Monday, September 30, 2019

Marxism in “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti Essay

How is Marxism presented as a metaphor in Christina Rossetti’s poem ‘Goblin Market’? In Goblin Market, Rossetti presents Marxism as a metaphor through a number of different characters and through the language used. It could be argued that in the poem there is this idea that consumerism is bad, and that we are never satisfied with what we have which is essentially the theory behind Marxist views. An example of this in the poem is that once Laura has had a taste of the fruit she immediately wants more. This is shown in Laura â€Å"in an absent dream†¦longing for the night†. Laura is just wasting away waiting for the night to come so she can hear the goblins cry yet again. The use of the word ‘longing’ could be used as a metaphor for the desire and addiction involved in consumer consumption in the economy as a whole. Another way by which Rossetti presents Marxism through metaphor is through the goblins. The goblins could represent business men and therefore be a metaphor for the greed and gluttony in capitalistic society, who tricks people into buying their products. For example when it says â€Å"brother to sly brother† it is as if the goblins have spotted a vulnerable customer who they know they can persuade to buy their produce. Rossetti’s use of the word ‘sly’ infers that the goblins are devious and deceitful in their transaction of the goods, which suggests the greed associated with capitalism through a Marxist opinion. It could therefore be argued that, even though money is the central medium for business, in ‘Goblin Market’ the real value is in the greed and the experience. The golden lock of hair given to the goblins could represent this method of trade however. The â€Å"Goblin men† Are a metaphor for capitalism, and the exploitation of women by these capitalists. The Goblin men want her to buy their fruit, which could be seen as a metaphor for consumerism. On the other hand, it could also be suggested that this metaphor is for the capitalist system as a whole. To get this fruit Laura has to sell her body, and purity, represented by the hair that she sells to the goblin men. Look at this passage in particular. With the help of Marxist criticism we can make the argument that Rossetti was influenced by her contemporary society. As mentioned earlier, every society must – according to Marxism – pass through three stages in order to develop. The third stage of society’s development, the bourgeois society, is a society where all means of production is controlled by one class in society and can therefore be interpreted as the Victorian society and its relationship with the British colonies during this time. The goblins in this poem could therefore be said to represent the controlling force in the economy. The study of the fruits that the goblin men sell through a Marxist perspective is a very important part of the analysis of ‘Goblin Market’. When considering the items offered to the two girls, certain properties of the fruits are particularly interesting. The fruits are described by the author as tempting, sweet-tasting and luscious-looking. They are also exotic and not the kind of fruits which are grown in the typical British climate and nature which presents them as very idealistic. These idyllic fruits could therefore be argued to be a metaphor for the appeal of the capitalist regime and the presentation of propaganda through consumer products – which draws a parallel to the way in which the fruits are presented as â€Å"sweeter than honey† and â€Å"clearer than water† which both have connotations of natural purity and fairness. By using these exotic fruits as the bait with which to trap the innocent girls, the reader gets the feeling that the goblin men have travelled around the world in order to collect and sell the fruit. The selling and consuming of this fruit can therefore be interpreted as the conquering and exploitation of the British colonies all over the world. The structure of ‘Goblin Market’ could be seen to represent Marxism through the use of enjambment and the visual appearance of the poem, due to it being an evenly laid out piece of writing. This is because Marxism was the basis for communism which tends towards fairness and even structure in society which is reflected in the structure of the poem. For example, the lengths of the stanzas are all similar. On the other hand, another interpretation of the structure could be that it lends itself to a reading of â€Å"Goblin Market† as a Christian allegory of temptation, fall, and redemption, and some  critics have contended that this is the main purpose of the tale. In conclusion, the Marxist viewpoint in Christina Rossetti’s poem ‘Goblin Market’ is presented through metaphor. These metaphors take various shapes in the characters and the structure of the poem, as well as the use of language to insinuate the corruption involved in a capitalist societal structure.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Attachment report Essay

Tetu Aberdare Water and Sewerage Company was established in year 2006 under CAP 4&6 of the Company’s act of Kenya to provide services to Tetu District residents through provision of water and sanitation services. The company offers its customers clean and rate water through pipes right form the intakes in the forest to the customer’s individual homes and businesses. The company is regulated by the water act 2002 which stipulates how each institution in the water sector operates. The company obtains raw water from the source and treats the water at the treatment works. The water is then purified and chlorinated before distribution to the customers through the piped infrastructure laid out in the whole service provision Agreement (SPA) area. To operationalize its mandate TEAWASCO has set up a strong organizational structure with a board of directors and management staff. The company has put in place governance instrument including the signing of a code of conduct for the Company of directors and performance contract of management staff, TWSB and DWO. The strengthening of governance instruments will continue with the development of company has improved sewerage services which will support industries and a growing urban population in order to contribute towards achievement of Kenya vision 2030 and National and international goals Vision To be the most efficient and effective water services provider in rural Kenya Mission To ensure provision of affordable, reliable and sustainable water and sanitation services by operation and maintaining water and sanitation facilities. In order to continue provision of clean, safe and sustainable water the company has developed the following Principles. Develop Water sources in areas where water quality in guaranteed and there are possibilities of gravitating it to all areas. a)Exploiting the available water resources potentials giving equal emphasis to surface and ground water. b)Emphasis on development of the available water resources potential for meeting the domestic water need without pegging it on specific projects. c)Concept of development of bulk water supply systems. d)Giving domestic water preferential treatment over other uses at the point of abstraction. e)Providing access to safe and potable water to all by the year 2015. CORE VALUES a)Competence Human resource competence will be enhanced through structured programs of human resource development. Compensation policies will reward superior performance b)Teamwork The board will work to build an organization that recognizes the value of teamwork c)Networking The board will network and collaborate with other stakeholders in achieving its strategic objectives d)Innovationess The search, acquisition and use of knowledge to improve the qualify of life will be encouraged and supported within and among the stakeholders e)Integrity The board will operate in an open, sincere and frank manner in all its undertaking f)Quality Customer Service Customer service excellence will guide all interactions among staff and with stakeholders. DETAILS OF PLACEMENT DEPARTMENT During my attachment period I was attached in procurement department. The department is under commercial department but it is headed by procurement manager called Mr. Mwaniki, under him there is one procurement assistance who is also the storemans. I was treated well by all staff in procurement assistance. Mr. Kagiri trained me how to procure goods and services in public institutions according to PPA 2005. Moreover we could work with him to issue, receive and inspection of goods. In this department I was able to team how to write an LPO, LSO Writing quotations, selling tenders, opening tenders, evaluation and selection of most responsive bidder according to technical and financial evaluation, writing of fuel orders and reconciling of bin cards. I was able to interact with several suppliers and also for ISO satisfaction of the board. In conclusion I was able to procure goods and  services in right time, right price, right quantity, and right quality and from the right source. SECTION 2 ATTACHEMENT EXPERIENCE 2.1 GENERAL ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN It involved the procurement and general purchasing of products for effective service delivery to ensure customer satisfaction. The attachment period spanned from 28th March to 31st May 2013. This include:- Procurement This helped me know the procedures of requisition for the materials that are needed in the stores at a particular time. Inventory Control This assisted me in knowing that materials are in the store, what to be purchase or ordered and what not to be ordered. Record Management This helps in safety of documents; where there is ease to locate in case they are needed for future experience. Suppliers Management This guides the suppliers on what needed, where to deliver and of what quality and quantity. Warehouse Management This helped me know how to arrange the stores, identity the items and park the materials according to their similarities Management Of Stores/Procurement Staff This helps to reduce the chances of damages or theft especially during offloading and when loading the materials. Writing Procurement Documents This enabled me to be able to write quotations, LPO, LSO, S11, S13 and requisition form. 2.2 SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKE The specific activities that I undertook included:- Procuring Of Various Types Of Material Required In The Company Operations. This included sorting of files in the registry according to activity, updating of circulation book files, filling of loose letters in respective files, locating of missing files in various officers arranging the found files back in chronologic order, sorting and arranging personnel files in relation to departments and replacing worn out old files and new ones, ensuring proper documentation and approvals, obtained for all organization  invoices. Imputing approved invoices accurately into the according to terms and cash availability, maintaining and updating annually standing list of registered renderers required by the procuring entity and liase with its authority in respect of the authority’s register of suppliers and procuring agent. Participation In Procurement Planning Committee Meetings This entailed writing of minutes for various meetings, noting any evaluation made during the meeting, invitation advisors or members of the procurement unit to explain submissions or provide technical advice where required. It also involved reading of previous meetings minutes, deliberation and ascertaining the members present and those absent with and without apologies. Not forgetting noting any evaluation made during the meeting, attending meeting of evaluation and selection of the bidder. Making Reports On Various Procurement Activities This had been daily duty that involved liaising with department heads to supply required departmental reports for filing and hence consolidation communicating across the different departments remained a major activity informing them of meetings, results their performances and trends as per the rapid results organization policy. Undertaking General Procurement Clerical Works i.e. Maintaining Of Records This entailed ensuring that all liabilities have been recorded. Maintaining an approved up-to date vendor/supplier database on the accounts payable system. Billing approved group and transient accounts with the appropriate supporting documentation. Preparing, publishing and distributing procurement and disposal opportunities including invitation to tender pre-qualification document and institutions for expression of interest coordinate the receiving and opening of tender documents. Maintaining and safe guarding procurement and disposal documents and record accordance with regulations. Managing The Inventory In The Organization – involved an assessment of the stock issue like conformance with the set timelines of completing of order targets, designing of appropriate forms for the supplies in the relation to the department as well as redirecting the departmental heads on how to fill these form. Further it included balancing of stock ledgers at the close of  the day of all categories of products using the receipts and invoices for day’s ascertainment. 2.3 AN ANALYSIS OF LEARNT KNOWLEDGE AND APPLIED SKILLS Learnt Knowledge I)During my attachment period I was able to acquire knowledge in:- I learnt how to communicate between the organization and the internal and external customer. I guided the direction of the organization by parting ways or charting the way forward. At TEAWASCO there was analysis of trends and patterns in the organization as well as the stakeholder procedure of receiving and inspecting materials delivered: I was involved in inspection of materials delivered to the company by other sources and had to make record s of the delivered materials. II)Procedure of inventory control at the store. I was trained on manners of stock taking and record keeping during my attachment duration. III)Issue of materials to departments within the company and various schemes whenever any department requires any material from stores I was to issue and deduct the amount from the bincard. IV)Proper filling of documents V)It was my daily duty to file and document to their specific files and those that needed to be updated in the system (computer) I also did as required. Applied Skills During my attachment period I was able to apply skills in:- Computer Skills And Operations: – These were applied during feeding of information to the system, sending of E-Mails, scanning of documents e.t.c Technical Skills: – the skills that I learnt at class enabled me to handle the tasks that are required at the office like accounting as I was required to write the invoices. Picking up of the office telephone, the skill I learnt in office management. Interpersonal Skills: – At TEAWASCO I was able to interact with various people like the clerks, the contractors and supplies, together with the internal and external customers. Conceptual Skills: – At TEAWASCO, I was able to interact with various people like the clerks, the contractors and suppliers, together with the internal and external customers Conceptual Skills: – At TEAWASCO I was able to plan award of the daily delivery report and also plan how the deliveries are to reach the various customers. Inventory Control: This is the activity of knowing  what materials are in the store, what to be ordered and not to be ordered. Stock Issues: – This was mainly to issue ordered materials to various departments in the organization. Counter Checking Of Materials Delivered: – this is done by comparing materials delivered as to the order document and its specification. 2.4 A PROFILE OF SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES GAINDED AND ACQUIRED During my attachment period I gained and acquired:- A profile of skills Communication Skills The procurement department was interactive with other departments like the finance department which its main work is mostly paying suppliers, receiving payments from distributors and paying the employees of the company and the human resource department which is involved with hiring new employees Interpersonal Skills There was an interaction among the employees. The supplies clerks used to receive the invoices from the finance office under the strict supervision of the commercial manager Record Keeping: This aided me to gain the knowledge in filling documents and feeding data into the store card (bin card) Stock Taking: This helped me know what to order for more materials, what brand to add and what not to be purchased A PROFILE COMPETENCY Public Relations: This helped me improve my communication skills toward internal customers, fellow workmates and even my superiors Use Of Accounting Packages: Used excel to enter data on the deliveries preparing the report and trends analysis. Handling Customers Complaints This gave me confidence to take a customers problem or complaint and handle it with the professional required for that. 2.5 OBSERVATION AND CRITIQUE 2:5:1 Observations During my attachment period, I was able to make the following observations analysis book requires a lot of accuracy as the right kind of figures has to  be jotted down as each invoice has a unique number from each other. The supplies clerk had a lot of work to be done as there was regular tendering and many others to be addressed. I observed that the company has a high profile management comprising of General Manager strong and competent, the staff too are also hard working thus meets the organizations goals. Highly Qualified And Skilled Personnel This is an added advantage for the organization to have acquired as they will work best to meet the organizations objectives. Commendable Strategy Of Purchase And Marketing With this the organization is able to source for any products it requires and negotiate for favorable supplier’s relationship. Technology The level of technology used in the organization makes everything effective and efficient, despite lack of many machines will harness the operations of the company Modern Machinery This helps the company to make maximum production, within the actual time allocated for that and use at least energy. More needs to be purchased like computer. Communication It is clear that communication is easy form one office to the other through the well networked phone communication installed and use of mobile phones Criteria Of Employment Through there are advertisement of various job in the organization, the employment schedule is never conducted well. Teamwork. This is that the staff of TEAWASCO are highly co-operated and united so that they achieve their company objectives. 2:5:2 CRITIQUE Lengthy Procurement Process The Company is challenged by bureaucratic procedures particularly in payment of suppliers. Promotions It is expected in any organization that due to the work well done by an employee, that at point in time there should be upward mobility to a higher position and injection of the right kind of people but it is not the case for the company. In adequate storage space: the company is challenged by high purchased made with no adequate storage spaces for the already purchased materials. Motivation and morale: it is expected that the  employees should be treated equally but not the case for TEAWASCO because they favors employees differently according to their departments. 2.6 STRATEGY FOR UTILIZATION OF CONTRACT ESTABLISHED During Attachment During my attachment period I established such a great number of contracts and also made friends and good relationship with the staff and management of TEAWASCO I gained a myriad of contacts with various people through interacting with clients in procurement which will held me to advance more knowledge in future projects. This will help me also to access employment opportunities in future as well as networking. TEAWASCO has presented itself as a good caring partner in provision of water and various projects to a lot of people in a wide area. Reference: This helps me to use the contact for references in future i.e. by including it in my curriculum vitae. Job Seeking. This assists me when there are job advert vacancies at the company I can easily communicate so that they may hire me as I was trained and had experiences at their organization Marketing: This is because I can give the TEAWASCO contracts to some other students who want to be trained to acquire the experience I have. Research Finding: This helps me when doing my research assignment by giving the research questionnaire to the staff at TEAWASCO so they can help me in finding of the unknown knowledge. SECTION 3 3.1 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS During my attachment period I was able to come up with the following summary. I was glad that I was attached at TEAWASCO especially at the procurement Department. I was able to influence the stakeholder’s attitude so that they can attain their membership at the organization. I was able to apply the purchasing core values like advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness. I was able to practice procurement and purchasing professionalism like trust, ethical guardian. The core values enabled me to carry out my daily activities at the TEAWASCO. I was able to analyze the current treads in the environment together with the patterns of the organization as well as the stakeholders. The experience I got has made me to be a better purchasing prationeer as well as increasing my expertise in handling the clients i.e. the suppliers. My communication skills were also  put into task as there was a lot of interaction among the various employees of the company I had a ple asant and wonderful moment at the company and it really enabled me to be a professional in my line of learning 3.2 CONCLUSION I was very grateful to have been at TEAWASCO. The experience that I gained at TEAWASCO in Nyeri will enable me to tackle the various changes that are encountered in a day office environment especially in a purchasing and supplies Department The Communication skills will enable me to be able to communicate from the top managers to the first line managers and the subordinates. The skills are very vital in an organization as communication is a key element of any organization. The interpersonal skills enabled me to interact with the various employees of the Company. I learnt the basic skill of the office of saying hello and got to interact with the other departments like the commercial, finance, human resource department and revenue department. I got the basic skill of any organization that is teamwork. Some of the conceptual skills that I learnt enabled me to utilize the organizational values, goals, mission, vision and the general objective. I had t work hard to reach the organizations objective. The experience will enable me to competitive in a challenging world. I was able to integrate what I learnt in class. RECOMMENDATION Procurement and purchasing are challenging tasks and also very demanding ones. Entry organization should be in a position to have purchasing department integrated with the other department for effective service delivery. Recommend that the company should employ personnel who are professionals to deal with purchasing work because it is demanding and requires specialized knowledge. Recommend the work done so that the internal and external customer’s complaints are taken care of and also there is mutual understanding between the organization and the various publics Also recommend the long lasting relationship between the organization and the society as that the organization should involves itself in corporate social responsibility activities like employee welfare and wellness programmers e.g. health and safety, healthy like operation smile medical camps,  education and entrepreneurship like student attachment program, environmental like tree planting, town beautification. These activities are highly appreciated by the members of the society. Recommend that the core values of procurement should be adhered to so that professionalism can be maintained. Recommend improvement of managerial practices, professionalism and working relations and partnership with current society, continually improve on work quality, observation of professional and technical standards and regular reviews. Recommend the organization for the establish of an effective and efficient financial and operational framework for improved accountability and transparency. As most people are willing to associate and work with accountable and transparent organizations. Recommend my school for the opportunity granted to have the experience in the organization like this. Students should be keen during the attachment to gain more knowledge during attachment.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

‘Management At Work Essay

1. According to a major economics consulting firm, Fiat’s â€Å"South American operations are the jewel in the Italian company’s global operations.†* Fiat has plants in Brazil and Argentina, and Brazil is its biggest market, well ahead of its home-country market. In 2011, with the Chrysler venture taking up more and more of the firm’s attention—and as European sales suffered a steep decline rumors began to circulate that Marchionne might move Fiat headquarters from Italy to the United States. Discuss Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler as part of a strategy to transform itself from an international business into a multinational or global business. 2. What benefts does Fiat hope to gain from its arrange- ment with Chrysler? What potential drawbacks does it face? Judging from your analysis of benefts and draw- backs, explain why the Fiat–Chrysler arrangement might best characterized as a strategic alliance? In what sense is it best characterized as a direct investment? 3. What challenges in the U.S. cultural environment do you expect Fiat to face as it uses its Chrysler connec- tion to compete in the American car market? What management challenges will Marchionne face in the areas of planning and decision making, organizing, and leading? 1. Fiat has established it self as quality product. Bringing their reputation and business skill will attract American consumers. Having their attention and possibly blending the product they can conquer the America market for cars as well as Italy, Europe and other country markets. Being based in the US they can now claim Fiat as a US product and use all the tax cuts. Making it more affordable, now it has exotic looks without the exotic prices! If manufacturing is domestic with the Fiat cars as well as Chrysler I think it will be good for the US economy, providing more jobs on a middle class level. 2. The tax breaks as a US company for Fiat will be very beneficial as far as marketing/advertisement but a major draw back will be the high cost in labor as opposed to the labor cost in countries such as Mexico. Fiat will also have a situation of dealing with new labor laws. American labor laws are more stringent than other companies. This is also power tolerance country. Employees are not as submissive as those of other countries. Americans are considered lazy. Fiat bringing their CEO (Marchionne) to America to directly handle the merger will make the transition a lot soother for the company. When first appointed to Fiat CEO he laid off 10% of white collard employees and 20,000 labor employees, restructuring with fresh new talent, he will follow do the same plan with Chrysler. But bringing in his own people proven to be valuable. 3.This merger can be characterized as a direct investment because Fiat is take a chance a moving there location to the US. Fiat is dealing with this merger on a first hand basis. They are not operating business threw a third party. Americans are use to large cars. The idea of driving a smaller car, to a lot of Americans will socially awkward. They may need to find a social common ground with the American people make their car appear attractive as well as economical. As I said previously management American are considered lazy. Management may have difficulties with the competency of the American employees. They may have to find new way of encouragement to employees. Research: Fiat and Chrysler Fiat is now waiting for court verdict from the Delaware court before purchasing the remaining 41.5%. Fiat has a difference in value with VEBA ( U.S. healthcare trust) of the $2 billion. VEBA values the remaining 41.5% at $4 billion. Fiat wants to purchase the remaining 41.5%, merger the 2 companies then list them on the New York Stock Exchange by 2014. That will make them the 7th largest car manufactures in the world. Verdict is expected to continue until the end of July, 90 days from the last hearing on April 25. Until then Chrysler is at a stand still while Fiat must continue to sell car to buy the remainder of Chrysler. Source: Fiat awaits court verdict ahead of Chrysler merger http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/30/us-fiat-chrysler-elkann-idUSBRE94T0GA20130530

Friday, September 27, 2019

Law and Contract Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Law and Contract Strategy - Essay Example However, for a valid contract to be valid, the elements must be: a) capacity, b) mutual assent (which includes offer, acceptance, and meeting of minds), c) consideration, d) lawful purpose, e) certainty of terms, and f) form provided by law (Essential 2006). On the other hand, Wikipedia (2007) cited the three key elements of a contract under common law jurisdictions as: a) offer and acceptance, b) consideration, and c) intent to create a legal relation. In sum, while the law considers three essential elements (consent, consideration and object), a valid contract requires other elements (e.g. capacity of parties, lawfulness of object, etc.). A contract is an agreement of parties (two or more) arrived at after adequately considering to do or refrain from doing an action (Contract Law. n.d.). It is also defined as a promise(s) which provide(s) a remedy for its breach or which the law recognises its performance as a duty (Contract Formation n.d.) (Essential 2006). It covers a wide array of subjects and transactions from sale of real or personal property, or terms of employment (Larson 2003). It defines the rights and obligations of a party, provides the means to enforce the rights, and allocates risks between the parties (Lewis-Elements n.d.). Contracts vary according to its usage. A construction contract is complex because it involves numerous parties (e.g. engineer, quantity surveyor, etc.), long period of execution, and a series of subcontracts (Lewis-Elements n.d.). In the construction sector, all details necessary to reflect the intents, timetable, insurance, or dispute settlements are considered essential elements. T o ease this complexity, industry professional and organisations created forms that will cover every detail of their particular needs, such as: building contracts (JCT series), engineering contracts (ICE series), government contracts (GC Works series), etc.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

CASE STUDY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Case Study Example The consultant’s main role is to analyze the factors that can impact the business activities of the company and recommend an appropriate strategy that will be aligned with the corporation’s primary objectives. The UK apparel and textile industry is undergoing drastic changes to provide favorable conditions to the players of the sector (â€Å"Textile Industry†, 2010). In UK, the textile industry is among the major contributors in its economic growth and it employs more than 340,000 people (Macbeth & Miln, 2012). It has been reported by Rogers (2012) that Gross Value Added (GVA) of UK textile sector is about 11.5 billion pounds and clothing manufacture, textile manufacture, dry-cleaning and footwear services are worth one billion pound within the sector (Begum, 2012). As the barriers for trade have been reduced along with decline in transportation cost, the manufacturing plants are shifted to lower cost areas such as China and India (â€Å"Textile and Apparel Compendium†, 2012). In the UK textile sector, there has been a sharp decline in the domestic manufacturing of goods as majority of the textile companies have moved to offshore destinations. Despite the relocation of these plants, the sales and design capacity of the sector has remained constant (Rogers, 2012). The foremost reasons for the surging demand of UK based textiles is that the apparel is manufactured with strong emphasis on high value products that allow the customers to get their goods designed in a customized way (Norris, 2012). As a result of the Industrial Revolution in the global textile industry, the Techtextil has become the latest norm in the textile sector. It encompasses a wide variety of taxonomy that is utilized by all the players operating within the industry (Goworek, 2010). In order to address the key challenge faced by the company, it has become imperative to analyze the alternatives that can be

A jornal opinion article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A jornal opinion article - Essay Example The country’s exports also fell, considerably, due to slow-down of economies in countries like China and Euro zone nations. According to the article, the corporate decision makers are delaying their investment plans, as they have their own apprehensions on Federal Budget Policies and forthcoming US elections. These factors, among others are reasons for delaying the investment decisions by those responsible for corporate spending. As they are delaying the implementation of big projects, partly due to slow demand, world-wide, the big businesses are looking forward to government action on issues involving ‘tax cuts’ and ‘fiscal deficit’. During the meeting with President Obama, top executives of leading companies, including Apple and JP Morgan Chase agreed to work together for betterment of investment climate in the country. As the article date is 19 Nov 2012, it informs the readers that the spending by major corporate businesses was excellent during the whole year, except the recent months when it slowed down considerably. This was supported by the figures quoted in the article, which showed that S&P’s listed 500 stock index companies spent around $ 580 billion on the purchase of plant and equipment for business expansion. However, the reversal in the capital expenditure plans, during the third quarter of 2012 was a sign of worry for the future, although the current scenario presented in the article was not that gloomy. The slow down was due to lower fuel prices, higher job opportunities and better housing market. The article has held the global slowdown responsible for the reversal of investment plans in third quarter of 2012. Giving an example of reducing demand of coal and other minerals in China, the article informs that the result of this has been reduced orders for earth moving and other heavy equipment for American giant ‘Caterpillar Inc.’. Other areas of concern provided by

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

ALJAZEERA AIRWAYS GROUP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ALJAZEERA AIRWAYS GROUP - Essay Example The company’s profit have been increasing slowly throughout the years, and this can be clearly seen as from the year 2010 its average yield have been increasing until 2013 the yield is still elevating. This is a clear indication that the years to come the company average yield will still continue to grow. The company operates on a revenue of KD 65.6 million, this can be said to be its budget, out of this budget the company makes an operating profit of worth KD 20.6 million, after all the expenses have been catered for the company remains with a net profit of KD 16.7 million which can be shared among its shareholders and payment of its employees (Dron and Alan 2013). The company performance have been increasing slowly by slowly hence this has made the company to outdo other flight companies, this can be seen as from the year 2011, the performance of the company was at equilibrium with other companies that offers the same service. When it came to the year, 2012 the company’s production increased by 9% making it be at 59% from 50% the equilibrium level. In the year 2013 when the financial report was being released it was noted that the company’s performance had increased further by 16%, unlike other companies that have been depreciating in the level of their performance. According to me, Jazeera Airways Group is better off than other companies, this is because it is making the spontaneous increase in production and profit from the year 2011 to the year 2013. Its performance is magnificent and encouraging. The revenues that Jazeera Company had at the end of the financial year 2013 was 78%. The year 2012 the company made a profit of 76% showing an increase of 2% of income. This is an indicator of the increase in performance hence it can be said that the company made a positive profit increase. The company has also been, making a net

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Business - Essay Example Unlike Asia Tile, Platinum manufactures tiles both for import and export. At first, Platinum exported their products mainly to the United States and to several other countries, such as China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. But, due to a change of demand for the tiles’ motive, PCI started to decrease their export to the United States. However, the revenue gained from exporting to the United States is not as much as the revenue achieved from exporting to Malaysia, Vietnam, and China. The raw materials needed to manufacture exporting goods to the United States are relatively scarce in Asia. As such, this has caused the production cost to increase as the price of the raw materials increase due to scarcity. This case has become a challenging issue. PCI also outsources several of their intermediate goods from countries around Asia. They import their glaze materials, as well as coloring materials from a company in China called China Glaze. PCI gets better quality for these materials for a si gnificantly better price. However, outsourcing goods from other countries have some significant disadvantages. It is time consuming, and sometimes the coloring materials do not properly match with what PCI needs. If PCI needs to produce a certain type or motive immediately, it will not be able to use the outsourced goods as they are very time consuming. John Koh stated that the process of outsourcing the intermediate goods can be a very complicated and tedious chore. There was one time where the goods (China Glaze) were rejected because it did not meet the standards of PCI’s expectations. Therefore, they had to ship it back to China for an exchange of the better quality products, though sometimes they may even have to remake the mixture of the coloring materials in order to match the original design (the percentage of which coloring materials to be used). Not only does this get complicated at times, but it can be very time consuming (it can take more than a month for the mate rials to be received). There is also a challenging issue when it comes to machineries. PCI bought most of their machines from Europe. Therefore, when the machine either malfunctions or breaks, it takes a few days for the technician to arrive from Europe. The machine’s company will not let one of PCI’s engineers study and fix the machines as the repairs require careful and professional attention. The consequence when a machine breaks down is a decrease in production for several days. Back then, Platinum Ceramics Industry was the leading ceramic tiles manufacturing company in Indonesia. But, due to an increase in competitors, it started to lose their market. To solve this issue, PCI decided to expand their company by building new factories to manufacture export goods. Some challenges PCI encountered building new factories were the risk of market failure, the need to find decent raw materials locally to minimize production cost, and the shipping costs. However, if the loc al raw materials did not meet the standard of export’s quality, then outsourcing intermediate goods would be required. The things that need to be observed and studied in this case are reflected in Michael Porter’s Diamond model. It discusses the significant factors that we should study in an international business. These factors are demand condition, related supporting industry, firm’s strategy, infrastructure and rivalry, factor condition, and government. Demand condition

Monday, September 23, 2019

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research Paper Example The essays from McArdle, the Scientific American, and Sharma opened my eyes to the urgency of research on and policymaking regarding superbugs. I chose the topic of writing a policy that urges the government to provide financial incentives for antibiotic research, controls how healthcare workers prescribe antibiotics, bans the use of antibiotics for non-related applications in the agricultural sector, and prohibits the sale of over-the-counter antibiotics. My research questions are: How did superbugs develop? What are the current effects of superbugs on society? What can stakeholders do to prevent the development of superbugs and to resolve the national and global health issue of drug resistance? The starting points of my research are the essays from McArdle, the Scientific American, and Sharma, wherein McArdle gives an overview of the superbug problem and offers potential economic and legislative solutions. If the government and other stakeholders do not do anything about this probl em, bacterial infection will rise, and this will afflict and kill many people. At the same time, antibacterial medication prices will increase, which will prevent low-income people from receiving treatment that will help them survive drug-resistant diseases. To know more about the effects of superbugs on society and their historical development, I used the keywords â€Å"superbug drug resistance† in searching for relevant articles in EBSCOHost databases. I limited the publication years to 2009 to present and came up with 525 articles. I selected Walsh and Fischbach’s Scientific American article because they described the effects of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the rise of deaths in the U.S. They also explained how MRSA developed. They further explored how new scientific approaches can resolve the resistance problem. While going through hundreds of search results, I also came across Leclercq’s article. He provided an update on drug resist ance issues and the challenges in designing new antibacterial medication. Aside from McArdle, the Scientific American article from the textbook showed the connection between antibiotics and agricultural problems. While researching for the effects and development of drug-resistant bacteria, I came across a lengthy article from Lessing. Lessing provides a useful section on the history of antibiotic use in the agricultural industry, which resulted to drug-resistant bacteria that afflict human beings. She shows how the quest for increasing profits produced ill consequences for human health in general. Lessing advocates citizen action because so far, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congress have not produced meaningful legislative gains that ban antibiotic use for non-therapeutic purposes in the agricultural sector. To gain deeper knowledge on antibiotic use in agriculture, I further searched for articles using the key words â€Å"drug resistance antibiotic livestock United S tates† in EBSCOhost. I found the article from Love et al. They described the history of medicated feeds, the nature of free-choice medicated feeds (FCMF) use, and U.S. policies that tackle antimicrobial drug use in food animals. Their article is important because they balance policy considerations with agricultural realities and needs. Aside from this article, Sapkota et al.’s study captured my attention because they examined the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Issues in the 2008 Presidential Elections Essay Example for Free

Issues in the 2008 Presidential Elections Essay The forthcoming US presidential election has elicited excitement from the public due to its unique characteristics. For the first time in the history of the United States there is a high probability that the next president to take the office will be either the most advanced in age or be from a minority grouping. The core of the election however is not on the superficial characteristic of the two individuals but by on the far reaching policies that affect the Americans. The purpose of this paper is to look at the nature of the policies that each candidate vows to uphold. It will also offer a persuasive opinion on who between the two candidates has the better policies. A look at the US foreign policy indicates that it revolves around a number of issues key to them being terrorism and proliferation of nuclear weapons. For John Mc Cain’s, the Republican Presidential candidate, foreign policy adversely focuses on these two issues. McCain links the ongoing Iraq war to the war on terror. To him, a win in the war will be a huge step in the eradication of terrorists especially the Islamic extremists in the Middle East. His policy points out to the need to provide additional forces in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. Afghanistan requires a surge of NATO forces to get rid of the insurgents that are currently carrying out bomb attacks against civilians and the coalition forces present. McCain’s foreign policy is mostly centralized in the Middle East. He advocates for the closer ties between the US and Pakistanis which is a strategic partner in the war against terror. He notes that America must continue to work with President Perez Musharraf to dismantle the cells and the camps that the Taliban and Al Qaeda maintain in his country (Council of Foreign Relations, 2007) On nuclear weapons McCain first target is Iran which he accuses to be a chief supporter of terrorism and hence an arch enemy of the US. He proposes the imposition of sanctions to compel Iran to forego its nuclear mission. He also advocates for the solving of the global issues through partnerships with other nations in the world through what he refers to as the â€Å"world wide League of Democracies. † (Council of Foreign Relations, 2007) In Foreign policy, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, Barrack Obama advocates for defensive attacks as opposed to pre emptive attacks. In the same breath his policy voices its opposition to the war in Iraq. He terms it as having been pre emptive. Obama’s proposal is that it is the high time that the United States began a well laid down policy that addresses pulling out the forces in Iraq. He sees no link between the war in Iraq and terrorism instead believing that Afghanistan should be the centre of attention. He argues that his core strategy will be â€Å"getting out of Iraq and on to the right battle field in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Such strategy will be backed by multilateral interactions with other partners and not through unilateral actions (George, 2008). In contrast to McCain, Obama does not believe that sanctions in Iran should be the first steps but rather he advocates for the initiation of direct diplomatic talks to address the underlying issues. (Nicholas, 2008) On health care, McCain’s core interest is on the cost and the expensive nature of health insurance cover. He notes that it is becoming increasingly costly for both employers and individuals to buy health covers. Hence, the key concern would be making it cheaper. Universal care to him is not the solution but the solution lies in addressing the factors that push the cost of healthcare. Americans, according to McCain, should be allowed to buy their insurance from any place in the nation where they deem it cheap rather than restricting them to their own states. In this hence, employers will not be compelled to provide insurance cover to their employees making his scheme to be more individual oriented (Catherine, 2008). Obama’s plan for health care differs from McCain. Whereas McCain is advocating for lesser government role health care, Obama is for increased government participation. Obama refers to his plan as advocating for managed competition where the government sponsors health care provision and also gives room to the provision by private insurers but notes on the importance of their regulation to ensure they do not deny access to some members. Contrary to McCain’s plan, Obama does not propose individual access or intra-state buying of health insurance. Obama also states that it will not be mandatory upon adults to have an insurance cover but insists that children will have to be covered (Catherine, 2008). The issue of immigration has also been given prominence in the election and it is posing tricky challenges with each candidate hoping to garner the support of over 8 million Latinos and at the same time being cautious not to vex the conservative block in their specific parties. McCain recognizes the urgency in the need to address the issue of immigration. His approach to the problem is to first seal the boarders to prevent illegal immigration then proceed from there. His policy lacks in clarity and concision especially in the knowledge that he introduced a bill in the house to address comprehensively the issue of immigration. McCain appreciates the fact that immigration is the force behind the wave of crimes that face the United States and believes that the solution lies in deporting criminals and only allowing guest workers from Latin America. He vows to introduce an electronic system that will verify the identification of workers and be able to detect aliens. This will be backed by the need to prosecute those employers that employ illegal immigration (McCain- Palin, 2008). Obama also recognizes the seriousness of the issue and how it continues to draw heated debates in the public forum. He is in support of the McCain-Edward bill that sought to address the issue and advocates for comprehensive immigration reforms. He promises to address the issue during his first year in office. Both McCain’s and Obama’s immigration policies resemble each other although Obama emphasizes on the need also to fast track the process of legalization for those that are yet to be registered in the United States, while at the same facilitating family immigrations (Farnam, 2008).. The verdict on the race to the white house indicates that it is a hotly contested election. Both candidates are running neck to neck though some polls favor Obama as having an edge over McCain. A look at the issues presented in this paper and on others in the public court indicates that both candidates have set out concrete plans to drive the nation for the next four years. However, a simple analysis of the core issues that require immediate attention reveals Obama’s policies to be better than McCain’s. Obama had vehemently voiced his opposition to the war long before his candidacy to 2008 presidential elections had become obvious. McCain on the other hand had voted for the Iraq war and has continued to support an upsurge of the military forces in Iraq. It is plausible to say that the war in Iraq has contributed a lot to the woes facing the United States today. The government has spent billions in a war that meant nothing to Americans in the face of the spiraling economic recession. McCain is vowing to continue with the war, risking more of American soldier’s lives and spending additional billions. Obama has advocated for a withdrawal vowing instead to concentrate efforts in Afghanistan which is believed to be the cradle of terrorism. This is a sound foreign policy strategy and majority of Americans are siding with him. Most Americans draw parallel between the wars in Iraq and woes facing the economy. With no additional expenditure on the war and with a better plan to revive the economy, Obama indicates he is in touch with the immediate problems facing the United States. This is further evident in his health plan. While it is clear that both candidates are seeking for the extended health coverage for Americans, Obama’s idea of regulating health insurance companies and emphasis on the increased role of the government emphasizes the importance of the government to directly safeguard the health interests of its citizens. It is indeed clear that with the proposal for a multilateral approach to global problems, the sound health policy and the recognition of immigrants’ labor importance, Obama is the natural choice of the forthcoming presidential elections.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Data Structures Role In Programming Languages Computer Science Essay

Data Structures Role In Programming Languages Computer Science Essay Data Structure is logical and mathematical model to store data.So there are basic benefits of data structures: The memory space is properly used.It helps in data protection and management. It is used to organize data in such a way that the insertion deletion,searhing i.e manipulation of data is done with minimal complexity , and that gives a efficiet performance of our computing. By using data structures data can be easily, and efficiently exchanged; it allows portability, comprehensibility, and adaptability of information. Data structures are used in most programming allowing efficient management of large amounts of data.Data structures are the organizing element in software design, for some programming languages, and design methods. Data structures are based on a computers ability to store, and retrieve data from anywhere in memory; record, and array structures are based on using arithmetic operations to compute the address of the data. The storing of addresses within the structure is called linked data structures. Specific program languages offer built in support for specific data structures, (i.e. one dimensional arrays are used in C programming, and hash tables are used in Pearl). An array is a type of data structure. An array is a data structure consisting of a number of variables, having the same data type. A single variable name is given to an array to associate with the variables. Arrays are used by programmers as a means of organizing many data items into a single data structure. Elements of the array are written, and recognized by using subscript, which is parenthesis after the array name. The use of arrays simplifies the writing of a program by allowing the grouping of similar data, rather than writing each item in the program code, saving time, and money. An example of an array would be days of the week: Initialize data table day_table(1) = Sunday day_table(2) = Monday day_table(3) = Tuesday day_table(4) = Wednesday day_table(5) = Thursday day_table(6) = Friday day_table(7) = Saturday End All high level languages share a set of intercepted framework of data structure that composes the languages. These common data structures are strings, arrays, I/O, Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists, Trees, Graphs, Hash tables, and Vectors. Most programming languages feature some sort of library mechanism that allows data structure implementations to be reused by different programs. Modern languages usually come with standard libraries that implement the most common data structures. Examples are the C++ Standard Template Library, the Java Collections Framework, and Microsofts .NET Framework. Data Structures in C Language : A data item refers to a single unit of values. For example, a studentà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s information may be divided into four items/properties GRNO, name, class, and semester. But the GRNO would be treated as unique/ item. Data are also organized into more complex types of structures. There are two types of data structure are available : Linear 2. Non-Linear. Linear Structures: In this type of data structure we perform insert, delete, search,update operations sequentially or in an order (like Ascending/Descending). for example you have a list having 5 elements containing A,B,C,D,E,F values if u want to find that on which location E is store in this list, you must compare E with A,B,C,D and finally with E along this you must perform an increment to counter. After that you will find the actual location of your required/search item with the help of counter in this example the value of counter=4. Examples of Linear Data Structures are as follows: * Array * Linked List * Queue * Stack 1. Non-Linear: In this type of data structure we perform Traversing, insert, delete, search, update operation randomly. # Examples of Non-Linear Data Structures are as follows: * Tree * Graphs. Data Structure operations: The following four operations play a major role in this text. 1. Traversing: Accessing each record exactly once so that certain items in the record may be processed.( This accessing and processing is sometimes called visiting the record.) 2. Searching: Finding the location of the record with a given key value, or finding the locations of all records, which satisfy one or more conditions. 3. Inserting: adding a new record to the structure. 4. Deleting: Removing a record from the structure. 5. Sorting: Arranging the records in some logical order . Some Data Structures and their use in programming Languages: STACK: A stack is a last in, first out (LIFO) abstract data type and data structure. A stack can have any abstract data type as an element, but is characterized by only two fundamental operations: push and pop. The push operation adds to the top of the list, hiding any items already on the stack, or initializing the stack if it is empty. The pop operation removes an item from the top of the list, and returns this value to the caller. A pop either reveals previously concealed items, or results in an empty list. A stack-oriented programming language is one that relies on a stack machine model for passing parameters. Several programming languages fit this description, notably Forth, RPL, PostScript, and also many Assembly languages (but on a much lower level). Some languages, like LISP and Python, do not call for stack implementations, since push and pop functions are available for any list. All Forth-like languages (such as Adobe PostScript) are also designed around language-defined stacks that are directly visible to and manipulated by the programmer. C++s Standard Template Library provides a stack templated class which is restricted to only push/pop operations. Javas library contains a Stack class that is a specialization of Vectorthis could be considered a design flaw, since the inherited get() method from Vector ignores the LIFO constraint of the Stack. ARRAYS: An array can be defined as the finite ordered set of homogeneous elements.Finite means that yhere are specific number of elements in an array, ordered means that elements are arranged in a sequence so that the first,second,thirdà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦nth element. In pure functional programs it is common to represent arrays by association lists. Association lists have the disadvantage that the access time varies linearly both with the size of the array (counted in number of entries) and with the size of the index (counted in cons nodes). QUEUE: A queue is a particular kind of collection in which the entities in the collection are kept in order.It is based on First-In-First-Out (FIFO)principle. In a FIFO data structure, the first element added to the queue will be the first one to be removed. A queue is an example of a linear data structure. LINKED LIST: It is a method of organizing stored data in a computer memory or on a storage medium based on the logical order of the data and not the physical order. All stored data records are assigned a physical address in memory that the computer uses to locate the information. A linked list arranges the data by logic rather than by physical address. Memory Management: One of the most important functions of a programming language is to provide facilities for managing memory and the objects that are stored in memory. C provides three distinct ways to allocate memory for objects: Static memory allocation: space for the object is provided in the binary at compile-time; these objects have an extent (or lifetime) as long as the binary which contains them is loaded into memory Automatic memory allocation: temporary objects can be stored on the stack, and this space is automatically freed and reusable after the block in which they are declared is exited Dynamic memory allocation: blocks of memory of arbitrary size can be requested at run-time using library functions such as malloc from a region of memory called the heap; these blocks persist until subsequently freed for reuse by calling the library function free These three approaches are appropriate in different situations and have various tradeoffs. For example, static memory allocation has no allocation overhead, automatic allocation may involve a small amount of overhead, and dynamic memory allocation can potentially have a great deal of overhead for both allocation and deallocation. On the other hand, stack space is typically much more limited and transient than either static memory or heap space, and dynamic memory allocation allows allocation of objects whose size is known only at run-time. Most C programs make extensive use of all three. Where possible, automatic or static allocation is usually preferred because the storage is managed by the compiler, freeing the programmer of the potentially error-prone chore of manually allocating and releasing storage. However, many data structures can grow in size at runtime, and since static allocations (and automatic allocations in C89 and C90) must have a fixed size at compile-time, there are many situations in which dynamic allocation must be used. Prior to the C99 standard, variable-sized arrays were a common example of this (see malloc for an example of dynamically allocated arrays). Automatically and dynamically allocated objects are only initialized if an initial value is explicitly specified; otherwise they initially have indeterminate values (typically, whatever bit pattern happens to be present in the storage, which might not even represent a valid value for that type). If the program attempts to access an uninitialized value, the results are undefined. Many modern compilers try to detect and warn about this problem, but both false positives and false negatives occur. Another issue is that heap memory allocation has to be manually synchronized with its actual usage in any program in order for it to be reused as much as possible. For example, if the only pointer to a heap memory allocation goes out of scope or has its value overwritten before free() has been called, then that memory cannot be recovered for later reuse and is essentially lost to the program, a phenomenon known as a memory leak. Conversely, it is possible to release memory too soon and continue to access it; however, since the allocation system can re-allocate or itself use the freed memory, unpredictable behavior is likely to occur. Typically, the symptoms will appear in a portion of the program far removed from the actual error, making it difficult to track down the problem. Such issues are ameliorated in languages with automatic garbage collection.