Sunday, December 29, 2019

Essay on The Struggle for Acceptance in The Cider House...

The Struggle for Acceptance in The Cider House Rules In The Cider House Rules, John Irving brings the orphan Homer Wells to vivid life in a rather unusual way. Homer’s life and existence are part of a large symbolic link to the actual book itself. Homer’s life as an orphan struggling for acceptance and to â€Å"Be of Use† is shadowed by The Cider House Rules struggle for acceptance in the mass literary market and its need to purvey its views on abortion. After writing his first few books, Irving was left disappointed that although the literary critics embraced them, for the general masses his books fell on deaf ears. (Hill 250) Unfortunately it is the general case that the masses and the elite are not in†¦show more content†¦Rather than write a pamphlet destined for the racks of the local obstetrician’s office, he writes a something much more marketable. He attempts to write the â€Å"responsible soap opera†, a form of fiction that is arguably most sought after and hardest to attain. (Hill 251) Irving uses his typical sledgehammer technique of pounding home his message, while wrapping it in a beautiful story. The two are not fully integrated: His pro-legalized-abortion stance could survive independent of Homer and his life, and Homer did not need to replace Larch at the orphanage. However, without the assistance of the other thread in the book, each side does seem rather pale. Unless the abor tion issue directly affected ones self, there is no reason to go out and find information on it. As Irving recognized the synergistic value, it snowballed into what only Irving himself can adequately describe: â€Å"I honestly believe that this book is different from anything I’ve ever written. It is a book with a polemic.† Unfortunately, not all of The Cider House Rules is responsible. At times it waxes dramatic, at others, purely disgusting. I fear that some of Irving’s audience was lost when Larch’s first â€Å"love† came in with a uterus â€Å"with the composition and texture of Muenster Cheese,† or the image of the failedShow MoreRelatedThe Effective Use of Dramatic Devices in Millers The Crucible3571 Words   |  15 Pagesact two Miller begins by setting the scene and describes Proctor’s house. The room is described as ‘low, dark and rather long’; this immediately gives the impression of a threatening and unwelcoming place. It also mentions how the ‘room is empty’; this could signify loneliness and the lack of affection within the marriage. The word ‘halts’ is used to show an image of a shocked John as he hears his wife singing, when he enters the house with a gun implying danger. Miller could have decided to includeR ead MoreLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 PagesBless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya (1972) The World According to Garp, by John Irving (1978) The Discovery of Slowness, by Sten Nadolny (1983) Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney (1984)[36] Ender s Game, by Orson Scott Card (1985)[34] The Cider House Rules, by John Irving (1985) Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson (1985)[37] Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami (1987)[38] A Prayer For Owen Meany, by John Irving (1989) Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry (1989) Sophie s World, by JosteinRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesthe front of the book as Part I. I think your students will find these cases particularly interesting and even inspiring. The popular â€Å"Marketing Wars† is again included, this time as Part II, and it follows major competitors in their furious struggles. Two new parts have been added from older editions: Part III Comebacks, and Part VI Ethical Mistakes. In response to your feedback, the section on notable successes has been continued. Some cases are as recent as today’s headlines; several still

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Looking Like An Aid Implementor - 1684 Words

Seeing Like An Aid Implementor Introduction Scott employs photos throughout his book, Seeing Like A State, to illustrate his arguments about statecraft and the bureaucracy that aims to control the state. Urban architect Le Corbusier’s plans for Paris and Brasilia present some of the most striking examples. The book’s images depict the cities from a bird’s eye view. The buildings look identical and orderly. As a city administrator or in a larger sense a state official, the images represent the need of authority powers to make their job of governing more efficient. Authorities render the individuals that live within these spaces as abstract beings with equivocal needs; however, this principle does not hold true. Individual needs and†¦show more content†¦In the second section, Scott’s theory of high authoritarian modernism will be compared with Escobar’s theory of development discourse. Specifically, I will argue that the elements of modernity and the need to make society legible throug h the lens of an expert resonate in both Scott and Escobar’s arguments. Both are skeptical of top-down efforts to organize society and the ramifications that these efforts have on the individuals that they seek to serve. Authoritarian High Modernism Scott’s theory of authoritarian high modernism has several components that seek to explain the conditions of state control and organization over its citizens. In order to efficiently govern the masses, authorities need to create legible societies. The means to create this legibility depends on the standardization and thus often the destruction of individually unique spaces. Additionally, states must have the authoritative strength to coerce change. For example, Le Corbusier’s urban plans ignored the grey areas of urban life or the spaces that individuals create organically. The drive for this legibility, according to Scott, derives from the ideology of high modernism. At its core, Scott describes authoritarian high modernism as †¦A supreme self-confidence about continued linear progress, the development of scientific and technical knowledge, the expansion of production, the

Friday, December 13, 2019

Questionnaire Free Essays

QUESTIONNAIRE It is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case. The questionnaire was invented by Sir Francis Galton. We will write a custom essay sample on Questionnaire or any similar topic only for you Order Now It refers to paper and pencil data gathering method by letting the subject or respondent complete the questionnaire before the researcher or his representative, or it can be mailed Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, such standardized answers may frustrate users. Questionnaires are also sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them. Thus, for some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be practical. Questionnaire is also the most commonly used tool to generate data. Sometimes, it is called the survey form. TYPES A distinction can be made between questionnaires with questions that measure separate variables, and questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index. Questionnaires within the former category are commonly part of surveys, whereas questionnaires in the latter category are commonly part of tests. Questionnaires with questions that measure separate variables could for instance include questions on: * preferences (e. g. political party) * behaviors (e. g. food consumption) * facts (e. g. gender) Questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index include for instance questions that measure: * latent traits (e. g. personality traits such as extroversion) * attitudes (e. . towards immigration) * an index (e. g. Social Economic Status) Question types Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format. A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asks the respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. The response optio ns for a closed-ended question should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Four types of response scales for closed-ended questions are distinguished: * Dichotomous * Nominal-polytomous * Ordinal-polytomous * (Bounded)Continuous A respondent’s answer to an open-ended question is coded into a response scale afterwards. An example of an open-ended question is a question where the testee has to complete a sentence (sentence completion item). What Are the Criteria of a good Questionnaire? 1. The language must be clear. 2. The content of the question must be specific. . The question should show singleness of purpose. 4. The question must be free from assumptions. 5. The question must be free from suggestions. 6. The question should have linguistic completeness and grammatical consistency. Questionnaire administration modes Main modes of questionnaire administration are: * Face-to-face questionnaire administration * Paper-and-pencil questionnaire administration * Computerized questionnaire administration * Adaptive computerized questionnaire administration How to cite Questionnaire, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Peter H. Woods Strange New Lands free essay sample

Strange Nevus Lands demonstrates the birth of slavery and the struggles the Africans had to overcome before the United States became a nation and before the revolutionary war. It also talks about the slave trade, and the middle passage. Vividly explaining the brutal form of servitude and the consequences that came along with them if the requirements were not met. The author, Peter H. Wood mainly focuses on how Africans survived this period in time and ultimately shape the precedent of the American system of racial domination.Wood starts the book with the earliest Africans to come to North America via the Spanish explores. The Africans served as soldiers, sailors and servants who were poorly led by the Spanish in a quest to take over what is now modern Florida. The Spanish put the African soldiers on the front line to fight the Indians for the land but because of poor leadership the Spanish and the Africans were separated from their supply boats and from each other. We will write a custom essay sample on Peter H. Woods Strange New Lands or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because of the unknown of the gulf coast wilderness majority of oldies and explorers died. But some survived to be healed by the local tribes. In the early seventeenth century Africans were within the Dutch colonies of what is today New York. At this time the Africans were not seen as slaves but as indentured servants. They had a better chance of gaining freedom because an indentured servant was simply a person who worked for another person for a definite period of time. Although without pay the Africans had a chance to roam around the new country as freemen when hey worked off the amount of years they were given.In the late seventeenth century the life of being an indentured servant changed to what was a gruesome new life for the Africans who came to the America. Wood referenced this period as a terrible transformation. The conditions changed from simple servitude to the increase of labor and living conditions within the southern colonies. The settlements of white people from the Caribbean brought their culture of race slavery with them to the Americas thus making leaver a new trend.This would later lead to the rise of race-based slavery in the southern colonies. Although this change had taken place the Africans were able to adapt by learning the American language which was English and making into something that the whites didnt understand. One of the major things that they did was make songs which sounded like one message but actually meaning another message; an early example of talking code.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Bharti Enterprises free essay sample

Ensuring that the look and feel of the store is as per guidelines/standards Ensuring/ reporting Inventory and Stock availability as per the norms to prevent stock-outs Provide suggestions /feedback to improve store productivity People Development / Team Management: Acting as a mentor and trainer for store staff To ensure daily roistering briefing to inbound outbound store staff Customer Experience: Manage staff allocation based on demand at point in time Personally step in to handle demanding customers Provide suggestions for improvements in CE 4. A. On Diversity and Cultural spread in Africa, As Africa consists of 53 countries, to operate successfully it is important to understand the dynamics of each country, including differences in culture, language and especially regulations. Bharti would do well to put in place as few expatriates as possible and have most of its top management from Africa. b. On Infrastructure sharing and cost / capital issues, The biggest driver of network sharing will be the shift in approach of the biggest operators, who had been unwilling to share network to sustain competitive advantage. We will write a custom essay sample on Bharti Enterprises or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There is visible network sharing in the markets of Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, and that this is likely to pick up in other markets. c. On Bharti Airtel’s Minute Factor Model, Network sharing and IT outsourcing would help operators bring down costs. While costs could trend down, however they will be higher than in India because of some of the structural costs caused by power shortage and poor infrastructure. 5. Bharti Airtel has a history of making first moves and emerging as the winner just because of that. This is what built the company’s success in India, where it remains the top MNO and second-largest fixed-line operator. In fact, thanks to the massive market it serves at home, at the time it acquired the Zain portfolio in March 2010 Airtel was reckoned to be the fifth largest mobile operator in the world on a proportional subscriber basis, putting it behind the likes of China Mobile, Vodafone Group, American Movil and Telefonica, but ahead of China Unicom. As has been widely covered for over a year now, Airtel has been looking at Africa as a new growth market. While it has a deal with Vodafone for the Channel Islands, Africa is the only other territory outside the Indian subcontinent (including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) that the company has entered. The commonalities are compelling: similar markets, needs and infrastructure. The realities on the ground are somewhat more challenging: logistics, legislative compliance and serious local competition being foremost. The logistics of infrastructure in Africa are an equal challenge for all MNOs. That is a given. Where Airtel might have been overly optimistic is in hoping its Africa model would run similarly to its success in India, based on a first-to-market approach and having some leverage to overcome legislative obstacles. Unfortunately, while Airtel has a 30-year history of being first in India (with pushbutton phones, cordless phones and then mobile), they were not first in Africa. There were major EU, Middle East and South African players there ahead of them. In fact, Airtel’s African expansion is largely thanks to its takeover of Kuwait’s Zain mobile operations in 15 countries. This was a beachhead, not a conquest. Zain only held dominant market share in a few countries. Going up against market leaders such as MTN of South Africa, Airtel applied a strategy of extensive cost cutting. This followed on what it achieved in India, cutting a deal with Ericsson for per-minute fees (rather than upfront payment) that enabled very low-cost call rates from the outset. Airtel has an all-Africa, five-year deal in place with Ericsson for network management that offers similar advantages. Elsewhere, Airtel is engaged with Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei, not keeping all its eggs in one basket, of course. As a Plan B, possibly following on the indecisive outcome of Airtel’s low-cost invasion, the company has previously been negotiating a takeover of or (maybe) a joint venture with MTN itself. How this putative deal is described depends on which company is talking. This has been going on for some four years without a definitive ending. Even if it never happens, it is a signpost of just what Airtel would consider to get its Africa operations truly established.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

San Francisco Earthquake Essay

San Francisco Earthquake Essay Free Online Research Papers Leading up to the Earthquake, foreshocks occurred in San Francisco, California on April 18, 1906. It was caused by the San Andreas Fault as a strike-slip fault that happened at 5:12 am. Before the destruction, there was stress deep in the grounds, plates were grinding. Its shaking and stress commenced from San Bautista to midway of North and West, approximately more than 295.5 miles, at 5:13 am. Abruptly, a temblor occurred, the first shock waves at about 5:13 am spread epidemically. Seismic waves spread, it made a surface change, its motion into liquid-like. The surface was shaking intensely that some cracks and faults in the ground appeared. Most of the grounds were torn or heaved, the magnitude was 7.8 and above. The temblor lasted for about a single minute. The complexity and amplitudes showed that its severe amplitude transcended the range capability of the seismograph, significantly off the scale. Although it caused a massive amount of damage of quake, it caused fires. The blaze caused firestorms that it triggered a terrifying inferno that spread for kilometers in most parts of California. Most of the neighborhoods were vanquished by the flames that were spreading and those that were already there. A majority of cities and buildings were buildings, there was no water to control the flames since for the unbelievable reason that the water pipelines were broken and the water mains were shut down since the Earthquake occurred. The total area felt were most parts of the western U.S. like Southern Oregon, Western Nevada, and California. The rupture surface line was in San Bautista, San Francisco, Point arena, and Shelter Cove. The damages were extremely severe that it produced countless little and large casualties, more than twenty-seven t housand, nine-hundred buildings were destroyed. Ceilings of every building collapsed, that the destructive intensity of the damage extended over 600 kilometers. Structures that were made of brick and frame were voluminously diminished or impaired. Fortunately, only one building is torn apart. An intense degree of annihilated places were the city of Fort Bragg and Santa Rosa since they were both violently ravaged by the Earthquake and Fire. Regrettably, not only above the ground was destroyed but also internally. The internal damages triggered the lack of water, sewers and water pipelines were broken, and water mains were broken or shut down. On the path of cars, roads crossed in fault-lines, it made an impassable track, the movement of the road turned to be about 3 to 4.5 meters long. Some roads were even bent into sideways or wavelike forms, and some collapsed especially in the freeways. Additionally, most of the trees swayed, broken off, or thrown down. The casualties of both the Earthquake and Fire were negatively strong. Dead human bodies and injured people were caused by the falling and collapsing buildings. Each building either has the ceilings collapse, walls or the surface top of the building falling down. As the fires gained momentum, some survivors gather to any place where they could find water, and it is the refuge plaza. In the plaza, some men and women were crying, others were praying, one was fanatic, saying â€Å"The lord sent it, the Lord!† The earthquake was horrifying that awakens people and gives a difficult sensation to believe, that in the palace hotel, G.A. Raymond was awoken by the Earthquake, he describes his escape: â€Å"I had $600.00 in gold under my pillow. I awoke as I was thrown out of bed. Attempting to walk, the floor shook so that I fell. I grabbed my clothing and rushed down into the office, where dozens were already congregated. Suddenly the lights went out, and every one rushed for the doo r†¦ I asked a man standing next to me what happened. Before he could answer a thousand bricks fell on him and he was killed. A woman threw her arms around my neck. I pushed her away and fled. All around me buildings were rocking and flames shooting. As I ran people on all sides were crying, praying and calling for help. I thought the end of the world had come.† The Earthquake caused massive amount of damage that it symbolizes the end of the world, according to Jerome B. Clark a business man lived in San Francisco â€Å"In every direction from the ferry building flames were seething, and as I stood there, a five-story building half a block away fell with a crash, and the flames swept clear across Market Street and caught a new fireproof building recently erected. The streets in places had sunk three or four feet, in others great humps had appeared four or five feet high. The street car tracks were bent and twisted out of shape.† The Earthquake also made difficulties of mailing and made disastrous events, according to the letter of Ernest H. Adams, a sales representative: â€Å"For me to describe the scenes and events of the past few days would be an impossibility at present, and no doubt you would have had more news regarding the awful fate of this city than I myself know. All that I can say at this writing is, that about 5:15 a.m., Wednesday morning, I was thrown out of bed and in a twinkling of an eye the side of our house [at 151- 24th Ave.] was dashed to the ground. How we go into the street I will never be able to tell, as I fell and crawled down the stairs amid flying glass and timber and plaster†¦ When the dust cleared away I saw nothing but a ruin of a house and home that it had taken twenty years to build. I saw the fires from the city arising in great clouds and it was no time to mourn my loss so getting into what clothing I could find, I started on a run for [115] Kearny St., five miles away .† The cost of the Earthquake was more than approximately 478 million dollars, in the examination, more than 79 million dollars from the earthquake, and 399 million dollars from the earthquake and fire alone. The people who were involved were firemen and citizens, most of the firemen stand by helplessly because the fire was intense and continuous, unfortunately, there was lack of water. The citizens were crying, most or all were injured, and bloodshed was common. There more than 2900 people dead. The great earthquake made an intense historical impact that it triggered new knowledge and research. Californians were hastily reconstruction their ruined buildings so far. The reconstruction also leads to the acclivity and prosperity of upgrading structures into earthquake-proof since they were in fact reinforced by steel, with the help of Engineers. Engineers also widened the streets, they widened it by capturing space either force or voluntarily relinquishing lands. Overtime after the San F rancisco Earthquake, the pursuit of knowledge of Earthquakes epidemically and or widely spread. It increased the observation of Earthquakes. A majority of Scientists in California did earthquake research about faults, shockwaves, and temblors, especially, comprehending how they occur, additionally, to measure the intensity of shaking, speculating the probabilities and predicting. Fortunately, geologists also investigate, they study how the earthquake occurred by compiling lists of historical earthquakes, recently or lately. As time and the prolonging research of Earthquakes went by, advanced technology rises, protection takes its place. The lead of a comprehensive earthquake came from monitoring the temblors. A strenuous earthquake research program is developed and over time, it increased. Since and after 1906, more seismographs were developed; it measures the shaking intensity and surveys the tracking plate motion, observes stress and distortion, and measures the movement of the Earth. The observations and data were the keys to mapping out the locations for certain purposes. Scientists made maps of locations containing detailed pictures of hundreds of faults, historical faults and future references of the earthquake being imminent. They used the maps as blueprints or to anticipate where the shaking is strong or intense. The maps helped engineers of where to build structures safely where temblors occur rarely. The reduction of Earthquake hazards were reduced as they upgrade, research, and revised their styles of structures, safety, and paths. Earthquake Research guided insurance companies by helping businesses and individuals deal affordably if earthquakes occur. There were contributions of scientists that helped the research. More than 19 scientists contributed the data of earthquakes, some published books, and others made electronic sources like a video, the internet, or radio. The Earthquake research, data, and references became a compiled document. It made a benchmark for the future, showed critical details about integrated and investigations of earthquakes, and it was the highest regard amid the seismologists. The progress provides significant advances of new knowledge, raises major questions, and stating long-term probabilities of Earthquakes. There were knowledge and publications of comparisons to common objects. It was the significant observation by Professor H.F. called â€Å"The elastic rebound†, it explains how the Earth elastically distort, it gave an example about bending down a stick until it snaps or breaks, that it causes stress, waves, shocks, and pressure. The theory also explains how the plate motion is accumulating, and a stately detail how the tectonic plates relate to the Earthquake occurrences and what evidence it is based. There were also people with great scientific insight about the earthquake and launched the science of eart hquakes. These people were Professor Lawson, Professor Reid, and Professor Gillbert. Research Papers on San Francisco Earthquake EssayHow did Humanity Begin?MRSA Staph BacteriaSexually Transmitted DiseasesThe Broken FamilyEnzymes Proteins Amino AcidsCanine ParvovirusElectromagnetic BombsThe Old Man and the Sea EssayThe Fifth HorsemanHistory of American Policing Essay

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Organisational logistics and organizational management Essay

Organisational logistics and organizational management - Essay Example Low-cost philosophy and family culture are two major shared values of the organization and these values are reflected in all the processes and systems of the organization. The company has a flat structure which allows job sharing, high employee motivation and low labor costs. The company’s adherence to low-cost carrier model appears to be a distinctive organization skill which allows the company to focus on its future growth strategies. PESTLE framework has been used to analyze the external business environment of AirAsia including the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that influence the business. The analysis shows that political factors like increased government investments and supportive regulatory environment are favorable for the company whereas, increasing foreign government restrictions hinder future growth strategy of AirAsia. The current economic downturn, increasing fuel costs and volatile exchange rates are creating challeng es for the company however, the increasing trade within and into Asia creates opportunities for company. Social factors including population growth, customers’ willingness to accept low-cost air travel and increasing tourism positively influence the operations of AirAsia. The technological developments allow AirAsia to improve its services by providing more convenience to customers. Although AirAsia faces strong environment challenges however, adherence of company to legal requirements allows company to meet all these challenges. Following this a SWOT analysis has been done to analyze the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of AirAsia. The successful implementation of low-cost business model, specific growth strategies, government support and skilled staff are few major strengths of AirAsia whereas, increased operational complexity, poor decision-making and cost-focused human resource management system are major weaknesses of the company. It has been iden tified that increasing travel demand as a result of increasing population growth and tourism, Open Skies Agreement and influence of social media in industry are major opportunities for AirAsia. Nevertheless, new entrants, over capacity, price war, fuel prices volatility and environmental concerns pose major threats for the company. Following SOWT analysis, four solutions have been identified for AirAsia including fuel hedging, new and standardized aircraft fleet, airport ownership and long-haul travel. Finally recommendations relevant to employee management and motivation and customer relationship management have been provided to AairAsia. Introduction AirAsia is a Malaysian low-cost airline which offers low cost travel to its customers. The company has adopted a low-cost business model and it is the Asia’s largest airline which offers no-frill services (Kurlantzick, 2007). The company was established with an aim to make flying affordable for everyone and today its network co vers more than 20 countries. The company has been able to achieve success in the highly competitive low cost aviation industry through efficient procedures and systems, innovative solutions and passionate approach towards business processes (AirAsia.com). AirAsia Group consists of associated companies which have same strategies and approach. These associated companies include AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia and Thai AirAsia. By

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Science for Informed Citizens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Science for Informed Citizens - Essay Example A fundamental goal for science education is to stimulate, respond to and nourish such curiosity, wonder and questioning. Science provides us with one view of the world - a view that changes as our knowledge and understanding of science evolves. It extends our understanding beyond what affects us to include what we can't see, feel, hear or touch but can only imagine (VELS Science Discipline Strand, 2005) If a nation's best asset is its people, its future is its children. Hence, the major goal of science education is to educate and develop students that would become citizens capable of engaging in an informed debate regarding science and adheres to its code of ethics. The core values of science to society are: rationality, creativity, the search for truth, and an adherence to codes of honorable behavior. (Inter Academy Council, 2007) In addition, science is viewed or characterized as: impartial, neutral and autonomous. Science is impartial because there is no proper role for moral, social and any other non-cognitive values, alongside the cognitive (or epistemic) values, in the appraisal of the soundness of scientific understanding. Well conceived scientific practices produce a body of understanding that is neutral among contending value-outlooks that neither cognitively nor in practical applications do they favor the claims or interests of any particular value-outlooks. Its research practices are autonomous because their methodologies should be unencumbered by political, religious and other non-cognitive interests. (Lacey, 2001) Given its value and characteristics, the pursuit for science is defined or governed by its environment. Science in combination with technology plays an important role in modern society. Science is the discovery and explanation of nature. Once the manipulation of scientific understanding of nature is harnessed for human purposes, a new technology is developed. How this technology is harnessed is defined by social and cultural factors that surround it. Hence, science and technology are rooted in the society which creates them (Webster, 1991). If people learn and understand the value of science in order to enhance knowledge and productivity, the collective role of all citizens will help sustain a nation's growth and development. The imagination and vision that science brings to bear on theoretical speculations and practical problems, allows people to analyze present or future implications, make better choices, and invest resources wisely. This view and understanding of science brings global implications. Western science has a long history of denigrating knowledge and beliefs from native, indigenous, eastern cultures, and societies that use scientific methods outside their accepted ways and ethics. This are generally attributed to the traditional values and cultures of these nations which differ significantly from the values of mainstream science. (James, n.d)

Monday, November 18, 2019

Quantitative finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Quantitative finance - Essay Example More investment capital has been attracted by different countries following significant growth in the capital markets, which has also encouraged sharing of international risks (Ahmed and Gooptu, 1993). Also, deregulation and liberalization of capital and foreign exchange markets has been practiced by many countries in the recent decades. This has been achieved through relaxing and withdrawal of statutory barriers on capital account transactions hence boosting many emerging market economies. Furthermore, many countries have realized the benefits of capital inflows through liberalization of domestic financial markets. In the recent years, investment is no longer tied on the sum of domestic savings. In addition, developments in technological innovation and capital accumulation have contributed to economy’s growth, which is spurred by foreign capital inflows. Other important developments that have led to a major reduction in information and transaction costs related to international investments include computer and telecommunication technologies (Tara, 2005). Products such as country funds and American Depository Receipts (ADRs) have been introduced by investment and commercial banks, hence facilitating international investments. Furthermore, the potential gains from international investments must have become more visible amongst many investors and hence the surge in international portfolio investment (New features of the stock market surge, 2005). The security returns amongst different countries differ because different countries differ in terms of resource endowment, industry structure and macroeconomic policies. This difference also results from the fact that different countries have business cycles that do not occur simultaneously, meaning that a particular country could be experiencing a boom while another one experiences recession at the same time. As such, securities from the same country undergo similar macroeconomic policies, and business cycles thus

Friday, November 15, 2019

Analyzing The Journeys End Of Regeneration English Literature Essay

Analyzing The Journeys End Of Regeneration English Literature Essay In the two works that I will be analysing, Journeys End and Regeneration, class refers to the social values that distinguish between the lower, middle and upper class men. The theme of class is central to both of the works and is personified in two predominant characters, Trotter in Journeys End as well as Prior in Regeneration, they will both be fundamental subjects in my essay; in which I will discuss how Sheriff and Barker explore this theme of class, concerning similarities and differences in the various methods employed. Three palpable contrasts between the works should at the outset be mentioned. Firstly Journeys End was written by a man, Sheriff who had firsthand experience of the war, himself being a captain in the East Surrey Regiment. Therefore, we can assume that some events in Journeys End and characters used are most likely influenced by genuine soldiers. Thus themes of class and the harshness of war are even more authentic and realistic; How awfully nice if the brigadiers pleased is a typical, if not sarcastic, response from a proverbial soldier; Stanhope, concerning Osbornes death, showing little respect for those in higher command and also his repression of emotion. Sheriff explores the theme of class through the effects on the characters; how differing people handle the constant stress of war, for Stanhope, it is to drink like a fish, in contrast to Trotters circle drawing, perhaps showing a lack of imagination. On the other hand the writer of Regeneration, Barker is a woman and more im portantly a lot younger than Sheriff with no direct experience of the war. Regeneration seems to focus more on the aftermath, which allows a broader sense of themes such as roles of women and the altered mental states of the class men. You seem to have a very powerful anti-war neurosis, is Rivers reply to Sassoon, who asks if he is mad, it shows the effect of the war, that it can make an educated and brave man question his own sanity. It also explores the theme of class; Rivers and Sassoon immediately create a bond with one another, coming from similar backgrounds and viewpoints, as opposed to the perpetual antagonism between Prior and Rivers. Secondly Journeys End is a play, as opposed to a novel, and Sheriff employs staging. This coupled with the need for a play to be entertaining, does not give Sheriff the luxury of including pages full of background conversation which allow subtle character progression. Barkers work in general could be seen as symbolically internal with the characters thoughts and deep emotions shown through introspection, and thought oh God, its going to be another one of this, this allows the audience to understand the characters in greater detail, to relate to them based on our personal experience, perspective and class. Whereas Sheriffs is driven by actions, and what other characters say. (He puts the box on its side and sits on it. It is too low for the table, and he puts it on its end. It is then too high), When Trotter is first introduced the stage actions show him to be a comical character, at odds with the more serious Stanhope or the hard as nails Osborne, however Trotter is a much more deep individual below the surface, which is shown by the end of the play with his promotion to second in command; Similarly Prior in Regeneration is first introduced as a mute, with a case of dumbness, differing to the other characters, but throughout the novel he conveys himself to be highly intelligent and profound. Another difference between the works is the length, Regeneration is the first part of a trilogy and this represents the more prolonged and indefinite ending, in contrast Journeys End is much shorter and has a very sudden and obvious finish, as implied by its title. This may, in some sense epitomise the theme of class and stereotypes. In Regeneration, events outside of warfare, the battle for an end to bias based on discrimination is long standing and more apparent. In Journeys End it is more ambiguous, and perhaps due to close proximity, extreme events and the over shadowing doom, is triumphed through unity, the war eliminated class divides. There are, however, important similarities between the works. They are both realistic, which is contrasted with Sheriffs use of Raleigh who represents the romantic, idealistic viewpoint; his boyish voice and hesitant speech show him to be nervous and impressionable. Raleigh is a young and inexperienced officer. This leads on to his conversation with Osborne, pages 9-17. The language that the two men use and their topic of conversation rugger and cricket remind the audience of their public school background. Sheriff explorers the theme of class through similarities and differences with characters. Lower class men tend to be employed as comic relief, which is evidenced by the character Mason and his mixed tinned fruit story. Osbornes mock shock at this story, Good Heavens! It must have given you a turn, helps to lighten the waiting game of trench life. These working class individuals, such as Trotter and Prior, deter the audience away from the constant melancholy of warfare. However they are more than simplistic tools for humour, Mason for example, serves as a reminder of the constant passing of time; with his regular meals, and also that normal activities still have to continue despite the war, forcing the audience to not base opinion on the surface, but too look deeper-to sympathise. They are also both from a British perspective, and the events mostly take place in one setting, Criaglockhart in Regeneration and a dug out in Journeys End. Sheriff uses sound and lighting throughout to create a realistic and theatrically effective image of war. The warren-like nature of dugouts with their entrances and exits lend themselves to the stage. Perhaps more importantly the dugout allows Sheriff to present an authentic image of life in the trenches, what he calls a nostalgic journey into the past (No Leading Lady). This relates to class, in the sense that the dire conditions stripped discrimination, it just a simple reminder of the horrible wreckage of their young lives and the futility of their deaths. This cannot be said for Regeneration, in which class, be it rank or treatment, is ever present. The works were also written after the war; which is significant in relation to Journeys End which was written by Sheriff in the post-war era. During the war, people had gone to theatres to forget their troubles and to be amused, but in the 1920s there was a lot of change in the way theatres managed and, in 1926, talking cinema, i.e. films with audible dialogue, started. The class system was also undergoing massive changes and people who in the past would never have been to the theatres started going. This may have resulted in the inclusion of Trotter a character from a lower class who appealed to the new audience. Therefore the theme of class in Journeys End symbolically represents contemporary feelings, a time in which social classes and barriers were being broken down and previous stereotypical upper class values were being appreciated by the masses. Trotter is shown to be more than a stereotype, this is evidenced by his conversation with Osborne about gardening, Oh, I used to do a bit of an evening. Iad a decent little grass plot in front, with flower borders geraniums, lobelia, and calceolaria, Sheriff uses a characters interaction to show that class barriers should be non-existent as the lower class can have similar interests and thought processes to the upper, everyone is not so different. Likewise, Barker makes use of the plot to show that Prior is not so different to the other characters, in fact he is vastly sharp and has knowledge of Freudian theories, I see. A negative transference, Rivers automatic assumption that a man from his background would be ignorant of such things shows how misguided discrimination due to class was, times were changing and a man shouldnt be judged by his birth place. It is ironic that this recurring theme of prejudice is focalized through such an accepting individual, portraying how deep the ro ots of discrimination were entrenched in this lost generation. Sheriff and Barker tackle the problem of class discrimination in similar ways. In Journeys End the unbiased character of Osborne allows the audience to understand Trotter more deeply, much like Rivers in Regeneration. Osborne in some senses is the audiences voice, and the very fact that Osborne can consider Trotter an equal signifies that class barriers are unnecessary, and people should judge in a more meritocratic way, by actions. In Regeneration the discrimination by class is dealt with through intellect. Barker stresses priors intelligence throughout the narrative. Unlike Sassoon, he possesses insight, which is symbolically indicated by his association with the image of the eye. When he finally recalls the traumatic event that triggered his breakdown picking up an eyeball and seeing it resting in the palm of his hand Prior not only regains his memory, but also becomes associated with the concept of vision in general. The recurring image of the eye in the palm of his hand repres ents not only his recovered hindsight, but also his ability to move between varieties of different viewpoints and see both sides. Due to his difference from the other characters, with regards to class background, his opinions and his sexuality, Priors perspective on the war is distinctive, and the source of his unique ability to subject even his own doctor to rigorous and relentless interrogation. In the same way, Trotter also has a different perspective, I reckon e only wanted to keep cheerful, as opposed to Stanhope, Doesnt his repulsive little mind make you sick? Trotter is benevolent, consistent and the voice of reason. He is less emotional and doesnt jump to conclusions, in many ways the other mens faults, such as Hibberts misogyny; help promote a less of a class run society as a lower class mans actions are superior to that of many upper class mens. (Insert relevant quote rivers covers his eyes (motif) refusing to see what he knows war is not worth it) Trotter is the only officer who has obviously not been to public school. He is middle aged and homely looking. He is described as having red

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essay --

I would like to present myself as a prospective candidate for Master’s Program in Mechanical Engineering at Masdar Institute of science and technology. I graduated from NED University of Engineering and Technology as a Mechanical Engineer in December 2011. The reason I opted mechanical engineering was my inclination towards the subjects relating mechanics of solids. My interest in this field grew to such an extent that I became passionate of taking the knowledge gained in the classrooms to the next level and was successful in securing the final year project of â€Å"Designing of Pipeline for Refinery Effluent†, a real time industrial assignment of Pakistan Refinery Limited which is considered as one of the leading oil and gas companies in Pakistan. To secure such an industrial project, which not only needed research potential but also the aspect of understanding the dynamics involved in the industry, I prepared myself during my bachelors by participating in numerous projects and received multiple national awards for my work, as a leader and a member of team for the design and fabrication of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in DBFC (Design Build and Fly) organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). I was also selected for the renowned international competition Shell Eco Marathon Asia, to design an energy efficient car. These projects not only gave me hands-on experience in dealing with composites and testing my knowledge, they also gave me the chance to explore the field of fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. Along with these notable competitions, I regularly took part in local engineering competitions and seminars to actively apply the knowledge I gained during my bachelors. Having done these mechanical ... ...ill help me in understanding the analytical techniques and instruments, while my software skills will assist me in handling the problems related to modeling and simulation. It will also enable me to execute the challenging tasks to the fullest of my abilities. I believe Masdar Institute is the perfect institute which provides the right blend of research and academics needed in the professional world and I am hopeful that this combination would prove to be an asset for me in the future to come. I envision a career in this field as a culmination of my interests and I would appreciate the opportunity to pursue this at Masdar. Admission in the master's program at this esteemed institute would be a milestone in my academic, professional and personal life and ambitions. If accepted, I will be dedicated to perform at a level that will make both the university and I proud.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Right to Free Education Act

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act  or  Right to Education Act (RTE), which was passed by the  Ã‚  on 4 August 2009, describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in  Ã‚  under Article 21A of the  . India became one of 135 countries to make  Ã‚  of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010. History Present Act has its history in the drafting of the Indian constitution at the time of Independence[5]  but are more specifically to the Constitutional Amendment that included the Article 21A in the Indian constitution making Education a fundamental Right.This amendment, however, specified the need for a legislation to describe the mode of implementation of the same which necessitated the drafting of a separate Education Bill. A rough draft of the bill was composed in year 2005. It received much opposition due to its mandatory provision to provide 25% reservation for disadvantage d children in private schools. The sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education which prepared the draft Bill held this provision as a significant prerequisite for creating a democratic and egalitarian society.Indian Law commission had initially proposed 50% reservation for disadvantaged students in private schools. []Passage The bill was approved by the  Ã‚  on 2 July 2009. passed the bill on 20 July 2009  and the  Ã‚  on 4 August 2009. It received Presidential assent and was notified as law on 26 August 2009  as The Children's Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The law came into effect in the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1 April 2010, the first time in the history of India a law was brought into force by a speech by the Prime Minister.In his speech,  ,  Ã‚  stated that, â€Å"We are committed to ensuring that all children, irrespective of gender and social category, have access to education. An education that enables t hem to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India. â€Å"[13] []Highlights The Act makes  Ã‚  of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan).It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age. The RTE act requires surveys that will monitor all neighbourhoods, identify children requiring education, and set up facilitie s for providing it.The  Ã‚  education specialist for India, Sam Carlson, has observed: The RTE Act is the first legislation in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring enrollment, attendance and completion on the Government. It is the parents' responsibility to send the children to schools in the U. S. and other countries. The Right to Education of persons with disabilities until 18 years of age is laid down under a separate legislation- the Persons with Disabilities Act. A number of other provisions regarding improvement of school infrastructure, teacher-student ratio and faculty are made in the Act.The Act provides for a special organization, the  , an autonomous body set up in 2007,  to monitor the implementation of the act,together with Commissions to be set up by the states. []Implementation and funding Education in the  Ã‚  is a concurrent issue and both centre and states can legislate on the issue. The Act lays down specific responsibilities for the centre, state and local bodies for its implementation. The states have been clamouring that they lack financial capacity to deliver education of appropriate standard in all the schools needed for universal education.Thus it was clear that the central government (which collects most of the revenue) will be required to subsidize the states. A committee set up to study the funds requirement and funding initially estimated that  Ã‚  171,000  Ã‚  or 1. 71 trillion (38. 2 billion) across five years was required to implement the Act, and in April 2010 the central government agreed to sharing the funding for implementing the law in the ratio of 65 to 35 between the centre and the states, and a ratio of 90 to 10 for the north-eastern states. However, in mid 2010, this figure was upgraded to Rs. 31,000  , and the center agreed to raise its share to 68%. There is some confusion on this, with other media reports stating that the centre's share of the implementation expenses would now be 70%. At t hat rate, most states may not need to increase their education budgets substantially. A critical development in 2011 has been the decision taken in principle to extend the right to education till Class X (age 16)  Ã‚  and into the preschool age range. The CABE committee is in the process of looking into the implications of making these changes. Advisory Council on ImplementationThe Ministry of HRD set up a high-level, 14-member National Advisory Council (NAC) for implementation of the Act. The members include Kiran Karnik, former president of NASSCOM Krishna Kumar, former director of the NCERT Mrinal Miri, former vice-chancellor of North-East Hill University Yogendra Yadav – social scientist. India Sajit Krishnan kutty Secretary of The Educators Assisting Children's Hopes (TEACH)India. Annie Namala, an activist and head of Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion Aboobacker Ahmad, vice-president of Muslim Education Society, Kerala. [24] [edit]Status of ImplementationA report on the status of implementation of the Act was released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on the one year anniversary of the Act. The report admits that 8. 1 million children in the age group six-14 remain out of school and there’s a shortage of 508,000 teachers country-wide. A shadow report by the RTE Forum representing the leading education networks in the country, however, challenging the findings pointing out that several key legal commitments are falling behind the schedule. [25] The Supreme Court of India has also intervened to demand implementation of the Act in the Northeast. 26] It has also provided the legal basis for ensuring pay parity between teachers in government and government aided schools [27] Haryana Government has assigned the duties and responsibilities to Block Elementary Education Officers–cum–Block Resource Coordinators (BEEOs-cum-BRCs) for effective implementation and continuous monitoring of implementation of Right to Educat ion Act in the State. [28] [edit]Precedents It has been pointed out that the RTE act is not new. Universal adult franchise in the act was opposed since most of the population was illiterate.Article 45 in the Constitution of India was set up as an act: The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. As that deadline was about to be passed many decades ago, the education minister at the time, M C Chagla, memorably said: Our Constitution fathers did not intend that we just set up hovels, put students there, give untrained teachers, give them bad textbooks, no playgrounds, and say, we have complied with Article 45 and primary education is expanding†¦They meant that real education should be given to our children between the ages of 6 and 14 – M. C. Chagla, 1964[29] In the 1990s, the World Bank funded a number of measu res to set up schools within easy reach of rural communities. This effort was consolidated in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan model in the 1990s. RTE takes the process further, and makes the enrollment of children in schools a state prerogative. [edit]CriticismThe act has been criticized for being hastily-drafted,[30] not consulting many groups active in education, not considering the quality of education, infringing on the rights of private and religious minority schools to administer their system, and for excluding children under six years of age. [31] Many of the ideas are seen as continuing the policies of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of the last decade, and the World Bank funded District Primary Education Programme DPEP of the '90s, both of which, while having set up a number of schools in rural areas, have been criticized for being ineffective[32] and corruption-ridden. 33] [edit]Quality of education The quality of education provided by the government system remains in question. [34] While it remains the largest provider of elementary education in the country forming 80% of all recognized schools, it suffers from shortages of teachers, infrastructural gaps and several habitations continue to lack schools altogether. There are also frequent allegations of government schools being riddled with absenteeism and mismanagement and appointments are based on political convenience. Despite the allure of free lunch-food in the government schools, many parents send their children to private schools.Average schoolteacher salaries in private rural schools in some States (about Rs. 4,000 per month) are considerably lower than that in government schools. [18] As a result, proponents of low cost private schools, critiqued government schools as being poor value for money. Children attending the private schools are seen to be at an advantage, thus discriminating against the weakest sections, who are forced to go to government schools. Furthermore, the system has been criticized as cat ering to the rural elites who are able to afford school fees in a country where large number of families live in absolute poverty.The act has been criticized as discriminatory for not addressing these issues. Well-known educationist Anil Sadagopal said of the hurriedly-drafted act: It is a fraud on our children. It gives neither free education nor compulsory education. In fact, it only legitimises the present multi-layered, inferior quality school education system where discrimination shall continue to prevail. [30] Entrepreneur Gurcharan Das noted that 54% of urban children attend private schools, and this rate is growing at 3% per year. â€Å"Even the poor children are abandoning the government schools. They are leaving because the teachers are not showing up. [30] However, other researchers have countered the argument by citing that the evidence for higher standards of quality in private schools often disappears when other factors (like family income, parental literacy- all corr elated to the parental ability to pay) are controlled for. [edit]Public-private partnership In order to address these quality issues, the Act has provisions for compensating private schools for admission of children under the 25% quota which has been compared to school vouchers, whereby parents may â€Å"send† their children in any school, private or public.This measure, along with the increase in PPP (Public Private Partnership) has been viewed by some organizations such as the All-India Forum for Right to Education (AIF-RTE), as the state abdicating its â€Å"constitutional obligation towards providing elementary education†. [32] [edit]Infringement on private schools The Society for Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan (in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 95 of 2010) and as many as 31 others[35] petitioned the Supreme Court of India claiming the act violates the constitutional right of private managements to run their institutions without governmental interference. 36]The pa rties claimed that providing 25 percent reservation for children from economically weak section in government and private unaided schools is unconstitutional. Forcing unaided schools to admit 25% students has also been criticized by saying that the government has partly transferred its constitutional obligation to provide free and compulsory elementary education to children on â€Å"non-state actors† like private schools while collecting a 2% cess on the total tax payable for primary education. 32] On 12 April 2012, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered its judgement by a majority of 2-1. Chief Justice SH Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar held that providing such reservation is not unconstitutional, but stated that the Act will not be applicable on unaided private minority schools and boarding schools.However, Justice KS Radhakrishnan dissented with the majority view and held that the Act can not apply to both minority and non minority private schools which do not receive any aid or grant from the government. 37][38][39] In September 2012, the Supreme Court subsequently declined a review petion of the Act. [40] [edit]Barrier for orphans The Act provides for admission of children without any certification. However, several states have continued pre-existing procedures insisting that children produce income and caste certificates, BPL cards and birth certificates. Orphan children are often unable to produce such documents, even though they are willing to do so. As a result, schools are not admitting them, as they require the documents as a condition to admission. [41]

Friday, November 8, 2019

A response to John Wisdoms article, Gods

A response to John Wisdoms article, Gods "Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to." This quote captures in many ways what Wisdom is trying to get across in his essay about religion. Religion, and the belief in it, cannot be logically justified in the same way the law of gravity can. It cannot be proven through a scientific experiment, or deduced through a set of premises. Science has dominated our acceptance of "facts" for many centuries, which has resulted in the rejection of most things that cannot be proven scientifically. By things I simply mean explanatory theories of all possible physical or metaphysical states. Therefore, the majority of society basis their belief system around science, and rejects or accepts things on the basis of proof. I use proof in its ordinary sense defined by the dictionary as evidence.Wisdom uses his essay to illustrate how the belief in a God cannot be rejected using the present belief system based on science.Gardener GardeningHe insists that religion is on a separate realm and is not susceptible to logical criticisms or rationality as most other things are. I will try to reiterate his reasoning to the best of my ability to bring about a general understanding, and to defend his line of thinking.Does a God exist? And please, lets for simplicity sake stay away from arguments disputing the truth validity of this sentence. This question is perhaps one of the few questions that have prevailed through all of time, as we know it, without a definitive answer accepted by all of mankind. Presently, if we wanted to confirm the existence of something we would collect various facts and observations to support or refute its existence. Using Wisdoms example of the gardener, we see how even after becoming familiar with all the same facts and observations,

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Biological warfare essays

Biological warfare essays There is no longer a question of whether or not a bioterrorist will attack, but rather the question remains, when will they attack? It is highly likely that a terrorist group could threaten or attack Americans with germs within the next few years, according to President Clinton. (Solomon) Biological warfare intentionally uses viruses, bacteria, fungi, or toxins from living organisms and death or disease in humans, animals, or plants. Fermentation can be used to produce such bacterial agents as anthrax, brucellosis, cholera, meloidosis, plague, q fever, or tularemia. Other viral agents are smallpox, cimean congo HF, rift valley fever, and vee. Use of these types of viruses and bacteria are becoming widespread in many areas of the world because they can affect many people efficiently and are cost effective. Biological weapons can ve traced back to Exodus when God placed the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, as a result of Pharaohs refusal to free the Jews from slavery. These plagues included blood, frogs, vermin, flies, murrain, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the slaying of the first born. Even though this type of warfare may have had origins as early as Exodus, the methods of making these germs is described in scientific literature and is no secret to terrorists. This germ warfare is an especially serious threat for several different reasons. The first reason is the ability of these germ agents to be undetectable to spy technology. Secondly, the warfare labs that are used to produce these germs are difficult to detect, and major nations sometimes work together collectively to produce these agents for use in warfare. Most importantly, it is against this threat that there may be no defense. Even though bioterrorism has been banned, it poses the greatest threat upon the Western World because of the mobility of their population. For this reason it is necessary for extremists to use ae...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Revise paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Revise - Term Paper Example According to Makarsssyus and Friedman (2005) cosmopolitan societies such as towns and cities have diverse populations since people from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds move to such areas in search of employment. In such societies, medical practitioners require understanding of various languages in order to safeguard the quality of the services they offer. In other disciplines of the practice such as psychiatry, the entire process of attending a patient relies on the quality of the communication between the providers and he patients. I serve as an intern at Chinatown Public Heath Centered located in the City of Sam Francisco, 1490 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94133. I work under (insert) and this has helped me in aligning my career interest by being able to serve a linguistically diverse population. My work here involves dealing with immigrants and this has reinforced to me the essence of Multilanguage mastery as a method to spearhead better healthcare services in such environments. As an intern in Chinatown Public Heath Centered, my roles include translating the medical materials of first Aid and CPR learning materials from Cantonese to Mandarin and also from Mandarin to Cantonese. My other roles include updating information on client and assisting the health department staff keep their database current. I also participate in making the learning materials available and useful to the delivery of the services in the centre. Literature has concerned itself with investigating the effects of bilingual knowledge on delivery of healthcare in multiethnic societies. For instance, the National Health and Medical Research Council (2009) investigated the way a physicians’ understanding of multiethnic culture and language affects the ability of such a doctor to deliver services. According to his study, it was found that in multiethnic societies, healthcare stuff who are able to integrate cultural understanding in their service were better able to serve their

Friday, November 1, 2019

U02d1 Corporate Responsibility for Compliance Essay

U02d1 Corporate Responsibility for Compliance - Essay Example Here in the case of a health care organization, the licensing allows the professionals and gives them a legal right to work in the industry and in the profession (Pozgar, 2007). Accreditation has been expressed as a voluntary organization which provides the institution with an authorization which is based on the predetermined standards and the measurement criteria (CS & MSN, 2010). The GDP of the country has been directly influenced by the cost of health care in the country. There are several different aspects like the fee for service, the taxation that is set for the support and development of Medicare and Medicaid services and the managed care for all. There have been several discussions and arguments that the health care is not driven by the customers and is mainly by the employers. Private organizations tend to be very strict about their functioning with very little or no transparency in the operations and with little or no accountability to the public. The accreditation process for all companies is relatively much more on the outcomes than the structure and the process that is being used by the organizations. The state and federal licensing have a relatively more transparent process and the working of the company is relatively much more available for the general public to see as compared to that of the private organizations. The private bodies also have the ability to make any changes without providing any kind of notification to the public while the state or federal bodies need to notify all changes to the public. The private bodies are relatively able to manage their finances well while the states of federal are dependent on the funding and the sponsors to a great extent. Irrespective of whether the organization is privately held or if it is a part of the state and federal operations the main factors that need to be considered is the need for compliance and ability to stay in track with all

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Report on HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Report on HR - Essay Example Effective human resource management would encourage team playing and would enhance collective performance in the organisation along with accentuating the individual performances. In case of performance management, a sound human resources policy would allow individuals to grow along with the growth of the organisation. This would entail involvement of the people in the work that they are assigned and autonomy in the context of the work done. There are several aspects of human resources which have a positive impact on the employees and help them to perform better in the organisation. The HRM can assign challenging and mentally stimulating jobs to the employees so that the employees find diversity and interest in the work that they do. The human resources managers often take several indicators which show that the organisational performance is increasing. Thus they try to make improvement in these indicators to bring an improvement in the overall organisational performance. In case of Wa l-Mart for example, the performance of each of the retail outlets is estimated by the HR department of Wal-Mart by analysing the length of the queues in the billing counters, the level of stocks that lie on the shelves and the stocks that are remaining at the end of the day. These are the key indicators that provide the HR department an idea about the areas where the performance can be improved to generate greater profits. (Harter, Schmitdt and Hayes, 2002, pp. 268-279). The managers in Wal-Mart act as the immediate superiors of the lowest level and junior level employees. Therefore it is important for the managers to encourage the employees to perform better in the daily activities of the retail store. The employees on the other hand should have respect for the managers and should be motivated by them for the achievement of any target that they need to meet. The human resource policies of Wal-Mart are progressive in nature in the sense that the implementation of the HR policies sho uld be done with efficiency and the goals that the line managers set for the employees have to be in accordance with the organisational policies. Thus it is essential for the managers to have leadership skills which would drive a positive energy in the entire organisation culture. Mutual respect should flow bilaterally for the line managers and the junior employees. The relations of the employees with the organisation and its various elements are some of the major benchmarks of the organisational effectiveness. The Human Resource Departments of the organisations generally engage the employee into participation programmes

Monday, October 28, 2019

Into Thin Air Paper Essay Example for Free

Into Thin Air Paper Essay Trusting others is a very difficult thing to do. It is important to trust others because humans cannot do everything by themselves. For example, Krakauers group had to rely on each other, so if one member is in trouble, another person had to help as soon as they could. If they do not trust each other, everyone would not make it up to the top of the mountain alive. Krakauer was afraid to be able to trust others because he felt very uncomfortable relying on inexperienced climbers, but he had to learn to trust them because he needs to survive the climb up the mountain. To climb a mountain, all climbers must have a group and a guide. Loyalty/respect of others on the mountain is essential because one can help another survive the journey. One must be willing to risk their own life and save another. The climbers lives are in the guides hands. Loyalty/respect is required for the guide because they give important information on how to climb properly and how to survive. An example from the book is how the guide, Rob Hall, helped an injured climber get down safely. At this point, it does not matter whom acts like what because the most important thing is for the people to survive the climb on Mount Everest. Climbing a mountain involves hard work, trust, and loyalty/trust. If one was not working hard or listening to the guide, his or her life is in danger. For example, one person did not listen to the guide when he was ill, so he was on the verge of dying because of his careless decision. This books highlights an important lesson: always trust and respect the people around you because they can always help you. People can make very poor decisions, and those who can help, help others to survive.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

VIOLENT PROGRAMS ON TELEVISION LEAD TO AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR BY CHILDREN

Since 1982, the National Institute of Mental Health, along with other reputable health organizations has collected data that connects media violence, with violent acts. Conclusions deduced from this data prove that violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch those programs. Television violence affects young people of all ages, all socio-economic levels, and all levels of intelligence. Today’s children view vast amounts of violence on television. A steady diet of death, killings, torture, and other grotesque acts may be viewed on any day by vulnerable youth. When children are young, they are impressionable to all their surroundings, and especially vulnerable to what they see. Scientific research validates this fact. In studies by the National Institute of Mental Health, educators have learned that children who watch violence often act out this violence. Parents today have a responsibility to ensure their children are supervised when watching violent programs if they are allowed to watch these programs at all. When parents are in the room with children, parents should point out to children that television is not real. Children tend to see television as real life, and lack the maturity to differentiate the difference between news and fiction programs on television. Studies by George Gerbner, Ph.D., at the University of Pennsylvania, have shown that children’s television shows contain about twenty violent acts each hour and that children who watch a lot of television are more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Society sees many tragic examples of research findings on youth and television violence. One such example occurred in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1999. At the time, Justin Douglas was a cute, intelligent five-year-old little boy with loving parents and a safe; middle class home. One day, Justin watched his favorite cartoon heroes; Beavis and Butt-head, on MTV perform one of their famous arson stunts. The cartoon program, created for a mature audience, often contains foul language, drinking, comments about setting fires, smoking, and portrays stealing as acceptable. Justin tried the same stunt he had watched. The real life result was not a cartoon. His home was set on fire and his younger sister lost her life when she could not be rescued from t... ...fect that the observation of violence would have on the subject’s social behavior. The experimental group, which was exposed to the violence, was shown to push the red button, which was believed to hurt another child’s chances of receiving a prize. More often and for a significantly longer period than the children were shown an exciting non-violent film. The conclusion was that the exposure to violence is related to the acceptance of aggression. All of these studies lead to one thing, the fact that violence affects children and adults.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before the average American child leaves elementary school, researchers estimate that he or she will have witnessed more than 8,000 murders on television. This steady diet of imaginary violence makes America the world leader in real crime and violence. It is time for parents and the American public to take notice of the scientific evidence that proves the correlation between violence seen on television and violence acting out in our society. To ignore these studies continues the growing culture of violence in our country. As Texan writer Molly Ivans says, â€Å"the first rule of a hole is, if you are in one, stop digging.†

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Unrestricted Capitalist Development and the International Monetary Fund

Unrestricted Capitalist Development and the International Monetary Fund: Their Economic and Social Effects on Buenos Aires. Argentina The day is Friday, December 21, 2001. After three days of massive riots the city of Buenos Aires looks like an abandoned battlefield. Its grand palm-lined avenues are strewn with burnt-out shells of cars, smashed glass, rocks, and twisted furniture. Unemployed people, pensioners, and women with babies climb through smashed supermarket windows searching for any food that looters left behind. Most banks and shops are closed, and dazed people wander the streets, confused and fearful of their nation’s state of affairs (Arie 11). The â€Å"battle† started on Monday, December 17, with massive food riots and looting of trucks transporting food, led by thousands of poor families. The Argentine government said there were 20,000 looters in Buenos Aires alone, as citizens broke into stores and smashed shop windows, stealing items including food, clothing, and toilet paper (Gardner 9). Food riots erupted in the working-class belt surrounding the capital, such as Lanus, as well (Rohter 6). Television footage from Rosario, a city northwest of Buenos Aires, showed more than one hundred slum dwellers descending on an overturned cattle truck and slaughtering the animals with sticks and knives so they could carry off chunks of meat (Abel 20). Silvia Tebez, an unemployed 27-year-old mother of three said, â€Å"a few hooligans made off with television sets and the like, but by and large these were parents who were hungry, with no money and no hopes of obtaining any† (Rohter 6). Hungry or not, the government, headed by President Fernando de la Rua, attempted to control the rioters by instituting a sta... ...State University of New York Press, 1987. Rodriquez, Alfonso. â€Å"Argentine Food Riots End, But Hunger Doesn’t.† The New York Times. 24 December 2001: 18. Rohter, Larry. â€Å"Argentine Food Riots End, But Hunger Doesn’t.† The New York Times.23 December 2001: A6. Soriano, Alex. â€Å"Argentine Police Smash Protest by Workers.† The Montreal Gazette.19 April 2002: 12. Sparr, Pamela. Mortgaging Women’s Lives: Feminist Critiques of Structural Adjustment. London and New Jersey: Zed Books Ltd., 1994. U.S. government. 12 April 2002: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook. Valente, Marcela. â€Å"Labor-Argentina: Workers Give New Life to Abandoned Factories.† Inter Press Service. 19 March 2002: 1-3. Ximenez, Daniel. â€Å"Argentina People Throw the Bastards Out.† Labor Notes. 22 February 2002. http://www.labornotes.com.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

History of South Africa’s Apartied Essay

South Africa is a land of abundant natural resources with a mild climate, and lush fertile land. With natural resources like diamonds, gold, and platinum, it’s no wonder that the Dutch East India Company set up settlements on the Cape of Good Hope. These settlements established a trade port between South Africa and other countries. The 17th and 18th centuries, saw settlements popping up all over Africa. Settlers from France, England, Portugal, Belgium and Spain came, forcing the Africans from their lands and turning them into a labor force. By the 20th century the British had taken over most of the settlements in the northeast, east, west, and the center of South Africa and the French controlled most of the northwest. The Republic of South Africa has had a very turbulent 20th century. Although apartied officially started in 1948, South Africa’s history for racial domination began much earlier. The Land Act was put into place in 1913, restricting Black African citizens from buying land outside special areas or reserves. This act also allowed for black sharecroppers, living on â€Å"white land†, to be relocated to these reserves. Although the Act was not enforced often, it set the stage for the â€Å"Black Homelands†, which would come into play later. The National Party, a white pro-segregation party, was voted into power after WWII. They began preparing racial legislation, and in 1949, the Mixed Marriage Act became law, prohibiting whites and blacks from marrying. In 1950, the Immorality Act made it a crime for whites to have sexual relations with any other race. The Population Registration Act required all people living in South Africa to register their race. A child born from any union would immediately be registered with their race/ethnicity. Many other acts were introduced in the coming years. All were passed to seriously limit any economic, political, or educational opportunities for the black South Africans. These Apartied Acts actually resulted in the promotion of the Black Self-Government Act in 1958, and the Black Homeland Citizenship Act in 1971. The Self-Government Act established ten areas in South Africa called Homelands. These â€Å"Homelands† were divided based on the tribe formally living there. All tribe members were expected to return to this land, where they would live and be governed by their own self-government. With the 1971 Citizenship Act, tribes were no longer citizens of South Africa. Instead they would be citizens of their Homelands. RESISTANCE TO APARTIED One of the first political organizations that opposed apartied was Lumumba Yama Africa; they believed that African unity was the only way to fight the white government . This party started in the 19th century, encouraging many other parties to join them in this goal. The apartied was also influenced by outside powers, such as Gandhi. These organizations instituted revolts beginning in 1960, leaving 69 dead and 190 injured. Apartied did not receive international awareness when the laws were created in 1948. With the rise of the Civil Rights movement in the United States, and the troubles in Asia and the rest of the African continent, awareness was finally brought to light to the rest of the world. In November 1977, the United Nations also became involved, by imposing arms embargos December 1977saw other sanctions. Many countries brought more awareness by not allowing South African Airway to land in their country. The South African government, because they were experiencing great economic growth, chose to show indifference to any criticisms from other organizations or countries. Because the white South Africans were prospering economically, sanctions continued to be ignored. IT’S OVER Apartied finally came to an end in 1990. By 1991, all apartied laws were repealed. The sanctions by other countries and organizations were also repealed. Since then, the government has been working hard to improve economic growth by creating jobs and integrating the workforce. Even though racism still exists in South Africa; cooperation between races has improved significally. REFERENCES Apartied Timeline. (n. d. ). Apartied Timeline. Retrieved from http://cyberschoolbus. un. org/discrim/race_b_at_print. asp Apartied in South Africa. (n. d. ) In Wikipedia (Rep. ). (n. d. ). Retrieved from www-cs-studentsstanford. edu/~cale/cs201/apartied. hist. html White, G. W. , ;amp; Bradshaw, M. J. (2011). Essentials of world regional geography (2nd ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Euphemisms in politics essays

Euphemisms in politics essays Word choice in politics is always a contentious issue. In the case similar to prop 209, proposition a proponents of the bill are accused of using loaded and misleading terminology according to some harsh critics. I do not happen to side with the opponents of this bill in this situation. I adamantly oppose affirmative action and believe people should be promoted and hired based on experience and performance not some predetermined racially equal composition. In Houston it only applies to publicly funded organizations and institutions yet it still perpetuates the wrong message. That message is that we treat different races with different sets of rules. Affirmative action in certain circumstances has left the recipients of the jobs feeling a sense of charity and a certain undermining of the legitimacy of the position. In fact proposition 209 was drafted by an African American who shared similar sentiments toward the issue. The word choice utilized by the authors of this proposition poses no ambiguity or confusion to me. Propositions surrounding such an issue are heavily covered in mass media and any competent and informed voter should be able to decipher the objective of the proposition. A more detailed description alluding to the elimination of the employment for minority classes may be a bit more truthful but like Orwell said euphemisms just sound better in politics. Politicians generally do not cater to the apathetic masses because they infrequently vote. But when they vote they do deserve the right to not be confused throughout the process. This is a tricky debate but I have to side with the initial authors of the proposition in their word choice because in actuality that is the state of equality that Houston will return to in the event that affirmative action policies are repealed. If voters are too complacent to make that connection then that is there tough luck. Euphemis ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

BA 488 first section Essays

BA 488 first section Essays BA 488 first section Essay BA 488 first section Essay Essential Questions BA 488 1) What is personal selling? Relationship based selling 2) Explain the difference between traditional transaction focused selling and trust- based relationship selling. transaction based ends after the sale 3) How does personal selling contribute to society, businesses, and customers? Strengthens relationships leading to increased sales and productivity 4) Briefly describe the five alternative approaches to personal selling. Which are more transaction based and which are more trust-based? Stimilus Response-scripted Mental States- Curiosity_sales Need satisfaction Problem Solving consultative 5) Briefly describe the three major phases of the trust-based sales process. Understanding customer value -creating and communicating value and delivering value CH2 1) Trust is a very complex concept. What five questions that are commonly asked by customers are answered when the salesperson is trusted? 2) Identify and describe the five characteristics of a salesperson that help that salesperson to earn a customers trust. How can a salesperson demonstrate each of the characteristics? . Expertise, compatibility, customer orientation, dependability and candor ) In order for salespeople to earn customers trust, they must be knowledgeable in several different areas. Identify and briefly describe the various types of knowledge a good salesperson should possess. Why is it important for salespeople to have a good knowledge base in each of these different areas? a. Industry, company, produ ct, service, price,market,competitor, tech 4) Assume you get a Job as a sales representative. How can you determine which sales practices are ethical and which are unethical? Company laws and guidelines 5) American society clearly defines some practices, such as deception, as unethical. Identify three practices that qualify as deception. a. Exagerating benefits, unfounded answers withholding information 6) Some sales practices are deemed so unethical by our society that engaging in them has legal consequences. Describe four things you as a salesperson should not do to avoid any legal problems for yourself and your company. a. Bribery, Product liability, negligence, basis of the bargain CH3 1) Briefly describe six ways that business markets differ from consumer markets. a. Trained purchasing professionals, ritualized, buying teams, chasing demand, larger ccounts, more buyer power, concentrated demand 2) Outline the steps of the business buying process. What does the buyer do in each step? What opportunities for involvement and/or influence does the seller have in each step? a. Recognition of b. Determining quality needed c. Quantity of item needed d. Qualification of potential sources e. Acquisition andAnalysis of proposals f. Evaluation of proposals and selection of suppliers Selection of order routine g. h. Performance feedback 3) Some salespeople find it useful to categorize buyers various needs. How can this be helpful toa salesperson? Describe five types of needs that buyers may possess. a. Functional Needs- Features and prupose desired b. Situational Needs- Ability to meet demands-timely-capacity c. Social Needs- Benefits of associations d. Psychological Needs- Assurance and strong appeal e. Knowledge needs-How something is made/upkept 4) Many business buyers use a compensatory multiattribute model to make buying decisions. When you, as a salesperson, think that your potential customer is using this type of model, what can you do to give your company the best chance of coming out on top (that is, of being chosen as the provider)? Ask what they hold in high regards 1) Satisfying buyers is extremely important in sales because satisfied buyers become repeat buyers. Identify and describe the two types of attributes that influence buyer satisfaction. Which have the greater influence on satisfaction? What can you as a salesperson do to ensure that your customers are satisfied? 2 ) Describe the three types of business buying decisions. Assuming you are the salesperson, how will your involvement in the purchasing process differ for each type? Straight Rebuy, electronic data interschange Low Modified Rebuy Moderate New Task High ) Your text describes four different communication styles based on the communicators degrees of assertiveness and responsiveness. Briefly describe each of these communication styles. How can you identify each of the styles? What should you do to communicate effectively with people exhibiting each of the styles? High Responsive Low Low Assertive Amiables-Relationship oriented, slow paced. Low R, Low A Analyticals-Task oriented, Slow Pased High R high A Expressives, Relationship oriented and fast paced Drivers Task oriented and fast paced buying center). What is a buying team? Describe the different roles of buying team embers. What are some of the things that you as a salesperson must do to effectively sell to a buying team? Initiators†find the need Influencers†Engineering Users†evaluate how it will affect their Job users serve as both AA DECIDERS-Make the call Purchasers†Negotiate terms Gatekeepers†le secretaries CH4 1) One of the most important, if not the most important thing for a salesperson to do is to ask the customer relevant, timely, and well crafted questions. Describe the different types of questions you could use as a salesperson and the purpose(s) that each type of question serve(s). . Open ended, Closed ended, Multiple choice, probing, evaluative, tactical, Reactive 2) There are so many different types of questions and objectives you may want to accomplish that it is helpful to organize questions into an easy to remember system. One system you could use is the SPIN system. Describe the steps of SPIN. What is your goal (as the salesperson) in each step? What characteristics should your question(s) possess in each step? Provide an example of a question that you would ask in each step. SPIN Situational Question- ascertain who the supplier is, purchase decisions Problem Questions- current problems with suppliers products etc Implication Questions- Help buyer reach decision†IE how does this affect profitability Need-payoff Questions- Solutions†would increased deliveries increased productivity? 3) ADAPT is another questioning system that you could use. Describe the steps of ADAPT and answer the same questions for ADAPT as you did above for SPIN. ADAPT logic based funneling system Assesment†open ended general assessments Discovery†Probe into assessment discoverys to uncover potential gaps Activation† Show the negatives of the problem from previous steps to pique interest Projection† Speculate as to what life would be like if problem would be solved Transiton, Segway †so having a supplier who is on time is important to you? If I can show you how we can be that would you be interested in purchasing.. 1. In order to successfully sell products, services, ideas, or yourself, you need to listen well. By the way, listening well will also help you to succeed in other aspects of your life, including being a student, an employee, a boss, a partner, a spouse, a parent. the list goes on and on! ) Although we seem to listen all the time, most of us dont listen well very often ecause listening effectively takes effort and dedication. Describe six things that you need to do while listening in order to listen ef fectively. Pay attention, Monitor Nonvervals, Paraphrase and repeat, make no assumptions ask clarifying questions. Encourage buyer to talk. Visualize. 2. Now lets think about what is going on in your brain as you listen. The SIER model breaks down active listening into four steps that must be carried out thoroughly and in the proper order to achieve active listening. thoroughly complete each step before moving on to the next. SIER Sensing- Actually listening Interpreting† summarizing key points and asking questions Evaluating†seeing if you agree Respondingparalinguistic 3. Weve all heard the phrase, A picture is worth a thousand words. Studies in cognitive psychology seem to support this statement. People remember pictures far better than they remember words. Identify some ways that you as a salesperson can leverage buyers bias towards remembering images to engage in more effective sales dialogue. Abstract words and phrases, be graphic, bursting with flavor, concrete descriptions 4. Much of our communication is nonverbal. What percentage of the meaning contained in communication is co nveyed through nonverbal behavior? How might a buyer express particular meanings through nonverbal behavior? You should know a couple of behaviors that are warning signs that the sales call is not going well, and a couple that indicate that the buyer is interested. ) How can you as a salesperson express positive messages through your own nonverbal cues? 50 percent, Facial expressions, eye movements, body language, posture and orientations, proxemics CH5 1. What is prospecting? Why is it important for salespeople to prospect? The finding of new customers 2. Strategic prospecting involves generating, qualifying, and prioritizing sales opportunities. Describe the characteristics that distinguish a suspect from a prospect. (Hint: the acronym MAD is useful for remembering these characteristics. ) Why is qualifying and prioritizing prospects important? 3. Describe the four main sources of prospects outlined in your book. What is a referral? Who could you ask for a referral? How could noncompeting salespeople be helpful to you in your prospecting? Where can you look within your own company to find new prospects? Which sources are likely to produce the most promising prospects? Cold canvasing†cold calls referrals introductions Networking†centers of influence, non-competing sales people Company Sources† records, advertising inquiries trade shows seminars Published sources†directories commercial lead lists 4. Describe the five elements of a strategic prospecting plan. Explain why each is important for effective prospecting. Allocating time Keep records Stay positive Evaluate Set Goals 5. What preliminary information should you gather before contacting a prospect? Where could you look for this information? Internet

Sunday, October 20, 2019

A-team case Essays

A-team case Essays A-team case Essay A-team case Essay The A-Team was established under a threat from Chinese companies as well as because of the declining demand for premium-priced bicycles In world markets. Under pressure, the cohesion of a group tends to be stronger. Thus Clans and Merriam Industry Co. Ltd (Merriam) decided to put aside their business competition and brought their suppliers together to develop a solution and to regain the reputation of Taiwan bicycle industry. Moreover, although these firms were competitors, the founder of Giant and the founder of Merriam were old friends and both led the bicycle industry in Taiwan. 2. Is there some relevance that the firms were all Taiwanese firms The Corporate Synergy Development Center (CDC), a semi-government agency, was created to assist Taiwanese firms in establishing production networks. It was characterized as a system of production in firms that were simultaneously specialized in a particular task but flexible in serving a wide range of market demands. 3. What kind of activities/mechanisms contributed to the mutual learning among A-Team members Firstly, the coaching team, which composed from Giant, CDC and Toyota Motors, had both the expertise needed and legitimacy. The team was helpful to Introduce TIPS and SIRS. Secondly, an Internal A-Team was formed by each member company to work with other members. It promoted mutual learning. Thirdly, in 2004, more learning and sharing activities were designed for co- development of innovative and high-value bicycles and parts. Thus those activities can teach most Taiwanese firms to learn how to work with others in developing new products. Fourthly, the e-platform was established for all members could work getter as well as the A-Team members and clients to exchanges Information and manage development projects. Finally, A-Team members engaged In monthly visits by consultants from Toyota Motors, discussion sessions, visiting members with good performance in TIPS and presentation by each member every five months. These activities can increase the interaction between individuals in member firms. 4. Is cooperating with a direct competitor (such as between Merriam and Giant) a viable prospect for the A-Team In the long term The Initial success of the A-Team shows hat how companies working together can enhance their competitiveness to counter external threats. The companies In the bicycle Industry in Taiwan know that there Is strong domestic and international demand for their high-end products. This is an implication for companies in other industries and these companies may potentially imitate the moves of the A-Team. 5. Is it okay if one partner gains more from the alliance than others That is okay. If the members gain more knowledge, skills and techniques form the alliance or others, they will be asked to contribute more own quenches and knowledge to others.