Proper Conduct in a Classroom Essay

Being respectful in class is important to the social structure of the educational environment. Without a certain degree of respect it would distract a lot of our valuable attention, and direct it away from our daily learning. This greatly would hinder our learning abilities and minimizes our educational benefits. The dilemma that we face is that a lot of student to not know how to present the proper behavior in class. The good thing is good classroom educate is an easily obtainable skill, but a perishable skill as well before we learn how to demonstrate good classroom behavior; we must first learn the benefits of good behavior. Disrespect in class causes havoc and disorderliness. For instance If one were to speak out of turn not only would it upset the follow class mate because they did not get a fair chance to speak, but it would give the impression that other people can speak out of turn as well. If ever one spoke out of turn there would be no way to accomplish any thing. There will be too many interruptions, and some students will miss the opportunity to express their ideas. Respecting other and proper educate is the only way to keep order in the classroom. So how do we establish order in the learning environment? It is too simple. It is vital to speak when called upon, so students can get a fair chance to express their ideas, and solution. Plus this helps to alleviate distracts and annoyances. Talking out of turn is not the only distraction. Students should not get up, or leave on their own accord as well. However it is acceptable to ask to be excused. It is also important to be mindful of other pupil’s thoughts, ideas, emotions, and feeling. Spite, and animosity just agitates the concept of learning. Students should give each other constructive criticism, and listen to each others thoughts. It is also important to address the instructor by title (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss., Dr., Prof., Sir, Ma’am.), and address all your comments, concerns, and questions towards the instructor in a polite manner. Respectful behavior in classrooms is easy. However just as easy as it is, it is even easier to forget to utilize this skill. One must make a habit of being respectful. It is a system you must employ on a day-to-day basis. If followed the method and example of classroom educate I have previously displayed will help make a more relaxing, and less stressful learning environment.

Ms Ahfhs Cameij

CAMILLE FLORES R. DE MAYO Block 17 Lot 6 E. Quirino Street, Cherry Homes 1, Mambog 1, Bacoor, Cavite +639069793929 cam. [email  protected] com EDUCATION: LYCEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES UNIVERSITY – MANILA (Present) Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication with specialization in Broadcast Communication Muralla St. , Intramuros, Manila Honors and Awards: †¢ Dean’s Lister – June – October 2010 – June – October 2011 †¢ Merit Scholar – November 2010 – March 2011 – November 2011 – March 2012 †¢ Certificate of Proficiencies – Radio and Television Scriptwriting – Radio and Television Production Basic Photography †¢ Other Certificates Received – 2013 LPU UNICEF Volunteer of the Year Awardee – 2012 5th Student Advertising Congress Delegate – 2011 Asian Congress for Media and Communication [Philippines]: National Student Grand Prix Student Organizing Committee Extra-curricular Activities: †¢ LPU College of Arts and Sciences Student Council Vice President (A. Y. 2013-2014) †¢ LPU League of Young Communication Artists and Journalists (LPU LYCAJ) – Vice President for Internal Affairs (October 2012 – March 2013) – Treasurer (June – September 2012) Broadcast Communication Representative (November 2011 – March 2012) †¢ LPU UNICEF Volunteer (2012-2013) STATEFIELDS SCHOOL, INC. (2010) National Road, Molino III, Bacoor, Cavite Honors and Awards: †¢ Perfect Attendance (2010) †¢ Ranked among the Top 20 of 191 students (2010) †¢ 6th Place in Newswriting – Filipino: 5th Division Training Program in Campus Journalism for Private Schools (2009) Extra-curricular Activities †¢ SSI Linkage News Editor [School Paper] (2008-2010) ST. THOMAS MORE ACADEMY – ANNEX (2006) Phase III Maryhomes Subd. , Molino IV, Bacoor, Cavite Honors and Awards: †¢ 1st Honorable Mention (2006) Best in Mathema tics Quiz Bee (2006) †¢ 2nd Best in Science Quiz Bee (2006) †¢ 1st Place in Isahang Tula (2006) WORK EXPERIENCE: Event Staff, GMA News TV Free Time (October – November 2012) Event Staff, GMA Network Survivor (February 2012) Logistics Head and Delegation and Communication Committee Member, 5th Student Advertising Congress (February 2012) Event Staff, GMA News TV Free Time (November – December 2011) Event Staff, GMA Network Kitchen Superstar (February 19-20, 2011) SEMNARS ATTENDED: Literary Writing Seminar: Poetry and Short Story Categories (January 2013) LPU Independent Sentinel th Student Advertising Congress (February 2012) Lyceum of the Philippines University Manila Cesar Montano Film Making Seminar (September 2011) LPU League of Young Communication Artists and Journalists 5th Division Training Program in Campus Journalism for Private Schools (August 2009) Department of Education (DepED) in coordination with Cavite Educational Media Association of Private S chools Administrators (CEMAPSA) 4th Division Training Program in Campus Journalism for Private Schools (September 2008) Department of Education (DepED)REFERENCES: Mr. Nestor Francis H. Tagubuan Head, GMA Network Events Management Division LPU Manila Special Lecturer Muralla St. , Intramuros, Manila [email  protected] com [email  protected] com Mr. Alan I. Allanigue Station Manager, DZRB LPU Manila Special Lecturer Muralla St. , Intramuros, Manila 09399157214 Ms. Renalyn J. Valdez Chairperson, LPU Manila Mass Communication and Journalism Department Adviser, LPU League of Young Communication Artists and Journalists Muralla St. , Intramuros, Manila [email  protected] com

Symbolism in Packer's Drinking Coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Symbolism in Packer's Drinking Coffee - Essay Example ous efforts to distance herself from the pain-giving experiences of her life, like her devastating relationship with her Dad, grudging interview sessions with the psychiatrist imposed on her by the college administration, and suspicious interactions with counselors and study-buddies, take her to the portal of happiness? Dina’s cherished dreams do not fructify, she looks out for alternative avenues, to forget the pain. The mention of revolver as the inanimate object she’d most like go transform, on the eve of Yale University freshmen orientation, says a lot about her grudge against her past life and her future plans.(of revenge?) It is easy to say that life is to be lived in its trials, tribulations, duty and beauty. But when it comes to practical applications, the unforgettable incidents of the past continue to torture the inner core of an individual, who has faced the wrath of the society on many counts. Dina is one such individual, who has to cope up with lots of maladjustments. In the story â€Å"Drinking Coffee Elsewhere†, Packer provides enough homework for the reader’s imagination. She concludes the story without providing firm conclusions. The reader has to view the situation from own perspective. But her writing has the cordiality and grace to draw the reader to mainstream of the story. The ‘not so gentle’ gentleman with whom Dina has strained relationship is Dr. Raeburn. But one can not blame the Doctor. He is a psychiatrist and he is expected to do his professional job to treat the fresher. If the revolver is ‘triggered’ by Dina, he will be held responsible by the University authorities. He tries his best to probe the hidden layers within her mind and unearth the real Dina! When she expresses contempt for her father, the ‘shaken’ Doctor reaches out for a cigarette and Dina’s protests instantly. She says, â€Å"You can’t smoke in here.† She gives clever answers to his questions but the professional psychiatrist is able to isolate

Data Mining in Airlines - NOTE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Data Mining in Airlines - NOTE - Essay Example Among the diverse transportation security parts, airport security remains the most contentious because it is vastly invested however it raises concerns. A conceptual connection to the word â€Å"security† divulges several aspects of AIP security initiatives supported through government funding. Results of the study support theoretical framework that two levels exist that the influence the distribution of grants in transportation security, and they include environmental changes in macro level as well as project features in micro level. Moreover, analysis points out that 9/11 events and the economic crisis in 2008 greatly affected the provision of grants associated with security and all grants in various ways (Wang, Andoh-Baidoo & Sun, 2014). The main weakness in the analysis of the study is that it is restrained by the variable choices because of secondary data. For instance, airport region and type are the only two variables describing project characteristics that only approxi mately indicate location and scope. Moreover, FAA discloses only financed AIP projects, increasing the difficulty of investigating factors that influence awarding of grants. Despite the weaknesses, the study findings still generate some significant implications to both practitioners and researchers. It shows that the investment in transportation security positively responds to terrorist attacks like 9/11 although this is not the case with economic events like the 2008 economic crisis (Wang, Andoh-Baidoo & Sun, 2014). The study focusses on customer behavior and firms developing permanent relationships with customer (Liou, 2009). The study tries to solve the problem of forecasting behavior to help firms minimize loss of existing customers by vigorously creating an enduring relationship with customers (Liou, 2009). The paper uses factor analysis; as well, it introduces Variable Consistency

Do you think there are genuine moral dilemmas Why Essay

Do you think there are genuine moral dilemmas Why - Essay Example This paper will utilize different ethical theories and prove that genuine moral dilemmas exist. One of the most obvious proofs that genuine moral dilemmas exists lies in the fact that there are numerous ethical theories, each of which adopted a different point of view on the same situation. That is why it may be important to analyze the exemplary approaches to support this point. The first theory that will be engaged is called Deontological Ethics and is closely connected to the legacy of Immanuel Kant. This German philosopher developed an idea that life of a person should be guided by a necessity to adhere with the duty1. There is no one strictly defined duty, it is rather a set of various universal maxims that adherence to which defines whether an action of a person should be seen as a moral one. The next concept that also was developed by him is titled categorical imperative. Indeed, in the view of Kant, actions of a person should be guided by categorical imperative which is the necessity to choose the right action regardless of the circumstances or the negative consequences that this might bring for a person. As one can clearly see, this is a rather rigorous position that makes a clear judgment about the significance of a particular action. So, the latter will always be viewed as a moral or an immoral one, regardless of the general context of the situation. Speaking of moral dilemmas, one might argue that this theory is a rather useful one since it will always be able to prove a clear answer to a dilemma. Considering the name of this ethical theory, one might guess that it places a significant emphasis on the consequences that an action brings. The same idea was explored by John Stuart Mill in his Utilitarianism who claimed that the morality of an action should be determined by the amount of utility that it brings2. That is why it is quite understandable that the action

Islam College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islam College - Essay Example In Islam, there are two dominant schools of thoughts. One school of thought agrees upon the concept of spiritual excellence through meditation and struggle for nearness of Allah; the other school of thoughts is strict about the worldly affairs and have narrowed the domain to worldly affairs and five pillars of Islam. The Sufi Islam has strong concept of Sacred Law - this law is between God and the follower. As per law, the Sufi has to maintain secrecy in his spiritual affairs, and matters compounding to identity and matters of God are kept private. It is also claimed that it is difficult to comprehend the power and spirituality of God, and therefore it remains beyond the scope of human understanding and intellect. The relationship between God and his follower is of affection and love, and is beyond any justification based upon intellectual topology. The human being with average spiritual status will probably fail to understand the expression and revelation of the Sufi. The Sufis have therefore gain unique status and repute in their society, and have been popular because of their uncommon and strange expressions towards divine authority. In Sufi Islam, there exists concept of mentor or guide also called Mursid. The Mursid is person who has achieved spiritual success, and has developed contact and affiliation with God. The followers of Mursid are called Mureed - the followers do not consider their Mursid as equivalent to God but for them the Mursid is passage towards spiritual divinity. The Mursid is respected and followed because of his spiritual affiliation and accomplishments by Mureed. Mursid shall never be confused with Prophets - rather the entity of Mursid is based upon his spiritual accomplishments and love for God. Nawawi is considered among the great Sufi scholar in Islamic world. According to Nawawi concept of Sufism is about maintaining close affiliation with God. The Sufis are individuals who have submitted their life towards God, and have spent their time, money, intellect and life for maintaining spiritual bond with the Supreme Lord. The five important actions contribute towards the spiritual marvels of the follower, and have been identified by Nawawi as 1. maintaining close spiritual affiliation with God with meditation and Zikr privately and publicly; 2. abide by the injunctions of Quran and Sunnah; 3. shun assistance from public and develop liaison with God for assistance and support, and believe that God will itself manifest source for help; 4. contentment is essential - and follower shall be satisfied with all bestowed upon by God; 5. seek assistance and guidance from God directly (Rafik12-34) The affection and love for God has been restricted to the observance of the fundamentals of Islam. The interpretation of Nawawi about Sufism is itself different - the intensity of love and affection has not been discussed. The Shiite concept talks about the intensity and seriousness of love, there bond between the God and follower is so deep rather the follower is above the entity of human being and is strongly concentrated with the qualities and characteristics of God - the purity, the spirituality and kindness. Dr. Chittick has discussed this expression of love and spirituality which was possessed by Rumi. It is claimed that Rumi was probably among the few who reached the climax of their spiritual journey. Sufism has been regarded

Technologies Contribute in High School Education Research Proposal

Technologies Contribute in High School Education - Research Proposal Example From the discussion it is clear that  today, many high schools do not have enough computers, this being a major shortcoming to the utter integration of technology in learning initiative; equally, the utilization of the resource available is to a minimum. In fact, top-level management sees no need of increasing the technology resources since the teachers or students put in a little effort in making use of the laptops and computers present; additionally, most of them make random excuses for this, the main being the aspect of time.According to the study findings  meaningfully, teachers’ abilities and awareness play a significant role in the depth at which the technology resources apply in the learning of high school students today. Most of the teachers, who have taught for a long time, are more reluctant to applying technology as compared to new recruits; mainly because of the advancements that are there in their training. All institutions and teachers require taking consider ation of technology as a factor of edification since most students show interest with most of them purchasing laptops and tablet computers that are clear indication that they are willing to use them.  The main objective is proposing ways to improve education and learning for high students through technology, and utilizing the available resources such as schools’ computers and students’ laptops. However, availing these resources is not enough and additional factors require consideration i.e. teachers skills and incentives to engage in the same.

The 8th Edition of Janson's History of Art Essay

The 8th Edition of Janson's History of Art - Essay Example The three arts works identified are painting and sculpture: expressing enlightenment values, Britain: the Sublime and the Picturesque and Neoclassical Sculpture: Antonio Canova. In page 310 of the book, Painting and Sculpture: Expressing Enlightenment Values is art work that is identified to illustrate time period and culture. The 18th century, when Newtonian discipline exerted its utmost impact, was remarkably noteworthy for European custom expression. Â   Neoclassicism also established expression in sculpture and architecture. Architecture was identified by a return to the essential dignity of what a modern refer to as the noble simplicity and tranquil superciliousness of the ancients. Realism an approach of painting and sculpture that seems to represent the recognizable or archetypal in real life, instead of an idealized, dignified, or passionate interpretation of it is a revelation in the art identified. In page 351 of the book, Britain: The Sublime and the Picturesque is art wo rk that is identified to illustrate time period. The picturesque and the sublime in 18th century British aesthetic hypothesis represent culture and time period. Picturesque is an artistic ideal initiated into English custom debate in 1782. The expression picturesque requires to be comprehended in association to two other artistic standards: the sublime and the beautiful. By the end of the eighteenth century, rationalist and enlightenment ideas concerning aesthetics were being tested by observing the experiences of sublimity and beauty as being non-coherent. The pictorial variety named picturesque emerged already in the seventeenth century and thrived in the 18th. As well as showing beauty in the conventional way, eighteenth-century actors could exceed it from top to bottom. In page 317, Neoclassical Sculpture.

Summary and Response in the Face of Imperialism Essay Example for Free

Summary and Response in the Face of Imperialism Essay In the subtitle â€Å"Orthodoxy as ‘Objectivity† of â€Å"Thinking About Empire† Michael Parenti argues that all opinions are not of the same value, and the more entrenched the orthodox view becomes, the more irrelevant evidence will be. Firstly, the functions of the heterodox view is to contest the prevailing orthodoxy, to broaden the boundaries of debate, to wake people up and unearth suppressed data. However, the function of orthodox is just the opposite. As we all know, people’s self-protection will be motivated by meeting something they never think about or even never met before. They will fall back when they are in this kind of situation. Secondly, some inflammatory topics like the legitimacy of the 2004 presidential election in the United State, Shangri-La image of Tibet before the Chinese invasion and so on raise issues. They break the traditional ideas, deny rational discourse and make an assertion. This process creates the dominant paradigms. However, whether they will be created all depends on their intellectual reputation or even their careers. In the subtitle â€Å"The Myth of Innocent Empires† of the article Michael Parenti argues that empires seem to be innocent unintentional accretions sometimes, however, they actually are not innocent, absent-minded, accidental accretions. Empires have been welcomed and glorified by people by being given empires laudatory names. They are seen as innocent without plans and reasons occasionally like the example of the United State invaded Iraq. Nevertheless, empires are not innocent, because rulers would like to plunder other lands and people by using them such as the British aggression of India and the Americans armed intervention against Iraq. I agree with Michael Parenti’s idea which is â€Å"When the orthodox view becomes so entrenched, evidence becomes irrelevant†. He use one sentence for a paragraph independently, which I think is very important. I think in this way. The orthodox view have been existed for a while, and people always think it’s right, and never question it. When it faces challenges, people’s first reaction is challenges are wrong even there are some evidence. Believe it or not, some ideological cognition and perspectives about something have already been existed in our mind. Before we judge it, we have already had a answer, unless something we never know. When it comes to whether empires are innocent. I also agree with him. Empires are not innocent. There are a lot aggressions cause by empires in history. They took lives from innocent people, destroy the nature, and so on. Although empires once make people get together, makes them apart as well.

Landfill And Material Recycling In Malaysia

Landfill And Material Recycling In Malaysia The generation of solid waste, and particularly Municipal Solid Waste, is a consequence of modem living and an increasingly urbanized society. Solid waste prevention and management is one of the keys to sustainable environment and development. Waste is defined as an object the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard [1-2]. Something becomes waste when it loses its primary function for the user. Waste is therefore relative to this primary function. However, and this is the second perspective, what is considered waste with regard to this primary function may be useful for a secondary function. In other words, somebodys waste is often somebody elses (secondary) raw material [1]. Solid waste can be typically classified as: municipal solid waste including plastic waste (MSW), construction and demolition waste (CD), hazardous solid wastes (HW), bio-medical waste (BMW), and electronic waste (e-waste) [3]. Municipal solid waste (MSW) management comprises of practices ra nging from waste collection to final disposal which is connected in numerous ways to many other environmental, economic, and social issues with most of the answers having broader implications. Sustainable waste management is about using resources more efficiently both at the raw and finished state [4-7]. Looking from the perspective of sustainable waste management practices and the environment, the technologies or policies on MSW management should embody a reasonable balance of feasible, cost-effective, environmentally beneficial, and socially sensitive solutions to the problems. It means that a sustainable waste management practice does not only achieve a specific goal in MSW management, it takes into account the demands of the specific situations where the proposed solution is to be implemented [8]. Solid waste management is a major challenge for Malaysia to address in the light of her Vision 2020 which lays out the direction for Malaysia in becoming a fully developed nation. The National Vision Policy (NVP), developed to meet the challenges posed by Vision 2020, incorporates key strategies of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the National Development Policy (NDP). A key thrust of the NVP is pursuing environmentally sustainable development to reinforce long-term growth, which presents challenges to established policies and practices in the rapidly expanding area of solid waste management [9]. Waste Management Concepts There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions. The following are some of the most general, widely used concepts: Waste hierarchy: The waste hierarchy is the 3R concept where the R stands for reduce, reuse and recycle, it classify waste management strategies according to their desirability to achieving waste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract as much as possible the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste [10-12]. Polluter Pays Principle: the polluter pays principle is a principle where the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of the unrecoverable material [10-13]. In Malaysia context, the waste hierarchy is the practice adopted for municipal solid waste management [14-19]. It is a major focus of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Act 2007. OVERVIEW OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE GENERATION IN MALAYSIA Municipal solid waste MSW management is a major challenge in urban areas throughout the world with greater effect in the rapidly growing cities and towns of developing countries [20]. Globally, municipal solid waste generation was about 0.49 billion tons in 1997 with an estimated annual growth rate of 3.2-4.5% in developed nations and 2-3% in developing nations [21]. In Asia region, MSW generation has been increasing at a rate of 3 to 7% per year as a result of population growth, changing consumption patterns, and the expansion of trade and industry in urban centres. The generation of municipal solid waste by the public is a function of socio-economic background (buying power), cultural background, locality (urban or rural setting) and the environment awareness. The generation and the composition of solid wastes vary according to size/population and income level [22-24]. Malaysian population has been in the increase at a rate of about 2.4% per annum since 1994 [25] due to industriali zation, urban migration, affluence, population growth, tourism and high influx of foreign workforce/students which has lead to massive developmental projects such as building the latest designs of residential and business buildings, construction of spacious highways, tourist resorts and so on [7, 22, 26-27]. The growing population comes with increased generation of municipal solid waste (MSW), which requires proper management to protect the people and the environment. As the solid waste generation increases in Malaysia, it puts a pressure on and shortens the duration time of, the existing landfill [28]. In Malaysia, waste collection varies from city to city with about 80% generated waste collection in Kuala Lumpur while a general average estimate of about 70% of waste generated in Malaysia is collected and 1-5% of waste is recycled (from the collected waste) while the remaining is taken to the disposal sites [29-30]. The major MSW management practice in Malaysia is waste disposal to landfill with approximately 80-95% of the total collected waste sent to landfills [31-34]. Current waste disposal method of landfill needs improvements to prolong the landfill life and to minimize the problem of land scarcity [31]. In 2007 about 26 million tonnes of waste were produced in Malaysia of which 30% were municipal solid waste (MSW), 34% from construction, industrial waste 23%, Hazardous waste 9% and 1% waste generation from public places [35]. The average amount of MSW generated ranges between 0.5 and 0.8 kg/cap/day for rural areas and smaller towns [22, 27, 36] while households of major cities and the capital Kuala Lumpur produce about 1.7 kg/cap/day 1.9 kg/cap/day [9, 14, 22, 37]. The daily MSW quantity was 17,000 tonnes per day in 2002 and by year 2020, the quantity of MSW generated is estimated to increase to over 30,000 tonnes per day [14, 23, 26, 32, 36, 38-39]. MSW management operations absorb large portions of municipal operating budgets, of which as much as 6 0% are for collection and transfer of the wastes for disposal [8, 29]. For a better understanding and planning of solid waste management, information on the quantity of solid waste generated in an area is fundamental to almost all aspects of solid waste management [40]. Malaysia Waste Characterization The municipal solid waste (MSW) in Malaysia is made up of waste from households, commercial, institutes, landscape conservation, street cleansing, and industry construction and even tourist activities [14, 30, 32-33, 38]. Characteristics of MSW vary from city to city and season to season [8]. The solid wastes of rural towns in Malaysia are significantly different from those of large cities, having more organics (food wastes) but few plastics. In industrialized cities MSW is quantified and characterized by municipal authorities at regular intervals. Malaysian municipal solid waste (MSW) generated consists of different constituents such as biodegradable materials (food waste, Garden waste, Animal waste and Material contaminated by such waste) which has high moisture content and a bulk density above 200 kg/m3, resistant polymers, paper, Wood, Textiles, Leather, Plastic, Rubber, Paint, oil, grease, chemical, organic sludge, glass, ceramic, mineral soil, concrete, and masonry (constructio n debris) [7, 14]. In the MSW waste analysis by Saeed [22], it shows that about 48% of municipal solid waste generated are from residential, 24% commercial generated waste, 11% from street cleaning, 7% from landscape conservation, 6% from institutional waste and 4% from industry and construction [32]. A waste characterization study for the city of Kuala Lumpur shows that the main components of Malaysian waste were food, paper, and plastic which comprise 80% of overall weight [22, 24, 38] with high moisture content ranging from 52.6% to 66.2% [22-23, 29, 41-43]. High moisture content in waste reduces energy value of waste and creates extra cost in the use of the waste as refuse derived fuel (RDF) or even incineration because the waste might need to be dried before incinerating. Similarly increasing pressure and temperature in the pile of solid waste or landfill favours the growth of leachate from solid waste which if not controlled might enter into the ground and surface water and can be dangerous for human health [22, 24, 44]. From literature, the waste composition seems to be variable. However, the main part of Malaysia MSW is organic waste; according to data from the ninth Malaysia Plan, Malaysia MSW composition is estimated about 45% of food waste, 24% of plastic, 7% paper mate rials, 6% of iron and glass while others made up the remaining percentage [32-33, 45]. Table 1 shows the average composition by weight percentage of components of MSW generated by various sources in Kuala Lumpur [22] while Table 2 depicts the daily generation of Municipal solid waste by states in Malaysia from year 2000 to year 2010 [46]. The current generation indicates 60% increase over the past 10 years. The larger amount of Malaysian MSW is recyclables which include paper, plastic, glass, metal and aluminum [46-47]. Recyclable items represent over 40% of the total waste volume which without retrieval activity, these valuable materials will be disposed off into landfill. The implications of this practice are the lost of these resources and the rapid utilization of the landfill space. Thus, it will reduce the length of the life-span of landfills in the country. The existing waste disposal habit among Malaysians sees a very high potential of diverting waste via recycling. One obstacle in material recovery practice is that Malaysian MSW is highly commingled. As a result, the waste contains high moisture content and reduces the value of the recyclable items. Sorting at waste generation source will help in reducing the difficulty of high moisture content and improve recycling and resource recovery, thus extending and ma intaining low level of pollution from landfill. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA Solid waste management in Malaysia is the responsibility of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG) with a regulatory body known as National Solid Waste Management Department under this ministry (MHLG) which was established in 2007 [36, 45, 48]. Local authorities are responsible for public cleansing and have to dispose all collected waste in a sanitary way[36]. MSW management involves waste collection, transportation, disposal and monitoring of the disposed waste to protect the environment. It was found from literature that waste collection in Malaysia is more effective and efficient in the richer communities than poorer ones [36]. In view of achieving an improved system for all local authorities and realizing that the lack of appropriate policy is a factor that averts sustainable waste management in the country, the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Bill (SWPCM) was approved in 2007 [14-15, 26, 36, 45, 48-49]. Solid waste management is one element of the ninth Malaysia plan. This plan implies the upgrading of existing unsanitary landfills, the construction of new sanitary landfills and the construction of transfer stations with material recovery facilities with aim of strengthening the institutional capacity of respective agencies as well as creating a society that is committed towards waste minimisation and achieving a recycling target of 22% by 2020 [29, 36, 50]. The Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Act 2007 was gazette on 30 August 2007 with the focus to pave away for federal take-over of solid waste management and privatization of solid waste handling. Consequential amendments were also made to three other policies [14]. Challenges in Solid Waste Management Lack of appropriate policy is the main constraint to sustainable waste management in Malaysia [46]. As a result, the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Bill (SWPCM) was approved in 2007 with the aims of providing an act and regulate the management of solid waste and public cleansing in order to maintain proper sanitation in the country [26]. The following are the commonly identified problems which affect the proper handling of solid waste on the side of the management authorities: Inadequate service coverage and operational inefficiencies of services, Limited utilization of recycling activities, Inadequate landfill disposal, and Inadequate management of hazardous and healthcare waste. Waste Management Process and Practices Waste Collection, Transportation and Disposal Service in Malaysia Municipal solid waste collection schemes of cities in the developing world generally serve only a limited part of the urban population [4, 21, 39, 51-57]. The people facing more problem of poor waste-collection services are usually the low-income population living in peri-urban areas [58-59]. In Kuala Lumpur, 80-90% of the generated MSW is collected; however over 60% of the rural population in Malaysia does not have any waste collection service and this has lead to many illegal small dumping sites [9]. The most common waste collection process in Malaysia is the door-to-door collection system where trash bins are collected from every household. Inhabitants of high-rise buildings or of informal settlements have to bring the waste to communal waste containers [36]. Waste separation has not been a common practice in Malaysia and this leads to the collection of all types of waste in one bin [36]. The solid management responsibility (collection, transportation and disposal) of 48 Local Aut horities has been privatized since 1st January 1997. Idaman Bersih Sdn Bhd manages the waste for northern region of Peninsular Malaysis, Alam Flora Sdn. Bhd manages the waste generated in the Central and Eastern Region of Peninsular Malaysia while Southern Waste Management Sdn. Bhd manages the waste in the Southern Region of the peninsular [14, 45]. The frequency of household waste collections is normally three times a week whereas waste from shops and commercial premises are collected daily [9]. From [60], about 50% of the overall national waste amount collected is open dumped, 30% is landfilled, 10% is composted, 5% is recycled and 5% percent is incinerated. There are about 7 mini-incinerators with capacity between 5 to 20 tones per day owned by the government (located in Pulau Pangkor, Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Tioman and Cameron Highlands) [61] and a private operated incinerator by Recycle Energy Sdn Bhd at Semenyi with a capacity of 1000 Metrics tones per day [23]. Waste Recycling and Composting Waste minimisation is the bed rock of sustainable and sound waste management with global focus on realising a Material Cycle Society. It is the desire to reduce waste generation at source, minimise the amount of waste disposed at landfills and to maximise the efficiency of resource utilisation. Recycling is a practice that utilises raw and finished products more efficiently and effectively. Recycling of inorganic materials from Malaysia municipal solid waste has been a practice by informal sector although such activities are seldom recognised, supported, or promoted by the municipal authorities [8]. Recycling in Malaysia became a government programs in the early 1990s and the first official recycling campaign was launched in October 1991 in Shah Alam, Selangor by the Minister of Housing and Local Government [5]. Twenty local authorities were identified as the lead agencies to promote recycling. This recycling campaign is to be part of the Clean and Beautiful Program launched by the m inistry earlier. In 1992, the minister announced that all city and municipal councils would be required to launch recycling programs. On December 2000 the government re-launched the national recycling campaign with 29 local authorities participating. The second phase of the new recycling program was launched on 11 November 2002 with 95 local authorities participating. The target was to reduce waste generation to a minimum rate of 22% by the year 2020 [5, 23, 62-63]. The present recycling program also involves waste management companies, waste recycling firms, Non-Governmental Organizations, shopping mall management companies, schools, hospitals, and religious organizations. During 2001-2003, the government spent MYR25 million on awareness campaigns and another MYR11 million purchasing and building an infrastructure to support the program [5]. Recycling campaigns were also carried out by the local authorities such as printing flyers and brochures and holding public briefings. They al so provide recycling bins for paper, glass, and aluminium in strategic places, such as shopping centres, schools, and transport terminals. After more than ten years, the official recycling figure is just 5%, although there are reports of higher than 5% recycling. For example, in 2003 Penang Islands recycling rate was 9.8%, up from 3% in 2000 [5, 9]. Many Malaysians seem to treat recycling bins as an ordinary waste-disposal bin. Indeed, it was so bad that the Penang State government has taken back most of the bins as almost all the recycling bins contain all sorts of waste [5]. Although a large amount of Malaysian wastes could be recycled, less than 5% of the total (almost 10,000 tonnes per day) is actually separated and recycled. There is a good demand for waste plastics, paper and glass, with resale prices of about US$60 per tonne, US$44 per tonne and US$32 per tone, respectively. Recovery of only 5% of the available waste plastics, paper and glass is estimated to yield a total of about US$3.4 million per year. Recommendations to increase recycling are discussed in the paper [64]. More priority is given to recycling in Malaysia than composting. Composting is defined as the biological decomposition of organic matter under controlled aerobic conditions to form a stable, humus-like end product. The process is facilitated by a diverse population of microbes, whose population dynamics vary greatly both temporally and spatially, and generally involves the development of thermophilic temperatures as a result of biologically produced heat [65-66]. Composting is applicable to MSW or separately collected leaves, yard, and food waste in Malaysia. The benefits of recycling and composting are: the processes cut down the need for disposal capacity and lowers emissions from landfills and incinerators as well as reducing litter. Secondly, the use of recycled materials in industry reduces energy use and emission; lessens impact when raw material is extracted or manufactured, and conserves raw materials [67]. Recycling also provides a supplementary income source for the lower income group while compost product are used to improve the soil qu ality [68]. Malaysia Waste Potential for Recycling: Recycling in the context of solid waste may be defined as the reclamation of material and its reuse which could include repair, remanufacture and conversion of materials, parts and products. Reclamation of materials from solid waste is not something new [69]. It is the beneficial-reuse of products that would otherwise be disposed off. It diverts waste from overloaded landfills besides providing raw materials that consume less fuel during the manufacturing process. It is an important aspect of an efficient and effective solid waste management system [61]. To understand the composition of MSW in Malaysia, an assessment of the waste generated and recyclable potential of Malaysia municipal solid waste conducted for Kuala Lumpur city by Saeed et al [32] shows from their prediction from the current trend of waste generation in Kuala Lumpur city that the MSW has a good potential of recyclables. Table 1 shows the recyclable components and their percentage share and recycling rate in tons per year. The results indicate that, food (organic) waste is the major component followed by mix paper and plastics. But unfortunately the attention paid by the authority towards this direction is not sufficient enough to tackle this issue. The Agenda 21 [70], defined environmentally sound technologies as a technology that protect the environment; moreover, recycling most of the wastes and handle residual wastes in more acceptable manner. Since 1993 a major effort of recycling was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government but unfortunately limited recycling activities taken place [67]. Though recycling activity in Malaysia is rising up, the recycling industry still needs to be enhanced. The Malaysians attitude towards recycling is higher, but only few practice it [71]. Attitude to the Environmental and Level of Waste Management Awareness in Malaysia Environmental problems are caused directly or indirectly by the patterns of production by industries, patterns of consumption and behaviour of the consumers [72]. Attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, which exerts a directing, influence upon the individuals response to all objects and situations with which it is related [73]. Attitudes to the environment are rooted in a persons concept of self and the degree to which an individual perceives himself or herself to be an integral part of the natural environment [74]. The shaping of attitude and values, commitment and skills needed to preserve and protect the environment begins at an early age of which educators play an influential role in developing new patterns of behaviours for individuals [72]. In Malaysia, recycling program has been widely initiated since 1993. However, to date the recycling rate in Malaysia is only five percent [75]. A survey by Said et al. [72] using drop and collect method was conducted for 285 scho ol teachers who were randomly selected from ten regular government schools in the state of Selangor, Malaysia to determine the level of knowledge, environmental concern and ecologically conscious consumer behavior and identify the extent of involvement in nature-related activities of school teachers. The result if the survey illustrated the presence of high level of environmental concern among the teachers, fair environmental knowledge but generally poor in understanding of the underlying causes of environmental problems. The practices of environmentally responsible behavior were not in concert with the level of concern and knowledge and the respondents were not actively involved in nature-related activities [72]. Another assessment of the level of environmental knowledge among households in Selangor, Malaysia was conducted by Haron et al [76]. The study examine the sources of their environmental knowledge, determine factors that lead to different levels of knowledge and analyse the relationship between knowledge and environmental attitude, behaviour and participation. The results of the study indicate that, in general, respondents basic or general environmental knowledge was high. However, when questioned on various scientific environmental terms, the majority of the respondents were not familiar with most of them. Respondents indicated that their main sources of environmental knowledge and information were newspapers, television and radio. Lower levels of education were reflected in the level of environmental knowledge. Participation in environmental activities had a positive influence on knowledge. The study also found that knowledge correlated positively with environmental attitudes, behaviours and participation [76]. An investigation/comparison of gender with attitudes towards the environment and green products was conducted by Chen and Chai [77] and the result of their investigation shows that there were no significant differences between gender in their environmental attitudes and attitudes on green products. The second part of the study investigated the relationship between attitude towards the environment and green products. Result revealed that consumer attitudes on the governments role and their personal norm towards the environment contributed significantly to their attitude on green product. Further investigation revealed that personal norm was the most important contributor to the attitude towards green product. However, environmental protection did not contribute significantly to consumers attitudes on green product [77]. The media in Malaysia has played a major role in communicating ideas and information on environmental issues but quite unfortunate, at the national level, people are still reluctant to adopt certain measures to reduce their waste disposal impact on the environment [78]. Studying the effectiveness of media messages towards pro-environmental behavior of Malaysians, Besar and Hassan [78] explain the relation ship between message response and peoples recycling knowledge, attitudes and recycling practice in the workplace context. The analysis inferred that both external motivational (exposure and attention) and internal motivational (involvement and interest) factors are the message response determinant variables that influence message effectiveness. They identified that one area which requires immediate public voluntary participation is in waste management, especially the 3Rs practices. The work suggests that there is poor public participation in environmentally friendly behaviors, namely recycling, as people do not response accordingly to the intended message. They noted that communication and proper enforcement of the law will help boost the recycling rates among the public. An investigation was conducted on the antecedents of recycling intention behaviour among secondary school students using Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by Mahmud [75]. The sample consists of 400 randomly selecte d Form Four students. Three factors that influenced the intention behaviour as hypothesised by the author include specific attitude, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control. The result shows that perceived behaviour control was the strongest predictor of intention behaviour. Subjective norms are the second strongest predictor of intention to recycle. Specific attitudes were indirect predictor of intention behaviour, via the mediation of subjective norms and perceived behaviour control. The researcher suggested that environmental education in Malaysia school system should focus on elements that can effectively inculcate a pro-environmental behaviour among students [75]. A model to determine and analyze the factors that could affect knowledge, attitude and behavior of the urban poor concerning solid waste management was developed by Murad et aj [79]. They collected primary data residents of low-cost flats of Kuala Lumpur city, Malaysia. The empirical results of the study prov ide evidence to the effect that knowledge, attitude and behavior of the urban poor communities concerning solid waste management are adequate and satisfactory and the low socio-economic profile of the urban poor has not been proven as causal to environmental degradation [79]. In a review on the image and environmental disclosure, challenges in environmental information management and some of the strategic implications of environmental reporting as an important tool for improved environmental management with a short case study was presented by Sumiani et al [80]. In the case study of 50 companies in Malaysia, 36 reported some kind of environmental information in their corporate annual reports where most of the companies that gave environment report where ISO certified companies. The study concluded that ISO certification has some level of influence towards voluntary environmental reporting behaviour amongst the sampled Malaysian companies, specifically on pollution abatement and on o ther environmentally related information categories of environmental information. Making reference to Saeed et al [32], It is obvious that the Malaysia cities are still lacking in terms of efficient waste treatment technology, sufficient fund, public awareness, maintaining the established norms of industrial waste treatment, etc. Recycling is a relatively new exercise in Malaysia. Even though recycling has been introduced years back, lack of public awareness caused a slowdown in the progress of the recycling exercise. Lack of sufficient recycling facilities or the inappropriateness of the facilities location contributed further to the slowdown. Over 20,000 tonnes of solid waste is being discarded daily. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government sets a recycling goal to be 22% by 2020. A study on the success of recycling exercise in Subang Jaya, Malaysia was conducted by Chenaya et al [81]. The collection rate of recyclables in Subang Jaya is estimated to be 0.43% in 2004 which shows poor recycling activities and was traced to poor awareness of the residents of the area. The study formulates and analyzes various strategies to increase the awareness among the residents and to increase the existing facilities. They employ the outranking analysis and use a new exploitation procedure based on eigenvector using the weighted in- and out- preference flows of each alternative from outranking relation in a PROMETHEE context [81]. It was found that environmental education should be made a part of the education and civil system. Waste-Energy Recovery and Incineration Municipal solid waste resource recovery is a practice where waste with good heating values are derived from the waste by mechanical or manual process and used as fuel (RDF Refuse Derived Fuel). Solid waste resource recovery is not a common practice in Malaysia. Malaysia waste if properly sorted will create a good opportunity for resource recovery considering the percentage of paper, plastic, wood and textile materials. Promoting waste sorting from source and composting of organic waste will reduce the moisture content of Malaysia solid waste and enhancing the opportunity of resource recovery. RDF can be used as fuel to plants for electricity generation in the country, thus decreasing the greenhouse gas emission from energy utilization by changing from fossil fuels to a partly renewable fuel or incinerated to generate heat for industrial purpose. Incineration is a controlled burning of wastes at a high temperature, sterilizes, stabilizes and reduces waste volume which may be used as disposal option, when the waste composition is highly combustible. It is one of the most effective means of dealing with many wastes, to reduce their harmful potential and often to convert them to an energy form. It reduces volume up to ten-fold and thus is becoming particularly attractive in metropolitan areas. Some of the municipal managers are looking to the development of municipal incinerators around the periphery of their cities as a first solution in many countries [82]. Incineration requires appropriate technology, infrastructure, and skilled workforce to operate and maintain the plant [83]. Waste incineration is thermal treatment of waste mainly employed for hazardous waste treatment as a standard. MSW incineration in Malaysia is until now only realized as small-scale incinerators on islands, namely Langkawi, Pankor, Tioman and Labuan. The installed seven mini-incineration plants have a capacity of 5-20 tons per day and are operated only once per week due to high operation costs. For Kuala Lumpur one waste gasification plant with a capacity of 1,500 tones per day was planed but never realized because of social protests [14, 36]. The energy potentials of municipal solid waste in Malaysia was assessed by Kathirvale et al. [22] and found that The calorific value of the Malaysian MSW ranged between 1500 and 2600 kcal/kg. From their evaluation of the amount of energy t

The great Voyages of discovery

The great Voyages of discovery What was the economic significance of the Great Voyages of Discovery during the late fifteenth century? Compare the consequences for the Venetian Republic and Portugal. The Great Voyages of Discovery dates back to the late fifteenth century and this period can be termed as the Age of Discovery. The Portuguese navigators had a major role during this period. The voyages had a long run impact on global economy, thus it can be inferred that the voyages had great economics significance. They had significant consequences on both the Venetian Republic and Portugal. It is also worth noting that the Economic significance of the voyages of discovery were two folds: Opening up of new routes to east around southern tip of Africa broke the Venetian monopoly of trade between Europe and East. Discovery of New World opened up new possibilities of international specialisation between the New world and Europe. It is important to note that during that period Venice played a major role in opening the Mediterranean economy to West European commerce. It had important connections with North Europe. In building up its trade, Venice created a political empire. Between 1388-1499, Venice acquired territory on Italian mainland, by 1557, total population of these territories was about 1.5 million. It developed types of ship suitable for venetian commerce and the conditions of trade in the Mediterranean. The biggest enterprise in Venice was the Arsenal, a public shipyard . The other big sectors of Venetian economy apart from international trade were banking, book production, sugar production, trades in timber, carpentry, rope etc. There were also considerable manufacturing activities producing goods for local use and export. It was a leader in glass blowing. Venice traded with Asia in raw silk and silk products, but eventually this led to import substitution in Europe. The Venetian government regulate d production of silk and related products. The products were of very high quality and they made a substantial contribution to Venetian exports. They also traded in spices. For trade with east, they relied on Mediterranean followed by Egyptian and Syrian middlemen. Thus briefly stated, Venice had a political empire and it also had trade monopoly with the east. Europeans wanted direct access to the spices and trade with Asia, thus discovering a route to east was not a new idea. By 15th century, it was clear that such a venture would be very expensive and highly risky, but developments in eastern Mediterranean made it clear that the old Venetian route through Egyptian and Syrian middlemen was under threat, and the benefits from a new route would be enormous and rewarding. Therefore, there were preparations for this venture. It started when Prince Henry established a marine research station in Portugal. There had been developments in ship design, rigging and seamanship which made it possible to undertake long distance trips in deep waters. Further the Portuguese undertook trial voyages to explore possible route and wind patterns, like the one by Bartolomeu Dias. He discovered the Cape of Good Hope (May 1488). The Portuguese strategy of doing by knowing made good sense. Each trip built on the one before; each time they went a little farther. All these finally led to the voyage of Vasco da Gama around Africa to Calicut, India during 1497-99. The voyage itself was not very feasible, but he had proved the feasibility of the route and found a new source of gold in east Africa. He also confirmed that there were no maritime fleets in the Indian Ocean which could impede Portuguese access to spice trade. Following da gamas first voyage, Padro Cabral set sail to improve on the route, bring back a significant cargo and establish a base on Kerala coast. Cabral went farther west in the Atlantic than da Gama, and accidently found Brazil, which was within the boundaries allotted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas. It was further followed by da gamas 2nd voyage to India. All these developments led Portuguese Kingdom discovering and mapping most of the Globe. It is also worth noting that Europeans also went west. In 1492, Spain financed Columbus for his venture, he set sail and sighted West Indies. Later, to protect the respective interests, Spain and Portugal negotiated for a line of demarcation to divide the world into two halves for purposes of further exploration, with western half reserved for Spain and eastern for Portugal. The demarcation line even gave Brazil to Portugal. The Venetian role in spice trade was greatly reduced at the beginning of the 16th century because of restrictions on trade with Syria and Egypt imposed by the new Ottoman authorities, and competition from direct Portuguese shipments from Asia. Venetian spice import fell from 1600 tons a year towards the end of 15th century to less than 500 tons a year by the first decade of the sixteenth century. Thus the leading role of Venice in trade had declined. Its sugar industry in Crete and Cyprus also declined because of competition from Portuguese production in Madeira and later in Brazil. There were changes in shipbuilding technologies because of which the Venetian galleys became obsolete, because of which there was a sharp decline in the main product of the Arsenal. The Venetian merchants increased their purchase from abroad. Venice could not adapt to technological change because it did not have access to cheap timber unlike other Atlantic economies. The great old mercantile and industrial city state of Venice eventually lost out. Venetian republic along with other city states had been at the forefront of the medieval commercial revolution and had led the way into international trade and division of labour, but they never really capitalized on the opportunities opened by the great discovery; there was no Italian ship in Indian Ocean or crossed Atlantic. It was entered and caught in the great inland sea. It is also worth noting that over the 16, 17, 18th centuries Venice did not expand much in population and per capita income, but it remained one of the richest parts of Italy and Europe until overtaken by the Dutch in the 17th century. After da gamas second voyage, he returned to Lisbon with 13 of his ships and nearly 1700 tons of spices i.e. about the same as annual Venetian imports from the middle east at the end of the 15th century. However, the Portuguese margins on this trade were much bigger than the Venetian. Portugals primary commercial objective in the east was to obtain pepper and other spices and ship these directly to Europe, bypassing the intermediaries that the traditional traffic faced across Asia into the Mediterranean. The Portuguese did this by purchase or seizure. The Portuguese displaced Asian traders who had supplied spices to Red Sea and Persian gulf ports for onward sale to Venetian traders. Initially, these measures were a huge success and earned a large share of trade i.e. 40 percent of the pepper imported into Europe was going around the cape of good hope. This significantly hurt the venetians. But as time progressed, the older trade routes were being reused. The direct Portuguese share fell back to about 20 percent. To make up for the shrinking spice trade, the Portuguese foot into intra Asia exchange. There was trade within the Asian waters in textiles, porcelain, precious metal, carpets, perfume, jewellery, horses, timber, salt, raw silk, gold, silver, medicinal herb s and many other commodities. In the 1550s to the 1630s this kind of trade between China and Japan was a particularly profitable source of income for Portugal. Silk and porcelain played an increased role, and in the 17th and 18th century, cotton textiles and tea became very important. The Portuguese completely controlled the Indian Ocean. All merchant vessels were required to purchase a Portuguese trading license. Those who did not abide by the rules were liable to seizure. This domineering had another positive effect for Portugal: many fewer ships went out from Europe to Asia. In 1570, the crown gave up its monopoly of trade between Lisbon and Goa. This led to decline of Portugal as a trade leader. The various voyages by Portuguese navigators (Dias, Cabral, da Gama) had laid the foundations of the Portuguese trading empire in east Africa and Asia. Portugal maintained a monopoly of traffic round the Cape of Good Hope until the last decade of the 16th century. Thus it can be comfortably said that without advances in shipbuilding and navigation, journey to far east would not have been successful. Overall, the costs of trade were much low for Portugal as compared to the Venetian method-through Mediterranean and by land across Asia. Thus, the great voyages of discovery completely transformed European trading with the east, breaking the monopoly held by the venetians and making many of the goods found in Asia more accessible to rest of Europe. References: Maddison, A.(2001).The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective. Paris: OECD Maddison, A.(2007). Contours of the World Economy, 1-2030 AD: Essays in Macro-economic History.Oxford: Oxford University Press Landes, D.(1998). The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: why some are so rich and some so poor .Little, Brown and Company Winius, G.(2007). Portuguese Indian Ocean Exploration Voyages, 1497-1515,The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Maritime History. Ed. John B. Hattendorf. (online) (http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Mainentry=t232.e0659). Oxford: Oxford University Press(Accessed 06 December 2009)

The Sun Also Rises Report Essay -- essays research papers fc

Hemingway's Hero Of the segments of American society scarred by the anguish of the First World War, the damage was most severe amongst the younger generation of that time. Youthful and impressionable, these people were immersed headlong into the furious medley of death and devastation. By the time the war had ended, many found that they could no longer accept what now seemed to be pretentious and contradictory moral standards of nations that could be capable of such atrocities. Some were able to brush off the pain and confusion enough to get on with their lives. Others simply found themselves incapable of existing under their country's thin faà §ade of virtuousness and went abroad, searching for some sense of identity or meaning. These self-exiled expatriates were popularly known as the 'Lost Generation'; a term credited to Gertrude Stein, who once told Hemingway: 'That's what you all are. All you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation… You have no respe ct for anything. You drink yourself to death.';1 Many of these individuals tended to settle in Paris, a suitable conduit through which to pursue their new lifestyle. Content to drift through life, desperately seeking some sort of personal redemption through various forms of indulgence, these people had abandoned their old value system and heroes, only to find difficulty in finding new ones. A great deal of new literature was spawned in an effort to capture the attitudes and feelings of such individuals to reinvent a model of sorts for a people sorely lacking any satisfactory standard to follow. At the forefront of these writers was Ernest Hemingway, whose Novel, The Sun Also Rises, became just such a model, complete with Hemingway's own definition of heroism. Many of the characters in the novel represented the popular stereotype of the post WWI expatriate Parisian: wanton and wild, with no real goals or ambitions. Mike Campbell, Robert Cohn, and Lady Brett Ashley, and even the prota gonist Jake Barnes all demonstrate some or all of the aforementioned qualities throughout the novel. All seem perfectly content to exist in their own oblivious microcosm, complete with their own 'unique' set of moral values. While the qualities of these characters dominate, to an extent, the flow of the novel, it is important to acknowledge their contrast to Jake and the bullfighter, Pedro Romero. U... ...than an escape from the trappings of real life. Just like Belmonte before him, Romero is eventually destined to deteriorate, and to be faced with an outside world that has no room for chivalry (as Robert Cohn found out). While this happens, we can assume that Jake Barnes will continue as before: confident and self-assured, with a clear understanding and acceptance of his limitations. Jake is Hemingway's hero for a new age in which the old standards of chivalry and romanticism are quite dead. Brett understands this partially, and demonstrates so by her inability to completely fall out of love with him, but she is still driven on by a promise of something more. Something that she saw, if only fleetingly, in the young Pedro Romero. Something that only exists in legends, storybooks and bull-rings. Works Cited Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Ed. Simon & Schuster Inc. New York. 1926. Author Unknown. The Kaplan Calander of Events. http://www1.kaplan.com/view/calendar/event/previe w/1,270,715-3,00.html 1999. Monahan, Kerrin, Ross. Dramatica Storytelling Output Report . 'The Sun Also Rises.'; http://www.dramatica.com/dCritiques_folder/dAnalyses_folder/the_sun_also_rises.html 1998

Giovanni & Lusanna-by Gene Brucker :: essays papers

Giovanni & Lusanna-by Gene Brucker In the story Giovanni and Lusanna , written and researched by Gene Brucker, there is a woman who has taken her alleged husband to court, because he has married another woman. The story is a factual account of what transpired during this court case and the remainder of Giovanni ¹s life. There are several similarities between their world and ours, but for the most part we live in a totally different environment. Our standards of living have greatly improved, but more than that our society has grown more tolerant toward the people who deviate from everyday standards. The story starts out with Lusanna as a married woman who caught the eye of a wealthy young man named Giovanni. As time wore on they allegedly fell in love and enjoyed all of the pleasures of their love. It was later claimed by Lusanna that Giovanni had promised to marry her in the event of her husband ¹s death. Her husband soon died a questionable death that left open the possibility of poison. Unlike today ¹s world divorce was unheard of, and unacceptable. Giovanni then refused to marry her in a public wedding because his social status would be greatly hurt to marry some one in the working class of Florence. This is another example of why today ¹s society is so much different from how it was when they lived. Another strange thing about their society is the open humiliation that people were subjected to. It was said that Lusanna first husband was called a  ³cuckold  ³ to his face. People who were said to earn money in a dirty fashion often had blood or paint thrown on their steps. These kinds of things are just not normal or permitted in today ¹s world. It is true that they do sometimes occur, but the responsible party often ends up looking worse that the person they were trying to hurt. Lusanna was said to have had several lovers. She was not able to become pregnant due to medical problems. This pretty much left her free to have unprotected sex with as many lovers as she wanted. It is true that there are women today with this same type of free love attitude, but there are serious consequences in todays world that will greatly hamper such a life style. One thing that is very similar about their time and today ¹s world in

Causes and Effects of Gambia’s Youthful Population

Causes and Effects of a Youthful population Gambia is a small, narrow, horizontal country in western Africa. It is surrounded by Senegal and a short strip of Atlantic coastline at its western end. When a country has a high number of children, it is said to have a youthful population. There are many Causes and Effects for this: Social There are many social causes and effects. * 95% of Gambia’s population is Muslim. This means they can marry more than one wife. Each woman has a TFR (total fertility rate) of about 7 children. A man marrying 3 or 4 wives can mean 21-28 children.It could be more children as, in a country with a high infant mortality rate, women tend to have more children for a better chance of survival. * Education isn’t common meaning contraceptives and family planning is harder to reach. Also it is discouraged, traditionally. This would mean people won’t use contraception and families will grow larger. Also it is a taboo subject so people wonâ€℠¢t question the fact that their families are so big. * Gambia is a poor country; there is not enough money to make government programmes that educate and inform women about family planning etc. eaning, again, more children. * Many children means families are likely to have financial problems; there will not be enough money to feed and support an ever-growing family. This will make malnutrition common; homes will be extremely over-crowded and poor sanitation. * With large proportions of children in the country, there will not be enough education. There is a shortage of toilet facilities and educational material. Often schools have to adopt a 2 shift system; some children educated in the morning and some later in the day.Environmental * Due to large families and the need to use more resources, desertification of the forests can become a problem. People will use the wood for fires in their homes, for making houses and for selling. The land left will end up as a desert therefore making the temperature rise. 2/3 of forests are now gone. Economic * Due to the 2 shift system and lack of money, teachers are poorly paid and can work up to 12 hours a day. * Lack of work means 1 in 3 14 year olds have to work to help to support their family. Because of over-crowding in the cities, they are being expanded but there isn’t enough money to do a good job of it. Also there is a lack of money for the infrastructure. * There is no money to build new schools so overpopulation is very common; 3000 pupils are divided into 26 classrooms. 6 toilets for 3000 pupils, typically with queues of 50 plus students. So to summarize, due to the high birth rate and falling infant mortality rate and improvements in the level of healthcare available, the population has been increasing rapidly.Gambia’s population doubles every 28 years and it is expected to be 3. 9 million in 2050. About 63. 55% of the population is under 25; elderly people of 65 years and above account for only 2. 8 % of the population. This will create a high dependency ratio. In the future it will be harder to find employment and accommodation with even more of a strain on food resources, infrastructure and the health service, which is already struggling. However, in the future, there will be a large and cheap workforce.

Strategic Management and Ikea

1) How has IKEA succeeded in expanding across the world using a standard range of products and a standard strategy in the home furniture and furnishings industry, in which divergent cultural influences are likely to be at their strongest? First of all, seems reductive say that IKEA provides a standard range of products having regard to the incredible width of this range (which allows, therefore, to offer many variables of many types of heterogeneous products: in this way is almost completely bypassed the limit traditionally connected with the offer diverse depending on the country of destination).In fact, the product range is so vast (â€Å"The IKEA products on offer Exceed 12. 000 items in number†) to allow a lack of diversification for export market: every type of consumer that is part of the target audience can find products of his choice, ignoring the others (which will be desirable by other consumers focused on other features). In this way this strategy exceeds its tradit ional limit.As it is written in the text under consideration â€Å"IKEA has achieved the impossible, to create a range of products attractive to consumers everywhere, in countries with very different cultures, and to apply a formula for presentation and sale of those products which reinforces the attractiveness† . With regard to the standard strategy used by IKEA in my view its success relies on a few points well described in the article. First, the target is well defined (and wide, and in all countries without exception). It may sound corny but the self-proclaimed focus of IKEA is ‘young people of all ages’. In reality the market is primarily young people, who are well educated, liberal in cultural values, white collar, but with limited means because of their stage of career and family cycle, and in the process of setting up or expanding their homes because they are having children†. The second successful point of the unitary strategy of the company is the interest to achieve and maintain a cost advantage (in light of the needs of the target, of course). This cost and price leadership is achieved by a combination of strategies – large-quantity purchasing, the push to discover ever-cheaper suppliers in ever-cheaper markets (sourcing in developing economies has risen from 32% to 48%), low-cost logistics, store location in relatively cheap suburban areas, and a do-it-yourself approach to marketing and distribution. Low costs are translated into low prices as IKEA pursues a deliberate price leadership strategy†.In addition to this, the Distribution and Promotion system is modern and inexpensive and easily replicable and acceptable to consumers around the world. So, everything in IKEA works to create a great opportunity, overcoming (as already said at the beginning of my answer) the limits of the not-diversified offer per country and culture in this particular industry sector, characterized by strong cultural differences. 2) Is there a limit to this expansion? Does IKEA’s history illustrate the nature of such a limit?I think the main limit to the expansion of the business of IKEA is cultural and, therefore, be able to contain production costs, while continuing to adapt its products to markets other than those served today. The example of the American market is helpful in this regard. On that occasion, IKEA had to wait a long time before being accepted in the United States, producing profits. That was a very risky investment, yet the American market in that commodity sector has its own characteristics, presumably, very well known and different from European ones.The entry into the U. S. market, to be profitable, had to wait an important adaptation activities never done before. I think in this case when it comes to expansion it is done in a geographical sense (and not profits), so an entry into other markets to IKEA today seems to be quite complicated (making reference only to markets and economies very different from those faced up to date) for the reason just expressed.America is a huge market, strategic and inviting for which is undoubtedly good to do what IKEA decided to do (invest with the initial losses, if necessary adapting their products), but I doubt that this can be repeated for other markets less strategically important than the American. From the point of view of the enlargement of the volume of business and profit, I have no knowledge to be able to express with certainty, however IKEA in the text is placed at the highest levels of Globality and Added Value, therefore I do not think there are great possibilities of strong growth even in this sense.The most important thing is to keep their volumes trying to increase it as much as possible. 3) How has IKEA managed to creatively combine the benefits of mass consumption and mass production with the desire for style and modernity of product? IKEA is able to take full advantage of the cost benefits of mass production ( carefully selecting its employees and suppliers are able to meet stringent quality standards at very competitive set from IKEA) and mass consumption because the citizens of all the world, belonging to the target specified by the company and reported above, and have an idea of odernity and style quite comparable, therefore the need to adapt its products to different markets is quite limited in this field (happened only for America). However, the need for fashion and modernity today is constantly evolving. A company structured differently from IKEA would have difficulty to be continuously ready to offer something desirable. Instead, IKEA, through a work of upgrading its products (however, wherever standard) can not only meet the needs of customers, but also to anticipate them! IKEA makes low-cost trend. This is amazing.At this point it is clear and understandable as reported in the article: IKEA â€Å"has combined the cost-reducing benefits of mass production and consumption with at tention to the style required to persuade consumers to buy items which will be on display and in the eye of the purchaser for many years, unlike the humble hamburger or cup of coffee which are consumed quickly and as quickly forgotten. In short, like Harley-Davidson, it has created a global brand. It has managed to innovate and respond to Continuously changes in the world, continuing to convey a sense of excitement and modernity. Most important is the contribution of the catalogue of the Swedish firm, which â€Å"has become something of a design icon† imitated by competitors from around the world. 4) Has IKEA chosen a strategy of cost/price leadership or one of product differentiation? We could say that IKEA has merged the two strategies in a single large successful director. At first glance, without a careful study of the phenomenon IKEA, it would seem easy to classify the choices made by the company as cost and price leadership helped by a not differentiated offer.But in an swer to the first question, I have already explained how, for me, one can not speak of a lack of differentiation. It is absolutely not possible to speak of a strategy or the other in the case under study. IKEA has been able to be innovative in all aspects: product and design, mass production delocalized and strongly supported, distribution channel, promotion type, location of stores and their structure. Thus, it has managed to combine the two strategies in a single strategy that brings together and makes something completely new.In other answers I have given a part of my interpretation of what is required in this question, but I think the best summary is that given by the authors of the article: â€Å"IKEA’s strategy has been described as a focused cost leadership strategy, focused because it is targeted at a particular market niche, those who want style at low cost. However, this oversimplifies the approach adopted and underplays the complexity of the product, with its pack aging of different services. If it were true that the strategy was no more than a form of focused cost leadership, it would be difficult to understand why IKEA has been so successful.Rather it is the combination of low price and high quality which attracts the consumer, which is not an unusual situation. The attributes of the product offered by IKEA differ markedly from those of other retailers. Instant accessibility, customer participation in value-adding, the combination of low cost and high quality – all mark the product out as unique and therefore as carrying a competitive advantage, one which is continuously renewed as products are improved and renovated. IKEA is always ready to innovate†. ) How far do you think that IKEA can look into the future in framing its strategic management? I believe that this model of strategic management is winning. It is and it will be due to the fact that creates something new from what is already well known to everyone. What is even m ore important and that bodes well for the future of IKEA is that it has always been the first mover. Being first means being able to reap the benefits from it. Be consistently first mover means being able to store the successes and failures of the past, learning from heir mistakes and their victories better and more quickly than your competitors are able to do by copying you. Achieve great results and be always ready for change (in fact, promote it! ) is a symptom of a far-sighted and enlightened strategic vision. Follow this structure means continue in a context that is the company itself to â€Å"manage† and, presumably, to command. The key word today is not to sit on themselves. I think that IKEA is not ever sat on.

How Greek Mythology Influenced Christianity Essay

After reading Malthus’ view, Darwin then noticed that if more organisms are produced than the ones that can survive, then they probably compete for resources. Darwin named this the struggle for existence. Darwin also knew that organisms had natural differences within their traits. He assumed that some of those are better suited to the environment. Adaptations: any inheritable characteristic that increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in its environment. Ex: camouflage, tiger’s claws According to Darwin, different adaptations affect an organism’s fitness. Fitness: how well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment. Organisms with adaptations that are well suited to their environment have high fitness. Darwin’s greatest contribution was to describe an important process in nature, a scientific method, which could work like artificial selection. Artificial Selection: when nature provides the variations, and humans select those they find useful. Then Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, which included ideas from Malthus, Lamarck, and some of his own ideas. Malthus came up with the idea that if the human population grew unchecked, there wouldn’t be enough living space and food for everyone. Lamarck suggested that organisms are capable of change by choosing whether or not to use specific parts of their bodies. He also came up with that organisms could pass down certain traits to their offspring, allowing species to change over time. Darwin Presents His Ideas Integer egestas orci quis lorem feugiat adipiscing. Lorem Ipsum Dolor 3. Survival of the Fittest: Some adaptations that organisms have are more suited to their environment than others and those are the ones that survive while the other organisms with other adaptations don’t make it. 4. Natural Selection: Organisms with better suited adaptations become more common because: More organisms are born than can survive Organisms have adaptations that help them survive Some organisms have a higher fitness 1. The Struggle of Existence: Organisms produce more offspring than can survive. Only small amount of these offspring can live and reproduce. 2. Variation and Adaptation: There is variation in nature and that is what increases an organism’s possibility in surviving. Some organisms have adaptations that help them. Natural Selection in Four Steps Natural Selection Darwin named his mechanism for evolution natural selection. Natural Selection: the process by which organisms with variations most suited to their local environment survive and leave more offspring. Natural selection happens when more organisms are born than can survive, there is natural variation; and there is variable fitness among individuals.

Obsession essay Essay

Some call it dedication, others call it psychotic. I prefer to think of obsession as a part of life. The definition of obsession which is found on The Free Dictionary is the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. Obsession can be determined by people around us. Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. Obsession and addiction are so closely tied together. They both are almost exactly the same except for one factor; control. Being obsessed over something simply means that they are still in control of their habit; on the other hand, addiction is the state being enslaved to a habit or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. So it is seen that although they are very closely linked they are not the same. Obsession is the gate way to addiction. Personally, I have been accused of being obsessed over lacrosse. All I could think about of every day is something about lacrosse. My mind was wrapped around lacrosse like a candy wrapper on a piece of candy. Every time I had free time, I went outside and played lacrosse. At the time I did not believe I was obsessed over the issue, I simply thought of it as dedication. My parents confronted my issue to me, and right then and there is when I realized that I truly had an obsession. Obsession becomes a beast all in itself. Obsession can cloud someone’s judgment and can potentially lead a person off the track of their own goal. When someone is obsessed over something, then the only important thing in their life is the obsession. If one does not fulfill this need, then different effects may happen. Either one will perceive to their obsession, or they will realize that they have an obsession and stop in what they are doing. Power is something else we do not understand about obsession. Obsession takes root so easily and can quickly spread to become something more. Therefore it is not something to play around with because when it is excited, it will grow and grow until it has reached the top. At that point, obsession can only bring out the worst in a person. Obsession is a feeling and not an emotion. An emotion is a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. A feeling is just expressing an emotion. Obsession can be shown through jealousy, love etc. Emotions are on the inside, while feelings are shown to other people on the outside. Obsession is not born by itself; it is born from the person’s mind. Obsession is born from that person’s wants and needs. Anybody can have an obsession, and actually it is only a matter of time when someone will have an obsession. Humans are lustful creatures and we all have needs and wants and therefore we all have obsession. Obsession does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing. A person can be obsessed with something good like school. One could be obsessed over school and everyone else would classify that person as a nerd. Also, one could be obsessed over God, and others would classify that person as a Jesus freak. In the end, people do not classify nerds or Jesus freaks as having an obsession or addiction. They are viewed as having a passion for school or Jesus. A passion is a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion and obsession is pretty much the exact same thing. They both have the same context meaning. The only difference is that passion is a good obsession, and obsession is a bad passion. All in all, the term obsession is used as being negative. Obsession is the domination of thoughts by ideas or images. The state of being obsessed over something can fog up someone’s true thoughts of how they feel. When I was in love with lacrosse, my parents told me that I was obsessed with lacrosse and that I needed to realize what was happening. However, now that I look back on it, I believe that I had a passion for the sport. Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion.

Organizational Design, Culture, and Adaptation Essay - 2

Organizational Design, Culture, and Adaptation - Essay Example The internal factors that were considered during the restructuring and reengineering were mostly comprised of the attitudes that the employees had on a day to day basis. The external factors were mostly to do with the patients, who were essentially the customers for the sake of the hospital facility. The healthcare manager, therefore, suggested that these two factors formed the very core of knowing where anomalies were coming in and how these needed to be resolved at the earliest and without much hassle. The transformation came about due to the changing attitudes of the employees (the internal factor), which was the reason why the transformation was required in essence. The external factors were given similar importance because the patients are the basis of any hospital’s long term success. If they are contented, then this means that the healthcare facility is doing well but if these are not, and as the healthcare manager suggests, then there is much to learn on the part of al l and sundry. This outlines how well the hospital facility has been able to rein in commitment towards its transformation. The healthcare manager faced quite a few obstacles and barriers in the beginning when the restructuring and re-engineering aspects were outlined in essence. This meant that he needed to face them, analyze them and turn them in his own favor with the passage of time. There were attitudinal problems that the healthcare manager talked about with the internal domains not being beefed up properly.

Asset Classes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Asset Classes - Essay Example One of the major asset classes of OXT is stock. For the last 52 weeks, the company has recorded a daily average of 1.2 K shares in the UK market. Even though the company has displayed a downward trend on the 50 day moving average, the 20 day moving average depicts a financial strength of the company. One of the major concerns of the company management is the 200 SMA that stands at 18.47, thus creating a lot of resistance from the investors. According to the performance of Coca-Cola on the 9th of August, 2012, the company shares closed at 79.24 USD, indicating a decrease of 0.4%. On August 9, 2012, 4.79 million shares were traded, which indicates an increment of 23.89% as compared to 2011. As compared to OXT, which shows a downward movement of its stock prices, Coca-Cola stock prices depict a significant increment. Money market is an additional asset class of OXT. Currently, the company market capitalization stands at 1 while shares in issue are 5.43 million. The company profit margin is 500% while turnover per share stands at 0.001 (Oxford Technology Venture Capital Trust: Fundamentals, 2012). On the other hand, Coca-Cola market capitalization stands at 178.39 billion. The company shares outstanding 2.25 billion, thus attracting many investors. Based on its high profitability and large investment portfolio, Coca-Cola’s earning per share (EPS) stands at 3.78 USD. According to the financial report provided by the company in the month of July 2012, an average of 6.16 million shares has been sold. Asset classification of Oxford Technology Venture Capital Trust PLC and other similar mutual funds is significant in that it helps the investors to determine the type of investment that fits their needs. It is important to note that due to the recent economic downturn, the current investment environment has been faced with challenges based on low level of employment, which was experienced in many

1. Interest Groups2. Political Party3. Bureaucratic Agency (Gov Essay - 1

1. Interest Groups2. Political Party3. Bureaucratic Agency (Gov. Agency) - Essay Example All the relevant and necessary information concerning this group are available in their main webpage (www.girlsnotbrides.org). As per the detailed website, some of the objectives of this group include mobilizing all the required financial and policy support to fight child marriages, enabling coordination and learning between groups working to halt early child marriages, and, importantly, creating global awareness of the damage that early child marriages portend to the individual, the community and the world at large. The group seeks to amplify the cries of girls often forced with or coerced into early marriage. The administrative and financial management of the group is the function of the Board of Trustees, whose members are equally legally responsible for the decisions and actions of the board. Aside from finance and administration, this board also safeguards the culture of the group and protects its good name. The Advisory Committee advises the Board of Trustees on the policies and strategies of the group. The Executive Director (currently Lakshmi Sundaram0 serves to ensure the group delivers on its stra tegies and draws ever closer to eliminating child marriage. Members of the group are called to exceptional commitment to good governance, accountability and transparency in the group’s goals of eradicating child marriage, work actively with other members, governments and relevant players on all levels towards realizing said goals, and contributing in any way in the group’s activities (Girls Not Brides, 1). The Girls Not Brides group received funding from donors such as the Ford Foundation, IKEA, Nike, Open Society, Skoll, the Dvaid & Lucile Packard Foundation, Kendeda, Sabanci, NoVo, Human Dignity Foundation, amongst other well-wishers (Girls Not Brides, 1). This site can be critical to one interested in politics in order that they may develop better comprehension and enlightened engagement in political processes by enabling one to know how such groups

Daniel R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Daniel R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire - Essay Example He argues throughout the book, with reference to many well-researched examples, that pre-Industrial Revolution, the journeying, living and conquering of such regions simply was not possible, as the technology was just not available for this to be achieved, managed or sustained successfully. However, as Headrick argues, with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the technological advances this forged, these technological advances allowed people to travel and live in countries other than their own, such that the expansion of the Empire became possible at this period in history. Continuing on from this general introduction, throughout the book, Headrick analyzes the technological advances that allowed this dominance to proceed, both by presenting a straight-forward mechanical analysis of the actions of the people and the inventions and technological advances involved, and by presenting a detailed analysis of secondary sources, which allows him to offer an interpretation of the thoughts and motivations of the people involved; this e... Thus, the text moves forward apace, discussing what could be rather dry historical texts and documents, in a light and easy to read manner. This use of interpreting secondary sources for his own means, to present information from entirely his own perspective leads, however, to several major problems with the text, which will be discussed later in this review. In the book, Headrick spends a long time discussing inventions of relevance in this period; for example, much of the book is devoted to a discussion of anti-malarial drugs and how they enabled Europeans to travel, live and work in the tropical regions. This discussion is not, however, centred around why there was a desire to colonize and conquer these regions and its people; indeed, the book steers away from this subject at every opportunity, almost as if it is something not to be discussed. Yet this is precisely the issue that is opportune in such a tome: in scientific or technological achievements, it is usually the motivations which drive people to achieve leaps of progress, and not the leaps of progress themselves which drive people to want to achieve technological or scientific advancement. It would have been extremely interesting, as a reader, to be presented with alternate arguments for why at this particular point in history, aside from technological advances which enabled travel to these regions to become easier, Europeans decided to travel to these regions - what were they seeking Where did the funds for travel and expeditions come from How did they plan and execute journeys and colonisation strategies A more strategic analysis of the era, in terms of political and economic motivations would have been welcome, as this would have offered a complete picture of the events of the time, which

IKEA Inc. United Kingdom (UK) operation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

IKEA Inc. United Kingdom (UK) operation - Essay Example IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The company’s name represents the initials of its founding father. Since the begging Mr. Kamprad had the vision of creating furniture products of good quality in which he applied low cost solutions to lower the prices. IKEA has grown tremendously over the years to become a global enterprise. Currently the company has 220 stores in 33 countries. In the United Kingdom the company has 15 stores. The product offering consist of over 11,000 articles. The great variety, innovative designs, and low prices are some of the reasons customers keep coming back to IKEA for their furniture needs. Exhibit A shows a graph of IKEA worldwide sales. In 2005 IKEA sales were 14.8 billion euros. IKEA utilizes low cost, green furniture and e-retailing strategies to grow its business. The United Kingdom is a country with a strong economy that the company has targeted as a location to expand its business. Designing products to meet the needs of the customers and constant market research will allow the company to expand its global empire. Political and Economic Forces The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is one the world’s most powerful nations. It is a member of the Group of Eight (G8), whose inclusion means the country is one of the top eight industrialized countries in the world. ... Managerial Implications IKEA is a company with a proven long-term strategy. The company’s great product variety, low prices and logistics has helped them become a global player in the furniture business. They have focused in the European market, which generates 81% of their corporate revenues. A glaring weakness is the fact the company has not entered the South American market. In South America there are many developing economies such as Brazil and Chile should be targeted in future expansion plans. The US market is another region which has a lot of potential for growth. Currently only 11% of their sales are generated in the United States. The company should study what has worked in their US stores and apply that knowledge to increase their market share. Multiply viability studies must be underway to scout new locations for establishments in this region. IKEA has utilized catalogs and the internet as marketing tools to generate sales. The United Kingdom is a great place to test new technologies and realize market research. The business e-commerce strategy would be enhanced if the company developed or acquire a technology to identify the entry of new users into the internet. The company’s corporate website utilizes a lot flash technology and animations which require users to have a high-speed internet connection. Refinements and web site optimization techniques could help the company increase its online traffic.