How to make the registration of property more efficient to Essay

How to make the registration of property more efficient to entrepreneurs in Beirut Lebanon - Essay Example Currently, there exist lengthy procedures in obtaining license for property and businesses making registration process more difficult. The government of Lebanon can make registration process more effective and faster by minimizing the procedures involved in acquiring licenses for property. License acquisition is an imperative step in registration of property and if the government of Lebanon can minimize its process as aforementioned, it would have an efficient and reliable legal system. Moreover, Lebanese government should eliminate the current tradition of delaying licensing of property amongst registration authorities. Eliminating the delays would directly result into reduction of the days needed for obtaining property license. Consequently, Lebanon property registration process would be more efficient and reliable. It is imperious to understand that high taxes levied on government legislation process directly contribute to its inefficiency. Lebanese government authorities that directly engage in property registration process including tax authority and land registry should significantly lower registration fees to increase efficiency of the processes. Lowering property registration fees would also attract more entrepreneurs (World Bank Group 1). The most amicable property registration process prides in free corruption and embezzlement of funds. Apparently, property registration process in Lebanon has remained inefficient and expensive to entrepreneurs due to constant corruption and mismanagement of funds buy Lebanese land registry and tax authority (Haidar 1). Lebanese government should establish fundamental strategies that would aim at eliminating corruption within the property registration system to make the process more accessible, efficient, and inexpensive. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim. Business Regulations In Lebanon: Where Are We? Where Do We Go Now?. August 1, 2013. Web. November 22, 2014. Accessed

Beer as a social drink and its subsequent acceptance across the globe.

Beer as a social drink and its subsequent acceptance across the globe. Introduction The study will start with looking at the evolution of beer as a social drink and its subsequent acceptance across the globe. The study will also investigate how different brands came in to channelize communication of beer and incorporated community activities like football, rugby and food as moments for beer consumption to increase product acceptance. We will also look at various international festivals like the Oktoberfest and the Great British Beer festival in UK which have developed as a part of beer culture and helped in the spread of the product through replicated festivals in various parts of the world. Primary research will be done through online surveys and interviews with respondents across Europe, North and South America, and Asia to understand consumer attitudes towards beer in these regions and a comparative analysis will be done on their responses. Based on the insights, the study will investigate whether a similar model can be replicated in India for the nascent beer industry under the following heads: Which of the marketing and communication strategies used in other countries would / wouldnt work in India, and why? Opportunities for replication of festival models from other countries. Implications for the Indian beer manufacturers and marketers, based on a comparative analysis of beer positioning and communication in different cultures. Literature Review A preliminary study of literature on beer industry globally and consumer behaviour revealed the following salient points: * Research shows that beer is a non-food specific drink compared to wine. It is more of a masculine and non-formal occasion drink and associated with fun and social events. When it comes to different brands of beer, it is important for them to focus on positioning and consumer engagement. Beer has slowly become more fashionable to drink with its association with activities like football, rugby and rock music. * Peer pressure plays a huge role on the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol is associated with a list of values which are belonging, excitement, warm relationships, self-fulfilment, well-respected, fun and enjoyment, security, self-respect, and sense of accomplishment. These are important cues for any company while designing their marketing and communication strategy for their brand. * In America, beer joints stress on forming communities through engaging events and activities. The ambience of the place is also very critical since beer consumption is all about having a good time. * Forming a connect with the brand is also an important parameter when it comes to selling beer. As quoted by Mike Bristol, owner-founder of Bristol Brewing Co. in Colorado Springs a lot more people want to spend on a company that they have some common association with. Theyre local, theyre in the community, and theyre visible. Import beers dont seem to be doing well in theirr market or nationally, and he think thats a shift. Beer is also seen as a product, consumption of which does not go down even in economic crisis times. * As per Culinary Currents, Beer, Wine and Spirits. (2008, September 15). Nations Restaurant News, some myths about beer are: Dark beer is heavy Ale is stronger than lager Stout is a meal in a glass Imported beer is better than domestic beer Wine is more complex than beer Fruit beers are girly beers All beer is best served ice-cold Beer and fine dining dont mix  · Some craft beer makers have also tried to mix beer with specially crafted menu like cheese and seasonal food. The restaurants have even started experimenting with beer to create cocktails to increase penetration and frequency of beer consumption. This, though, could dilute the product personality of beer which does not reflect classy, fine dining experience but a more rugged and aggressive environment. This food and beer mix is primarily targeted towards non-regular beer drinkers and first timers.  · Some stats from the US market for March-April 2008 reveal interesting facts (Category Insight, Beverage: Beer Demographics. (2008, April). RETAIL MERCHANDISER, 10.) Beer was the fourth largest in terms of US dollar sales in edible grocery supermarket category. 37% of US adults are regular beer consumers 52% of total beer drinkers are age 28 to 49, but versus their size in the beer-consuming population, 41% of beer volume is consumed by 21 to 27 year olds 32% of beer drinkers shop for beer one to three times each week 47% of beer shoppers buy wine in addition to beer; 41% add spirits 70% are male 84% are White, 10% Latino, 6% African American 59% have an income above $59,000 Grocery is the most common beer channel choice at 46% When available, shoppers overwhelmingly prefer to buy cold beer * A brand study in one of the highest beer consuming nations of the world, Czech Republic and Britain suggests that branding played an important role in the development of the organised beer market in these countries at a national level. The entire system was well structured with organisational hierarchies in place as well as streamlined distribution channels. The regional brands on the other hand, do not follow a very structured nation-wide campaign. Although the brand development in case of national brands in both these countries are at similar levels, as we go down the bracket, the branding of regional markets in Czech becomes lesser developed compared to Britain. For the Czech consumers unlike British, brands were not a consideration in making the choice for public houses as much as the taste and freshness of the beer was. To sustain these smaller breweries, a rule was enacted in which the local public houses were obliged to sell the product from the local breweries restricting t he entry of national brands into these places. This rule though, is not present in Czech Republic making branding more important for them. To keep the beer industry safe in Czech, the breweries have kept the price of their beer lower than the other West European countries. * In 2007, 7 million litres of beer was consumed at the Oktoberfest in Munich in Germany. The biggest cultural context of this festival is the symbolism of equality that is shown as people from all classes and categories sit on the same table to enjoy their beer. The fair is the worlds largest fair which attracts visitors in excess of 7 million from all over the world. Such is the pull of this festival, that similar concepts have been replicated in other countries like Canada, Brazil, USA, and India. * The â€Å"whassup† campaign by Anheuser-Busch for Bud Light revolutionised beer advertising as it targeted the core group of 21-27 year old males who loved to hang out with friends over sporting events. * The Indian consumer mindset can be divided into the following sub heads: Mind over Matter The Functional over the Ornamental Fear of Tomorrow Enjoying the Ordinary The Desire to Fit In * In UK, beer advertising has been moving towards more engaging media like the internet from televisions to deepen their customers experience. Companies like Stella Artois have invested in multi-layer brand experience which tries to connect more with the customers and at a personal level. * Taking the case of Heineken, a lot of its global success can be attributed to its consistency in quality and uniformity in brand message everywhere. The marketing of Heineken is a combination of global feeling and local execution. * In its 2004 report, Global Status on Alcohol, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated there were 2 billion drinkers of alcohol on the planet. Trends suggest that for brands to become bigger, globalisation is the way forward. This becomes slightly easier as the consumers in most developed countries and emerging economies are now well informed and despite the cultural differences, are more open to international brands. * The study of global drinking trends suggests emerging markets have much better growth rates than developed markets where the growth is static. Urbanisation, affluence and influence of mass media is playing a major role in this growth. The availability of alcohol in supermarkets is also driving consumption. Beer stands fourth after carbonated drinks, tea and water in terms of share of throat in the world. The off-premise locations are drivers of volume whereas value drivers are the on-premise outlets. In mature markets, growth will be driven by experiential marketing. Barman and barista in urban areas are acquiring celebrity chef status. * In traditional drinking alcohol essentially signified a males entry into adulthood and was associated with food. In the modern day, drinks have become more of an individuals style statement and identity. It is important now to be seen with the right drink for the right occasion. Communities and association with them has become more important than before. Another newly developing phenomenon is that of post modern drinking where connoisseurship, novelty and exclusivity are taking predominance. Themed drinking associated with specific cultures is also seeing a good interest amongst the travelling class who get exposed to different cultures frequently. Some of the names like Guinness and Scotch whiskey have become iconic as they are seeped deep in the local culture. * According to the Euromonitor report of 2005, the following are the key drivers in the beverage industries in the major countries Australia convenience and health, mature market needing to add value. Alcohol part of the culture Brazil status, sociability and convenience, developing market with opportunities for growth and adding value. Market vulnerable to economic volatility, beer and football key to national culture China affordability, convenience and status in cities, developing market with huge urban potential, rural areas remain largely unchanged France convenience, sociability and status, traditional drinking culture being eroded by changing demands and globalisation Germany price, convenience and health, mature market opportunities to add value. Interest in discounters among affluent and poor Italy sociability, status and health, mature market adapting to changes but traditional infrastructure Japan convenience, status and health, mature market, highly fragmented and source of innovation Russia affordability, convenience, status, high consumption of locally produced spirits as well as increasing presence of global brands in the cities, high beer and vodka consumption. Alcohol dependence an issue among rural male Russians Spain status, sociability and health, directional market in terms of youth drinking trends older drinkers stick to traditional drinking, young driving the post-modern UK convenience, sociability and health, mature market adding value through novelty concentrated retail infrastructure US convenience, sociability and health, mature market adding value through segmentation and premiumisation * A few of the future trends which can be seen in the global drinks industry are health awareness, fusion drinking, artisan brands and connoisseurship experiential marketing and sociability. * Specific to Germany which has the 3rd highest beer per capita consumption in the world, the consumption of beer has been slowly going down. This is attributed to rising prices and the health consciousness of the drinking population. In turn, flavoured beer, non-alcoholic beer and malt-based Ready to Drinks are showing growth in consumption. * A major development in recent years has been the role and involvement of women in purchasing the drinks. Some of the international brands have started targeting women by creating flavoured beers for them. The communication strategy still targets the male predominantly though. * Econometrics study in the US by Franke and Wilcox suggests that there is no significant correlation between the beer advertising and alcohol consumption. All advertising does is make people aware of the brands available but does not really affect the amount of beer consumed overall. A study by Waterson in UK, shows that although advertising spends increased 80% between 1978 to 1987, the actual sale of beer in this period fell by 14%. The study also included Sweden which has banned alcohol advertising since 1979 with similar results. * The April 2009 Euromonitor report on beer shows a global demand of 184.6 billion litres. In the mature markets volumes are declining but in terms of value consumption is increasing. Laws on drinking and driving are encouraging growth of low/non-alcoholic beer and currently it accounts for 2% of global beer market but is showing high growth rate especially in Muslim countries. In Spain, this category already accounts for 20% of beer volumes. There is also a trend of moving away from the conventional beer type to niche segments like wheat beer and craft beer. Dark beer is also seeing a healthy revival in growth. * Specific to India, beer consumption has registered an increase of 700% between the period of 1995-2007. The per capita expenditures on alcohol have grown at twice the rate of the average growth in the rate of expenditure in this period. The average of 24 in the country with affluence, access to mass media and information, lowering of entry barriers and high awareness levels means a goldmine of an opportunity for alcohol companies. Retailing for wine and beer is now allowed in supermarkets on a lot of states thereby reaching out to more potential consumers, especially the women. This has also resulted in more and more urban households stocking alcohol at their homes unlike earlier times. Finally, the major beer manufacturers will have to compete for an expanding but challenging global market, which will ask hard questions of the positions that global players occupy by category, price point and geography. India will form a major part of this strategy shift and it is already visible with the number of beer brands that have entered the Indian market in the past 2 years. All the research done above talks about beer as a part of the popular culture in developed markets. The challenge is to try and suggest a workable strategy for India based on consumer insight to tap the enormous potential that it offers. India today stands at the forefront of this opportunity and hence it is important for these international players to understand the cultural nuances of the Indian consumer before formulating their strategies for the market. Conceptual Framework/Problem Definition India has one of the lowest annual per capita consumption levels of beer in the world, at 1 litre. The biggest international names like InBev/Anheuser-Busch, Heineken and Carlsberg have already started making investments in the market. Carlsberg has already invested close to $ 200 milion in production facilities in the country. The other companies are also entering the market through tie-ups with local players or setting up their own breweries. The growing affluence and increased disposable incomes along with the low average age of Indians presents a huge potential waiting to be tapped by these players. The increased global travel and exposure to western media has led to changing attitudes towards alcohol. This is expected to boost beer sales, while shifting government policy regarding alcohol and reductions in taxes and duties present interesting opportunities for large domestic and multinational players alike. Some of the states have already allowed beer to be sold in supermarket f ormats thus increasing penetration of beer substantially. For international players, the race is on to establish local manufacturing facilities and distribution networks, in order to gain first-mover advantage over other entrants. Currently the Indian market is dominated by local players but lack of other options has a major role to play in this. Curiosity and aspirational value attached to imported beer presents a unique market for these international players. Clear opportunities exist for those companies which are partnering with local companies or setting up their own breweries to get a head start in this dynamic market. At this juncture it is of paramount importance for these companies to get their marketing and communication strategy right. This is all the more important because the Indian market and consumer presents a challenge which is different from any other country in the world. Even within India, the cultural diversity is such that different strategies might be needed for different parts of the country. The current literature reviewed primarily consists of work which has been done in the developed beer markets or talks about projected figures based on empirical data. The biggest gap in such projections is the lack of understanding of the Indian consumer. Launches of a number of successful international products in India backed by such research have failed because of this. This research will try and understand the cultural differences between the Indian beer drinker and the western beer drinker and do a comparative analysis to gain insights which can be used to design the marketing and communications strategy for these international companies. Beer as a product has been successful in developed countries because of the community culture they have created amongst the consumers. The research will help determine key drivers and key characteristics of the Indian beer market. Proposed Research Design The research will be carried out through administering questionnaires to the beer drinking community in urban India as well as respondents in USA, Canada, Germany, UK, Columbia, Brazil, China, France, Poland, Finland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Korea. Detailed interviews will be carried out with some respondents in all these locations through telephonic interview/online interaction to understand the culture of beer consumption there. An analysis will also be done to compare the communication of the top 3 brands of the world in all these countries to see the differences and similarities and how these consumers absorb it. The Indian respondents will then be shown the communication used in all these countries and insights will be taken on their response to each communication. This will give us insights on the cultural differences and similarities between the Indian consumer and their international counterparts. The sample size will consist of at least 10 detailed interviews of international respondents and 10 in depth interviews on Indian consumers. The questionnaires will be administered to 150 beer drinkers in India and 50 based abroad. The sample size of the questionnaire might increase based on the response of the target group. Expected Contribution The study as earlier mentioned will give a deep insight into the mindset of the urban Indian consumer with respect to beer. It will also look at what are the associations that the Indian consumer has with the alcohol industry in terms of perceptions and specifically with beer. Their responses to international communication will be recorded and analysed to define the key drivers and the key characteristics of the Indian market. The final output as mentioned in the introduction would address at the following heads: Which of the marketing and communication strategies used in other countries would / wouldnt work in India, and why? Opportunities for replication of festival models and other community building activities from other countries. Implications for the Indian beer manufacturers and marketers, based on a comparative analysis of beer positioning and communication in different cultures.

Video Games: The High Tech Threat To Our Younger Generation Essay

Video Games: The High Tech Threat to Our Younger Generation Anyone who has ever walked through a shopping mall on a weekend knows how popular videogame arcades have become with our young people. It is becoming a force in the lives of millions of kids all across America. Parents and teachers become more concerned and worried when they see their kids devoted to videogames. They are highly concentrated because vidiogames greatly influence the mental and learning processes of the younger generation. Many parents believe that their children learn values more from the mass media rather than their from homes. Generally speaking, the video and computer game industry has been a growing concern to the religious groups, responsible politicians and bewildered parents for the disturbing contents and the substandard themes in some of its games. The videogame technology must be recognised for its role and influence on the younger generation because, for better or worse, it clearly affects their academic and social life. Indeed, statistics are really alarming on the videogame industry. It is a multi-million dollar business growing at 40 per cent a year from 1987 to 1993 (Palmeri 102). Tetzeli in his article "Videogames: Serious Fun" compares videogames $ 6.5 billion--a--year business to the Hollywood film industry (110). He continues to point out that two Japan based conglomerate have put about 64 million videogame machines in US households in total. In addition to that they also produced and licenced for all their softwares for their machines (110). Palmery estimates to produce and market a ful featured videogame it would costs up to $10 million (102). Because of the cost producers attempt to make a return on their investments and earn as much profits as they can. To achieve their goals, they feature more blood, gore and human dismemberment in their games to appeal to the younger generation because violence sells. According to Palmery the game Mortal Kombat has sold a record 5 million copies for about$65 apiece.(102) The advanced technology in upcoming videogame machines even allows the players to interact with screen images in ways never before possible. Analysts in this field say that it is only a prelude to the emerging world-wide network popularly known as the electro... ...which would require the stores to place signs on shelves in stating : "Warning. Think before you buy. This is a war toy. Playing with it increases anger and violence in children. Is this what you really want for your child? (WAR TOYS). Which may not be very effective altogether to control the vidiegames with violent contend. But still the warning gives a chance and may be the parents pause a moment before they decide to buy any thing for their offspring. Voluntary rating system or any other form of self regulatory arrangement will only help to widen the loop holes of the existing system. By including this multi billion dollar industry under the existing film rating system or something similar to that would greatly reduce the risk of violence and ultimately would prevent the youths on turning for violent solution for all their problems. And also would help to form a violent free life style and prevent the younger generation and spend their quality time with their studies and parents. All other arrangements will, at least help us to further delay the process of controlling the emerging violent theme and content of the many thousands of videogames yet to be produced or released.

Matav Hungarian Telecommunications Company Essay

Matav Hungarian Telecommunications Company was established in 1991 when Hungarian Post was split into three divisions. Matav remained a state-run company until 1993 when the Hungarian government sold off the company , and that was a significant turning point in the history of the company since the privatization process was the largest foreign investment in Hungary. Matav’s majority shareholder , Deutsche Telekom was one of the largest Telecommunications companies in Europe, and was involved in all kinds of Telecommunication Business Services. Therefore , Matav benefited from the technical expertise of Deutsche Telekom , and became a fully integrated Telecommunications company. Even the culture of the corporation had changed into a customer-oriented culture after the privatization process. In February 1994 , Matav’s local telephone services covered about 80% of the territory of Hungary. After it had been privatized from the state in 1993, Matav had a monopoly inside Hungary in a way that it operated 80 % of the country’s fixed line telephone system. But there were four other domestic incumbents that controlled the fixed lines in the remaining 20% of the country ( HTCC , Monortel , Emitel and Invitel ) . So , Matav had some kind of competitive advantages in its domestic markets. Also , In mobile market , for instance , Matav controlled about 47% of the market , but was in a competition with two other companies : Pannon GSM (owned by TeleNor ) with 37 % of the market , and Vodafone with 16% . Tele2 and MonorTel were also being so active in the segment. Moreover , there was a great deal of competition between the fixed line business segment and the mobile segment.As for the internet segment , the ISP Axelero had Pantel ( owned by KPN , Holland ) as an active competitor. As part of its successful strategy, Matav was trying to become an international telecommunications group , and its first international expansion was in 2001 through purchasing the majority share of MakTel , Macedonia’s national telecommunications company. So as a result , MakTel became a consolidated subsidiary of Matav. Matav’s first international acquisition of MakTel was a real success as the domestic fixed line business was declining. Also , in July 2001 , Matav purchased the remaining 50% ownership share in Emitel, and Emitel became a new subsidiary of Matav group that provided residential and business telecommunication services in the South region. In December 2001 , Matav acquired the remaining 49% share of Westel Mobile Telecommunications ( which was known later as T-Mobile Hungary Co. ). In January 2002 , a new strategic plan introduced a new company structure , and Matav was restructured into four business lines : Business services , residential services , Mobile division and Internet division. The restructure plan was necessary as each business area needed a dedicated management team. In fact , international expansion was of great strategic importance to Matav . The first international acquisition of MakTel in early 2001 was a great strategic opportunity as the penetration in Macedonia was being very low in almost all business segments : 25% of the country had fixed lines , 5% of the country had mobile phones , and under 2% had the internet service. So , Matav’s main task was to rebalance the pricing of the fixed line business through the tariff packages and others , and to grow competition on the mobile market. MakTel revenues had grown from the year 2000 to 2003 , and the key measure that was used by Matav ( EBITDA : Earnings before interest , tax , deprec iation and Amortization ) also raised. In addition , Matav increased the number of MakTel’s fixed lines. In December 2003 , the connection of ADSL lines and other broadband services became available. And since January 2004, the Electronic Communication Act entered into force, and it allowed the fixed-line number portability in Hungary. Although it was becoming an international company , Matav lacked the dynamic growth, and that was because there was a limited growth opportunity in Hungary. For instance , fixed line subscriptions were declining because of the the fixed-mobile substitution. Consequently , Matav was looking forward into its second international expansion , and that was the international acquisition of Montenegro Telecom ( TCG ) that was sold off by the government in March 2005 . Basically , Matav chose Montenegro because it was the only fixed operator in the country , and it had one mobile competitor. In 2004 , Matav had to develop a strategy plan for the entire company, and the management team was to choose between the multiple strategic crossroads in the complex and the rapidly changing telecommunications business environment. The strategy group leader , Andras Balogh , had to choose a reliable strategy plan for the next three years. Basically , the strategy group had three main options for Matav. The first choice was to focus on the existing product lines. For example , the company could maximize productivity , provide new services , produce more tariff packages in order to limit the fixed lines business declining, in addition to managing the pricing on new mobile services ( GPRS , 3G , WAP†¦and all Broadband services ). The second choice was to focus on the regional growth, and the third one was to keep expanding internationally. If I were a member of the strategy group , I would recommend the international expansion strategic direction, but I do believe that some requirements should be met, and one of those requirements would be the guaranteed existing of sufficient company resources that would guarantee a healthy future of the company. In addition , I think that the international expansion would compensate the lack of dynamic growth that Matav lacked in Hungary . †¢ What has been the impact, positive and negative, of the Internet on the way we do business? †¢ What is his future vision of the Internet and the way it will evolve? †¢ What challenges and concerns do we face for the future? Since this is a position paper, not only present the speaker’s points but analyze them and add your considered opinion about them. Examples and perspective to support your viewpoint are strongly welcomed. It is recommended that your write-up should be between one and two pages long (single spaced, 11 pt.) Please submit your assignment electronically via Blackboard by class time on Tuesday September 25th.

Women and Diversity in the Workforce

There is a growing and continuous interest in workplace diversity within management and organization studies. This interest can be traced back to Johnston and Packard†s (1987) influential report, Workforce 2000, which alerted organizations to the dramatic demographic changes that were in the process of transforming the North American workforce. (Prasad, 1997). Managing diversity at the workplace presents many dilemmas. Confronted with constant change, management, business educators, and organizational consultants continue to meet the challenges of a new and diverse workforce in a number of ways. There are numerous ways in which to define diversity. Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. It is all inclusive and recognizes everyone and every group as part of the diversity that should be valued. (Wentling, 1997). A broad definition includes not only race, gender, ethnicity , age, national origin, religion and disability, but may include sexual orientation, values, personality, education, language, physical appearance, marital status, lifestyle, beliefs and background characteristics such as geographic origin, tenure with the organization and economic status. There is a significant increase in women and minority populations in the workplace; Americans continue to mature; an increasing number of minority youths are becoming part of the workforce; gay men, lesbians, and bisexual individuals are becoming an important part of the workforce and marketplace; people with disabilities are also increasingly entering the labor force; and more business is becoming global. (Wentling, 1997). Nearly half of all workers will be women, and more than a quarter will likely be members of minority races. About 40% of the work force will be over 45 years of age and only about 15% of new entrants will be the young white males (Labich, 1996). And yet another statistic, the Hispanic population is quickly becoming the largest minority group in the United States and the fastest growing ethnic faction in the civilian labor force (Forst, 1997). With these changes marching forward ever so rapidly, it is no wonder that management must battle to stay on top of diversity issues. Having a diverse workforce and managing it properly is perceived as a competitive strategy that can not only help attract diverse customers but also employees who have different perspectives that can contribute to the creativity of the organization (Wentling, 1997). Researchers have found that an important reason for implementing diversity initiatives in organizations is to improve corporate productivity and profitability (Wentling, 1997). A diverse workforce catalyzes more organizational creativity and productivity because workers are drawn from a larger more democratic, gene pool (Prasad, 1997). When trying to diversify an organization, you can be assured that there will be resistance. Management must be able to implement change as necessary. No one series of workshops will be ideal for every organization, but the most effective training methods seem to revolve around the daily problems workers face. (Labich, 1996). â€Å"We are color and gender blind† is often heard throughout organizations in America. One of the biggest challenges may be to retrain managers to recognize and value differences rather than disregard and dismiss them (Mor Barak, 1998). You simply have to adapt your workplace to the labor force; ignore it, and you could be sacrificing quality and productivity (Labich, 1996). The point for management is understanding where the work force is at before you try to move it where you want. (Labich, 1996). Embracing diversity raises fundamental questions about how individuals in organizations define themselves, how they feel good about themselves, and how they experience and relate to others. If organizations are to embrace diversity, then they must find creative approaches to helping people become fully aware of the impact that social identity has on sense making and behavior (Prasad, 1997). BankAmerica is an example of a corporation that gives people a higher level of comfort to pursue their careers, to find out about opportunities. BankAmerica also focuses on mentoring programs and promotion practices (Brown, 1998). Yet another example of successful diversification is Liz Clairborne†s $2.4 billion-a-year fashion company which employs nearly 41% minorities. This is well about the average of 25.6% (Vinzant, 1998). Both companies have an awareness of the importance of diversification and thus make it a long-term goal.

Parents and kids relationships essays

Parents and kids relationships essays "October Sky" by Joe Johnston and "Every Day Use" by Alice Walker's stories deal with parents and kids relationships. John Hickam and a middle-aged woman are parents who find themselves choosing between both of their kids. Dee and Jim are the strongest kids of the family who've followed their parents' expectations. Homer and Maggie are very different from their brother and sister. They have very different goals compare to their brothers and sisters. As consequence their relationship with their parents experience obstacles and conflicts. As readers we capture the distinctions that this parents have between their kids. They treat them differently. The theme that stands the most is based on the relationship between parents and children. John and Walker have learned to accept their kids and the differences that create a different out come from the begging of the story until the end. Hickam and Walker faced conflicts and gained their parents respects by changing their static relationship into dynamic acceptance between them. Homer devotion to rockets and differences between his brothers does not follow his dad's expectations creating conflicts between them and static their relationship as father and son. In "October Sky", the story takes place at a West Virginia mining town during the 1950's. People could only survive working in coalmines. John is a mine superintendent and fully expects Homer to follow his footsteps. He demonstrates to him how much he wants him to become a coal minter and says " homer I was born for this, and I shouldn't be surprise you were to." This creates conflict with his dream of becoming a Rocket Scientists. By winning the science project he would be able to gain a scholarship and becoming a rocket scientist. He follows his dream over passing the problems like when he's arrested for flying his rockets. This makes his father say something he's never said before. In this scene he shows how ...

Homosexuality Laws In Various Muslim Countries Religion Essays

Homosexuality Laws In Various Muslim Countries Religion Essays Homosexuality Laws In Various Muslim Countries Religion Paper Homosexuality Laws In Various Muslim Countries Religion Paper In this article, homosexualism in the Quran, Sharia, Islamic Societies, and Islamic Countries is exhaustively described. In the Quran, five poetries are provided: They refer to homosexualism as lewdness , the act of immorality. These poetries oppose the males penchant of males over females, particularly when Allah has created females to be their ideal psyche couples ; hence, they identify homophiles as ignorant. In the Islamic law, homosexualism is expectedly considered as a jurisprudence misdemeanor, nevertheless many Islamic Schools of Thought have different sentiments sing its penalties. Some say that homophiles should be punished as an fornicator, while others leave the penalty up to Allah. In order for the act to be punished for criminal conversation, it MUST be proven with four informants or a physical/screen testing. The history of homosexualism in Islamic societies discuss how love and desire in homosexualism may be allowed, nevertheless sexual inter courses cross the sexual boundaries set by Allah. In assorted modern Islamic states ( such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, etc. ) , the penalty really carries a decease punishment. In others ( such as Bahrain, Algeria, etc. ) , the penalty is imprisonment or all right. The article concludes to province the homophile s defence of their actions disputing that the Schools of Thought are ill-defined in their sentiments and that the Quran does non stipulate any penalty. I chose this article because it gave me a good thought sing how homosexualism is treated in assorted states, and besides how the Schools of Thought warrant the act that conflicts with assorted people s beliefs. Mission Islam. ( 2010 ) . Islam and Homosexuality. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.missionislam.com/knowledge/homosexuality.htm This article discusses a assortment of information sing Islam and homosexualism: Islam s position and position, poetries from the Quran and Hadith, the out facet of homosexualism, and buggery and sapphism. The Islamic Society of North America besides explains the ground for Islam s jurisprudence against homosexualism: It is physically harmful for the person, and it is socially and spiritually scandalous. On sapphism and buggery, a few poetries are provided that discuss what happens to the person that commits them. The article returns to explicate that the common construct of perpetrating self-destruction to get away the penalty of being a homophile does non break the state of affairs, as self-destruction is perfectly FORBIDDEN. Alternatively, if a homosexual is sincere of his wickedness, he should atone to Allah. The facet of homosexualism that is forbidden is an existent sexual intercourse, nevertheless this article emphasizes in deepness of Allah s clemency, forgiveness, and ways t o subject to him for his counsel and aid to bring around such feelings. As the poetries in the Quran that quote about homosexualism are frequently mentioned, poetries of the Hadith will be discussed here: It summarizes that work forces should non look at physical parts of another adult male, and should non lie under one screen have oning no unmentionable ; the same regulation applies to adult females. This shows how Allah condemns homosexualism in the Quran and Hadith. A long overview of homosexualism accepted in a few topographic points ( such as U.S ) and encouragement to express oneself is described in this article. It emphasizes how this behaviour is promoted, and how Muslims must non allow the credence return over their beliefs and what Allah forbids. It mentions that Allah can non alone alter the state of affairs by merely prohibiting it ; nevertheless Muslims would necessitate to lend by distributing the message to advance proper values. The article stopping points by re-men tioning Islam s position on homosexualism, which, by now we know to be considered sinful. However, it besides mentions that we are non homosexual by nature, but through our environments because it is a pick, non what we are born with. I chose this article because I was really funny sing the badness of penalties of a homosexual. This article, without uncertainty, went into deepness sing this ; in fact, they are overstated throughout the article, so it is decidedly apparent that these Acts of the Apostless are punishable by Allah and considered as a profound error. Robinson, B.A. ( 1997 ) . Islam and homosexualism: All point of views . Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.religioustolerance.org/hom_isla.htm In this article, Robinson discusses how spiritual beliefs on the five chief faiths frequently studied worldwide are based on disclosure of their Bible, tradition, logic and ground, and a personal religious experience. He touches on two aureate motions: the Liberal and the Conservative. Without a uncertainty, we already understand that the Liberal involves the logic, ground, and personal experiences ; these involve much of scientific discipline and research, which is normally identified as the other side of the ocean with faith. The other aureate motion that Robinson references is the conservative motion, which doubtless involves the Bible disclosure and spiritual tradition. From reading the article, it is really easy to separate the difference between the two. One motion is more modern than the other, which explains how and why people feel what they do about homosexualism. In the broad motion, the faiths do non needfully hold with homosexual behaviour, nevertheless see it as an act that is fixed and exists. With the conservative motion, faiths decidedly do non hold or back up the behaviour in any manner or signifier ; hence, they regard it as a chosen way and unnatural. Robinson farther discusses how faiths can play a function in finding such determinations as these, to go a homosexual. Because faith is so profoundly involved and considered, many conservativists of these chief worldwide faiths portion similar positions with respects to God s instructions and Torahs on the act. I chose this article because it goes into deepness as to how faith plays a function, and how it balances both sides: the broad and the conservative. It summarizes precisely what one would necessitate to cognize about both universes with respects to credence of the behaviour, socially and sacredly. The Religion of Peace Guide: Guide to Understanding Islam. ( 2006 ) . What Does the Religion of Peace Teach AboutaˆÂ ¦Homosexuality. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/026-homosexuality.htm This article clearly outlines Islam s place when it comes to homosexualism. It provides the same verses that the Holy Quran quotes on the topic ; nevertheless it explains them in deepness so that it is comprehensible to the reader. In the first poetry, it explains how homosexualism is punishable by decease, narrating the narrative of Sodom and the rain of rocks upon homophiles. The 2nd poetry compares the wickedness to assorted other wickednesss committed by personhood, to be the worst of the sexual wickednesss ( such as criminal conversation ) . Many mentions may debate amongst homosexualism and adultery otherwise. What is different about this beginning is that it besides discusses homosexualism in Paradise ; of class, the same regulations would non be applicable to this celestial topographic point ( as the Quran refers to homophiles in Eden as scattered pearls ) . This article besides provides a few poetries from the Hadith that aim to unclutter the difference between criminal c onversation and homosexualism, as many persons regard the sexual Acts of the Apostless to be the same. It farther returns to explicate the penalties in assorted states that have really happened, nevertheless in farther item than the article above. It remarks on the consciousness of homosexualism raised because of Muslims, for their on-going attempts to extinguish it. I chose this article because I felt the demand to carefully understand what the quotation marks in the Quran and Hadith were stating. It was easier to understand this article ; nevertheless it was hard to accept the terrible penalties that are undergoing in assorted Muslim states worldwide. They were more descriptive and even addressed the inquiry as to how they should be persecuted. In a manner, I personally believe there must be a less-violent option to restrict this behaviour. Investigating Islam. What is Islam s position of homosexualism? Retrieved December 10, 2010, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.islamic.org.uk/homosex.html In this article, it goes more into accent of sinning and how to travel about altering the behaviour in assorted ways that involve our inner and outer attempts. This article besides suggests that those who are homosexual may non acknowledge anything incorrect with the behaviour, as they perchance are non sing the act from a spiritual position. Sexuality is an single pick that can be controlled if the head is put to it. The complexness of accommodating to alter in behaviour is besides emphasized ; it is hard to acquire into the rhythm as backslidings may happen. As this is non the lone act that is harm in Islam, this article proceeds to discourse how these attempts to alter can use to any out act against Islam ( such as imbibing intoxicant ) . I chose this article because it to a great extent addresses on the power of the head and its ability to alter an action of ours. I appreciated how it took a more humanistic position and was non every bit rough as the other articles. It involved the person and attempts that many of us aim to do. Most significantly, I chose this article because I respected that it underlined the imperfectness of us all as Allah s creative activities.

First Electric Toaster, Pop-Up Toast, and Sliced Bread

First Electric Toaster, Pop-Up Toast, and Sliced Bread Toasting began as a method of prolonging the life of bread. It  was initially toasted over open fires with tools to hold it in place until it was properly browned. Toasting  was a very common activity in Roman times; tostum is the Latin word for scorching or burning. As the Romans traveled throughout Europe vanquishing their foes in early times, it’s said that they took their toasted bread right along with them. The British developed a fondness for the Romans toast and introduced it in the Americas when they crossed the ocean. The First Electric Toasters The first electric toaster was invented in 1893 by Alan MacMasters in Scotland. He called the device the â€Å"Eclipse Toaster,† and it was manufactured and marketed by the Crompton Company. This early toaster was reinvented in 1909 in the U.S. when Frank Shailor patented his idea for the â€Å"D-12† toaster. General Electric ran with the idea and introduced it for use in the home. Unfortunately, it only toasted one side of the bread at a time and it required that someone stand by to manually turn it off when the toast looked done. Westinghouse followed with its own version of a toaster in 1914, and the Copeman Electric Stove Company added an â€Å"automatic bread turner† to its toaster in 1915. Charles Strite invented the modern timed pop-up toaster in 1919. Today, the toaster is the most common household appliance although it’s only  been in existence in the U.S. a little over 100 years. An unusual online museum is dedicated to the toaster, with lots of photos and historical information. Otto Frederick Rohwedder and Sliced Bread Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the bread slicer. He first began working on it in 1912 when he came up with the idea of a device that would hold the slices together with hat pins. This was not a resounding success. In 1928, he went on to design a machine that sliced and wrapped the bread to prevent it from going stale. The Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri started selling Kleen Maid Sliced Bread on July 7, 1928, possibly the first sliced bread sold commercially. Pre-sliced bread was further popularized by Wonder Bread in 1930, helping to spread the toasters popularity even further. The Sandwich Long before Rohwedder figured out how to efficiently slice bread and before Shailor patented the first American toaster, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, originated the name â€Å"sandwich† in the 18th century. Montagu was a British politician who served as secretary of state and first lord of the Admiralty. He presided at the Admiralty during the British defeats of the American Revolution, and he was notoriously unpopular for his charges of obscenity against John Wilkes.  He loved to eat beef between slices of bread. His  sandwich allowed the Earl to leave one hand free for card playing.  Hawaiis Sandwich Islands are rumored to have been named after him by Captain James Cook in 1778.

Class Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Class Discussion Questions - Essay Example #2 It is hard to argue with the fact that the government imposing a tariff would result in a greater amount of revenue going into the government. But in terms of producers and thinking of whether they gain or lose from a tariff, it is a more complicated question. On the one hand, producers in a domestic sense would be protected by the tariff, and thus gain stability within an internal domestic market. However, there would be negative repercussions for competition on a global market, and this is an increasingly global world of free trade opportunity and speed. Overall, producers have more to gain than to lose from limited tariffs, because ultimately, the producers are not going to have as much competition. #3 Chad mentioned that tariffs could hurt the US economy, and I agree. I also agree that in history, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, an excessive form of licensed protectionism for the US market, actually did the opposite of what it was supposed to do, which was end the crisis of the Great Depression. These factors point towards the phenomenon of bubble and crash, and particularly the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. â€Å"The concept of buying now and paying later was quickly adopted and by 1929, 60% of all cars and 80% of all radios were bought on installment credit. By 1929, 80% of Americans had no savings at all. Between 1925 and 1929 the total amount of outstanding installment credit increased from $1.38 billion to over $3 billion† (Shepherd, 2003). However, it is fairly safe to say that people have learned from the mistakes of this time period. Learning from this disaster means that banks are fairly safe places for our money, as they are highly reg ulated, but they are not completely fail-safe or fool-proof. It may be better and safer to have a savings account collecting interest than to have the money under the mattress generally, but during specific

Workshop 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Workshop 5 - Essay Example Part of the restructuring that happened in the auto industry is the changing of the labour regulations and practices to enable the auto industry cope and compete with the new economic environment. The major labor regulation change in the auto industry was the Labour Conract Law which stipulate open term contract. It meant that employer-employee relationship mist be written in a contract the failure to do so would mean the indefinite employment which employers cannot just terminate. The law also stipulated labour dispatching which requires the labour contract between the service provider and the employee will be fixed for more than 2 years and the employee will be remunerated monthly even if there is no work to be done. In the labour practice, globalisation has provided employers greater latitude to easily reduce its workforce depending on the demand of the market. Where before workers had job security, it is now underpinned by a one year contract as stated by the new Labour Contract Law. 2. What is the role of unions in China? How does China’s Political System impact this? Should unions be founded on supporting the workers in China or the Organisations/Government? Justify your answer. The role of unions in China is to motivate employees to achieve the objective of the enterprise rather than represent and perform functions that are typically associated to HR in capitalist countries. This means that unions are still subordinated to the Communist Party, an arrangement compounded by the This set up of unions being subordinated to the Communist Party defeats the very purpose of union of why they were set up. Even in the former Soviet Union, workers were represented by the union whom in turn are represented in the Communist Party. With the current set up in China, workers are virtually powerless and voiceless to air their grievance or plight or to even make suggestion to make their conditions

Fortune 500 CEO of Boeing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fortune 500 CEO of Boeing - Term Paper Example As stated in the ‘executive biographies’, The honors and recognition he received include John W. Dixon Award (2011) from the Association of the U.S. Army, Turning Point Award (2012) from the U.S. Army War College Foundation, Semper Fidelis Award (2012) from the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and National Management Association's Executive of the Year (2008). McNerney has been a big success as a strategic leader throughout his extensive career. The key aspect of his strategic leadership is the emphasis he gives to the growth of others. Unlike many other entrepreneurs, Jim gives more importance to his crew than the company’s strategy or product. He disclosed this strategy to Fortune's Geoffrey Colvin; â€Å"I start with people's growth because I believe that if the people who are running and participating in a company grow, then the company's growth will in many respects take care of itself† (Colvin). Another unique quality of this strategic leader is t hat he seldom fears change but enjoys it. Admittedly, in the current global market, the Boeing Company has numerous potential opportunities. ... This situation offers potential opportunities to the Boeing Company and its leader. The firm has a strong global network and it assists the company to spread its elements of risk. This strength also benefits McNerney to easily raise adequate resources whenever necessary. An efficient research and development department would be helpful for the organization to vie with its market rivals. Similarly, the Boeing Company and its leader face some potential challenges too. Firstly, the increasing price of titanium and aluminum is likely to threaten the market position of the organization. Referring to the law of demand, the demand for Boeing aircrafts may decline if their price increases. Hence, the company may struggle to maintain its market dominance. In addition, intense competition in the industry also affects the competitiveness of the firm. The growing competition can be a tough test for McNerney’s leadership and a major challenge to the company’s future. The company has been increasingly depending on the US government contracts. This over reliance might adversely affect the firm’s viability if the federal government terminated the contracts with the Boeing Company for some reasons. Finally, the US government has recently introduced some strict regulations on the purchase of military equipments. This change also may affect the business operations of the Boeing Company. Some major steps taken by McNerney at 3M include changes in research and development activities. Those steps gave specific focus to customer orientation. Since then the company has been focusing more on the growing Chinese market. Some changes, including strict financial control were termed

Discussion on Loblaw and Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Discussion on Loblaw and Wal-Mart - Essay Example To fit in market competition the Wal-Mart decided to reduce the cost of their product. This turned to great threat to the Loblaw Company (Financial post 2006). In 2006, the Loblaw Company lost completely its market to Wal-Mart stores. During this year the Loblaw reported a loss of 219 Canadian dollars due to increased competition (Ian 2007, P. 1). To counter the competition raised by Wal- Mart the company introduced new products in the market. After that Loblaw utilized the strategy of constructing large superstores in its effort to pre-empt Wal-Mart in the market. For instance, Loblaw Company limited has more than one thousand and fifty stores located in various locations in Canada such as Fortino, Loblaw and Zehrs (Marina 2010). In 2002, it constructed a large superstore with the label Real Canadian Superstore (RCSS) acting as the company’s competitive strategy. In addition to that, in 2004 the company constructed 13 stores and similarly in 2005 it was supposed to construct seven more stores. On the contrary, since 2002, Wal-Mart Company limited has not constructed any megastores apart from its â€Å"5 Sum Stores† situated in Ontario (David, David, Mark S., and Scort., 2006, p. 226). However, through utilization of adequate competitive strategies, Wal-Mart can effectively compete with Loblaw and deter entry and exits into their market arenas. The importance of entry and exit barriers and strategies that firms can use to deter entry Entry and exit barriers are significant for firms that are competing. In that case, firms such as Loblaw and Wal-Mart should develop strategies that will help them in entry deterring. Entry barriers are extremely essential because they are crucial in many cases of competition. It is thus important for company’s president’s to consider barriers to entry while assessing dominance and in their determination whether unilateral conduct might discourage new entrants from taking part in the market. Most importa ntly, barriers to entry might dampen, retard or nullify the usual market mechanism utilized in checking market power in terms of arrival and attraction of new rivalry. Additionally, substantial barriers to entry are essential in proving that the existence of a high level of market share translates into a superior market in abuse or monopolization of dominance cases (Turut and Ofek, 2000, p. 576). Over decades, various arguments have existed among economists on how to define entry barriers. Generally, the term refers to an obstruction that makes it extremely difficult for firms to get into a market. A hot debate has persisted on which hindrances should qualify to be termed as barriers to entry.

Foster Parenting and Foster Care in Louisiana Research Paper

Foster Parenting and Foster Care in Louisiana - Research Paper Example Foster parents need to develop for the child a ‘family-like environment’ (Department of Children and Family Services, Foster Parenting 2012), ensuring that the vital needs of the child, in terms of food, clothing, health and education, are fully covered. Foster parents also need to support the personal development and growth of the child (Department of Children and Family Services, Foster Parenting 2012). It should be noted that foster parents do not have parental rights, at least not at the same level as the birth parents; for this reason, foster parents need to cooperate with the local authorities and the birth parents for identifying the needs of the child in terms of daily care. The above rules are common in foster parenting schemes developed across USA. In Louisiana, authorities have focused on the support of foster parents so that the care provided to the children, in the context of foster parenting, to be as appropriate as possible. In 2003, the number of children in foster care in Louisiana has been estimated to 4,541 (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). Among those children, 53 are male, while the average age of children in foster care is 10 years (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). As of September of 2003, the average period that a foster child stays in a foster family has been estimated to 29 months, which can be characterized as rather long (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). In 2004, the number of certified foster homes in Louisiana was estimated to 2,822 (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). In order for a family to provide foster care, it has to ask for a foster care certification. The requirements of this certification are the following ones: a) provision of information to foster family in regard to the needs and the demands of the program, b) the submission of a relevant application, c) fingerprints are provided by all members of the foster family, meaning those members who are

DNA Sequence Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

DNA Sequence Analysis - Coursework Example Open reading frames (ORFs) shall be selected from he solution of suggested on the web based platform. Before then the linear DNA sequence is checked and the first graph shows us the location of restriction enzymes and their point of action. What follows is the choice of primers that would match the segment of DNA sequence chosen for this case wasEL784663 from our observation the following primers would be the most appropriate:- At a temperature of between 50-65oC, the pUC18 plasmid vector is digested by any of the restriction enzymes found at the multiple cloning sites (MCS) to make a single cut in the plasmid. This shall make the otherwise circular dsDNA module to become linear which will enhance its ability to coalesce with the DNA sequence that has been cut with the same restriction enzymes. The ORFs are then cloned in the amplified into the pUC18 to ensure that the DNA is transformed into chemically competent E. coli. During cloning EcoRI (5... GA  A  T  TC ...  3) site was preferred because it matches both the MCS restriction enzymes and the restriction enzymes of the linear graph of the DNA sequence chosen. However it is not in the sequence it is just outside the chosen sequence. This means that the selected primers require additional bases so that the EcoRI cuts the two sites at the same time during the Polymerase Chain Reaction. The protein has several biological functions and of importance is for example in biological folding, regulation of transcription, DNA binding, heat shock protein binding. The protein is usually in existence during the transcription stage of DNA sequencing and polymerase chain reaction. In protein folding process it’s where functional shapes of proteins are shaped from the constituent polypeptides. It involves the use of both covalent and non covalent bonds are made to coalesce in the required shape. This protein is in the DNA and is usually instrumental in this kind of process (Kieleczawa,

Foster Parenting and Foster Care in Louisiana Research Paper

Foster Parenting and Foster Care in Louisiana - Research Paper Example Foster parents need to develop for the child a ‘family-like environment’ (Department of Children and Family Services, Foster Parenting 2012), ensuring that the vital needs of the child, in terms of food, clothing, health and education, are fully covered. Foster parents also need to support the personal development and growth of the child (Department of Children and Family Services, Foster Parenting 2012). It should be noted that foster parents do not have parental rights, at least not at the same level as the birth parents; for this reason, foster parents need to cooperate with the local authorities and the birth parents for identifying the needs of the child in terms of daily care. The above rules are common in foster parenting schemes developed across USA. In Louisiana, authorities have focused on the support of foster parents so that the care provided to the children, in the context of foster parenting, to be as appropriate as possible. In 2003, the number of children in foster care in Louisiana has been estimated to 4,541 (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). Among those children, 53 are male, while the average age of children in foster care is 10 years (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). As of September of 2003, the average period that a foster child stays in a foster family has been estimated to 29 months, which can be characterized as rather long (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). In 2004, the number of certified foster homes in Louisiana was estimated to 2,822 (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). In order for a family to provide foster care, it has to ask for a foster care certification. The requirements of this certification are the following ones: a) provision of information to foster family in regard to the needs and the demands of the program, b) the submission of a relevant application, c) fingerprints are provided by all members of the foster family, meaning those members who are

Funding a Business Venture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Funding a Business Venture - Assignment Example h Parker’s funding comes with its pros and cons, Wolf found it as the preferred source, considering financing risks and possible help he could get for the promotion of tracker. Investment banking matches the needs of those who have money and those who need it (Wise, 2006). And investment bankers, such as Goldman Sachs, raise capital by underwriting securities or working as an agent to issue them. They also assist their clients with acquisitions and mergers as well as other ancillary services. Their significance lies in their ability to finance huge projects and help their clients with acquisitions and mergers. Stock market facilitates the buying and selling of shares (Fontanills & Gentile, 2001). Shares of those companies that are listed in stock exchanges, such as New York and London, are traded there. Stock market is one of the best sources of raising capital and spreading the company’s ownership widely. McLaney says risk is an important element of all financial decisions and must be considered (2009). Risk financing relates to managing funds for unexpected losses to the company. It is important to make provisions for weathering unexpected losses. Start-ups face more uncertainties than old ones about market, sales, competition, cost of production, and failure. Funding a start-up business is a major challenge. Gary Wolf, a former junior scientist with the General Electric (GE) with several minor but useful inventions under his belt, came to know about it when he wanted to start his own business, Tracker Co., to develop and sell a tracker. The tracker would help viewers to track and record television programs that met the pre-designated specifications, when the viewers were away from television. While recording, the device would skip too violent or sexually explicit scenes. After carefully considering all options, Wolf decided to get funding from a business angel. Wolf needed $50,000 to start. Out of this, $40,000 was necessary to set up a laboratory to

A Comparison Of Liberalism Socialism And Nationalism Politics Essay

A Comparison Of Liberalism Socialism And Nationalism Politics Essay The three most powerful ideologies that emerged in the beginning of the nineteenth century were Liberalism, socialism and nationalism. These ideologies came together to destroy older order that existed in Western Europe. However, there is very little that is actually known about the real origin of these three ideologies. Most of the research only talks about the recognized authorizes that exercises these ideologies but do not talk about the real issue. This essay seeks to compare and contrast these ideologies and trace their origin, development and revolution. Liberalism This was a product of some kind of enlightenment by human thinking. It held that the progress of human beings was inevitable. This is the reason it believed that all human beings should be viewed to be equal before the law and no one was above the law. Moreover, it believed that every person was born free and is good in some aspect let alone owning the chance to improve in skills and general thinking. Liberalization therefore expected that all governments were representative of its citizens and not part of the citizens. According to Hansen, Curt Curtis (2008) this could only be achieved through the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and protection from arbitrary arrest. The nineteenth century liberalism which is also referred to as classical liberalism was against the involvement of the government in the economic and social affairs of the nation. This is therefore very different from what we currently know liberalism to stand for where active government intervention is highly supported and represented through democratic parties. Classical liberalism was first developed by Adam Smith as expressed in his book Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations. (Hansen, Curtis Curtis, 2008). He proposed the fact that there was a need for a free enterprise where prices would be regulated by market forces. This he believed would offer a free and equal chance to all citizens to participate in what they do best. In this way both the rich and the poor will benefit rather than a situation where the rich are the only ones who benefit. This was very much different from the earlier situation of mercantilism where the government was very deeply involved in regulation of markets. While the British were experiencing gradual expansion of freedoms and rights of ordinary citizens, the French were denied of such rights until the 1989 when there was the Revolution. Unlike in France, there was no central instrument with which the British used to be oppressed with like the army ready to do what the monarch said. The British liberalization was never aimed at overthrowing the Monarchy. On the contrary it was aimed at reigning its power through the expansion of representation of the people. Because of common political, ethical, cultural and geographical factors liberalization in the United States took so much from the British kind of liberalism than it took from the French. However, during early stages of Beiner (2003) argues that American Revolution, there was much borrowed from the political thoughts of the British. Subsequent developments then later own changed and took more from the French. Some common factors with liberalism during the French Revolution and its development in the European revolution were that they both had one fundamental aspect which was to prevent and stop the oppression of the citizens. Even though the sources of oppression and the methods liberalism might different depending on time or location, liberalization still remained to be the sole purpose of liberal political movement and liberal political thinking. Liberalism was therefore much appealing to the lower social class because it get them equal chance as the rich to make use of their skills and take part in national development. Even though it received much opposition from the rich or those of high social status, it later came to succeed and thats the reason why we even have democratic societies in the Europe and the entire world ( Hansen, Curtis Curtis, 2008). In the time of Industrial revolution, liberalism was very much common in Britain especially with the Factory owners since there was a high demand for works more than they could be supply. The factory owners used this ideology to again support against the labor unions sine they were considered to be interfering with the right to work. In the political field, liberals mainly supported representative government. However, they also believed that it was the male who had the right to own the franchise. Liberals were for the idea of universal education for all. Socialism This was a radical doctrine that originated from France. In fact almost all socialists came from France. They regarded the French revolution that occurred during 1789 together with the Industrial Revolution that took place in England as the beginning of change in the society. However, they were troubled by what they considered to be the end result of the issue of transformation of the society. Some of these issues that troubled them included things to do with political competition and capitalism (Hansen, Curtis Curtis, 2008). According to the socialist, such development were the cause of selfish individualism that ended up dividing the society in the lines of competing factors. During the French Revolution, socialists pushed for economic planning. They were mainly inspired by the occurrences in France during the end of the eighteenth century. It is for this reason that they proposed that governments were to organize their economy rather than hoping that competition would do so. They considered competition to be a very destructive element in the society. In addition, they also had the desire to protect the poor and avoid cases of exploitation they could face from the rich. One common factor therefore between liberalism and socialism is that these two ideologies advocate for the rights of the poor in the society. Each of them wants the society to provide equal ground for the existence of every one in the society regardless of their social status. It is the reason why they advocated for economic equality for both the poor and the rich. Socialisms also argued that the government was supposed to regulate private property or even abolish it and let property be owned by the community. This is one difference between liberalism and socialism (Hansen, Curtis Curtis, 2008). Liberalism advocated for the people owning property. To be specific it was the male who were supposed to own franchise. Socialism on the other hand was for the idea that either the government was to own property or the community. Socialism pushed for the idea that the society was supposed to take charge of most of the things that were going on in the surrounding. They were also to ensure that they do everything possible to develop their economy by the equal utilization of community resources. On the other hand, liberalism was all about the government taking full control of the resources of the country but awarding equal chances for both the rich and the poor to make benefit from them. Socialism was as a result of the stresses that had been caused on the French economy by the revolutionary movement. Workers missed the old good days when there were radical changes in life and the economy used to be regulated. The skilled craftsmen were very against the idea of wage control and thats the reason why they opposed capitalism. According to them, it denied the workers capacity to promote destructive competition(Hansen, Curtis Curtis, 2008). The introduction of Marxist socialism provided a foundation to the modern day socialism and even paved way to the development of socialism into communism. Between 1818 and 1883, Karl Marx came up with his own idea of socialism where he pushed for the idea that labor was the main source of all kinds of value in the society. This meant that human labor was the main reason as to why the economy of any country would grow. In a way, this was similar to the what liberalism had pushed for where factory owners pushed for the rights to work. Socialism was more appealing to the lower social class because socialists like Saint Simon argues that the parasites of the society such as lawyers and churchmen were to give a chance to the doers like scientist and engineers to help improve the status of the society(Hansen, Curtis Curtis, 2008). The main idea was therefore the improvement of the living standards of the poor and later on the improvement of the economy of the entire society. The main oppo nents to this ideology were the rich in the society but they did not succeed. Nationalism This was as radical as the liberalism ideology after Napoleon was finally defeated. This ideology came from an imagined or real cultural identity where the main features were common history, common language and common territory. In other words, the main idea behind nationalism was to turn the cultural identity of citizens into some kind of political identity where people from the same origin would push forward similar agenda to help improve the economic standards of their society. According to Beiner (2003), this led to a situation where political boundaries were based on cultural unity. For instance, during the French revolution, you could find that people from different ethnic groups would find themselves being led by the same leader. The intermingling of groups led to every group finding for some way to create their own identity. The Napoleonic wars together with the French Revolution gave birth to the idea of nationalism. In the time of the Reign of Terror, the Frenchmen as the Republicans used to refer to the people were asked to repel any form of foreign armies which thought of overthrowing the republic. In the time of invasion by Napoleon, the sentiments of nationalists in the entire Europe joined forces to oppose his military campaigns. One renown nationalist is Johann Herder, a German phiplosopher who was of the idea that each and every individual had his own individual spirit and some kind of genius which he could use to survive. This he say was expressed in language and culture (Beiner, 2003). One conspicuous difference between socialism, liberalism and nationalism is that, national advocates for the idea of different groups in the same society. There is the idea of opponents or us and them. This kind of division might hinder social development because every group would want to do things their own way. On the same note there is the creation of boundaries between different groups which means that resources are owned by individual group (Beiner, 2003). This is against the idea of socialism which calls for abolition of individual ownership and proposes for the property to be owned by the government or the community. However, in some way the idea of we created a sense of nationalism where one group was to behave like they were all brothers (Beiner, 2003). This creates some similarity with the sentiments of liberalism which advocated for togetherness and provision of equal opportunities to the members of one country so that they could have a chance to develop and prosper together. The main reason that made nationalism appealing was the idea of people feeling that they are one because of the fact that they shared the same language or cultures. The good thing with nationalism is that people act like they are brothers of one mothers. One good example of nationalism was that demonstrated by the Nazis where they fought as one. However, this could be termed as nationalism gone awry because of the suffering it caused to the Jew.

A Panel Analysis of Venture Capital’s Impact on Innovation Performance in Europe :: European Economy, Debt Crisis

The sovereign debt crisis hits heavily European economy. Policymakers are desperately searching for solutions. But resolving the crisis would be much harder if the economies continue to stall or shrink. The key driver for modern economic growth is entrepreneurial innovation (Schumpeter, 1911, 1934; Romer, 1990; Grossman and Helpman, 2002; and Aghion and Howitt, 1992, 1998). Innovation requires constant investments in entrepreneurial firms. Entrepreneurial financing, however, is too risky and too costly for traditional prudent investors. Financial problems are particularly acute in high-growth entrepreneurial firms due to their inherent uncertainty (Hall, 2002). The Community Innovation Survey (2002) reports that the lack of appropriate sources of finance and the high costs of innovation are the most cited hampering factors in European companies. The financial constrains force almost one out of three innovative or potentially innovative Dutch firms to abandon or to slow down their inn ovative projects (Mohnen, Palm, van Der Loeff, and Tiwart, 2008). Savignac (2006) also finds that 17.25 percent of innovative firms are financially constrained in France. The Venture Capital (VC) market provides the unique link between financial surplus and innovation, and mitigates the problem of under-investment in innovative activities by small and new firms (Hall, 2002). The structure of VC firms seems to be designed specifically to light fires under scrappy and ambitions startups, to materialize new business ideas and to maximize return on investment in true innovation projects (Stuck and Weingarten, 2005). There are both ad hoc and academic evidence suggesting that VC boosts American innovation, for example, NVCA (2010), Hellmann and Puri (2000), Kortum and Lerner (2001), and Ueda and Hirukawa (2003). The empirical finding in Europe, however, is not unanimous. On the one hand, Tykvova (2000) finds that VC investments have a highly significant positive effect on patenting activity in Germany. Engel and Keilbach (2002) reveal that the average number of patents in the German VC-backed group is weakly higher than in the control group. Bertoni et al. (2009) report that VC investments promote Italian firms’ patenting activity. And Colombo et al. (2009a) find that VC investments have a positive impact on the productivity of 222 Italian firms operating in high-tech manufacturing and services. On the other hand, Peneder (2010) finds that the Austrian VCs have a positive impact on firm growth, yet not on innovation output. Pinch and Sunley (2009) find that there is little evidence that th e British VCs promote the innovation performance of their investees.

Horse Dealers Daughter :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The short story, â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,† by D. H. Lawrence is about Mabel Pervin and her three brothers who are left with debts to pay after their father’s death. Once the horses are sold Mabel’s brothers decide where their lives would lead them and advice her to seek the home of her sister. Realizing their rejection and acknowledging an uncertain future, she visits the graves of her mother and father. Feeling depressed and helpless, Mabel walks into a mucky pond not cognizant of Jack Fergusson’s presence. Fighting his fear of water, Jack saves Mabel from an attempted suicide and has become a part of Mabel’s plan to remain where she wants to be. She decides to take advantage of the situation by expressing her love and convincing Jack that he loves her as well. Mabel’s love, in this story by D.H. Lawrence, is her escape from having to leave her town and live with her sister in a less desirable fashion. Sh e uses love as a means of obtaining the comfortable lifestyle that she once lived. She can once again have luxuries in life now that she will be marrying a doctor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just as in the previous story, James Joyce’s short story â€Å"Araby† also suggests love as an escape. In this short story, the young boy’s existence surrounds a dreary and harsh environment. He lives with an uncle who drinks and an aunt who suffers from the heartache of an unhappy marriage. The boy’s friend Mangan has a sister who he is infatuated with to the extent of following her every move. He is so empowered by his feelings for her, he decides to go to Araby and buy Mangan’s sister a gift. On the day of the bazaar, his uncle forgets to be home on time to give the boy money and therefore causes him to be late.

Response-In Search of the Emerald City Essay

â€Å"In Search of the Emerald City† is a Short story by Witi Ihimaera. It is about a Maori family who leave their whanau and roots behind to seek the opportunities of the big city. Witi Ihimaera wants the audience to understand the desire working class people have to rise above their station in life and out do the expectations that society have for them. The father wants his children to be smarter, wealthier and have a better life than he did. â€Å"I’ve got to start looking to the future and to get my kids educated.† He believes the solution is in Wellington or ‘Emerald City.’ â€Å"Wellington’s the place. Plenty of jobs, plenty of money.† Perhaps Ihimaera used the name ‘Emerald City’ to portray the idea â€Å"Grass is always greener on the other side.† Using the word emerald to describe Wellington makes it seem desirable and sought after. It makes life in Wellington look worth aspiring too much like the fantasy la nd ‘Emerald City’ in the Wizard of Oz. â€Å"The road leads to Wellington. The big city, The Emerald city!† In the first book The Wizard of Oz the walls of the city are green but the city itself is no different in colour to any other. Read more:  How to describe a fantasy city. The people in the city are made to wear green tinted glasses which affect their perception of the city. Ihimaera may have used this analogy to ‘Emerald City’ to show that the perception of Wellington being better may not have been true. Witi Ihimaera explored the idea of cultural change. As in leaving their whanau the family was also leaving their cultural roots. â€Å"Waitahi is where our bones are but we got to move. Not much room for Pa living anymore.† I think Ihimaera is showing how the Maori culture may not fit in to the modern world, that living in the traditional way can be difficult with little chance of betterment due to lack of work and educational opportunities. The father thinks he needs to adapt to the modern ways in order to get ahead in life. He wants to follow the Pakeha way of life because he thinks it is becoming the only way of life. â€Å"You’ve got to go where the money is. That’s the Pakeha way.† He feels the world is ch anging and old Maori culture and ways are falling behind. Waitahi is just one example of a traditionally Maori populated area that is losing their people to the city, the Pakeha way of life. The narrative helped me understand the great effect of the young people leaving the small, traditional Maori towns. The people who are left behind are often the ones who are older and committed to a more traditional way of life.

This Is My Most Important Event in My Life

A Significant Event I think in a human life, everyone has a significant event that they can't forget. Mine is a poignant farewell party where I said good-bye to my family, my relatives, and my friends. Everyone was laughing and telling funny stories, but I wanted to be alone. I sat on the roof of my house and looked at the stars. It was very hard to leave. I knew I loved them so much and I didn’t truly want to go to the U. S. ; however, I decided I must go and make my own future. I realized that this was my chance to build my career which would benefit me and my family. It was an emotional evening.I will always remember it. It was a lovely day with a sunny morning, a cloudy afternoon, and a windy evening. That morning, I went to the America Embassy for an appointment with the delegate for an interview to receive my F-1 Visa. Maybe it was my lucky day. There were many people who wanted to get a Visa that day. I had waited more than three hours in the waiting room for my turn. I was nervous about what he would ask me. But the interview was easier than I thought. I passed it with a smile on my face. When my father knew I had passed the interview, he was really happy.He told me he would organize a big farewell party for me, and he did it. He invited all of our relatives and friends. Then we prepared everything for the upcoming party together. When all of us were in my house, we separated two groups. One went to market to buy food and beverages. Another group went to the bakery to buy a big farewell cake. We attended the farewell party with a happy atmosphere. During the evening, we took photos and sang the songs we loved. We had a feast with a diverse menu, which included appetizers, main dishes and the desserts. We were joking while we were cooking and eating.The meal was good, but I really enjoyed our affection for each other. After the dinner, we went to the living room to continue the party with playing cards and video games. After a while, my grandpa be gan telling us some his legend tales. Step by step, everybody told many funny stories that made me laugh too much. I knew everyone was sad that I would be leaving, but they still celebrated because they loved me. I realized it, and I laughed with them because I didn’t want them worry about me. On the other hand, I still wanted to be alone so that I could think about many things.I didn’t even know what I was thinking about. I just wanted to find a quiet space so that I could feel peaceful in my mind. I climbed up, sat on the roof and looked at the stars on the sky. Some thought started appearing in my mind. I knew when I left my country; my parents would be sad and worry about me. I thought about my younger brother, who was still a teenager and hoped he would start studying hard and listening to what my parents said. I was also concerned that I would not see my grandparents anymore because they were very old. I knew I would miss my aunts and uncles also.I thought about my friends and all the good time we’d had together. We still had many plans to perform together. Furthermore, I thought about my future. I might perceive and experience more things in the other culture. In addition, I was able to improve my English skill in listening as speaking. This was my opportunity in order to build my career according to my plan; this also was my chance so that I could found my own company. Otherwise, I would be independent. I imagined that how many troubles I would meet. Not only I didn’t scare, but I also felt interesting.I would figure them out and handled by myself. There were some reasons motivate me that I should left Vietnam to the U. S. That really was my significant event; the first time I seriously thought about a lot of things in one night. And now I realize I have matured more since I came here. I’m becoming a man. I may solve many problems as well as I know how to take care of myself. Nonetheless, I still miss my parents, my a ll relatives. I always want to graduate the University as fast as I can so that I could come back my country and visit all of them.

Part Six Chapter IV

IV The police had picked up Krystal Weedon at last as she ran hopelessly along the river bank on the very edge of Pagford, still calling her brother in a cracked voice. The policewoman who approached her addressed her by name, and tried to break the news to her gently, but she still tried to beat the woman away from her, and in the end the policewoman had almost to wrestle her into the car. Krystal had not noticed Fats melting away into the trees; he did not exist to her any more. The police drove Krystal home, but when they knocked on the front door Terri refused to answer. She had glimpsed them through an upstairs window, and thought that Krystal had done the one unthinkable and unforgivable thing, and told the pigs about the hold-alls full of Obbo's hash. She dragged the heavy bags upstairs while the police hammered at the door, and only opened up when she considered that it had become unavoidable. ‘Whatcha wan'?' she shouted, through an inch-wide gap in the door. The policewoman asked to come in three times and Terri refused, still demanding to know what they wanted. A few neighbours had begun to peer through windows. Even when the policewoman said, ‘It's about your son, Robbie,' Terri did not realize. †E's fine. There's nuthin' wrong with ‘im. Krystal's got ‘im.' But then she saw Krystal, who had refused to stay in the car, and had walked halfway up the garden path. Terri's gaze trickled down her daughter's body to the place where Robbie should have been clinging to her, frightened by the strange men. Terri flew from her house like a fury, with her hands outstretched like claws, and the policewoman had to catch her round the middle and swing her away from Krystal, whose face she was trying to lacerate. ‘Yeh little bitch, yeh little bitch, what've yeh done ter Robbie?' Krystal dodged the struggling pair, darted into the house and slammed the front door behind her. ‘For fuck's sake,' muttered the policeman under his breath. Miles away in Hope Street, Kay and Gaia Bawden faced each other in the dark hallway. Neither of them was tall enough to replace the light bulb that had been dead for days, and they had no ladder. All day long, they had argued and almost made up, then argued again. Finally, at the moment when reconciliation seemed within touching distance, when Kay had agreed that she too hated Pagford, that it had all been a mistake, and that she would try and get them both back to London, her mobile had rung. ‘Krystal Weedon's brother's drowned,' whispered Kay, as she cut Tessa's call. ‘Oh,' said Gaia. Knowing that she ought to express pity, but frightened to let discussion of London drop before she had her mother's firm commitment, she added, in a tight little voice, ‘That's sad.' ‘It happened here in Pagford,' said Kay. ‘Along the road. Krystal was with Tessa Wall's son.' Gaia felt even more ashamed of letting Fats Wall kiss her. He had tasted horrible, of lager and cigarettes, and he had tried to feel her up. She was worth much more than Fats Wall, she knew that. If it had even been Andy Price, she would have felt better about it. Sukhvinder had not returned one of her calls, all day long. ‘She'll be absolutely broken up,' said Kay, her eyes unfocused. ‘But there's nothing you can do,' said Gaia. ‘Is there?' ‘Well †¦' said Kay. ‘Not again!' cried Gaia. ‘It's always, always the same! You're not her social worker any more! What,' she shouted, stamping her foot as she had done when she was a little girl, ‘about me?' The police officer in Foley Road had already called a duty social worker. Terri was writhing and screaming and trying to beat at the front door, while from behind it came the sounds of furniture being dragged to form a barricade. Neighbours were coming out onto their doorsteps, a fascinated audience to Terri's meltdown. Somehow the cause of it was transmitted through the watchers, from Terri's incoherent shouts and the attitudes of the ominous police. ‘The boy's dead,' they told each other. Nobody stepped forward to comfort or calm. Terri Weedon had no friends. ‘Come with me,' Kay begged her mutinous daughter. ‘I'll go to the house and see if I can do anything. I got on with Krystal. She's got nobody.' ‘I bet she was shagging Fats Wall when it happened!' shouted Gaia; but it was her final protest, and a few minutes later she was buckling herself into Kay's old Vauxhall, glad, in spite of everything, that Kay had asked her along. But by the time they had reached the bypass, Krystal had found what she was looking for: a bag of heroin concealed in the airing cupboard; the second of two that Obbo had given Terri in payment for Tessa Wall's watch. She took it, with Terri's works, into the bathroom, the only room that had a lock on the door. Her aunt Cheryl must have heard what had happened, because Krystal could hear her distinctive raucous yell, added to Terri's screams, even through the two doors. ‘You little bitch, open the door! Letcha mother see ya!' And the police shouting, trying to shut the two women up. Krystal had never shot up before, but she had watched it happen many times. She knew about longboats, and how to make a model volcano, and she knew how to heat the spoon, and about the tiny little ball of cotton wool you used to soak up the dissolved smack, and act as a filter when you were filling the syringe. She knew that the crook of the arm was the best place to find a vein, and she knew to lay the needle as flat as possible against the skin. She knew, because she had heard it said, many times, that first-timers could not take what addicts could manage, and that was good, because she did not want to take it. Robbie was dead, and it was her fault. In trying to save him, she had killed him. Flickering images filled her mind as her fingers worked to achieve what must be done. Mr Fairbrother, running alongside the canal bank in his tracksuit as the crew rowed. Nana Cath's face, fierce with pain and love. Robbie, waiting for her at the window of his foster home, unnaturally clean, jumping up and down with excitement as she approached the front door †¦ She could hear the policeman calling to her through the letter box not to be a silly girl, and the policewoman trying to quieten Terri and Cheryl. The needle slid easily into Krystal's vein. She pressed the plunger down hard, in hope and without regret. By the time Kay and Gaia arrived, and the police decided to force their way in, Krystal Weedon had achieved her only ambition: she had joined her brother where nobody could part them.

PMI analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PMI analysis - Essay Example Another positive aspect of Attia’s presentation is that towards the end of the presentation, he informs us that an effective team of medical researchers is already attempting to establish the true relationship between obesity and insulin resistance (TED 2013). Attia’s presentation is noted to have a number of negative aspects some of which include the fact that Attia does not make the use of visual aids to help the audience to better understand it. Another negative aspect of the presentation is that although Attia presents an alternative theory to understanding obesity and insulin resistance, he however does not have any empirical evidence to support his postulations. In the presentation, Attia informs us that a number of medical researchers are working on different theories to establish the relationship obesity and insulin he however fails to inform us of his actual position in the whole debate (TED 2013). The presentation is interesting as it provides more information on insulin resistance. It is also interesting as Attia suggests a different outlook on insulin resistance that challenges the current conventional understanding of the condition. At the end of the presentation, Attia takes time to apologize to the women that he feels that he let down at the start of his medical career (TED 2013). Attia’s presentation is quite interesting as it presents a different outlook into the question of the currently existing relationship between obesity and insulin resistance. However, I believe that the presentation would have been made more interesting if it had encompassed the use of a short PowerPoint presentation in addition to having some concrete evidence. Shawn Achor’s presentation on the happiness advantage has a number of advantages key of which is that it is generally a humorous presentation that is able to greatly engage the