Lady Macbeth Essay

Lady Macbeth: In the play â€Å"Macbeth† written by Shakespeare the character Lady Macbeth is duplicitous. â€Å"†¦look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t† (I, vi, 64-65). The snake and the flower was a reference towards Macbeth although it depicts Lady Macbeth as well. Since she is under the same curse as Macbeth, because she has the same name, she is equally affected by the witches as he is. He is captured into the prophecy of the witches and so is Lady Macbeth. She might look kind and loyal to the king but above that, she is masked with greed and ambition.Lady Macbeth’s duplicity is also shown through the black permitting from behind her body. This displays her real true self that is covered by the cracked, masked bewitched image on the top. This was created through the witch’s interpretation of fate. â€Å"†¦look into the seeds of time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I, iii, 56) Lady Macbeth is holding the bloody dagger to demo nstrate that it was because of her ambitious attitude â€Å"Leave all the rest to me† (I, v, 73) and confidence â€Å"We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll not fail. † (I, vii, 59- 61) that was the reason to Duncan’s death.Lady Macbeth was the one with the plans and motives; Macbeth was only the man who executed what his wife had told him to do like a puppet. That is why Lady Macbeth is holding the murder weapon because she the one who is ultimately responsible for the King’s death. Lady Macbeth is holding a bloody crown to her head. This is to symbolise how she (Like Macbeth) are king and queen but have a worthless throne. The gold in the crown (riches and wealth that come with being king/queen) show that they may have had more riches/wealth if they were pronounced the heirs other than through murder.The blood wiping out the gold is to show how since they killed Duncan, they are now no longer given riches or promised the throne forever. All of this shows to us how impulsive Lady Macbeth is. â€Å"what cannot you and I perform upon th’unguarded Duncan? † (I, vii, 69-70). She didn’t think of the consequences or the results of her actions. Of how their sacrifice will be futile until they have a son to claim and secure their throne and line of kings. Lady Macbeth’s green clothing is to show her desire in getting to a higher position in the Great Chain of Being.First it is trying to become a man â€Å"Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I, v, 39-40). Her greed then is what took her above and beyond to killing the king and reaching his high and grand status. â€Å"†¦our hostess keeps her state†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (III, iv, 5). Lady Macbeth has a letter hanging from her body. This is to show how she is literate. â€Å" they met me in the day of success†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I, v, 1-13). During this era, women were thought to be lower than men and were not supposed to be educated. However, the first time Lady Macbeth was introduced was through her reading a letter.It also reveals to us that she is ahead of her time. She is quite distinctive compared to other typical women during that era. Another reason why she is ahead of her time is because she finds herself to be on par with her husband. It’s showing us a more dominant side to her where she’s elevated herself to his status. In addition to herself, Macbeth also finds her to be an equal to him. â€Å"This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness† (I, v, 9-10). Lady Macbeth is well-dressed in rich clothes to show that she is well-respected. An example of this is through King Duncan â€Å"See, see, our honour’d hostess. (I, vi, 11). She is thought to be worthy in every aspect and is therefore fit for clothes for a queen. Yet the clothes seem too big for her. Lady Macbeth is in a position of status that she does not f it to be in. Also, the reason why her clothes are too big for her is because she has belittled herself so much in the act of killing the King that any level of the Great Chain of Being would be too high in moral ground for her. (The size of clothes would all be too big for her). Her red hair is to symbolise how she is unappreciative and unaccepting towards her husband.She is always trying to change him â€Å"yet do I fear they nature, it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I, v, 15-16) Lady Macbeth doesn’t see him as a man and is always pointing that out to him. She is bullying him around because she needs him to achieve her desires and goals in life. â€Å"Are you a man? † (III, iv, 58) Lady Macbeth has a very guilty conscious. It is symbolised through one of her eyes. It’s to show how Lady Macbeth feels it is alright to do any evil deed as long as it is veiled by the cover of darkness and she doesn’t need to see it hers elf. Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry, ‘Hold, hold. ’ (I, v, 49-53) Another way to look at it is by saying that she feels it’s alright to commit a deed with her hands without letting her eyes (conscious) see it. This shows she has strong faith in fate and God because she doesn’t want to be held accountable for her actions. (Predestined) Lady Macbeth isn’t smiling because she is insecure. She is alarmed and nervous after killing the king.Even the slightest of sounds make her go abrupt. â€Å"Hark, peace! It was the owl that shriek’d†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (II, ii, 3) She isn’t at peace and she isn’t satisfied by her actions. Still in shock during and after the murder, Lady Macbeth is troubled and unable to remain contempt. Lady Macbeth has an unusual personality. She is two-faced, ambitious, confident, impul sive, greedy, literate, distinctive, dominant, well-respected, unappreciative, unaccepting, conscious, and insecure. She is a lady who has a rare combination of traits that together make up her villainous character.

Intention Letter Exchange Program Essay

With this letter my intention is to express the reasons for why an academic exchange is of interest to me, especially one for the ISC Paris. I am a Business Administration student at â€Å"Universidad La Salle†, I find my career very interesting and I really enjoy being a part of it, that’s why it developed great interest in me to know that the ISC was a school specialized in Administration committed to train students to become first class business people. In Mexico, we do not have a reputable University or Institute focused in Administrative Sciences, which is why from that moment, I knew that the ISC was the educational option that I was looking for. I researched more about the Institute and I realized that it is part of the prestigious French system â€Å"Grandes Ecoles† which immediately makes it an excellent choice in education and an institution that will be very important to my profession, boosting my career as well. I think France is a beautiful country that has too much to offer: from culture, food, landscapes, people, modernity, to its geographic location and boundaries with other major countries. Speaking of its capital, I believe Paris is one of the most exciting and dynamic cities in the world and it would be an honor to be a part of its student population, I think it will have a very good influence in me, studying in the city where most major French multinational corporations are located, where professional forums, conferences and fairs also take place, not mentioning it is full of culture and history to acknowledge and admire. I consider that this exchange is an ideal opportunity to relate and learn influenced by a vast diversity of cultures that will form a new international perspective in me. It will be a different experience in which I will be interacting in foreign languages such as English and French, something that will be invaluable in my future life. I’m sure ISC Paris is the right place for me, and it would be an honor to me to contribute with my knowledge and skills being part of the student community.

Lifebuoy in the United Arab Emirates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lifebuoy in the United Arab Emirates - Essay Example The Unilever started in Saudi Arabia by appointing Binzagar family as official representative. In 1992, the company decided to open its first office in Dubai followed by a joint venture in Egypt. It was operated in three clusters. In 2007 all the three were combined and became Unilever North Africa and Middle East to consolidate its operations, leverage synergies of scale and cost arbitrage. It is considered as the market leader in the region with a market turnover of US$ 1.3 billion (Unilever North Africa and Middle East Bucks the Global Trend, 2009). The brand Lifebuoy has come a long way through the years. It is one of the country’s oldest brands launched in 1894 as Lifebuoy Royal disinfectant soap. Considered as an affordable soap to support people seeking better personal hygiene, it was launched across the world and continued to be a leading brand in India (Lifebuoy Shampoo). Lifebuoy brand has also a shampoo line which includes variants such as hair fall, herbal and anti dandruff. It was launched in 1997 in Pakistan and a leading brand ever since. It provides affordable shampoo for the Pakistanis regardless of lifestyle and class. Every variant should have a detailed description of the product for consumers’ information. ... Since Middle East is a hot region and majority of the people including in the UAE suffers from dandruff due to heat, diet and other external factors, the market for anti-dandruff shampoo has been lucrative. Most citizens suffer from an age range of 15 years to above 40 years old but the majority of them are between 25 to 29 years old according to research. Different brands of shampoo can be found on the market but has different side effects have been noted on the consumers such as makes the hair hard, bad smell and others. UAE’s development of free zones and other industries such as industrial and commercial sites, growing sectors in healthcare, hotel and restaurant, automotive logistics and construction, it provides large number or workers that are prospective consumers of anti-dandruff shampoo and other products and can be considered as lucrative market Different marketing strategies have been adapted by Unilever Company to market their Lifebuoy products. Vikram (2010) state d that Brand Management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product to a product line that may be a brand too. Using this kind of strategy, brand management will generate more profit because the brand has been established in the consumers’ mind that they will continue to patronize the new product under that brand. They continue to use brand management through the years because it is a more effective way of introducing new products to market. It is also a cheaper mode of advertisement since the brand is already known by consumers and they do not have a hard time remembering the new product because they can always associated the new products with the famous brand. Another strategy that had been using by the company

Analyze the impact of recession and recovery on a countries public Essay

Analyze the impact of recession and recovery on a countries public finances - Essay Example The technical economic indicator associated with recession is economic growth which is negative which in quarters is two consecutive when measured by a nation’s GDP (Gross Domestic product) (Skousen 34-36). Monetary policy means the changes effected in money supply and interest rates in order to contract or expand aggregate demand. During recession, the federal government reduces the interest rates and increase money supply in return. However for monetary policy to be effective the confidence that both the consumers and businesses have in it play a pivotal role. Reduced interests rate may be inconsequential response to recession if the consumers and businesses do not take advantage of the reduced interest rates and increased money supply. This would in return greatly affect the recovery of and flow of money by the federal government. Fiscal policy means the changes made in regard to taxes and expenditure of the federal government with the main purpose of contracting or expanding aggregate demand level. In reference to recession, fiscal policy is applied when government lowers the people’s taxes and in turn increases its spending. On the other hand fiscal policy may also involve taxing more and spending less. However for this strategy to be effective it largely depends on savings and during imports. If the people save more and the businesses import more then fiscal policy counters recession contrary to the reverse. The reverse which in this case is less saving and importing activity ultimately scuttles recovery measures. Thirdly, by the federal government increasing its spending and lowering taxes, Automatic stabilizers are activated. This means that the progressive income tax is reduced and this in turn increases aggregate demand during recession thus enabling recovery. On the other hand, aggregate demand decreases in overheated expansion. As a result, the tax and spending changes result to recession deficit

Adoption and use of B2B enabling technologies in Australian companies Essay

Adoption and use of B2B enabling technologies in Australian companies - Essay Example In the B2B transactions, the volume of trade is higher and large amount of capital flows between the two organizations involved. The main cause to this is that in a supply chain, involving B2B trade, many sub components involving the purchase and use of raw material in a necessity as compared to a business consumer relationship which involves sale of a finished product to the consumer (Ho, 12). In Australia, there is lack of excellent mailing and telemarketing campaign lists and therefore people who are involved in direct marketing are frustrated. Direct mail is always wasted by being sent to the wrong person and on most occasions, in major companies in Australia, the contact person is the company’s chief executive officer and this executive will receive constantly a series of irrelevant mail that on most occasions are of no use to him or her. In Australia, the maintenance of data and its quality is poor and a large amount of junk mail reduces business campaigns, causing irrit ation among clients, therefore reducing the growth of direct marketing. This lack of choice and low standard of data production creates an opportunity for us to engage in provision of specialist database services and of higher quality, developed through extensive research. As an organization, we should focus on the quality of the database service to introduce in the Australian Market. For the success of the database product to be a reality, proper sales mechanisms needs to be enacted in order to realize the growth of our company the penetration of our services in the Australian Market. As our company grows, the need of developing complex sales strategies also arises, as this will effectively target the desired clients in the corporate structures. In addition, our company has to invest heavily in employing qualified and highly experienced sales personnel as this will facilitate professionalization of our marketing strategies to facilitate penetration of the Australian market. Investm ents in sales will be reflected by the successes our sales team will achieve in meeting the objectives of the organization as it will evolve into a significant player of database marketing in Australia and New Zealand and therefore making it the preferred choice of markers who engage in provision of high value services and products. As the National Sales Director, I am responsible for the performance of the sales team of the organization and because of this; I am preparing a report that will highlight the structure of my sales team that reflects the staff number, their geographic location, their roles and remuneration package. This report will highlight the distribution model that exists and the various costs and revenues expected. From this report, I will start by highlighting my salary, benefits and bonuses and thereafter highlight the salary scale of my staff, their expected benefits and bonuses. Thereafter, I will construct a budget basing on this analysis. In this report, I wil l provide my findings, based on research on the salary scale of sales staff in the Australian market and thereafter provide recommended salary structures of sales people putting into account various incentives our organization shall provide to motivate our staff. As the national sales director, my duty is to improve the sales of our database services to corporate organizations whose sole aim is to improve on the decisions made by these organizations. In marketing our databases services, the basic fundamental principles of marketing must be applied. These involves knowledge of the product, setting of competitive pricing system,

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

Strategy and management - Assignment Example This company saw this as an opportunity to expand by capturing the market that had been left by the major industry players. A competitive marketing strategy has been adopted in seeking to help the company to capture the desired market. There different markets available within the industry have prompted competitive strategies to be adopted by the airlines operating within the industry in order to compete effectively. The deregulation of the industry left all the markets and routes open to the available firms. Due to the changing market demographics, there is need to develop products that meet the needs of each market based on the characteristics of the market (Kotler & Keller 2011). These characteristics of the market vary in terms of distance, number of firms in the market and the daily demand for the airline seats. The company has adopted a pricing strategy that is aimed at ensuring all the markets that are available have been accessed. Accessing these markets will enable the company to become competitive within the industry by reaching a wide range of markets. The company has adopted an approach of flying once within each route in seeking to ensure that they have an extensive reach. As time progresses, there is hope to increase the number of flights to different routes to maximise on the widening customer base. The company is focused on flying within routes that terminate at large cities as they have large airline connecting and their clients can connect too many destinations. This approach has been adopted in order to ensure the customers are satisfied by the services as they can reach destinations where they connect to other airlines (Middleton & Clarke 2012). The preference for many customers is direct flights and the company has adopted such routes, except the route D, which has a stop-over. The scheduling element of the flight remains a crucial factor that can

Skip navigation links BFS 3440-07B BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FOR FIRE Essay - 2

Skip navigation links BFS 3440-07B BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FOR FIRE PROTECTION (BFS3440-07B) - Essay Example Bearing walls hold or bears the load of the structure; the load of the structure is transferred to the bearing wall from the floor joists and the roof rafters. Nonbearing walls are non load bearing support elements that serves the function of supporting the weight of itself and they do not bear or hold the load of the structure and they are generally used for partitioning an area in a building. As a result of the function of the bearing wall in a building, its failure can result in the catastrophic collapse of the building it supports, whereas the collapse of the non-bearing wall has little or no effect on the structure of the building as they only support their own weight and do not hold the weight of the building in any form. A fire fighter in fighting a fire must devise a tactic to identify the load-bearing walls and be aware of the dangers that are associated with the failure of the bearing walls (Wallace, 2001). A non-bearing wall is easier to build than bearing walls, a fire fighter must be aware of the fact that non-bearing wall are more likely to be destroyed by fire and could cause the spread of fire; hence they must try to first quench fire from non-bearing walls in the event of an outbreak to prevent the spread of fire and make sure that fire do not spread to the bearing walls as its collapse would bring about a catastrophic destruction of the

Human Resource management in the Hotel Industry Research Paper - 1

Human Resource management in the Hotel Industry - Research Paper Example The baby boomer turnover ratio varies from organization to organization from high to low; particularly in the hospitality industry the ratio is volatile and affects the overall costs for various companies. High baby boomer turnover ratio can extensively increase the financial implications and performance of a company (O’Dell & Hubert, 2011). Unswerving expenses include staffing, selection, and preparation of new recruits. Much time and costs go to these processes. Circumlocutory expenses include such things as added workloads and overtime costs for coworkers, in addition reduced efficiency associated with small employee self-esteem. According to Levin (2008), there are various probable causes for high baby boomer turnover ratio. Area economic background, and employment market conditions shape general turnover tariffs, and sometimes can be complex to manage. Nevertheless, certain causes related to baby boomer turnover ratio in whichever definite hospitality job or company can be managed. These may include such things as non-competitive payments, high nervous tension, poor working environment, repetitiveness, poor management, lack of communication between the employee and the job, inadequate preparation, and lack of effective communication practices in the company or organization. For hotels human resource management to develop a retention plan, numerous steps ought to be taken into account. First, there is need to asses the modern situations, and measure the baby boomers turnover ratio in their organization. The turnover ratio is always calculated by dividing the quantity of yearly terminations by the average quantity of workers in the work force (Klug, 2009). An organization should also measure the expenses involved in the turnover ratio, develop withholding strategies, and arrange for expected turnover ratio volatility, in the dynamic workforce traditions. Employers are obliged to

STD Education Campaign Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

STD Education Campaign - Case Study Example 4. Public education: The campaign should be able to teach the students how transmission of STDs occurs and the potential preventive measures. The campaign should also teach the students the importance of knowing ones HIV status. Hygiene should also be part of the teaching during sexual activities (Aral, Fenton, & Lipshutz, 2013). 5. Promoting openness: Most of the people that have contracted STDs feel shy to seek doctors’ help. The campaign team should make the students understand that keeping STD as a secret is risky to an individual’s life. They should be encouraged to seek a doctor’s help as soon as they realize some of the symptoms. By doing that cure would be easier than waiting for the disease to worsen. 6. STD patients care: During the campaign‚, the students should accomplish services such as STD, HIV and pregnancy test. The campaign team should advance health care to STD, HIV and Pregnant patients. Moreover, the team should provide the patients with medicine to fasten the healing process and preventive process. 7. Motivating the students; Notably, students would always appreciate and remain motivated when given gifts. For a student, issuance of a participation certificate could be the most precious thing in the campaign. The certificate would assist them remember the teachings about STD and act as a professional

Corruption in the Corrections System Research Paper

Corruption in the Corrections System - Research Paper Example In my study, I came up with the best solutions to minimize corruption in these units and include punishing the vote brokers and vote sellers during the judicial voting and annual assessment of the public officials. Others include; conducting regular surprise examination for all the correction system officers, a timely governmental audit by COA or an independent audit firm, strict regulations of the entire correctional system and demolishment of private prisons. A correctional system, sometimes referred to as panel system, is a connection between different agencies with the prime role of providing a jurisdiction’s prison as well as other community-based initiatives such as parole and probation boards. A correctional system forms a major crucial and important part of the macro criminal justice system, which to extent includes other processes of policing, making prosecutions and the general court system. There are some forms as well as types of this system including; Power Factor Correction Systems, Community Correction Information Systems, AccuSine Power Correction System and the Trajectory Correction System, among others. All these different types of correctional system have the same objectives, goals, and aims, which make them, stay focused towards the achievement of the best standards of providing jurisdiction’s prison to the public. However, corruption has diminished the quality of service provision by these systems, leadin g to partial failure on some of them towards the realization of their mission statements. In this research paper, I am going to identify some of the corruptions of this system and discuss the possible tactics that can get used to solving some of these problems. Corruption refers to all the activities leading to abuse of power by the public officers with the prime purpose of private and individual gain. It may also be an organized, independent processes and mechanisms. This is whereby a

Date Rape Essay Example for Free

Date Rape Essay Introduction Popular views on commital of rape are confined on the idea that a stranger, the supposed perpetrator settles on a secluded or dark area and forcibly attacking someone, before inflicting sexual contact. While this may appear to be true, it is now a basic reality that rapists aren’t just strangers. Even people we know: friends, acquaintances, relatives and co-workers are possible suspects. In fact, about half of the victims of rape know their perpetrators. Incidences of commital of the crime seemed to be alarmingly high as it comprised fifty to seventy-five percent of all accounted rape cases. But even these data do not speak of the actual figures. The University of Buffalo’s Student Affairs cited a conservative FBI statistics which provided that only three and a half percent of all forms of rape are reported. By examining and analyzing available results, this paper tries to answer questions surrounding date rape, which as follows: a) What is date rape?, b) How did it evolve?, c) What are its causes?, d) What are the risks factors?, and e) What are the necessary interventions? Anwering these questions would enable us to provide the necessary information regarding date rape. Definition and history of date rape Of the cases reported, majority of it appears that the perpetrator is a victims’s acquaintance. While it is assumed that most of this acquaintances, ranging from friends and acquaintances to dates, romantic partners, and spouses or domestic partners do not necessarily end up in violence, in certain instances and causes, rape happens. For this study, when forced sexual intercourcourse takes place between two acquaintances, it is called date rape or acquaintance rape (Homeier, et al., 2006). Date rape, on an initial public sense, is defined to be a subset of acquaintance rape where two people involved in a romantic relationship engage in nonconsensual sex. But in the case of acquaintance rape, relationship (romantic or professional) has no bearing of the situation; hence, it can be described as plain and pure sexual assault or unwanted sexual contact. The law refers sexual assault to include the commital of rape (oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse) or the force penetration of any foreign objects in the genitalia (dildo, vibrator, including finger) without consent from the victim. Meanwhile, one of the early advocacy movements on date rape in the US was pioneered way back in the 70’s in Delaware. The realization of an organization called Support Group for Victims of Sexual Offense (S.O.S.) founded by then Director of the Health Service Dr. Majorie McKusick was a driving force behind the idea to provide services to survivors of sexual assault. In 1988, SOS produced a brochure dedicated to date rape. At present, bearing a new name, the organization is continuing its efforts to raise awareness on date rape. III. Hypothesis But as to why many people fall on the verge of date rape and as to why individuals commit this crime, remains a broad subject open for discussion. Basing on facts and scientific studies though, leading experts and institutions underwent a series of researches about the topic, some of which have produced fair but contradicting results.   Given the extensive scope of this issue, this paper assumes that risk factors: perceived dating behaviors, external factors (drugs, alcohol), and attitudes of supposed victims and perpetrators constitute likelihood of dating violence and rape. Gravity of the crime Meanwhile, depending on the gravity of the case, non-penetration actions such as touching the private parts of the victim (e.g. buttocks, breasts, genitalia), naked or through clothing constitute an assault but not necessarily rape, albeit, these are detterent to the rape itself. Forcing another individual to touch another person’s private parts even against his/her will also constitute the same.   On the otherhand, the infliction of physical hostility, threats of aggression, or perform sexual contact with an unconscious, asleep, or intoxicated individual describe the force or advantage. Coercion, without the aid of force or hostility is also used such as grave threats, reaveling secrets, put the victim to shame, sack an employee or fail a student are forms of sexual harassment. The Crime scene Actions pertaining to date rapes are reported in strategic areas or venues, depending on the status and preferences of the supposed victim. As the name suggests, the crime usually pointed to locations related to the place of the date or meeting. The assault usually happens in secluded, dark, and private or even public and busy places (e.g. hotels, garden, beach, comfort rooms, cars or club houses). Some cases were reportedly committed in bushy, dark areas away from the human settlements. In the case of college students, date related violence was recorded within the university premises. This is proof to the fact that even the school is not even safe nowadays, more so, it has become a favorite venue for this crime. Commission of rape happens usually in a predictable and definite instance. This can be observed if the prospect is conscious of what is happening around him/her. But in most cases, the motives are already predisposed; hence, timing is of great consideration for the suspects to pursue with the aided or unaided sexual assault and for victims to escape the trap. Even in a promenade or a fair, where people are busy, perpetrators find a leeway to commit rape if not harassment. The targets While many people often think that rape only happens typically to women, this is not always the case. Even men also have experiences of sexual assault. Some even lead to rape, although it occurs frequently within heterosexual dating relationships. This scenario showed that date rape transcends gender, as in the case of people of every ethnicity, age, culture, religion, economic background, or sexual orientation. Just like the opposite sex sexual assault, the majority of same-sex cases occur between people who have close relationships. However, perpetrators as well as the survivors are not always gay or lesbian. Moreover, sexual assault can also be part of a bias crime against someone perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered the perpetrator in this instance can be either the same or opposite sex as the survivor. Although girls and women are the most often victims of rape one in three women will be sexually assaulted in her life, men is also vulnerable to be raped. A study revealed that seven to ten percent of rape victims are male. Meanwhile, teenagers and young adults are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than women in all other age groups. A USF-Counseling Center for Human Development report showed: that 52% of women students have experienced some form of sexual victimization, 1 in 8 college women have been raped; 1 in 12 college men admitted to sexually abusing women but did not consider themselves rapists; of the women raped, almost 75% didnt identify it as such; 47% of rapes were by first or casual dates or by romantic acquaintances; and over 1/3 of the women didnt discuss the rape with anyone, and over 90% didnt report it to the police. Moreover, in a 1998 Minnesota Student Survey, approximately 9% of girls and 6% of boys had experienced date violence or rape. On the other hand, lifetime prevalence of date or acquaintance rape ranges from thirteen percent to twenty seven percent among college-age women and 20% to a high of 68% among adolescents. VII. Causes and Tendencies As to the cause of becoming a victim and becoming a rapist, an array of results from researches in the last decade revealed that behavior, perception, and external factors confronts both the victim and the perpetrator. On a study conducted on perceived causes of date rape, 142 undergraduates were presented with grids containing 9 causes listed by column and row. They were asked to indicate if they believed there was a causal link between each of the 72 causal pairings. The result placed emphasis on drunkenness, norms of dating, and societys attitude to date rape. Misunderstanding of men’s behavior, male attitude on the unimportance of date rape, and need by males for dominance were seen as prime causes (Bostwick DeLucia, 1992). Demographic characteristics that increase vulnerability to date rape include younger age at first date, early sexual activity, earlier age of menarche, history of sexual abuse or prior sexual victimization, and being more acceptable of rape myths and violence towards women.   Ackard Neumark-Sztainer (2002) on the other hand associated date rape with the higher rates of eating disorder behaviors and suicidal tendencies, and lower scores on emotional well-being and self-esteem scales.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Teenage girls intentionally hurt by a date in the previous date are more likely to experience sexual health risks, including vulnerability to human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections, or getting pregnant. Dating violence should also be included in reproductive health programs, and greater efforts to identify women experiencing violence while on date are needed among those providing care related to adolescent reproductive health (Silverman, 2004). Other risk factors include date-specific behaviors such as who paid the expenses, who drove, date, location and activity, as well as the use of alcohol or take drugs such as flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) (Rickert Wiemann, 1998). A benzodiazepine with pharmacologic actions is similar to those of diazepam that can cause anterograde amnesia. Some reports showed that it is used as a date rape drug and suggest that it may cause violent behavior. The US government has already banned the importation of this drug which was introduced in 1984. Alcohol consumption that occurs within the context of the date can lead to: the misinterpretation of friendly gestures or cues as sexual invitations and the females inability to ward off a potential attack. Kanin (1985) proposed that perpetrators’ deviant sexual behavior has often been portrayed as the result of frustrated but legitimate sexual exhaustion. This study of the perpetrators reveals that as a product of a hypersexual socialization process, these men are sexually active, aspiring, and successful. Due to an exaggerated desire levels viewed as responsible for instituting a high degree of sexual disappointment, this acute relative deficit is a significant process reponsible for the rape episodes. VIII. Interventions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dating violence happens among teemagers which bears common and unique risk factors for dating violence found across adolescents grouped by sex, race/ethnicity, and prior victimization. Rickert, et. al., (2002) described that efforts to lessen dating violence should (1) increase the use of screening tools that measure victimization as well as contextual parameters that will promote promote dating violence; (2) increase self-efficacy to promote safer sex; (3) reduce the use/abuse of alcohol and other drugs that facilitate dating violence; and (4) eliminate the influence of negative peer behavior. Interventions to prevent dating violence will likely also lower unwanted pregnancy rates, HIV-AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s)among young people.. Old town beliefs of a woman being unable to rape another woman and a man with another man these make survivors hard to find someone to talk to, avail services, or even believe themselves that they were raped. Survivors of assault by a same-sex partner or date may face various fears such as homophobia and heterosexist attitudes when disclosing the sexual ordeal or receive medical or psychologicalinterventions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Van Wie’s 1995 study on resistance to rape showed that participants in the category with perceived resistance conditions took a longer time to identify when the subject should abstain from pursuing sexual contact, thereby exposing them more to be raped.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Results of this study could be used to promote level of awareness on date rape, educate people about the risks and responses with date rape, and to strengthen rules regarding proper sexual behavior. Conclusion   Research designs and materials are needed to advance our our knowledge and understanding of sexual violence among teenagers and the most effective ways to eliminate it. Understanding and comparing research findings would be easier if consensus regarding the definitions of date rape, sexual aggression, and sexual assault was obtained. Finally, prevention programs on primary and secondary date and acquaintance rape must be enhanced and be subjected to systematic evaluation (Rickert Wiemann, 1998) Almost sixty percent of victims who experienced rape and attempted rape disclosed this information to one or more individuals, whereas only 47% of those who experienced verbally coerced sex told another person. Rickert, et. al., (2005) observed that alcohol addiction and a shorter dating history are important variables related with disclosure of rape/attempted rape as well as the time for disclosure. Meanwhile, factors affecting the disclosure of verbally coerced sex and the latency associated with it are less well defined A present survey based on 70% returns of a random sample of 200 women at one college indicated that, although 5% had been date raped, none reported the rapes to authorities due to feelings of self-blame and embarrassment. Rape scenarios that were not reported could perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophecy that rapes do not occur. A victim of rape may feel she is the only one against the world and is reluctant to exclude one’s self who will report. However, this denial by both victims and authorities does not encourage programs for prevention and treatment (Finkelson Oswalt, 1995). Increasing identification of the incidence of date/acquaintance rape (DAR) in the US, especially among women in college, has led to an understanding that the techniques needed to ward off attacks from acquaintances differ from the techniques used to prevent rape by strangers. This study proved and validated the following DAR constructs: perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy, relational priority which is neglecting self-interest to save a relationship, rape myth acceptance (believing myths about rape which makes women avoid facing their own vulnerability), and commitment to self-defense. These constructs were also correlated with scales for masculinity, self-esteem, and degree of belief in a just world. Finally, date and acquaintance rape is not only a womans issue. Men must also be actively aware of this issue, as they can help minimize rape by educating themselves and others. â€Å"Healthy relationships involve respect including respect for the feelings of others. Someone who really cares about you will respect your wishes and not force or pressure you to have sex.†          References:    Finkelson, L., Oswalt, R. (1995). College date rape: incidence and reporting. Psychol Rep, 77(2), 526. Kanin, E. J. (1985). Date rapists: differential sexual socialization and relative deprivation. Arch Sex Behav, 14(3), 219-231. Rickert, V. I., Wiemann, C. M., Vaughan, R. D. (2005). Disclosure of date/acquaintance rape: who reports and when. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol, 18(1), 17-24. Silverman, J. G., Raj, A., Clements, K. (2004). Dating violence and associated sexual risk and pregnancy among adolescent girls in the United States. Pediatrics, 114(2), e220-225. Walsh, J. F., Devellis, B. M., Devellis, R. F. (1997). Date and acquaintance rape. Development and validation of a set of scales. Violence Against Women, 3(1), 46-58.

Value Chain Management Essay Example for Free

Value Chain Management Essay Explain how operations strategy is influenced by customer and business prospective and where in a standard value chain you would expect to see your chosen topic addressed. INTRODUCTION Every organization’s operations strategies are concerned with getting things done; ie producing merchandise for customers. However, most people believe that operations management is only concerned with short-term, day-to-day issues. In essence, all business organisations are concerned with how their business will survive and prosper in future. In contemporary terms, most business strategies are recognised with a plan as part of or a set of intentions that will set theirr long-term directions of their actions that are needed to ensure future organisational success. Thus, no matter how strong their plan is or how noble their intentions, are, any organisation’s strategy can only become a meaningful reality, in practice, if it’s operationally instigated. Every organisation’s operations are equally important because most organisational activity comprises the day-to-day activities within the operations function. It’s the process of daily actions of operations, when considered in their totality that constitute the organisation’s long-term strategic direction. The relationship between an organisation’s strategy and the operations involved is a key determinant of its ability to achieve long-term success or even survival. Organisational improvement is only likely to result if short-term operations activities are consistent with long-term strategies and hence, make a contribution to competitive advantage. The relationship between corporate operations and the other business functions is similarly important. The objective of the operations function is to produce goods and services required by customers whilst managing resources efficiently. This can then lead to conflicts within an organisation. Conflicts between operations and selling functions are likely to centre on the marketing aspect to ensure that operations concentrate on satisfying customers. Whilst this may seem enduring, marketing will usually want operations to suit customer needs under usual circumstances. Therefore, this is likely to lead to demands to produce  bigger volumes, more varieties, better quality, a faster response, and so on, all of which are likely to lead to less efficient operations. Conflicts within the operations, the accounting and finance functions, on the other hand, are likely to centre on the desire of accounting and finance to want operations to manage resources as efficiently as possible. This will pull operations in exactly the opposite direction of that desired by marketing. Conflicts within operations and the human resource management function are likely to centre on issues of recruitment, selection, training, management and the reward of those employed within operations. For example, operational managers may want to vary organisation-wide policies in order to meet local needs; a move likely to be resisted by human resource managers. The operations function lies at the heart of any organisation and interacts with all the other functions. As such, achieving agreement about what decision areas lie within the remit of operations, and what should be the basis of decision-making within operations is an essential part of ensuring the consistency of action over time necessary for a successful organisational strategy. OPERATIONS STRATEGY My introduction towards operational strategic purposes has highlighted the strategic importance of operations to organisational performance. The importance of operational strategy is essential to an organisation as this will determine the extent to which its business strategy can be implemented, but also as its operations can be a source of competitive advantage within any businesses value chain. First I will outline what exactly is meant by the term operations strategy. Slack et al, argues that an operations strategy concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of operations. His use of this term ‘pattern’ implies a consistency in strategic decisions and actions over time. This concept is consistent with a theorist guru, Henry Mintzberg’s view of strategy as being a ‘pattern in a stream of actions’ (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Henry Mintzberg, views strategy as being realised through a combination of deliberate and emergent actions. An organisation can have an intended strategy, perhaps as a set of strategic plans. However, only some  of his intended strategy may be realized through deliberate strategy. Some of the intentions may be unrealized. Strategies which take no regard of operational feasibility are more likely to have low marketing prospects, remaining merely as a set of intentions. Strategies may also emerge from actions taken within the organisations functions, which over time form a consistent pattern. Actions of this kind will, almost inevitably, arise from within the operations of the organisation. So, whether intentionally planned or otherwise, the business operations are bound to have a major impact on the formation of organisational strategy. It’s often said that strategy is an issue which is somehow separate from day-to-day organisational activities. If taken to extremes, this can result in strategies being regarded as some kind of cerebral activity performed by superior’s who need to be removed from day-to-day operational pressures. Theorists such as Mintzberg is amongst those who point out to the dangers of managers becoming detached from the basics of the enterprise. Mintzberg and Quinn (1991) call this the ‘don’t bore me with the operating details; I’m here to tackle the big issues’ syndrome. They caution that, ‘the big issues are rooted in little details’. Operational strategy, the processes and content: A. Operational strategy processes: How an organisation sets about developing appropriate operation strategies and B. Operational strategy content: What the key decision areas are and what needs to be addressed in developing any operational strategy. OPERATIONS STRATEGY PROCESS As discussed above, operational strategies have a vertical relationship in the corporate hierarchy within business and corporate strategies, and horizontally with the other functional strategies, mostly recognised within marketing strategies. Operations strategy might come about in a top-down or a bottom-up process with regard to business and corporate strategies. Similarly, an operations strategy might be developed in response to market requirements (i.e. market-led) or be based on the capabilities of its operational resources (i.e. operations-led). As this gives rise to four  perspectives on operation strategy (Slack and Lewis, 2002). Each perspective places a different emphasis on the nature of the operations strategy process. Top-down The top down perspective is the operations strategy which it comprises of, and is supportive of the organisation’s business purposes; an operations strategy that the organisation uses to realise its business strategy within any value chain. This concept follows in line with the perspective of the Hayes and Wheelwright stage 3 organisational strategy process. According to this theory, the process of developing an operations strategy would follow Skinner’s approach of identifying an operation’s ‘task’ (Skinner, 1969). The task for operations would be determined logically from the business strategy. Using Slack et al.’s, five operations performance objectives theory, as one way of articulating the operations task. For example, if the organisation’s business strategy involves the offering of low pricing, then the operation’s task should be one of achieving low costs in operations. If the business strategy is based on offering customers fast delivery, then the operations task should be one of achieving speed in operations, and so forth. In a multi-business organisation, the top-down perspective emphasises operations strategy being linked to corporate strategy via the business strategy of each business unit. This then raises the question of whether it is possible to talk of ‘corporate’ operations strategy. If corporate operations strategy means commonality, in all aspects of operations, then this would only be possible if each business unit has similar business strategies and similar operations tasks. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999) However, some theorists such as Hayes et al would argue that any corporate operational strategy does not mean that every facet of operations must be the same in each business unit. Rather, operations decisions are considered enormously at the corporate level with a view to meeting corporate strategic objectives. A failure to do this means that operations decisions are taken only at the level of the business unit, with a view to meeting needs of that business unit. The dangers of doing this have been pointed out by theories, who caution against letting the needs of the business unit dominate strategic thinking. This can lead to operational competences being confined  within individual business units, thereby restricting their future development, which includes preventing their spread to other business units and limiting opportunities for synergistic developments across the corporation. This can be particularly important in multi-site, multi-national enterprises. ( Prahlad and Hamel, 1990) Bottom-up The bottom-up perspective is one which sees the operations strategy as an element emerging through a series of actions and decisions taken over time within operations. These actions or decisions might at first seem to appear to be somewhat risky as operations managers respond to customer demands, seek to solve specific problems, copy good practices in other organizations, etc. However, they usually coincide over time to form a coherent pattern recognisable as an operations strategy. The actions then taken within this kind of strategy are likely to be characterized by a continuous series of sporadic improvements rather than the large one-off technologically led changes that require large capital investments in new plant and machinery. The bottom-up perspective is one where the organisation learns from its experiences, developing and enhancing its operational capabilities as operations managers try new things out in an almost experimental routine using their workplaces as a kind of ‘learning laboratory’ (Leonard-Barton, 1992). Easy Jet Case Study Although EasyJet only undertook its first flight in 1995, when it operated two routes (London Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh), ten years later, the budget airline offered 212 routes to 64 European airports and transported over 29 million passengers in 2005. EasyJet now carries more passengers within Europe than British Airways. Analysts expect EasyJet and its Irish based rival Ryanair, to both overtake all traditional airlines to become the largest short-haul operators in Europe by the end of the decade. The Luton based airline is known as continuously expanding, recently announcing the purchase of a further 20 Airbus A319 planes to service the ever increasing number of routes it operates. In 2005 EasyJet carried up to 30 million  passengers, up from 25.7 million in 2004, making it a  £1.3 billion business! Despite record high fuel level costs, profits were up and around 10 per cent to  £68 million. Passenger numbers rose 21 per cent to 29.6 million and the load factor, indicating how many seats are filled, was 85.2 per cent, reflecting the airline’s popularity. The low cost lines like EasyJet have revolutionised the airline industry in Europe. Modelled on South West Airlines in the USA, these airlines have not only helped create a whole new market of cost-conscious travellers but have taken market share from established operators like British Airways and become the most profitable airlines in Europe. To be profitable, these airlines have to achieve low costs to match the low fares, which are the main attraction to their passengers. With its head office as a large tin shed adjacent to the main taxiway at unfashionable Luton Airport, all of EasyJet’s operations are aimed at minimising costs. This is done in a number of ways: Use of the Internet to reduce distribution costs. EasyJet sells around 95 per cent of all seats over the Internet. Its online booking system uses a variable pricing system to try to maximize load factors.(Prices start very low – sometimes free, and rise as seats are filled.) The fuller the aircraft the lower the unit cost of travel. (Scholes and Johnson,1999, pg12) Ticketless travel Passengers are emailed with their travel details and booking reference numbers. This helps reduce significantly the cost of issuing, distributing, processing and reconciling millions of tickets each year. Neither does EasyJet pre-assign seats on board. Passengers sit where they like. This eliminates an unnecessary complexity and speeds up passenger boarding. No free on board catering. Eliminating free catering on board reduces cost and unnecessary bureaucracy. Passengers can purchase food and refreshments on board. Efficient use of airports. EasyJet flies to the less crowded airports of smaller European cities and prefers the secondary airports in the major cities. These also have lower  landing charges and normally offer faster turnarounds as there are fewer air movements. EasyJet’s efficient ground operations enable them to achieve turnarounds of less than 30 minutes. This means EasyJet can achieve extra rotations on the high-frequency routes, maximising the utilization of aircraft. EasyJet’s ability to offer point-to point travel means that it does not have to worry about onward connections for passengers and their baggage, further simplifying its operations. Paperless operations. EasyJet have embraced the concept of their paperless office, with all its management and administration undertaken entirely on IT systems. These can be accessed through the use of servers from anywhere in the world thereby enhancing flexibility in the running of the airline. (Scholes and Johnson,1999, pg12) Many of the manufacturing practices that are now considered leading edge such as JIT, TQM, Statistical Process Control, were developed in just; such a fashion by Japanese manufacturers responding to the constraints placed upon them in the aftermath of the Second World War. One of the problems associated with this perspective is that the organization may not recognize what its operations strategy is. Mills et al. (1998) have developed a technique that aims to overcome this by enabling managers to construct a visual representation of operations strategy as realized. It does this by tapping into the organization’s collective memory, whether written or verbal, to map all of their most significant events in operations over the previous number of years. This should enable managers to recognise the patterns that now make up the existing operation’s strategy. Market-led The market-led perspective is one where the operations strategy is developed in response to the market environment in which the organisation operates. There’s a number of approaches within operations strategy that suggest how this might be done. The best known of these theorists is that of Terry Hill (1985). He suggests that an organisation’s operations strategy should be linked to its marketing strategy by considering how its products and  services win orders in the market place. He believes it’s possible to identify two types of competitive criteria in any market. Market qualifying criteria are those factors that must be satisfied before customers will consider making a purchase in the first place. Order winning criteria, on the other hand, are the factors in which customers ultimately make their purchasing decision. For example, for many airline passengers, the order winning criteria is price, with criteria such as destination city, time of flights and convenience of travel to and from airports being market qualifying criteria. For others, notably business travellers, the order winning criteria may be factors such as in-flight service or total travel time. Consequently, an operations strategy should be developed which will satisfy market qualifying criteria, but excel at order winning criteria for the market segment that the operation wishes to serve. Platts and Gregory 1990, use an approach that audits the products or groups of products that the organisation offers to its markets. The aim is to identify any gaps between market requirements for particular products and services and the performance of the organisation’s operations in delivering those products and services. First the market requirements for the product or service are analysed in terms of various competitive factors (such as cost, quality, reliability). The performance of the organization’s operations against those factors are then assessed. An operations strategy should be developed which will enable operations to match the level of performance required by customers in each of the competitive criteria. Operations-led The operations-led perspective is one in which its excellence in operations is used to drive the organisation’s strategy. This is in line with the Hayes and Wheelwright stage 4 organisation and fits with the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy that currently dominates the strategic management literature. The premise of the RBV is that superior performance comes from the way that an organization acquires, develops and deploys its resources and builds its capabilities rather than the way it positions itself in the market place (Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984). Thus, the process of strategy development should be based on a sound understanding of current operational capabilities and an analysis of how these could be developed in  the future. This can then provide the basis for decisions about which markets are likely to be the best in which to deploy current and future capabilities, which competitors are likely to be most vulnerable and how attacks from competitors might best be countered (Hayes et al., 2005). Mills et al. (2002) have developed methods through which organizations can apply these ideas in practice. This involves undertaking an analysis of the resources that have underpinned the activities of a business unit over an extended period of time (at least the previous three to five years). Six resource categories, which are not mutually exclusive, are used: tangible resources, knowledge resources skills and experience, systems and procedural resources, cultural resources and values, network resources and resources important for change. The resources are evaluated against three criteria: value, sustainability and versatility. Resources that individually or collectively score highly in these criteria are considered to be important resources. They are sources of existing or potential competitive advantage to the organization. OPERATIONS STRATEGY: CONTENT What then are the key decision areas of operations management that need to be considered when an organization is developing an operations strategy? Although there are a number of classifications in use, operations management scholars generally agree (e.g. Leong et al., 1990) that the major strategic decision areas in operations can be conveniently divided into ten categories under two broad headings: structure (the physical attributes of operations; the hardware) and infrastructure (the people and systems of operations; the software). The structural decision areas comprise: Facilities: the location, size and focus of operational resources. These decisions are concerned with where to locate production facilities, how large each facility should be, what goods or services should be produced at each location, what markets each facility should serve, etc. Capacity: the capacity of operations and their ability to respond to changes in customer demand. These decisions are concerned with the use of facilities, for example through shift patterns, working hours and staffing levels. Decisions about capacity will affect the organisation’s ability to serve particular markets from a given location.  Process technology: the technology of the equipment used in operations processes. For example, the degree of automation used, the configuration of equipment, and so on. Supply network: the extent to which operations are conducted in-house or are outsourced. Decisions about vertical integration are also concerned with the choice of suppliers, their location, the extent of dependence on particular suppliers, and how relationships with suppliers are managed. Structural decisions often involve major capital investment decisions, which once made will set the direction of operations for many years to come. They invariably impact the resources and capabilities of an organisation, determining its potential future output. It may be prohibitively expensive to change such decisions once implemented, and hence these must be considered to be truly strategic decisions for the organisation. It may be much easier to change the organisation’s marketing strategy (e.g. its target markets, or its promotional activities) than it is to change its operations strategy with respect to the structural decision areas. Infrastructure decision areas comprise: * Planning /Control: the systems used for planning and controlling operations. * Quality: the use of quality management policies and practices. * Work Organisation: Business structures, responsibilities and accountabilities in operations. * Human Resources: recruitment and selection, training and development, management style. * New Product Development: the systems and procedures used to develop and design new products and services. * Performance Measurement: financial and non-financial performance management and its linkage to recognition and reward systems. These issues are important to every organisation as this involves the use made up of the operating hardware as discussed above. It is possible to change aspects of operations infrastructure more quickly and easily than the case for operations structure. Nonetheless the difficulty of doing so should not be underestimated or neither should the impact of making inappropriate infrastructural decisions parallel. Conclusion Organisational strategy is concerned with the actions a company takes in order to survive and prosper within the environment it operates over the long-term. Strategy can exist at three levels in an organisation: which are; corporate, business and functional. Any organisation’s operations strategy includes the totality of the actions and decisions taken within the operations function. The decisions or actions taken have a direct impact on the organisation’s business and corporate strategy. An organisation’s operations can be a source of competitive advantage if they are managed strategically in pursuit of a clear goal for operations. These are five possible operations objectives; cost, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. It is unlikely that any operation can excel at all of these simultaneously, so competitive priorities must be determined on which to base the operations strategy. The process of operations strategy concerns the way in which an organisation develops its operations strategy. This might be top-down (i.e. formed in pursuit of its business and corporate strategy), bottom-up (i.e. formed from the actions and decisions taken with operations), market-led (i.e. formed in response to market requirements) or operations-led (based on the resources and capabilities within its operations). The content of operation strategy consists of the key decision areas concerned with the structure (i.e. the physical attributes of facilities, capacity, process technology and supply network) and infrastructure (i.e. planning and control, quality, organisation, human resources, new product development and performance measurement). Through a value chain, operations strategy would be placed in line with the company supply chain strategies and perspectives where business process are involved. This concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of operations. (Slack et al., 2004). References Johnson, g and Scoles, k Exploring corporate strategy, 6th Edition. England: Prentice Hall Ltd Miller, R Jentz, G (2009) Fundamentals of Business , 2nd Edition. England: Cengage Learning Soulsby, S Marsh, J (2002) Business , 8th Edition. London: Nelson Thornes Ltd Rush, J Ottley, M (2006) Business for students. London: Thomson Learning www.wikipedia.org Accessed: 15.20pm: 24.1.12

The labour cost advantage and china

The labour cost advantage and china Introduction China has an emerging economy and therefore, produces many products. On the European market, there is a large demand for these products. China has relatively low production costs, which makes China an interesting country to import from. Chinese wages have risen sharply with globalization, average wages in China have increased every year since 1978. The average wage in urban areas was 21.000 Yuan in 2006, which is four times higher than the average wage in 1995. How will the wages develop in China? The question for this research is: Has China the labour cost advantage? Content Has China the labour cost advantage? 1 Introduction 2 Content 2 Offshoring in general 3 Why are companies outsourcing to China? 3 Employment in China 4 What was Chinas economic reason to enter the WTO? 4 How have wages been developed in China? 6 Wages by Ownership 7 Wages by Region 9 Wages by Sector 10 Wages compared with other countries in Asia 11 Has China the labour cost advantage? 12 Bibliography 13 Offshoring in general Offshoring is defined as the movement of a business process done at a company in one country to the same, or another company, in another country. Most of the movements to lower-costs destinations take place in the own management. Outsourcing is the movement of an internal business process to an external company in the same country and the movement of an internal business process to an external company in another country. Offshore outsourcing occurs most often.  [1]   Why are companies outsourcing to China? There are different reasons why companies outsource to China, but some of these reasons are similar. Several reasons for outsourcing to China are  [2]  : Cheap Labour: China offers savings up to five times compared to the U.S. The labour costs in China are 50 percent lower than in India. Labialization of laws and government policies: Government has passed laws which protect private ownership and intellectual property in the country. It has also embraced public/private partnerships and domestic/foreign partnerships. Existence of offshore manufacturing and physical proximity to major markets: China is the manufacturing plant of the world, which provides sound base for outsourcing, strengthened by risk mitigation and greater stability. Employment in China Although China is still a developing country with a relatively low average income, it has a tremendous economic growth since the seventies (9.1 percent in 2004). This can be related to a great extent of an economic liberalising policy. The Gross National Product raised with 400 percent between 1978 and 1998 and the international investments grew tremendous during the nineties. The agriculture is by far the most important sector. Figures of 2007 show that 41 percent of the total population of China is employed in this sector. Nevertheless, the agricultural land limits to around 11 percent of the total Chinese land surface. Since the seventies, the agriculture is privatised, which yield a tremendous production growth. Figure 1: Economic growth, percentage per year  [1]  4 What was Chinas economic reason to enter the WTO? Joining the WTO is a very important event for the development of China at the beginning of the 21st century. WTO membership opens up Chinas market for more international trade and investment, and opens up the world economy for Chinas exports. Some researchers see it as a positive force for Chinas economic development while others are concerned that the competition of foreign imports and foreign enterprises in China might destroy important domestic enterprises in Chinas agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors. The main motivation of Premier Zhu Rongji in promoting Chinas entry into the WTO was to use foreign competition to speed up economic reform in both the industrial and service sectors. In the late 1990s, reform in both sectors was slow due to the inertia coming from vested interests of a group of formerly appointed managers holding on their positions.  [3]   How have wages been developed in China? Average wages have increased every year since 1978. In 2006, the average wage in urban areas in was 21.000 Yuan, which is four times higher than the average wage in 1995. However, as wage levels increased, so did discrepancies between different sectors, types of ownership and regions. In general, average wages were higher in share-holding, foreign-owned and state-owned enterprises, and were lowest in locally funded enterprises, with wages in enterprises owned by Hong Kong and Taiwanese businesses in the middle. A more significant gap emerged between different occupations and industrial sectors, and especially between low-skilled and high-skilled workers.   In 2006, the average wage of employees in primary industries was only 786 Yuan, which is a quarter of the average wage of employees working in financial services (3.273 Yuan) and one-fifth of those working in the computer industry (3.730 Yuan). Wages by Ownership Between 1995 and 2007, the average annual wage for employees grew more than four times, from 5.600 Yuan to 22.700 Yuan. Figure 2 shows the average annual wages of staff and workers by type of ownership from 1995 until 2007. In China, there were three periods of wage reform. The first period of reform started around 1985. Before this year the average wage growth was around 4.9 percent per year. In the period 1986 until 1997, employment in jointly owned enterprises experienced a tremendous growth. The average wage growth per year was still quite low, with an average of 3.9 percent, which was partly due to a negative growth in 1988 and 1989 (because of inflation and political upheaval). The third period was from 1997 until 2007. From 1999 on, the average wages were rising rapidly with an average of 14 percent per year. This could be because of Chinas preparation for getting into the WTO, as well as the restructuring of state-owned enterprises which started in 1998. Wages in the state sector began to increase in the late 1990s, reaching 14.358 Yuan in 2003, surpassing private sector wages by a narrow margin for the first time since reform began. By 2007, the average wage in the state sector was about 11 percent higher than in the private sector. The state-owned sector has been restructured in the 1990s. In the planned economy, they had low productivity, disguised unemployment (because of Chinas political function of maintaining low unemployment) and limited profits. They had a wage system which was dependent on seniority. In the 1990s, the Chinese government would not include the losses of their enterprises. This is why they began with restructuring. They started by allowing privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies. After that, the government started with a more aggressive restructuring. The objective was to shut down loss-making companies and establish modern forms of corporate governance. These reforms led to many layoffs in state-owned companies. From 1996 to 2002, around 40 million employees were laid off. As can be seen in figure 3, the Chinese government succeeded in downsizing the employees and the productivity in the state-owned sector increased. Figure 2: Annual wages of staff and workers by type of ownership in thousand Yuan Source: China Statistical Yearbook Figure 3: Employment share and labour productivity for state owned enterprises Source: http://www.conference-board.org/economics/workingpapers.cfm?pdf=E-0024-07-WP Wages by Region Figure 4 shows the annual wage of employees divided in different regions in China. The 30 provinces are divided by the National Bureau of Statistics of China in six regions: Bohai (Beijing and surrounding provinces), Southeast (including Shanghai, Guangdong and other coastal provinces), Northeast, Central, Southwest and Northwest China. Tibet is not listed, since there is limited information about this region. Figure 3 presents the real annual wage of employees across the six regions in China, showing the different wage patterns. During the first period of reform, the average wages were grouped. Later on, the wages in the South-eastern and Bohai regions began to rise. As can be seen in figure 4, the wages in the South-eastern and the Bohai regions now have the highest average wages. The difference between these two regions and the other four regions is around 30 to 40 percent. The highest growth in the past 20 years has occurred in the South-eastern and the Bohai regions, the coastal areas where cities as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen are located. Figure 4: Annual wages by Region in thousand Yuan (Source: China Statistical Yearbook) Wages by Sector The wages by sector have about the same pattern as the wages by regions. In figure 5 the wages across sectors are showed. Remarkable is that the wages across sectors stayed clustered until 1993. After 1993, the average wages for Banking Insurance, Scientific research Polytechnic service increased rapidly. These two sectors are both sectors with skill intensive labour. To make a comparison between the skill intensive sectors and the other sectors (unskilled sectors), the average wage in the construction sector was 5.729 Yuan in 1990, about 14 percent higher than the average wage for the banking Insurance sector. In 2007, the Banking Insurance sector had an average wage of 50.000 Yuan, around 265 percent higher than the wages in the Construction sector. People believed that manufacturing wages grew the fastest because of the increasing volume of exports in China. Actually, these wages grew even below the national average, although manufactured products counted for more than 90 percent of Chinas export. Figure 5: Annual wages by sector in thousand Yuan (Source: China Statistical Yearbook) Wages compared with other countries in Asia Figure 6 shows the manufacturing wages of different Asian countries from 1979 to 2007. The wages of China are comparable with the Philippines and Thailand, plausible is that the wages of Malaysia are much higher than the other countries listed. Figure 6: Annual Manufacturing wages between several Asian countries in USD Source: International Labour Organization Has China the labour cost advantage? Wages have been developed. However, there are differences between skilled and unskilled labour. The wages for skilled labour increased rapidly the past decade. (see page 10)Wages for unskilled labour still remains quite low compared to the skilled intensive sectors. Reasons for the wage growth of unskilled workers are the GDP growth of more than 10 percent per year, and the export growth of almost 30 percent per year since China became part of the WTO in 2001. In contrast to this, employment in manufacturing has increased with 3 percent in recent years. Compared to other developing countries in Asia, China still have the lowest wages on average. However, wages in China have developed rapidly since the late 1990s. Another factor is the large supply of graduated students over the past several years. Due to an increasing demand in skilled labour, the Chinese government expanded the enrolment of students in the late 1990s. In 1998, the total number of admitted students was around 1.08 million, a number that increased to 2.68 million in 2001. This could prevent a rapid increase of the wages in the future.

Rewards In Society :: essays research papers

Micro Theme Assignment #1, Position #2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our present society is composed of a ranking structure based on the premise that unequal distribution of rewards such as status, resources, and power is natural, right and good; and for this type of structure to stand, there must be many on the bottom, and a few at the top. Persons in the structure must either resign themselves to their status, compete to win a higher position, and/or defend the position they have. In order for some to move up this structural hierarchy, others must move down if the structure is to remain stable. Although this process may be necessary for our existing society to function properly, it can also prove to be detrimental to society. The competition, fear, greed, resentment and revenge inherent in these types of social systems continue to be formidable barriers blocking the way to social equality in our current society. Karl Marx believed that production is dependant on the workers material conditions present at the time. Unequal distribution of rewards may cause those people who do not experience promotion or personal gain to feel insignificant to society, resulting in a low self-esteem and a reduced level of production. I enlisted into the United States Army for three years following my high school graduation. A good example of unequal distribution of awards is the military, where the whole income structure is based on a person’s rank, and only one individual at the top of your chain of command can grant a request for an increase in rank. If that individual does not like you, he or she has the power to deny any and all requests for promotion. For the soldiers that were denied a promotion, they were looked down upon by many of their peers and leaders. These soldiers soon began to act as if they did not deserve to be promoted. Marx said, “how workers are related to each other can affect their family relations, leisure activities, child-rearing practices, and self-esteem';(Kerbo 94). I observed some of these characteristics, such as low self-esteems, thoughts of quitting the Army before the expiration of enlistment, thoughts of committing violent crimes, and even suicide. The unequal distribution of rewards can also lead to what Max Weber called “status groups';, groups of people who obtain similar levels of promotion, prestige or personal gain in their workplace or community. These groups of people tend to cut themselves off from those not in their group.

Clarification of Payscales and Regional Differences Essays -- Engineer

Clarification of Payscales and Regional Differences A world without engineering would be a world without cities, highways, cars, or industry. Engineers play a very important role in our society. They are involved in virtually all fields of industry in one way or another, and create the products and solve the problems that make it possible for everyone to enjoy the day-to-day conveniences Americans take for granted. In America, approximately 2 million people are engineers (College of Engineering, 1998). There are various fields of engineering: aerospace, agricultural, ceramic, chemical, computer, construction, electrical, industrial, mechanical, metallurgical, and civil. Civil engineers are probably the most important field of engineering to the public. Encyclopedia Americana(Okay, we are in college now--no more using the encyclopedia or the dictionary as openings or definitions. Find stronger sources.) (1998) enlightens ones' knowledge of civil engineers: Civil engineering is one of the most diverse branches of engineering. The civil engineer plans, designs, constructs and maintains a large variety of structures and facilities for public, commercial, and industrial use. These structures include residential, office, and factory buildings; highways, railroads, airports, tunnels, bridges, harbors, channels, and pipelinesÉ as well as sewage and waste disposal systems that add to our convenience and safeguard our health. (p. 762) Civil engineering has been a part of our history since the beginning of civilization. The pyramids of Egypt and the ruins of ancient Rome and Greece are classic examples of early civil engineering. Civil M.D. Morris (1974) suggested that "Civil Engineers are creators; Innovators for the commonwealth... ... The civil engineering handbook. New York: CRC Press. College of Engineering. (1998). Civil engineering. ISU college of engineering online: [http://www.eng.iastate.edu/about/info/civil.html]. Available ISU online: Directory: The atlantic monthly online: Home page: Departments. Engineering. Tell me about the college of engineering. What do engineers do? Civil engineering. Engineering Career Services. (1998). Engineering career services: [http://www.eng.iastate.edu/ecs/employers/Spring201998%20Salary.html]. Available engineering career services online: Directory: Engineering career services: Home page. Services to students. Full-time employment. bachelors. Spring 1998. Morris, M. D. (1974). Civil engineers and the world around us. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers. Petroski, Henry. (1997). Remaking the world. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Clarification of Payscales and Regional Differences Essays -- Engineer Clarification of Payscales and Regional Differences A world without engineering would be a world without cities, highways, cars, or industry. Engineers play a very important role in our society. They are involved in virtually all fields of industry in one way or another, and create the products and solve the problems that make it possible for everyone to enjoy the day-to-day conveniences Americans take for granted. In America, approximately 2 million people are engineers (College of Engineering, 1998). There are various fields of engineering: aerospace, agricultural, ceramic, chemical, computer, construction, electrical, industrial, mechanical, metallurgical, and civil. Civil engineers are probably the most important field of engineering to the public. Encyclopedia Americana(Okay, we are in college now--no more using the encyclopedia or the dictionary as openings or definitions. Find stronger sources.) (1998) enlightens ones' knowledge of civil engineers: Civil engineering is one of the most diverse branches of engineering. The civil engineer plans, designs, constructs and maintains a large variety of structures and facilities for public, commercial, and industrial use. These structures include residential, office, and factory buildings; highways, railroads, airports, tunnels, bridges, harbors, channels, and pipelinesÉ as well as sewage and waste disposal systems that add to our convenience and safeguard our health. (p. 762) Civil engineering has been a part of our history since the beginning of civilization. The pyramids of Egypt and the ruins of ancient Rome and Greece are classic examples of early civil engineering. Civil M.D. Morris (1974) suggested that "Civil Engineers are creators; Innovators for the commonwealth... ... The civil engineering handbook. New York: CRC Press. College of Engineering. (1998). Civil engineering. ISU college of engineering online: [http://www.eng.iastate.edu/about/info/civil.html]. Available ISU online: Directory: The atlantic monthly online: Home page: Departments. Engineering. Tell me about the college of engineering. What do engineers do? Civil engineering. Engineering Career Services. (1998). Engineering career services: [http://www.eng.iastate.edu/ecs/employers/Spring201998%20Salary.html]. Available engineering career services online: Directory: Engineering career services: Home page. Services to students. Full-time employment. bachelors. Spring 1998. Morris, M. D. (1974). Civil engineers and the world around us. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers. Petroski, Henry. (1997). Remaking the world. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Rome :: essays research papers

Occultists the world over believe that, once a symbol is created, it acquires power of its own, and more power is generated when such symbol(s) are created without the profane [uninitiated] knowing about it. And, the greatest power of all is created in the symbol(s) if the uninitiated NEVER discover that the symbol exists. In this article, we shall demonstrate positive proofs of conspiracy to achieve the ends of Freemasonry, i.e., achieving the New World Order. And, these proofs exist right under your eyes, in Washington, D.C., the Capital district. Prepare for the unexpected. Before you read this article, you might want to go to a map store to buy a street map of Washington, D.C. The New World Order is coming! Are you ready? Once you understand what this New World Order really is, and how it is being gradually implemented, you will be able to see it progressing in your daily news!! Learn how to protect yourself, your loved ones! Stand by for insights so startling you will never look at the news the same way again. YOU ARE NOW ON THE CUTTING EDGE We will demonstrate that the street design in Government Center in Washington, D.C., has been cunningly laid out in such a manner that certain Luciferic symbols are depicted by the streets, cul-de-sacs and rotaries. This design was created by an Masonic architect in 1791, just a few years after Freemasonry assumed the leadership of the New World Order, in 1782. Remember, occult leaders in Europe were told by their Familiar Spirits as early as the 1740's that the new American continent was to be established as the new "Atlantis", and its destiny was to assume the global leadership of the drive to the New World Order. From the beginning, the United States of America was chosen to lead the world into this kingdom of Antichrist, and Washington, D.C. was to be its capital. You will need to have your maps of Washington, D.C., opened in front of you as we proceed. As we proceed through this discussion we will answer the great question of "Why" these streets have thus been laid out. Before we begin our discussion of this Washington, D.C. map, let us lay some important groundwork which will enable us to better understand the occultic meaning behind what we are about to show you. This information was given Cutting Edge Ministries by a born-again Christian who was once a medium level Satanist, Doc Marquee. At the time of his conversion, Doc was in charge of several Satanic covens West and North of Boston.

Conceptual Framework of 4`S Library

Peter Drucker defined the marketing concepts as â€Å"the business as seen from the customer? s point of view. † Keating & Hafner [68] initiated that business models can be applied to libraries; they draw analogies from business by substituting â€Å"library† for â€Å"corporation and â€Å"user† for â€Å"customer†. The e-Business domain is being employed extensively in government, library, and non-profit diverse organizations lately. Constantinides (2002) [69] proposed the Web-Marketing Mix (WMM) model to identify the online marketing critical elements and addresses the E-Commerce strategic, operational, organizational and technical issues by: Scope, Site, Synergy and System (4S). The scope identifies the strategic and operational objectives to be addressed. The site proposes a method for drafting realistic and consistent Web marketing plans in order to develop the functional platform of communication, interaction, and transaction with the web customers. The synergy refers to the necessary organization, infrastructure, human resource and knowledge for supporting smooth online operational processes. The system identifies main technological and administrative issues that will underpin online marketing activities. To illustrate how to implement the 4S into conceptual framework, each of them will be explained further. The â€Å"Scope† is acted as a strategic direction for managers to ensure the whole staff follows the organizational predefined goals and objectives. In order to measure an organization's internal processes, then to identify, understand, and adapt external practices for continuous improvement from other organizations, there is a desire to establish benchmarking across institutions [70]. For administering reader profiles and sustaining activities, a segmentation of readers is helpful to reach the goal setting and position the strategic role of library during the service process. The â€Å"Site† transforms a web required to evaluate how well the website? s presentation has complied with the presetting functional requirements. Library website (Libweb) is the virtual front doors to collections and services [71], and as a powerful International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology.

Business Proposal Final for Thomas Money Service Essay

The ongoing financial status of doubting doubting doubting Thomas gold answer Inc. ineluctably attention to service improve its existing life-threatenings and function to mortify the challenges confront by the economy down bite. This proposal of marriage leave address those issues effecting the additionability of Thomas currency swear out Inc. and strategize affective slipway to overcome those obstacles to return to returnability. Thomas funds Service Inc. (TMS) has been in business since 1940 (University of Phoenix, 2012). The guild started out granting small loans for consumer needs and evolved into pass business loans, business acquisition financing, and commercialised real estate loans, (University of Phoenix, 2012). TMS expanded into equipment financing in 1946 under the subsidiary of here aft(prenominal) Growth Inc. (FGI), (University of Phoenix, 2012). The venture in turn became in truth lucrative for TMS because of a enormous get in wrench and forestry equipment later World War II (University of Phoenix, 2012). In 1951, FGI purchased an equipment manufacturing party building, selling, and financing their own building and forestry equipment and dis appeased financing other equipment (University of Phoenix, 2012).For over 67 years it has been profitable and has utter in previous economic downturns that the comp each n incessantly had to lay off any of its workers, (University of Phoenix, 2012). However, in the current time out and after several natural disasters affecting forestry states, FGI clams declined last year by 30%. Home mountains also declined, constructions slowed and caused FGI to retrieve equipment and sell it at a discounted legal injury. With the changing economic environment and profit blemish Thomas coin go Inc. has communicate recommendations to help add its tax tax income, determine its profit maximizing quantity, ontogeny product differentiation, increase barriers to entry, and minimize cost of production. Market coordinate and Elasticity of DemandThomas capital function Inc. operates in a monopolistic competition by offering products and function that can be recited and is very competitive with other sellers offering correspondent products for consumption. By creating an environment in which consumers aspect to purchase equipment could receive financing and goods in a one stop brand has positioned TMS as leader in the market place sh ar in the construction manufacture prior to the recession. Because in that respect are corresponding products available for consumers to obtain instead of FGIs equipment, it has to differentiate its product and services as the best to have by nonpricing competition.The expenditure snapshot of read for Thomas funds Services Inc. from its original price of $1990.1 to its clean price of $1732.0 shows the responsiveness of consumer to the quantity demanded of goods and services at its new demand of 182 trillion units from it its original demand of 123 million units shows that the PEoD is 3.70 resulting in TMS being very elastic. Although Thomas bullion Services Inc. has not been a price registerr but a price shaping machine distinguishing it has a one stop snitch for consumers construction equipment. The market has changed resulting in consumer finding alternatives to TMS goods and services decreasing receipts over the last year. There are many domestic and international companies manufacturing construction and forestry equipment (University of Phoenix, 2012). Because TMS offers elastic goods and services it has to impact to monitor the market to understand the demand. Recommendation emergence RevenueIncreasing revenue is the design for Thomas Money Services Inc. heedless of how the economy is doing. Because the market has declined in business firm sales, individual construction, and forestry equipment TMS should focus its marketing on hospital and care for homes. According to University of Phoenix, not all sectors have been affected by the economic downturn hospital and care for homes still have a advanced demand for new building (2012). These sectors are potential areas to increase revenue for TMS. other area is in the price of equipment. To continue success in the marketplace the elasticity of demand plays a vital role. Currently, FGI has repossessed equipment and selling each unit at $1,732. From the demand chart below it testament subscribe to revenue in the amount of $315,224 for the sale of 182 units. If FGI were to decrease the price to $1,634.3 per unit from the demand chartbelow the demand go forth increase to 350 units sold, resulting in $572,005 in revenue. This leave alone increase revenue by $256,781 resulting in to a greater extent profit to invest butt into the company. Over the past years the info for demand is in millions.Table 1Price Demand1,990.1 1231,732.0 1821,634.3 3501,252.0 380732.1 400622.3 456profit-maximising QuantityThe monopolist ic competitor maximizes profit by producing the output at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost (McConnell, Brue, & Flynn, 2009). fringy cost is the redundant cost it would take to produce another unit of good or service. Marginal revenue is the additional revenue acquired from selling the additional unit. To ready profit-maximizing quantity Thomas Money Services will need to continue to increase output until its marginal revenue equals its marginal cost. Because TMS has been in business for much than 60 plus years it is before long operating in a long run curve where it earns a regulation profit. Barriers to EntryUnfortunately, because Thomas Money Service Inc. operates in monopolistic competition there is relatively easy entry and sack into the market. When demand is high for construction and forestry equipment there will be surge of newer firms to give in the market because capital requirements are low. However, during this economic downturn many newer firms will leaving because they will be unable to differentiate themselves from the longstanding branding and reputation that Thomas Money Services Inc. has had in the market. By making it more difficult to chase TMS goods and service will result in an increase barrier to entry for newer competitors. point of intersectionDifferentiationIn recent years, Thomas Money Service Inc. has decreased it advert revenue to having a commercial in the Super Bowl and a a few(prenominal) other sporting events (University of Phoenix, 2012). In purchase order to increase its product differentiation it will need to increase advertisement revenue to inform consumers of product differences, thus increase product branding and consumer loyalty. Since TMS operates in a monopolistic competition it has to advertise firmly to inform consumers of the benefits of its goods and services, especially in nursing home and construction magazines. When consumers prefer a specific product then within limits they will pay more to punish their preferences, thus making the product more inelastic to changes in the price in the long run (McConnell et al., 2009). Minimize damage of ProductionWhile fixed cost have stay constant for diverse outputs of production for Thomas Money Services Inc. there are still slipway to minimize cost. Installing proper equipment for process and manufacturing the equipment and staying aware of the latest technology will help in cutting cost. By TMS shopping around for the best bargain in raw material and continually monitor variable cost to not exceed output of production. Combine shed to offset prices for material for future projects mop upIn conclusion, Thomas Money Service Inc. is a sound company that needs to adjust its strategy during this global recession to improve profits. This business proposal has turn to some of those issues to help increase its revenue, maximize profits, minimize cost, and differentiate it from its competitors. These recommendations are h ardly few ways to overcome the challenges faced by TMS. Thomas Money Services Inc. will need to continue to monitor the market and their effectiveness to adjust to the ever changing-market.ReferencesMcConnell, C. R., Brue, S. L., & Flynn, S. M. (2009). Economics Principles, problems, and policies (18th ed.). Boston, MA McGraw-Hill Irwin.University of Phoenix. (2012). Thomas Money Service Inc. Scenario Multimedia. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, ECO/561 website.