the sponsoring of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 McDonalds wants to continue to promote an Active Balanced Lifestyle and Olympic Spirit among Kids, Families and Adults of all ages. (Beijing 2008, 2007) This strategy gained McDonalds a lot of support and trust from the Chinese people as their campaign supported good health and physical activity. PRICE The conventional wisdom about China is that most consumers are highly sensitive to price. As a result, a decrease in burger prices is likely to be more effective than a big marketing campaign. To convince Chinese consumers coming to McDonalds, McDonalds lowered prices for its basic menu consisting of a hamburger, fries and drink from 12.50 Yuan to 10 Yuan. (Scott Hume, 2007) Across China there are a lot of differences in purchasing power. Therefore McDonalds China is also exploring menu pricing by taking into account both market and restaurant. (James A. Skinner, 2006) PEOPLE McDonalds provides employment and growth opportunities for a lot of people, more than 1.5 million worldwide. Entering the Chinese market they can give many people the opportunity to operate in their restaurants. They focus also on training and development, which is necessary to learn the required skills, to do their jobs well. McDonalds has its own learning academy, namely the Hamburger University (HU), where a leadership development program is established based on Western management practices. (McDonalds Corporation c, 2007) PLACE There are two important evolutions concerning this subject. First evolution is to open McDonalds China 24 hours a day. Presently, more than 400 restaurants of the 800 restaurants in China have provided services for 24 hours a day. In Beijing 40% of the companys stores open their business for 24 hours. In Shanghai 50% and in Guangzhou 60% have a 24-hour service. The major reason for opening 24-hour restaurants is to meet the demand by the customers, because more and more customers need the services at night because of their changing living habits. In Beijing customers actually werent eager for the night service due to the relatively cold weather there at night. This is different from the customers in the warmer southern China. (Answers.com) The McDonalds success story in China is quite evident as they opened their first 1000th McDonalds restaurant faster than any other country outside the US and is the main focus for investment in the regionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ They go one further to mention that they plan to have à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦2000 outlets in China by 2013. Clearly this is quite an achievement in country that is diverse and rich on different culture. QUESTION FIVE Discuss the challenges that McDonalds faced when entering the Chinese market and to expand its operations. You need to use the Geert Hofstedes model to compare China and the U.S. and then highlight cultural challenges that the U.S. managers must be aware of in managing McDonalds operations in China) McDonalds difficulties and challenges in China McDonalds is considered as the most successful and largest restaurant chain in the world. In 1990 McDonalds opened its first store in Shenzhen China. In 1992, McDonalds Beijing outlet was opened. There are more than 800 McDonalds outlets in China today. (answers.com, 2011) In so far as the legal aspect was concerned, there were no franchise laws that existed in China. This posed a problem about how franchises should exist or operate. Chinese people were loyal to Chinese cuisine and felt that the fast food chains did not offer much variety to suit their palate. The Chinese preferred the traditional culture of food and drink complete with colour, fragrance, flavour, and variety. To make matters worse, they also faced intense competition by its biggest rival Yum Brands i.e. KFC. Not only did McDonalds have the difficult task of adapting their business to the Chinese culture and way of life; they also had to fend off their competitors. This meant finding other ways to compete against them and attract customers by changing their product range, style and advertising. Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions: China and The United States: One of the most popular works in the study of culture is that of Geert Hofstedes (1984). Through his research and surveys he theorized that cultural and sociological differences between nations can be categorized and quantified, thereby allowing comparison of national cultures to take place. Hofstedes identified four cultural dimensions. These are: 1. Power Distance The dimension of power distance is about the extent to which power structures are hierarchical and reflect significant inequalities in power. Countries with large power distances exhibit wide inequalities in power, power that is often concentrated in relatively few hands in heavily centralized and hierarchical organizations. Individuals within such cultures view themselves as inherently unequal: subordinates are dependent on those higher up the hierarchy and accept the power of their superiors by virtue of their position in the hierarchy. All participants in the hierarchy expect their position within it to be clearly demarcated. China is considered as a large power distance country. In small power distance countries, individuals are more inclined to regard themselves as equals: rather than expecting to be told what to do, subordinates expect to be consulted and will argue a case with those higher up the organization. Respect for individuals within the organization comes from their proven capacity to perform a role rather than from the possession of a particular job title or their place in an organization. Shorter small power distances coincide with flatter organization structures. The United States is considered a country with small power distance. 2. Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty avoidance measures the lack of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This manifests itself in high levels of anxiety and emotion. This in turn translates into a preference for highly structured formal rules and limited tolerance for groups and individuals demonstrating deviant ideas or behaviours. 3. Individualism vs. Collectivism The individualist-collectivist dimension measures the degree to which the interests of individuals or of the group take priority. The social framework in an individualistic society is looser than that of a more collectivist society and individuals take responsibility for themselves and their immediate as opposed to extended families. Individualist societies demonstrate a greater regard for individual rights and freedoms and tend to be characterized by assertiveness and competitiveness rather than by teamwork and cooperation. China is considered a country that is collectivist. In China, it is the group (which could be the extended family, the employer or the society as a whole) that looks after the interest of individuals and gives them their sense of identity. In return from this protection, individuals offer the group loyalty and work towards the attainment of goals determined by and for the good of the group, organization or society. The United States on the other hand is a highly individualistic society. 4. Masculinity Femininity Societies that place a high premium on assertiveness, achievement and the acquisition of material possessions are exhibiting aggressive or masculine goal behaviour. Masculine environments also favour conflict and competition in the workplace. Cultures that place a high value on social relationships, quality of life and sensitivity demonstrate passive or feminine goal behaviour. Cultures and workplaces scoring high on the femininity dimension exhibit high degrees of cooperation, negotiation and compromise. The United States can be considered as a masculine culture while China is leaning toward femininity. QUESTION SIX Where do you think the best opportunities for future growth lie for McDonalds? Why? Relations between the U.S. and China could be entering the realm of interesting times, but McDonalds seems undaunted. The fast-food giant recently announced plans to nearly double the number of Golden Arches locations in that highly coveted market. It comes as no surprise that American companies yearn for heated expansion in this populous nation. China has more than 1.3 billion people; one in five people on the planet live in China. Thats a lot of people who might want fries with that. Meanwhile, informal dining out in China is currently a $300 billion opportunity, and its expected to increase by 10% this year as the middle class in that country grows. An aggressive growth target for Chinese restaurants certainly looks like a good idea, given McDonalds 2010 plans to grow global revenue by 3% to 5%, and profit by 7% to 9%. In fact, China is the companys fastest-growing market in sales and income. As it stands now, China has 1,100 Mickey Ds. By the end of 2013, McDonalds plans to have planted 2,000 in the nation. China already represents 23% of revenue from the fast food giants Asia Pacific/Middle East/Africa segment. Lets look at McDonalds comparable-store sales by geographic region for the last several years (in constant currencies): MCD annual comparable-store sales 2009 2008 2007 Asia Pacific/Middle East/Africa 3.4% 9% 10.6% U.S. 2.6% 4% 4.5% Europe 5.2% 8.5% 7.6% *From company press releases and SEC filings. As you can see, in 2009 comps slowed down across the board, although admittedly, McDonalds faced tough comparisons in years past. Investors understandably get excited about U.S. companies that eye Chinese growth; one of the significant factors for the investment thesis for Yum Brands have been its presence in China, and its continued aggressive expansion. Last year alone, it opened more than 500 new restaurants there. Yum has more than 2,870 KFC outlets in China, and more than 450 Pizza Huts. You can see why McDonalds would be salivating to compete for some of that action. Of course, expanding into China is not without pitfalls. Although Starbucks is still waxing enthusiastic about its Chinese locations, its faced plenty of frustrating moments, including its 2007 retreat from the Forbidden City. Many U.S. companies have also had to navigate difficulties with the Chinese government and its policies, including Yahoo! and more recently Google. (www.fool.com, 2011) India may overtake China as the worlds fastest growing major economy by 2015, as the South Asian nation doubles infrastructure investment and adds six-fold more workers than its northern neighbour, Morgan Stanley said. Indias growth may accelerate to 9.5 percent between 2011 and 2015, Morgan Stanley economist Chetan Ahya said in an interview from Singapore today. Indias gross domestic product has expanded at an average 7.1 percent over the decade through the third quarter of 2009, compared with 9.1 percent in China, which surpassed Japan as the second-largest economy last quarter. (Bloomberg.com, 2011) India will surpass China, Japan and many other European countries in the current economic climate with their economic growth rate. It has one of the largest populations in the world. According to a survey by Bloomberg, the govt will invest millions of dollars to develop the countrys poor infrastructure. The creation of jobs in the manufacturing industry means that there will be an increase in consumer expenditure in the long term. McDonalds has great potential in reaching many more consumers in India because an injection of capital into the economy.