Strategy quality managment in SABIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategy quality managment in SABIC - Essay Example Custom Technology Solutions (CTS, 2006) describe strategic management as ‘a combination of strategy formulation and strategy implementation’ (P.5). Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Saudi Arabia’s largest corporation is a global leader in the manufacture of chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and steel. The Saudi government is the majority shareholder with a 60 percent stake with the balance of shares distributed among the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries of the Middle East. It has a major presence in Asia particularly the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Europe and Africa in addition to the Arabian Peninsula [Figure 1] (Asia Pacific News, 2008). Established in 1976, SABIC has a broad range of assorted merchandise encompassing ‘basic and intermediate chemicals, polymer resins and polyesters, fertilizers, metals and industrial gases -primary building blocks for products’. These are found in the conglomerate’s 21 manufacturing firms employing over 16,000 employees globally (Al-Abdulgader, 2007). The demand for petrochemical products has increased globally thus ensuring SABIC future growth prospects are bright being one of the largest producers in the world with a rich natural source in Saud Arabia (Jaroudi, 2007). SABIC petrochemical production has subsequently quadrupled over the last fifteen years surpassing 45 million tonnes while aiming at raising the production to over 100 metric tonnes by 2015 (Thomasson, 2007). The company’s expansion plans targets the emerging Asian growth economies of China and India. In China, the country’s enormous expansion and development has meant it is unable to meet its demand for polyolefin resins thus needing 34 percent imports, which puts the Chinese market on top of SABIC agenda. According to SABIC’s country manager for China, Lee Lam Lee,

Switching From a Trimester Academic Calendar To a Semester Academic Calendar Essay Example for Free

Switching From a Trimester Academic Calendar To a Semester Academic Calendar Essay Part 1: Introduction Background of the Study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The trimester program has normally been implemented to help students learn in a much faster way in consideration with the time and the finances that would be involved within the studying periods that the learning process in trimester universities offer. For several years now, the industrialized and top progressed countries around the world have effectively adapted to this particular way of learning. In fact, many among the students within the said countries are able to apply their learned skills abruptly after attending school.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, there are also some risks that the education regulators face in implementing this particular time-controlling procedure of learning among students. Of course, as said earlier, in terms of time and finances, trimester certainly gains advantage, however, the questions are, are the students learning the important points of the courses that they enroll into in such a short span of time? Are the teachers able to impart to their students the most important part of the lessons that they teach? Could it be that the students need more time to learn their professions for application later on? What are the results of the said learning system in the working industry and how does it affect the performance of the national economy? These questions primarily raised the possibilities of some universities’ aiming to switch their academic calendar to semester programs. Statement of the Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Considering the facts mentioned above, it should then be clear that there are necessary elements that contribute to student learning procedures that need attention in pursuing the switching of academic calendars from trimester to semester program offerings of certain universities. The balancing of the views with regards the effectiveness of educational planning and presentation to the students is indeed one of the most serious issues faced by the different departments devoted to educational advancements. The question then is that â€Å"What academic schedule is really much more practical between the trimestral and the semestral programs offered within universities? Giving importance to this particular issue is a necessary for the advancement of the implication of education among the different institutions around the country. Methodologies To be able to come up with a considerably amiable plan in dealing with the situation raised herein, it is necessary to consider some certain discussions that would be presented within the paragraphs that follow. This would be done through research and interview among the major educational administrations that are most likely concerned with the issue being dealt with by the author of this study.    Part 2: Data Collection and Discussion The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Trimester program   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The trimester program, as mentioned earlier has primarily been designed in assisting students who are preempted to be fast learners to attain a degree in college in a much faster procedure, reducing the time and the finances that they are to use to be able to finish their studies.   To expand this particular part of the discussion, the finances shall be broken down to categories that would actually show the large amount of money saved by students and their parent under a trimester program: Boarding and Miscellaneous Expenses Since each trimester is reduced to three months, the expenses that the students would be paying for their dormitories or boarding houses would be reduced as well. Aside from this, the miscellaneous fees and expenses that the students spend while staying within the university would also be reduced in large amount. Tuition Fee Payments Since through the trimester program, the years spent with the school days are reduced the payment for the tuition fees are then paid fast thus reducing the worries of the parents for paying   long term tuition fee rates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     When it comes to studying as it is, this type of academic calendar hosts mostly academic activities and lesser extra curricular activities to help the students focus on their subjects. Most likely, students of this type of program are expected to love the pressure that they are facing in school. The consuming of time at the best possible way is what is implemented in the universities that adapt to this type of educational process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, teachers who are under this particular system also feel the pressure of stretching the time that has been given to them to discuss their lessons with their students. Most likely, what the teachers do is to give handouts to their students, stack them up with homework and do minimal discussions in class.   Preempting that their students would do well in studying by themselves and bringing out the main idea of the lessons in the classrooms, the educators settle for simple classroom recitations to base their evaluations of the student’s capabilities of learning as well as the effectiveness of their teaching procedures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most likely, the teachers are forced to concise their lessons into the most basic interpretations that they could make to help their students understand. In this case, they are not able to flavor up the discussion to help the students not only understand but better apply the lessons that they learn from school. By this fact, it could be noted that the teachers are limited in pursuing their passion for teaching as they are held tight by schedule of compliance to the deadlines that they are accustomed to meet. The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Semester Program   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Semester programs are divided in four months per academic calendar. The four months are usually aided with several extra curricular activities that are aimed to help the students loosen up form the pressures that they receive from completing their projects in school. The extra curricular activities are also aimed in finding other potentials of the students in performing their best possible abilities for the sake of the goodness of their personality development.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The educators in this type of learning are actually involved in a more controllable time in their own discretion. They have more time to spend with their students in helping them cope up with the subjects especially if they are having a hard time understanding the lessons on their own. It is through this procedure of learning and teaching that the educators are able to give ample time to individual students in treating their difficulties in certain subjects. This is most especially effective in dealing with students who have a different language that the actual language being used as a medium of communication in the university.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As for example, the American society holds at least 48% of its university population devoted to assisting minorities in their learning. Primarily, the students that they deal with have different languages of origin. Hence, learning using the English language as a medium may not be that easy for them to face as a challenge to their abilities of comprehending to the lessons presented to them. This does not mean that they are less intelligent than that of the English natives. However, because of the fact that they have lesser training in using the English language, they are less able to understand the gist of the lessons that are presented to them in the universities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this setting, the educators are able to give assistance to their students at the best possible way they could as they try different alternatives to help minorities understand their lessons better. The extra time that they could use to assist students certainly allows the teachers the chance to bring the best out of their learners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although when it comes to learning procedures, the semester program of learning is amiably considerably advantageous for the learning progress of the students, the said system of academic character adaptation is much disadvantageous when it comes to the financing of the expenses that are presumably to become a must in the lives of the students while they are staying in school. The tuition fee payments are also at some point easier to deal with in terms of the length of time allotted for them to prepare for the amount needed to be paid.   What the Switching of Academic Calendar Could Do   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Knowing the advantages and the disadvantages of both academic calendar adaptations, it could be observed that both of them have their own leverage against the other. When it comes to the trimestral program the time and finances are given higher concern while the semestral programs on the other hand give much focus on the learning progress of the students. If the aim of education is to be considered closely, it could be seen that the main mission of educating students is to help them understand the lessons in the best way that they could in order for them to have a better application of the ideas in the actual practice in their employments later on. In this regard, the semestral program implication appears to be much practical. Hence, the pursuance of switching of the trimester program to the semester program is given closer concern and focus by some educational administrators. In terms of Budget and Financial Issues From a trimestral setting, the parents and the students themselves would have a better control of their budget since the length of time given for them to complete the payment responsibilities that they have to the universities. Although in terms of boarding expenses the payment may not be that low, the adjustment of the activities that the students engage with may do the trick of reducing and balancing both time and budget that are allotted for the time of learning that they are supposed to complete. Teacher or Educator Adjustments   Trimestral teachers are to be given a lengthened chance of reevaluating their teaching lesson plans thus be able to recreate their system in assisting the students individually in their studies. They could then a lot more time in discussing their lessons in class rather than just sending the works to their students for home completion. Recitation activities are still applicable however; the time could be extended as length of days that certain activities and lessons are to be hosted by the educators to help their students comprehend with the gist ideas of the lessons. Student Learning Capabilities and Pressures The time that is given for students to have ample chance of learning their lessons could actually be turned into a more productive time that would assist the students develop several other skills that they could apply in their jobs later on. Most likely, this situation helps them asses themselves as to how much pressure they are able to tolerate and still perform at their best. For those students who belong with the minority of the population could then be assisted in understanding their lessons better through continuous practice of the usage of the language. The lack of too much pressure in accepting all the necessary lessons could be noted as a way by which the students are given leeway in practicing the knowledge that they are able to gain form the universities. Part 3: Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this discussion, it could be noted that trimester and semester programs are able to get the best out the students in several ways of consideration. Trimestral program adaptation could be applied in universities that are giving educational assistance to the above average intellect students. This is primary because of the fact that the pressures of learning in this particular procedure of academic calendar setting could cause the minorities a hardship in comprehending with the major points of the lessons that they are supposed to be learning from their educators. In applying the semester program, the educators are able to give attention to each individual student’s progress in learning their lessons. The time that they could spend in the learning processes would indeed allow them to find the best ways by which they could apply their lessons in actual procedures of practice in the future. References: Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board. (2000). WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC CALENDAR Semesters vs. Quarters. http://www.hecb.wa.gov/Docs/reports/WSUcalendar12-2000.pdf. (July 12, 2007) U.S. Office of Education Circular No. 248, November 15, 1948. DH News Service, Bangalore. (2007). No word yet on timing, semester system. CITY SCHOOLS REOPEN, TEACHERS IN DARK OVER GOVT PROPOSALS. http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/May292007/national200705294376.asp?section=frontpagenews. (July 12, 2007) Gall. Chapter 2. Developing A Research Proposal. Stringer. Chapter 3. Initiating a Study Research Design.

Evaluate Jungs Theory Concerning Personality Types Philosophy Essay

Evaluate Jungs Theory Concerning Personality Types Philosophy Essay During the 1920s, philosophers and scientists had turned their attention to exploring the idea of personality types. It was during this period that Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung wrote his book Psychological Types explaining his very detailed understanding of the process of Typology (the study and classification of personality types with common traits or characteristics). Subsequently, his work has been developed into one of the most widely used typologies in the world. Berens, L. Nardi, D. (2004) Jung was first to develop the theory that each of us has our own personality type. He suggested that humans used two basic functions in their everyday lives the function of perception, or how we take in information that is presented to us and the second function of how we make our judgements based on that information. He believed that within these two basic functions there were further dichotomous sub-functions at work. In the case of perception, he believed that we processed information either via any (or all) of our senses, or alternatively, by our intuition our gut feeling. Similarly, with our decision making process, Jung believed that we make our judgements based upon either personal (subjective) feelings or impersonal (objective) logic or, in other words thinking. Jung described the perceptive functions of sensing and intuition as irrational as they do not evaluate as such, rather they are concerned with the simple gathering of information and then perceiving the nature of something based upon the information gathered. He did not mean irrational in the sense of being absurd or inconsistent with logic but rather with reference to being removed from reason and judgement. Quite naturally, the judging functions, those of feeling and thinking were considered to be rational. Both judging functions having opposite attributes to those of the perceptive functions in that they very much evaluate experiences and they do rely on the use of reasoning and judgment. Jungs typology bears some semblance, borne from his study of mythology, to the Four Temperaments from Ancient Greek culture, namely Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic and Sanguine. Jungs model however, is considerably more developed and more complex. He theorised that each of us channels our psychic energy (or libido) into each of our four functions of sensing, intuition, thinking and feeling during our normal daily lives. He then went on to suggest that we all apply different levels of that psychic energy to the different functions. Importantly, Jung believed that it was possible to test, measure and identify a hierarchy of preference that an individual has regarding their personality functions labelling the favoured function as the dominant, the second most frequently used as the auxiliary, followed by the tertiary and then finally, the inferior function. This proved fundamental in the formulation of his theories regarding individual personality typology. Jung suggested that those individuals with a dominant sensing function are generally governed by external facts which are received, as the name implies, through their senses. They will tend to have a natural propensity to live in the present, seeing everyone and sensing all that is going on around them. They tend to be quite practical and proactive about their lives. Enjoying these traits enables sensing type individuals to be able to quite naturally adapt quickly to most situations remaining realistic and self-confident as they go about their daily lives. The naturally opposing function to sensing is intuition. Intuitive type individuals spend far less time in the present, focussing their attention much more on both the past and the future. As such, they have a tendency to worry more about things that may happen or dwell upon things that have already happened in their past and they are often blighted with unnecessary doubts. Avoiding routine, intuitive types are usually only very interested in things that happen in their lives that are either new or unusual. Each aspect of the intuitive individual is the natural polar opposite of the sensing individual. Of the two other naturally opposing functions, the thinking individual would process information based on structure and functionality. Very intellectual in their approach, they would have a natural tendency to break down everything using logical analysis to try to expose any underlying structures, patterns and systems. Evaluation would be based upon their intellect and the segregation of information into rights and wrongs. Any action taken by a thinking type individual tends to proceed from intellectually based motivation. A frustrating aspect of the naturally thinking type is that they do not place a great deal of importance on getting to the bottom of arguments or quarrels. Thinking types are natural opposites to feeling types and as such, usually have trouble talking openly about their feelings and are relatively emotionally cold. Jung regarding feeling as an evaluative function, the feeling individual generally being governed by the value associated with the things drawn to them through their feelings. Feeling types are more likely to be interested in other people and other peoples feelings rather than their own. They see things not as right or wrong like thinking types do, but more like good and bad, they tend to have a more ethical evaluation process. Feeling types tend to pay a lot of their attention to love and passion and can easily use their emotions consciously or unconsciously to manipulate people or situations. They also have a tendency to be very comfortably tactile. Jung posited that the dominant function was very important to each individual and overshadowed all of the other functions when it came to constructing a personality type. He also suggested that improving our awareness of all of the four functions within ourselves, be they dominant (conscious) or inferior (unconscious), was very important in helping us to develop a healthy, balanced existence. He went on to suggest, unsurprisingly, that if any functions were unduly repressed, or not receiving enough psychic energy, this would ultimately lead to problems that would almost certainly arise sooner or later in a persons lifetime. Jung was very much into the idea of psychic energy and its constant shifting within our psyche. He was of the opinion that we all use psychic energy and as individuals, we consciously and unconsciously channel our psychic energy both internally and out into our external world. The Society of Analytical Psychology website tells us that; Jung drew on the work of the philosopher Nietzsche and the psychologist William James in his development of typology'(2006) resulting in two very different and opposing attitudes which also contribute to our character types those attitudes being introvert and extrovert. Introversion, where the energy is directed in towards the self, is normally characterised by hesitant, reflective, defensive traits. By contrast, extroverts channel or draw their energy from external sources. They are interested primarily in what is happening outside themselves, in their surroundings, other people or external noises. Extroverts tend not to enjoy spending time alone as they naturally draw their energy from, and channel their energy to, their external world. Jung concluded that individuals either introverted or extroverted their dominant function creating a total of eight possible psychological types an example of which might be an Extroverted Thinker. The healthy, balanced and best example of an Extraverted Thinking type tends to have a good sense of the facts. They are very adept at establishing order in all aspects of their lives their benchmarks are justice and truth, based upon what they consider to be the purest conceivable formulation of objective reality D. Sharp (1936). At their worst, amongst other things, they are religious zealots or con men (or women). Introverted Feeling would be their inferior functions meaning that anything involving artistic senses, quality time with loved ones and family and loving relationships are liable to suffer. They will tend to come across as cold or unfriendly but this will only be because they will be more interested in fact than how their attitude effects the people around them. In extreme examples, they will neglect their own vital needs and unconsciously compensate by becoming highly oversensitive, petty and mistrustful of others. Once the unconscious compensatory process has begun, there is a danger of the collapse of their conscious attitude, resulting in their positivity and creativity becoming stagnant and regressive. In the very extreme case, the individual can become a recluse and/or misanthropic. Another example of one of Jungs eight psychological types would be the Extraverted Sensation type. This type of person will react to an object, situation or person in a way that their response to the object is conditioned by the object. Sharp (1936). They are drawn to objects, people or situations that excite the strongest sensations within them and because they are still extraverted, they always have a strong sensuous bond to their external world. As Jung (1923) states; The sole criterion of their value is the intensity of the sensation produced by their objective qualitiesHowever, it is only concrete, sensuously perceived objects or processes that excite sensations for the extravertHence the orientation of such an individual accords with purely sensuous reality. (p. 363) Healthy Extraverted Sensing types are great at finding their way around, reading maps and they rarely forget appointments. They are also neat, tidy and punctual individuals who love to socialise and surround themselves with the finer things in life. The negative aspect of this type is their inferior functions of introverted intuition. In their natural world, the things that cannot be seen, heard or touched those things that are not fact are instantly treated as suspect. Psychic conflicts are dismissed as imaginary and changes in mood will be blamed on seemingly unrelated and trivial things like the weather. Amongst the worst traits of this individual is related to instances when their attraction and focus upon sensation becomes overwhelming and consuming, extreme cases result in unscrupulous, pleasure-seeking hedonists. In Psychological Types, In relation to Extraverted Sensing types, Jung states that repressed intuitions begin to assert themselves in the form of projections (p. 365). The projections open the door for jealous fantasy, suspicion and anxiety, typically based on quite absurd assumption. The more severe cases producing phobias and compulsions, although this only tends to happen very occasionally More usually, the compensating inferior function simply imparts a rather charming air of inconsistency to the personality Sharp (p. 58). A further type, The Introverted Sensing type is guided not by the intensity of the external object as in the previous two examples, but by the intensity of the subjective sensations activated by the object. They pay every attention to what people look like, how they smell, the sounds they make and how they feel rather than the actual person themselves. Introverted sensing artists, for example will bring a unique depth of life to a painting or scene. In extreme examples of Introverted Sensing types, the effect of an object does not penetrate into the individual (subject) at all. They are no longer able to distinguish between the real object and their subjective perception. They have virtually no rational ability to sort problems out and are more likely to have dark prophetic fantasies of what might happen in the outside world to their family or mankind Sharp (p.83) This type is also prone to becoming stuck in a rut or otherwise bogged down in a routine due to their other functions becoming unconscious. Jung writes; as soon as the unconscious becomes antagonistic, the archaic intuitions come to the surface and exert their pernicious influence, forcing themselves on the individual and producing compulsive ideas of the most perverse kind. The result is usually a compulsion neurosis, in which the hysterical features are masked by symptoms of exhaustion. (p. 398) Jung noted that just like the four functions, both attitudes of introversion and extraversion are present in each individual in differing degrees dependant upon the energy dedicated to them. Nobody is either purely extrovert or purely introvert, in fact, the vast majority of people have a fairly well balanced mix of the two attitudes although one will always be more dominant and natural than the other in each individual. On discussing Jungs typology theory in her book Drydens Handbook of Individual Therapy, Windy Dryden (2007) notes that; [a] neurotic defence is that of extreme introversion which manifests its narcissistic feelings of grandiosity that act to keep an individual from being involved in interpersonal relationshipsWestern culture is identified with an extroverted, thinking, sensation way of functioning so that many people feel forced to comply with this. If this compliance becomes pathological, they need to be helped to achieve a better balance she goes on to say it may be said that extreme extroversion can be as neurotic as extreme introversion. (p. 107) Jung said that extraversion and introversion are not mutually exclusive and that they have a natural tendency to self-balance through both conscious and unconscious processes. Therefore, a consciously extravert person will possess a compensatory inwardly unconscious introvert side and vice versa. Jung linked this effect to the repression of natural tendencies and the resulting unhappiness, hysteria and illness, so if the balance gets upset by repression (an unconscious action) our mind would seek to restore the balance in an unconscious manner. This leads us onto a key component of Jungs theory on personality types the element of balance. All of Jungs psychology was based upon balance, growth and hope and his personality type theory was no exception. As we know, Jung subscribed to the notion that all attributes of the four functions and the attitudes of introversion and extroversion appear in all individuals to differing degrees. According to Jung, as human beings, the way that we are able to cope with the opposing characteristics to our natural dominant functions and attitudes is by the balance of our psychic energy levels, which we devote to each part at any given time. As far as Jung was concerned, an imbalance of psychic energy ultimately resulted in some form of psychological disturbance, with neurosis over-emphasizing the individuals character traits. Crucially, that the four functions need to be in balance does not mean that they need to be equal to each other insofar as their psychic energy levels. Taking the four functions into account, our natural tendency is to adopt one, rather than the opposite. If the thinking function was the most developed in an individual, it would naturally benefit from having more psychic energy dedicated to it than the feeling function (the other judging function). Being the natural polar opposite to thinking, feeling would then become the inferior function and would remain so for as long as thinking was the dominant function thus becoming balanced. Sensation and intuition (the two perceptive functions) would then become the auxiliary and tertiary functions. More energy would be dedicated to thinking and less energy would be channelled to feeling but they would all still, ideally, be within a correct and natural balance relationally. This balance is vital as our dominant function is actually bolstered by our inferior function, however we do only have a finite amount of psychic energy. If we channel too much energy into our dominant function, the inferior function can be at risk of being lost in the unconscious or the shadow as an expense, resulting in some form of disturbance. Our shadow can be described as our yet to be realised area of our mind. It can harbour potential personality disorder or, equally, it can be potentially creative. In therapy sessions, we seek to help our client to rediscover their shadow side and restore their balance. With this in mind, Jungs theory suggests that there always needs to be an unconscious counter-position to keep a balance within the functions. One function (the dominant) is experienced consciously whilst the counter or inferior function is experienced unconsciously. In the 1940s, Isobel Myers and her mother, Katherine Cook Briggs were drawn to the work of Carl Jung and were inspired to try and develop his theory of personality types into a more practical and usable instrument. They subscribed to Jungs ideas of opposites and crafted some extremely well thought out questions in order to force choices to be made between naturally existing psychological dilemmas. What resulted was a ninety-three point self-questionnaire that enabled people to be categorised into one of a possible sixteen personality types based upon their own answers to a series of carefully constructed questions. What the MBTI does not do however, is to detect psychiatric disturbances or provide intelligence quotients it only focuses on a subjects normal behaviour. Jung would never have approved of his work being developed in this way, however, if an individuals normal behaviour is naturally disordered (and therefore consistently so) it can provide useful indicators to potential disturbance-related traits. This underlines the difference between a psychiatric disturbance (non-constant behaviour) and a personality disorder (constant behaviour). This is illustrated nicely in Dr Duane Dobberts book Understanding Personality Disorders where he writes; While many other psychological disorders fluctuate in terms of symptom presence and intensity, as with normal personality, personality disorders typically remain relatively constant throughout life, although they do vary in severity from individual to individual. (2007). As previously noted, if any functions are being unduly stifled through lack of psychic energy either consciously or by design, this is expected to lead to problems that will arise at some point in the individuals adult life. An example where we may be likely to see evidence of this is when a parent or guardian continually forces certain uncharacteristic behaviours upon their children, or when adults consciously inhibit their own feelings. In doing this, they are going against what is natural for the oppressed individual and it will probably eventually lead to some form of psychological disturbance. We also often see evidence of peoples unconscious mind reverting from unconscious to conscious behaviour when they are stressed or under the influence of alcohol. As far as psychological problems are concerned, many are characterized by a lack of control in certain situations. Often, the lack of control is only part of a larger pattern of behaviour, such as substance abuse problems or sexual disorders. There are however, several psychological disorders that are defined primarily by a loss of control and these would include instances of Domestic Violence, Pyromania and Pathological Gambling. Studies have been performed to try to ascertain if there is any form of notable relationship between certain personality types and certain psychological disturbances. A psychiatric study in the University of Carolina by Janowsky, Morter Tancer (2000) was carried out whereby a group of sixteen patients with diagnosed Social Phobia were compared to a group of twenty-four hospitalized patients suffering with Major Depressive Disorder. Both groups were compared to a control group of a normative population comprising of nearly fifty-six thousand individuals. Each subject underwent the MBTI survey and results stated that Social Phobia patients were significantly introverted (93.7%) as opposed to the normative population group (46.2%). Notably, the Social Phobia patients also scored significantly more introverted than the Major Depressive patients, although the Major Depressive patients still scored as introverted. One conclusion drawn from the study was that introversion is a major compon ent of Social Phobia, if nothing else this observation almost certainly has therapeutic significance. The fact that Carl Jungs psychological types structure continues to provide the basis of many of the leading psychometrics systems and instruments in use today, including Myers-Briggs, is testimony to the enduring relevance and value of Jungs work. Whether it may ever be developed so that we may detect personality disorders before they become apparent will remain to be seen. Ethically, if we got to that stage, who knows how such a test may be exploited? Maybe it would be best if we never found out.

Personal Writing: The Evaluation Of My Coaches Essay -- essays researc

Personal Writing: The Evaluation of My Coaches Throughout my high school basketball career I experienced several different coaches. Every new coach brought a different approach to coaching. The varying techniques of coaching brought about different attitudes and expectations during practices and games. I found that during practice, coaches had either the nice-guy or the drill sergeant approach. They also had different methods of coaching during and after the games. Practices are very important to basketball. If you practice hard and take it seriously, your team can become successful. All of my coaches in high school took practices seriously. I basically had two different types of coaches when it came to practice. There was the drill sergeant type, which had the team line up in the same place every day to do our calisthenics before each practice. The team captain stood facing the rest of the team and lead us in various stretches and other warm-ups. The coach was very strict. No horse play or unnecessary talking or anything else we knew would make the coach mad. Coach would have us do drills having to do with the plays we ran during the game. If we made a mistake coach would stop us and make an example of whoever messed up. He would say, "Did everyone see what Bryan just did? That is what you should not do." He would then gripe a little and after that we would continue our practice. I feel that this method...

Drawing the Line on Political Correctness Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is funny how over the years, humor had changed tremendously. Television networks do not intend to offend anybody, except for the ego-driven celebrities and politicians as well as constant draws which satirize church people and family driven values.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is not because some things are now regarded revered. The viewers have also changed. They cannot express amusement at themselves to any further extent. One concrete example is the old sitcom, titled Murphy Brown, which over ten years ago, has been the center of contention on the subject of political correctness. The show on October 11, 1993 was aired and was regarding a series of comments made on-air made by Murphy and Peter which all got gashed up, and had the entire staff production required to attend a session on political correctness (Tucker 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That particular episode exposed much of the irrationality of how people can get easily offended by the least thing said, such as: â€Å"I’m not black, I’m African-American† as one character protested. Another beamed up â€Å"I’m not African†¦I’m black†. â€Å"I’m not black†¦I’m brown!† Networks have determined that it is impossible to say anything without getting anyone offended by someone, so they have principally decided not to pronounce anything (Tucker 1). Political Correctness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1980’s, political correctness or PC emerged as a communal tyranny. It was an impulsive or unprompted statement of specific expressions, behavior and ideas considered legal but must be outlawed and those who disobey will be imposed with punishment. It began with little influence and later on had grown to such popularity till it then started written and unwritten law in the community. By way of those declared in the public as not being politically correct fitting the subject of state or mob prosecution (Atkinson 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the effort of pointing out the detestable background of political correctness is to reiterate the vital significance of freedom of speech, freedom of voice and plain speaking; such are the safeguards of the community against the nuisance of tyranny, the absence of these factors indicates having no tyranny. For that reason, any form of expression prohibition or those summoned by the slander, libel and public decency laws, are considered matters of severity subject by methodology of common law and not by mob dictations (Atkinson 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The affirmed coherent of this oppression is to avert people from getting offended; to coerce each one to stop the use of   behaviors or words which can displease women, non-whites, homosexuals,   the fat, the stupid, the ugly or the crippled. This exposes not only its irrationality but its stimulation. The set of values which are not accepted are those apprehended by the earlier generation, for such reasons, the terms dagos, wogs, niggers, coon, sheilas,   poofs, spastics and   have turned out to be profanation, because, in an action of infantile rebellion, their issue have develop as well-regarded by the latest generation (Atkinson 1).   Political correctness is simply the antipathy of spoilt children bound for against their values of the parents (Blazquez 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A decline in the community takes place at the time the greater part of its people turned out to be self-centered, and beneath this power it gradually takes apart all the manacles in the lead of decadence brought about by customs, law, manners, tradition and beliefs. As each succeeding generation of self-centered people accede to be in command of the community, it grabs its chance to desert further of the exasperating fetters that wisdom and genius had instilled. The social annihilation and its proponents attain their unfounded principle by openly taking on irrationality by means of slogans at the same time as defaming those who do not sustain their standpoint (Atkinson 3) .As part of the social decline due to political correctness it makes each generation by another one crafts public behavior less rational and less restrained.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the present day we face up to a problem of political correctness which is the direct opposite of the liberal tradition. Wherein liberalism promotes challenging political ideas, political correctness, by language, conduct or law, tries to find how to hold back the expression of the ideas.   The fundamental nature of social equality is the preference of opinions and ideas, and the liberty to convey the ideas.   However democracy is not all about choice, it is moreover about majorities. The values and ideas of the greater part are capable to succeed over to other choices.   The politically correct pay no attention to the autonomous ideal in terms of both the majoritarism and choice.   It is their objective to have the institutions of the state captured and mould them to reveal their outlooks.   The reality that their thoughts may not mirror the thoughts of the majority, or certainly are particularly conflicting to views of the majority, is of no importance.   It is the views’ imposition that matters.   Hence this is the deep-seated predicament with political correctness (Hanan 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are three features in political correctness. The first is that, political correctness is a set of beliefs and attitudes which are separated from conventional values.   Next, the person being politically correct has a narrow outlook on how people ought to sense and what they are allowed to talk about.   Third and mainly significant, political correctness is rooted in institutions of the public, which comprise a lawmaking support, and which have compelling powers.   It is this third feature that provides political correctness its influence.   The absence of this confine of power the outlooks of the politically correct will merely be an additional view in the arena of ideas (Hanan 2). An institution, government is or a person is politically correct when they stop to correspond to the welfare of the preponderance, and become concentrated on the concerns and cares of sector groups of minority.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Political correctness and its origin does breed confusion.   This is for the reason that political correctness has its beginning in equality campaigns, specifically the racial equality campaign, which has regularly been motivated by politics and its liberal side.   The existing result is that the more raucous adversaries of political correctness plunge into the corner of involving, for instance, that racism is acceptable, basically since it is not politically correct.   Doing the contrary to what is politically correct is not the base to be in opposition to political correctness (Hanan 3). This ensnares, on the other hand, point out why it is imperative to evaluate the predicaments emerging from political correctness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retorts about Vice Presidents are a revered custom on TV. But the issues of Dan Quayle in an Emmy Awards ceremony bear a resemblance to a Rodney King thrashing by the elites of Hollywood. Quayle is television’s superior beating guy ever in view of the fact that he made campaign issue on Murphy Brown; it was a ram of what appeared like every onstage joke. Diane English, the creator of Murphy Brown, topped the evening with an argument of single mothers that traversed the line into adherent nastiness. â€Å"As what Murphy has said to herself, ‘I couldn’t possibly do a worse job raising my kid alone than the Reagans did with theirs.’ â€Å" The viewers applauded and laughed on lines such as these. However the reaction was extra troubled and concerned. At a campaign rally Quayle used the Emmy volley to stress his point that â€Å"Hollywood doesn’t like our values.† Numerous parties in the industry of television approved that the entire flaunt was, at the semantically criticism like values of religious faith, marital fidelity and patriotism. Quayle writes that â€Å"Tens of millions of Americans now see the entertainment industry as an all-powerful enemy, an alien force that assaults our most cherished values and corrupts our children† (Zoglin 1). The Republican-political episode in which Murphy reacted to the Vice President, while hurriedly nursing to her new born; she heeds his remarks on television and responds with disbelief: â€Å"I’m glamorizing single motherhood? What planet is he on? I agonized over that decision.† Afterward, she emerges on her television show to respond to the charges of Quayle: â€Å"Perhaps it is time for the Vice President to expand his definition and recognize that whether by choice or circumstance families come in all shapes and sizes. And ultimately, what really defines a family is commitment, caring and love.† (Zoglin 1) Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What can be done to deal with political correctness and its problems is to eliminate the encouragement role of such seen on televisions.   They should be apprehensive with the arbitration of rights, not disseminating the politically correct ideologies.   Their backing character roots from their lawmaking permission.   It is the point to eradicate this permission which does slight more than allow misinformation (Hanan 4).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In these modern times, many people are amused with how funny lines are thrown in television shows, especially when the icons make fun of prominent people using politically correct terms which are perceived to be satirical and insulting. Political correctness does not happen only in the industry of television, each individual may encounter such lines which can cause annoyance and getting offended. For instance when one is told that â€Å"she does not wear too much makeup, she is cosmetically oversaturated† or when one is told to be â€Å"afraid of commitment then he is monogamously challenged†. It can be very much insulting indeed. Political correctness is something that should be eradicated in the society. There should be lines drawn as to when joking or entertaining goes, it should not go beyond the point of insulting and degrading someone’s character, because no person has the right to insult nor hurt their sensible beings. The television industry is such a great means of influence; hence they should realize the sensitivity with which their messages affect their audiences. Works Cited Atkinson, Phillip. Political Correctness. 2000. A Theory of Civilization. 3 February 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . Blazquez, Augustin.April 8, 2002. Political Correctness: The Scourge of Our Times. Newsmax. 3 February 2008 . Path: Archives; Articles; 2002. Hanan, Ralph. The Problem with Political Correctness. June 22, 2005. National. 3 February 2008 . Tucker, Jamey. Politically Incorrect Humor. April 11, 2005. Jamey Tucker’s Blogsquat. 3   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   February 2008 . Zoglin, Richard. Sitcom Politics. Sep. 21, 1992. Time Magazine in parnership with CNN. 3 February 2008 . Path: Time; Magazine; Article

How to Write a Business Case Study

How to Write a Business Case Study How to Write a Business Case Study A Business case study may be defined as a documented piece of research based on and devoted to a specific business, company, or policy situation. Composing an effective and powerful business case study one needs to be very knowledgeable in the business sphere they had selected and possess the overall understanding and skills of case study writing. A good case study is, in a way, like a detective story – you will need to make the audience solve the puzzle set in your paper. This commands a clear understanding of the subject and the process as a whole. The paper composition process may be defined as â€Å"step-by-step†. The stages of the business case study composing may be described as follows: Pre-writing stage: Search of the facts and information – This process demands scrupulousness and attention. You may visit your campus or public library, surf the Internet, etc. Analysis of combined data – Once the information has been received you need to systematically analyze it. This will give you â€Å"food† for further research and serve as the basis for the entire business case study. Writing stage: You will need to express any result received during the previous procedures in black and white. In addition, do not forget to include the so-called â€Å"hook† in the introduction. This will help you focus the audience’s attention on your research. Post-writing stage: Receiving at least minimal feedback – Ask your colleagues, professors, or parents to read your case study. They will express their general impressions and give clues to parts of the case study needing changes or improvement. Editing and proofreading – This should be aimed at maximum error correction and adjustment of the case study to high standards of writing. This stage is the last but not the least. Sometimes an author gets so tired when he/she reaches the end of an investigation that there is no time or energy left to complete thorough proofreading and editing. Still, omitting these processes may result in a low quality paper and a low tutors evaluation. Finally, while carrying out all the procedures connected with the research, you are to bear in mind the timeframe for completion. Try to carve out some time for consultations with your scientific advisor and additional time for proofreading the paper. It is generally believed that learning-centered case studies are the most efficient ones. Therefore, try to compose your business case study in accordance with the highest standards possible. Additionally, you can get professional Business case study help for money, from professional academic writers at .

A Vogadro essays

A Vogadro essays A Vogadro was born on June 9, 1776 in Turin, Italy. He began his career in 1796 by obtaining a doctorate in law and practicing as a lawyer for three years after. In 1800, he began to take private lessons in mathematics and physics and decided to make the natural sciences his profession. He was appointed as a demonstrator at the Academy of Turin in1806 and the Professor of Natural Philosophy at the College of Vercelli in 1809, and in 1820, he was appointed the professor of mathematical physics. He was a physics professor but he also experimented in chemistry using mathematics to base most of his findings. Avogadro is well known for his hypothesis known as Avogadro's Law. His law states that at a given temperature, equal volumes of gas contain the same number of molecules equal to about 6.0221367 x 10 to the 23rd power.A Mole of a substance is the quantity of the substance that weights the same as its molecular mass. One mole of any substance is Equal to Avogadro's number. Therefore Av ogadro's law can be stated in terms of moles, namely that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of moles. Thanks to Avogadro and his number, scientists can measure out equal number of molecules by weighing out an equal number of moles. For gases this can be done by using 22.4 liters at STP(1 atmosphere and 223 Kelvin, 0 deg. Celsius). Avogadro's number is most reliably determined by X-ray diffraction of crystals. For many years' people thought the number was equal to about 6.022045 x 10 to the 23rd power, However, in 1986 the number was redefined as about 6.0221367 x 10 to the 23rd power. Albert Einstein's third research paper was concerned with the nature of molecules. We all know that if we drop a lump of sugar into water it diffuses through the water, making it somewhat more sticky. Thinking of water as a structureless fluid and the sugar molecules as small hard spheres, Einstein was able to find not only the...

World politics Essay Example

World politics Essay Example World politics Essay World politics Essay Huntington’s controversial expose on the progress of the world’s powers strongly indicated that finally there were emerging civilizations that could potentially clash. He goes on to explain why power struggles will be the major issue in international relations. Power is the ability to forcibly have one’s way regardless of dissenting voices. This hypothesis has been largely critiqued for generalization in its premises, as paying no attention to traditional clashes and for not appropriately envisaging the events that followed its release. The terrorist attacks of 2001, in World Trade Center and others targeting United States’ interests across the world were clear indications that Huntington’s assertions were not well informed. Therefore it is not considered dominant in introspecting to international coexistence. There has been a long standing sour relation between the world superpower: the United States and North Korea over the latter’s possibility of harboring nuclear weapons or developing some.   Nuclear power is the next frontier that the developed countries are trying, albeit with much struggle, to control. The only impediment to this end is the unending question as to whether international laws can be ratified by non-signatories. The United Nations (UN), as a body charged with the responsibility of harmonizing international relations between nations have been greatly compromised. Political scientists across the board agree that the United Nations has leaned towards the whims of the only superpower. The voting power of the signatories also tends to lean towards who has got both military and economic power (Stiglitz, 2007). Being the most recent Stalinist entity in the world, North Korea was the newest state to get itself into the Uranium enrichment. During the last 20 years or so, North Korea has been undulating from getting invaded and engaging very sincerely with the rest of the world.   The United States has been at the forefront in this affair. This stand-off has always been stimulated by its intricate governance and the perceptible notion that the policy of approaching precarious state of affairs to the beginning of an adversity finally yields some good. Beside the war in Iraq, the US has already envisaged to wage a war against a new enemy:   North Korea. In the Korean Peninsula, North Korea has been at loggerheads with her neighbors and the rest of the world over the thorny issue of its unsupervised nuclear activities. First, it is important to realize the scientific and technological potential that nuclear harnessing could impact the fortunes of a nation. Iraq was invaded over much similar speculations. This issue sparks security unease among the developed countries. There a general myth that those underdeveloped and undeserving countries, North Korea included, have less capacity not only to safely utilize nuclear power but might have intentions of using it to develop warheads that could lead to a holocaust. As far as ways of governance cannot be uniform, democratic ideology is so far the best and prolific (Wiseman, 2004). It sets out the guiding principles in running government and it must come from the will of the people. The m ajor setback is that it cannot be taken up by other nation or states because of the historical, cultural and religious backgrounds. The current international predicament revolves around North Korea’s alleged role in sinking South Korea’s ship. The incident has so far attracted intercontinental attention with the United States offering its military muscle to police the international waters. The whole dilemma started on March this year when a South Korean submarine sank after exploding. 46 crewmen aboard the ship died. Two months later, Seoul offered forensic substantiation incriminating a Pyongyang’s missile on the ship that was the sailing in the vicinity of a disputed sea boundary. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mossad strongly believed that the attack incidence was authorized by the North Korean president in a bid to enable his son take over from him. The United Nation, issued a statement reproving the incident but stopped short of implicating North Korea because China, the latter’s collaborator and a growing force in world politics, opposed the move. The Washington government has so far enforced economic sanction on North Korea. This move has been seen by North Korea and her allies as a sort of provocation. Politically speaking, the United States role in the whole saga is a strong reminder that it exists as the only superpower. President Obama’s foreign policy was very clear at the beginning: that it could offer a listening ear and hand to those who have divergent views and firm handling to those who seek to make the world insecure. With this promise in mind, the presence of the United States’ military alongside those of South Korea, coupled with the United Nations’ Nuclear Disarmament Program resolution, implies that North Korea must be policed and coerced to drop its nuclear ambitions. The clash of civilizations as said by Huntington comes into perspective when we consider the amount of international concern that the incident has ignited. Perhaps the end of the World War II, is a fresh reminder of how the world could be so pitiless. But alliances change and shift over time such that Japan is now closely allied to the United States on the issues of the day. Both countries now are up in arms over North Korea. But who seem to be the aggressor? Is the United States overusing its might to threaten others or is it doing what is required of it to foster peace and security in the world? To answer this, we should recall that in this globalized world, there has not been a consensus as to whether the political ideologies of the West are ideal for all the countries. Huntington’s argument delineates an outlook that the grand points of disagreements between man and the overarching foundation of divergences between nations would solely be based on ways of life. He further goes ahead to categorize the customs of world. He was quick to point out that Africa had the probability to be civilized (Spielvogel, 2008). Given the varying levels of development across the world, cultural differences, economic and military power, democracy ingrained with capitalism cannot be applied by all countries (Kaikini, 2006).   The natural resources is also a major consideration so is the technological expertise. Take for instance; Tanzania in East Africa has vast amounts of Uranium but lack capacity to harness it leave alone to mine the precious element. Therefore, it is true that the ability to exploit the possibilities that comes with Uranium actually depends on the strength of a nation. Huntington’s supposes that such civilizations were categorically characterized in religion coupled with some extemporized exclusions. The Cold War also shaped the way international community can punish nations which may act in contravention of treaties and common positions. The measures are wide ranging, from slapping economic sanctions to trade boycotts, arms embargo to invasion of the offending nation. Huntington goes on to explains that the last part of philosophical conflicts among the ways of governance, namely noninterventionist egalitarianism and Marxism would lead to clashes over the frames of progress on small scales. On the other hand he foresees, on large scale, a confrontation among the progressivisms in the pursuit for having power over global unions, attaining monetary superiority and martial supremacy. Similarly, it can be noted that such conflicts are common since all the clashes that have so far been witnessed have been fueled by the same motives. The alternative view suggests the contrary: that the row among the nation –states has always been determined by geological and opinionated aspect instead of diversity in backgrounds of the feuding nations. There are various talks by the key players over the Korean issues which is attracting various concerns. The United States and China have been holding talks with the main area of concern are the disagreements between the two Korean countries. This has been the major part of disagreement which is arising between China and United States of America. There were talks which were held by the two countries centered on the economic and strategic dialogue between China and United States of America.   These talks were held in late May where the main emphasis was on the tensions which are arising in the Korean peninsula. The tension has been caused by the interference by the two countries as they are the main ones with great influence. The two superpowers have been in the fore front in determining the solutions which have not been achieved as at date. These solutions have been of bad intention and have not good faith in the way they are handled. The countries have subjected the countries in je opardy as they cannot handle and solve their own issues on their own. The conflict in the Korean peninsula has been fueled by the external super powers mainly the China and the United States of America. This has been the cause of the problems which are being witnessed in the Korean peninsula. In the pursuit of the civilization in the world, many countries have been a source of destruction to the general developments and progress in the region and the entire world. This is because the various productions of machines and other equipments have been harmful to the countries themselves and other countries. There has been the nuclear manufacture in the various countries especially the North Korea which it recently launched the nuclear bomb. This has led to rise in sanctions from various countries that have been cooperating with them. There has also been many trade sanctions and travel ban of the goods, services and people to and from the country. This also has increased the tensions which are experienced in the Korean peninsula. The issue which has led to the disagreement is the system of governments which should be in place for the unification of the Korean peninsula. These issues have been of great importance and also have been at the center of disagreement. These issues have elicited fresh pursuit of the new peninsula reunification. The system of the government in the Korean peninsula is influenced by the external country which wants their system to be emulated. There are other countries which also want a hybrid kind of government system which cannot be easily attained without the consent of the Koreans. This has resulted in disagreements between the pressing countries and the fellow Koreans who do not see any use of the intended system despite the form of the civilization. There has been close relationship between the South Korean government and the United States of America and the Chinese government. This has been of great influence to the mode operation in the South which has led to increase in the conflict from the North. There were attacks of the South Korean warship by the North Koreans due to the misunderstandings on the form of the international system of government necessary for the Korean reunification. This attack has given rise to new talks on the nature and the means of handling the North Korean decisions as it is viewed as an issue of provocation. This has been the most disagreed topic in all the talks which has been held. This is in relation to the North Korea and the Korean peninsula. These have led to the increase in the threats by the North Korea to eliminate any kind of association with the South Korean. There is also the intention of bilateral non-aggression pact being avoided by the North due to the manner in which the South is associating itself with the US and the type of the international systems which should be in place. These have led to accusations from either part to denounce responsibility of the problem. The north has increasingly refused the issue that it’s never sunk the ship yet the South is of this view. This has led to the increase in the tension and the UN is urged to intervene on the matter so as to sort it out amicably. There have been claims that the South is making false accusations so as to be seen as a war provocation with the North. The country is in great danger to participating in engaging in war with the South. The Korean peninsula has been of great concern to many other countries that have great influence and interest. The countries like the US have shown favoritism on the issue and it is siding with the South. This means that the attacks are immine nt and the US is at the forefront. On the other hand, China has shown also intentions of lack of consensus-arriving solutions as regards to the North. China has not shown any intention of solving the problems in a manner which is fair and result oriented. There are claims that they are more civilized than the Koreans especially the north, hence the sanctions are escalated by them. China has moved away from the neutral position it has been holding for so many years with regards to the manner in which the Korean peninsula is being handled. When the sinking ship was experienced, the china government opted to stay away from the neutral position. There is need for the china to offer the necessary security in the region over the issue so as to attain the best solution. The civilization matters have led to the decisions made to be biased and inappropriate as they injure the rights of the others (Moreton, 2009). The reasons given for these conflicts and injustices are not justified and are therefore being done in the name of civilization. The international policies which are applied are very unique and increase the chances of the occurrence of unnecessary actions. For example the US gave a go ahead to the sale of the arms to Taiwan. There has also been the issue of the human rights injustices which has been indicated by the US-China relationship especially in regards to the imprisonment. There is also the issue of trade tensions which has been witnessed in the recent past which is not welcomed by many states. In conclusion, China and North Korea also has been stepping up its military machinery in a move to be ready for any eventuality in terms of any aggression. There has been clear indication by the Chinese government that the developments are not meant to be use on any war with any country but just to satisfy their technological know-how. This has been done in pursuit of civilization by all other countries yet it doesn’t concur with the international systems. Therefore we should really draw to closing choice between idealism and realism if we are to seek the fundamental causes of international conflicts (Baylis and Smith, 2001).

The Japanese Genji Scrolls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Japanese Genji Scrolls - Essay Example â€Å"Tsukuri-e† is a technique in which â€Å"dense, flat colors are applied over the undersketch† and then later the outlines are redone with fine black ink (Brodsky 9). The artist uses varied colors and highlights the prominent hues with the fine ink, thus creating an overall magical effect. The highlighted singularities go deep and thrust the intensity of the emotions the characters go through and thus, the ultimate feelings of the characters are exposed and conveyed to the viewers. The artist uses pastel colors to indicate the deep contemplation, longing as well as yearning that the characters are experiencing. This technique thus enables the readers of the Genji tales get more insight into the actual scene of the story with an increased realistic feel and then they can make comparisons with the scenes they had in mind when they read the story. The two main techniques used in the illustrations are the Fukinuki Yatai meaning â€Å"blown away roof† and Hikimi Kagibama meaning â€Å"line for an eye, hook for a nose† (Brodsky 9) The former relates with the background of the scenes and it depicts the interiors having â€Å"neither ceiling nor roof,† which makes the â€Å"upper sides of ceiling beams† visible, thus enabling the viewer to see things from a bird’s perspective (Brodsky 9). That is, the viewer of the picture can see the whole scene including the background and every detail it portrays. The latter relates with people and the main characters in the scene, which have been presented â€Å"in a very unconventional manner† (Brodsky 9). This technique is used to depict the facial expressions of the characters in which their faces appear to be â€Å"mask-like† and devoid of â€Å"obvious sexual differentiation†... This paper stresses that imaginative world that evokes mythical and aesthetic attributes compared to the real world and thus the artist employs this technique to make the characters appear unfamiliar, since the prominent figures in the story are not everyday characters. This report makes a conclusion that on the other hand, the architecture depicted in the scrolls is very similar to the one in the real world. This helps the viewers to relate to the story, the culture it expresses as well as the values that it depicts. The faces of the central characters are painted in a distant unfamiliar way so as to maintain the perception that the readers already had about these characters. The artist does not want to influence or change those valued perception of the viewers and thus he makes the characters faces identical and mask like, so as to maintain the integrity of the reader’s perspectives. Another feature that can be noticed in the illustrations, such as in the one given below, is that â€Å"both† the men and women in the pictures â€Å"wear voluminous robes† that â€Å"conceals† their sex. This again shows there is no sexual differentiation and it opens a new door of thought. Maybe the artists harbored a feeling of equality among the males and females and that might be a reason as to why there are no obvious implications of sex. Through the Genji tales, Lady Murasaki takes a very feministic approach and the artists have kept maintained the same approach in their execution of the illustrations. The feministic attributes also imply that females be given more significance and what better way to do this than not making them appear identical to men.

Corporate Strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corporate Strategy - Assignment Example While Alitalia, a two-third state-owned enterprise was beset with labour union problems and was almost teetering near bankruptcy with net losses of 519 mn in the close of 2003 (its auditors refusing to certify its results!) (Source:ICFAI), BA was also consistently making loss in the 1980's until an ambitious privatisation programe slowly changed its fortunes by the onset of the Gulf War. BA also suffered extreme negative publicity due to some failed campaigns against competitor Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, facing lawsuits worth 3 million (Soure:Wikipedia), not to mention trade union problems, strikes etc. which continue until this day. The scenario is far more encouraging today. British Airways despite some steady hurdles like high oil prices, and a strong pound, have maintained profits since privatisation and quite consistently, since 2002. Its net profit for March 2006 stands at 529 mn (Source:Hemscott). With the relentless pursuit on upgrade of fleet and service management, the loss-making Giant has transformed into a lean, mean machine. As for Alitalia, losses are down at 200 mn in 2006 amid continued shutdown fears. (Airwise) Turnaround roadmap Organisationally, both airlines have changed for the better. While the British Airways is a newly-revived private major, Alitalia also has reduced government stake from two-thirds to about 49% (Airwise). Over 23,000 jobs were slashed in the 1980's during BA's get lean mission (Wikipedia). As for Alitalia, its decision in Sept 2004 to cut down over 5000 jobs brought it to a standstill due to a more hostile labour union, although the management announced March 2006 that its cost-cutting measures were 80% over. Alitalia, in 2001 became member of Europe's conglomerate Sky Team Alliance, as is eventually bracing for a merger with Air France and KLM (wikipedia). BA has reinvented itself around localising itself in the Asian market, by launching in 1995 a subsidiary called British Asia Airways in Taiwan replacing its traditional Union tailfin for a Chinese character emblem. BA also launched a low-cost airline called Go in 1998, and is thus better prepared, organisationally, to lead itself into the future (wikipedia). Most corporate strategies swiftly achieve results after what is known as situation and SWOT analysis, and brainstorming for a solution. BA started conducting "scenario workshops" in Feb 1994 (Moyer, K). The task at hand was to capture current scenario so that future strategy could be planned. Over 40 interviews were conducted with senior managers, and then with academics, engineers and aircraft manufacturers on a host of topics from IT and air transport regulations. All this culminated into developing teams writing the "official future" of the airline. Simultaneously, data on passenger traffic, economic growth and aircraft

Euthanasia Should Be Allowed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Euthanasia Should Be Allowed - Essay Example Euthanasia is applicable for â€Å"terminally ill† patients, who have no scope of recovery and the rest of their life is bound to be full of suffering. However, in some conditions like comatose where there is a possibility of recovery, the decision to terminate life is not straight forward. So, it is argued, since no one can be sure of the impossibility of recovery, it would be unethical to kill the patient. Another argument put forward is the misuse of the concept for financial consideration. As the expenses incurred to keep alive a seriously ill person is very high, some may decide to employ euthanasia so as to cut costs. It may sound very base and inhumane, but not everyone can afford the high cost of advanced treatment. Some say that euthanasia is like acting against the will of the person. Since nobody likes to die and the seriously ill are not in a condition to decide their future, it would be acting against the patients’ will. Others believe that each and every human life is sacred and has to be preserved no matter what. It may have theological connotations; yet, many people do take their religious beliefs seriously. The sentiments and beliefs of people cannot simply be shrugged aside for scientific and practical reasons. Equally sound points could be raised in favor of euthanasia. The foremost being its utility in putting an end to the intolerable suffering and pain of the affected patient. It hurts the relatives too, to see their loved one undergoing such agony. It is not unusual for the spouse or parent of a suffering patient to opt for euthanasia, for they believe that is the best they could do, both for themselves as well for the patient. There is also legal backing for euthanasia. It is legal in most countries to commit suicide and since euthanasia is similar to suicide, why not? This makes sense as every person has absolute right over his/her own mind and body and can choose to do whatever with it as long as it does not

Assisted Suicides Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assisted Suicides Paper - Essay Example The debates over the right of patients to shorten their lives with the help of physicians will continue and there is probably no right or wrong side. Assisted suicide is a crime because it involves the death of the person who would live otherwise. Not a single person should be eligible to take away the life of another person, even though this other person is not willing to live. Drugs and medical devices are development to be safe and effective - the intended usage of drugs is to help patients to overcome diseases. Nevertheless, patients who physical and emotional pain caused by the diseases that cannot be cured, do not want to suffer and should be granted the right to stop their sufferings. For example, if the patient is unconscious and there is no hope that the condition will ever improve, the relatives might want to make a decision to stop his/her life. From the religious point of view, any assistance in this direction is a murder. From medical point of view, assisted suicide is wrong as well - the objective of healthcare is to make people healthier, not to kill them. However, from ethical standpoint, it is almost impossible t o label assisted suicide as murder or as a good deed because the rights and obligations of each side need to be taken into account. Moreover, the competent people should have the right to choose death - for example, through allowing to hasten death by treatment refusal. Suffering is not merely the physical pain, there are also psychological burdens and assisted suicide is the only possible way to relieve sufferings. Even though it is the human nature to have the interest in preserving life, the terminally ill individuals lack this interest and acquire the desire to die - the prohibition of assisted suicide might limit the personal liberty. From the other side, it is unethical to take the life of other people and morally wrong because of religious beliefs. It is also worth to make the distinction between two important concepts - active killing (assisted suicide) and passive (letting die). Assisted suicide is, therefore, equated to active killing. The most important point of argument is that assisted suicide has the potential to be abused - some groups of people who lack access to care might be forced to chose assisted death as the cost-saving strategy. In 1990, Dr Kevorkian has invented the Mercitron - the machine with improvements over the noose, shotgun and barbiturates which allowed the patients to choose the time and place of death and ensured the painless demise. He did not test the machine on animals or human beings until he assisted the suicide of Janet Adkins in June 1990. Afterwards, he was prohibited to assist suicides for eight months. Dr. Kevorkian's machine and assistance has caused debates in the whole country regarding the right of the physician to help people die and usage of medical devices and drugs not to cure but to kill people. The act he has done has led to the overview of existing laws. Michigan has become the first place in the world to legalize the assisted suicide. After the criminal trial of Dr. Kevorkian the Commission on Death and Dying has reached the conclusion that the practice of assisted suicide should be legalized (Walsh, 1994). The number of restrictions has been set to safeguard against the abuse. Oregon has developed the "Death with Dignity" which came into effect in 1998. Since that

Reaction Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reaction - Movie Review Example The training video covers array of issues including effective communication. Effective communication is an important factor in the development of powerful and effective groups. Communication within the groups is vital because it facilitates the development of harmony and understanding. Several factors affect communication within the groups by affecting the characters and behaviors of the team. The understanding of the problems affecting cross cultural communication and working towards overcoming the problems will ensure successful group development. Language use is important for the development of effective group. The language variation in the various conversations that took place is significant. The age, relationship and nature of conversation changes the language used. For official conversation, the use of a higher degree of politeness and well-structured sentences is vital. The conversation between friends such as the Facebook chat has a level simple and casual language use. The degree on for gestures use in the conversation on the street is high due to the age and the desire for need of emphasis by the use of gestures. The effective nature of training will be reflected on the way employees communicate. Training on issues of communication and development of implementation plan will facilitate faster growth of the organization. The coverage of the movies is accurate and effective because it addresses the various challenges in human resource field. In fact, it covers up-to implementation of training schedules with the focus be ing on the various training models, which include; - on-job training, lectures, programmed learning, audiovisual, simulated and distance training. The implementation of the set training modules depends on the ability of the HR to understand the needs of the organization. In addition, the challenge of training is presented in the video effectively through sequenced presentation in the video. The video presents ideas using

Does increase in Internet censorship restrict open access for its Research Paper

Does increase in Internet censorship restrict open access for its users - Research Paper Example Secondly, this paper posits that governments that allow internet freedom consequently promote open access to its users; the final hypothesis is that the level of internet freedom permitted by governments directly proportional to the extent of open access for its users. Data for the research will be gathered through surveys, library research, as well as interviews with citizens of various countries both with and without internet censorship, about their perceptions on the impact of internet regulation. These research’s findings will inform policy regarding internet freedom across the world thereby promoting open access for its users effectively. Over the years, internet censorship, the control or suppression of content that individuals can access, publish, or view over the internet by governments, private organizations, and several other regulators, has increasingly become a global phenomenon, with more than 60 countries from all over the world already enforcing this practice (Burnett, Sam and Feamster Nick 2013). Schmidt Eric and Cohen Jared (2013) concur that indeed many governments globally are monitoring and censuring internet access and in due course, many people will increasingly find the internet fissured, disjointed and controlled by the government and as a result it will lose their its newfound independence through such filtering (â€Å"Is the Internet at risk?† 2012). Internet censorship entails many forms of filtering of what is termed as â€Å"inappropriate content,† including radical political opinions (Gordon 1996), sexually explicit material, as well as content depicting acts of violence and ter rorism acts, among other subjects. The Chinese government is among the leading states that have already imposed tough regulations to restrict the use of the internet by requiring all internet users to submit their names to

Assisted Suicides Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assisted Suicides Paper - Essay Example The debates over the right of patients to shorten their lives with the help of physicians will continue and there is probably no right or wrong side. Assisted suicide is a crime because it involves the death of the person who would live otherwise. Not a single person should be eligible to take away the life of another person, even though this other person is not willing to live. Drugs and medical devices are development to be safe and effective - the intended usage of drugs is to help patients to overcome diseases. Nevertheless, patients who physical and emotional pain caused by the diseases that cannot be cured, do not want to suffer and should be granted the right to stop their sufferings. For example, if the patient is unconscious and there is no hope that the condition will ever improve, the relatives might want to make a decision to stop his/her life. From the religious point of view, any assistance in this direction is a murder. From medical point of view, assisted suicide is wrong as well - the objective of healthcare is to make people healthier, not to kill them. However, from ethical standpoint, it is almost impossible t o label assisted suicide as murder or as a good deed because the rights and obligations of each side need to be taken into account. Moreover, the competent people should have the right to choose death - for example, through allowing to hasten death by treatment refusal. Suffering is not merely the physical pain, there are also psychological burdens and assisted suicide is the only possible way to relieve sufferings. Even though it is the human nature to have the interest in preserving life, the terminally ill individuals lack this interest and acquire the desire to die - the prohibition of assisted suicide might limit the personal liberty. From the other side, it is unethical to take the life of other people and morally wrong because of religious beliefs. It is also worth to make the distinction between two important concepts - active killing (assisted suicide) and passive (letting die). Assisted suicide is, therefore, equated to active killing. The most important point of argument is that assisted suicide has the potential to be abused - some groups of people who lack access to care might be forced to chose assisted death as the cost-saving strategy. In 1990, Dr Kevorkian has invented the Mercitron - the machine with improvements over the noose, shotgun and barbiturates which allowed the patients to choose the time and place of death and ensured the painless demise. He did not test the machine on animals or human beings until he assisted the suicide of Janet Adkins in June 1990. Afterwards, he was prohibited to assist suicides for eight months. Dr. Kevorkian's machine and assistance has caused debates in the whole country regarding the right of the physician to help people die and usage of medical devices and drugs not to cure but to kill people. The act he has done has led to the overview of existing laws. Michigan has become the first place in the world to legalize the assisted suicide. After the criminal trial of Dr. Kevorkian the Commission on Death and Dying has reached the conclusion that the practice of assisted suicide should be legalized (Walsh, 1994). The number of restrictions has been set to safeguard against the abuse. Oregon has developed the "Death with Dignity" which came into effect in 1998. Since that

Does increase in Internet censorship restrict open access for its Research Paper

Does increase in Internet censorship restrict open access for its users - Research Paper Example Secondly, this paper posits that governments that allow internet freedom consequently promote open access to its users; the final hypothesis is that the level of internet freedom permitted by governments directly proportional to the extent of open access for its users. Data for the research will be gathered through surveys, library research, as well as interviews with citizens of various countries both with and without internet censorship, about their perceptions on the impact of internet regulation. These research’s findings will inform policy regarding internet freedom across the world thereby promoting open access for its users effectively. Over the years, internet censorship, the control or suppression of content that individuals can access, publish, or view over the internet by governments, private organizations, and several other regulators, has increasingly become a global phenomenon, with more than 60 countries from all over the world already enforcing this practice (Burnett, Sam and Feamster Nick 2013). Schmidt Eric and Cohen Jared (2013) concur that indeed many governments globally are monitoring and censuring internet access and in due course, many people will increasingly find the internet fissured, disjointed and controlled by the government and as a result it will lose their its newfound independence through such filtering (â€Å"Is the Internet at risk?† 2012). Internet censorship entails many forms of filtering of what is termed as â€Å"inappropriate content,† including radical political opinions (Gordon 1996), sexually explicit material, as well as content depicting acts of violence and ter rorism acts, among other subjects. The Chinese government is among the leading states that have already imposed tough regulations to restrict the use of the internet by requiring all internet users to submit their names to

First Person Singular Essay Example for Free

First Person Singular Essay As children we spent most of our lives exploring and learning new things with the help of our parents. There are some memories very vague but others that we will remember for the rest of our lives. These memorable moments could be the simplest to most complex things but as children they were a big deal to us. A childhood journey that I find extraordinarily memorable was the time I went to England with my parents because I traveled across the globe and I experienced different adventures. The time I went to England was a memory I will treasure forever because it was the first time I traveled to a different continent. I was in fifth grade when we underwent this trip which made me the coolest kid in class so that really made the trip important to me. We arrived at the airport to find out that my dad needed a VISA since he was not a citizen of the US, this forced us to delay our trip and fly to New York for 3 days. After that issue was resolved we finally flew to England. The flight took about 8 hours. During the flight we ate dinner and breakfast on the plane, I recall the food not being that great especially being a picky child. We also had to sleep on the plane which can be very uncomfortable for more than an hour. I also remember having to share the minuscule bathroom with my mom to brush our teeth. Following the lengthy flight we finally reached our destination, England. Clearly, traveling to another continent is a memory I will never forget. Another reason I will cherish this trip throughout my life is because we encountered new adventures. The country seemed pretty similar to the United States but as we were getting onto the car my dad entered what he thought was the passenger seat but came to see it was really the drivers seat. Not only are the steering wheels on the opposite sides of the car but they drive on the opposite side of the road as well. We stayed at my dad’s friend’s house while our stay. This house had 4 stories including the basement, this was new to me because in Florida you only see 2 story houses most of the time. The food was a very big obstacle for me because I was not used to the food prepared in the house. The woman of the house made us a traditional English dinner which quite honestly was not to my liking. It was a large sausage with mashed potatoes and vegetables. As a fifth grader I would have preferred McDonald’s. We didn’t have an itinerary for what we wanted to do so we just did random things the city of London had to offer. While in London I saw men completely painted like statues but would randomly move and scare you half to death, that was enjoyable. Then we reached â€Å"The Eye†, the biggest ferris wheel in the world that you can see all of London from the top. Sadly I wasn’t able to ride it because it takes 45 minutes to go all around and we didn’t have enough time for that. But I did get to visit Big Ben and the Buckingham Palace. I also rode a train for the first time. This train went extremely fast and it even had a full bathroom right in the middle, it felt like it was taken out of â€Å"Back to the Future.† The last thing we did on our trip was go to a Robin Hood museum in the city of Nottingham that showed us his story. Evidently, the adventures we underwent contributed to this special memory. Given these experiences, my trip to England will be a souvenir to the journeys in my childhood because I traveled across the globe and I experienced different adventures. Many more mementoes will be added to the list as time goes on but as of now that trip was one of the most influential expeditions I have had.

Evaluation of Games Workshop and Hornby Businesses

Evaluation of Games Workshop and Hornby Businesses In a company or a business, the owner would want to evaluate his business i.e. whether the business is making a profit or loss and would want to compare it with other companies or its competitors in the same industry. To know the performance of a company, you need to look at more than just easily attainable numbers like sales, profits and total assets. To know the real picture of a company, we must be able to read between the lines of the financial statement. Hence there are many comparative ratios to identify the strengths and weakness of the company. These ratios will help the public (outsiders) to make decisions while investing in companies at the stock market. Ratio analysis helps us to understand the risk we must be taking. The basic source of these ratios is the companys profit and loss account and balance sheet as it contains all important information about the company. Financial ratios are useful indicators of a firm or companys performance and financial situation. The two company ratios we are going to compare are Hornby and Games PLC. Both the companies belong to the same industry. GAMES WORKSHOP Europes foremost professional P.C. and video game retailer is Games group. It is the only company in the gaming sector to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Outstanding customer service and a specialist offer are at the heart of GAMES Group growth. HORNBY PLC HORNBY PLC is UKs Model Railway manufacturer. Frank Hornby founded the company in 1901 and launched trains until it was bought by his competitor Tri-Ang in 1964. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornby_Railways. It is recognised for the construction of its model train sets, hobby (radio controlled cars) and toy production. It is an incorporated limited company, operating in the UK. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). ROCE = ____PBIT ___(Operating Profit)___ x 100 Capital Employed (FA + CA CL) Ratio on capital employed indicated the productivity and success of a companys capital investment. According to the formula we take operating profit or PBIT and divide it by the capital employed in the business i.e. fixed asset and working capital. In the two companies, the ROCE for Games workshop in the year 2008 was 5.48%, 2009 was 17.26% which was lower compared to 27.98% in the year 2010. This indicates that Games workshops ROCE has increased which is a positive sign as the more the returns of the capital employed, its better for the firm. Whereas Hornby Plc.s ROCE in the year 2010 has decreased from17.67% which was in 2009 and 29.47% in 2008 to 12.65% which is a negative sign as the return on capital employed is lesser than the rate at which the company borrows. Return on Sales (ROS) ROS = _PBIT_ x 100 Sales ROS also known as operating profit margin tell us about the companys operational proficiency. According to the formula, we consider operating profit or PBIT and divide it by the sales in the organisation. In the above two companies Games workshops ROS was 2.31% in 2008, 7.17% in 2009 and has increased to 12.68% in 2010. This indicates that games workshop is growing more efficiently and is more profitability. Whereas in Hornby the ROS for the year2008 was 16.85%, in 2009 was 11.20% and it decreased in 2010 to 9.27%. A decreasing ROS indicates financial trouble for the company. When we compare Hornby and Games workshop together, we get to know that Games workshop has a higher ROS which indicates a profitable organisation compared to Hornby. Asset turnover Asset turnover = ___Revenue____ Capital Employed Asset turnover is the amount of sales generated for every pound that is worth the asset. We consider the revenue of the company and divide it by the capital employed. In the above companies, the asset turnover for both the companies are low but Hornby has a lower asset turnover of 1.36% in 2010 compared to Games workshop thats asset turnover is of 2.20%. This indicates that games workshop has a higher asset turnover which is better. This also indicates pricing strategies which the company undertakes as companies with a low price margin who have a higher asset turnover and vice versa. Current Ratio Current Ratio = _Current Assets_ Current Liabilities Current Ratio comes under the heading of Liquidity ratio. Liquidity means cash a business holds during the financial year. Current Ratio is a liquidity ratio which tells us the ability of the company to pay its short term obligations. Short term obligations are obligations which are under 12 months. The formula tells us that the ability to pay back short term borrowings with its short term assets. In the above case Games workshop has a higher current ratio compared to Hornby, though the difference is not that large, but still Games workshops current ratio in 2010 is 2.03% while Hornby in 2010 is 2.10%. This indicated that Games workshop is capable to pay their obligations and vice versa. If the ratio was under 1 it would indicate that the company cannot pay its obligations. Liquidity Ratio (Acid Test Ratio) Liquidity Ratio = Current Assets Stock Current Liabilities Acid test ratio is a severe or a tough ratio which indicates whether the firm has enough short term assets to cover its immediate liability without selling out stock. The acid test ratio for Games workshop in 2008 was 0.9, in 2009 was1.14 whereas it increased in 2010 to 1.48. Hornby has a low acid test ratio in 2009 which was 0.72 but it increased to 1.37 in 2010. This indicates that Games as well as Hornby, both companies can pay off their liabilities as if the acid test ratio was less than 1 then the company has to be warned. Even if the acid test ratio is lower than the working capital ratio, it shows that the company is highly dependent on inventory. Cash Ratio Cash Ratio = Cash_____ Current Liabilities Cash ratio is the companys total cash balance and the cash equivalents to its current liabilities. Cash ratio is helpful to measure the liquidity of a company. In the above case, Games workshop has a much higher cash ratio in both the years i.e. in 2009 0.57 and in 2010 it was 0.92, whereas Hornby has a very low cash ratio from 2008 which was 0.07, in 2009 it decreased to 0.02 but it increased to 0.53 in 2010. This indicates how quickly the company can pay of its creditors. Hence creditors will decide seeing the cash ratio of the company. Stock turnover Stock turnover = _COGS_ Stock Stock turnover ratio shows how many times over the business has sold the value of its stocks during the year. In the above case, Games workshop has a higher stock turnover than Hornby. This is because in the year 2008, Games workshop had 3.24 as its stock turnover, in 2009 it was 3.36 and it decreased I 2010 to 3.02 which is a negative point. Whereas Hornby has a lower stock turnover compared to Games workshop. This indicates higher the stock turnover, the better it is for the company as then money is held up for a lesser time in stocks. Stock Period Stock Period = 365____ Stock turnover Stock period is the number of days where the average money is held up in stocks. It is calculated by dividing stock turnover by 365 days. This gives the actual picture of how many days the stock is in the warehouse. In the above diagram, it shows that in the year 2008 and 2009 Games had a stock period of 113 and 109 days while Hornby had a stock period of 166 and 164 days respectively. In the year 2010 Games workshop had a stock in warehouse for 121 days while Hornby had it for 138 days. This indicates the longer the stock is in warehouse, it is bad for the business as the money is not available to be used elsewhere. Hence Hornbys stock is available for a longer period than Games workshop. Debtor Period Debtor Period = Debtors x 365 Sales Debtor period is the average number of days credit given to customers i.e. how long does it takes the company to get its money. In the above case, the debtor period for Games workshop has decreased from 33 days in 2008 to 29 in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Whereas in Hornby the debtor period has increased compared to 2008 but has decreased to 75 days compared to 2009. This indicates that a lesser number of days are good as the debtors could trust the company. But if the company takes a long time to repay, it is bad, Hence Games workshop is better than Hornby as Games workshop has lesser number of days compared to Hornby. Gearing Ratio Industry Analysis Hornby PLC The toys and games industry has survived in the UK for 70 years but in 2009, model vehicles and outdoor games had a negative growth due to the economic recession. Customers preferred indoor games and activity construction toys since it did not require them to leave their houses, during this period. The economic downturn also caused some companies in the industry to stop business and others were bought by larger companies. There has also been an increase in demand for movie based toys and video games, which are easier to produce than other toys. As such, Hasbro, Mattel and Lego are favoured for this reason. The retail outlets prefer to stock video games as a result of its increase in demand and also because it takes less shelf space. The UK market is dominated presently by Husbro, which has the largest market share, Mattel and Lego. Passport GMID Traditional Toys and Games United Kingdom http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Portal/ResultsList.aspx HORNBY PLC is UKs Model Railway manufacturer. Frank Hornby founded the company in 1901 and launched trains until it was bought by his competitor Tri-Ang in 1964. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornby_Railways. It is recognised for the construction of its model train sets, hobby (radio controlled cars) and toy production. It is an incorporated limited company, operating in the UK. The company has created a niche market (train sets) and deals with suppliers all over the world for different railway products. Property owners, worldwide, want to engage with Hornby, in awarding license for Hornby products because of its specialisation and popularity . The key focus of the company is to ensure that the model railway business succeeds, by continually dealing with supply chain issues. Research and Development is also an important factor to its success. The following companies are subsidiaries to the group; Hornby Hobbies Ltd UK Hornby America Inc USA Hornby Espana S.A Spain Hornby Italia s.r.l Italy Hornby France S.A.S France Hornby Deutschland GmbH Germany There are individual targets for each subsidiary as regards growth and profit. It is monitored from time to time and based on current circumstances, future adjustments are made. http://www.hornby.com/investor-relations/ Horbys Competitors Tri-Ang Model railway producer Bachmann Europe Plc Model railway producer GraFar Model railway producer Model rail UK Model railway parts builder New railway Modellers Model railway builder Heywood Model Railway Group Model railway producer Hasbro Board (monopoly, scrabble etc), Star Wars movie franchise Mattel Superman, Batman, Harry Potter movie franchise Lego Activity and construction games Fun Collectibles Latest kidscrazes toys and games Wind Designs Flying toys, yo-yos, juggling equipments and kites Map Toys Toys and games Richard Edwards Card based products Revell Model kit toys Cartamundi Card games Ravensburger Puzzles and 3D Action games Cambridge Brainbox Educational Electronic kits Games Workshop Tabletop fantasy and futuristic battle games Thumbs Up Helicopters and AK 47 Guns Rainbow Productions Costume character production http://www.toynews-online.biz/marketplace http://www.holtmodelrailways.com/ http://www.modelrailuk.co.uk/ Home http://www.mcvuk.com/search/news/hornby+plc Customers Games retail stores Children Wholesalers Market Contribution and Share In 2008, there was a fall in interim pre-tax profits from  £2.7m to  £1.8m and this reduced the expected profit by December that year. Suppliers in China were challenged with the increase in labour and raw materials, therefore Hornby increased price by 10% to support China. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/65fd8c42-ec57-11dd-a534-0000779fd2ac.html Although sales in Europe fell by 15%, the Chief Executive was confident that Hornby would excel because of its quality hobby brand. On November 7th 2008, Hornbys shares dropped to 118.5p from the initial 300p which it maintained from the beginning of 2007. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f57bef7e-ad34-11dd-971e-000077b07658.html#axzz14clXbHtA Hornby Plc contributes to charity every year. It donated  £15,354 in 2008 and  £21,635 in 2009 Hornbys % Breakdown of Company shares for Toys and Games in the UK COMPANY 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Hornby Plc 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 Passport GMID Country Report Country Market Insights http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Portal/Statistics.aspx Future Forecast In order to make profit, since the demand for video games and movie based toys have increased in the UK market, Hornby Plc should study the demand of the customers and work around producing what the customers need. There may be a problem in the future to fund research and development. Hornby Plc should be prepared for economic crisis. In 2010, the group is financially strong after a difficult trading period and there is a continuous increase in the demand for its products. Passport GMID Toys and Games United Kingdom http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Portal/ResultsList.aspx Hornbys China engine unstuck on dollar strength By David Blackwell and Maggie Urry Published: January 27 2009 10:22 | Last updated: January 27 2009 16:56 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/65fd8c42-ec57-11dd-a534-0000779fd2ac.html Hornby sees fall in outsourcing benefits By David Blackwell Published: November 8 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 8 2008 02:00. Page 26 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f57bef7e-ad34-11dd-971e-000077b07658.html#axzz14clXbHtA http://www.toynews-online.biz/marketplace Games Workshop The Toys and Games industry in the UK is a gradually growing market, mostly due to their largest group of customers, children around 2-10 years of age. Children often want and need toys to entertain and occupy themselves with (Competitive Context-Figure 9). Even with recession, most parents do not necessarily cut down on spending on toys for their child as they are willing to spend what little disposable income they have on their kids and buying toys that they wanted for them (MINTEL-Internal Market Environment-Figure 1). In 2007, the toys and games sector in the UK was valued at around  £2.2 billion, a significant rise of 22% than when in 2003 (MINTEL- Toys and Games-UK-Nov 2008-Market in Brief: A strong market in tougher times). Christmas is usually the cause of the highest booster for sales of toys and games, bringing in half the total number sales in a year (MINTEL-Internal Market Environment-Key Points). Games Workshop PLC In 1975, Games Workshop PLC, was established in London by John Peake, Ian Livingstone, and Steve Jackson. It was listed in the London Stock Exchange in 1994. The company has since moved its headquarters to Nottingham. Games Workshop is mainly involved in producing and retailing games and toys (miniatures). The company started off with producing board games made of wood (eg. Backgammon), moved on to importing role-playing games (RPGs) from the United States and finally to where it is today, a toy and games producer, publisher and retailer. Games Workshop is well-known in the market for its collectible miniatures (toy soldiers) used in its role-playing and table-top wargames (WIKIPEDIA). Its specialty and focus is on collectible toy models targeting toy collectors and hobbyist whose favourite pastime is collecting toy models. Games Workshop has several subsidiaries, they include: BL Publishing Publishes literature and gaming materials Citadel Miniatures Produces toy miniatures collections for collectors and hobbyist Forge World Produces higher quality models for their role-playing and table-top wargames Sabertooth Games Produces card games related to their role-playing and table-top wargames produced (Wiki: Games Workshop http://warhammeronline.wikia.com/wiki/Games_Workshop#Subsidiaries) Competitors Hasbro U.K. Limited Vivid Toy Group Limited Vivid Imaginations Limited Games Workshop Limited Hornby PLC Flair Leisure Products PLC Hornby Hobbies Limited Datel Electronics Limited Rockstar North Limited Hardy Greys Limited From FAME (https://fame.bvdep.com/version-2010823/cgi/template.dll?checkathens=1kick=1 product=1user=lingd%40coventry.ac.ukpw=D341XryjGFEL77TgmOwhnA%3d%3d) Customers Collectors Hobbyist of their miniature games collection Teenagers Young Adults Global customers Market Contribution Share In 2009, Games Workshop wanted to cut cost and initiated a move to use plastic instead of metal for the production of their toy and games miniatures. It was an apparently well-accepted change by their customers as sales rose from  £110.3m to  £113.9m in 2009. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/719b6d28-7bbb-11de-9772-00144feabdc0.html In 2009, Games Workshop opened 10 new stores in the UK which are run by a single staff, making it easier for them to expand to smaller towns and hence more accessible to their teenage fans. These additional stores will boost Games Workshops market presence. As at January 2010, Games Workshop has expanded operations overseas to Europe, North America, Japan and Australia. However, market analysts believe that the company has potential to expand to other untapped markets. In January 2010, when Games Workshop revealed that its profit before tax achieved would surpass expectations by at least 50 percent, shares increased by 30 per cent to 333.85p. Profit before tax was initially estimated to be around  £9m as at 30 May 2010 but in January 2010, it was expected to grow by another  £5m or more by May 2010. Games Workshops gross margins have increased as a result of their cost cutting measures undertaken in 2009. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/afb932a0-fade-11de-94d8-00144feab49a,s01=1.html Future Forecast Games Workshop PLC should try to be more creative and innovative, launching new products constantly over the year, in order to increase sales and spread sales more evenly over the year than garnering the majority of sales only during the Christmas season. As mentioned earlier, market analyst believe that Games Workshop has the potential and capability required to further expand overseas, probably to untapped markets, such as Asia (with the exception of Japan where they already have expanded to). Furthermore, the market for toys and games are continuously increasing and expected to carry on growing in the future (internal market environment-is childhood getting shorter?). Sales recorded for toys and games have also been rising over the years and expected to continue doing so. (Market Re-forecasts-Household-UK-March 2009-Toys and Games). In the case of Games Workshop, although there was a slight drop in sales for the company in 2007, it has since been steadily increasing over the last couple of years. This could be due to the fact that Games Workshop builds up customer loyalty by offering collectibles that interested customers can only buy from the company if they want the complete collection. The excellent after-sales service provided by the company could be another factor that enabled them to earn loyalty from their customers. This is an invaluable asset to the Games Workshop as no matter what new products they offer, most of their loyal customers will support them by purcha sing their products. As long as the company continues to successfully retain its customer loyalty, it will go a long way. It is crucial for Games Workshop to constantly update themselves on the current trends and threats faced by the toys and games industry, and act accordingly by coming up with suitable strategies to ensure that the business stays profitable and hopefully gain a larger market share. Conclusion and Recommendations: