China Returns to Africa Essay

The book â€Å"China Returns to Africa: A Superpower and a Continent Embrace† provides in-depth account of Chinese-African relations. The central claim of the book is that geopolitical relations between Africa and China has provoked international interests as China remains one of the most promising and powerful states in the world. The editors have assembled 24 essays by academics that possess exceptional knowledge with the purpose to shed light on the unexpected Chinese-African operations. The chapters address diverse subjects as, for example, social influence of Chinese Diaspora in Africa, the history of Tanzanian railway, the history of Chinese medicine, the progress of Beijing in buying oil and natural resources, the breadth of African continent, etc. The book presents a balanced impressive study of the most important developments in the modern worlds, as Chinese-African relations will affect economics and politics of all countries. In 2006 China celebrated a new strategic partnership. The interest of China in African continent has raised a number of debates as researches found it interesting to reveal what China expects from Africa. However, academic and development policy circles neglect country’s re-engagement with the African continent. In contrast to Europe and America, China treats Africa equally, not as inferior country. With the help of China Africa is viewed to be able to establish business deal with Western countries. In the late 1960s China made a decisive ideological thrust into the African continent and was humiliated for that by the rest of the world’s powerful countries and Africa itself. The painful experience of Mao’s men prevented further relations with Africa for about 40 years. The economic wreck was contributed to China’s disastrous experiments with socialism. A new invasion of Africa began in the past 15 years. New effort appeared to be more pragmatic and was driven mainly by a quest for new energy sources and new raw materials. Economic invasion was backed up by country’s huge wealth and, therefore, its implication was more likely to be far-reaching than the last Maoist adventure. Western powers were prompted to corresponding alarm as they were unaware what to expect from Chinese-African relations. The book notes that more than 800 Chinese companies have invested more than ? 5 billion in economic development of African countries and there is more to come. The editors admit in introduction that â€Å"China’s expanding relations with Africa are the most important dynamic in the foreign relations and politics of the continent since the end of the cold war†. (Alden et al. , 2008, ii) In particular, China offers African continent three things – money, long-term commitment and assurance of non-inference. Money offered accounted for larger sums that offered by western competitors and assurance of non-inference means that human rights won’t be troubled by Chinese lifestyle in contrast to European and American countries to impose their beliefs and policies within the continent. Thus, local dignitaries of African continent will remain original. Further, one of the chapters addresses the important of media in Chinese-African relations as media is the fourth power in the world. It is noted that Chinese media presents future of Chinese-African relations in different way from that of western reports and prophesies. Chinese partnership has expanded in Senegal, Mauritius and Cape Verde. Chinese traders are restoring the infrastructure in Angola. China buys cobalt from Congo and South Africa; feed from Ethiopia, Tanzania and Sudan; copper from South Africa and Zambia; chemicals from Nigeria; ferrous metals from Zimbabwe; and oil from everywhere. Angola has become China’s biggest supplier. The authors assess the costs and benefits of China’s re-engagement into African continent. On the one side, the prices are boosted by the increased competition for commodities. The West seems to be troubled about the Chinese imperialism because many of the trade practices have been commonplace among the European and American companies. Many countries simply tended to get out of Africa without investing in it. In contrast, China offers new scope of economic relations through equal treatment. Nevertheless, the poorest people in Africa would hardly benefit from Chinese-African relations as reliance on capital-intensive commodity industries is not effective way to fight poverty. The problem is that Chinese money goes into the pockets of Africa’s elites and into Swiss banks. The editors cite a spokesman of the Kenyan government who argues: â€Å"You never hear the Chinese saying that they will not finish a project because the government has not done enough to tackle corruption. If they are going to build a road, it will be built†. (Alden et al. , 2008, 23) Some authors are more skeptic about the future of the Chinese-African relations. They argue that with years the issue of ‘governance’ can’t be escaped as governance is the pre-condition of stable economic relationships and economic development. China is argued to suffer from lack of spiritual dimension in the countries practicing Christianity, Islam and other indigenous systems of beliefs. Overall, the book is very informative presenting multiple perspectives on development of Chinese-African relations. The authors offer far-reaching surveys of China’s return to the African continent. The new relations are assumed to hold for diplomacy, trade and further development. The authors are surely correct in their efforts to refuse taking high morale line about what China is willing to get from Africa. The positive is that China tends to treat Africa as equal partner, whereas Europe treated Africa as inferior state. Africa should be provided with more respect, the country should be provided with opportunity to decide what it wants and what it doesn’t want. With China, Africa may be able to strengthen its economic and political position in the world. Nevertheless, the negative is that China may tend to impose its own beliefs and governance similar to European countries. Development of Chinese-African relations depends fully on country’s abilities to cooperate. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alden, Chr. , Large, D. , & de Oliviera, R. , ed. China Returns to Africa: A Superpower and a Continent Embrace. USA: Hurst & Co Publishers LTD, 2008.

CIS8000 GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS Essay

This assignment specifically addresses the following learning objectives of the course: LO5 Demonstrate effective communication by composing writing that communicates ideas, meaning and/or argument in a format that broadly follows conventions in the information systems field. LO6 Apply technology and online skills to locate relevant information for the  assignments, analyse the presented problems and data, and engage in the use of the resources provided on UConnect. Individual submission Students should complete this assignment individually. You are encouraged to discuss the assignment with others to improve your understanding and clarify requirements but you should develop the solution to the assignment on your own. Plagiarism check You must subject your written assignment to a plagiarism check by the TURNITIN software prior to its submission in the EASE system. The TURNITIN software can be indirectly accessed through the Study Desk without the need to provide any login-id or password. Further details on how you should interpret the TURNITIN results will be posted in the Study Desk. No assignment will be marked if it is not accompanied by the TURNITIN summary report. Case Study You are the CTO of a successful software development company that operates internationally. The organisation is human resource intensive and one of the challenges encountered was to provide an upto-date time sheet record for salary calculation purposes. In order to improve the HR system, you recently attended a seminar on technological innovation that can assist automated clocking of employee attendance, and you were very impressed with the concepts presented in the seminar. It occurred to you that this would offer potential solution to some of the challenges encountered by your organisation and would be well received by the management. As a result of attending this seminar, and subsequent consultation with your senior managers, it was decided that wearable computing based identification cards would be worth an investigation. As an initial step, you wanted to present this concept and associated vision of how wearable technology would benefit the organisation, specifically in resolving time sheet issues for payroll system input. You are required to research the background for a  project to implement and manage wearable computing, use Microsoft Excel to model a business plan, perform sensitivity analysis to validate assumptions, and create a presentation to seek funding and authorisation from senior management to implement and manage wearable computing based identification tags in your organisation. 1 CIS8000 Global Information Systems Strategy Assignment A Activity A: Journal (maximum 500 words) Prepare a journal which records your activities and progress related to completing this assignment. In date order, clearly list the following: ââ€"  Date of research activity/discussion ââ€"  Topic researched or discussed ââ€"  Time duration ââ€"  Brief description of research activity/discussion. Submit this journal (Activity A) as appendix A to the actual report (Activity B) to CEO. Your journal must provide all these activity details to be awarded marks. Activity B: Presentation to Senior Management (maximum 2000 words) Before you commence this assignment ensure you have completed Hands-on MIS Project # 1 to 5 in Appendix S.1 in the Study Book. These exercises are designed to familiarise you with the software, techniques and methods used in the assignment. Part 1: Research the background for the wearable identification tags project Conduct an Internet search to gather relevant background information on the above. In particular, you should address the following: 1. How wearable computing is utilised and its associated risks 2. Advantages and disadvantages 3. The infrastructure required 4. Best-practice for how wearable tags should be managed. Submit this part of Activity B (Part 1) as initial section of your report to CEO (the actual report for assignment A) to be able to understand the concept of wearable computing and identification tags concepts. Remember: some of the readers of the report to the CEO are from non-technical background and do not understand technical jargons and technology behind the wearable computing and identification tags. You are advised to adopt a balanced approach in your writing style in this business report to CEO ( any highly technical information can go into the appendix B of the report). Part 2: Develop the Excel model of the business case Once you have completed Part 1, develop a spread-sheet model of your business costs over a 4 year period. Some of the materials provided in the MIS Projects may help you to come up with a simple modelling. For the purpose of modelling, assume a discount rate of 10 per cent. Your business model should include the following analysis to ascertain the financial viability of the project: 1. Payback period 2. Net present value (NPV) 3. Internal rate of return (IRR) 4. Profitability index HINTS: To obtain the payback period you would first need to calculate the cumulative net cash flow. Use the NPV and IRR functions provided in Microsoft Excel. You may need to search the Internet for information if you are not familiar with how to use these functions. Interpret your results. Use the note in MIS Project #4 – Capital Budgeting Methods for Information System Investments to guide you. Remember: some of the readers of the report to the CEO are from non-financial background and do not understand, Payback period, NPV, IRR, and Profitability index. You are advised to provide descriptions, analysis, and implications of these technical aspects in your actual report to CEO. CIS8000 Global Information Systems Strategy Assignment A Part 3: Perform a sensitivity analysis for the business case Using the results you obtained in Part 2 as the base case, conduct a sensitivity analysis to examine the impact of the critical cost and benefit variables on the viability of the wearable tags project. Provide three specific scenarios of consideration. You must clearly specify the basis of the three scenarios i.e. which critical cost variables they are examining in the sensitivity analysis Carefully analyse your results and make appropriate recommendations to the company’s senior management as to how the critical cost variables should be managed to ensure that the wearable tags project is both viable and sustainable in the long term. NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with the business case and sensitivity analysis concepts you should make an effort to read appropriate material, including those from the Internet, to learn about them. Remember: some of the readers of the report to the CEO are from non-financial background and do not understand sensitivity. You are advised to provide descriptions, analysis, and implications of these technical aspects in your actual report to CEO. Part 4: Create a report to senior management 4.1 Consolidate and cross-analyse your results and findings with justifications and implications from Part 1, 2 and 3. Then prepare an executive business report to the company’s senior management to seek their financial support and authorisation to embark on the project. 3 CIS8000 Global Information Systems Strategy Assignment A Marking criteria You are strongly advised to read the marking criteria carefully before starting on your assignment. In particular, note the marks allocation for each part and sub-part in Activities. Ensure that the length of your solution should be commensurate with the allocated marks. General guidelines for Activity B Your submission must be submitted to the CEO as a report in a single document, not an essay. Please note that reports do have subheadings and an appropriate letter of transmittal is required.  The word count does not include the following: executive summary, letter of transmittal, table of contents, figures, tables, references or appendices. The body of the report should be about 2000 words in length and you may lose marks if it varies by more than 10%. You must demonstrate additional research from outside the text. Suggestions for other references include other general texts on information systems  management, industry journals, periodicals, electronic databases etc. (many of which are available online from the USQ Library at: Use the Harvard referencing format for in-text references and the reference list. Your references should include at least one web/electronic link but all the references should not be from the web (ie URLs). Refer to chapter 2 (referencing) of the Communication Skills Handbook 3ed. for further details. Inappropriate referencing or excessive grammar/spelling errors will incur a penalty. You should refrain from cutting and pasting chunks of materials from the Internet as this will be treated as plagiarism. To avoid any allegation of academic misconduct from unintentional plagiarism from Internet sources it is compulsory that you use the TURNITIN software to check your work before submitting it. Remember TURNITIN may take more than 24 hours to produce the report. There are few other free applications available on the net to check plagiarism and you are allowed to use them as well. You must state your assumptions clearly, validate the stated assumptions through proper literature search, provide a compelling case for cost and budget figures. You may use any format for the report, and the Internet provides many examples of Executive Type report, and you are encouraged to search for samples that suit your needs. (each report supposed to have title page, letter of transmission, table of contents, executive summary, conclusion & recommendations, references and appendixes) Report formatting instructions Major headings should be in upper case, 14 point Times New Roman Bold. Minor headings should be in lower-case, 12 point Times New Roman Bold. Body text should be formatted to 12 point, Times New Roman. Page size should be A4. Allow for a 25 mm margin on both sides of each page, a 25 mm margin at the top of each page and a 25 mm margin at the bottom of each page. Use single line spacing. Your assignment should be submitted in one of the following formats: – Portable Document Format (.pdf).

Political Philosophy and Government Essay

Name SOPA: The Unconstitutional Law Teacher Class/Period Date SOPA is a law that is trying to be passed by the United States of America. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. While this may seem like a good thing, there are many reasons it is a bad thing. It is extremely vague, it can kill the internet, and the government can take advantage of this law. One thing about SOPA is it is extremely vague. The law is very vague about what the government can and cannot do. The government can enforce laws that are unreasonable with this act. They can also shut down any website completely. With this act live, the government includes a private right of action with little control over abuse. The government can abuse the power they gain through this act. The government can literally take down any website with links on it with this act live. The government will also be able to censor the internet to their liking. This would resemble the media in China or Syria. The internet would never be the same. Allowing SOPA to be passed would give the government the power to do all of these things. Another thing is many websites would be shut down. Many websites would be wiped out due to SOPA. Many websites protested SOPA due to this. Most of the most famous websites would be shut down. YouTube, Wikipedia, and many more websites have â€Å"copyrighted material. † User created things would be taken down. The internet would also be killed. Most things on Google would be wiped out. Over 90% of the internet is considered a violation to SOPA’s rules. Passing SOPA would completely kill the internet. Passing SOPA would give the government lots of power. Passing SOPA would give the government more power than before! Giving the government more power could result in abuse of power. That’s what happens in communist countries! Passing SOPA would take away some of our rights! The government would be allowed to search our belongings for â€Å"copyrighted material. † The law states that the government cannot commit unreasonable search and seizure. Giving the government more power can result in them taking too much power into their own hands. The more we give, the more they take. Too much power is never good. Passing this law would give the government too much power. While most of SOPA is bad, there are some â€Å"good† things about it. First off, people say it’s good because online piracy is another form of stealing, but while it may be similar to stealing, somebody had to purchase the item so others could use it. Some people also state it is a good act because you aren’t supporting the artist or creator of the item, but in reality, online piracy is by definition, sharing. While stopping online piracy may sound good, SOPA has many bad sides to it. SOPA must be stopped!

The Nurses Role in Promoting Patient Rights Article

The Nurses Role in Promoting Patient Rights - Article Example Besides, NDNQI helps nurses to deliver quality services and improve patient safety. Therefore, nurses have the ethical obligation to be an advocate of patient vulnerability in the context of the hierarchical system of healthcare. Nurses role involve providing information that helps a patient to make significant decisions. Besides, they speak up in support for patients where necessary. The role of nurses in patient engagement boosts the health outcome by improving care delivery. Patients have the right to receive treatment with honor and respect, therefore, nurses help navigate the unfamiliar healthcare system and promote communication among caregivers. They interpret tests, instructions, and procedures in terms the patient can follow and understand (Wood, 2010). Besides, they integrate all aspects of patient’s care and ensure that concerns, standards, and positive outcome of the patient are met. In a scenario at my workplace, a patient failed to know his right for an active care and proper diagnosis. There was a case of a physician undertaking medical malpractice and negligence on a patient (wrong diagnosis). Therefore, I brought up the concern of the organization. The physician was charged, and the p atient received the care that he deserved. Besides, NDNQI is significant in enhancing the quality of service of patients. NDNQI prevalence rates for various diseases creates the formation of action plans to eradicate the disease. For instance, NDNQI data on CAUTIs has enhanced its mitigation and reduction levels (Simon, Klaus & Dunton, 2009). Therefore, nurses in conjunction with NDNQI increase patient’s welfare. Guglielmi, C.L., Stratton, M., Healy, G.B., Shapiro, D., Duffy, W.J., Dean B.L. & Groah, L. K. (2014). The growing role of patient engagement: relationship-based care in a changing health care system. AORN, 99(4), 517-528. doi:

Starbucks International Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Starbucks International Operations - Essay Example Sweden is an affluent European nation that is a part of the European Union, Bulgaria is an East European nation that has a much lower per capita income and is not yet a member of the European Union, although it is provisionally set to become one in 2007, while Nigeria is an African nation that is the poorest among the three countries. This Report will select one of these countries as potentially the best country that Starbucks could consider entering and then outline an entry proposal strategy that Starbucks could apply in order to derive the best benefits from that potential market. In terms of worldwide coffee consumption, Scandinavian countries (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) â€Å"continue to be the areas with the highest consumption (Reporter, 2007). For this reason, Sweden offers enormous potential for Starbucks coffee because it is one of the highest per capita coffee consuming countries in the world, which is estimated at 10 kilos for an 8 million population. (McCabe, 1994). According to Datamonitor reports, the Scandinavians are coffee fiends and the average Dane drank his/her way through 7.5 kilos of coffee in 2002, which is about 75 regular sized cups of coffee (www.beveragedaily.com). Sweden follows this trend closely and one of the reasons that have been put forward for high consumption of hot coffee is the cold weather in the country. Additionally, the Datamonitor report states that this trend could â€Å"partly be explained by high alcohol prices – these mean caffeine can be a far more cost-effective way of getting wired than drinking† since coffee is also much cheaper (www.beveragedaily.com). However, there is one aspect that must be taken into consideration in countries such as Sweden, which is established coffee drinkers such as France and Italy.

Health Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health Report - Essay Example I had an opportunity to interview one of the directors. He narrated their foremost great achievement of implementing the healthy, hunger-free kids Act. The Act remains imperative in improving and reauthorizing child nutrition programs. They were to get rid of unhealthy food and beverage in school, and other social amenities. This legislation provides more than 31 million American children who need greater access to healthy amenities. Despite some challenges, about 90% of schools have reported to meet the set food and beverages standards. NANA has improved nutrition and physical resources at CDC. Funding amplified between $2 in 1998 to $45 million in 2010. This has helped improve their services to the targeted population in the USA. NANA has made great achievements and improved the lives of many, thereby reducing deaths and health related diseases amongst children. I would recommend the government to be part of the greater contribution to create room for better services. The merging organization have helped in ensuring that the preferred healthy living is met in local areas and gives back report to NANA for better servicing. Science-based nutrition guidelines for school foods have also reinforced parents’ efforts to help their children eat healthy, making NANA’s work much easier at times. Story, M., Nanney, M. S., & Schwartz, M. B. (2009). Schools and obesity prevention: creating school environments and policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Milbank Quarterly. 87(1): 71–100. doi:

The necessity of human resource management Essay

The necessity of human resource management - Essay Example It helps in determination of objectives. No organization can succeed in its mission unless its objectives an identified and well denied. Management helps in achieving these objectives by the efficient use of resources. "Management is the art of getting things done through other people. Management is the dynamic, life-giving element in every business. Without it the resources of production remain resources and never become production." (Sharma, 2004) The people working in an organization are a valuable resource whose talents have to be developed and utilized in the best manner possible for the achievements of organizational objectives (Sherlekar, 1999). Meaningful personnel policy is based on the implied understanding that human resource constitutes the essential capital and assets of any business. Without this no business can prosper nor can it survive. The growth and success of the enterprise and the rate of human investment have positive and high correlation. If human investment is adequate and time, money and energy spent in planning, obtaining and developing the human resource are considered as integral part of overall corporate plan and policy, there is no reason why economic investment should not be fruitful (David et al, 2004) Firstly, management is a social process. ... Management is concerned with making such an interaction productive and useful for achieving organizational goals. It is the pervasiveness of the human element that gives management its special character as a social process. Secondly, management is an integrating process. Management is regarded as a process integrating human and other resources to achieve predetermined goals. Managers apply their knowledge and skills to achieve the desired result. For this purpose, it is necessary to create unity of effort or teamwork in the organization. In order to develop team spirit, managers has to synchronies different activities, relate means to ends, and strike an appropriate balance between organizational and individual goals. Thus management is regarded as an integrating process. Thirdly, management is a continuous process Management is an ongoing continuous process. It involves continuous handling of problems and issues. Management constantly identifies the problems and tries to solve them (Sherlekar, 1999). 4.0 Staffing Staffing may be defined as the process involved in identifying, assessing, planning, evaluating and developing individuals at work. The managerial function of staffing involves manning the organizational structure through the proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles designed into the structure. 4.1 Phases in Staffing Process 4.1.1 Manpower Planning Manpower planning may be regarded, as a process of determining quantitative and qualitative needs in relation to manpower in an organization. It may be expressed as a process by which the management ensures the right number of people and right kind of people, at the right place, at the right time

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Business - Assignment Example In order to analyse the appraisal, the report focuses upon four important factors like that of motivation of IKEA for going international, the selection of the market, the entry strategy of the company in the selected market and the corporate strategy. The report also has a dedicated section reinstating the major points in the summary and conclusions. Established in the year of 1943 by a teen ager named Ingvar Kamprad (who was only seventeen years old), IKEA came a long way to be an industry leader in the arena of home products that include furniture, accessories, kitchen and bathroom all across the globe. The acronym IKEA stands for ‘Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd’ and is managed by a Dutch registered foundation. This retail giant has total employee strength of more than 127,000 and the core competency of the company is that of manufacturing and selling assembled furniture. The company basically works with the concept of franchisee. This leading furniture brand targets to encompass major part of the society as it believes in providing world class products to the mass. For the purpose, it inculcates the strategy of competitive pricing. The company also has strong initiatives in the aspects of social responsibilities and environmental programs along with charitable involvements. It can be said without doubt that th ese factors have been instrumental for the success of the organizational in the international market. Bank of America along with the US investment bank, Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s largest brokerage firms. It has a client asset of $ 2.2 trillion. More than 15000 financial advisors are associated with the company to serve its clients from 150 countries. In United States, its portfolio covers 99% of US fortune 500 companies and 83% of Fortune Global 500 companies. It is a global leader on services in investment banking solutions which includes global high-yield debt, global M&A, commercial lending and global equity. The investment

The American Red Cross Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The American Red Cross - Research Paper Example Business ethics come with numerous benefits which include employee commitment which can be said to be the believe of an employee future to be linked to that of the organization and their personal sacrifices they willingly offer to that organization they work for.In addition, investor loyalty can be said to be th ethical code of conduct that gives rise to shareholder loyalty which might pay a regular contribution to success supporting even greater anxiety and social causes (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2011). Moreover,customer satisfaction is one of the greatest important aspect of a business success is the organizational development continuation, alteration and adaptation of products to keep the customer trends of tastes and preferences so that long - term stakeholders and customer relationship is maintained. Lastly,the bottom line is the relation to business to the total revenue minus all the expenses and therefore any company or organization must have a good financial presentation for the purpose of ethical culture nurturing and development (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2011).Due to the behavior of the American Red Cross (ARC) following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 their reputation with regard to business effects benefits were greatly dented. This was as a result of lack of supervision of some volunteers or employees, leading them to be an unethical in the operation and also resulted in numerous damage of the ARC reputation. Due to the ARC failure to strictly follow their rules and regulations and embezzled donated funds for the organization, the investor loyalty greatly reduced( Jones, 2012). The deeds of the ARC following these calamities led to low customer satisfaction which greatly affected the profits which are directly proportional to the organizational actions. Since the ARC major source of revenues is the donations, the public may stop the donations at their will if they feel their money is embezzled instead of assist the needy( Jone s, 2012). . Determine and discuss the role that ARC’s stakeholder orientation played in this scenario. Stakeholder orientation is defined as the level of an organization's ability to recognize and tackle stakeholder demands. The stakeholders made up by a number of people who may have a say in any company or organization’s business operations( Jones, 2012). . A lot of distress arose about ARC in the scenario and since its major role is to give a fast response aid to victims of any disaster, the World Trade Center attack in New York city and the Hurrican Katrina were chief occurrences that were of great effect in the United States. The way in which ARC carried out those events was questionable making it to be highly scrutinized. Starting with the World Trade Center, the ARC got higher criticism due to their slow response time. The Disaster operation center (DOC) whose center of command is based in Virginia never activated the special teams which are usually sent in respo nse to a plane crash disaster or similar (Jones, 2012). . Apart from the slow response to disaster that took place in 9/11 2001, criticism also arose due to the fact that some of the money donated was mismanaged. This money was raised from a separate fund which was to cater for the victims and the affected families. In a period of about two months, about $550 millions was collected with only about a third going to the intended function of relief

Interview Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Interview Report - Assignment Example To me, I view him as a perfect example and a living demonstration that age is just but a number (Neugarten, 2006). His case is interesting because the society perceives the old as people with no energy, should not work and probably should rest in care homes. However, he disapproves the stereotypes. Besides, Antony’s capacity at work is usually a preserve of the young and energetic people who can serve client’s demands with precision. Interestingly, he narrates to me that he is people’s favorite at the bar. He points out that most of his customers are young people, but he manages to mix his services with life advice. An attribute that makes him stands out from other workers. Antony points out that he felt the odd one out when he started the work. However, the kind nature of Americans and the equal opportunity that the American society provides to all the citizens and the foreigners motivated him. I find Antony to be an excellent person. His passion, vigor, and desire to achieve even in severe environments are attributes I value most in my life. Therefore, my interaction to change my perception about work. It also enabled learn the importance of knowing different peoples culture as a mechanism for promoting world

Arthur Millers A View From the Bridge Essay Example for Free

Arthur Millers A View From the Bridge Essay Masculinity is a prevalent theme in Arthur Millers A View From The Bridge. The four leading male characters in the play; Eddie, Rodolpho, Marco and Alfieri; each play different roles and different types of men. Miller has represented men and masculinity in an unforgiving light in the play. It appears that it is men that confuse and create problems in the characters lives. Each characters actions are effected by the conflicting forces of determinism, where every event and situation is the inevitable result of its preceding states of affairs; and freewill. It could be said that the male characters in A View From The Bridge are not acting, but being acted upon. The main character in A View From The Bridge is Eddie. He is forty years of age, slightly overweight and is described as husky. The huskiness used in the description refers to both Eddies roughness and his strong, burly build. His age suggests experience, another masculine quality. Eddies appearance reflects his attitude, strong and intimidating. In trying to prove his masculinity, Eddie is the focus of many conversations, as he feels that he must dominate the conversation. Eddies speech is very direct, with blunt wording. He constantly uses contractions and drops the last letter off words, such as in the phrase I didnt say nothin'. Eddies language is not sophisticated in any sense. This is because Eddie spent his time working instead of getting a proper education. Eddie also comes from a working class family, which would mean that his education is limited. The conglomeration of these factors conveys Eddie to be even more masculine. It is very clear that Miller has constructed Eddie to represent the epitome of masculinity; however the character has a propensity to be acted upon rather than acted. Although Eddie is portrayed as a very masculine character, the turmoil in his mind is evident to the reader. Within himself he is trying to control his feelings, or act. Instead, it appears that the happenings around him control Eddies actions. When Eddie allows Rodolpho and Marco to stay, he is acting, as he is making the decision as the patriarchal member of the Carbone family. He has the choice of whether to accept them or not. He acts out of freewill. The best example Eddie being acted upon is when he calls Immigration about Marco and Rodolpho. At this point in the play, Eddie thinks that he has no other options. He is struggling to control his  feelings for Catherine, which on its own is an example of being acted upon. Although Eddie knows that these incestuous feelings are not acceptable, he cannot help but feel this way. Catherines developing relationship with Rodolpho is clearly testing Eddies endurance. Eddie also feels that Rodolpho is a bad influence on Catherine, as Eddie can no longer control her as he used to. Realistically, this is because Catherine is growing up more than Rodolphos influence. However, Eddie feels that the only solution is to get rid of Rodolpho. By doing this, Eddie hopes that everything will return to its original state, with him being the patriarch. Consequently, Eddie calls Immigration. It can clearly be seen that Eddie is not acting, as eliminating Rodolpho is something that is inevitable if Eddie wishes for things to return to their initial state. Rodolphos appearance in A View From The Bridge is one that is far more feminine and gentle than that of the other characters. He is described as a slim platinum blond with a nice face. His gentle features are considered womanly, and so he is not considered to be masculine. Rodolphos age can be estimated to be in the mid-twenties. This denotes a lack of life experience, another indicator towards femininity rather than masculinity. Miller has constructed Rodolpho as a much less masculine character than Eddie so as to juxtapose the two characters. Unlike Eddie, Rodolpho is a more rational character. He is more cautious in what he says. Due to this discretion, Rodolphos speech is very limited in A View From The Bridge. However, his rational behaviour does not stop Rodolpho from being more acted upon than acted. Even though Rodolpho tries to refrain from causing too much of a disturbance in America, he is visibly maddening Eddie by showing affection towards Catherine. However, Rodolpho cannot control his feelings. He stands up for his right to have a relationship with Catherine and, regardless of what Eddie does or says, Rodolpho still has these feelings for Catherine. Rodolpho does not choose to be attracted to Catherine, it simply happened. The concept that Catherine and Rodolpho both care for each other is not a matter of choice or freewill, it is clearly determinism. For this reason, Rodolpho is more acted upon than acting in A View From The Bridge. Marco is described in A View From The Bridge as a thirty-two year old square built peasant. His square build implies strength and an intimidating physique, which evokes an air of masculinity. His age puts him between Eddie and Rodolpho. Throughout the play, Marco is played as quiet, yet thoughtful. His dialogue is minimal, until the final sequence where the conflict between him and Eddie erupts. Although his dialogue is entirely different to that of Eddie, the pair are both seen as masculine characters. This is because Marco is confident with himself, and does not feel it is necessary to talk or dominate the conversation. In doing so, his confidence shines through as being masculine. Again, Marco is a character that appears, in most cases, to be more acted upon than acting. Marcos strong and silent persona allows him to understand and recognise elements in the characters more so than Eddie and Rodolpho. He sees Eddies challenging nature towards Rodolpho and challenges Eddie back. In this sense, Marcos actions are acted. He understands what is happening and uses his own freewill to make a decision of what to do. However, the final sequences are clearly an indication of how Marco is more acted upon than acting. When Marco spits in Eddies face, it is the culmination of Eddies attitude and actions that cause him to do so. After trusting Eddie, Marco has been proverbially stabbed in the back. However, Marcos reaction was eminent. Eddies ongoing dislike of both Marco and Rodolpho would eventually arrive at a confrontation. Marcos reaction was clearly determinism it was the inevitable result of its preceding states of affairs. In this way, the character of Marco is more acted upon than acting. Similarly, when Marco kills Eddie, it is inevitable. If not for Eddies death, the play would be going nowhere. Eddies sanity is questionable towards the end of A View From The Bridge. If Eddie were to survive the stabbing, there would be no closure for any of the characters. When Eddie pulls the knife out and attempts to stab Marco, it is clear that he is not thinking rationally. Marco then acts in self defence when he stabs Eddie. He knows that one of them will die in the struggle, and sees that his killing of Eddie is the only way he will come out alive. For this reason, Marco acts not out of freewill, but stabs Eddie as there is no other way for the battle to end. Hence, Marco is more  acted upon than acting. However, this attribute is not shared by all of the male characters in A View From The Bridge. The final male character in A View From The Bridge is Alfieri. Alfieri is the oldest of the characters, described as being in his fifties, turning grey and portly. His age implies much life experience, as does his generously proportioned physique. His appearance is also one of a higher class than the rest of the characters. Alfieri speaks with distinction. Unlike Marco and Eddie, who feel the need to express their masculinity, Alfieri is confident in himself, and so needs not demonstrate this through his language. For this reason, Alfieri remains to be a masculine character even though his language is very poetic and eloquent. For example, when consulting Eddie and Marco, he says To promise not to kill, is not dishonourable. As well as showing Alfieris intelligence, the statement gives his words a scale of importance. Alfieris masculinity shines through in his instructing and superior manner. Unlike the rest of the male characters in A View From The Bridge, it is felt that Alfieri is not being acted upon, but is acting. As Alfieri is not directly involved in the convoluted relationships that take place in the apartment, he has the advantage of having a less emotional reaction to the occurrences. Alfieri also has the advantage of being able to think about things rationally before offering an opinion. When attempting to guide Eddie in his turmoil, Alfieri informs him that he can take no legal action. In doing so, Alfieri is acting out of freewill. Nothing is forcing him to tell Eddie this. Theoretically, Alfieri could ignore the legal aspect and tell Eddie to take his chances. Instead, Alfieri offers his own advice, to let her go. Although Alfieris instinct to seek resolution may be seen as more acted upon than acting, his pressure in guiding Eddie to do the right thing, or lack thereof, is freewill, as Alfieri made the choice in not forcing Eddie to stop acting in the manner that he was. For this reason, Alfieri is acting more than he is acted upon. Although each of the male characters in Millers play A View From The Bridge represents a different role and different type of man, each of their actions can be seen as either an act of freewill or an act of determinism. In many  instances, it appears that there is no other way for the incident to occur. At other times, the characters make choices, exercising their freewill. As Eddie, Rodolpho and Marco are all emotionally involved in the relationships in the play; their actions tend to be acts of determinism. All three are trapped in gender roles, not wanting to appear weak. As Alfieri is more of an onlooker in the play, his actions are a result of freewill. Confident with his masculinity, he is able to decide what to do, not be forced into doing something. For this reason, the male characters in A View From The Bridge can be said to be predominantly more acted upon than acting.

The Liberal Governments Welfare Reforms in the years 1906-1914 Essay Example for Free

The Liberal Governments Welfare Reforms in the years 1906-1914 Essay Was New Liberalism the most important factor behind the Liberal Governments Welfare Reforms in the years 1906-1914? Explain your answer. New Liberalism was simply an ideology, encompassing reforms spurred by other, more important factors. Crucially was the need to reform, regarding the low national efficiency. As a 1905 report said No country, however rich, can permanently hold its own in the race of international competition if hampered by an increasing load of dead weight [of poverty]. Secondly, was the desire to reform, which housed incentives such as the poverty, moral and social obligation, and tangible electoral victory. New Liberalism didnt evoke reform; it simply housed other factors for it. Although New Liberalism as a new ideology demanded reform in the Party, it is too vague a factor to have had any direct correlation with the reforms of 1906-14. In this aspect, it was an umbrella factor. New Liberalism was perhaps inevitable, as Churchill said this poor man is here as a result of economic causes which have been too long unregulated- in other words, the realisation individualism wasnt working. Indeed, the ideology was not even a product of the Liberals, but grew out of an intellectual tradition formulated by L.T. Hobhouse and J. Hobson in the 1880s, arguing that if people were impoverished through no fault of their own, self-reliance was undermined. Consequently, New Liberalism was merely the opportunistic by-product of the coinciding findings of Hobhouse with the writings of Booth and Rowntree, which raised moral and social awareness. New Liberalism was evident in all the reforms of the party, contravening old liberalism, an example of which is the National insurance Act, 1911. Being governmentally interfering, and therefore traditionally anti-liberalist, this threw aside the conventions of working-class laziness and provided the worker with money and job networking should he be out of work. However, cynical though it is, most of the reforms also acted in the interest of national efficiency, and so the state of the nation on an international scale was a big incentive to introduce collectivist policies, if not the biggest. Recruitment for the Boer War of 1898 highlighted how poor the nations health was, when one third of the population were unfit to fight. Furthermore, Britain struggled to defeat the Boers, despite being a big, imperial nation, and them a poor, insignificant force. Consequently, through the exposure of the nations poor health, the Childrens Charter was introduced. This involved the free school meals act of 1906, in which local authorities were given the power to provide free school meals for needy children, if they wished to use it, and by 1914, this became compulsory (the previous Conservative government had refused to listen to the campaign). Similarly, in 1907, the Liberals introduced compulsory medical inspections in schools, and again in 1912, government grants were made available to cover treatment and school clinics began to be set up. This measure shows the government were realising that, to keep their country and empire great, they had to have more involvement in the maintenance of the nation. Likewise, when Beveridge and Lloyd George -worried about unemployment visited Germany and saw the reforms they and other countries were making, there is no doubt they took influence from them, and so similar policies were introduced in England. Germany was growing economically, and Britain falling behind in terms of economic growth; thus, the imitating Insurance Act of 1910-11 was produced. This showed an effort to boost efficiency by directly shadowing Germany, by this time hugely prosperous, in the hope to improve their own country economically too. Also, the findings of Booth and Rowntree too, ultimately helped lead to social reform through their provision of real, statistical evidence needed to boost the case for state intervention. Charles Booth carried out a series of investigations in London, unearthing that 30% of the population were living in abject poverty, including 45% of old people. It was discovered that, contrary to popular belief, people were poor because of factors such as old age, sickness, and an underperforming economy. Subsequently, Booth organised and led a campaign in favour of a system pensions paid for out of taxation, which won Labour and Trade Union support, and which would have healed the problem of poverty for the elderly.. By no coincidence was the Old Age Pensions Act passed 3 years later, which heeding the advice of Booth was a non-contributory scheme, financed by the government out of taxation, and providing 5 shillings a week to those over the age of 70. Furthermore, to appease poverty from unemployment, the government set up a labour exchange and insurance principal; creating a network of exchange information about local work, and also planned a workers insurance scheme which workers would pay into and, in times of the aforementioned poverty, draw on what they needed. The moral and social justice included in Booth and Rowntrees work was a huge contributing factor in the Old Age Pensions Act of 1908, largely regarded as a significant step forward in terms of governmental intervention. Lloyd George also linked the two, by 1911 noticing The administration of the Old Age Pension Act has revealed a mass of poverty. Moral and social justice were at the heart of many other Liberal policies, for example; the moral obligation to help the ill worker manifested in the Health Insurance Act, 1911, through which a fund was created that the worker would pay four pence into, the employer three, and the state two. When the worker was off work ill, they would receive ten shillings a week sick pay for 13 weeks, Furthermore, the Liberals still had to produce policies that differentiated them from the Conservatives. The free school meals policy, for example, directly distinguished them, as the Tories had refused to pass the act a few years before, as did they with the Peoples Budget. Lloyd Georges Budget conflicted with the Tory ideology of not taxing the rich, with the Liberal government looking to provide extra cash for the old age pensions and dreadnought battleships [and] outwit the House of Lords (Pearce Stewart). An extra à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½7 million was raised by increasing higher rates of income tax on those earning over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3,00 per annum, essentially targeting the rich, which conflicted with the core of Conservative values. Liberalism had the upper hand on Conservatism. The politicians of the party not only wanted to differentiate Liberalism, but also themselves as political heavyweights. For example, Churchills Trade Boards Act (1909) broke new ground, defending the workers Charles Booth had labelled a body of reckless, starving competitors for work, but like many of the Liberals policies it wasnt home grown, and the plight of the sweated industries had been publicized by the National Anti-Sweating League. Lloyd George is another prime example, and historical interpretation suggests his proposed constitutional reform of the Lords was an attempt to put himself on the political map, force the back-down of the Lords (peers against the people) as well as winning votes on the back of this controversy. His Peoples Budget drew on the criticisms launched on the House of Lords for refusing a budget on monetary matters-money, of course, provided by the taxpayer , and them being unelected patrons- something Lloyd George emphasised in ensuing publicity. Indeed, Beatrice Webb has argued Lloyd George and Winston Churchill have practically taken the limelight, not merely from their own colleagues, but from the Labour Party. With the Labour Party proving a growing threat electorally, New Liberalism was an attempt to spike the guns [Beatrice Webb] of the party through popular socialist reforms. Labour gained 29 seats in the 1906 election, and up until that point, the Liberals had been mainly out of power, forcing them to recognise Labour as a threat. As a consequence of this competition, the Trade Disputes Act (1906), which reversed the Taff Vale decision and would gain vital working class votes, was taken from the Labour Partys own bill, and returned the right to strike and picket peacefully to the Unions. The Liberals realised if they didnt deliver, Labour would continue to grow. Again, The Mines Act of 1908, which introduced a maximum eight-hour working day for miners, ( a political compromise-Pearce Stewart) was another reform which Labour were sympathetic too. Furthermore, with extended suffrage to the working class, Liberals had to get the working mans vote, and so their socialist reforms came at a time when Labours guns would have been most appealing to the electorate. Overall, it is clear that the Welfare Reforms were influenced entirely on the climate of the time, and New Liberalism simply put a name to this. Yes, moral and social justice unearthed by Booth and Rowntree were important, and the party still had to settle on their political identity, but poverty and its injustice had been around for decades and reform could have waited if need be; furthermore, Labour, although showing potential, were not a real threat until some years later. The welfare reforms were introduced because Britain as a country was failing, and New Liberalist Reforms were, (arguably), just a semi-socialist guise focused on increasing national efficiency. Thats not to say the reforms wouldnt have ever been introduced had Britain not struggled with the Boers; they would have been delayed, and were created in 1906-14 as a reaction to the (international) state of the nation.

Why is robbery on the increase?

Why is robbery on the increase? Robbery is the taking or attempting to take something of value from another person by threats of violence or by violence itself. Robbery can be committed against an individual person, an organization like a bank or even businesses. Robbery is a felony in all states of the world. There are two kinds of robberies which have been happening in our organization namely: Violent robbery where one uses weapons and aggravated robbery (use of toy pistols) where one uses a very deadly weapon or an imitation of a deadly weapon. It is with great concern that the company has continued to loose a lot of its assets and employees through robbery and it is therefore with this concern in mind that we have to set out the ways to minimize this vice. Our Company lost three employees and close to 30000 dollars last year as a result of robbery with violence. It is therefore in this accord that I decided to consult a lot of organizations and stakeholders in the security sector to get the possible advice of how we can be able to reduce this vice. Among the people I consulted are the Police units of this country and the various prominent security companies in this nation. I got the relevant information which I do wholly believe will be of help to our organization. My report has dealt with the initial definition of the term Robbery and I have outlined the objectives of my report. The findings and outcomes of my research have also been addressed as well as the very sensitive places/areas we need to direct our security manpower to. Lastly I have given crucial recommendations which I hope the top management of our company will adopt and lastly, I have given my personal reflection towards the whole topic of robbery. Findings and outcomes: It was noted that in order to reduce armed robberies in our organization, we should be able to train our staff with some of the best procedures which can help us reduce them. It was noted that people who handle cash should observe the following: Cash handling: Large amounts of cash should not be kept in hand and that our organization should only keep minimal cash on the premises. Conspicuous bags should always be used instead of the bank bags when carrying cash. The staff involved should always be on the alert when carrying cash. Cash should never be left lying around and it should never be counted in view of the public. Cash handling procedures should never be discussed in public. Office precautions: For us to help reduce the risk of armed robberies in our premises, I propose that: Staff should always be on the lookout for suspicious activities near our premises. The description of suspicious people and the registration of vehicles should be noted and the police informed immediately. The windows and doors at the rear of our organization should always be secured with bars and deadlocks. Electronic beepers and other security devices should be put in place to indicate when our staff are entering or leaving the business when we are open for business. The office frontage should always be uncluttered to give a clear view of the street the service area should also be placed in the street frontage. A silent alarm should be connected to a security Company or the police so that it can be activated from near our cash drawers or registers. Security cameras should also be installed so that offenders can be photographed while committing the armed robbery. Victims of robbery with violence: If one of our staff fall a victim of an armed robbery, then it is my advice that you remain calm. In any case the armed robbery is being committed; useful information such as the description of the offenders and vehicles can help in the early arrest of the offenders. However, the following should be remembered: Dont be heroic by putting your life in danger. No amount of cash is worthy a life lost. Always obey the offenders instructions and do what they tell you to do and nothing else. Dont volunteer to give any information. Always avoid eye contact with offenders and their weapons and instead concentrate on the features of the offenders. If you are not directly involved, stay out of danger by leaving the building safely and raising an alarm. A victim should be deliberate in his/her actions. Lower denomination notes should he handed to the offenders if you are ordered to hand over money, but ones safety should always be considered first. If one of you or another responsible member of staff is able, the police emergency number should be phoned immediately and the line kept open. The registration number, type and color of the vehicles used in the robbery should be carefully observed. Minor details assist the police in faster apprehension of the culprits. Physical appearance details such as age, height, build and hair color should be well noted and behavioral details like mannerisms, speech, clothing, tattoos and scars should be considered. The type of weapon used, the method and direction of escape should also be noted. All witnesses should be requested to stay until the police come since they will want to speak to them. Assure them that their evidence could be of importance when put together with other evidence and dont allow witnesses to talk about the incident. Victims of armed robbery suffer from trauma and therefore the organization should seek professional victim liaison officers to provide advice in contacting required agencies. Preventive techniques that should be implemented to prevent armed robbery: Armed robbery is one of the most potentially serious offenses committed all over the world. It is therefore important that organizations including ours must try by all means to prevent these robberies. To be able to do this, the following opening and closing procedures should always be observed: Two employees should be present during the opening and closing of the premises. When opening the premise, thorough inspection should be done to detect any signs of forcible entry before anyone enters the business. At closing time, the security officers should ensure that nobody is hiding in the business or loitering inside the compound prior to leaving the business. A well maintained and light interior and exterior should always be place. Security measures which allow the workers to have a complete view of the environment such as elevated vantage points, convex mirrors and the placement of the customer service and cash area should be visible the counter or work area should be regularly cleaned to remove old fingerprints. Make public the point that the organization uses good cash protection skills and uses very high security surveillance machines. Employees should be trained to report and watch for suspicious people outside and inside the organization. Police should be called if the employees are worried about a potential risk. Lunch hours and breaks should always be varied so that some employees are always visible in the organization. Our organization should cut back and maintain trees and shrubbery which criminals could use to hide. Employees should be informed to ask for identification from repair people, workers, guards e.t.c before they are allowed to enter into restricted areas. Our organization should consider having an automatic silent alarm system with a panic alarm system. Our organization should consider using doors that lock automatically upon closing in the secure areas. Drop or delay action time lock safe that use a dual key should be used by our organization. Use of greater criminal prosecution in Robbery cases: We as an organization wholly believe that criminal prosecution is a very effective tool in dealing with the robbery with violence cases. We also strongly believe that by enforcing greater criminal prosecution for suspected robbery suspects, we shall be demonstrating the societys opprobrium of a very offensive character in way that some methods cannot. Greater criminal prosecution should be used so as to set criminalization far apart from the regulatory sanctions which if set properly can be able to deter and punish criminals rather than deterrence and penalty. However, practical and circumstantial use of greater criminal prosecution cannot always be the best for our organization and it can lead limit its effectiveness as an instrument for solving regulatory crimes because: It always inhibits the use of more flexible and alternative sanctions. It will brand our organization with criminality when circumstances leading to these prosecutions may not be of direct consequence of our actions. It always takes a long time to come to the courts and the respondent concerned may at last be acquitted. Use of greater criminal prosecution will always fail to correct the damage already caused by that offence. It may result in the high cost in relation to the proper penalty for the offender. RECOMMENDATIONS: I highly recommend that the top management should be holding security meetings with all the employees and inform them that the security of our organization is paramount to everything else. We therefore recommend that all our staff should be taken through all the necessary security trainings so that they can be informed that the security of an organization does not entirely depend on the security personnel alone but on everyone. I will recommend that the top management to allocate a certain percentage of the income in this financial year so that sophisticated security systems and cameras are purchased and installed in the organization. This will ensure that possible robbery threats in our organization are dealt with. My personal Reflection: I have personally heard many friends tell me about how their houses, organizations, businesses have robbed and the associated trauma they have suffered as a result of this robbery. In some instances, many victims have lived to tell the story but in some other unfortunate incidences, the victims have fallen victims of this inhuman behaviour and thereby succumbed to death. I personally tried to interview some security personnel and at most times, most of them have blankly told me that their companies are seldom well equipped to deal with the robbers. They claim the top management is very uncooperative as far as security concerns are concerned. I therefore realized that the loss of assets and human life could be tremendously reduced if all the stakeholders in an organization worked as a team and put in strong security mechanisms to deter robbery with violence. I could therefore like to urge everyone everywhere to realize that security doesnt involve the security personnel or the police alone but is a collective responsibility for each and every individual. We must all join hands towards the prevention of robbery.

The Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds There have been many recent discoveries pertaining to the finding of dinosaurs. However, there has never been a link between dinosaurs and birds at least not like this before. There has been a discovery in China of a remarkable dinosaur with birdlike feathers on its hind legs and tail including others places. A man by the name of Henry Gee has been researching this topic since 1996 and has come up with new discoveries. This four-winged dinosaur has fueled debate over evolution of airborne birds. This subject has re ignited debate over and over again about the origins of birds including feathers and their flights. The researchers believe that this bird has been around for about 124 to about 145 million years. Researchers also believe that these birdlike animals belong to a new species called Microraptor gui, a stem from the previous species Microraptor. The discovery of the fossil was found in the beds of Liaoning Province of the northeast China. They have seemed to measure 77cm long in diameter and lived in trees and survived by using here wing spanned to glide through branches. These birds use inter limb skin flaps to leap from branch to branch. It has been stirring up questions about which extinct reptiles do birds really belong to. â€Å"Microraptor gui: Researchers are keen to study its hip and shoulders†(Gee). Its been finally agreed upon that dinosaurs, due to recent discoveries, are closely related to birds through there common ancestry To be more specific they are related to small birds carnivores called dromaeodaurs. This group of reptiles includes such names as Tyrannosaurus and others; they are all called theropods. To make an even clearer link between the two, theropods had feathers much like the birds during their time of existence. Theropods are called bipeds; bipeds have long back legs adapted for running. This includes them trying to excape from their enemies using tactics that help them to quickly climb trees. This adds to the hypothesis that birds evolved from a two-legged runner. Also there wings added to there thrust in running and helped in the elementary flight of young birds when trying to excape from enemies. Further discovery suggests when young birds learn to fly it helps for them to just fall out of a tree and let gravity take its course.

Environmental Racism :: essays research papers fc

Environmental Racism To begin with, a definition of environmental justice is necessary. This may be accomplished quite well by using à ´The Principles of Environmental Justiceà ¶. They contain 17 principles à ´drafted and adoptedà ¶ in Washington, D.C. on the 24th through the 27th of October 1991by delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. 1) Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction. 2) Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias. 3) Environmental Justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things. 4) Environmental Justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disp osal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food. 5) Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples. 6) Environmental Justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of production. 7) Environmental Justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation. 8) Environmental Justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environme ntal hazards. 9) Environmental Justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care. 10) Environmental Justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on Genocide. 11) Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts, and covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination. 12) Environmental Justice affirms the need for urban and rural ecological policies to clean up and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring the cultural integrity of all our communities, and provided fair access for all to the full range of resources.

Edgar Degas, man the myth the artist :: essays research papers fc

It is in his concepts of man versus himself, his studying of light, capturing a moment and use of large shapes to flatten space that makes Edgar Degas an impressionist. In comparison to his peers, Degas has a tight style of painting and defined, characterized, figures; yet, it is not style that defines impressionism: â€Å"Unlike realism, impressionism rarely responded to politics†¦ impressionist painters preferred genre subjects, especially scenes of leisure activities, entertainment and landscape, and impressionism was more influenced by Japanese prints and new developments in photograph†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Adams, 805) Laurie Schneider Adams defines the impressionist movement, being careful not to describe the use of paint and its thick application. She does this to clarify that impressionism is a concept not a style. While most impressionist do coat their canvas, style is second to the idea that the observed properties of light and color. It is in this understanding that Edgar Degas’ Ballet Dancer with Arms Crossed is an impressionistic painting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With an asymmetrical composition, Edgar Degas’ 1872 painting, Ballet Dancer with Arms Crossed is 24 1/8 x 19 7/8 inches large. Large graphic shapes, mostly red or yellow in tone, form a brooding dancer. A sensation of three dimensionality is achieved with two light sources, one bring and the other dim. The front of her body is dimly lit, allowing soft light to give great detail to the collarbone and face. Although never confirmed, this painting is most likely one of Degas numerous sketches. A notorious perfectionist, Degas would often bring his original charcoal drawings to finish in order to prepare for a future piece. Before impressionism, during the realist movement, there was an underlining message of man versus nature. With the industrial revolution, a new message arrived: man versus himself. This message was most evident in Degas’ many equestrian paintings; Laurie Schneider Adams states, â€Å"In At the Races, Degas’ figures are in a state of restlessness†¦ At the left, a single horse gallops into the picture plane as his jockey reins him. The arrested movement of the galloping horse draws attention to the distant train that continues on†¦ Degas refers to the contrast between mechanized and natural movement and to the changing modes of transportation created by the industrial revolution.† (Adams, 821) The industrial Revolution continued mans affair with himself: the ambition to always perfect, refine, and move forward. Degas often composes natural and unnatural forms juxtapose, in Ballet Dancer with Arms Crossed the comparison is in light.

The Swimmer

The Swimmer Not everyone enjoys being afraid, but there are a lot of us who really enjoy the experience. Fear is an emotional response, which triggers a change in the brain and organ function, as well as in behavior. Fear may occur when facing danger such as a threat or a confrontation. Fear can lead us to flee, hide, or fight. Nevertheless, sometimes fear can also be what drives us to cross our own boundary and do what we long to do. The short story â€Å"The Swimmer† by S. Butler deals with a woman whose fear for being watched by others, keeps her from doing what she really wants. Her sudden desire for fear draws her closer and ends up making her do something even more fearsome, which luckily turns out to help her being set free. The story has an all-knowing third person narrative technique with focus on the protagonist and the setting around her. The short Story Starts by using the first five sentences to present the weather. â€Å"Three weeks of windless sun†. This establishes the overall setting for the reader.The setting is basically described as being a hot summer day, which has lasted for three weeks, with no cooling wind, and the suns heat burning on the ground. The cooling and moving water is in contrast to the clouds and the wind. â€Å"Nothing moves except the water†. There is a longer introduction to the water but it continuous from a different perspective. This leads to an introduction of both the water but also the main character. â€Å"She sits at her desk in the back room gazing out at the river. Where it rounds the first bend there's an eddy as the current twists out into the middle†¦ . J. S Butler is using sentences like the one above to set focus on the importance of the protagonist and the setting and thereby indirectly ailing the reader that the woman and the lake are of significance to the story. The main character is a woman who is sitting at a desk with her window open, which gives her a view to a lake nearby. Throughout the story, her job seems to be of less and less importance to her; meanwhile her interest in the lake grows. This comes to show in some of her thoughts while working: â€Å"No one has passed for at least three hours†.Unlike her work, the woman feels some kind of fascination towards the lake while working. Whether or not she is ratiocinating from her work by using the summer heat, as an excuse to take a swim in the lake is unclear at this point, but she – despite her fear of being watched while swimming -? makes the decision to go down to the lake. All ready before making this decision she had put her swimwear near her, which indicates that she had had the idea of taking a swim before, but had been reluctant about actually going.However, taking the initiative to go doesn't mean she overcame her fear. Due to the fact that it's a hot summer day, she defies her fear and goes into the lake. Out on the river path she takes long fast steps†. In addition, she is very aware Of the fact that if she hesitates, she might turn around and go back to her desk. In the water, she finds a swan. Its beauty amazes her and while knowing that it can be a very dangerous animal, she feels drawn by the fear. While trying to get closer to the swan, she spends a lot of time in the lake, which gradually helps her overcome her fear.The fact that she slowly overcomes her fear the first time and her new interest for the swan, she found the courage to go into the lake once more, and once more, and once more, each time getting closer to the swan and later on close enough to touch it. The woman's observations made from a distance indicate that the swan is dead, but also alive. â€Å"It doesn't hiss, nor arch its wings†. This brings a somewhat mysterious element to the story. The swan of course is a symbol, and the lag of movement and the fact that the swan doesn't really notice the woman, could suggest that it is dead already.However, warm blood blends in to the water, which indicates that the swan is alive. She thinks -? and the orator describes it as if – the swan where caught up in some of the fishermen's net, as it flew down onto the water. The swan has probably been caught up in the net for some time and has been suffering a lot. Like the woman, the swan, was probably fascinated by the waters beauty and decided to fly onto the Water. The Woman and the swan have both been drawn towards the water, because of the heat, but the swan is more relatable to the women then one might think. The woman can relate to the feeling of being held back.Of course, there is a entrant between being held back physically and held back by fear. Meanwhile the swan is trapped, the woman began to spend more and more time observing the swan, and be more and more attached to it. â€Å"She cannot stop thinking about the swan†. The fear she felt disappeared, as if it was a decreasing exponential equation to the time she spends in the lake. As a product of this decreasing fear, the woman began to untie herself from the reluctant and fear controlled life she had had. â€Å"Untwisting the line where the bird bound itself in its struggle†.There are many similarities between the caught up swan and the â€Å"caught up† woman. They are both struggling to get free and their endings have somewhat similar traits. Without the help of the woman, the swan could not get free. And without the â€Å"help† of the swan, the woman probably wouldn't have been freed from her fear of swimming in the lake. The theme of fear in the story is expressed by the main character s development. Other subsystems such as person development, mental freedom, helping others and the beauty of nature, are all shown in the legislation the woman establishes with the swan.Of course, the overall themes are fear and overcoming fear, but also themes such as unhappiness and maybe even the female role as the weak gender comes to show as possible th emes, however these are somewhat out of focus and thereby not central themes. The similarities between the woman and the swan suggest that the narrator is describing the same situation twice but from the different perspectives. The Swimmer The Swimmer Not everyone enjoys being afraid, but there are a lot of us who really enjoy the experience. Fear is an emotional response, which triggers a change in the brain and organ function, as well as in behavior. Fear may occur when facing danger such as a threat or a confrontation. Fear can lead us to flee, hide, or fight. Nevertheless, sometimes fear can also be what drives us to cross our own boundary and do what we long to do. The short story â€Å"The Swimmer† by S. Butler deals with a woman whose fear for being watched by others, keeps her from doing what she really wants. Her sudden desire for fear draws her closer and ends up making her do something even more fearsome, which luckily turns out to help her being set free. The story has an all-knowing third person narrative technique with focus on the protagonist and the setting around her. The short Story Starts by using the first five sentences to present the weather. â€Å"Three weeks of windless sun†. This establishes the overall setting for the reader.The setting is basically described as being a hot summer day, which has lasted for three weeks, with no cooling wind, and the suns heat burning on the ground. The cooling and moving water is in contrast to the clouds and the wind. â€Å"Nothing moves except the water†. There is a longer introduction to the water but it continuous from a different perspective. This leads to an introduction of both the water but also the main character. â€Å"She sits at her desk in the back room gazing out at the river. Where it rounds the first bend there's an eddy as the current twists out into the middle†¦ . J. S Butler is using sentences like the one above to set focus on the importance of the protagonist and the setting and thereby indirectly ailing the reader that the woman and the lake are of significance to the story. The main character is a woman who is sitting at a desk with her window open, which gives her a view to a lake nearby. Throughout the story, her job seems to be of less and less importance to her; meanwhile her interest in the lake grows. This comes to show in some of her thoughts while working: â€Å"No one has passed for at least three hours†.Unlike her work, the woman feels some kind of fascination towards the lake while working. Whether or not she is ratiocinating from her work by using the summer heat, as an excuse to take a swim in the lake is unclear at this point, but she – despite her fear of being watched while swimming -? makes the decision to go down to the lake. All ready before making this decision she had put her swimwear near her, which indicates that she had had the idea of taking a swim before, but had been reluctant about actually going.However, taking the initiative to go doesn't mean she overcame her fear. Due to the fact that it's a hot summer day, she defies her fear and goes into the lake. Out on the river path she takes long fast steps†. In addition, she is very aware Of the fact that if she hesitates, she might turn around and go back to her desk. In the water, she finds a swan. Its beauty amazes her and while knowing that it can be a very dangerous animal, she feels drawn by the fear. While trying to get closer to the swan, she spends a lot of time in the lake, which gradually helps her overcome her fear.The fact that she slowly overcomes her fear the first time and her new interest for the swan, she found the courage to go into the lake once more, and once more, and once more, each time getting closer to the swan and later on close enough to touch it. The woman's observations made from a distance indicate that the swan is dead, but also alive. â€Å"It doesn't hiss, nor arch its wings†. This brings a somewhat mysterious element to the story. The swan of course is a symbol, and the lag of movement and the fact that the swan doesn't really notice the woman, could suggest that it is dead already.However, warm blood blends in to the water, which indicates that the swan is alive. She thinks -? and the orator describes it as if – the swan where caught up in some of the fishermen's net, as it flew down onto the water. The swan has probably been caught up in the net for some time and has been suffering a lot. Like the woman, the swan, was probably fascinated by the waters beauty and decided to fly onto the Water. The Woman and the swan have both been drawn towards the water, because of the heat, but the swan is more relatable to the women then one might think. The woman can relate to the feeling of being held back.Of course, there is a entrant between being held back physically and held back by fear. Meanwhile the swan is trapped, the woman began to spend more and more time observing the swan, and be more and more attached to it. â€Å"She cannot stop thinking about the swan†. The fear she felt disappeared, as if it was a decreasing exponential equation to the time she spends in the lake. As a product of this decreasing fear, the woman began to untie herself from the reluctant and fear controlled life she had had. â€Å"Untwisting the line where the bird bound itself in its struggle†.There are many similarities between the caught up swan and the â€Å"caught up† woman. They are both struggling to get free and their endings have somewhat similar traits. Without the help of the woman, the swan could not get free. And without the â€Å"help† of the swan, the woman probably wouldn't have been freed from her fear of swimming in the lake. The theme of fear in the story is expressed by the main character s development. Other subsystems such as person development, mental freedom, helping others and the beauty of nature, are all shown in the legislation the woman establishes with the swan.Of course, the overall themes are fear and overcoming fear, but also themes such as unhappiness and maybe even the female role as the weak gender comes to show as possible th emes, however these are somewhat out of focus and thereby not central themes. The similarities between the woman and the swan suggest that the narrator is describing the same situation twice but from the different perspectives.

Being a teenager Essay

Being a teenager is one of the toughest and most memorial things that one goes through in life. A teenager goes through many happy times and many depressing times. Stress, depression, and peer pressure, are some negative things that a teenager goes through in life. Friends and dating are joyful times that teenagers face in the adolescent years in today’s time. Tension, stress and depression affects everyone at one time or another in their life. A death in the family, arguing with and losing a friend, being bullied or teased, peer pressure to wear certain types of clothing or hairs, try tobacco, alcohol or drugs, are all factors that can create stress, and may cause uncertainty and depression. There are many causes of stress such as lack of affection and tension from parents, loneliness and low self esteem. Low self-esteem can be a major problem for teens because of the importance placed on looks and achievement in our society today. According to Patricia Shapiro in A Parents’ Guide to Childhood and Adolescent Depression (1994) â€Å"three to six million children under the age of 18 may suffer from clinical depression. Thousands of others probably experience less serious bouts of stress and depression although most such cases go untreated and unreported.   â€Å"Large amounts of homework or overdue assignments can be overwhelming. School can be very stressful because you may feel rejected by peers or criticized and embarrassed by teachers.   A healthy part of every child’s development is involvement with their peers. This is especially true during adolescence as teenagers develop a sense of independence from their parents. Members of the peer group often dress alike. They talk about similar things, like the same music, laugh at the same jokes and share secrets. Adolescents spend much of their time away from home, whether at school, social events, or the homes of their friends.

Assignment on Brand Building Nike Marketing

Assignment On Brand Building Nike Marketing Essay History Nike is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. It is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment with revenue in excess of $18. 6 billion USD in its fiscal year 2008. It employed more than 30,000 people worldwide. The company was founded in January 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. The company takes its name from Nike the Greek goddess of victory.Nike markets its products under its own brand as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey (later renamed Nike Bauer) between 1995 and 2008. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of â€Å"Just do it† and the Swoosh logo.By 1980, Nike had reached a 50% market share in the United States athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year. Its growth was due largely to ‘word-of-foot' advertising (to quote a Nike print ad from the late 1970s), rather than television ads. Nike's first national television commercials ran in October 1982 during the broadcast of the New York Marathon. The ads were created by Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, which had formed several months earlier in April 1982.Together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television ads and the agency continues to be Nike's primary today. It was agency co-founder Dan Wieden who coined the now-famous slogan â€Å"Just Do It† for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th ce ntury, and the campaign has been enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution. San Franciscan Walt Stack was featured in Nike's first â€Å"Just Do It† advertisement that debuted on July 1, 1988.Wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan to â€Å"Let’s do it†, the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was executed. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its product line to include many other sports and regions throughout the world. What does the brand stand for? Nike stands for VICTORY. In Greek mythology, Nike was a goddess who embodied triumph. She assumed the role of the divine charioteer when Zeus was assembling allies for the Titan War; she flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame.And the whole brand has been build around it, to convey one and only message, the one of the Victory, with a big V. While Nike started up its business selling sneakers, it reasonably hit the tipping point when the strong and sticky message which has dir ects impact on human's subconscious worn by top athletes and runners. The Nike logo  «Ã‚  swoosh  Ã‚ » was not only developed from the wing of the Greek Goddess Nike, it was also developed to impact again the subconscious of the consumer as well. How?Nike logo has the shape of a tick, and through life and education we get some automatism with tick which means right and the cross which means wrong. Nike,  «Ã‚  Just Do It  Ã‚ » happens to be the stickiest tagline ever. It wins over the hearts of hundred of millions of Nike fans, psychologically, subconsciously, imperceptibly, deadly. So the Nike brand stands for victory, and more precisely: Competency: as we used to quote the Nike co-founder Bill Bower mane who made this observation  «Ã‚  If you have a body, you are an athlete. High performance : Nike promotes its products by sponsorship agreements with celebrity athlete, professional and athletic teams, they sponsor Cricket in India an Football in France for example, the mo st popular sports > they focus only on winners Achievement : the message is pretty clear when you see champion in Olympics wearing Nike > it's just like the Nike sneakers brought him or her to achievement thanks to the spirit of the Victory Godess of Greek Never say Die attitude : the mission statement of Nike that the 30 000 employees across 6 continents make their own contribution to fulfill is > to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world Nike’s changing Logo The Nike ‘Swoosh' embodies the spirit of the winged goddess, which the legend says inspired the most courageous and chivalrous warriors at the dawn of civilization. The first shoe to wear the swoosh logo was launched in 1972. In 2006, Nike has also experimented in its advertisements by removing the woosh altogether & Nike written in a new font, and this the old swoosh was toned down a bit. Nike Logo history Products by Nike Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first product s were track running shoes. They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, baselayers etc. for a wide range of sports including track & field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, Association football, lacrosse, basketball and cricket. Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987. The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6. 0, Nike NYX, and Nike SB shoes, designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes, called Air Zoom Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter than their competitors'.In 2008, Nike introduced the Air Jordan XX3, a high performance basketball shoe designed with the environment in mind. Nike sells an assortment of products, including shoes and apparel for sports activities for men, women, and children. Nike is well known and popular in youth culture, chav culture and hip hop culture as they supply urban fashion clothing. Nike recently teamed up with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike+ product which monitors a runner's performa nce via a radio device in the shoe which links to the iPod nano. While the product generates useful statistics, it has been criticized by researchers who were able to identify users' RFID devices from 18 m away using small, concealable intelligence motes in a wireless sensor network.Brand personality Nike has staked out a stylish, high-performance, innovative position in contrast to its competitors. It conveys the ideas of victory, puissance, sport attitude and masculinity. All these elements are emphasised by famous and successful sportive endorsement. With â€Å"Just do it Nike has promised its audience that the company is committed to the competitive spirit. Nike proposes that it will help people feel empowered, successful and best equipped to tackle the challenges of athletics. The company uses shades of gray and blue, which gives the brand a casual, unpretentious feeling. Nike’s famous swoosh creates feelings of movement and speed.Nike, the brand name itself, was once b etter known in Greek mythology as the goddess of victory. All these things and more give Nike its brand personality. How Does Nike maintain/communicate it’s intended brand image We shall concentrate on the marketing strategy of Nike by studying it’s 7 P model. Also, in the model itself we shall consider the integrated marketing communication adopted by Nike to enhance brand equity. Product Nike mainly concentrates on sportswear. The main product categories sold under Nike brand name include:http://gallery. clickthecity. com/albums/userpics/10006/pic56012. jpg Sports Footwear http://norcalsaversnest. com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cole-haan-coupons-discounts. jpg ApparelsBags (Handbags and bagpacks) Sports accessories Sports equipment In other words, all product categories sold under the Nike brand name are directly or indirectly related to sports and athleticism which in turn is the core brand image/ identity of Nike. Other Nike Brands include Cole Haan which is into casual footwear & dresses, Nike Team Sports which sells headgear &Bauer Nike Hockey Inc. which specializes in hockey and skating equipment. Hence, Nike sells unrelated categories under other brand names thus preventing confusion in the minds of the consumer Tune Your Run: The recent venture between Apple and Nike integrates your iPod and running shoes.The main innovation is that your speed & distance data can be recorded in your iPod and then synchronized with your PC to keep a tab on your progress Nike has always strived for innovation which inturn shows in their product research and development. Strategic partnerships and alliances with the most innovative partners ensure Nike is the global leader when it comes to sportswear innovations. Some of the famous innovations include: 2. House of Hoops : Partnership with Footlocker to promote the basketball line of Nike productshttp://blog. luon. com/public/Nike. JPG 3. Mass customization: Use of flexible computer-aided manufactu ring systems to produce custom output.Those systems combine the low unit costs of  mass production  processes with the flexibility of individual  customization. Price Nike’s pricing is designed to be competitive to the other fashion shoe retailers. The pricing is based on the basis of premium segment as target customers. Nike as a brand commands high premiums. Nike’s pricing strategy makes use of vertical integration in pricing wherein they own participants at differing channel levels or take part in more than one channel level operations. This can control costs and influence product pricing. Promotion Promotion is largely dependent on finding accessible store locations. It also avails of targeted advertising in the newspaper and creating strategic alliances.Nike has a number of famous athletes that serve as brand ambassadors such as the Brazilian Soccer Team (especially Ronaldino, Renaldo, and Roberto Carlos), Lebron James and Jermane O’Neal for basketbal l, Lance Armstrong for cycling, and Tiger Woods for Golf. Nike also sponsors events such as Hoop It Up and The Golden West Invitational. Nike’s brand images, the Nike name and the trademark swoosh, make it one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Nike’s brand power is one reason for its high revenues. Nike’s quality products, loyal customer base and its great marketing techniques all contribute to make the shoe empire a huge success. Place Nike shoes are carried by multi-brand stores and the exclusive Nike stores across the globe. Nike sells its product to about 20,000 retail accounts in the U. S. and in almost 200 countries around the world.In the international markets, Nike sells its products through independent distributors, licensees and subsidiaries. Independent distributors need not adapt to local pressures because the 4Ps of marketing are managed by distributors. In terms of product differentiation, NIKE is also leading the market. The only compe titor nearly has an identical business is Adidas-Solomon. Product differentiation is healthy in the footwear industry and allows the company to increase its profits through the sale of different products. Another advantage of manufacturing a number of product lines is the reduction of risk in that if one product fails there are numerous other products to compensate for this loss.Companies in the apparel and footwear industry that concentrate on manufacturing a single product are at a great disadvantage since their revenues depend exclusively on the sales of only one type of product, therefore, increasing the potential default risk. NIKE designs most of its footwear for athletic use; however, in order to diversify its products, a large percentage of their products come from sales of footwear, apparel, and accessories for casual and leisure purposes. The company segments its products in variety of ways. First of all, it manufactures sports goods and accessories for three different gro ups of people: men, women and children. Each segment is carefully examined in terms of physical capabilities, sociological needs, and design preference.Another type of segmentation used by NIKE that helps to increase product diversification is achieved by offering footwear, apparel, accessories, such as NIKE watches or gym bags, as well as performance equipment, including sport balls, timepieces, eyewear, skates, bats, gloves, and others in virtually every type of sport: running, basketball, tennis, golf, soccer, baseball, football, bicycling, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, aquatic activities, hiking, fencing, and others. Besides the two segmentations described above, NIKE also has agreements for licensees to produce and sell NIKE brand items aside from athletic footwear and apparel. In part, this product differentiation is accomplished through strategic management planning by having the company sell NIKE brand timepieces, children’s clothing, school supplies, electroni c media devices, and other items. NIKE subsidiaries, such as Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc. , are yet another way the company segments its product lines.Specifically, the Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc. subsidiary manufactures and distributes ice skates, skate blades, in-line roller skates, protective gear, hockey sticks and many other licensed apparel and accessories that make NIKE stand out in its industry. Communication Gaps in Branding of Nike Nike brand stands for: Competency Achievement High performance Never say Die attitude Nike was present in India since 1996 but didn’t rezlied the Indian potential till 2005. In Dec 2005, Nike was tied up with BCCI & then later went on to become the official kit sponsor of Indian Cricket Team. In 2007, Nike released its first Cricket related advertisement in India(1).Globally Nike is a sports brand targeted to youth (mainly 15-35 yrs of age), but in India the brand is not restricted to youth or sports enthusiasts only. The brand is seen as a daily we ar brand & the customers ranging from youth who like to wear it to college to the old people who may just wear it when they are going out of their homes. The future roadmap for Nike – To Increase their Brand Equity Nike has faced a lot of international criticism due to its Sweatshops in 3rd world countries like Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh etc. So, to convert this into an opportunity Nike should act as a socially responsible company & devise certain rules & regulations about the working conditions of their subcontractors.And if possible then Nike can also go for backward integration, and buy some of these subcontractors to increase their ownership & reduce their costs. The competition in the market in terms of Athletic goods is very high with major players like Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Fila etc. all growing their importance. To hedge its risk, Nike can also expand on its clothing line like currently in India Nike cotton T-shirts are available but they are available in very limi ted designs. So, Nike can grow a sports apparel maker to a fashion brand. The apparels division is the cash cow (according to BCG matrix) for Nike and thus, diversifying in this area will help Nike increase its bottomline. Thus, Nike can expand their business by expanding & adding a Daily wear clothes line to their portfolio.Nike can also sell the sports related product items which also have attributes like style & cool, something like Nike sunglasses, which are available in some countries but not in India. Nike is also under a lot of fad because of the plastics & other materials used in their shoes. So, rather than spending huge chunks on the celebrities, they can divert a small part of this advertising fund into R&D to produce green shoes i. e. environment friendly shoes. This would given them a heads up in the market in terms of innovation, would also give them a unique position in the minds of the responsible consumer, and of course an opportunity for free PR.Indian market being the world’s second largest (2) footwear manufacturer of the world has a huge opportunity of footwear sales. Thus, Nike can attack the middle & the lower end market by buying a current brand like Columbus or Welcome shoes and then manufacturing & marketing them in India. They can also, launch a complete new brand for the country & thus cater to the middle & lower segment. This way they can also cater to the vastly growing rural market of India. They have used the similar strategy by entering Walmart by buying the Starter brand, which is an apt brand for the value end of retail business. Read more:  http://www. ukessays. com/essays/marketing/assignment-on-brand-building-nike-marketing-essay. php#ixzz2O0SDwz7o