Thinking and Managing Ethically Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Thinking and Managing Ethically - Essay Example al, 2007). CSR is playing an inevitable part and becoming more and more important in practice. It has an enormous potential to deliver better results while adding to business practices and knowledge. Corporate social responsibility plays a vital role in small and medium enterprises as more than 90 percent of enterprises in Asian Productivity Organization are members of SMEs. Gross domestic product consists of 75 percent of these enterprises (Hassan et. al, 2007). Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stand for the companies whose turnover lies in certain limits. However, Malaysian SMEs are categorized as per the size, turnover and activity. In broad terms, Malaysian SMEs are defined in two major categories (Saleh et. al, 2006): The 2000 census conducted by the Department of Statistics in Malaysia shows that there were about 20,455 active firms in the manufacturing segment when talking about the total numbers of SMEs. This figure was out of about 44,185 manufacturing firms registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM). Textiles and apparel segment contributes the largest segment of about 17 per cent of the total enterprises. Where as, the food and beverages contributes about 14 per cent, metals and metals products contributes 14.3 per cent and wood and wood products contributes 13.6 per cent (Saleh et. al, 2006). The relevant stakeholders who deal with SMEs in Malaysia in any form follows and adopt these standard definitions. The list comprises of various Ministries and Agencies at Federal and State levels of Malaysian Government along with the Statutory Bodies, authorities and financial institutions. They maintain data based on annual sales turnover as well as number of full-time employees in companies

Income elasticity of demand Essay Example for Free

Income elasticity of demand Essay Luxury product sales boost in the emerging marketing like China, which has extraordinary growth and strong potential consumers for the development of luxury goods in the China market. With gradually lower and lower increase of revenue in the European countries, Louis Vuitton (abridged as LV in the following sections) commits itself to set up more stores in China. However, LV is faced with the problems of declining profits in China, which urges it to adjust its entry strategy into the China market. In this case, this report will focus on distinguishing the factors that influence LV’s development in China and laying out schemes for LV’s entry into China market by initially examining the internal and external environment for LV; analyzing the operational plan for LV’s entry into China based on the environment examination, and generating an action plan for LV’s entry strategy at the end of the report. Content 1. 0 Introduction Louis Vuitton (abridged as LV in the following sections) is planning to set up more stores in the China market. However, it is now faced with the problems of declining profits in China, which urges it to adjust its entry strategy into the China market. In this case, this report is to lay out schemes for LV’s entry into the China market by distinguishing the internal and external factors that influence LV’s development from the perspectives of country factors and internal advantages of LV with reference to the SWOT analysis model; analyzing the operational plan for LV’s entry into China based on the environment examination and including suggests on firm strategy, organization structure and management, entry strategy and modes, manufacturing management, marketing plan, and accounting as well as finance management; and generating an action plan for LV’s entry strategy at the end of the report according to the specifications of the business operational plan. 2. 0 Research Methods The research method of literature searches is adopted to generate this report. This method is chosen because there are plenty of existing studies on the development of luxury goods, which makes it possible for abundant literature searches. Also, there are a great many resources on the annual reports of Louis Vuitton available which offer insights into the financial performance of this company. Anyway, luxury goods are indeed possessed by the majority of people, which makes direct interviews or surveys less available. 3. 0 Findings: External and Internal Environment The internal and external factors that influence LV’s development will be examined in this section from the perspectives of country factors and internal advantages of LV. A SWOT analysis will be involved in this section, which aims to find out the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of the company according to analysis on the internal conditions of the company and the external environment the company is faced with (Johnson Scholes, 2002, p122). 3. 1 External environment: Country factor analysis The external environment for LV’s entry into China will be discussed in terms of the politics and government policy of China, the economy and the China market, the social culture and transportation of China, and will be concluded from the perspectives of opportunities and threats for LV’s entry into China. In terms of politics and government policy, China is now actively opening up to the world and enhancing trade relationships with world brands since the reform and opening up policy. In terms of the economy and the China market, according to Yuval and Vinay and Cathy (2011), the analysts of Mckinsey quarterly, China has increasing booming urban cities including the second- and third-tier cities and the world second-largest GDP which means strong purchasing power the China consumers for luxury goods and great market potentials (para 8). They also pointed out that by 2015, Chinese consumers will account for more than 20 percent of the global luxury market. On the other hand, the large market potential has drawn a host of luxury-goods companies to enter the China market, which makes the competition fiercer and fiercer. And it is troublesome for LV that there are plenty of fake goods imitating LV’s style prevailing in China, which are actually not likely to reduce LV’s high-end consumers, but would exert negative influences on consumers’ impression and awareness of LV. In terms of social culture, for one thing, the China consumers are attracted by middle- and high-end products and somehow more attracted by French luxury goods, and they believe that the higher the price, the better the quality (Yuval, Vinay and Cathy, 2011, para7) (Exhibit 1). For another thing, the traditional virtue of thrift is rooted in the mindset of the Chinese, with which some of the rich in China indicate that they would not spend a large sum of money to get a product. (Exhibit 1) (Chinese consumers increasingly prefer internationally well-known brands. Retrieved on Jan 3rd 2013 from: http://www. mckinseyquarterly. com/Tapping_Chinas_luxury-goods_market_2779) In terms of transportation, airlines are increased like the Emirates group which launched air routines in the main cities of China, and railway transportation as well as road transportation is more and more available, making it convenient and fast for cross-national transportation. Therefore in conclusion, the opportunities for LVs entry into China can be concluded as Chinas encouraging policies on foreign brands entering into China; Chinas booming urban cities and increasing middle- and upper- class consumers with strong purchasing power; Chinese consumers purchasing preference for French high-end products; and the more and more convenient cross-national transportation in China. While the threats for LVs entry into China entail the fierce competition from the peer companies and brands; the trouble coming from increasing produced counterfeit products imitating LV in China; China consumers cautious traditional views on luxury goods purchasing. Anyway, when it comes to China consumers rational attitude towards luxury goods purchasing, it may be an opportunity for LV if it succeeds in drawing out their desires and needs for LVs products, otherwise it may turn out to be a threat for LVs expansion in China. 3. 2 Internal environment: Based on national level and firm level 3. 2. 1 Internal environment based on national level The advantages of internal environment for LV on national level lie in the its preference and prospect to greatly expand its business in China, its experiences of operating in China market for about twenty years, and its strong influence on and temptation to the China consumers, as well as customer loyalty for it. On the contrary, the disadvantages lie in its high price which will greatly influences China consumers’ will to purchase the products, and in its could-be easily imitated appearance and style which is made used of by some China manufacturers in producing fake goods. 3. 2. 2 Internal environment based on firm level 3. 2. 2. 1 The nature of LV’s products Dubois and Czellar and Laurent (2001) delineated Luxury goods as products with extraordinary quality as well as high price, rareness and uniqueness, aesthetic appeal, respectful long history, and the sense of being superior to others (p156). Yacine and Johnathan and Motohiro (2004) argued that luxury goods manual crafting and diligence should be involved into the manufacturing and designing of luxury goods (para 2). Based on these studies, the nature of LVs products can be abstracted as unique, rare, and excellent-quality, and extraordinary. 3. 2. 2. 2 Industry characteristics of luxury goods Kapferer (1996) suggested that luxury industry distinguishes the needs and demands of the wealthy people like prominent social figures, and produce unique superior products for them, which acts like a status symbol for the rich (p251). While Heine (2010) stated that the luxury industry is also fashion-oriented and high-quality guaranteed. And it is closely associated with the needs of the wealthy. Judging from these studies and the advancement of luxury products nowadays, the industrial characteristics of luxury products can be concluded as extraordinary quality with high guarantee, extremely personalized with unique designed style, strong brand recognition and customer loyalty, and highly profitable sales based on its high price. 3. 2. 2. 3 Advantages and disadvantage of internal environment for LV on firm level The advantages of LV on firm level mainly lie in its good brand image, abundant product portfolio, wide expansion in the China markets covering most of the first- and second-tier cities, and its control on the designs of products. This can be told from the following aspects. Above all, LV enjoys a good reputation of high quality and excellent services that it has occupied the first place of the 2012 Hurun Ranking of the Top ten luxury brands in the world (see Appendix 1), in which LV beats Hermes, the second in the list by nearly 43%. Also, LV offers manual crafting designed products which are special for certain customers. What’s more, it offers permanent after-sale serves to its customers (Paul, 2012, p79). In terms of geographical expansion, LV has reached many areas of China (Exhibit 2).

Biography of Billy Graham and His Accomplishments in His Career :: Billy Graham Religion Evangelism Essays

Biography of Billy Graham and His Accomplishments in His Career "This is the Hour of Decision with Billy Graham, coming to you from Minneapolis Minnesota" Billy Graham, has preached to more than 210 million people through a live audience, more than anyone else in history. Not only that, but Mr. Graham has reached millions more through live televison, video and film. This has led Billy to be on the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World" from the Gallup Poll since 1955 a total of thirty-nine times. This includes thirty-two consecutive more than any other individual in the world, placing him as the most popular American for about forty years. This essay is going to talk about Graham's personal life, and what kind of family he grew up in and im also going to talk in detail about how he became an evangelist, because I feel it is very important yet interesting. His accomplishments in the fifties are uncomparable, so I will be including a considerable amount of information concerning that topic. Finally I will be talking about his personal achievements, bo oks written, and how he has been a companion to some of the American Presidents. William Franklin Graham Jr. was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 17, 1918. Graham was raised on a dairy farm by William Franklin (deceased 1962) and Morrow Coffey Graham (deceased 1981). In 1943 he married his wife Ruth McCue Bell, and had four children Virginia 1945, Anne Morrow 1948, Ruth Bell 1950, William Franklin, Jr. 1952, and Nelson Edman 1958. At age eighty, he keeps fit by swimming, playing with is nineteen grand children, and from aerobic walking, in the mountains of North Carolina, where he currently lives. (Billy Graham Best Sellers, 1999) Billy Graham told Time Magazine in one article about his life before becoming a preacher. "I lived on a farm. The only difference was I had to get up early in the morning and go milk cows. When I came back from school that day, I had to milk those same cows. There were about twenty cows I had to milk. By hand. That was before they had those ma chines. I loved being a farmer. But God called me to this work that I'm in now. I knew it was God calling. I said, "Yes. I will follow what God wants me to do." And so I went to two or three schools to get education. Biography of Billy Graham and His Accomplishments in His Career :: Billy Graham Religion Evangelism Essays Biography of Billy Graham and His Accomplishments in His Career "This is the Hour of Decision with Billy Graham, coming to you from Minneapolis Minnesota" Billy Graham, has preached to more than 210 million people through a live audience, more than anyone else in history. Not only that, but Mr. Graham has reached millions more through live televison, video and film. This has led Billy to be on the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World" from the Gallup Poll since 1955 a total of thirty-nine times. This includes thirty-two consecutive more than any other individual in the world, placing him as the most popular American for about forty years. This essay is going to talk about Graham's personal life, and what kind of family he grew up in and im also going to talk in detail about how he became an evangelist, because I feel it is very important yet interesting. His accomplishments in the fifties are uncomparable, so I will be including a considerable amount of information concerning that topic. Finally I will be talking about his personal achievements, bo oks written, and how he has been a companion to some of the American Presidents. William Franklin Graham Jr. was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 17, 1918. Graham was raised on a dairy farm by William Franklin (deceased 1962) and Morrow Coffey Graham (deceased 1981). In 1943 he married his wife Ruth McCue Bell, and had four children Virginia 1945, Anne Morrow 1948, Ruth Bell 1950, William Franklin, Jr. 1952, and Nelson Edman 1958. At age eighty, he keeps fit by swimming, playing with is nineteen grand children, and from aerobic walking, in the mountains of North Carolina, where he currently lives. (Billy Graham Best Sellers, 1999) Billy Graham told Time Magazine in one article about his life before becoming a preacher. "I lived on a farm. The only difference was I had to get up early in the morning and go milk cows. When I came back from school that day, I had to milk those same cows. There were about twenty cows I had to milk. By hand. That was before they had those ma chines. I loved being a farmer. But God called me to this work that I'm in now. I knew it was God calling. I said, "Yes. I will follow what God wants me to do." And so I went to two or three schools to get education.

A Comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Darling -- comparison com

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper", and Anton Chekhov's, "The Darling", we are introduced to main characters with lives surrounded by control. In Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character, which remains nameless, is controlled by her husband, John. He tells her what she is and is not allowed to do, where she is to live, and that is she is not permitted to see her own child. In Chekhov's, "The Darling", the main character, Olenka, allows her own opinions and thoughts to be those of her loved ones. When John puts the narrator into the room, she writes in despite of him telling her that she should not. At the end of her first passage, the narrator tells us, "There comes John, and I must put this away - he hates to have me write a word". The narrator was told that writing and any other intellectual activity would exhaust her. The only thing that exhausts her about it is hiding it from them. The narrator tells us, "I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal - having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition". Conrad Shumaker suggests that John believes that if someone uses too much imagination then they will not be able to figure out reality. "He fears that because of her imaginative 'temperament' she will create the fiction that she is mad and come to accept it despite the evidence - color, weight, appetite - that she is well. Imagination and art are subversive because they threaten to undermine his materialistic universe" In Gilman's "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper", Gilman tells us that when she was sent home from the rest cure, Dr. Mitchell gave her "solemn advice to 'live as domestic a life as far as possible,' to 'have but two hours intellectual... ...lf. Her thoughts were always for someone beside herself. When Olenka was alone "she had no opinions of any sort. She saw the objects about her and understood what she saw, but could not form any opinion about them, and did not know what to talk about." Olenka had nothing to make conversation and if she would make conversation, she could not give her opinion. In conclusion, both women had a strong control factor in their life. In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character makes no decisions of her own. Her husband, John, controls everything she does. In "The Darling", the men surrounding her life control all of Olenka's opinions. The men do not mean for it to be this way but that is just how Olenka is. She allows herself to not be able to think on her own. These characters have similar personalities. They both allow themselves to be controlled throughout their lives.

Liberal Studies Versus Concentrated Degree Essay

Thesis Statement: Liberal Arts graduates who possess a wide array of skills have a less difficult time finding long-term employment compared to more applied streams of education. (May Change- I am still hesitant about my topic) A List: Philip Giles, Torben Drewes, and Jon Cowans Abstract: The liberal studies education provides a graduate student with numerous skills and endless employment opportunities. In our continuously changing society and job market, many are struggling with finding employment within their careers. Research currently states that learning various skills and developing a broad-based skill set is the key to having a successful and long-lasting career. For some the liberal education means a general education in terms of â€Å"the classic great books,† as opposed to specialized training for a particular career. For others, it means the subject matter, â€Å"the liberal arts† or â€Å"the humanities. † Either way, the liberal arts offers a diverse education that prepares one for life. Annotated Bibliography: Liberal Arts Degrees and the Labor Market, Philip Giles and Torben Drewes Although more fulfilling salaries for liberal arts careers are promising in the longer term, research says that those of applied majors tend to occupy more job offers and higher salaries at entry level (Short 1). â€Å"While both groups received substantial average hourly wages, wage rates for applied programs graduates were about 6% higher for both men and women† (Giles and Drews 29). Currently, there is a higher demand among employers for new graduates with majors such as engineering, health professions and computer science, however, a lower demand for new graduates with a liberal arts major. It is clear that majority of students are graduating with a technical degree such as business or engineering, however, research shows that graduates with a Humanities degree will develop stronger careers in the future. â€Å"Their longer-term career entry and advancement prospects may be equal or superior to those whose undergraduate majors are of immediate interest to employers† (Short 1). The article states that Humanities and social sciences students acquire different skills than those obtained in more vocationally trained settings (Giles and Drews 32). These Humanities skills, according to the article, earn lower wage rates in entry level positions, however, later in their careers there was higher rates of employment and wages than their applied program counterparts. The reasoning for this, according to Giles and Drew’s article, is it takes longer for liberal arts graduates to figure out what they want to do because the direction they want to go in is not as clear as those of a technical major such as business. The picture that emerges is one in which individuals graduating from programs in the humanities and social sciences had considerably more difficulty with the school-to-work transition† (Giles and Drews 33). In other words, an engineering major has a more concise and direct education that leads them to a certain career, however those who are liberal arts graduates with a broad-based Humanities education, have a more explorative time finding what career direction to follow. Of What Use These Liberal Arts, Jon Cowans A recent study says that Arts graduates were highly successful in gaining long-term employment because of their academic breadth and flexibility (Cowans 20). In Jon Cowan’s, Of What Use These Liberal Arts, a 2002 Trent University economics professor published a study called Value Added: Humanities and Social Sciences Degrees on recent university graduates in the job market. He wrote, â€Å"The development of more generic, but valuable, skills may actually give the liberal arts and science graduates a leg up on their more vocational counterparts since such skills are much less likely to be rendered obsolete by technological trade-induced shocks. The ability to switch sectors of employment has value in a rapidly changing economy† (Cowans 21). In other words, liberal arts and science graduates, according to Cowans, have an advantage in the job market because of their broad-based and adaptable skills. According to the article, it is principally for these skills that the Arts graduates are finding employment. â€Å"A better organized mind, capable of inquiring and distinguishing false from true and fact from opinion; a mind enhanced in its ability to write, read and compute† (Cowans 21). The main distinction Cowans makes is that more applied streams of education limit a graduate whereas a liberal studies major has a more diverse educational background to offer an employer. Yes a Liberal Arts Education Can Be Productive, Joseph Short President of Bradford College, Joseph Short, believes that a strong liberal arts education prepares students to strive for a fulfilling career. According to Short’s, Yes a Liberal Arts Education Can be Productive, an education in the Arts paves more pathways to executive, professional, and leadership positions in society than many vocationally specific undergraduate majors in technical fields (Short 1). Further, a degree in liberal arts develops higher-order intellectual skills such as problem solving, reasoning, and data analysis that allow the Humanities graduate to perform various skills that are affective within a number of careers. Last, these graduates are highly recommended for entry level and long term occupations in education, communications, journalism, human services, management, government and internal relations (Short 1). Liberal Arts Studies Offer an Edge in Corporate Jobs, Carol Kleiman Similarly, in Carol Kleiman’s article Liberal Arts Studies Offer an Edge in Corporate Jobs, she discusses the negative impact having a technical degree such as business has on a graduate. In the article, John R. Marshal has an engineering degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Virginia but still felt a gap in his education.’ I had too narrow a technical education, and while that helps meet your employer’s immediate needs, you’re not left with any way to navigate your life’† (Kleiman, 1). Consequently, he went back to school for a degree in liberal studies and felt a more broadened view of the world (Kleiman 1. ) Overall, Kleiman’s article explains that any sort of education is worthwhile however, an in-depth educational background in liberal studies allows the strong possibility for an advancing career of upward mobility because of its broad education and endless employment possibilities. What Does a Liberal Arts Degree Get You in Today’s Job Market, Eisa Nunez According to Eisa Nunez’s What Does a Liberal Arts Degree get you in Today’s Job Market, â€Å"in today’s technological world – where knowledge doubles every 18 months and industries are created in less time – requires workers with transferable skills they need to be ready for as many as 11 different jobs in a lifetime† (Nunez 1). â€Å"The only education that prepares us for change is a liberal education. In periods of change, narrow specialization condemns us to inflexibility† (Nunez 1). It is true that 70 to 80 percent of college freshman list the following as their reasons for attending college: earning money, finding job, and preparing for a career (Nunez 1). Rather than concentrating on learning one skill and going out into the workforce, Nunez says that taking time to develop critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills in various areas is necessary to leading a long term successful career in the 21st century. This preoccupation with the short-term is based on an old labor-market model that assumes that a narrow, technical education is the key to success. However, David Kearns, executive chief officer of Xerox says, â€Å"This idea does not work in a modern economy where adaptability is the key† (Nunez 1). College of Liberal Arts Needs a Makeover On the contrary, in College of Liberal Arts Needs a Makeover, the author says that the college major, Liberal Arts is in dire need of a makeover, â€Å"a new marketing campaign to promote an updated image† (Frank 1). â€Å"It’s a shame that many people believe a liberal arts major has limited job prospects upon graduation† (Frank 1). Further, the article states that businesses would rather have new hires with specialized technical training to fill entry level positions. â€Å"People who can hit the ground running, they say, like engineers, programmers, hotel managers, nurses, lab technicians† (Frank 1). In other words, those fresh out of technical training are prepared to begin working in the career of their choice, whereas Liberal Arts graduates need more training in their job choice. Frank says that because the name Liberal means free or generous, the word free gets mistaken with easy. An engineering student has to master really difficult subjects like physics and calculus. A liberal arts student takes English and history† (Frank 1) Therefore, subconsciously, people think it can’t be that hard to study English. Interdisciplinary Approach: Advantages and Disadvantages, and the Future Benefits of Interdisciplinary Studies, Casey Jones In Casey Jones article, Interdisciplinary Approach: Advantages and Disadvantages, and the Future Benefits of Interdisciplinary Studies, discusses the current structure of the educational system. She believe that Liberal or interdisciplinary studies focus on the fringes of a field and owers an academic’s reputation in the eyes of his peers and hurts his chances for tenure†(Jones 78). In other words, the academic system is still very much structured on the concentration of specific majors because the integration of interdisciplinary or Liberal studies, does not fully prepare a student for employment in the real world. The Employable Liberal Arts Major, Rachel Donadio Similarly, Rachel Donadio’s article points out with tuition costs raising and the state of the economy, it is better to learn as many applied skills as possible. This year at Colgate and New York University, there have been professional training programs instilled which allow students to participate in non-credit courses that offer them specific job training within a field. With the competitive job market, there are a lot of specific skills that young people need as the economy and employment industry continue to diversify. â€Å"Colleges say they aren’t abandoning the liberal arts education but rather bring the ideal slightly more in line with the job market reality† (Donadio). Although this article slightly goes against my thesis statement, I believe it offers a different view on the liberal arts education. Studies Indicate that Liberal Arts Grads are Less Likely to be Recruited for Jobs In Studies Indicate that Liberal Arts Grads are Less Likely to be Recruited for Jobs, The Wall Street Journal, confirms that employment recruiting companies favor top ivy league schools over less reputable schools. In this article, seniors graduating from Mount Holyoke, a liberal arts college, â€Å"are much less likely to be recruited from top companies† (The Mount Holyoke News). Although they are less likely to be recruited, employment after college is not as affected. â€Å"The national unemployment rate for college graduates under 25 in 2010 was 8 percent, up from 6. 8 percent in April 2009 and 3. 7 percent in April 2007† (The Mount Holyoke News). Despite the great recession, according to the article, our recent graduate have done well. â€Å"Our students have the critical thinking skills, the communication skills, the ability to understand. The ability to communicate across cultures-the things employers really look for† (The Mount Holyoke News).

A Quick Guide to Getting a Pay Raise

A Quick Guide to Getting a Pay Raise Are you thinking about asking for a raise? Before you do, make sure you have positioned yourself as strongly as possible for a yes. Consider when raises are generally granted at your company. Is it at the end of the year? On the anniversary of your start date? Take a look at the following infographic to determine whether you are ready, or you need to wait a bit for a higher salary. Don’t Do ThisAfter you have decided that you will ask for more money, be careful how you position yourself. Check out the following video from Fast Company to see how you really sound when you ask for a raise.Do ThisSo what’s the right way to ask for a raise? You have to prove your worth to the company. Enter the meeting with a well-thought-out justification for a salary increase. It should be based solely on performance, whether it is exceeding established goals, or bring in new business. Check out the following video to learn how to best ask for a raise.This article is part of Bulk Up Your Career in 2017Â  campaign. Access the entire guide here to help you succeed in 2017.

A History of the Napoleonic Code (Code Napoléon)

A History of the Napoleonic Code (Code Napolà ©on) The Napoleonic Code  (Code Napolà ©on) was a unified legal code produced in post-revolutionary France and enacted by Napoleon in 1804. Napoleon gave the laws his name, and they largely remain in place in France today. They also heavily influenced world laws in the 19th century. It is easy to imagine how the conquering Emperor could spread a legal system across Europe, but it might have surprised many of his day to know long it outlasted him. The Need for Codified Laws France in the century before the French Revolution may have been a single country, but it was far from a homogenous unit. As well as language and economic differences, there was no single unified set of laws that covered the whole of France. Instead, there were large geographic variations, from the Roman Law which dominated in the south, to a Frankish/Germanic Customary Law which dominated in the north around Paris. Add to this the canon law of the church which controlled some affairs, a mass of royal legislation which had to be considered when looking at legal problems, and the effects of local laws derived from parlements or appellate courts and trials, and there was a patchwork which was very difficult to negotiate, and which stimulated a demand for a universal, equitable set of laws. However, there were plenty of people in positions of local power, often in venal offices, who worked to prevent any such codification, and all attempts to do so before the revolution failed. Napoleon and the French Revolution The French Revolution acted as a brush that swept away a mass of local differences in France, including many of the powers that stood against codifying the laws. The result was a country in a position to- in theory- create a universal code. And it was a place that really needed one. The Revolution went through various phases, and forms of government- including Terror- but by 1804 was under the control of General Napoleon Bonaparte, the man who appeared to have decided the French Revolutionary Wars in France’s favor. Glory Beyond the Battlefield Napoleon wasn’t just a man hungry for battlefield glory; he knew a state had to be built to support both him and a renewed France. Most important was to be a law code that bore his name. Attempts to write and enforce a code during the revolution had failed, and Napoleon’s achievement in forcing it through was massive. It also reflected glory back onto him: He was desperate to be seen as more than a general who took charge, but as the man who brought a peaceful end to the revolution, and establishing a legal code was a massive boost to his reputation, ego, and ability to rule.   The Code Napolà ©on The Civil Code of the French People was enacted in 1804 across all the regions France then controlled: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, chunks of Germany and Italy, and was later spread further across Europe. In 1807, it became known as the Code Napolà ©on. It was supposed to be written fresh, and based on the idea that a law based on common sense and equality should replace one based on custom, societal division, and the rule of kings. The moral justification for its existence was not that it came from God or a monarch (or in this case an emperor), but because it was rational and just. A Compromise Between Old and New All male citizens were supposed to be equal, with nobility, class, a position of birth all wiped away. But in practical terms, much of the revolution’s liberalism was lost and France turned back to Roman law. The code did not extend to emancipating women, who were subjugated to fathers and husbands. Freedom and the right of private property were key, but branding, easy imprisonment, and limitless hard labor returned. Non-whites suffered, and slavery was allowed in French colonies. In many ways, the Code was a compromise of the old and the new, favoring conservatism and traditional morality. Written as Several Books The Napoleonic Code was written as several Books, and although it was written by teams of lawyers, Napoleon was present at nearly half of the Senate discussions. The first book dealt with laws and people, including civil rights, marriage, relationships, including those of parent and child, etc. The second book concerned laws and things, including property and ownership. The third book tackled how you went about getting and modifying your rights, such as inheritance and through marriage. More codes followed for other aspects of the legal system: 1806’s Code of Civil Procedure; 1807’s Commercial Code; 1808’s Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure; 1810’s Penal Code. Still in Place The Napoleonic Code has been modified, but essentially remains in place in France, two centuries after Napoleon was defeated and his empire dismantled. It is one of his most lasting achievements in a country in thrall to his rule for a turbulent generation. However, it was only in the latter half of the 20th century that laws were altered to reflect equality to women. Wide Influence After the Code was introduced in France and nearby areas, it spread across Europe and into Latin America. Sometimes a straight translation was used, but other times large changes were made to fit local situations. Later Codes also looked to Napoleon’s own, such as the Italian Civil Code of 1865, although this was replaced in 1942. In addition, laws in Louisiana’s civil code of 1825 (largely still in place), derive closely from the Napoleonic Code. However, as the 19th century turned into the 20th, new civil codes in Europe and around the world rose to reduce the importance of France’s, although it still has an influence.

Sycamore - Not Just a Planetree

Sycamore - Not Just a Planetree The sycamore tree (​Platanus occidentalis) is readily identifiable with broad, maplelike leaves and a trunk and limb complexion of mixed green, tan and cream. Some suggest it looks like camouflage. It is a member of one of the planets oldest clan of trees (Platanaceae) and paleobotanists have dated the family to be over 100 million years old. Living sycamore trees can reach ages of five hundred to six hundred years. The American sycamore or western planetree is North Americas largest native broadleaf tree and is often planted in yards and parks. Its hybridized cousin, the London planetree, adapts very well to urban living. The improved sycamore is New York Citys tallest street tree and is the most common tree in Brooklyn, New York. Champion The record American sycamore, according to The Urban Tree Book and the Big Tree Register, is 129 feet tall. This Jeromesville, Ohio tree has a limb spread that spans 105 feet and the trunk measures 49 feet in circumference. Threats Unfortunately, sycamore is susceptible to anthracnose fungus which makes leaves turn brown and contorts stem growth. Witches brooms or leafless sprout clusters form and grow along the limbs. Most urban plantings are of the hybrid London planetree because of its resistance to anthracnose. Habitat and Lifestyle The deciduous sycamore is fast growing and sun-loving, growing seventy feet in seventeen years on a good site. Very often it divides into two or more trunks near the ground and its massive branches form a wide-spreading, irregular crown. Mature trees usually develop hollow portions and areas of decay making them vulnerable to wind and ice. The outer bark peels away to create a mottled patchwork of tans, whites, grays, greens and sometimes yellows. The inner bark is usually smooth. The leaves are very large with 3 to 5 leaf lobes and are often 7 to 8 inches long and wide. Stalked unisexual flowers of both sexes appear on the same tree when leaves emerge. Fruits dangle from long stems and are aggregates of feathery seed nutlets (achenes). The tree is a very aggressive stump sprouter. Lore The tree was probably named by early colonists who noted a resemblance to the English sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus). The sycamore tree of the Bible is actually the sycamore fig (Ficus sycomorus).The tree is not very good for construction but is highly prized as butcher blocks.A hybrid developed from the American sycamore, called the London planetree, has become the urban tree of choice in North America and Europe.Sycamore seeds accompanied the lunar orbit of Apollo 14 in 1971 and were planted across from Philadelphias Independence Hall.

Marxist Account of Class in Contemporary Society Essay

Marxist Account of Class in Contemporary Society - Essay Example During the twentieth century the working class has been shaped by three trends. In the workplace the displacement of craft and skilled labor by mass production techniques has allowed the employment of large numbers of unskilled workers; culturally, the integration of diverse ethnic strains produced by the centralization of production facilities and the constant infusion of petty bourgeois ideology has precluded the development of a clear-cut working-class consciousness; politically, the increasing intervention of the state in the regulation and management of the economy has added to the complexity of class relations and complicated the formulation of working-class strategy and tactics. These treads are typical; for modern society and social relations between the classes. The theoretical problems are linked because the relationship between the development process and class capacities largely depends on how one conceptualizes working-class capacities. If one accepts traditional plurali st notions of class capacity as applicable to the working class, then it is probably true that the capitalist development process erodes working-class capacities (Elster 1985). If, however, the capacity of the working class is something other than an aggregation of sovereign individuals, a more dialectical relationship between development and working-class capacity can be established (Braverman 2004). In modern society, similar to the Marxist approach to class, the institution of mass production techniques and the separation of the knowledge of how steel is made from the workers themselves is the key to breaking worker control of the industry. The rich would voluntarily renounce their wealth; a community of goods and absolute equality would be established. Marx began from the postulate that men, by their nature, are species-beings, that is, beings who are conscious of belonging to a species composed of others like themselves, and beings who can realize their full human potential only in loving collaboration with those others (Geschwender 1990). Perceiving their own imperfections as isolated individuals and not yet conscious of their collective potential, men seek consolation in an imagined God, abase themselves, and worship him as a power standing over them, when he is in reality their own alienated species-essence and represents only a schism within themselves. Marx now saw this phenomenon in politics as well as in religion. For him, man's present isolation is not simply a matter of perception but a reality, a product of modern civil society: "egoistic man is the passive and given result of a dissolved society" (Marx and Engels 1972, p. 65). Equally real is man's debasement: he is "corrupted by the entire organization (Braverman 2004). It is typical for modern society that the affable young man plunged himself into working-class activities, attending meetings by the score, and gained a profound respect for the people he came to know. Marx repeatedly marveled at "the extent to which the English workers have succeeded in educating themselves." "I have sometimes come across workers, with

Formal analysis of Grey Lines with Black, Blue and Yellow Assignment

Formal analysis of Grey Lines with Black, Blue and Yellow - Assignment Example During this period, at was taken as a tool that would only talk about social issues and not political. Photos that were taken during this period were of celebration as the French Republic was now going to detach itself from the Britain rule and was going to start a new life. This photo seems to emphasize the significance of social responsibility that lead to equality. It is full of life and it is able to relish the remarkable sensations that life brings, the different line in the photo can be used to represent the fact that everybody should live life vividly and pass each stage with fulfilment. It can be related to this period as it portrays a symbol of hope as people move from the darkness towards light. The photo can be compared to the two as it is able to invite a number of interpretations. As opposed to the two, the photo can be used to project equality. The first photo shows some form of courage as the aeroplane is able to fly over a body of water which people are always afraid of. This can be compared to the photo that we are analyzing as the inside it is dark at the centre but the outside parts are bright. The second photo tries to show the presence of life across the road. This is an indication that one can achieve his goal only after a struggle. The color used in the two pictures is dark as opposed to the bright ones used in the photo being analyzed. The texture of the two photos seems to be rough while the one being analyzed is smooth. This artwork has been used to show meaning. It has been used to show creativity and is a symbol of appreciation. It can be used as a medium to pass a message depending on how the person interprets it. It is a picture that is communicating to us but without words or a voice. From this photo, it is evident that the artist was in a joyful state and that is why he used bright colors. The museum is most likely going to choose this piece because of the message that it is

How equilibrium occurs using the aggregate supply (AS) and aggregate Essay

How equilibrium occurs using the aggregate supply (AS) and aggregate demand (AD) framework - Essay Example This paper describes the occurrence of the equilibrium using aggregate supply and aggregate demand curves, and the fluctuation of real GDP around the potential GDP with reference to the economy in UK. Aggregate Demand Aggregate demand curve represents the desired spending, consumer behaviour and the buying of equipment by governments and foreigners. The aggregate demand rises with the increase in expenditure caused by increased optimism by the households on lifetime incomes and increased need for the product. The combined monetary assets and the decrease in interest rates stimulate the desire to spend by the firms and households. Low interest rates reduce the saving reward and borrowing costs for households, but for businesses, this reduces the borrowing costs for investing in equipment and plant (James, Walte and James 2006, p. 777-790). The aggregate demand curve slopes downwards due to the fixed nominal value for some assets, particularly the money itself. The increase in prices f or the goods with no changes in money leads to the real value of money balances declining and this result to decreased liquidity. The rise in prices increases the demand for dollars in financing the transactions. Short liquidity to the monetary assets results when nominal dollars’ supply does not change. ... Prices and output are inversely related. Shifts in aggregate demand curve Aggregate demand curve changes due to wealth effects like the money supply, interest rate effects, and the net exports effects. The changes are represented by shifts in aggregate demand curves either to the right, or to the left. A right shift in aggregate demand curve (AD1 to AD2) indicates an increase in GDP at the same price level for the quantity demanded. A left shift (AD1 to AD3) indicates a decreased GDP for the quantity demanded at the same price levels (Justiniano & Claudio 2011, p. 89). Shifts in aggregate demand curve Source:http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Aggregate-Demand-AD-Curve.topicArticleId-9789,articleId-9737.html Aggregate Supply Aggregate Supply (AS) model measures volume of the goods and services produced by an economy at given overall price level. The AS curve summarizes the production behaviour for the side markets, and it slopes upwards. The Aggregate Supply curve may be horizonta l or vertical depending on the conditions (James, Walte and James 2006, p. 777-790). The curve is inelastic in the long run and elastic in the short run. Therefore, when the long-run curve is vertical, the return is to natural output level as the equilibrating forces pull back to vertical long-run curve. The upward facing slope is caused by changes in firm prices due to the increased demand. In the presence of menu costs, firms raise the prices or increase the production, resulting to aggregate increase in both output and prices (Berrah and Cliville 2007, p.709-719). Graph 2: Aggregate Supply Curve Source: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Aggregate-Supply-AS-Curve.topicArticleId-9789,articleId-9738.html The vertical axis in aggregate supply curve represents the

Biochem unit 9 paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biochem unit 9 paper - Essay Example Vitamin E works with other molecules such as glutathione, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin B3 in preventing oxygen from becoming too reactive, thereby preventing oxidative stress (WHFoods: vitamin E, n.d.). Numerous studies indicate that oxidation is the crucial phase in atherogenesis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins with low density promote the production of inflammatory indicators. They are also implicated in the formation of foam cells, inhibition of vasodilation due to nitric oxide, and inhibition of the motility of tissue macrophages (Saremi & Arora, 2010). Experiments carried out on mouse models reveal that vitamin E plays a significant role in augmenting oxidative resistance in vitro, consequently avoiding the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. In humans, there is reduced risk of coronary heart diseases due to consumption of vitamin E-rich foods especially in middle-aged and older men and women (Saremi & Arora, 2010). However, results from some clinical trials provide conflicting data. According to Blumberg, vitamin E has been implicated as having an unfavourable effect in the therapy of heart disease (n.d.). He further attributes these disparities to the different primary and secondary tests. Primary prevention entails observing large numbers of healthy people and investigating the incidence of new heart disease in the midst of people with diverse intakes of vitamin E. On the contrary, secondary prevention takes place â€Å"over a few years in clinical trials with vitamin E supplements (and placebos) in patients with heart disease to determine whether their conditions worsen, e.g., with a subsequent heart attack† (Blumberg, n.d.). Therefore, vitamin E is more effective in primary prevention by preventing the development of plaque, which usually starts in childhood and continues in adulthood. Nonetheless, a number of studies indicate that vitamin E could

Sterling college scholarship opportunity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sterling college scholarship opportunity - Essay Example   However, apart from helping me in my Christianity life, I believe Sterling College is the ideal place that can pursue my career from. I would like to study biology in this college and specialize in medicine as a cancer doctor specifically for children, which is my dream career. Since my childhood, I have always inspired to become a doctor so that I can help to relieve people pain, and even save the lives of those who die as a result of lack of medical services. During my holidays, one of the things I like ding most is visiting the less fortunate specifically the sick and aged. During such times, when I visit the sick in hospitals I always meet children who are diagnosed with cancer. Though being with them give me the joy of knowing that am showing passion to others I still feel I have a duty to do more than that. As such I believe that pursuing a career in medicine will place me in a better place to help such children and others and most importantly help me to achieve my dream.St erling college is the only institution with the adequate resources and a conducive environment for me to pursue this career. Additionally, in line with its mission, â€Å" to develop creative and thoughtful leaders who understand a maturing Christian faith†( internationalstudent.com) , Sterling college will not only help me to became a professional but also a Christian professional who can do my job not necessarily for the purpose of earning a living but most importantly do it for the glory of the God.

Biochem unit 9 paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biochem unit 9 paper - Essay Example Vitamin E works with other molecules such as glutathione, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin B3 in preventing oxygen from becoming too reactive, thereby preventing oxidative stress (WHFoods: vitamin E, n.d.). Numerous studies indicate that oxidation is the crucial phase in atherogenesis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins with low density promote the production of inflammatory indicators. They are also implicated in the formation of foam cells, inhibition of vasodilation due to nitric oxide, and inhibition of the motility of tissue macrophages (Saremi & Arora, 2010). Experiments carried out on mouse models reveal that vitamin E plays a significant role in augmenting oxidative resistance in vitro, consequently avoiding the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. In humans, there is reduced risk of coronary heart diseases due to consumption of vitamin E-rich foods especially in middle-aged and older men and women (Saremi & Arora, 2010). However, results from some clinical trials provide conflicting data. According to Blumberg, vitamin E has been implicated as having an unfavourable effect in the therapy of heart disease (n.d.). He further attributes these disparities to the different primary and secondary tests. Primary prevention entails observing large numbers of healthy people and investigating the incidence of new heart disease in the midst of people with diverse intakes of vitamin E. On the contrary, secondary prevention takes place â€Å"over a few years in clinical trials with vitamin E supplements (and placebos) in patients with heart disease to determine whether their conditions worsen, e.g., with a subsequent heart attack† (Blumberg, n.d.). Therefore, vitamin E is more effective in primary prevention by preventing the development of plaque, which usually starts in childhood and continues in adulthood. Nonetheless, a number of studies indicate that vitamin E could

Affirmative action policies and law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Affirmative action policies and law - Essay Example For quite some time now,certain ethnic and minority groups have been pushing for better rights when it comes to higher education,employment,and government contracts.This has resulted in preferential hiring,college admissions and the allocation of government contracts when it comes to women and minority groups. It also applies to the awarding of other social benefits for these groups. The problem is that some people consider it to be reverse discrimination (Bardach, 2005; Holzer and Neumark, 2000 and Holzer and Neumark, 2006).The Civil Rights Act of 1964 started the whole push towards affirmative action. It was designed to make up for past discrimination of women and certain minority groups. In order to be considered in an affirmative action group, one or more of the following criteria must occur, which is considered different than the criteria that a regular employee would have:In the 1978 ruling of the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, significant limitations were pl aced on affirmative action programs. Further limitations were placed on affirmative action programs in 1995's Adarand Constructors v. Pena and 1996's Texas v. Hopwood (Kane, 1998).1996 brought the most significant change in affirmative action programs up until this date. At that time, California voted in Proposition 209. This proposition refused to allow government agencies and related institutions from giving preferential treatment to or discriminating against individuals based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. This did not just take place in California, as other states soon adopted similar rules. In Michigan, the United States Supreme Court ruled that race could not be the leading factor in making such decisions as admission to the University of Michigan and its law school (Kane, 1998). When President Kennedy developed the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in 1961, the term 'affirmative action' was first used. Affirmative action can be defined by the Report of the Citizen's Commission on Civil Rights, circa 1984, as any measure that is taken on to prevent or compensate for discriminatory action that was taken in the past, as well as to prevent it in the future. This goes beyond the simple doing away with a discriminatory practice (Kane, 1998 and Long, 2004). Affirmative action has been challenged over and over again, mainly occurring at the level of the state. The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the law passed with Proposition 209 in 1996, which bans state and local governments from hiring individuals or showing other types of preferential treatment based on the aforementioned factors in the preceding paragraphs (Kane, 1998 and Long, 2004). In 1997, former President Bill Clinton pushed for the 'mend it, don't end it' measure. As far as racial matters, he began an Initiative on Race to encourage communication on racial issues. There are many affirmative action resources available for the latest updates on the measures. These include the following: 1. The Washington Post: Affirmative Action Special Report 2. American Association for Affirmative Action 3. Americans Against Discrimination and Preferences 4. Official Proposition 209 Site (Powell, 2009) Currently, anti-discrimination laws are reaching a new level. They are being pushed so hard on a daily basis that many believe it has reached a point of 'reverse discrimination.' (Powell, 2009) Discuss the nature of the affirmative action policies you describe above in the context of being antipoverty, antidiscrimination, and compensatory. Worsening circumstances for poor individuals has been at least partially blamed for affirmative action, many scholars agree. The fact is that, after the Current Population Survey and a

Botticelli-Saville Comparitive Art Essay Example for Free

Botticelli-Saville Comparitive Art Essay The image of the nude is timeless, fundamental and universal. It has the ability to incite intense interest, yearning and even repulsion in the viewer. We often find that images of the nude reflect upon society’s attitudes towards beauty and gender issues. These issues are strongly highlighted in Jenny Saville’s nakedly confrontational ‘Propped’, which encompasses of a heavy-handed naked woman sitting on a stool. Her artwork forces the viewer to think of the female nude as not only an object, but also as a subject. Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ also addresses the issues of beauty and gender. In the artwork, Venus appears to be emerging from the sea, standing in a shell. Symbolising female desirability, the Early Renaissance painting is in accordance to the myth of her ‘birth’ as a fully grown woman. The shape and form in Propped is clearly drastically distorted. Saville has used foreshortening as a way to emphasise the weight and size of the figures body, most noticeably the small scale of the head, which looks incredibly small in contrast to the rest of the figure. Foreshortening and tone help to create a distinctive look of the figures legs and knees. There are various patches of light tones included across the chest area and knees, and the extreme distortion makes them look vast and almost bruised. There is limited colour used in the painting, mainly very natural pigments such as white, cream and light pink. Black has been used for the stool in the centre of the image, and coffee and olive colours can be seen in the background. There is also a text that can be seen scratched into the paint in mirror writing, running across and down the figures body which reads; ‘If we continue to speak in this sameness – speak as men have spoken for centuries, we will fail each other again’. Saville has painted the artwork to make a point; to make the viewer realise that fat is a feminist issue. The angle of view in the artwork is low, and the observer is made to look up at the figure. In Birth of Venus, Botticelli has used light, soothing colours throughout all aspects of the painting, including highlights added into Venus’ hair to possibly emphasise the femininity of her body. Distinctive linear style and brushstrokes have been used to ensure detail in the tones and textures of the painting. Botticelli was known for including the linear style into his artworks, a style that was revived in the late 19th century. The composition of the painting is impartially balanced. The artist has placed the figures in the artwork off to separate sides with Venus centred as the focal point. The weight and poses of the figures either side of Venus create symmetrical balance. The figure of Venus is slightly distorted. Botticelli has exaggerated the length of the neck and slope of the shoulders to enrich Venus’ natural elegance and grace. Flowing lines and decorative patterns can be seen throughout the artwork, most noticeably in the waves and leaves on the tree towards the right of the painting. Propped has the same effect as a striking photograph; that it is purposely intended to unsettle its viewer. It is a significant artwork in today’s society as it raises contemporary concerns about expectations of beauty in the female body. Unlike Birth of Venus, Propped presents us with the vibe that the observer is not necessarily male. Feminists have praised Saville for her work and her interpretation of the female nude, noting that she has reclaimed the image of women liberating it from the diminishing male gaze. Botticelli owes his inspiration for Birth of Venus to the classical ideals of ancient Greek art. At the time of its creation, almost all art was of a Christian theme. Nude women often symbolised sinful lust, however Venus remained to appear modest, attempting to hide her breasts with her hands and crotch area with her long, blonde, flowing hair. Venus strongly represented an Italian Renaissance ideal; blonde, pale-skinned voluptuous. Ideal female body figures continue to be a topic of discussion in our society today, as it was at the time Birth of Venus was produced. Both artists have used the female nude as a way to represent issues about expectations of beauty in the female body in different ways. Botticelli has depicted Venus, the pagan goddess of love, and the forerunner of spring. He has presented her as an ideal female figure for his time, consequently making her a symbol for female desirability. Jenny Saville, on the other hand, has dramatically cropped and foreshortened the female figure in her artwork in an attempt to emphasise the body’s physical bulk, creating a less than ideal female figure for contemporary society. Propped contains a strong cultural meaning, as do many of Saville’s works. Susie McKenzie speaks of her artworks in an interview with Saville in the Guardian on October 22nd 2005, stating that â€Å"Her exaggerated nudes point up, with an agonizing frankness, the disparity between the way women are perceived and the way that they feel about their bodies. † Saville has clearly represented the female nude in a way that may confront today’s society, daring her viewers to pass judgement on the figure in her artwork. Birth of Venus challenges the culture of Botticelli’s time, as it was a mythological painting, rather than relating to a religious theme as most art of that era did. Both artworks in question are figurative paintings of female nudes. Birth of Venus exists to represent the female nude as a symbol of desirability in women, as well as an icon of beauty and pleasure. Saville’s ‘Propped’ raises questions on the appearance and role of traditional paintings of the nude, such as Birth of Venus. Both artists gained inspiration from a variety of sources, all diverse from one another. Botticelli created Birth of Venus under the influences from classical ideals of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as classical sculptures he would have seen belonging to the Medici family, a client of his own. Saville spent time quenching her fascination with the body, particularly female flesh, by spending many hours watching plastic surgeons manipulate flesh. Gender issues are a strong concept in both works. A male viewing Propped will generally react negatively to the female figure in contrast to the way they might perceive Birth of Venus. Because Birth of Venus is such a strong symbol of female desirability, a male viewer will usually prefer looking at Venus rather than the heavy-handed nude figure in Propped. Women will more commonly be able to relate to the figure in Propped than Birth of Venus as it centres on issues of expectations of beauty and the way a female may feel about her body, whereas some women could be intimidated by the ambiance of Venus. Both Propped and Birth of Venus are of immense scale. Birth of Venus was painted to fit an architectural setting. At the time of its production, Botticelli intended for the observers of his artwork to view the subject matter, Venus, as an earthly goddess who stimulated humans to physical love, or as a heavenly goddess who enthused intellectual love in them. The interpretation of today’s society will differ, due to the lack of knowledge of mythological and ancient Greek themes. It has been suggested that viewers of our time will look at the painting and feel their minds simply lifted to the realm of divine love. Saville’s work has been made to be presented in galleries and exhibitions. The scale of her work (213. x 183cm) is used to overwhelm the viewer, and demands an uncomfortable degree of intimacy between the gaze of the nude figure and the observer. Her purpose of creating the artwork was to raise questions about the expectations of beauty in today’s society. We are under the impression that the viewer of this type of artwork is generally female, and Saville wants her female observers to pass judgement of the figures enormous shape and size. Propped challenges the ideal view of women, as it depicts a hefty female nude figure rather than a slim one, which is usually preferred in current society. Birth of Venus, however, provokes themes of beauty and lust, ideal to men and perhaps most other viewers. It is important to keep in mind that both artworks have been painted by different genders. Saville raises concerns about the representation of the female nude, which could be connected to the fact that she relates to the figure as a woman, and possibly faces the pressures of the anticipation and desire for beauty in her own life. Botticelli represents both beauty and pleasure in the symbolical Birth of Venus. It is an important painting not only for the Renaissance, but for our society also. This may be because Venus characterized the idealistic figure of a woman, an issue that is consistently apparent in everyday life for not only women, but also men. Women may feel intimidated or disconcerted when viewing Venus as they could feel personally uncomfortable with their own figure. Its main intention is to bring pleasure to the male eye. In brief, both artworks continue to play a significant role in society today because of these intentions, gender issues and representation of the female nude.

PESTEL Analysis of Toyota

PESTEL Analysis of Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation was established in year 1937 by its founder Kiichiro Toyoda, headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Its a part of Toyota Industries which diversified into automobiles. In 2009 Toyota Motor Corporation was declared as the largest automobile manufacturer in terms of sales and production in the world. It has more than 320,000 employees worldwide (Arkadi Borowski, 2010). It includes Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors. The product range of Toyota Motors Corporation is very large and includes cars, sport utility vehicles, trucks, electricity driven vehicles, crossovers and luxury-type vehicles. Its total revenues per year are more than 30 trillion Yen. Some of the key persons are Fujio Cho (Chairman), Katsuaki Watanabe (Vice Chariman) and Akio Toyoda (President). Importance of external environment analysis Often the external environment is the one which cannot be controlled by individual compared to internal environment. However, these factors are responsible for most of the decisions taken by the company and help in understanding the limiting factors. Without analysing the external environment it is difficult to draft a successful strategy (Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland Robert E. Hoskisson, 2009). Without proper analysis of competitors it would be difficult to craft a strategy to compete with them (Robert E. Hoskisson, Michael A. Hitt R. Duane Ireland, 2008). It is also necessary to understand the culture of the country in which the company is operating (Kip Becker, 2000). The kind of political stability and government ruling in a country is also a crucial factor in choosing the country (R. K. Singh, 2009). The key analysis areas would be the political condition of the country where the company is situated, the economic growth of the target market, technological factors, legal factors and ecological factors. These factors provide the overall impact of these factors on the company. These all factors in combination can be termed as microenvironment analysis. Justification of choice of analytical framework For analysis of the above environment issues and factors PESTEL framework can be used appropriately since PESTEL framework provides the overall impact of the external environment on the given company/firm. PESTEL framework which is complete in itself since starting from the Political to Economic to Sociological, Technological, Ecological and Legal aspects of any firm and hence analyses the overall macro environment for any company. External environment analysis: PESTEL Framework In the below analysis the PESTEL model is used to see the effect of various parameters mentioned below on the industry and their impact on Toyota with respect to the human resource policies of the company. This will help us to get better insight of the effect of these external parameters in crafting of human resource policies. Political: Political aspect of the framework consider the factors like trading policies, Funding grant and Initiatives, International pressure group, wars and conflicts, government policies, terrorism, political trends, government leadership and structure in which a company is dealing. Basically the political environment of the region in which company is dealing affects its policies a lot. Since due to recent economic downturns in which government in different nations played a major role in helping the companys to cope up with extreme economic situations. And for a company like Toyota which is operating in so many nations and has such a wide range of products that the political interference by the government becomes very important in such cases. The policies of the government and earnings of the bank also affect the macro environment due to which big impact comes on the company. Due to the US government intervention in the recruitment process of the companys who is advocating to provide more and more in house jobs so the company now have stopped hiring their manpower from home nation but hiring major portion of their manpower from the US for their US operations. Also they take into consideration the political dynamics of the country and avoid any issues that can generate from the already existing unhealthy political relations of the two countries like the company has operations both in India and Pakistan but they avoid relocation the employees of both the countries in the opposite countries. Economical: Economic aspect of the PESTEL environments investigates into all the external economic factors related with the company, impact of these factors on the company favorable or unfavorable. Economic analysis in PESTEL framework includes economic situations and trends in home country, economic trends overseas, taxation rules, market and trade cycle, disposable income of the customers, demand and supply effects, CPI, exchange rates, inflation rate etc. All these factors are very important to the company as they directly affect the revenues of the company. For most of the rising economies of the world Toyota is a pillar company since without Toyota in automobile industry it is not easy to develop the steel business, glass sector or plastic industry. Though Toyota at present is facing rising losses due to improper structure of some of their automotives which they have to recall in large numbers due to which company have to incur big losses from year 2007 till date. Economic factors have contributed maximum for the HR policy changes in Toyota and other forms as well. As with the recent recession which almost impacted the countries around the world, companies have changed themselves a lot so as to cope with the current situation in the marketplace. Economic factors such as customer demand, inflation rate, disposable income and GDP growth rate has a major impact on the HR policies of the company. Some of the major impacts of the economic factors are as follows: Recruitment policy: Since during economic slowdown demand for the companys product will reduce hence the demand will also reduce for the employees of the company. Hence the recruitment policy of Toyota also gets affected during the recent slowdown in the economy. Toyota minimised the input of employees they were hiring in previous years. Even the rewards and incentives suffered due to economical slowdown. Layoffs: There have been various cases in the past where the employees were laid off due to financial crisis in this industry (Jeremy W. Peters, 2005). Though at Toyota which is provides assurance to its employees that they will not be laid off until extreme conditions but due to the bad economic condition world-wide and the losses which company have incurred due to recall of various model of its cars they have to lay off the people who were performing reasonably good. Relocations of staff: During the economic crisis need for the efficiency of the employees get increased so the process of retraining and relocation get increased. At Toyota also during recession special training were provided to the employees to increase their productivity and due to limited number of staff employees were shifted from one place to other according to the requirement. Location choices: Human resource department of the company is also looking in to hiring more from the country and thus trying to take most of their work from the country which offers better export and import policies and where the overall cost is less which could be due to cheap available labour or raw material, tax concession and lesser tax rates offered. Sociological: Sociological parameters of the macro environment analysis of the company includes the consumer attitude and behaviour, media news, trends, diversity, education, lifestyle changes, demographic changes, ethical issues, employee attitude, management style etc. Toyota Company works as a part of the society as it employs millions of people directly and indirectly. Its various products have revolutionalized the society by changing trends in mobility world. Ethically Toyota motors is taken as one of the strongest company as despite of huge losses they have recalled some of their car models and have repaired many cars which were having minor defects at free of cost. Toyota understand that there are cultural differences in every country and it is reflected even in the way of working and hence they prefer to employ people of the same country as of the country in which there offices are located so that it is easier for the employees to adjust to the work cultural. Also, the avoid relocation of employees unless it is very essential. Technological: Technological aspect of the framework includes the competing technology development, research funding, replacement technologies, maturity of technology, information and communication, Innovations, research etc. The technological investments made by Toyota are huge and it has always being pioneer in technological field. It is always known for its innovation initiatives, replacement mechanisms, and research funding and other initiatives. The large investments which Toyota has made in technical field have increased the risk and uncertainties for the company. The technological environment is changing at a fast pace so the companies need to cope up with this change. Henceforth, more number of employees with the highly functional skills is required for coping up with those changes. Toyota also promoted various trainings among employees to abreast them with latest technological advances. Following are some of the HR policies changes which have been observed due to the changes in the technological factors: Numerical flexibility: Numerical flexibility refers to the flexibility in the workforce in term of number of workforce employed in the company. Due to the technological up gradation and automation of various operations the number f recruitments have decreased over the year. Most of the temporary workers or agents who were working at Toyota were released from their services at Toyota while some of the Toyotas real work force was downsized. Functional flexibility: It is a special skill with the employees of the company that they are functionally flexible and trained for multiple skills. Since such employees can be proved as of great importance to company at the time of crisis. At Toyota employees are trained more on job and they are trained for multiple skills and they are functionally flexible and can work different work whenever required. So during economic crisis the employees were made functionally flexible and were involved into many a functions. Ecological: Environmental aspect of the PESTEL analysis takes into accounts the ecological factors, environmental regulations, customer values etc. The environmental factor has big impact in case of Toyota as the Environmental factors especially customer values and regulation decide the fate of any business. Toyota has established many RD centres to make use of its infrastructure and human capital resource which is very crucial for Toyota. Toyota spends as much as $1.1 billion per hour for research and development purpose so as to improve the quality of technology in order to minimize their carbon foot prints. In order to encourage employees to conserve energy and minimize the wastages it started an initiative to reward the employees for doing so. This helped in establishing a culture where the employee became more aware and conscious about the environment and participated in saving it (Kathryn Tyler, 2006). Legal: Legal framework considers the factors like current legislations in the home market, future legislations, regulatory body and processes, employement laws etc. Toyota Company is subject to various legislations such as competition laws, intellectual property laws, consumer protection and taxation etc (Terry Halbert Elaine Ingulli, 2008). When the auto industry reached to development efforts were made so as to create a web of local suppliers that make possible to meet the growing legal requirements for the national integration of production. Toyota gives a lot of emphasis on whistle blower policy and has even drafted a document that explains the legal rights of the employee regarding this. They also have strict norms against sexual harassment and discrimination among employees on the basis of race, colour or nationality. They have outlined code of conducts for employees so that they do not violate any of these laws and are very strict on these especially after the Sayaka Kobayashi sexual harassment case in 2006. Conclusion: It is evident from the above analysis that the external environmental factor has a huge impact on the human resource policies of an organization especially in the case of the Toyota. Though Toyota always believe in consistent and fair HR practices providing clean and safe work place to employees but the impact of the recession which was a major economical factor was apparently observed even in the HR practices of the company. The company was always committed in providing stable employment to employees and rewarded with rapid promotion to skilful worker but due to recession and various other external factors Toyota reduced the number of new recruitments and was even forced to lay off the employees. The employees were asked to relocate and functional flexibility was demanded from them. Even the rewards were then depended on the profitability. The company is very serious about the environment and has initiated a go green mission where they give incentives to employees for minimising the wastage and saving the energy. They give a lot of emphasis on training and cross functional culture due to dynamism in technological advancements. They have very strict norms for unethical practices, sexual harassments and whistle blowing policy. Thus we can conclude that external environmental factor has a huge impact on the HR policies of a company and they are highly related as company has regularly addressed these problems by bringing changes in their policies.

Essay --

When Scott Sullivan found out that Cooper was asking questions, Sullivan was â€Å"furious† with her and told her not to concern herself with financial audits (Anderson 51). Cooper and her team then made the decision to â€Å"quietly† investigate company accounting entries. The audit team made their first discoveries of fraudulent entries in May, 2002. They were able to trace fraudulent entries back to 2000. Less than a week after the Fort Worth Weekly article was printed, WorldCom accounting employee Mark Abide read the article. Having serious concerns about its revelations, Abide forwarded a copy to Glyn Smith who was on WorldCom’s internal audit staff. On May 29, 2002, WorldCom’s internal audit team, who was led by Cynthia Cooper, met to discuss an audit report as well as the Fort Worth Weekly article on Kim Emigh. During this meeting the audit team discussed â€Å"$1.4 billion that had been added to the company’s capital expenses† (Krim 5). It should also be noted that during this time, WorldCom’s external auditor, Arthur Anderson had just been indicted in the Enron scandal. Additionally, WorldCom’s CEO, Bernie Ebbers, had just resigned as large loans he received form the company had come to light sparking an investigation by the SEC. An accounting department employee, Sanjeev Sethi, at the internal audit meeting revealed that his department did not generate the $1.4 billion adjustments. The adjustments came from higher up in the organization. Cynthia Cooper and the audit team began to investigate the adjustments. Just days later, David Myers wrote multiple notes to Cooper attempting to keep Sethi from looking into capital expense reports. Cynthia Cooper confronted Betty Vinson who had processed the fraudulent entries. Vinson ackn... ...there . . . (United States of America V. Bernie J. Ebbers 2002, 27) The second piece of evidence is a memorandum the Ebbers sent on July 10, 2001, to a senior WorldCom officer requesting information concerning â€Å"those one time events that had to happen in order for us to have a chance to make out numbers† (United States of America V. Bernie J. Ebbers 2002, 27). Being that Sullivan was comfortable enough leaving Ebbers a voicemail using terms such as â€Å"one time stuff† and â€Å"junk. . . in the numbers† along with Ebbers’ own memo is enough evidence, in and of itself, to suggest Ebbers wasn’t innocent in perpetuating the fraud. Fraud Victims The fraud perpetuated by WorldCom executives casts a big shadow with wide ranging effects. The fraud has claimed numerous victims. Not only did thousands of employees lose their jobs, they lost their means to support their family. Essay -- When Scott Sullivan found out that Cooper was asking questions, Sullivan was â€Å"furious† with her and told her not to concern herself with financial audits (Anderson 51). Cooper and her team then made the decision to â€Å"quietly† investigate company accounting entries. The audit team made their first discoveries of fraudulent entries in May, 2002. They were able to trace fraudulent entries back to 2000. Less than a week after the Fort Worth Weekly article was printed, WorldCom accounting employee Mark Abide read the article. Having serious concerns about its revelations, Abide forwarded a copy to Glyn Smith who was on WorldCom’s internal audit staff. On May 29, 2002, WorldCom’s internal audit team, who was led by Cynthia Cooper, met to discuss an audit report as well as the Fort Worth Weekly article on Kim Emigh. During this meeting the audit team discussed â€Å"$1.4 billion that had been added to the company’s capital expenses† (Krim 5). It should also be noted that during this time, WorldCom’s external auditor, Arthur Anderson had just been indicted in the Enron scandal. Additionally, WorldCom’s CEO, Bernie Ebbers, had just resigned as large loans he received form the company had come to light sparking an investigation by the SEC. An accounting department employee, Sanjeev Sethi, at the internal audit meeting revealed that his department did not generate the $1.4 billion adjustments. The adjustments came from higher up in the organization. Cynthia Cooper and the audit team began to investigate the adjustments. Just days later, David Myers wrote multiple notes to Cooper attempting to keep Sethi from looking into capital expense reports. Cynthia Cooper confronted Betty Vinson who had processed the fraudulent entries. Vinson ackn... ...there . . . (United States of America V. Bernie J. Ebbers 2002, 27) The second piece of evidence is a memorandum the Ebbers sent on July 10, 2001, to a senior WorldCom officer requesting information concerning â€Å"those one time events that had to happen in order for us to have a chance to make out numbers† (United States of America V. Bernie J. Ebbers 2002, 27). Being that Sullivan was comfortable enough leaving Ebbers a voicemail using terms such as â€Å"one time stuff† and â€Å"junk. . . in the numbers† along with Ebbers’ own memo is enough evidence, in and of itself, to suggest Ebbers wasn’t innocent in perpetuating the fraud. Fraud Victims The fraud perpetuated by WorldCom executives casts a big shadow with wide ranging effects. The fraud has claimed numerous victims. Not only did thousands of employees lose their jobs, they lost their means to support their family.

Family Heritage In Everyday Use Essay -- Everyday Use Alice Walker Ess

Family Heritage In Everyday Use In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the message about the preservation of heritage, specifically African-American heritage, is very clear. It is obvious that Walker believes that a person's heritage should be a living, dynamic part of the culture from which it arose and not a frozen timepiece only to be observed from a distance. There are two main approaches to heritage preservation depicted by the characters in this story. The narrator, a middle-aged African-American woman, and her youngest daughter Maggie, are in agreement with Walker. To them, their family heritage is everything around them that is involved in their everyday lives and everything that was involved in the lives of their ancestors. To Dee, the narrator's oldest daughter, heritage is the past - something to frame or hang on the wall, a mere artistic, aesthetic reminder of her family history. Walker depicts Dee's view of family heritage as being one of confusion and lack of understanding. The differences in attitude that Dee and Maggie portray about their heritage are seen early in the story. When the family's house burned down ten or twelve years ago, Maggie was deeply affected by the tragedy of losing her home where she grew up. As her mother describes, "She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground" (409). Dee, on the other hand, had hated the house. Her mother had wanted to ask her, "Why don't you dance around the ashes?" (409). Dee did not hold any significance in the home where she had grown up. In her confusion about her heritage, it was just a house to her. Another example of Dee's confusion about her own African-American heritage is expressed when she announces to her mother and sister that she has changed her name to "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo." When her mother questions her about the change, Dee says, "I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me" (411). According to her mother, the name has been in the family since before the Civil War and most likely represents family unity to her. However, Dee does not realize that. Apparently, she believes that by changing her name she is expressing solidarity with her African ancestors and rejecting the oppression implied by the taking on of American names by black slaves. Commenting ... ...tage" (413). That comment is somewhat ironic since it appears to be Dee who does not understand what family heritage is all about. Walker's view is very clear at the end of the story. By Dee wanting to hang the family heirloom on the wall to look at from a distance, she is alienating herself from her family heritage. That is exactly what Walker thinks is the wrong thing to do. Walker would prefer the quilts to be used and integrated into daily life, like Maggie and her mother prefer. The same idea applies to all of the other household items that Dee has her eye on: the churn top, the dasher, and the benches for the table that her daddy made. They all are a part of life for Maggie and her mother. Walker believes that the only value that they hold for Dee is that they would be good trinkets to show off in her house. By using the quilts in this symbolic way, Walker is making the point that family heirlooms can only have meaning if they remain connected to the culture they sprang from - in essence, to be put to "Everyday Use." Works Cited: Walker, Alice. â€Å"Everyday Use.† Robert DiYanni, ed. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Nature is our friend Essay

Time has come now to realize that the energies of the Earth’s own kingdoms are very precious! The plants own natural state of love, joy and pride, is the core essence of Life. This is the understanding we all need to free ourselves from limiting thought forms. see more:trees our best friends essay 150 words The new consciousness contains a great love both for the planet and the nature. The new thinking will make us change our attitudes to plants and animals that continuously give us gifts. Many people on Earth have taken the nature for granted. It is here as en obvious part of life, it seems, and very few of us have really noticed how many gifts we are receiving from plants and animals. Every single particle in what we eat is conscious. Everything we take into our bodies comes from nature! The development has now entered a new track. We will all soon feel the connection to nature in a new way and start giving thanks to the specific plants that we love to eat and use as a part of our life, for example cotton an linen. It is really a gift from the plants to us. As they consist of conscious particles, they receive the gratitude from us by the particles’ mutual togetherness system. The Earth is an interesting planet for beings from many dimensions because it is very special†¦ because we have water and we have the rich life in nature as a consequence of that. This is an enormous abundance, consisting or the light particles of our solar system. It is really time to appreciate that we live on the most precious planet in our galaxy. The journey through the suffering and separation is soon over. The next years to come, we all will open our eyes for the true gifts of nature. It will lead us to new choices. When we chose to incarnate in physical body, one of our goals is to enjoy nature because this is the only planet where we can do it. When we one day move on, our love for nature and our ability to visualize what it looks like, make us able to create trees and flowers in our gardens in higher dimensions..:) by our own thought power. We live on a planet where we originally have developed from simple beings, like Darwin discovered. However, we have not developed because the  strongest won like Darwin said. The human race is what it is because we were transformed from Neanderthals by creating masters that originally came from other civilizations in our galaxy thousands of years ago.

Pros and Cons for Outsourcing

The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing services in the US By Berend Schoute (1713035), student of the VU university Amsterdam. INTRODUCTION Hillary Clinton, â€Å"I don't know what reality the Bush administration is living in, but it's certainly not the reality I represent, from one end of New York to the other. † This response came on the statement of the head of U. S. President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, Gregory Mankiw. He said: â€Å"outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade,† which makes it â€Å"a good thing. † In the last decade most economists are a proponents of offshoring services outside of the US.They say that the benefits of outsourcing exceed the disadvantages. The main discussion is more likely a political one. It shows that a lot of citizens are pursuing protectionism to prevent any problems for American workers. THEORY Outsourcing occurs when a company fragmentizes a production process and sends this to another outsi de company. When companies are outsourcing to other countries/continents, it is also known as offshoring. A survey held by Lewin and Peeters (2006) showed that 90 of the 650 companies that are listed on the US Forbes Global 2000 are offshoring major business functions at that time.This outcome says that many major companies are interested in outsourcing jobs. Further outcomes mentioned that overall IT-functions (66% of the survey participants) are mostly shipped elsewhere, followed by Finance/accounting functions (60%). The most attractive destination for offshoring is India, where 60% of the functions of companies participated in the survey is to be offshored to. (Lewin and Peeters,2006) There are multiple arguments for offshoring jobs to another country. Some of these reasons can be examined by simply looking at the numbers, but most of them are abstract and difficult to catch.We speak of an omitted variable bias when a model that you create misses some important causal variables. The model can give you some positive results, but it isn’t reliable. This problem can occur in every survey, so the investigators need to be careful with the outcomes. The main argument for outsourcing is clearly labor cost reduction. The differences in wages are very large between the developing countries and the US. For example, an IT-specialist is paid $ 60 per hour on average in the US, where India pays this worker only $ 6 per hour.Although these cost benefits trough labor are substantial, extra costs incur when setting up the new offshore location. After taking all costs in account, there still is a cost reduction of 45 to 55 % (Mckinsey Global institute,2003). This cost reduction can cause a higher productivity because the domestic firm can focus on other important operations. Drezner (2003) said: ‘Thanks to outsourcing, U. S. firms save money and become more profitable, benefiting shareholders and increasing returns on investment. Foreign facilities boost deman d for U. S. roducts, such as computers and telecommunications equipment, necessary for their outsourced function. And U. S. labor can be reallocated to more competitive, better-paying jobs’. This statement is fully supported by most economists. The commodification process allows the spread of the benefits of IT-outsourcing even further, making the growth and the competitive advantage even greater (Drezner, 2003). A simple explanation of the advantage can be given by looking at the Heckscher-Ohlin model. This model simply suggests that countries that are capital abundant will export capital intensive products vice versa.For example it explains the fact that India focuses on labor intensive products because this abundance causes a competitive advantage caused by relatively low wages. In reality it’s off course more difficult, because the underlying assumptions are hardly realistic: 1. factors of production are perfectly mobile and 2. no difference in level of technology across countries. Drezner(2003) explained this by the following statement: ‘The logic underlying an open economy is that if the economy sheds jobs in uncompetitive sectors, employment in competitive sectors will grow.If hitech industries are no longer competitive, where will new jobs be created? ’ This previous theoretical introduction didn’t made the discussion between the pros and cons yet clear. It simply shoes some arguments of a proponent and a opponent. We still need hard evidence from both parties to give a good view on the truth. PROS VIEW Opponents of outsourcing are talking about the fact that American workers are losing their jobs cause of the labor movements. This is off course a fact, but what are the actual numbers ? The Mckinsey Global institute (2003) notes that in the upcoming 5 years , the growth was going to be around 30-40%.Forrester Research predicts that the total outsourced jobs will be around 3,3 million in 2015. According to projections, the hardest hit sectors will be financial services and information technology (IT). In one May 2003 survey of chief information officers, 68 percent of IT executives said that their offshore contracts would grow in the subsequent year (Mckinsey Global institute,2003). Therefore, at first sight the perception of the opponents is really sustainable. The total growth in the last two years (2002-2003) was really good, the productivity growth was even greater.The overall job growth have been really alarming. This indicates that the opponents are right in their perception. Controversially, if you unpack the numbers, you will find that 90% of all jobs in the US require geographic proximity. So these jobs were untouched anyway. The Forrester prediction of 3,3 million is spread over 15 years which means 220 thousand extra outsources jobs per year. Nowadays employment in the United States is about 130 million, and with approximately 22 million new jobs to be added till 2010, means that the ef fect of offshoring is less than 0,2% of American workers (Drezner,2003).Another argument of the proponents is that the net change in the outflow of workers against the inflow is negative. So the difference between insourcing workers because of foreign companies coming to the US and outsourcing is getting smaller. An important argument pro outsourcing is the fact that it increases the productivity of a company. The question we need to ask ourselves is can we confirm this increase with empirical evidence. Amiti & Wei (2006) investigated this question and have found some nice figures. In their survey hey tried to analyze whether there are any benefits of outsourcing in the productivity of a company. To prevent an omitted variable bias, they needed to find a valid instrument for service offshoring. In their regression model they used the number of internet hosts in the countries that supply the largest shares of services to the US. These outcomes reflect the changes in new technologies that would only affect US productivity through their effect on offshoring. Their empirical outcome was that there is a positive effect on productivity through outsourcing. CONSThe American citizens who are pursuing protectionism to prevent any problems for American workers. They say that they lose jobs because of outsourcing. This off course is true, but it’s important to look at the percentage that is reemployed. This number is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tells us that 69% of the workers that lost their job due to offshoring, eventually is reemployed. In the previous, I only talked about low-skilled jobs outsourced to other countries. Nowadays a new trend is unfolding with the outsourcing of high value added jobs to ‘developing’ countries.For example radiologists who can be replaced by cheaper Indian radiologists that constantly are able to screen material that was send to them by US hospitals. The exact numbers aren’t clear because this trend recently came up. The debate about the high skilled outsourcing should focus on consolidating strength of the US in higher value added knowledge services where investment in human capital will be decisive. Until there is no empirical evidence of a negative effect of this kind of outsourcing, the US must focus on the quality of their higher value added knowledge services (Rudiger, K. 2007). There are also a couple of other disadvantages that come up when outsourcing services overseas. These disadvantages have been used by the opponents of outsourcing. A first struggle can be that a newcomer can find itself a unreliable supplier, which puts his work aside when finding a better paying partner or a supplier loses the workers who finds better paying jobs. In reality a supplier loses around 15 to 20 % of it’s workers each year (Weidenbaum, 2003). Other hidden costs or disruptions can be for example bad infrastructure, a lot of power blackouts and extra transportation cos ts.Weidenbaum also states ‘overseas managers often do not understand the American business environment: our customers, lingo, traditions, and high-quality control and expectations for prompt delivery of goods and performance of services’. These disadvantages can be prevented by good outsourcing preparation. CONCLUSION In the beginning of this essay I discussed the US protectionism to offshoring jobs. When looking at all the studies it came clear that offshoring brings substantially benefits to the economy of the US (and the world).In this essay we saw that firms can reduce costs up to 55 % of the particular department. Because of the cost reduction and productivity growth, the US can improve its output and competitive advantages against other countries. The disadvantages do not outweigh all the advantages of outsourcing discussed in this essay. When the politicians focus on the flexibility and quality of the economy they can create a win-win situation for the US. In the upcoming years next studies need to be about whether any skill group (high value added services in particular) is relatively more affected. REFERENCES Amiti & Wei. 2006). Service Offshoring and Productivity: Evidence from the United States. NBER Working Paper no. 11926. Drezner, D. (2004). The outsourcing bogeyman. Foreign Affairs. Mckinsey Global institute. (2003). Offshoring: Is It a Win-Win Game? † Weidenbaum. (2003). Outsourcing: Pros and cons. Business Horizons (2005) 48, 311—315 Lewin and Peeters (2006). â€Å"Offshoring work: Business hype or the onset of fundamental transformation? † Long Range Planning, 39(3): 221–239. Rudiger, K. (2007). Offshoring, a threat for the UK’s knowledge jobs? A working paper prepared for the Knowledge Economy Programme.