Monday, September 30, 2019

A book of Prefaces

Richard Wright’s novel â€Å"Black boy† is a â€Å"Coming of age† novel recording the childhood of the narrator Richard Wright in 1945. He tells his story about being an African- American, from his early childhood to his being an adult at 29 years old.Richard Wright tells his story in the first person occasionally thinking seriously about how the other people in the novel think or feel, leading to the reader to think that the narrator may be a real historical figure. Set in 1912-1937, primarily Jackson, Mississippi; West Helena, Richard Wright demonstrates the individualism, and intelligence he must hide because of his being a black man in the Jim Crow South.Richard Wright struggles as a black boy for acceptance and humane treatment. He graduates public school and enters the workforce where he is beaten up and terrorized by local racist whites. Richard struggles stubbornly to get out and make something of himself outside of the Jim Crow South. Obsessed with writi ng and reading, he wants to become a writer after reading â€Å"H. L. Mencken’s â€Å"A book of Prefaces. † I find the character dynamic as he demonstrates a kind of great role model for someone who is or was oppressed.He admires Jean-Pierre Sartre, and becomes a existential philosopher believer, believing life is only meaningful when we struggle to make it so. [At the age of twelve, before I had had one full year of formal schooling, I had†¦a conviction that the meaning of living came only when one was struggling to wring a meaning out of meaningless suffering. At the age of twelve I had an attitude toward life that was to†¦. make me skeptical of everything while seeking everything; tolerant of all and yet critical and could only keep alive in me the enthralling sense of wonder and awe in the face of the dramaOrder#31115029 Black Boy by Richard Wright Pg. 2 of human feeling which is hidden by the external drama of life;† end of chapter 3]. I admire th e character of Richard when he leaves the South at nineteen for Chicago to find what he thinks is a much better, dignified life. In this the author exercise’s his ambition as well as his talent as a writer. I believe Richard Wright understood the importance of writing about his experiences we see this when he writes about the hardships of racism as a black youth in the South and when he records his experiences through his writing.He enters the Communist Party and W. P. A. programs to find something more meaningful and comes into contact with his fellow serious writers to to write individual ideals about life he thinks are important as a living in a commune. He judges people from his experience and thinks the fundamental problems of social existence is a lack of â€Å"human unity,† not the need physical food or survival. I believe he wants his fellow African Americans to know their identity and come together as a powerful union to combat prejudice. [My life as a Negro I n America had led me to feel†¦.that the problem of human unity was more important than bread, more important than physical living itself, for I felt that without a common bond uniting men†¦. There could be no living worthy of being called a human; beginning of Chapter 18]. Sadly Richard is thrown out from the Communist party after he has a new vision. I understand his thoughts about life is general and is an endless swirl of pain and suffering, believes the exciting experiences in life are the attempts to make order and form from chaos. It is what he thinks about his own writing, ideas, and art.I believe he hoped to accomplish in writing â€Å"Black boy† more than a reorder of his own past to understand himself, but he was also trying to understand his readers as well. [I would make his life more intelligible to others than it was to himself. I would reclaim his disordered days and cast them into form that people could grasp, see, understand, and accept,† Chap t 19]. -Works Cited- Black Boy by Richard Wright (1945): Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia Fourth Edition Edited by Bruce Murphy; 1996. Sparknotes: Black boy: Themes, motifs, & symbols WWW. Sparknotes. com/lit/ blackboy/themes. html

Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Value of a College Education

The value of a college education In the 21st century depends on why the person Is attending In the first place. For some It's a family tradition, their fathers, fathers went to college and so the tradition should continue. Which would make the the value In this case acceptance from ones family. Others have no Idea what they want out of life but hope college is the place to find it. For me college is a means to and end.It's become the next logical step in my life because without it I can no longer move up in the Job field I'm currently in. The value college education is priceless. Of course most think of it as another bill but let's not forget their s always a way to get around that like scholarships, tuition pay and financial aid. But what most don't realize is that value of education is really the doors that open up or that piece of paper you studied and paid for.With a college education your possibilities are endless. The knowledge you gain will give you the upper hand in life, bei ng employable for a Job with a future. Because after all no one wants to work In retail forever or any other dead end Job for that matter. More now than ever a college Is needed. The relationship between success and a College education becomes stronger every year. A higher level of education Is

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Bacterial Growth Requirements

Bacteria Growth Requirements Microbiology Life as we now it has ended. What is left you ask? Well it is said the only thing that could survive an incident that could end our known way of life is a roach and a pack or Twinkies. In truth the great survivor would be microorganisms. Microorganisms can survive where most cannot due to their size, nutritional needs, energy requirements, and are very good at adapting to different environments (Black 2008).Microorganisms require two things to live a long healthy life, and these are physical and nutritional factors. Physical factors include pH, temperature, oxygen concentration, moisture, hydrostatic pressure, osmotic pressure, and radiation (Black 2008). Nutritional factors include carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, trace elements, and sometimes vitamins (Black 2008). For the purpose of this exercise I will focus on E. coli. Pathogenic Escherichia coli will be discussed since it is a common, but dangerous bacterium.E. coli in humans is fo und in the intestines. This bacterium is very durable, meaning that it is well-adapted to its habitat. For example, it can grow with glucose being the only food source. This bacterium can also grow with or without O2. If located in anaerobic habitat it can it will use the fermentation process producing mixed acids and gases (Todar 2012). This bacterium has shown that it can also use anaerobic respiration when NO3 or NO2 is available.Chemicals, pH, temperature, are a few signals that determines how E. coli will respond (Todar 2012). When it senses a change in the environment it can swim toward or away from anything useful or harmful. Temperature can also affect E. coli. A change in temperature allows E. coli to change pore diameter of its outer membrane to accommodate certain nutrients, or to exclude something harmful. E. coli also rations its nutrient supply by taking in account how much is available in its environment.This means that it will not take in nutrients unless it has enou gh to feed more bacteria that will be produced (Todar 2012). As you can see, this amazing microbe has the ability to adapt to its environment and in some case overcome. Imagine the microbes that are out there that has not be identified yet. Reference Black, J. (2008). Microbiology principals and explorations. (7th Edition ed. ). Jefferson City: GGS Book Services. Todar, K. (2012). Todars online textbook of bacteriology. Retrieved from http://www. textbookofbacteriology. net/e. coli. html Bacterial Growth Requirements Bacterial Growth Requirements Evelyn Lyle ITT Technical Institute Angela Ask, MPS January 15, 2012 Every organism must find in its environment all of the substances required for energy generation and cellular biosynthesis. The chemicals and elements of this environment that are utilized for bacterial growth are referred to as nutrients. Many bacteria can be identified in the environment by inspection or using genetic techniques. The nutritional requirements of a bacterium such as E Coli are revealed by the cell’s elemental composition.These elements are found in the form of water, inorganic ions, small molecules and macromolecules which serve either a structural or functional role in the cells. Bacteria thrive by four things oxygen, food (nutrients), warmth and time but two others can be moisture and acidity. Nutrients are needed for energy, nitrogen (for DNA and proteins), phosphorus (for energy), and others. Warmth is needed so the bacteria can stay warm. Oxygen is needed so the bacteria can make energy and time is needed for the bacteria to complete binary fission over and over again. Acidity is needed so the bacteria can survive in its environment.Highly base or acidic environments may harm the bacteria and hinder its lifespan. In order to survive and grow, microorganisms require a source of energy and nourishment. Bacteria are the most primitive forms of microorganisms but are composed of a great variety of simple and complex molecules and are able to carry out a wide range of chemical transformations. Depending on their requirements and the source of energy used they are classified into different nutritional groups. Most microorganisms grow well at the normal temperatures favored by man, higher plants and animals.Certain bacteria grow at temperatures (extreme heat or cold) at which few higher organisms can survive. Most bacteria grow best in an environment with a narrow pH range near neutrality between pH 6. 5 and 7. 5. Microbes contain approximate ly 80-90% water and I f placed in a solution with a higher solute concentration will lose water which causes shrinkage of the cell. Some bacteria have adapted so well to high salt concentrations that they actually require them for growth. Nitrogen and phosphorus are particularly critical because they often control the rates of photosynthesis.Carbon is significantly more abundant than either of them and oxygen and sulfur are more abundant that phosphorous. Nitrogen and phosphorous are less available to plants relative to their growth requirements than are other elements. Phosphorus is often in short supply and limits plant and algae growth. Nitrogen is a major constituent of all proteins and of all living organisms. A lack of nitrogen can limit growth of plants, since nearly three quarters of its atmosphere consists of natural gas, N2. REFERENCES A New Way to Look at Microorganisms. (n. d). American Scientist, 93(6), 514.

Friday, September 27, 2019

The unconventional and powerful women of uncle tom's cabin Research Paper

The unconventional and powerful women of uncle tom's cabin - Research Paper Example The behaviors that are described are used specifically to create a different understanding of the women in the book and to provide a different sense of insight to the women of the time period and the roles which were carried out with the responses to slavery. The main ideologies which are seen in â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin† are based on showing the conventional women as a main identity juxtaposed against those that don’t have the same ideals. The concept of the conventional woman is based on those who are submissive in society and which have a demeanor that is below men and is known for beauty. The unconventional women reject this ideal and move against this to create an outlook that is tough, rigid and which doesn’t conform to the submission that is a part of the social acceptance of gender. A point that shows this is when Marie becomes angry with her cousin. â€Å" ‘Delicacy! Said Marie, with a scornful laugh – ‘a fine word for such as s he! I’ll teach her, with all her airs, that she’s no better than the raggedest black wench that walks the streets! She’ll take no more airs with me!’† (Stowe, 366). This is an important line in the story as it shows the difference between the women. The identity of one is based on beauty, delicacy and the ‘lady-like airs.’ However, Stowe sides with the Marie who is interested in making the woman into a ‘wench’ and to teach her a lesson about the realities of life. The identity of gender leads from the conventional to one who rebels against this because of the values that are learned with gender. The unconventional ways in which Stowe focuses on the women in the book leads to one of the main controversies, specifically because of the time frame in which this was written in. The sentimental value doesn’t come from the lady like airs, but rather the toughness of the women. The value which is created among male scholars is one which would be associated with the lack of gender identity among the women. However, for women, there is a sense of identity, feminine power and value to the women which creates a type of sentiment and understanding to those that are in this condition. The representation of the women is then able to speak to an audience that moves beyond male scholars and instead speaks to the women who have the same conflicts with the belief that they are inferior because of their gender (Tompkins, 123). The concept of speaking to women, creating sentimental value and going against the convention all work together with several examples through â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin.† Stowe is able to show how the idea of being unconventional is the only thing which allows the women to overcome their condition that is noted throughout the book. It also gives a sense of acceptance to those that don’t stay in the normal identity and which are able to create their own power by remaining ou tside of this. For instance, when Miss Ophelia and Marie are speaking, there is reference to Marie’s past life and her children. Marie states â€Å"Well, of course, I couldn’t bring them. They were little dirty things – I couldn’t have them about; and, besides, they took up too much of her time; but I believe that Mammy has always kept up a sort of sulkiness about this† (Stowe, 192). Marie then refers to her children as selfish and her need to take care of herself. The unconvention

Thursday, September 26, 2019

State and Society in 20th century China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

State and Society in 20th century China - Essay Example It was 1975 when Deng took the control of China – in just two years after Deng started a plan – which lasted for 10 years, i.e. from 1977 up to 1987, and became known as a ‘political structural reform’ (Gittings, 2006, 165); the main target of this scheme has been the extinction of old political ideas – referring mostly to those developed during the governance of China by Mao – and their replacement with new political principles – incorporated within the above scheme. The efforts for China’s political reform had many opponents; one of them has been Hua Guofeng – a successor of Mao, in terms of his political ideas and targets. The resistance of Hua and his supporters towards the political changes promoted by Deng proves the refusal of Chinese politicians to be aligned with the current political trends (Gittings, 2006, 167) and their preference towards the traditional principles of Communism – as expressed through Mao ’s political choices. It could be stated that political reform in China was imposed because of the need for an economic reform – which could not be achieved unless the political structure and principles in China were changed – after making this assumption Deng enforced the development of the country’s political structure through a licence granted in 1986 (Gittings, 2006, 197). Certain aspects of the attempted political reform attempted by Deng after 1986 are the following: a) change of the country’s political system to capitalism – even if communism has been the primary political system its structure has been changed showing similar characteristics with political systems that are based on capitalism (Gittings, 2006, 213), b) development of ‘patriotism’ – a concept that was not particular supported during the governance of the country by Mao (Gittings, 2006, 209), c) the increase of the political civilization in China (Git tings, 2006, 13), d) the improvement of the relationship ‘between intellectuals

Discuss the expression theory of art, using the chapter from Essay

Discuss the expression theory of art, using the chapter from freelandbut is it art - Essay Example Sometimes these theories focus solely upon the creation process of the artwork while other theories focus more upon the receiving process of the audience. Still other theories range around the concepts between these extremes, from the way in which the thoughts, feelings, ideas or other communicated goals are transferred from the artist’s mind to the canvas, musical score or movement, captured within that medium and then transferred to an audience. As is evident from the range of these theories, the role of the individual artist has been explored, as has the role of the audience, but another aspect of the creation of art that has played a significant role in the investigation of what is art is the role of the ideologies and customs inherent in the society in which the artwork is created as well as that which is receiving it, which do not always have similar outlooks. A prime example of this can be found in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. As it was being painted, depiction s of nudes were completely acceptable and natural but only a few years later they were considered indecent and were given flowing garments to cover the more objectionable parts.2 While it has not been agreed upon which is the most important function of art, most all theorists agree that art does convey meaning either cognitively or expressively. The expressive theory of art contends that art conveys its meaning primarily through an appeal to the senses of its audience, evoking specific emotions and feelings intended either consciously or unconsciously by the artist and capable of conveying even complex ideas such as the existence of God or the power of the mind. As defined by Freeland,3 the ‘expression theory’ as it pertains to art is based on the concept that art is intended to communicate something to the viewer that is focused upon exacting an emotion or feeling. This is accomplished through careful use of line

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Nobel prize winner Franco Modigliani Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nobel prize winner Franco Modigliani - Essay Example Instead, he opted to study law because that was the most famous field of education during that time in Italy. While studying law, he won first prize in an essay competition that was on economics; and this laid foundation for him to pursue economics in future. However, he had known that economics would not provide much opportunity for him in Europe because of fascist movements. Modigliani left Italy because of the fascist movements and the pact between Hitler and Stalin. From Rome, he moved to Paris and then to the United States just before the World War II began. He left for the United States to pursue his studies on Economics after realizing that his efforts in Europe would be futile due to political turmoil. He joined the New School for Social Research in New York that provided him the scholarship to study. There, he completed his PhD in social science in 1944 and worked as assistant professor in mathematical economics and econometrics in 1946. Between 1946 and 1960 he was associat ed with University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Carnegie Institute, Harvard University and Northwestern University. In 1948, he was awarded the Political Economy Fellowship of the University of Chicago. ... iting professor, Modigliani also worked on various other important and futuristic aspects of international finance, international payment system, impact of inflation, into various fields of finance such as credit rationing, the term structure of interest rates and the valuation of speculative assets. Modigliani, along with his student Richard Brumberg in 1954, formulated the life-cycle hypothesis of saving that was later developed by Modigliani and Albert Ando in 1963 with the use of many empirical studies. Modigliani’s work on this hypothesis was revisited again in 1980. This hypothesis debates upon Maynard Keynes’ General Theory or the consumption theory that directly relates current consumption with current income. Contrary to Keynesian theory, the life-cycle theory postulates that individual consumption in any time period depends on: resources available to the individual; the rate of return on his capital; and the age of the individual (Dwivedi, 159-160). On broader level, this hypothesis relates to the national economy in the way that national saving is directly linked with national income and mass of national wealth will be in proportion with the length of life span of working. This hypothesis made along with Brumberg was not empirically proven, and hence did not gain significance until Modigliani proved this hypothesis along with Ando and other associates. Modigliani’s hypothesized that in general, individuals tend to keep their expenditure and lifestyle constant, irrespective of their varying levels of income. This means, individuals tend to save more money when their earnings are higher and save less when their earnings drop. When their income is higher, they tend to spend more without assessing potential risks in future to their incomes; however, if

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Topic 5-1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Topic 5-1 - Essay Example The Social Institution and Gender Index (SIGI) is an efficient tool for helping women realize their abilities and develop proper career alternatives. The tool emphasizes on fighting for the rights of women by providing evidence as to the actual levels of discrimination that females face. The only detriment of using the tool is that it may promote overconcentration on feminine gender and encourage discrimination of the masculine gender as already happens in some countries. Ethical concern relating to Social Institution and Gender Index (SIGI) is that it is forgetting and biasing against masculine gender. The tool places much emphasis on promoting feminine rights and doing nothing to the masculine gender. This element of SIGI may lead it in causing further imbalance across the genders. When compared with the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), SIGI performs poorly in promoting gender balance in careers. The ASVAB gives people across all genders opportunity to take career test without any form of discrimination. Qualification of individuals depends solely on their performances. In that respect, SIGI can cause social conflict in the career fields in the long term, while ASVAB can reinforce the perceptions of gender unfairness in career

Monday, September 23, 2019

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The broad membership of the panel includes people from investor community, law practitioners in the city and people from business houses. The panel became a statuary body in May-06, thereby giving it the power to enforce its rules and lows in compliance of the code. The code of the panel is also included in the part 28 of the Companies Act 2006. It is the overall responsibility of the panel towards policy making, financing and administrating functions or the Panel and its code. The two committees of Panel include the Hearing Committee and the Code Committee. It also has a Panel Executive that carries out the daily work of the Panel and is creditworthy of general administration. The Panel operates with 6 general principles, 38 rules and 4 fundamental objectives which include equal and fair treatment for shareholders, availability of information to the shareholders in proper and timely manner, restoring fair markets and preventing frustration action against any of them. B. Identify and examine economic reasons for acquisitions and mergers and discuss why the expected economic benefits may not be achieved? The primary reason for acquisitions and mergers by a firm is its desire and effort to increase its market power. For increase the size and market capitalization of the firm, company’s go for horizontal, vertical and conglomerate mergers. Other economic reasons for acquisitions and mergers include overcoming of market barriers, increased speed to the market by increasing market capitalization and gaining access to new markets, overcoming the high risk and high costs of new product development, diversification into other activities/businesses, and reshaping the firm’s competitive scope. Some companies go for mergers and acquisitions to restructure their cost of capital by increasing/diluting equity and through leverage buyouts. More often cross border acquisitions offer the company with cheap access to resources like labour and raw materials, modern technology and sometimes benefits from legality. Sometimes the expected benefits out of a merger and acquisition may not be achieved by the firms. Many firms tend to increase their cost of capital post merger rather than decreasing it. Moreover, in case of leverage buyouts many companies fall in liquidity and solvency risks by increasing their debt equity ratio more than anticipated. For a successful merger and acquisition a firm needs to understand the culture of the organization it is aiming to acquire. The firm many not receive a good support from the employees and stakeholders of the organization acquired which reduces the economic benefits expected out of the acquisition. Another primary concern in the acquisitions is the valuation of company to be acquired. In case of high valuations where a company pays high price in excess of market value for acquiring other company, economic benefits tend to dry down over a period of time. Part 2 Identify the long term funding options avail able for unquoted small and medium business enterprises, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these funding options. Small and medium businesses (SME’s) include the companies that are not listed in stock exchange and wherein business is owned by a limited number of people. Moreover, there includes family partnerships in which individuals start-off with the purpose of achieving self employment. SME’s face problems in getting financing primarily due to

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Essence of Love Essay Example for Free

The Essence of Love Essay The essence of love is an eternally controversial topic, the opinions of which vary from person to person. Some dont have sufficient faith in pure-love, on the contrary, others are firmly convinced that love is unconditional. From my perspective, love is as immaculate as snow that people yearn for, however to some extent, the material factor is supposed to be emphasized beyond reproach. What should be reached an absolute consensus is that genuine love cant depend on how much money he or she possesses, as the reason why you love him or her is relevant to nothing but the feeling when you get together. Your life can be perfect if you grow old with whom you love. When love comes to you, you can fly like an angel, living where full of brilliantly-colored and fragrant flowers. Nevertheless, coming back to earth, if you dont have money, how can your life be sustained? No one can deny that there is a common phenomenon in terms of love that many people divorce or lovers break up just due to economic reasons, like a tragedy. In the course of going in for eternal love, you may be in a dilemma that how to figure out the tricky and perplexing question which is more significant, the true love or the money? However, as a matter of fact, money is the base of our life, as correspond to love. What if you marry a person who is not your cup of tea?

Saturday, September 21, 2019

India occupies a strategic position

India occupies a strategic position India occupies a strategic position in Asia, looking across the seas to Arabia and Africa on the west and to Burma, Malaysia and the Indonesian Archipelago on the east. Geographically, the Himalayan ranges keeps India apart from the rest of Asia. Location India lies to the north of the equator between 8 4 and 37Â ° 6 north latitude and 68Â ° 7 and 97Â ° 25 east longitude. It is bounded on the south west by the Arabian Sea and on the south east by the Bay of Bengal. On the north, north east and North West lie the Himalayan ranges. Kanyakumari constitutes the southern tip of the Indian peninsula where it gets narrower and narrower, loses itself into the Indian Ocean. Neighbours India shares its political borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan on the west and Bangladesh and Burma on the east. The northern boundary is made up of the Sinkiang province of China, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. India is separated from Sri Lanka by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. Physiographic regions The mainland comprises seven regions. (1) Northern Mountains including the Himalayas and the North Eastern mountain ranges, (2) The Indo Gangetic plain, (3) The Desert, (4) Central highlands and Peninsular plateau, (5) East Coast, (6) West Coast, (7) Bordering seas and islands. Languages in India The different states of India have different official languages, some of them not recognized by the central government. Some states have more then one official language. Bihar in east India has three official languages Hindi, Urdu and Bengali which are all recognized by the central government. INDIAN SOCIETY CULTURE Hierarchy The influences of Hinduism and the tradition of the caste system have created a culture that emphasizes established hierarchical relationships.Indians are always conscious of social order and their status relative to other people, be they family, friends, or strangers. All relationships involve hierarchies. In schools, teachers are called gurus and are viewed as the source of all knowledge. The patriarch, usually the father, is considered the leader of the family. The boss is seen as the source of ultimate responsibility in business. Every relationship has a clear- cut hierarchy that must be observed for the social order to be maintained. Political administration of India India is a democracy. Before its independence its future leaders chose the liberal democratic system as the administration system of India. On 26/01/1950, India declared itself as Republic. On this day the Constitution of India came into force. Today India is a federation of 28 states and 7 union territories and formally this federation is known as a Union. Nominally the head of the country is the President in whom all executive powers are vested, but the real administrator of the country is the Prime Minister. After the national elections are held the President calls the most suitable candidate to form a government, known as the central government. Normally this candidate is the head of the largest party in the parliament. In case the government resigns because of any reason, the President can call the other candidate to form the government. The President can also declare, according to government advice, on new elections and if necessary an emergency state. The President has the right to be updated about crucial government matters and other rights like giving amnesty to prisoners etc. According to the Constitution, elections are to be held once in every five years, unless the parliament dissolves earlier or on the other hand, emergency is declared and in such a case parliament can continue another year. The Indian Parliament consists of two houses. The Lower House called the Lok Sabha and the Upper House called the Rajya Sabha. In the national elections candidates are chosen for the Lower House. The candidates are elected in territorial constituencies. There are 543 territorial constituencies. Two members from the Anglo-Indian community are nominated to the Lower House by the President. The law, which obliges Government office to reserve 15% from the Scheduled Castes and 7% from the Scheduled Tribes, also exists in the Parliament. At least 22% of the Indian Parliament members belong to these two communities. In the past few years there is an attempt to oblige a law to allow about 33% women as Parliament members. The Upper House, Rajya Sabha, consists of up to 250 members. Of these members 230 are elected by state legislatures and about 15 are nominated by the President. Unlike the Lower House, the Upper House cannot be dissolved, but one third of its members resign every two years. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IN INDIA International Business in India looks really lucrative and every passing day, it is coming up with only more possibilities. The growth in the international business sector in India is more than 7% annually. There is scope for more improvement if only the relations with the neighbouring countries are stabilized. The mind-blowing performance of the stock market in India has gathered all the more attention (in comparison to the other international bourses). India definitely stands as an opportune place to explore business possibilities, with its high-skilled manpower and budding middle class segment. With the diverse cultural setup, it is advisable not to formulate a uniform business strategy in India. Different parts of the country are well-known for its different traits. The eastern part of India is known as the Land of the intellectuals, whereas the southern part is known for its technology acumen. On the other hand, the western part is known as the commercial-capital of the country, with the northern part being the hub of political power. With such diversities in all the four segments of the country, international business opportunity in India is surely huge. Sectors having potential for International business in India Information Technology and Electronics Hardware. Telecommunication. Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology. RD. Banking, Financial Institutions and Insurance Pensions. Capital Market. Chemicals and Hydrocarbons. Infrastructure. Agriculture and Food Processing. Retailing. Logistics. Manufacturing. Power and Non-conventional Energy. Sectors like Health, Education, Housing, Resource Conservation Management Group, Water Resources, Environment, Rural Development, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Urban Development are still not tapped properly and thus the huge scope should be exploited. To foster the international business scenario in India, bodies like CII, FICCI and the various Chambers of Commerce, have a host of services like These bodies work closely with the Government and the different business promotion organizations to infuse more business development in India. They help to build strong relationships with the different international business organizations and the multinational corporations. These bodies help to identify the bilateral business co-operation potential and thereafter make apt policy recommendations to the different overseas Governments. With opportunities huge, the International Business trend in India is mind boggling. India International Business community along with the domestic business community is striving towards a steady path to be the Knowledge Capital of the world. It was evident till a few years back that India had a marginal role in the international affairs. The image was not bright enough to be the cynosure among the shining stars. The credit rating agencies had radically brought down the countrys ratings. But, as of now, after liberalization process and the concept of an open economy international business in India grew manifold. Future definitely has more to offer to the entire world INTRODUCTION OF SOMALIA: Somalia Geography Somalia, situated in the Horn of Africa, lies along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It is bounded by Djibouti in the northwest, Ethiopia in the west, and Kenya in the southwest. In area it is slightly smaller than Texas. Generally arid and barren, Somalia has two chief rivers, the Shebelle and the Juba. Government Between Jan. 1991 and Aug. 2000, Somalia had no working government. A fragile parliamentary government was formed in 2000, but it expired in 2003 without establishing control of the country. In 2004, a new transitional parliament was instituted and elected a president. History From the 7th to the 10th century, Arab and Persian trading posts were established along the coast of present-day Somalia. Nomadic tribes occupied the interior, occasionally pushing into Ethiopian territory. In the 16th century, Turkish rule extended to the northern coast, and the sultans of Zanzibar gained control in the south. After British occupation of Aden in 1839, the Somali coast became its source of food. The French established a coal-mining station in 1862 at the site of Djibouti, and the Italians planted a settlement in Eritrea. Egypt, which for a time claimed Turkish rights in the area, was succeeded by Britain. By 1920, a British and an Italian protectorate occupied what is now Somalia. The British ruled the entire area after 1941, with Italy returning in 1950 to serve as United Nations trustee for its former territory. By 1960, Britain and Italy granted independence to their respective sectors, enabling the two to join as the Republic of Somalia on July 1, 1960. Somalia broke diplomatic relations with Britain in 1963 when the British granted the Somali-populated Northern Frontier District of Kenya to the Republic of Kenya. On Oct. 15, 1969, President Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated and the army seized power. Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre, as president of a renamed Somali Democratic Republic, leaned heavily toward the USSR. In 1977, Somalia openly backed rebels in the easternmost area of Ethiopia, the Ogaden Desert, which had been seized by Ethiopia at the turn of the century. Somalia acknowledged defeat in an eight-month war against the Ethiopians that year, having lost much of its 32,000-man army and most of its tanks and planes. President Siad Barre fled the country in late Jan. 1991. His departure left Somalia in the hands of a number of clan-based guerrilla groups, none of which trust ed each other. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTION A number of hotels were built when a new deep-water port was opened in the capital Mogadishu with the help of the World Bank. However, tourism to Somalia is not encouraged. There are many historical cities, and in the south of Somalia the flora and fauna are particularly interesting, but until the security situation improves tourism is a risky matter not to be embarked upon lightly. MAIN IMPORT: Foodstuffs Chemicals Machinery Textiles And petroleum. MAIN EXPORTS: livestock Banana. Meat, Fish leather Wood. AIRPORT HARBOUR The international airport is at Mogadishu. Major towns are connected by Somali Airlines, the national carrier. Flights are often disrupted because of security concerns. The main harbours in Somalia are Mogadishu, Berbera and Kismayu. The port of Mogadishu now has modern shipping berths. BILATERAL RELATIONS INDIA AND SOMALIA Bilateral: India and Somalia enjoyed excellent political, economical and cultural relationship until the collapse of the previous regime in 1991. After over a decade of civil war, Somalia now has a Transitional National Government established in August 2000, which expressed its desire to re-establish all round and traditional relations, which existed between the two countries and peoples. Somalia attached great importance to Indo-Somali bilateral relations and has sought Indias help in training of disarmed militias, rehabilitation, modernization and equipment of the reactivated military and police camps, training of staff in human health sector and rehabilitation of public infrastructures. Diplomatic Links: Due to increasing civilian unrest and mutiny by a section of the remed forces, in early 1990s that resulted in widespread attacks on foreign nationals and their interests we were compelled to close our Mission in Mogadishu. Recent High level Meetings: EAM met the Somalian Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the Asian-African Summit on April 23, 2005. The Somalian Foreign Minister sought Indias assistance in diverse areas including reconstruction, education, fisheries and energy sector. Trade Relations: Trade relations with India continues through the private sectors. Trade Relations with others (as per 1994 estimate) Imports US$ 269 million chiefly petroleum products, foodstuff, construction material and machinery. Exports US$ 130 million Live Animals, Fish, Hides and Banana. ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. As we have compared the economic indicators of the countries India and Somalia it is observed that the status of Somalia is far better than India. The business opportunity is more in Somalia due to the available resources in the country and also the technology available there. CONCLUSION: Both the countries are very different from each other but still both the countries are trying to have good relations through the trade. Basically they are dealing in wood, steel and iron items and they are focusing over it infact they are having deal over the trade of all these products. If they continue to have good economic relations and they can make good growth. REFERENCE TO WEBSITES:- http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/somalia/ http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/somalia-INTERNATIONAL-TRADE.html http://www.ckc.mofcom.gov.cn/ciweb/kcc/info/Article.jsp?a_no=68941col_no=744 REFERENCE TO TABLES:- International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Rational Choice and Deterrence Theory

Rational Choice and Deterrence Theory Since Marchese Beccaria who, as one of the first mentioned that the real purpose of punishment is is no other than to prevent the criminal from doing further injury to society, and prevent others from committing the like offense (Baccaria 1764), many researchers as well as general community have begun to concentrate on the notion of personal choice when explaining what pushes offenders to commit crimes. Rational Choice Theory became one of the most popular concepts which support the deterrence philosophy. Although, the association between those two theories was welcomed by many, it also had its critiques and opponents. In this paper, I will explain how and to what degree, Rational Choice Theory supports the concept of deterrence. I will also discuss some of the contradictory theories and criminal behaviors that do not support Rational Choice Theory and state my opinion on consequences that this study may embrace on guilty mind concept which is, according to the criminal law, one of t he necessary elements of the crime. The concept of Rational Choice Theory is rooted in the analysis of human behavior that was established by Italian scholar named Marchese Beccaria. The main point of his examination describes the human being as a rational actor who calculates rationality using ends and means formula. According to Beccaria People (freely) choose all behavior, both conforming and deviant, based on their rational calculations, the central element of calculation involves a cost benefit analysis: Pleasure versus Pain, (Beccaria 1764). In his line of reasoning, Beccaria determined that in order to prevent the criminal or wrongdoing behavior, the form of punishment equivalent to the severity of crime committed should be implemented. The concept of punishing criminals in accordance to the crime they have committed in order not only to prevent the criminal from committing the similar act in the future(special deterrence), but also to warn the general public of the possible consequences of such behavior(general deterrence), became known as Deterrence Theory. In todays world of criminal justice, it is still seen as one of the most important aspect in the whole idea of punishment. Due to the failure of rehabilitative theories and major increase in crime rates in 1970s and 1980s, the concept of free, rational choice, based on the calculation of cost and benefits began to interest criminologist and researchers across the country. Examination of illegal decision making process began to be perceived as the key to understanding the real purpose of crime and what motivates it. During those years, Modern Rational Choice Theory emerged. Contemporary criminologist began to rely on the idea which claimed that threat of punishment tends to deter the individual from wrongdoing just as rewards tend to encourage pleasing behavior. Because of this new trend of thinking, many laws that increased mandatory sentences for numerous crimes, mainly those drug-related have been passed and executed. Did wide use of deterrence as the tool of discouraging people from committing crimes accomplished its initial goal? The answer is double sided. Violent crime rates began to indeed, drop i n mid-1990s as well as did drug offences. It was however, also due to changes in many other aspects like increase police recruitment across the country, good economic prosperity that discourages criminal behavior as well as change in mentality of people that had been subjects to violent behaviors. On the negative side, because of the fact that mandatory sentences for non-violent, drug related offences were increased significantly, the prison population also augmented significantly burdening the pockets of taxpayers. As this happened, more and more researchers began to criticize the method of punishment supported by Rational Choice Theory. Does fear of severe punishment really discourage criminals from committing crimes? Wasnt it only the philosophy of Rational Choice Theory of punishment that put the concept of deterrence in such an advantaged position in our criminal justice system and which still has such a massive impact on current crime control policy? Without any doubt, the strong connections between these two makes both theories stand out and seem very balanced and reasonable. However, as the frustration caused by some of the negative effects of their usage increased, contradictory theories began to emerge. Moreover, some criminal behaviors such as rapes and even in some cases, murders seem not to be positively affected by increased punishment as the form of deterrence for these crimes. Rational Choice Theory differs from many other criminal theories mainly because of its main principal that defines crime as a solely individual choice. The concept does not focus on other, crucial factors like individual traits, criminal associations and inner strains that may also play a huge role in pushing an individual to committing certain crimes. One of the most known models that oppose the Rational Choice Theory is Classical Theory introduced by Clarke and Cornish. Both authors agree that, while committing the crime, people are not perfectly rational and in some cases they are completely unreasonable. Moreover, they touch upon the costs and benefits of crime very broadly including only official and unperturbed permissions. According to their views, A range of factors influence and individuals estimates of costs and benefits of crime: self-control, moral beliefs, strains, emotional state, association with delinquent peers.(Clarke and Cornish, 1986). In addition, many researcher s have also found that the severity of punishment is far less important for potential criminal as oppose to certainty of that punishment. Some extreme opponents of Rational Choice Theory even believe that, People are not usually aware of certainty and severity of punishment for the area in which they live, therefore increasing certainty of punishment may reduce crime, but the effect will be short-lived and localized.(Class PPT). This opinion creates another argument which indeed questions and doubts the entire purpose of severe punishment as a successful method of deterrence and it is valid to a large extent. Besides the theoretical aspects that oppose the Rational Choice Theory, there are many practical ones that are against it as well. According to numerous scholars, individuals are much less likely to be affected by initial benefits of certain crime when they are intoxicated or mentally disturbed. Many people that commit crime are very low in self-control and often perceive the crime as simply not wrong. These individual however, are more likely to be discouraged from doing something illegal by the threat of punishment. Another study suggest that, the more severe the punishment is for a certain crime, the less likely it is for jury to execute a specific sentence; therefore it seems that as severity of the crime increases, certainty of harsh sentence decreases. If one would want to push the rational choice model to its extent, he or she may even argue that more severe and direct the punishment for the crime is in combination with negative experiences with law enforcement may actually increase the likelihood of subsequent crime. In todays world, where the access to illegal substances and alcohol is still fairly easy and domestic violent rates are still high, one could assume, without a big doubt, that offenders often commit crimes on an impulse, while intoxicated or under some emotional or mental pressure caused by, for example bad financial situation or difficult, inner family condition. What many call crime overload is certainly another problem. As crime rates increase, police forces are strained and the certainty of possible arrest decreases. As crime rates decline, police activity usually strengthens and certainty of arrest increases. The fundamental apparatus is what should be examined here. Does certainty of possible arrest daunts individual from committing a crime or does the small level of crime increase certainty? According to researchers like Marcus Felson, Stephan Pfohl and Alan Liska, some crimes and deviant behaviors, especially those considered capital offences like murder or rape with additional bodily harm are not affected by more severe punishment. The above mentioned scholars argue that capital punishment shows that anticipated, overall deterrent effect may not be present. As Pfohl claims, There appears to be little, if any, difference in rates of capital offenses between states which impose the death penalty and those that do not. In fact, an inverse correlation has been documented; when states abolish the death penalty a corresponding drop in capital crimes is reported (Pfohl, , 1994). Finally, issue regarding the effectiveness of deterrent policies and particularly the suitability of incapacitation and revenge bring up moral and official worries. How far do we really want to go in punishing criminals? Is incapacitation the most concrete use of common capitals? Looking at the widesp read understanding among criminologists that considers aging out as one of the most important elements of crime process, increasing mandatory sentences for all crimes that are believed to have been committed by perfectly rational individuals who have accurately weighted out all the costs and benefits of the crime they wished to commit, the incapacitation alone seems merely impractical. Without proper rehabilitation these individuals are very likely to commit these crimes again in the future. Great example of the modern use of punishment in accordance with Rational Choice Theory is present in the files from Atkins vs. Virginia Court Case that took place in the year 2000. Despite the fact that Atkins was diagnosed as mildly-retarded with a full IQ of 59, he was sentenced to death for committing crimes of armed robbery and murder. The case was particularly controversial because many believed that under 8th amendment which prohibits Cruel Punishment, Atkins shouldnt be sentenced to death but rather to long imprisonment. After the verdict was released, many scholars, lawyers and policy makers began to ask themselves what is the real role of 8th amendment after all? It seemed as in our country, pressure of public opinion and swiftness of prosecutors may push some cases above the supreme law of our land. I believe that the criminal research that evaluates the deterrence with the connection to the Rational Choice Theory may hold many consequences for one of the most important and valued standards in criminal law-mens rea, or in other words guilty mind. The main concept of guilty mind standard requires that a person cannot be convicted of a crime unless that person intended to commit that crime. Unfortunately, when looking at the case described above, I am wretched to admit that mens rea isnt always executed and respected. The study assessed in this paper, proves that a big portion of all crimes is committed by individuals that arent fully aware of their actions, as in the case when they are intoxicated or under tremendous mental strain. Moreover, many mentally disturbed and/or retarded criminals, even though conscious about the fact that they are taking part in criminal act, are often influenced by others who are often brains of entire process of wrongdoing. Atkins involvement in the murder for which he was sentenced to death is a great example of such situation. The measure of someones guilt is perhaps the most important factor in determining the appropriate sentence for crime that has been committed. How do we measure someones guilt? It is the moment that the principal of mens rea comes into play. Mens rea represents the amount of intend that an individual had while committing his offence. If we took Rational Choice Theory and traditional Mens rea concept and combine them together, we would get one of the most sophisticated and perfectly formulated theories that deal with understanding of criminal behavior. It could be written as follows, Since the criminal is a perfectly rational human being who, while committing the crime is fully aware of what he/she is doing and decides that benefits that will come from the crime outweigh the costs associated with punishment for this crime, than this person is guilty without the smallest doubt, intend is 100% in all the cases. As much as I would wish this theory was correct, it only reflects a utopian d ream in which all crimes and consequential punishments for them are perfectly clear and comprehensible. Reality however, is totally different and much more complex. To understand the importance of theories such as Rational Choice Theory one must often think outside the box. While the theory itself is quiet practical and compelling, without taking into consideration other aspects of crime and criminal behavior mentioned earlier in this paper, it becomes completely useless and invalid. It is because of the principal of mens rea that we need so many people in our courtrooms today, beginning with prosecutors, judges and jury, ending with psychologist, forensic scientists and psychiatrists in order to solve cases, especially those that involve murder. It is often very difficult to measure someones guilt and intend to commit such offence as murder looking solely on the crime itself and basing the explanation for it on Rational Choice Theory. Concurring with other critiques of the Rational Choice Theory I believe that the theory alone is quite misleading and all those who support it fully should consider studying it with comparison to mens rea or compare it to other counter theories like Classical Theory. If we want to respect principals of our criminal law which mens rea is a great example of, we should definitely stop the ongoing process of generalization and simplification of our legal norms and standards and apply and more ethical and just standards of practicing la w in our courtrooms.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Powerful Voice of Kurtz in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Essay

The Powerful Voice of Kurtz in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Many times, words by themselves do not convey an idea wholly or conceal it altogether. Instead, the voice carrying the words conveys the idea, lending shape and new meaning to the familiar syllables. Words resonate with prescribed meanings, whereas voice creates its own meaning and identity. In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, voice comprises the primitive component of language, with words existing only as a secondary function of voice. Glimpsing a â€Å"primitive truth,† Kurtz’s voice and soul unite so that his knowledge speaks through his voice, rather than through his words. Alternately draining words of their meaning and filling them with new meaning, Kurtz’s voice contains the power to define his own words. Strip Kurtz of his common syllables, and what remains is a terse note in a margin of seventeen eloquent pages, a frightening voice shaped by unfamiliar words. Marlow first hears of Kurtz as a word repeatedly spoken by others. As Marlow navigates down th e river, traveling farther from civilization, Kurtz’s voice amplifies, ultimately consuming the name and the man himself. The voice of Kurtz is heard and realized not in the familiar words of others, but in the journey down the river into the unknown. People’s inability to pronounce Kurtz’s name suggests the authenticity of Kurtz’s own voice and the weakness of the words used to describe him. When describing Kurtz, familiar vocabulary fails altogether; Kurtz remains a word with little meaning. Marlow first hears of Kurtz from the Company’s chief accountant at Outer Station. When asked who Kurtz is, the accountant responds, â€Å"He is a very remarkable person† (37).* The accountant does not mention his name without adding t... ...r. The structure of words and the report are unable to contain his voice. Like Kurtz’s last words, these simultaneously drain all meaning from words and add their own new meaning, highlighting only lies. In German â€Å"kurtz† means short. What Kurtz actually says is plain and terse, but appalling. It is not hidden behind words, but revealed within Kurtz’s own voice and scribbled in margins. However, it is the voiceless words, the written words, the lies, and not the note scribbled by his own voice that Kurtz asks Marlow to preserve. By wanting to preserve his report, Kurtz acknowledges the power of written words. He knows that besides Marlow’s memory, writing is the only thing that can begin to immortalize him. But, perhaps, Kurtz’s knowledge is meant to die along with his voice. Works Cited * Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (London: Penguin Books, 1995).

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Declaration of Rights and Sentiments :: essays research papers

Many Americans realized their own oppression as they worked to the end of the institution of slavery. When two of these women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, were denied the right to sit as delegates at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, they were angered to the point of action. Eight years later in Seneca Falls, New York, the first American women's right convention was held. Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented the following declaration. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necesary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature's God entitle them, a denet respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. We hold these truths to be self-evident;that all men and women are treated equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with the certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these right governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends , it is right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the instituiton of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experiences hath shown that mankind are more diisposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolitionist the froms to which they were accustomed .

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Critically discuss the function of structure within the therapeutic relationship Essay

Extensive literature shows no significant differences in therapeutic outcomes between therapeutic approaches, but yet, these approaches differ to varying degrees in regards to values, techniques and emphasis on structure. This then poses an equivalence paradox with clearly non-equivalent techniques. The explanation for this commonality in therapeutic outcome between therapeutic approaches is the client-therapist relationship also known as the therapeutic alliance. The therapeutic alliance is a more encompassing term for the underlying interpersonal interactions and the collaborative nature of the partnership between a therapist and a client. Meta analytic research studies show that the therapeutic relationship counts for . 21 in effect size, while in combinations with technical focus, the effect size is . 76. While not equally as effective as technique alone with an effect size of . 55, it is significant in its contributions to therapeutic outcome and has been worth the focus on how it develops over time and the subsequent development of a generic structure to establish and maintain across all theoretical approaches. This essay will aim to explore this partnership and the necessary steps or requirements on the part of the therapist in order to establish it and the ways client preferences and goals are incorporated into treatment, in other words, structure required for the establishment and maintenance of the relationship as there is research evidence to support the establishment of this alliance early for stronger therapeutic outcome. Generally, work with clients usually have a preparatory phase: a first phone call perhaps, and introduction on both parts to the tasks and goals ahead. A beginning phase that involves the face-to-face meet up, initial greeting an outline of the therapist’s agenda, contracting, negotiating and setting and summary of goals. A middle phase: the therapist is concerned with facilitating learning and change congruent with therapeutic goals and assumptions about change. The ending phase also involves process goals in order to seek resolution of client issues, consolidate learning and change and evaluate therapeutic outcome. There’s evidence to show that therapeutic alliance needs to be formed within the first three sessions for a good therapeutic outcome. Regardless of the therapeutic approach, there is evidence that certain generic skills are important and required for the establishment of a structure within therapeutic alliance. These generic skills include basic communication skills, but also more complex skills which the therapist needs. They can be learnt and practiced as techniques but the therapeutic use of them with the client depends not only on the communication skill but on the attitude and intention of the therapist, an inside energy of sorts, that comes from commitment to understand the person from their frame of reference and the therapists internal supervision, awareness and self-review. The following macro and micro skills ensure the therapist emphases the importance of inner work alongside their practice. 1) Making Psychological contact This is an intangible personal process that changes from moment to moment, a psychological exchange of energy between human beings. It is dependent on the skills, experience, attitudes and emotions that each brings to the situation and it presents itself on a spectrum. It ranges from clients who make no contact at all to those who invade the therapist’s personal space and on the other side, the therapist’s ability to make contact could be influenced by how they perceive new clients and other factors such as culture, class, race, gender, age and sexual orientation. The therapist’s experience of initial interpersonal contact can be developed by self-reflection. Impartial witnessing: The observation of inner processes without judgement. Awareness of how others experience the therapist’s psychological contact e. g. Is it warm or cool, intrusive or distant etc? And finally, skills of greeting appropriately and starting the interaction with particular adjustments made after attention is paid to and sensitivity of culture, age, gender etc. 2) Effecting Intake and Assessment In an interview or a formal assessment, specific skills are needed. They include: Asking for information: It is imperative that the client is made to understand the purpose of the questions and what will happen with the records. Purpose stating: What the therapist wants to happen and must happen. This helps to set the scene of openness to clients so that they know the therapist’s intentions or purpose and also to experience the therapist as congruent. Preference stating: What the therapist would like to happen  with an element of choice for the client. Knowing when to say â€Å"no† to a client and knowing how to communicate this congruently, respectfully and empathically. 3) Introducing tape recording This is something therapist’s approach with trepidation and technical skill and appropriate equipment is required to execute. The therapist requires confidence and conviction to obtain permission from the client and it needs to be part of the initial contract. 4) Contracting and clarifying therapy Negotiating a contract with a client requires particularly the multiple skills of active listening, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, summarizing, asking questions, purpose and preference stating, a balance between assertion and flexibility. 5) Beginning to build a relationship The ability to communicate empathic understanding of the client, to show unconditional respect, and to be perceived as congruent, requires inner and outer, receptive and responding skills. The client needs to hear that the therapist understands him from his point of view, accepting and not judging him, and is openly present for him and genuine in the role. This openness conveyed by the therapist may vary with the orientation: Skills required to communicate this are: 1) Attention giving: The non-verbal show of accessibility, receptivity and presence which are all influenced by an inner attitude dependent on the awareness and sensitivity of the therapist. 2) Observing: Knowing what non-verbal and verbal cues to look out for. For example; posture, facial expression, tone and volume of voice, responsiveness etc. These clues are sought to begin to understand the client’s internal frame of reference. Also, the therapist needs to scan their own body for clues and observe how the client makes them feel. 3) Listening and Hearing. The former is merely the inner sensory activity that involves picking up sounds while the latter is the same inner sensory activity aligned with attention giving. When clients feel really listened to, they are encouraged to talk and reveal themselves. Accurate listening can help clients to increase self-awareness and reduce defensiveness and direct focus towards their own behaviour. It provides psychological space and support for client’s self-exploration. The use of a combination of the above skills to focus the therapist and client at appropriate points in the interaction. It can be used as a check for understanding, pulling together thoughts, bridge to help client move on, return to something significant and to structure the interaction if the therapist or the client is getting lost. 5) Responding or facilitating skills: Also known as active listening skills. These demonstrate and communicate empathy and acceptance and facilitate exploration. They are sometimes referred to as first level empathy, distinguishing them from deeper empathy. The latter is used when there is deeper understanding of the client’s inner world. Using advanced empathy too soon, exposes a risk of inaccuracy and poses too much of a challenge for the client. First level empathy consists of paraphrasing and reflecting feelings. Paraphrasing is picking up the meaning of the client’s words and having and extensive vocabulary to put it back to him reflecting accurately the feeling and meaning in a tentative way to check understanding. It is not parroting and using jargon or over technical terms. Done well, it enables clients to hear and understand themselves afresh. Reflecting feelings is identifying what the client is feeling often mainly from non-verbals like tone of voice, bodily expression and therapist’s own bodily resonance. Therapist’s need to be sensitive to different cultural subtleties as inaccurate reflections may neutralize the intensity of the client’s feelings. All these skills are the beginning blocks for building a relationship and for helping clients explore what they want from a therapist and therapy. In the main they are supportive skills. Skills which continue to build the relationship and develop the interaction will be considered next. These skills are challenging, both for the client and therapist. Development and maintenance of the therapeutic relationship: Moving the client forward As mentioned above, the skills discussed so far can be considered as supportive – helping clients feel safe enough to begin to explore themselves and their situation. To move on in the relationship and the interaction requires skills which will challenge the client to explore further – to gain new perspective and new frameworks and see the world in a different way. How the client will receive the challenge will depend on the relationship which has been built and how it is maintained and developed; all the supportive skills will still be needed, appropriately interspersed with the challenging ones. Inner skills: Challenging a client requires the inner skill of the therapist in examining their own feelings about challenging others. The therapist needs to know how comfortable they are with challenging a client. This skill is should be applied tentatively and timing is crucial. A therapist needs to be able to gauge implicitly and explicitly when and how to challenge a client and which of these interactions are based on theories of counselling and psychotherapy. This skill really requires an inner awareness and careful attention to personal development is required. This is where tape recording and supervision are important in the review and identifications of values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings and sensations guiding the choices made. Outer skills: Responsible challenging requires well-practised communication skills. Focusing. The therapist needs to help clients focus, if they are to move forward. Summarizing. As mentioned above, summarizing provides bridges, draws themes together and is used for keeping track. It is a useful skill that requires accurate listening, ability to filter relevant thoughts and feelings and ability to communicate them clearly. Both summarising and focusing provide challenge to clients Concrete examples. Sometimes it can be useful to ask clients for more specific thoughts, experiences and feelings. Communicating deeper empathy. The ability to pick up the real meaning behind the words, thoughts and feelings of the client which are buried, out of reach or implied and which may come to the therapist as a hunch. The skill is to put it into appropriate words when the timing is right. Challenging. Gently confronting clients to change their perspective, see a bigger picture, recognize strengths they are not using, note discrepancies between verbal and non-verbal behaviour or identify behaviour that is destructive to them and others. Self-disclosure. Here there are two types; the therapist disclosing past experience or the disclosure of thoughts and feelings about the client’s thoughts or experiences. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Timing and discrimination of content disclosed is important. It could help as a model for the clients and help build the relationship or it may be perceived by the client as maladjustment and hence reduce confidence or the increased intimacy may be threatening to them. It is unhelpful at the beginning stages of therapy as the therapist should be concentrating on staying with the client’s experience. Disclosure needs a sufficiently secure relationship and should be used selectively at the later stages of therapy. Immediacy. Discussing directly and openly what is happening between therapist and client. It involves awareness of what’s going on inside the therapist and what is imagined as going on within the client and what is happening between the two. It is quite complex and challenging to do well, but when executed properly provides client with insight as to how their behaviours affect others. It involves competence in support skills as well as self-involving statements. It requires assertion and is very helpful to build or repair a therapeutic relationship, identify issues with class, age, gender, race, sexuality etc and in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic practice, identify transference and countertransference. All the skills so far require a lot of practice with feedback for development and lead to the final section. Monitoring self within the therapeutic process, evaluation and development of own work. This requires all the previous skills as well as the additional self-management skills which are: developing a caring acceptance of self, impartially witnessing of internal processes, identifying and using resources to meets learning, emotional, physical needs, ongoing identification and checking of belief and theories, planning ongoing training and personal development, reflecting, review of recordings and supervision, reviewing with clients and asking for feedback from clients Summary Both supporting and challenging skills, regardless of theoretical approach are necessary for the establishment of structure within a therapeutic relationship. This structure and framework is important in ensuring that therapists are mindful of what is required to provide a supportive base to establish trust and rapport and then in the later stages more challenging skill are utilized to provide the necessary challenge that is required to guide clients into awareness and positive change. Another possibly useful generic skill would be a termination skill to help the therapist during the end phases of therapy help the client consolidate learning and evaluate outcome and prepare for possible relapse prevention and management and finally, client autonomy. Theoretical considerations There is no denying that the generic skills discussed above have built around and extended from the conditions identified by Carl Rogers in person centred therapy, to reiterate, they would be the maintenance of an attitude of acceptance or unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, as well as personal congruence or integration. Being a non-directive therapeutic approach that typically places emphasis on the above, supportive skills would be utilized mainly. Challenge skills, less so, but on occasion, as onus is placed on the client directing the therapy. Cognitive behaviour therapy utilizes an active-directive collaborative style. In its very nature, it is quite structured. In reductionist terms, it occurs in the following four stages: the assessment, cognitive, behavioural and learning stages. The therapeutic alliance needs to occur in the assessment stage, usually in the first session because quite rapidly after, from the cognitive stage, negative automatic thoughts are identified and challenged. This means, supportive skills and challenge skills are introduced quite rapidly and interwoven up till the learning stage and termination. In Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches, a distinction is made between the real relationship, transference and counter transference and a working alliance. The real relationship would be akin to the therapeutic relationship as defined earlier and would only be encountered after transference and counter transference because they are considered to be more of a contamination to the real relationship and would need to be worked through and resolved. Meaning the therapist would take a more reticent stance, utilizing mostly support skills initially and challenge skills only during the working alliance, (the alignment of the client’s reasonable self or ego and the therapist’s analysing self or ego for the purpose of therapy) towards the later stages of therapy where interpretation of unconscious conflicts, defence mechanisms and resistances take place. Other considerations Having a framework is important in the development and establishment of rapport and therapeutic alliance but there are salient points to factor in. The therapist needs to have a level of awareness of the similarities and differences between them and their prospective clients to avoid the traps of varying degrees of gender inequality, ageism, disability and social class discrimination, homophobia and other sexual orientation based discrimination, religion, spiritual, agnostic and atheist discrimination, and also, racial, cultural and ethnical discrimination. Regardless of how well a therapist conceptualizes how to establish therapeutic alliance, lack of knowledge and experience on these socio economic and socio cultural factors could prove counterproductive.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Classroom Management Essay

You are the teacher of a 5th grade class. Two students finished their assignment early, one student arrived late, and one student is not attempting the assignment. Being able to have the skills to handle situations like this takes practice and experience. The skills that are required are the ones that complete Jacob Kounin’s Classroom Management Model, â€Å"Lesson Movement. † Kounin’s theory on classroom management was the first to integrate instructional and disciplinary aspects of the classroom. The basis of the model is for teachers to be organized, prepared, and use proactive behavioral management combined with high student involvement with the goal of leading to a more effective classroom while minimizing disruptive behavior. Kounin coins his theory as Lesson Movement, comprised of techniques called: withitness, overlapping, momentum, smoothness, and group focus (â€Å"Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,† 2009). Withitness is the ability of a teacher to know everything that is going on in his/her classroom at all times to prevent discipline problems before they occurred. However, as important as it is for teachers to achieve this skill, it is just as important for students to believe they their teacher is â€Å"withit. † Students will still act disruptively if they feel the teacher does not notice them. Some ways that teachers can display this technique are: consistently suppress misbehaviors of exactly those students who began the problem; dealing with the more serious of two discipline problems occurring simultaneously; and decisively handling off-task behavior before it gets out of hand or imitated by other students(â€Å"Whom are We Talking About: Jacob Kounin,† 2008). Similar to withitness, overlapping involves the ability to attend to multiple classroom events at one time, and avoiding fixating on one event at the expense of all other classroom activities. For example, if a teacher is conducting small group assignments, and a pair is off task, a teacher may address them from a distance while still conducting the activity. (â€Å"The Kounin Model,† 2008). Momentum is keeping the lesson moving briskly, requiring the teacher to plan effectively to avoid slow downs. Kounin believes that teachers should not lecture for a long period of time to allow students to gain knowledge by moving around and maximizing their allotted time. By minimizing delays and interruptions, causes students will not lose interest and misbehave. (Charles, 1989). In conjunction with momentum is smoothness. While lecturing, a teacher must maintain direction and not drift off on tangents, be diverted with irrelevant questions and information or fall victim to â€Å"flip flops,† â€Å"dangles,† or â€Å"truncation. †Otherwise, students will be confused and act out from loss of interest. (â€Å"Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,† 2009) Lastly, Kounin refers to group focus as the ability to engage the whole class. Some techniques he offers are: building suspense or ask community questions Though community questions may appear random, it draws the group’s attention and intrigue. The teacher must incorporate procedures to handle multiple situations at once to maintain group focus. For example, if a student completes an assignment early, he/she must have a back up plan such as providing another assignment or enrichment activity while he/she helps other students that are struggling (â€Å"Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,† 2009). Kounin’s Model of Classroom Management is an important topic for teacher’s today, because it is one of the most difficult skills to acquire. Student-centered classrooms and discovery lessons are becoming much more popular in our classrooms, leading to a more active learning environment. Being able to handle multiple situations at once, keeping students engaged, maintaining momentum and smoothness in your lessons and transitions takes experience. These are the most difficult techniques for a first year teacher to learn; therefore, making them a habit during that year will allow for mastery of these skills to occur. I believe that Kounin’s Model is important to develop an effective classroom environment; however, discipline problems will occur, no matter the amount of preventive planning a teacher makes. Kounin does not address his procedures for disciplining, if he would or would not discipline children differently, nor does he address misbehaving as a response to some factor that is outside of the teacher’s control. As a teacher, I would incorporate Kounin’s theory in my teaching planning and practices, though remembering that each student may require different accommodations. References Charles, C. M. (1989) Building Classroom discipline: from models to practice. New York City, New York: Longmans Inc.. Teacher Matters, (2008). The Kounin Model. Retrieved May 31, 2009 Teacher Matters http://www. teachermatters. com/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=9:kounin-model&catid=4:models-of-discipline&Itemid=4 WikiBooks, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2009). Overview/History of Jacob Kounin’s Work. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://en. wikibooks. org/wiki/Classroom_Management_Theorist_and_Theories/Jacob_Kounin WikiEd. (2008). Whom are we talking about: Jacob Kounin. Retrieved June 8, 2009 from http://wik. ed. uiuc. edu/index. php/Kounin,_Jacob.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Being and becoming

In order to be human, not only the idea of reflection upon life is necessary but in emphasizes of the use of the Socratic method in that reflection and in the course of finding the truth, questions are paired with such reflection. At this level, questioning and reflection are the apex of what it means to be human.Socrates however had some varying views on philosophy that opposed some of what Plato believed. Socrates was a skeptic, as was Plato, and as can be exemplified in the cave metaphor, but Socrates also believed that a person can be convicted of their own beliefs even if they cannot find their pathway of truth.Plato, in contrast, believed that philosophers were the delegates who maintained what was and was not truth, and led the way to such truth for the common man. It is not then self-interest that leads a person to happiness, and there is a definite equilibrium between the allowance of each part of the soul guided by reason, and asceticism. Plato was a not a Sophist. Without the guidance of moral reason then a state of chaos would ensue entailing an everyman for himself type of attitude.It is a bitter debate on whether or not Socrates was a Sophist, he himself vehemently denied it but some of his philosophies correlated with Sophist thinking (i. e. the issues of ethics, and living a good life, each Sophist preoccupations). Morality must then be shown as adhering to individual interests. Plato did not agree with the type of hedonism exhibited by the Sophists, who thought human nature was an extension of the animal world. Instead, Plato states that the nature of man is reason; and in this reason exists an organized society constructed by reason.Happiness for the rational man then comes into fruition by governing their more base, animal, desires, which are irrational. This morality is extended into the realm of society because of human interaction. Therefore, if a man is to be the pinnacle of reason, and morality, and happiness, then the society that he li ves and associates must then also exhibit such a moral temperance. If then a society is blinded by hedonism, or pure desire of self, a man in that society has no hope for personal happiness because of lack of morality, reason, and thus fully succumbing to akrasia.In order to be human, not only the idea of reflection upon life is necessary but in emphasizes of the use of the Socratic method in that reflection and in the course of finding the truth, questions are paired with such reflection. At this level, questioning and reflection are the apex of what it means to be human. Socrates however had some varying views on philosophy that opposed some of what Plato believed. Socrates was a skeptic, as was Plato, and as can be exemplified in the cave metaphor, but Socrates also believed that a person can be convicted of their own beliefs even if they cannot find their pathway of truth.Plato, in contrast, believed that philosophers were the delegates who maintained what was and was not truth, and led the way to such truth for the common man. It is not then self-interest that leads a person to happiness, and there is a definite equilibrium between the allowance of each part of the soul guided by reason, and asceticism. Plato was a not a Sophist. Without the guidance of moral reason then a state of chaos would ensue entailing an everyman for himself type of attitude.It is a bitter debate on whether or not Socrates was a Sophist, he himself vehemently denied it but some of his philosophies correlated with Sophist thinking (i. e. the issues of ethics, and living a good life, each Sophist preoccupations). Work Cited MacDonald, Ross. Socrates versus Plato. Aspects of Education. P9-22. 1996. Plato. Phaedo. Plato. Crito. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. < http://classics. mit. edu/Plato/crito. html>

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Legal Issues for Business Essay

Sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business with one owner who pays personal income tax on profits from the business. The benefit of the sole proprietorship is the tax advantage. The disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is obtaining capital funding. * Liability – As the owner of a sole proprietorship, one is personally liable for all business debts, creditors may sue you personally to satisfy the debt. * Income taxes – As a sole proprietor you must report all business income or losses on your personal income tax return; the business itself is not taxed separately. * Longevity – Longevity depends on the owner and their ability to operate the business; this can be significantly affected if the owner becomes sick or dies. * Control – The owner is in complete control of the business, It is the owners responsibility for all decisions pertaining to business operations * Profit retention – The owner has 100% control of profit retention. They may cho ose to invest their profits or use it for personal use. * Convenience/Burden – Sole proprietorships are convenient and easy to start up since there are no governing laws. A burden of the business is the decisions made may affect the businesses success are the sole responsibility of the owner. GENERAL PARTNERSHIP: An agreement formed by two or more persons. They are simple and inexpensive to create and operate, but the owners are all personally liable for any debts or legal actions * Liability – The liability is shared by all partners. If one partner does something negligent, all partners can be held liable. * Income taxes – All partners are responsible to report their earnings on their own personal tax returns. * Longevity – general partnerships longevity is based on the agreement between partners, they can agree to end their partnership as easily as they formed it. With a partnership between more than two partners, the person leaving can agree to sell their portion of the business. * Control – Control of a general partnership is shared between all parties involved. * Profit retention – All profits of the general partnership belong to the owners. * Convenience/Burden –A general partnership has the convenience of an easy start-up, all partners have a personal interest in the partnership and all profits belong to the partners.  A main burden with a general partnership is the personal liability of all debts and legalities. LIMITED PARTNERSHIP: Limited partnership is similar to a shareholder of a general partnership, being only liable for the amount of investment one has contributed. Limited partners have no management authority. * Liability – A limited partner is only liable for the investments they have contributed, no more no less. * Income taxes – A limited partner reports their share of capital gains and losses on their personal income tax returns. * Longevity – The longevity of a limited partner is based solely on the amount of investment one contributes and their continuation on their investment. * Control – Limited partners generally do not have any control of a general partnership other than their investment. * Profit retention – The amount of profit a limited partner will receive is based on the amount of investment into the company. * Convenience/Burden – The convenience of a limited partnership is one get to share in the profits and losses, but they do not have to partic ipate in the business itself. A limited partners liability is only limited to the investment they have contributed. A burden of limited partnership can be the lack of involvement for the investment one has contributed, C-CORPORATION: Is a legal way that businesses can organize to limit the owner’s financial and legal liability. C-corporations are taxed separately from the owners. Though they are taxed separately, c-corps have the disadvantage of double taxation, being taxed on the corporate level as well as the shareholder level. * Liability – C-corporations provide limited liability to owners, therefore, owners are not usually responsible for the corporations debts and liabilities. * Income taxes – C-corporations are taxed as a separate entity under corporate tax rates for any business income, any profits made to owners are then taxed again at the personal income tax level. * Longevity – The life of a C-corporation can exist indefinitely based on the shareholders, by selling of stocks, unlimited number of owners and transfer of ownership. * Control – Control of a C-corporation is held by its shareholders, but may be delegated to a board of directors. * Profit retention -Because a C-corporation’s income is taxed twice, paying taxes on its income and the shareholder’s also paying personal taxes on the dividend  income received from the corporation, there is less profit retention than that of a general partnership. * Convenience/Burden – C-corporations have the convenience of unlimited shareholders, as well as no restrictions on who is allowed to become a shareholder. The double taxation of a C-corporation can be a burden to shareholders based on profit retention. S-CORPORATION: A corporation that does not pay federal taxes. All corporate income and losses are passed through to the shareholders and claimed on their personal income taxes. * Liability – Shareholders of an S- corporation are offered limited liability for the corporation’s debt. * Income taxes – S-corporations do not pay income taxes, instead, income passes through to the shareholders and is claimed on their personal income taxes. * Longevity – Similar to a C-corporation, an S-corporation can exist indefinitely, though S-corporations have regulatory restrictions on the number of shareholders it may have. * Control – The control of an S-corporation is held by its shareholders, but may be delegated to a board of directors. * Profit retention – An S-corporation allows its shareholders to keep more of the earned profits by passing through its income taxes directly to its shareholders unlike a C-corporation which is double taxed. * Convenience/Burden – S-corporations have the convenience of retaining more of its profits by passing through its income taxes directly to its shareholders, avoiding the double taxation of a C- corporation. S-corporations have the burden of regulatory restrictions, including limiting the number of shareholders; shareholders cannot be corporations and must be U.S. citizens. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY: A Limited liability company (LLC) is a business entity that offers its owners limited liability. Owners are not personally liable for any debt other than their investment. * Liability – owners of a LLC have limited liability; they are only liable for their investment. * Income taxes – A LLC is not a taxable entity, income taxes are passed through to the owners and their personal income taxes. * Longevity – Limited liability companies can exist indefinitely, they have the option of transferring ownership without restriction. * Control – The control of a LLC can be based on the number of owners as well as the amount of investment one has in the company. * Profit retention – Profits of a LLC is passed through to the owners and is  taxed at their personal tax rate, allowing owners to pay less in taxes and retain more profit. * Convenience/Burden – Limited liability companies have the convenience of pass through taxation, allowing the owners lar ger profits. LLC’s have the burden of varying restrictions from state to state, there are different renewal fees and franchise taxes that must be paid and LLC’s must pay self-employment taxes.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Managing capability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managing capability - Essay Example It is also utilised in order to evaluate the corporate image of Ford within the minds of its customers. In addition, strategic capability of Ford has also been evaluated with the help of varied strategic tools namely benchmarking and balance scorecard. 1.2 Introduction In the significantly competitive automobile market of South Africa, the main objective of every organisation is to enhance their brand equity and uniqueness in order to retain competitive advantage in the market. This can be done with the help of the core competencies and resources of the organisations in order to sustain their brand image and customer relationships in the long run. Ford is a multinational conglomerate and a leading name in the automobile sector, for past number of years. It is an American based organisation possessing a history of offering exceptional automobile products ranging from small personal vehicles to lavish brands to its target customers. The head office of Ford is situated in Dearborn regio n of Michigan in the United States (Ford Motor Company, 2012). Ford was established in the year 1903 by Henry Ford. It has positioned itself as the second leading producer of automobiles in the market of the United States and in the fifth place all across the globe. In terms of recent financial competencies of Ford, it can be observed that it has earned revenue of US$136.26 billion and a net income of US$20.21 billion in the year 2011 (Ford Motor Company, 2011). 1.3 Capabilities, Strategy, Competitive Advantage of Ford Ford is recognised as a Fortune 500 listed organisation with a market share of 13.4 percent in the global perspective. Is depicted in the below diagram. Market Share of Ford in Global Market Source: (Online Marketing Trends, 2012) In order to retain its brand loyalty in the global automobile markets, the management of Ford has developed a well planned set of competencies, with the view to augment the capabilities of their individual assets. The organisation has desire d to enhance the capabilities of four segments namely human resources, production department, marketing and sales and engineering (Scribd, n.d.). Integrity is the prime competency or capability of Ford. This signifies that the employees of Ford are entirely devoted to their assigned tasks, resulting in accomplishment of organisational objectives. Moreover, team-spirit and courage are the other underlying capabilities which can be observed within the workers that help in enhancement of uniformity and consistency within the organisational hierarchy. It is essential for the employees of Ford as it facilitates in development in the level of performances, resulting in achievement of varied rewards and recognitions. In order to do so, mutual communication is also extremely essential, bringing about augmentation of knowledge and skills of the employees which are vital for development of new products. Ford also attempts to utilise inventive methods and tools while producing innovative produ cts to satisfy altering customer needs and demands in the global market. These dynamic mechanisms employed

Thursday, September 12, 2019

American Franchisers in China Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Franchisers in China - Case Study Example Foreign franchisers invested in Europe, Asia, South America and some parts of Africa. In Asia, China has the biggest market and starting businesses in this country is very strategic. However, the political, social, and cultural conditions in China are not the same with the United States. This paper tries to analyze the different strategies that the KFC franchisers took to make KFC one of the most successful franchises in China today. This paper also mentions the problems the managements encountered and the measure they took to remedy those. It also analyzes how successful KFC franchises are in China that they reached a total of 2,200 KFC branches4 in China alone. Johan Olsson cites several reasons why an international business strategy such as joint venture is recommended for China: (1) solves many logistic problems such as access to good quality chicken and other supplies, (2) eases the access to the Chinese market, (3) shares risk with local entity, and (4) serves a sign of commitment to the host government increasing goodwill.5 Pei Liang and Sun Zhixian examine which of the three (3) business strategies: (1) direct franchising, (2) master franchising, and (3) joint ventures is effective in the Chinese market. For direct franchising, the success of this strategy relies on establishing a good relationship between foreign investors like the Americans and local partners in China. Local partners know and understand much about the political, economic, and social conditions of the country. They are also in "much better position(s) to negotiate with government agencies as well as required suppliers."6 The authors also add that direct franchising for American franchisers will be difficult without local partners in a culturally-different state like China.7 Olsson adds that franchising is not suitable for China because of the strict foreign investment laws. For master franchising, the main problem that exists why this strategy has lower success rate compared to joint venture is the availability of a qualified master franchisee. Liang and Zhixian describe a master franchisee to have not only an abundant capital but also "a favorable social relationship as well as the entrepreneurial skills and the ability to communicate easily with a franchisor." If the master franchisee fails to maintain "franchise quality or reverse engineer and duplicates the franchisor system, he franchisor could, as a practical matter, face considerable difficulties in enforcing the terms of the master franchising agreement or terminating the relationship."8 For the master franchising to work in China, the master franchisee must possess the qualities of leadership and a lot of public relation skills. For Liang and Zhixian, they recommend the joint venture as the best choice for starting a business in China. They also mention that choosing a good and qualified local partner is the critical point for the success of any foreign business in China. Working with unqualified local partners may incur more management costs than management benefits because it weakens the performance of the business.9 Olsson supports these arguments by saying that "a potential partner with sufficient contacts [and] networks with government agency officials may smoothen the process of setting-up operations in the nation."10 Olsson also adds that joint ventures produce