Classification of Modern Germanic Languages and their Distribution Essay

Classification of languages means their placement into families or phyla [‘failÉ™] on the basis of lexical or typological similarity or shared ancestry. Languages may thus be classified either genetically or typologically. A genetic classification assumes that certain languages are related in that they have evolved from a common ancestral language. This form of classification employs ancient records as well as hypothetical reconstructions of the earlier forms of languages, called protolanguages. Typological classification is based on similarities in language structure. As for the English language, genetically (historically) it belongs to the Germanic or Teutonic group of languages of the Indo-European linguistic family. Old Germanic languages comprised 3 groups: East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic. East Germanic languages no longer exist, as they are dead. Only one language belonging to this group is known, Gothic, as a written document came down to us in this la nguage. It is a translation of the Bible made in the 4th century A.D. by the Gothic Bishop Ulfilas from the Greek language. Modern Germanic languages embrace 2 groups: North Germanic and West Germanic as they have survived until today. The table below illustrates their division and distribution. Researchers are not unanimous in their estimation of the number of Germanic languages and their distinction. Until recently Dutch and Flemish were named as separate languages, now there is a common term for them – the Netherlandic (Netherlandish) (Note 7) language as spoken in The Netherlands, together with the same language in northern Belgium, which is popularly called Flemish. In the European Middle Ages, the language was called Dietsc, or Duutsc, historically equivalent to German Deutsch and meaning simply â€Å"language of the people,† as contrasted with Latin, which was the language of religion and learning. The form Duutsc was borrowed into English and gives modern â€Å"Dutch.† The official name of the language is Nederlands, or Netherlandic. In the Netherlands it is also called Hollands (Hollandish), reflecting the fact that the standard language is based largely on the dialect of the old province of Holland (now North Holland and South  Holland). Frisian and Faroese are regarded as dialects since they are spoken over small politically dependent areas (Note 8); British English and American English are sometimes thought to be 2 independent languages. By one estimate, the number of people speaking Germanic languages amounts to 440 million (T.A. Rastorguyeva) plus an indefinite number of bilingual nations with English spoken as one of the official languages. Old Germanic Languages and their Classification The history of the Germanic group begins with the appearance of what is known  as the Proto-Germanic (PG) language also termed Common or Primitive Germanic, Primitive Teutonic or simple Germanic. PG is the linguistic ancestor or the parent-language of the Germanic group. It is believed to have split from the IE related tongues sometime between the 15th and 10th c.c.BC. The ancient Germans or Teutons are supposed to have settled on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the region of the Elbe. This place is regarded as the most probable original home of the Teutons. PG is an entirely pre-historical language: it was never recorded in written form. In the 19th century it was reconstructed by methods of comparative linguistics from written evidence in descendant languages. It is believed that at the earliest stages of history, PG was one language, though dialectally coloured. In its later stages dialectal differences grew, so that towards the beginning of our era Germanic appears divi ded into dialectal groups and tribal dialects. Dialectal differentiation increased with migrations and geographical expansion of the Teutons caused by over population, poor agricultural technique and scanty natural resources in the areas of their original settlement. Earliest records of Germanic tribes The records of ancient Germanic tribes are based on testimonies by Greek and Roman travellers and geographers. The earliest of them refers to the IV c. B.C. made by Phytheas, a Greek astronomer and geographer who sailed from Gaul (France) to the mouth of the river Elbe. He described the tribes of the Teutons. The next major description of the Teutons came from Julius Caesar, the Roman general and statesman which he left in his book ‘Commentaries on the War in Gaul’ (1 c. BC.) A century later (1 c. A.D.) Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, gave a classification of the Germanic which until quite recently had basically been accepted by modern researchers. According to it, the tribes in 1st c.A.D. comprised 5 major groups which fell into 3 subgroups: Eastern Germanic, Western Germanic and Northern Germanic. They were 1) the Vindili 2) the Ingaevones 3) The Istsaevones 4)the Hermiones 5) the Hilleveones. Table 2 illustrates this division. A few decades later the Roman historian Tacitus compiled a detailed description of the life and customs of the ancient Teutons where he reproduced Pliny’s classification of  the Germanic tribes. Having made a linguistic analysis of several Germanic dialects of later ages, F. Engels came to the conclusion that Pliny’s classification of the Teutonic tribes accurately reflected the contemporary dialectal division. The traditional tri-partite classification of the Germanic languages was reconsidered and corrected in some recent publications (Rastorgueyva). It appears that the development of the Germanic group was not confined to successive splits; it involved both linguistic divergence and convergence. It has also been discovered that originally PG split into two main branches and that the tri-partite division marks a later stage of its history. The earliest migration of the Germanic tribes from the lower valley of the Elbe consisted in their movement north, to the Scandinavian peninsula, a few hundred years before our era. This geographical segregation must have led to linguistic differentiation and to the division of PG into the northern and southern branches. At the beginning of our era, some of the tribes returned to the mainland and settled closer to the Vistula basin, east of the other continental Germanic tribes. It is only from this stage of their history that the Germanic languages can be described under three headings: East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic. Table 2 Classification of Ancient Germanic Tribes Record Languages Tribes Settlement 4th c. B.C. – Pytheas, Greek astronomer and geographer 1st c. B.C. – Julius Caesar< Roman general and statesman 1st c. A.D. – Pliny the Elder, Roman naturalist: classification of the Germanic tribes: East Germanic The Vindili (including the Goths and the Burgundians) Eastern part of Germanic territory Western Germanic The Ingaevones North-western part of Germanic territory, the shores of the Northern Sea, modern Netherlands The Istsaevones The western part of the Germanic territory, on the Rhine (the Franks) The Hermiones Southern part of the Germanic territory (southern Germany) Northern Germanic The Hilleveones Scandinavia – 2nd c. A.D. Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian Characterized the social structure of the old Germanic tribes Material Culture According to Julius Caesar, the Germans were pastoralists, and the bulk of their foodstuffs—milk, cheese, and meat—came from their flocks and herds. Some farming was also carried out, the main crops being grain, root crops, and vegetables. Both the cattle and the horses of the Germans were of poor quality by Roman standards. The Iron Age had begun in Germany about four centuries before the days of Caesar, but even in his time metal appears to have been a luxury material for domestic utensils, most of which were made of wood, leather, or clay. Of the larger metal objects used by them,  most were still made of bronze, though this was not the case with weapons. Pottery was for the most part still made by hand, and pots turned on the wheel were relatively rare. The degree to which trade was developed in early Germany is obscure. There was certainly a slave trade, and many slaves were sold to the Romans. Such potters as used the wheel—and these were very few—and smiths and miners no doubt sold their products. But in general the average Germanic village is unlikely to have used many objects that had not been made at home. Foreign merchants dealing in Italian as well as Celtic wares were active in Germany in Caesar’s time and supplied prosperous warriors with such goods as wine and bronze vessels. But from the reign of Augustus onward, there was a huge increase in German imports from the Roman Empire. The German leaders were now able to buy whole categories of goods—glass vessels, red tableware, Roman weapons, brooches, statuettes, ornaments of various kinds, and other objects—that had not reached them before. These Roman products brought their owners much prestige, but how the Germans paid for them is not fully known. Warfare In the period of the early Roman Empire, German weapons, both offensive and defensive, were characterized by shortage of metal. Their chief weapon was a long lance, and few carried swords. Helmets and breastplates were almost unknown. A light wooden or wicker shield, sometimes fitted with an iron rim and sometimes strengthened with leather, was the only defensive weapon. This lack of adequate equipment explains the swift, fierce rush with which the Germans would charge the ranks of the heavily armed Romans. If they became entangled in a prolonged, hand-to-hand grapple, where their light shields and thrusting spears were confronted with Roman swords and armour, they had little hope of success. Even by the 6th century, few of the Germanic peoples had adequate military equipment. Form of Government No trace of autocracy can be found among the Germans whom Caesar describes. The leading men of the pagi (kindred groups) would try to patch up disputes  as they arose, but they acted only in those disputes that broke out between members of their own pagus. There appears to have been no mediatory body at this date. In fact, in peacetime there appears to have been no central authority that could issue orders to, or exercise influence over, all the pagi of which any one people was composed. In wartime, according to Caesar, a number of confederate chieftains were elected, but they were joint leaders and held office only in time of war. By Tacitus’ time a new type of military chieftainship had come into being. For this office only the members of a recognized â€Å"royal clan,† such as is known to have existed among the 1st-century Cherusci and Batavians, the 6th-century Heruli, and others, were eligible. Any member of this royal clan was eligible for election, and the chie ftainship was in no way hereditary. A chief of this type held office for life and had religious as well as military duties. He could be overruled by the council of the leading men, and his proposals to the general assembly of the warriors might be rejected by them. The degree of his influence depended largely on his own personal qualities. A rudimentary judicial apparatus had come into existence among the Germanic peoples by Tacitus’ time. The general assembly elected a number of the leading men to act as judges, and these judges traveled through the villages to hear private suits. Each of them was accompanied by 100 attendants to lend authority to his decisions. A person who was found guilty by these judges had to pay a number of horses or cattle proportionate to the gravity of his offense. But many disputes (e.g., those arising from homicide, wounding, or theft) continued to be settled by the kindreds themselves, and the blood feuds to which they gave rise might continue from generation to generation. Long after the conversion to Christianity the German rulers found it difficult to stamp out the blood feud. .The monarchy did not become fully established in the Germanic world until German peoples had settled as federates inside the Roman Empire, and the leaders of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Visigoths in Gaul and Spain, the Vandals in Africa, and so on are the first Germanic kings. Other famous German chieftains in this period, such as Athanaric and Alaric, who either lived outside the Roman frontier or whose peoples were not federates settled in the provinces under a treaty (foedus) to defend the frontier, seem to have had little more personal authority than the leaders described by Tacitus. Conversion to Christianity Evidence suggests that before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, none of the great Germanic peoples was converted to Christianity while still living outside the Roman frontier, but that all the Germanic peoples who moved into the Roman provinces before that date were converted to Christianity within a generation. The Vandals seem to have been converted when in Spain in 409–429, the Burgundians when in eastern Gaul in 412–436, and the Ostrogoths when in the province of Pannonia about 456–472. In all these cases the Germans embraced the Arian form of Christianity (Note 9); none of the major Germanic peoples became officially Catholic until the conversion of the Franks under Clovis (496) and of the Burgundians under Sigismund. The reason for their adoption of Arianism rather than Catholicism is very obscure. The last Germanic people on the European continent to be converted to Christianity were the Old Saxons (second half of the 8th century), while the Sca ndinavian peoples were converted in the 10th century. England had been converted in the 7th century. Germanic Alphabets and Old Germanic Writings Germanic tribes used 3 different alphabets for their writings which partly succeeded each other in time. The earliest of these was the Runic alphabet (Note 10) each separate letter being called a rune. The word rune originally meant ‘secret’, ‘mystery’ and hence came to denote inscriptions believed to be magic. According to scholars, this alphabet was derived either from Latin or from some other Italic alphabet, close to Latin, in the 2nd c. A.D. somewhere on the Rhine or the Danube where the Germanic tribes came into contact with Roman culture. This alphabet was used by such tribes as the Goths, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. The runes were used as letters, each symbol indicating a separate sound. Besides, a rune could also represent a word beginning with that sound and was called by that word. For example, the rune denoted the sound [ÃŽ ¸], [à °] was called ‘thorn’ and could stand for OE Þorn(NE thorn). The letters of the runic alphabet are angular, straight lines are preferred, curved lines are avoided. This is due to the fact that  runic inscriptions were cut in hard material: stone, bone or wood. The shapes of some letters resemble those of Greek and Latin; others have not been traced to any known alphabet. The number of runes in different OG languages varied from 28 to 33 runes in Britain against 16 or 24 on the continent. That is the number of runes in England was larger: new runes were added as new sounds appeared in English. Neither on the mainland nor in Britain were the runes ever used for everyday writing or for putting down poetry and prose works. Their main function was to make short inscriptions on objects, often to bestow on them some special power or magic. The two best known runic inscriptions in England are the earliest extant OE written records. One of them is an inscription on a box called the ‘Franks Casket, the other is a short text on a stone cross known as the Ruthwell Cross. The Franks Casket was discovered in the early years of the 19th c. In France, and was presented to the British Museum by a British archeologist A.W. Frank. The Casket is a small box of whale bone; its four sides are carved: there are pictures in the centre and runic inscription around. The longest of them, in alliterative verse, tells the story of the whale bone, of which the Casket is made. The Ruthwell Cross is a 15ft tall cross inscribed and ornamented on all sides. The principal inscription has been reconstructed into a passage from an OE religious poem† The Dream of the Rood†, in which Christ’s Passion is told from the point of view of the Cross on which he was crucified. The Cross speaks: Ic wà ¦s miÞ blodi bistemid (Old English translation) (I was with blood bedewed). Many runic inscriptions were preserved on weapons, coins, amulets, tombstones, rings, various cross fragments. Some runic insertions occur in OE manuscripts written in Latin characters. The total number of runic inscriptions in OE is about 40; the last of them belong to the end of the OE period. Next came Ulfiala’s Gothic alphabet used in his translation of the Bible. It’s a peculiar alphabet based on the Greek alphabet with some admixture of Latin and Runic letters. (The Gothic alphabet should not be confused with the so-called Gothic script which is used in German writings and is a modified version of Latin script). The latest alphabet to be used by the Germanic tribes is the Latin alphabet. It superceded both the Runic and the Gothic alphabets when a new technique of writing was introduced, namely that of spreading some colour or paint on a surface instead of cutting or engraving the letters. The material used for  writing was either parchment or papyrus. Introduction of the Latin alphabet accompanied the spread of Christianity and Christian religious texts written in Latin. Since the Latin alphabet was adequate to represent all the sounds of Germanic languages, it was adapted to the peculiar needs of the separate languages. For example, to denote the dental fricative [ÃŽ ¸], [à °] the runic Þ was used (derived from Latin D). Ulfilas’s Bible, otherwise called the Silver Code (Codex Argenteus) is kept in Sweden. Along with other OG writings, next comes the Old High German Song of Hilderbrandt, a fragment of an epic, 8th century, and the Beowulf, an OE epic, probably written in the 8th c. Then come Old Icelandic epic texts collected in the so-called Older Edda comprising songs written down in the 13 c. A most important role in the history of the English language was played by the introduction of Christianity. The first attempt to introduce the Roman Christian religion was made in the 6th century during the supremacy of Kent. In 597 a group of missionaries from Rome dispatched by Pope Gregory the Great landed on the shore of Kent. They made Canterbury their centre and from there the new faith expanded to Kent, East Anglia, Essex, and other places. The movement was supported from the north; missionaries from Ireland brought the Celtic variety of Christianity to Northumbria. In less than a century practically all England became Christianized. The introduction of Christianity gave a strong impetus to the growth of learning and culture. Monasteries were founded all over the country, with monastic schools attached. Religious service and teaching were conducted in Latin. A high standard of learning was reached in the best English monasteries, especially in Northumbria as early as the 8th and 9th centuries. During the Scandinavian invasions the Northumbrian culture was largely wiped out and English culture shifted to the southern kingdoms, most of all to Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great. From that time till the end of the OE period, Wessex with its capital at Winchester remained the cultural centre of England. OE scribes used two kinds of alphabet: runic and Latin. The bulk of the OE records is written in Latin characters but the scribes made certain modifications and additions to indicate OE sounds. Like any alphabetic writing, OE writing was based on a phonetic principle: every letter indicated a separate sound. This principle, however, was not always observed, even at the earliest stages of phonetic spelling. Some OE letters indicated two or more sounds; some letters stood  for positional variants of phonemes: a and à ¦. Fricatives stood for 2 sounds each: a voiced and a voiceless consonant. The letters could indicate short and long sounds. The length of the vowels is shown by a macron or by a line above the letter; long consonants are indicated by a double letter. Linguistic Features of Germanic Languages Phonetic peculiarities of Germanic Languages. Word Stress and its role in further development of Germanic languages In ancient IE, prior to the separation of Germanic, there existed two ways of word accentuation: musical pitch and force stress (otherwise called dynamic, expiratory or breath stress). The position of the stress was movable and free, which means that it could fall on any syllable of the word – a root morpheme, an affix or an ending – and could be shifted both in form building and word-building. (cf. Russian: Ð ´Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã ¾Ã ¼, Ð ´Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã °, Ð ´Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã °, etc.). But these properties of the word accent were changed in PG. Force or expiratory stress became the only type of stress used. The stress was now fixed on the first syllable, which was usually the root of the word and sometimes the prefix; the other syllables – suffixes and endings – were unstressed. The stress could no longer move either in form-building or in word-building. This phenomenon has played an important role in the development of the Germanic languages, and especially in phonetic and morphological changes. Due to the difference in the force of articulation, the stressed and unstressed syllables underwent different changes: accented syllables were pronounced with great distinctness and precision, while unaccented became less distinct and were phonetically weakened. The differences between the sounds in stressed position were preserved and emphasised, whereas the contrasts between the unaccented sounds were weakened and lost. Since the stress was fixed on the root, the weakening and loss of sounds mainly affected the suffixes and grammatical endings. Many ending merged with the suffixes, were weakened and dropped. E.g. (the reconstructed word )PG *fiskaz Goth fisks Oicel fiscr OE fisc The First or Proto-Germanic Consonant Shift (Grimm’s Law) Comparison with other languages within the IE family reveals regular correspondences between Germanic and non-Germanic consonants. It looks as if the Germanic consonants ‘shifted’ as compared with their non-Germanic counterparts. This phenomenon was first observed and later formulated in terms of phonetic law (1822) by (Rasmus Rask and Jacob Grimm. Hence its name- Grimm’s Law. By Grimm’s Law, which includes 3 acts, voiceless plosives (stops) developed in PG into voiceless fricatives (1 act); voiced aspirated plosives were shifted to pure voiced plosives or voiced fricatives; and voiced plosives changed into voiceless plosives (stops). The Danish scholar Karl Verner was the first to explain them as the result of further development of Germanic languages. According to Verner, all the early PG voiceless fricatives [f, ÃŽ ¸, h] which arose under Grimm’s Law, became voiced between vowels if the preceding vowel was unstressed; otherwise they remained voiceless. The voicing of fricatives occurred in early PG at the time when the stress was not yet fixed on the root-morpheme. [f – v- b] seofon [ÃŽ ¸ – à ° – d] O Icel. hundraà ° – hundert [h – g] Goth. swaihro –OE sweger [s – z – r] Lat. auris – Goth. auso – Icel. eyra (ear) The change of [z] into [r] is called rhotacism. As a result of voicing, there arose an interchange of consonants in the grammatical forms of the word, termed grammatical interchange. Part of the  forms retained a voiceless fricative, while other forms acquired a voiced fricative. For example, heffen (Inf.) – huob Past sg.) heave; ceosan (choose) curon (Past pl.). Some modern English words retained traces of Verner’s Law: death – dead; was- were, raise – rear. Throughout history, PG vowels displayed a strong tendency to change. The changes were of the following kinds: qualitative and quantitative, dependent and independent. Qualitative changes affect the quality of the sound, for example [o – a] or [p – f]; quantitative changes are those which make long sounds short or short sounds long. For example,[ i – i:]; dependent changes are restricted to certain positions when a sound may change under the influence of the neighbouring sounds or in a certain type of a syllable; independent changes or regular (spontaneous) take place irrespective of phonetic conditions, that is they may affect a certain sound in all positions. In accented syllables the oppositions between vowels were carefully maintained and the number of stressed vowels grew. In unaccented positions the original contrasts between vowels were weakened or lost; the distinction of short and long vowels in unstressed syllables had been shortened. As for originally short vowels, they tended to be reduced to a neutral sound, losing their qualitative distinctions and were often dropped in unstressed final syllables (fiskaz). Strict differentiation of long and short vowels is regarded as an important characteristic of the Germanic group. Long vowels tended to become closer and to diphthongize, short vowels often changed into more open vowels. IE short [o] changed in Germanic into more open vowel [a] and thus ceased to be distinguished from the original IE [a]; in other words in PG they merged into [o]. IE long [a:] was narrowed to [o:] and merged with [o:]. For example, Lat. nox Goth. nahts; Lat. mater OE modor; Sans. bhra:ta OE bro:à °or .

Family Traditions Essay

How does The Keeping Quilt help you understand traditions and what they mean to families? The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco shows how immigrants came to a new country and passed down traditions to their family overtime. It also shows how traditions are integrated with other cultures to create a new culture. The Keeping Quilt demonstrates how historical and cultural traditions, teaching children social themes through children literature in the classroom can effectively increase cultural values in children’s social skills in reality. In reading the story The Keeping Quilt the author Patricia Polacco reflects on when her great grandma Anna came to America from Russia were grandma came to with only her old dress a babushka and old coat. Grandma later decides to use the old coat and pieces of other family members clothing to make a quilt. â€Å" We will make a quilt to help us always remember home† Anna’s mother said. † It will be like having the family in back home Russia dance around us at night. †(4). Here, the quilt was a significant symbol to the family to always remember their native land. It was used for the birth of family members to the family and used as huppa in weddings. Later the quilt was even used as a tablecloth and covering for caskets at funerals. The quilt became a symbol of the love and family values. The story The Keeping Quilt demonstrates to readers how some traditions and customs from our ancestors are embedded within individuals. These traditions help shape and influence our ideas values and beliefs. However in reading the story The Keeping Quilt it emphasizes some characterics of the historical values in the black African American cultures as to the movie or novel Roots by Alex Haley whereas the family kept their traditional heritage alive with jumping the broom as a symbolic union in marriage during their struggles through slavery. Another example is Escaping slavery: Sweet Clara and the freedom quilt by Sue Ann Miller, were a slave girl, Clara goes on her journey to freedom using the quilt as her symbolic inspiration from slavery. These stories and The Keeping Quilt shows readers how tradition customs individuals inherit from their ancestors used to remind them of their heritage such as the quilt was significant because it served as a piece of history passed down through generation to generation. Although Grandma Anna migrated from Russia she did not abandon her homeland once arriving in America, instead she tried to capture the memories by creating a quilt from different family members clothing each scrap of a family member clothing told a story. In creating the quilt grandma Anna kept her family history alive because it represented every significant moment in the family’s life. The Keeping Quilt also shows how cultures when migrating to a new country bring their own traditions and values. â€Å"Carle was given a gift gold, flower, salt, and bread to welcome her into the world each having a symbolic meaning. Whereas the gold represented she will never know poverty, a flower so she would always know love, salt so life would give her flavor, and bread so that she would never know hunger. However the story also shows how cultures bring their own traditions from their homeland they also create new traditions. Patricia Polacco stated† at my wedding men and women danced together, whereas in the pass they were not allowed to dance together (10). Although some traditions had changed in The Keeping Quilt overtime, the quilt remained an important tool used to connect the families past to the present. It also served as something used to preserve traditions the author Patricia Polacco states â€Å" I too will be a grandmother, and tell the story of The Keeping Quilt to my grandbabies†. 32) In addition, The Keeping Quilt is great example to express it is important to pass the torch of family traditions, this imparts a sense of continuity, bonding and more importantly love. It is incumbent on each generation of parents to keep the family tradition up and running. Family traditions are valuable instruments for child rearing because they install social values and contribute to creating close family ties. Whereas quality family time can help to build and maintain strong family ties sharing is the key ingredient for creating quality moments. On the other hand traditions make sharing easy for offering a common ground of knowledge and experiences. Teaching the new generation to honor the old family traditions through the years can help preserve encouraged interaction through shared activities. Many of most meaningful traditional activities revolve around food, with families gatherings eat and celebrate different events or holidays. In telling her story Patricia Polacco says that she come from past of storytellers, quoting† My fondest memories are sitting around a stove or open fire, eating apples and popping corn, while listening to the old ones tell glorious stories about their homeland and past. † In celebrating, traditions are highly important to welfare of many diverse families were Jews celebrate Passover and Hanukah, African Americans enjoy Kwanzaa, christens honor the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, but all giving thanks on Thanksgivings and etc. Traditions help people feel a sense of identity and belonging from a generational perspective, family traditions are practices or belief, they also pave the way for the good times and good memories. They create a connectedness with the past and hope for the future. This book is well integrated into History and Social Studies the study of families ethic religious, occupational and so forth. In reading this book illustration The Keeping Quilt emphasizes the family value and encourages children that valuable tools of family traditions ensure them with warmth and closeness family bondage now.

Analysis Of Foreign Direct Investment And Marketing Management

Foreign direct investment, marketing strategy, management of marketing operations , determinants of FDI, market access Foreign direct investment is the investment that is made by an organization or an individual in a specific country related to the interests in business in the other country. Foreign direct investment takes place when an organization plans to expand its operations in a different country or acquires business assets in a foreign country. Foreign direct investment is attracted by countries which have an open economy and offers skilled workforce to the organization. Foreign direct investments can be of three types which are, vertical, horizontal and conglomerate (Blonigen and Piger 2014). Foreign direct investment can be used by any organization as an international market strategy according to which they can invest in manufacturing or setting up a new factory in a different country. The definition of FDI is also related to the acquisition of interest related to a company in another country. The different ways by which the organization can enter a new market are, construction of facilities in a new market area, acquisitions and mergers, investment in joint venture which is located in a foreign area. Foreign direct investment is made by an organization so that they can access to closed markets which are limited by trade related barriers (Papadopoulos, Hamzaoui-Essoussi and El Banna 2016). The companies can take advantage of the lower costs related to production and labour in the new market areas of the country. This type of investment is important for many industries or companies which demand innovation and access to technology. Investments are made in different countri es so that the organization can enhance its competitive position in the industry (Sheth and Sisodia 2015). The conclusions that are presented in the study are of significance in the academic and practical fields. On one hand, this supports the development of the studies related to future research related to the marketing strategies developed after making investments in the foreign countries. On the other hand, the reasons that are related to the foreign investment related decisions of the organizations are also presented. This study will therefore help in analysing the foreign investments and the strategies related to marketing. Blonigen, B.A. and Piger, J., 2014. Determinants of foreign direct investment.  Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'à ©conomique,  47(3), pp.775-812. Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human resource   management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation.  Industrial Marketing Management. Papadopoulos, N., Hamzaoui-Essoussi, L. and El Banna, A., 2016. Nation branding for foreign direct investment: an Integrative review and directions for research and strategy.  Journal of Product & Brand Management ,  25(7), pp.615-628. Sheth, J.N. and Sisodia, R.S., 2015.  Does marketing need reform?: Fresh perspectives on the future. Routledge.

Global Teams Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Global Teams Case - Essay Example In this regard, correspondence between various parties and the customers could not work out. The crashing of the server for two hours also caused the customer outrage (Neeley and Delong, 2009). Additionally, the Sun global working schedule protocol had a problem. For instance, the weekday and weekend call protocols were not clear to every team member. Open work environment served to provide every member of a Sun Microsystems Inc team with an opportunity to innovate, create and make technological discoveries to boost the performance of the esteemed information technology company. It  enabled the various teams on a global scale to be innovative and manage any problem related to the company’s products and services instead of relying on few personnel. Diversity served to meet unique customer demands. Additionally, diversity served to resolve the language barrier problem because the sales team from every region could perfectly meet the needs of customers hailing from such places. Neeley and Delong (2009) assert that diversity also served to give Sun Microsystems a global image. This aspect also enhanced the creation of new marketing niches for the company hence increase of revenue. Greg James should resolve the protocol problem and ensure synergy among his team members in the long-run. Synergy will eliminate friction in correspondence between the customer and Sun Microsystems company sales team. The company should also ensure that clients are informed of any emergency in good time to avoid

Visual Arts and Films Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Visual Arts and Films Studies - Essay Example In filmmaking or film production and visual arts development, the directors and the general crew endeavor to make their work look authentic and real to their audience. Habitually, it involves a series of stages such as the original story, the idea through script writing, casting, editing, shooting and screening the finished film to an audience. The development of a film or visual art takes place around the world taking into account factors such as economic, political and social contexts, while incorporating technologies, as well as cinematic effects in the case of film. The production of some of these products can take as long as several years to complete while others take a few months, incorporating many people. The most crucial part in generating a quality product is during the commission of the idea. This is where the filmmaker ensures that the costume design, its interpretation, technical arts and special effects, set design for screen and theatre design look as authentic as poss ible. Although the cast contributes a large part to how a film or visual art performance will be received, other factors such as cinematography effects, the costumes and interpretation of the costumes as well other technologies involved, affect how the audience appreciates the authenticity of the product. Reality and real are two words that make realism a difficult word to explain as well as the intricacy of disputes in art and philosophy, where it is predominantly used. In the arts, realism is the attempt of the artist to embody their theme as truthfully as possible. This paper is going to discuss two American films, The Matrix of 1999 and 300 released in 2006. These films are different in terms of their genre and setting, where the Matrix is a science fiction action film while 300 is an action packed film, set in the medieval times. Their similarities could be attributed to the struggle of the directors in trying to make the films appear as real as possible. Both films try to bring forward a certain reality to the audience. The Matrix brings out the reality of dystopian future, antonym Utopia, in which reality is cyberspace or stimulated reality called The Matrix. Dystopia appears in works of fiction, seeking to speculate on the future, usually characterized by dehumanization, envir onmental disasters and dictatorial governments. 300, on the other hand, are set in a medieval age, where a certain king fights against the Persian god king Xerxes. The directors of both movies hard to work hard to make these setting come and appear real to the audiences in terms of costume, dialogue, cinematic effects and other technologies (BARNWELL, P. 187, 2008) Filming is divided into five parts, the Development, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution. The main area of focus when the director is in the moment of bringing reality to the film is the pre-production. Pre- production encompasses all the preparations made before the actual shooting such as the cast, the film crew, selection of the film location and building of the site. More so, pre-production ensures that every step involved in creating the film is carefully planned and designed. In pre-production of The Matrix, the director, The Wachowski brothers, made sure that all crew involved in the film u nderstood the theme of the film and the requirement of the chosen actors was that they were able to explain The matrix. All the principal cast and the crew were also required to read Simulacra and Simulation, a philosophical treatise book used to conceal disks in the film. Reeves the main protagonist in the film, said reading the book enabled him to explain all the philosophical jargons involved in the film (MACKENDRICK & CRONIN, P. 123, 2005). For the fight scenes, the directors incorporated a Chinese director because of the growth and intricacy of Chinese action cinema. In preparation of these action scenes, it was required for every actor to train intensely for months. Downward flowing green font represented

What were the causes and effects of the global financial crisis in Essay

What were the causes and effects of the global financial crisis in 2007 and three clear leasons for portfolio risk management that have emerged from this experience - Essay Example The financial crisis of 2007-2009 caused disastrous effects in the US economy as well as numerous other countries of the world. The effects have been so severe that the world still struggles to return to normalcy. The crisis is considered to have planted its roots since as early as 2001. This is the time when United States of America recovered from a minor recession due to the terrorist attacks and the dotcom bubble. Dotcom bubble was a stock market recession that took place due to the heavy investments in the dotcom companies. Many investments were made in the technological companies with the expectancy of gaining even greater profits. The US economy survived this setback in their economy but their minds feared the probability of an actual recession. Singh (2007) stated that the Federal Reserve decided to decrease the interest rate to 1.75% from a rate of 6.5% to avoid any occurrence of a recession. This lowering of the rate proved to be an attractive package for the people as many more individuals could finally make their dreams come true and make desired investments. What the concerned authorities did not predict were the consequences of such an increase of loans and mortgages. Due to the decrease in the interest rates, the people became restless buyers and started applying for more mortgages and loans. The demand for houses appreciated the property prices to a great extent and lowered rate for rented properties. A greater element of encouragement was introduced in the market when Federal Reserve lowered the interest rate even lower to only 1% in the mid of 2003. This was done with the aim of keeping the economy strong. Singh (2007) stated that this rate was the lowest one that was witnessed in the past 45 years. This gave an even bigger push for the people to invest as much as they possible could. Then, another factor was introduced in

Nursing Shortages Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Shortages - Research Proposal Example Some other studies have also shown that if patient: nurse ration is more then there is a poor performance of the staff as well due to a number of factors including work load the most important one. If one staff is attending more than one patient then along with more work which is going to be obviously more exhausting for the staff that will lead to decline in the quality performance it also adds to the spread of infection. Hospital is full of contagious organism and the nursing staff mainly is the vector for the transfer of them so, if one staff is attending three patients at a time the staff will be mixing the formal flora and even pathogenic flora lying with one patient with the other one which will be leading to hospital acquired infection that are more resistant to be treated and most of the times lead to fatal results so, this way patients will have a long hospital stay with increased morbidity and a high number of patients will die. I would be working on the project to find out scientifically if patient nurse ratio really has an impact And if it is then in which setting This issues is very important because nursing staff is the primary heal care professional this is in touch with the patient most of the time so if work is carried out at this area it will be very easy to be adjusted and the outcome will be very rewarding. In order to carry this research study out we can take patients hospital stay, in patient and out patient mortality in the first month after getting discharged, patient's satisfaction will be constant variable and we will be seeing the impact of nurse: patient ration on them while nurse: patient ration is going to be kept constant. We need a number of observations like there has to be standardization of a few parameters in order to avoid different types of biases like the experience and qualifying degree of this nursing staff should be the same. The study should be carried out at one health care center at a time the patient population should be exactly or almost nearly the same age, with same co-morbid status, and same ethnic or social group ideally so in short basically patient's and nurse' factors should be normalized. Hospitals should ideally be tertiary care with some part of the study at intensive care unit as well so that the impact of this ratio can also be studied depending on the seriousness of the primary illness. We need all these observations because health care system is very intricate and these entire factors influence each other directly or indirectly through different ways. This study needs to be a cohort study ideally though it is going to be a long time consuming stuffy but the results will be more promising. Data needs to be both on in-patient and out patient basis mainly on telephone or at consulting clinics on there follow up visits. As an in patient records will be the souse of our data and as an out patient the patents their self or the next kin will be the source of data for us. There should be a written record system that

Banking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Banking - Assignment Example The mortgages are secured by claims against the various estates the mortgagors purchase. Afterwards, the individual mortgages are huddled together as a mortgage pool. The pool is held as the collateral for an MBS. The MBS can also be issued by a third-party financial institution for instance a large investment banking company or similar bank where the mortgages originated from. Aggregators can also issue mortgage backed securities. There are MBS whose main purpose and interests are guaranteed by a United States government entity or sponsored enterprise. The securities are known as agency MBS which do not expose an investor to credit risk. For a non-agency MBS, issuers normally employ various vehicles to enhance the credit of the security in order to obtain a targeted investment-grade rating. Investors within MBS are exposed to uncertainties about the future cash flow since the borrower has every right to repay the loan wholly or partial as long as it is before the maturity date. This is called prepayment risk which is a major factor in understanding MBS. When the MBS is being created, an issuer would choose to break the mortgage pool severally to different parts known as tranches. These tranches are structured in various forms depending on the choice of issuer. The tranches differ in relation to the priorities of payments received. These early payments must then be allocated to the tranches according to a schedule or priority. This allows the issuer to tailor a single MBS in case of risks and damages. The funds accumulated for example Pensions and hedges are used to invest in high credit mortgage securities and seek higher returns through investing in low credit ratings. A vital innovation in the financial markets has been the securitization of assets. Apparently, this would include mutual funds as securitized investments. Interestingly, securitized investments normally distinguish themselves by the fact that they change priorities of payments to the holders of the securities. The first type of securitized asset was the residential mortgage in 1969 and the first non-mortgage asset securitization were the lease received in 1985. Since then, credit cards, loans and bonds and several other types of debt instruments have been securitized. Considering the prepayment risk that an investor faces in the basic mortgage-backed instrument as well as the pass through security, there is a very high chance of enquiring huge losses. For instance when interests rate fall, homeowners usually begin prepaying their mortgages while leaving mortgage holders normally receive their principle payments earlier than scheduled. Consequently, the cash flow has to be invested in lower interest rate environments according to Chance (2008). As a result, the returns on mortgage pass-through are quite volatile shocking the many investors who were unaware that such a risk would occur. Nonetheless, the result is similar that a new security is created and backed up by the c laims against the mortgagors’ property. However, this security can be sold to participants who are in the secondary mortgage market. The secondary mortgage market is very large hence providing a significant amount of liquidity to the mortgage groups. Competitive Strategy With the business environment continuously becoming more challenging and taking a global twist,

Profile of a language group present in Los Angeles Essay

Profile of a language group present in Los Angeles - Essay Example The migration of this group can be categorized in three levels. The first group migrated from the war torn Vietnam in 1975. The group was made up of mainly high trained students, members of the civil servants undertaking white collar jobs and military executives. After 1980 there was established communist systems of government which show a second wave of Vietnamese migrate. These people used boats to cross over to the United States(Phinney& Jean, 135).From 1990 there was an operation program carried out by the United States Government duped ‘United States Humanitarian Program’. In this program, most of the Vietnamese migrated to the United States after making application for entry. This included former prisoners of war, members of Amerasian service men and members of Vietnamese Americans(Nguyen, Anne, Fay Shin &Krashen, 159). In the present time the Vietnamese Americans are distributed in the United States. This means that the majority of Federal States are inhabited by this group. According to the census carried out in the year 2000, Los Angeles County recorded approximately 78,000 Vietnamese Americans recording 7.06% of the whole population(Asian Population, 2013). There has been an outstanding performance in businesses in Los Angeles with a sizeable number of the enterprises owned by Vietnamese Americans. ... The images below show how Vietnamese language has been used to develop the hotel industry in Los Angeles county. The Vietnamese language has been embraced by the Los Angeles community members who have either developed an interest in the language and wish to use it as their main language. This move has mostly been undertaken by the nationals who wish to feature more in the hotel industries(Phinney& Jean, 135).Moreover, Asian children do continuously get enrolled in these institutions to indulge them in their culture. One of the schools offering this service is the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute offering important facilities. Moreover, the need to maintain the culture of the Vietnamese has necessitated California State University to launch a program to assist American born Vietnamese children be conversant with the language(Phinney& Jean, 135). This means that starting next year; the University will offer a bachelor’s degree in Vietnamese culture and language as well as offer t rains the tutor tutorials to equip the lecturers with the adequate knowledge to offer the training. More visits to the Los Angeles stores and supermarket will demonstrate how the Vietnamese language has been embraced to propel these chains of businesses(Nguyen, Anne, Fay Shin &Krashen, 159). The malls thathouse a collection of businesses contain Vietnamese language in their walls, booklets, signboards, catalogues and menus. The language has been used widely in churches in Los Angeles in spreading the gospel. The Vietnamese community at our lady of assumption our lady of Rosary is a catholic union that was established in 1979 to cater for the need of the Vietnamese Americans(Phinney& Jean, 135).William J Barry was the pastor who was ordained to

Application of Theory to Student Learning Essay

Application of Theory to Student Learning - Essay Example Students with disabilities get easy and quick knowledge through practical experience of all the situations. In constructivist theory, students are facilitated with practical skill and easy knowledge with the help of which, they are able to learn and act accordingly. Students are not made to memorize all the concepts and details but to go through them practically. Behaviorist theory of teaching students with learning disabilities concerns with direct teaching skills (Lerner, 2003). The students with disabilities are facilitated with direct teaching in which, the tasks that are to be performed are divided into chunks and then students are asked to perform all the tasks line wise (Duhaney and Duhaney, 2000). The reason of dividing the tasks into smaller chunks is to facilitate the students to learn easily and actively. Divided tasks appear easy and accommodating (Duhaney and Duhaney, 2000). The students are informed in understandable and comprehensible words and information about all the tasks after which, they are asked to perform it themselves. The students are not only taught but they are also asked to do practice that accommodates with obtainment of knowledge and information related to a task (Lerner, 2003). Both behaviorist and constructivist theories are supportive and facilitating for the students with disabilities because of their concern to the difficulties that students face while learning and because of the teaching methodologies of the teachers. Due to these theories’ application, the students with disabilities are able to learn with ease and expertise due to which, they appear better than students who are taught with not much supportive skills of teaching. Traditional and non-traditional learning environments for students with disabilities differ from each other to a great extent. In traditional learning environments, students were not facilitated with technological developments which

Properties of Language, According to Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Properties of Language, According to Linguistics Essay Language, we use it everyday, but what exactly defines â€Å"language? † Are there generalizations to be made of all languages? Does everyone learn language same way? What are the rules of language? â€Å"What is Language? † by Neil Smith and Deirdre Wilson answers these questions and more by highlighting the three major theories of modern linguistics. The first modern linguistic theory claims that language is govern by grammar and that grammar is a set of rules with two functions: identifying possible sentences in a given language and dictate the pronunciation meaning of a sentence in a given language. The first function provides fluent speakers the ability to understand every conceivable sentence in their language even if they never heard it before sentences. This creative quality to produce infinitely many sentences is unique to language. The second function provides fluent speakers of different dialects to communicate with each other using the grammar rules of their shared language. The two functions of the first modern linguistic theory provides effective communication between two parties and acknowledgment of it is vital in first understanding language. In part with the first modern linguistic theory’s definition of grammar is that each person’s linguistic grammar is entirely unique to him or herself, because everyone learns grammar differently due different external factors. Everyone absorbs different linguistic speech patterns from their external environment during infancy and adds it to his or her own unique grammar customs, habits or conventions. These differences are even more prominent in patients of aphasia, a language disability that breaks up certain parts of their grammar creating difficult to understand or entirely incoherent sentences. People with aphasia create their own linguistic systems, sometimes being completely incompatible with the common linguistic systems of their receivers, causing misunderstandings. Generally, the only two instances of completely unique linguistic systems are when infants first learn language and patients with aphasia. The study of these two instances are vital in understanding the degree of uniqueness a linguistic grammar systems. The second modern linguistic theory claims that grammar is psychologically real and unconsciously known. However, the idea that grammar is unconscious knowledge is a controversial one. The opposition argues that sentence understanding is formed from using analogous sentences the listener has already heard and understood. It is not unconscious knowledge, they claim, but conscious identification of previously understood sentences. However, that does not explain the creativity of forming entirely new sentences or understanding the meaning of a never heard before sentence. For example, Noam Chomsky’s famous line, â€Å"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously† understandably sounds English and follows the grammatical rules of English, but makes no semantic sense. The opposition’s claim should be understood as â€Å"previously experienced analogous rules are used to understand language. † This would be classified under grammar rules. This explains how students first learn a language by identifying patterns through multiple experiences with the same kind of sentences. L inguists, however, research existing patterns from recognizing sentence patterns that are psychologically valid, i. e. significant generalizations and sentence patterns that arose by accident or by coincidence, i.  e. accidental generalizations. Significant generalizations are formed from existing rules, such as using â€Å"mister† for a man and â€Å"miss† for a woman. Accidental generalizations are any rules that are not the currently valid linguistic rules and are formed from chance events from using rules during early development of the language or change from outside influences. A child might make an accidental generalization of â€Å"mister† and call a woman â€Å"mister,† which would be very inappropriate and incorrect. Through intensive research, linguists are able to identify which generalizations are accidental or incorrect and create generalizations that are correct. The third modern linguistic theory by Noam Chomsky claims that people learn certain language forms instinctively. Chomsky discovered this parallel from the fact that all languages are very similar to each other. A few universalities shared by all languages discovered by linguistics are that all languages have vowels, consonants, nouns, verbs, affirmative sentences, negative sentences and interrogative sentences. A study done by Russell Tomlin in 1986, London, is that 45% of all languages share the â€Å"subject-verb-object† sentence structure and 42% share the â€Å"subject-verb-object† sentence structure. Very few languages, for whatever reason, have the verb or object first, which would indicate that the formation of language favors the subject first and that most languages are predisposed to having a subject first in a sentence. Language, whether we completely comprehend its inner workings or not, is constantly a prevailing aspect of our daily lives. We use language unconsciously, and yet because of this aspect, it is very difficult to fully classify rules of language. Thankfully, we can analyze various instances of unique grammar formation to further clarify our generalizations of languages and through these generalizations, find universalities of all languages. What is language, you ask? Language is a beautiful study of unique linguistics systems, interplaying with each other to create powerful communication.

The theory of Initial Ocean and atmosphere Essay Example for Free

The theory of Initial Ocean and atmosphere Essay In 1953 Stanley Miller put the atmosphere consisting of hydrogen, methane, ammonia and steam to the experiment with electricity discharges. At that some of the numerous amino acids forming albumen were generated. However he succeeded to get only four of twenty amino acids essential for any life-forms to appear. Even in fifty years scientists are still unable to get experimentally all the twenty amino acids needed under conditions that can be called possible. Miller supposed that the initial Earth atmosphere was similar to that inside his experimental camera. Why? He and his colleague expressed the reason later:†Synthesis of biologically important compounds takes place only under restoration conditions (without any free oxygen in atmosphere)†. But according to his opponents oxygen is essential for the beginnings of life on Earth. The difficulty arisen is described by Hitching as following: â€Å"If there was any oxygen in the air the first amino acid would never arise and if there wasn’t it would be destroyed by the Space radiation. That’s highly interesting, Hitching says, that during Miller’s experiment with electricity discharges the four amino acids got survived only because they were taken out of the area of the discharges. If they continued to be there the discharge would decompose them. Supposing the amino acids to somehow get to the oceans and to escape the solar radiation of atmosphere there. And what then? Hitching explains: â€Å"Under the water cover there is not enough energy for the activation of the following chemical reactions; the water itself hampers the synthesis of complex molecules†. Chemist Richard Dickerson considers the following:† It’s hard to imagine polymerization taking place in the initial ocean, because the presence of water assists depolymerization only†. Biochemist George World agrees with the above saying:† It’s much more likely for the spontaneous dilution to happen in water â€Å". All the arguments given above clearly contradict to Stanley Miller’s theory. Yet, it’s still the only one explaining the reality we have.

Criminology Essays Crime and Power

Criminology Essays Crime and Power Criminology Crimes of the powerful. Q. Why has the analysis of crimes of the powerful been such a growth area in criminology over the past century? It is tempting to give a simple or even simplistic answer to the above question: it is tempting to say that analysis and theory of crimes of the powerful have grown so quickly in the last century because the quantity and diversity of such crimes have themselves exploded outwards. As the number of crimes committed by the powerful have risen exponentially across the years and continents, so the police forces, crime-prevention agencies and legislators of the governments charged with halting these crimes have had to evolve into larger and more complex organizations also. For instance, amongst myriad forms of organized crime that developed in the twentieth century, one pertinent recent example is the efflorescence of high-tech and internet crime, where professional and international gangs manipulate technology to extort or steal large sums of money from the public. High-tech crime is of course a recent phenomenon; it did not exist at the turn of the last century. Therefore analysis of suc h activities by law agencies has grown to respond to this new threat; moreover, the analysis and prevention of such crimes has had to grow in sophistication and size just as the crimes themselves have done. Organized crime be it narcotic trafficking, prostitution rings, corporate crimes and so on has become a massive international business, and it has required larger agencies equipped with better criminal theory and technology and international cooperation between agencies to deal with it. Moreover, the clear lapse between the professionalism and techniques of many criminal organizations and the law agencies that pursue them will require these agencies to catch-up to the advances of these criminals in the next decades. And, of course, this catch-up will depend heavily upon advances in criminal theory and analysis. Crimes of the powerful are not exclusively concerned with illegal activities of the above description, but also with crimes committed by corporations, by governments, by dictators and even, in an interesting new perspective, by patriarchal gender structures that sanction crimes of power against women. The attention of law agencies and legislators upon these crimes has led to a mass of new analysis and theory by criminologists on the nature of such crimes. Likewise, several theories compete to describe the causes of organized crime and crimes of the powerful. One such theory points to social change as the most profound catalyst in the spread of organized crime and the detection of organized crime. This theory assimilates the teachings of sociology, psychology, anthropology and history to produce a detailed sociological critique of these causes. In the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, many acts committed by the powerful that would today be classified as criminal were then merely pse udo-illegal or socially disapproved of; they carried no specific criminal offence. But social and legislative advances have made the prosecution of crimes of the powerful easier enact. out. For instance, the prosecution of corporate crime is, theoretically at least, far easier to identify and prosecute than it was in the early twentieth century. Moreover, greater media exposure of the life of corporations and governments has magnified their crimes whenever they are committed. A moment of this essay might be given to discuss exactly what is meant by the phrase crimes of the powerful. Indeed, a person unfamiliar with the literature of criminology might be forgiven for regarding the term as somewhat amorphous and nebulous: he might argue that nearly any criminal phenomenon could be termed a crime of the powerful. The dictionary defines a crime as an act punishable by law, as being forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare. An evil or injurious act; an offence, a sin; esp. of grave character (Oxford, 1989). It is difficult to see how the word power could not be inserted into any part of this definition and for it still to make sense. There is therefore in the pure black letter interpretation of the law a huge shaded area that allows for misinterpretation of the term crime of power. Can, for instance, a crime of the powerful be a physical act? Or must it the top levels of an organization? Moreover, the use of the word crime is itself ambiguous. The trafficking of drugs or children is clearly illegal and criminal according to the principles of law; but we also speak of corporate crimes against the public withholding medicines from the dying, adulterating foods etc., as crimes even though they have no explicit recognition as such in law. There is then a near infinite possible extension of the word crime when one uses the word in the sense of something that ought to be illegal rather than something that is presently illegal. In Smiths words: If a crime is to be understood simply as law violation, then no matter how immoral, reprehensible, damaging or dangerous an act is, it is not a crime unless it is made such by the authorities of the state. There is moreover often the paradoxical situation where a government that commits crimes of power against its people can only be legally recognized as doing such if it passes legislation against itself. That is: their This is obviously extremely unlikely to happen and so many such crimes go unnoticed. It is often directly against the interests of certain groups or interests to recognize the existence of certain crimes because then have to recognize theory legal existence also. Recently however, one growth of criminal analysis of the powerful has come from greater international laws that allow for the international legal recognition of crimes committed by dictators or despots when they would never do this themselves. For instance, Saddam Hussein is near universally thought to have committed crimes of power against his people; such things were never legally recognized as crimes as such until a body such as the United Nations had the international authority to declare the illegal action s of heads of states. Sociologists and psychologists amongst other groups (Chesterton, 1997) have argued that the moral, sociological and psychological aspects of crimes of the powerful should be recognized by criminologists to a far greater extent. By using approaches such as these criminologists can add the activities of environmental pollution, insider trading, and tax evasion to the public consciousness of what constitute crimes of the powerful. In Sellins (2003) words if the study of crime is to attain an objective and scientific status, it should not allow itself to be restricted to the terms and boundaries of enquiry established by legislators and politicians . According to scholars authors like Chesterton and Dupont the intense interest in by criminologists in the analysis and prevention of crimes of the powerful is due to the massive growth and myriad new forms of these crimes. Perhaps the most powerful criminals whose crimes are explicitly illegal are international drug trafficking organizations. In 2004, according to Smith (Smith, 2004) Â £550 billion of cocaine and other illegal substances were transported illegally internationally. This trade is therefore lager than the GDP of many African and other third-world countries. Faced with this massive business and with its catastrophic social consequences traditional law agencies and their democratic legislators have had to radically alter the way they investigate and prosecute these crimes. The extreme complexity and ingenuity of international drug cartels have meant that governments have had to build equally complex systems of criminological analysis and technique to limit these crimes. Complex intelligence agencies like the MI5 and MI6 in England and the CIA and FBI in the United States now have innumerable specialist intelligence groups of scientists, field-officers and so on investigating the criminal nature and consequences of organized crime such as drug trafficking, the shipping of illegal weapons and so on. Perhaps the only organizations on earth with greater power than the above organized crime syndicates are the international corporations of Western countries like Britain, America and so on. Many critics of these organizations (Chomsky, 2003) allege that the secret crimes of these corporations exceed even those of the drug barons. For instance, everyone will be familiar with the recent scandals of Enron, Anderson and Paramalat where billions of pounds were swindled by these massive companies. This white-collar crime was half a century ago hardly investigated and such crimes went essentially unnoticed. But greater public consciousness of the activities of these companies through the media has theoretically at least imposed a greater accountability and potential punishment for companies who exploit either their shareholders or their customers. This increased interest in corporate crime has led in turn to the need for a vast number of criminologists to produce theories to explain the cau ses of such crimes and then strategies for their prevention. A further consequence of the media revolution of the past century and the changed social assumptions of our society has meant that the crimes of governments as crimes of power are now open to far greater than public and professional scrutiny and analysis than they ever have been before. Twenty-four hour television and instant access to news stories and the daily events of our political life have meant that the public can therefore criticise the crimes of their governments with greater ease than before. For instance, the vociferous protests in 2003 by citizens of Western democracies against the invasion of Iraq were due to the belief of those citizens that their governments had acted illegally and criminally in invading that country. Traditionally, such crimes do not fall into the sphere of criminology because of the numerous problems identified in the definition paragraph of this essay. However, criminologists, at least theoretically, and urged by famous opponents of the war like Noa m Chomsky and Michael Moore, are coming to analyze and investigate the issues and theoretical difficulties of holding entire governments to account for committing crimes of power. Many of the principles used by criminologists to analyze the techniques and structures of organized crime yndicates are being suggested to be transferred to an analysis of the crimes of government. The analysis of government crime may prove to be one of the most fruitful of the coming decades for criminologists. In this essay then, the term crimes of the powerful refers to such crimes as are carried out by organized criminal gangs (either national or international), by corporations, by governments, by powerful individuals such as corrupt magnates, businessmen and so on. Such crimes might include: corporate fraud, corporate mal-practise, illegal narcotics or arms; high-tech crimes such as computer fraud. It is necessary for the student of criminology to know something of the state criminal affairs at the end of the 19th century if he is to find a clear answer for the growth of analysis of crimes of the powerful in the twentieth century. One strong reason why analysis of such crimes was less in say 1900 was that many organized crimes did not exist at all. For instance, the use of narcotics like opium and heroin were widespread amongst all levels of society but legal also; the trade of these drugs were controlled by legally registered companies and there existed no illegal market for their production or importation. Accordingly, since these acts were no understood as crimes, British police did not need to analyse the behaviour or causes of these. Moreover, the size of the police force as well as its technical and theoretical know-how were far smaller than they are today in Britain, America, France and so on. Similarly, whilst many companies exploited the Victorian workforce, none did s o in the systematic and pre-determined fashion that is characteristic of Anderson, Enron or Parmalat in the past ten years. Other crimes of the powerful like high-tech computer fraud obviously required no analysis or theory of criminology since they did not exist at all. Similarly, The In James Smiths (Smith, 1999, p44) memorable phrase At the dawn of the twenty-first century the Western world faces a plethora of organised criminality of the like that it has never known before. From the mass trafficking of illegal narcotics, to whole-scale prostitution, to high-tech computer fraud, to corporate offences on a giant scale, the police forces and criminal prevention agencies of the new century will meet challenges as they have never glimpsed in the past. And, a little further on, They will no longer compete against petty or isolated crimes of individuals, but against the sophisticated and organized attempts to make vast fortunes by systematically breaking the law. In this contest between law officer and criminal former is now far behind; it remains to be seen whether he will catch-up in the near decades (Smith, 1999, p44). Another area of rapid growth in crimes of the powerful has been the feminist critique of domestic violence committed against women by dominant males. Feminists of the last few decades have argued cogently that the term crimes of the powerful should include also these domestic abuses because of the patriarchal structures within our society that promote such abuses. The explosion of such feminist critiques flows from the fact that before this century there was no feminism as such, and domestic abuse was either not considered a crime or it was publicly invisible or ignored. The changing social philosophies such as liberalism and attitudes of the twentieth century gave birth to a greater consciousness for women and therefore greater demands for them for social and legal equality. This, in the 1960s and 1970s, leading feminists like Germane Greer campaigned for recognition of the domination of women by societal institutions and conventions that are massively weighted in favour of men. Fem inists scholars and theorists argue that the vast majority of these structures and the crimes they inflict upon women are unreported; marital rape is the most frequent abuse, and nearly 80% of women in this predicament are abused repeatedly (Painter, 1991). A whole host of crimes commited by men supported by social institutions go unreported and unprosecuted. Some feminists therefore describe a fundamental imbalance in the power structures of Western society, and that agencies and organizations should be set up to combat and prevent this crime. In S. Griffins words: Men in our culture are taught and encouraged to rape women as the symbolic expression of male power (Griffin, 1971) and Brownmiller says eloquently that rapists are the shock troops of patriarchy, necessary for male domination. Some men may not rape, but only because their power over women is already secured by the rapists who have done their work for them (Brownmiller, 1976). This feminine critique therefore demands a c onsiderable extension of the definition of the term crimes of the powerful to include all those thousands of incidents of unseen violence issued from an entire gender that has power over another. In this sense, arguably feminists have uncovered the crime of the powerful of all. According to feminists, the truths of this oppression has been recognised partially by criminological theorists by the tides of social legislation that have been passed in recent years to protect women from domestic violence. Nonetheless, say that criminologists yet lack a complete or detailed analytical theory of such violence; this itself being reflected by the dominance in criminology of males. In the final analysis, the growth of the analysis of crimes of the powerful may be attributed principally to the growth of the number and types of such crimes and the subsequent need to investigate and prevent them. Some crimes of the powerful such as drug trafficking are nearly entirely new to our age, and criminologists have had to develop wholly new theories and techniques to combat it. On the other hand, entirely new academic critiques like those of feminism, sociology and psychology have identified and produced theories to describe invisible crimes of power against groups who before the last century had to suffer in silence. Criminologists too have had to swallow these theories and then learn methods and techniques to apply them to our modern world. Similarly, the rise of mass media and the extension of democratic institutions have enabled citizens with far better information about the behaviour of their corporations and governments; this awareness has in turn led to a conscious ness of the similarity of nature between illegal crimes like drug-smuggling and corporate crimes like deliberately withholding medicines from the sick or the invasion of a foreign country. These new fields of investigation have given the criminologist much to think about. The student of criminology should not forget either that the subject he studies had itself evolved over the last century to become a highly professional and international and therefore capable of greater levels and specializations in analysis than it could ever have been before. BIBLIOGRAPHY Academic Books, Journals Articles Brownmiller, S (1976). Against our Will: Men, Women and Rape. James Press, London. Chesterton, B. (1997). Criminology and Social Science. Blackthorn, Edinburgh. Dupont, D. (2000). Foucault against Foucault: Rereading the Governmentality Papers, Theoretical Criminology, No. 3, May 2000, (with). Foucault, Governmentality, Marx. (1998). Journal of Social and Legal Studies, 7:4, December 1998 (with S. Tombs). Hazards, Law and Class, Social and Legal Studies, Vol. 6, No.1, March 1997. Painter, K. (1991)Rape, Marriage and the Law. Bold Books, Exeter. Shover, N. (2001). Capitalist Business Organizations in White Collar Crime. Oxford Press, Oxford. Smith, J. (1999). Criminology for the Twenty-First Century: A Readers Guide.. Devillier Press, New Jersey. Snider, L. (1995). Corporate Crime: Contemporary Debates. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. Snider, L. (1992). Crimes of the Powerful special issue of The Journal of Human Justice, Vol. 3, No.2, Spring. Steve Tombs and Dave Whyte (Editors). (2003) Unmasking the Crimes of the Powerful: Scrutinizing States and Corporations. Peter Lang, New York Summer, C. (ed) (2003). Blackwell Companion to Criminology. Oxford, Blackwell. The Oxford English Dictionary. (1989) (2nd Ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford. Valverde, M. (1996). Conflict, Contradiction and Governance, special issue of Economy and Society, Vol. 25, No.3, (Autumn). West, G Morris, R (eds.) (2000). Regulating Toxic Capitalism in The Case for Penal Abolition. Canadian Scholars Press, Toronto Woodiwiss, M. (1993). Global Crime Connections. Macmillan, London.

Comparing Glycemic Responses to Low-Carbohydrate and High-Carbohydrate

Comparing Glycemic Responses to Low-Carbohydrate and High-Carbohydrate Energy Bars The Atkins Advantage Bar and the Power Bar are two energy bars containing differing amounts of carbohydrate. Both bars were studied in order to compare their effects on glycemia in the body. Steven R. Hertzler and Yeonsoo Kim investigated these bars in comparison with two controls, chicken breast and white bread, because these two foods also have divergent carbohydrate contents. To perform their study, the researchers recorded plasma glucose responses to 60-gram portions of all of these test foods. This study demonstrates the correlation between the carbohydrate composition of the Atkins Advantage Bar and the Power Bar, and the effects that this has on glycemia. The Atkins Advantage Bar is a low-carbohydrate energy bar that is part of the Atkins Diet plan. This snack food fits into the low-carbohydrate, high-protein weight loss program. Its purpose is to replenish the energy lost when one removes carbohydrates from his/ her diet in attempts to lose weight. In this particular study, the Atkins Advantage Bar served as the low-carbohydrate bar, which had the closest macronutrient composition to the chicken breast control (zero carbohydrates). One serving of this energy bar contains 2.6 grams or less of carbohydrates. Participants of this study who were fed the 60-gram portions of the Atkins Advantage energy bar experienced predictable glycemic responses, as a result of the low amount of carbohydrate that this bar contains. These participants produced the lowest glycemic responses in the study. Consumption of his energy bar reduced glycemia by 71%, as compared with the white bread control. The results of this study did not surprise Hertzler an. .. ...trated that energy bars that contain divergent amounts of carbohydrate produce different results. The low-carbohydrate energy bar, the Atkins Advantage Bar, produced the lowest glycemic responses, thus reducing glycemia. On the end of the spectrum, the high-carbohydrate Power Bar produced the highest glycemic responses, which increased glycemia. The differing glycemic responses of these two energy bars make sense because each bar has been developed to fulfill a different purpose. The Atkins Advantage Bar is a snack food that fits into a low-carbohydrate diet; therefore, its goal is to promote weight loss. On the other hand, the Power Bar is an energy bar that mainly fits into an exercise plan; and its goal is to replenish glycogen in the muscles. These two energy bars affect the body’s glycemic levels differently because they were formulated for different purposes.

The Sikhs Essay -- essays research papers fc

In the year 1469 a man named Guru Nanak was born into a Punjabi-Hindu family. His name means "He who was born at the home of his mother's parents", which was in Talwandi, near Labone ("Sikhs" 647). We know little about Nanak's life but a lot about his beliefs from a book called " Adi Granth" or " Granth Sahib", which means holy book. Some of his beliefs were the reality of "karma" and "reincarnation".These are beliefs that our actions in this life determine how high or low we'll be in our next life. The Hindus and Muslims believe it is best to worship, missionize, study and write the sacred scriptures, and other religious public actions and behaviors. Nanak believed that this is wrong. He felt that the people should be involved in inward meditation to the God, Akal Purakh (Nanak was a monotheist, believing in one god). Nanak believed that Akal Purakh is the almighty creator and sustainer of the universe and he has no form. If one is truly devoted to Akal then Akal may reveal himself to you in "nam" or the divine name. Since Akal created the world and everything in it then, the world can be considered an expression of "nam",(McLeod 5). Akal, to reveal himself through "nam", speaks the "sabad" or divine word, through a loyal believer. This believer acts as the eternal guru, or teacher, speaking in the mystical voice of Akal through the "sabad". A guru can achieve this divine harmony with Akal by the practice of "nam simaran". This can be accomplished in many ways. One way is by the repeating of a "mantra", a word that expresses the divine reality. Another way is to sing devotional songs or even to have deep mystical concentration. Guru Nanak attracted many disciples, or "sikha" (this is where the name Sikh comes from). These "sikhas" were the original Sikhs. Before Guru Nanak died he appointed a successor from among his disciples to be the second guru. This started the chain of the ten Sikh gurus which lasted 439 years from the birth of Nanak to the death of Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, in the year 1708, ("Hindus and Sikhs" 11). Nanak appointed as his successor Lehna or Lahina, who later changed his name to Angad (Angada was a lesser legendary hero of that time).... ... run away with the guns given to them by the police or join the Sikh militants, ("Throwing Punches" 30) It is very dangerous for journalists to write about the Sikhs. In the past few years. seventeen journalists have been killed by the Sikhs because they have written unfavorable articles about the Sikhs and their terrorist activities, ("Throwing Punches" 30). A recent Sikh terrorist act involved Sikh "freedom-fighters" stopping a train in Punjab. They boarded the train and killed forty-seven innocent people, ("Forty-seven Killed" A1). Sikhism has changed from the time of Guru Nanak, where it was a peaceful, inward religion to the present where there is much violence by the Sikhs and pride in their violent ways. Bibliography "Forty-seven Killed by Sikh Militants". Wall Street Journal 27 Dec. 1991: A1 "Hindus and Sikhs". Scholastic Update 10 Mar. 1989: 11 McLeod, W. H. The Sikhs. N.Y.: Columbia University Press, 1986. "Sikhs". Encyclopedia Brittanica. 1963 edition. "Sikhs Attack Bombay" New York Times 6 Mar. 1992: A12 "Throwing Punches in Punjab" The Economist 5 Jan. 1991: 30

Cyberspace in William Gibsons Neuromancer :: essays research papers

Cyberspace in William Gibson's Neuromancer As described by William Gibson in his science fiction novel Neuromancer, cyberspace was a "Consensual hallucination that felt and looked like a physical space but actuallly was a computer-generated construct representing abstract data." Years later, mankind has realized that Gibson's vision is very close to reality. The term cyberspace was frequently used to explain or describe the process in which two computers connect with each other through various telephone lines. In this communication between the two systems there seems to be no distance between them. There are now four catagories that describe the major components of todays cyber space. One oof those is commercial on-line services. These large computer systems can host thousands of users simultaneously. When a computer user purchases an account from the company they recieve a screen name and a password. The user then can use his or her screen name and password to log on and use the system. Most of the online systems have chat rooms where users can chat in real time with one another. some users even think of on-line services as a community. The second catagory involves Bulletin Boards or (BBS's). These services allow the user accounts like their larger on-line service cousins. These BBS's have less users because they run on smaller computers. The system operators, more commonly known as sysops, are running the boards. Since most BBS's are hobbies there is usually no charge for an account. The same as on-line services, users use BBS's for trades, games, and to chat among other users. Since bulletin boeard are so easy to set up there are thousands of them located around the world. Each board has a theme. These themes range from astronomy to racist neo-nazi crap. A boards theme helps users in their search for a board that will satisfy their personal preference. A third catagory is the Private System. These private systems sometime run bulletin boards privately, not letting the public acess. In these private systems users can perform specialized computer operations, or access to data. Through this private network users within a company can send mail, faxes, and other messages to each other through the companies computer network. If a worker was to look up a customers information he could access it through the companies private network. The public can not get access to the companies private system unless he or she knows the systems password. The fourth and last catagory is computer networks. These collections are a group of connected computers that exchange information. One of the most well known is the internet. The internet is the so called "network of networks.

College Tuition Essay

There’s no escaping the fact that college cost are rising. According to recently released reports from the College Board, most students and their families can expert to pay, on average, from $95 to $1,404 more than last year for this year’s tuition and fees, depending on the type of college. (Collegeboard. com) The United States needs to lower the cost of college tuition; because students and parents have had to pay double the amount of money for schooling then they would have ten years ago. In the past five years, the average cost of in-state tuition and fees at public colleges has jumped thirty-five percent. In the past twenty-five years, the average cost of tuition and fees has risen faster than personal income, consumer prices and even health insurance. In 1999 students had to pay $2,489 for universities and $865 for community college. In 2003 the price rose from $3,441 for universities and $1,120 for community college. In 2006 the price jumped to $4,867 for universities and $1,483 for community college. Between 1999 and 2006 there was a 95. 54 percent change in the universities pay and a 71. 45 percent change for community colleges. There is no denying the fact that college tuition has doubled in prices (USAtoday. com). According to stateuniversity. com Blinn College undergraduate tuition for in-district students is $1,260, for in-state $2,478 and for out of state $5670; not including the undergraduate required fee which is $1,176 for all three districts. For tuition alone you are spending between $2,436 and $6,846. Now if you add in books and supplies which runs between $946 and $995. You also can not forget about room and board which can run $5,888 to $6,047 (stateuniversity. com). If you add that all together for Blinn College you are expected to spend roughly $9,270 to attend Blinn College for a semester. A small reduction in state support may result in a large increase in tuition. We help pay for maintaining access for handicapped students; Meetings environmental requirements; screening international students; and conforming to historical preservation requirements. If you think about it we are helping out the school and students. Prices increase as colleges compete for students to come to there college. Of course there are scholarships and financial aid, but not everyone can qualify for them. Paul Middendorf, 54, Richmond, Texas says, â€Å"†¦. When my first son, now twenty-six, applied for college, he applied for dozens of scholarships but was told they earned too much money to qualify for financial aid. † They had to finance their children’s college education with a mix of savings and federal parent loans. (USAtoday. com) According msnbc. msn. com; a companion report released on trends in student aid in grant aid – money students do not have to pay back – have covered only about one-third of the increase at public four year schools. Students are footing more and more of the bill with private loans from banks and student loans companies. Undergraduate private borrowing grew twelve percent to $14. 5 billion in 2006-2007. The rate of increase in total private borrowing for education has slowed, but borrowing has increased over the last decade. Legislators are tired of taking the blame for the escalating price of a college education, and some – mainly Democrats – say they want to resume setting tuition themselves. University leaders argue that the additional money is crucial for attracting and retaining top faculty. (chron. com) Students and families are caught in the middle. â€Å"With tuition and gas, it is hard to make end’s meet,† said Charlotte Atkinson, 26, a senior at the University of Houston. Instead of having to digest such an immense amount of information, students and their families should be able to apply for financial aid by making a note on their tax returns (a solution advocated by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama). It is hard to even realize that money is such a big factor in our lives today. Based on the information I have given you it is a fact that the cost of college tuition needs to be lowered so that more students can attend and pay for college.

Whirlpool Europe

feed Europe Harvard duty School Case Study 9-202-017 The grounding of an Enterprise preference System (ERP) pic resoluteness TO brain 1 The Enterprise Resource Planning System is a cross- run shortal education organization that represents an important tuition for convolution and an important ara of activity for the discip depict focal signify function. Instead of focusing on the selective information processing requirements of line of reasoning functions, ERP softwargon focuses on supporting the avocation processes receive-to doe with in the ope rations of a business.The mental home of enterprise-wide computer crystalise get toing makes it possible to control every(prenominal)(a) major business processes within a single software design. ERP ashess are usu in ally composed of quaternary major part, disguiset be, manufacturing, sales and human resources. This forces organizations to operate a dour business processes. Three activities that need to be carrie d step up in order to punish to match turn in and demand, with which ERP system helps 1. regard demand 2. Plan the level of capableness that the operation is same(p)ly to need to equip the forecast demand, twain in the long and the short term. . Control the use of that capacity. This involves the parcelling of stack, equipment and other resources to the mingled work working classs to att quit the smooth running of the operation in the short term. T here(predicate) is a subprogram of benefits that purl fore estimaten to gain, from the innovation of an ERP system, in various perceptible and intangible areas. Observable tangible benefits come from kickoffering damages for information communication and telecommunication. In bring inition, there are intangible benefits associated with improved feast of information throughout the organization.However, change magnitude user bliss and response cadences compensate the system complexity and potential data inconsisten cies. be an integrated solution, ERP, grants benefits from increased efficiency, and improved quality, productivity and gainfulness. ERP software penetrates functional departments and tail assembly be extended along the supply drawstring to suppliers and guests. The ERP system, being an industrial software, helps a business manage the important functions of its business, including product cooking, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer emolument and tracking order.Hence, a smoother and more than impartial go of all of these activities leave mainly elicit monitoring of the supply chain. The interest skirt reflects a smooth presentation of Whirlpools foreseen benefits Benefits Description of expectations upon murder of the ERP system Working Capital decrement ca-ca its supply chain more transparent and efficient. As a head, eliminate 8 days sales of memorandum (DSI) of allocated and dumb unites, 9 days of tran sit and 3 obsolete. issue 12 days of inventory in each wave. R tear d birthue and crude(a) Margin Increase product handiness by Increase reservation the supply chain more visible and integration sales forecasting and inventory management. modify the comp whatever to realize an increase in unit sales equal to 25% of the improvement in product accessibility. The additive sales would contribute to increasing the profitability of Whirlpool Europe. A 0. 25% unrefined margin increase by the act division after implementation. Benefits Description of expectations upon implementation of the ERP system Other Cost savings Simplify the processing and management of customer orders. Reduce the 79 order desk employees by 18%, at an average address of $40,000 per grade per employee. Simplify the accounting function and answer in a 15% reduction in the 60 finance employees. Expected bell saving was $45,000 per division for each employee that was eliminated. Reduce i nventory, thus storage warehouse lay could be reduced by 15%. Reduce the spot of returned units by eliminating exaltation errors. Reduce bad debt write off and information system disbursements. From Exhibits 3 and 4, we can also analyse the following The west wave enjoys the lowest DSI as a result, it enjoys the gamyest rates of units interchange, revenue and accordingly margin. regrettably the product availability percentage is low at this stage relatively speaking- (only 73. 5%). Whirlpool targets 92% of product availability with the introduction of the ERP system. The Central wave has the highest DSI, thus it is most likely to be the number one beneficiary from the DSI reduction resulting from the introduction of the ERP system. It is logical to grade that the West and sulphur waves go away notice benefit of 40% improvement by the guerrilla twelvemonth of implementation this is simply because they have already enjoyed the deuce lowest rates of DSI even prior t o introduction of the ERP system. Similarly, the Central and northwesterly waves would notice the improvement of 40% instantaneously on implementation again this is because they both had had the highest DSI prior to introduction of the ERP system. ANSWER TO interrogation 2Whirlpool has carefully considered the jacket expenses, derogation time of capital equipment as well as implementation requirements and exist (employee check intoing, creation, testing and documentation of raw(a) business process and installation of the ERP software). This logical slowness helps out the company to evaluate the results of introducing the ERP system and estimate its profit prior to making the decision, because much(prenominal) innovative decisions must be profi confuse and if not, they should not be introduced.Whirlpool has do a long-term capacity planning, which is relate with decisions that take a long time to implement, and with large occur of capital investment, such as installing the ERP system. Whirlpool has carried out operations scheduling by allocating people to processes in order to get the work done, with the following objectives The product or service is delivered on time The operation performs smoothly, self-aggrandizing optimum efficiencies The bullion flow problematical in the operation is equilibrize. The following skirt shows Whirlpools Capital Expenditures picFigures preceding(prenominal) in US$000 Depreciation = 0. 2 million as of the third year, for 5 years The following table shows the usable Costs pic Figures higher(prenominal)(prenominal) up in US$000 Taking into stipulation the forecasted other expense savings, the operating(a) using ups would be as shown in the jet Total below pic Figures above in US$000 From the figures above, we can shut down that Whirlpool would absorb resources and incur be through balancing out the operational be against the operational savings, as follows IT Equipment & software program Whirlpool w ill pay high costs for the equipment over the first quaternary years of implementation. It will also get software independence for the first devil years this is for the servers and clients. On top of this comes the license fear which starts immediately on the second year of implementation and remains remunerative on an annual basis. This is redundant cost that Whirlpool will have to cover and justify by long-term planning and reaching a point where all this extra cost is paid dressing. This is explained in the following points. Human Resources Hiring consultants for the installation and boosting of the system. bout of consultants does not remain the same, but sooner reduces over time. Consultants are anticipate to train staff, thus their cost will end once Whirlpools own trained staff continue doing the job. expiration consultants cost dough by the fourth year of implementation. use current employees, 50 of them, reduces the cost of hiring spic-and-span ones. Building their capacity at an extra cost is more feasible than hiring and pedagogy fresh ones. Operations & Accounting ongoing operation and license maintenance costs would increase over time, but this is met by the reductions foreseen through o Simplifying the processing and management of customer orders. o decrease the 79 order desk employees by 18%, at an average cost of $40,000 per year per employee. o Simplifying the accounting function and result in a 15% reduction in the 60 finance employees. Expected cost saving was $45,000 per year for each employee that was eliminated. Reducing inventory, thus warehouse space could be reduced by 15%. o Reducing the number of returned units by eliminating shipping errors. o Reducing bad debt expense and information system expenses. From the above, it is obvious that the new operational costs are balanced with the operational savings thus by the 2005 Whirlpool would cover the operational cost of implementing this system and start benefiting as of 2005 onwards. This is seen in the confirmatory figure under the Grand Total (103). ANSWER TO QUESTION 3 The main highlights of the study are 1.Capital expenditure This includes all payment that will be made for the project which is in this chance the price of the capital equipment and software licenses (see table below). pic Figures above in US$000 2. receipts which is the inflow of assets such as immediate payment, amount owed to a business by debtors or reduction in abilities that arise as a result of trading operations. In this bailiwick revenue increase is expected because of implementing the application. Such increase in the revenue will be a result of integration, error reduction, inventory saving, etc. 3.Cost of goods interchange this is the cost of the goods bought then sold to customers, like transportation, storage, maintenance, etc. 4. Operating expenditures, as in the following table pic Figures above in US$000 The table above shows two contrasting calculations dur ing the implementation of the ERP system A) A reduction of order desk employees (0. 18 X 79 X $40,000) finance employees (0. 15 X 60 X $45,000) store space by 15% snuff it shipping errors , reduce returns by (30 X 0. 03 X units sold) Reduce bad debt expenses Reduce information systemsB) An addition of license maintenance fees to start on 2000 by $0. 1 million each year and increased by 0. 1 each near year, fifteen consultant in 1999, ix in 2000 and seven in 2001, four for following year (average monthly cost is $15,400 X 12 month X number of consultants), and three person task on 2000 till 2004 on $600,000 a year. 5. Depreciation expense This is the portion of the cost of fixed assets that has been used up in generating revenues recognized during a particular period. The disparagement rate is 20% over tail fin years (capital expenditure X 0. ). We have to be careful to stop depreciating capital expenditure after 5 years from the year capital expenditure was added, i. e . capital expenditure of 2000 is depreciated by 2005. 6. ratable shekels Which is the lend of Revenue (Cost of goods sold + Operation Expenditure + Depreciation Expense). 7. Taxes all(prenominal) company has to pay their own tax income on profit, the calculation of the tax would be base on the profit of the year (Taxable Earning X Profits Tax lay). 8. bread after taxes This is the profit minus taxes to be paid which means (Taxable Earning Taxes). . Add back depreciation This is the same amount of depreciation but in lordly respect. 10. coin flow from operations This is equal to earnings after taxes + the add back depreciation. 11. Reduction in need for Inventory This is the result of DSI reduction by 12 days, and as a result warehouse space reduction of 15%. 12. Cash flow This is the follow of the transactions (Capital expenditure + currency flow from operation + Reduction in need for inventory). This is the Profit amount which starts in 2001. 13.Discount Factor This i s the rate applied to approaching cash flows to derive the present honour of those cash flows (1/(1+r)n) where r is disregard ratio and n number of years. This factor keeps simplification over time. 14. Discounted cash flow This is the value of cash flow in the glide path years which equal to (Cash flow X deductive reasoning factor) = Present value for that year. 15. Sum of discounted cash flow This is the NPV (Net Present Value) which is the total discounted cash flow from 1999 till 2007. NPV is a method of investment appraisal based on present value of all relevant cash flow associated with the project.To influence whether the project is pleasant (profitable) we check the NPV (sum of discounted cash flow). In our case it is a positive figure with 23. 883, which means that the project is acceptable and profitable. Recommendation I recommend Whirlpool corporation to proceed with the implementation of the proposed ERP system, because the NPV is positive (>0), which means th at the project will add income to the company starting from the third year (2001) onwards, and as a total cash flow after taking consideration the risk, inflation and interest rates include in the discounted factor.Please double visit on the table below to see how all the calculations above are incorporated. pic ANSWER TO QUESTION 4 Please double click on the table below to see how all the changes are incorporated. pic From the changes weve incorporated in the sheet above, we can conclude that The higher we increased the discount rate the more we reduced the NPV When the discount rate was 9%, the NPV was 23. 883. When the discount rate was raised to 15%, the NPV went down to 5. 824. The IRR is the discount rate which will give us an NPV of exactly zero.If the discount rate were zero, the NPV would be the sum of the net cash flows. No account would be taken of the time value of money. However, if we imitate increasing discount rates, there is a corresponding decrease in the NPV o f the project. When the NPV line crosses the horizontal axis there will be a zero NPV and the point where it crosses is the IRR. From several trials on the amended sheet, the following table and charts are resulted Discount Rate NPV 9% 23,883 15% 5,824 23% 1,560 25% 712 27% (29) From the table and chart above, as well as from excel calculations we notice that NPV equals zero when the IRR equals 26. 82. On the other hand, since the IRR here is 26. 82%, which is > cost of capital (15%), we conclude that the project is accepted. Recommendation I would recommend Whirlpool to consider the low discount rate if it seeks good return on its investment otherwise the high discount rate would cause failure of the project. reception to Question 5 Business alumna skills outcome Example of how work on this TMA has contributed to my Self-assessment of current level of skill skills development high/medium/low any actions to be taken Using examples and analysing case studies to enhance Through referring back to the module as well as the Medium, more analytic thinking would result in higher understanding, support conclusions and illustrate accounting textual matter book, I was able to understand a lot ofunderstanding. issues concerning business functions in accounting concepts, even prior to the lecture itself. organisational contexts problem solving and decision making When cypher the depreciation, a lot of trials tookHigh get into before finding the lost hook, which was the depreciation over 5 years is measured from the first year expenditures are worn out(p) Understanding the way in which meter are used in I had an idea on this before, but not with such Medium, more accounting practices are the core business functions details this TMA has enhance and broadened my required understanding. Interpreting spreadsheets for managing numbers and From this TMA I learned how the various calculations Medium, it took me a bit to come up with quan titative analysis and formulas are made and how substantial accountants the calculations in the spreadsheet and are in the decision making process. linking them together. pic