Human Resource Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Human Resource Development - Essay Example The following discussion presents a detailed account of how firms shape and re-invent their HRD policies in conformity with their business requirements and what processes are the most crucial for survival in an environment where a competitive advantage is the only way to survive in the market. The paper also contextualizes the various learning and developmental activities that international firms take up in the attempt to brace with the changing business climates and the paper provides a brief outline of the HRD processes implemented by two international organizations in their various international business units. Strategic steps for human resource development are among the most crucial decisions that organizations take as these decisions usually are the critical factors which determine not only the effectiveness, but also the efficiency of the organization and its workforce in the long run. The initiatives that are taken for developing systematic HRD plans pay out for organizations because they bring together the development of employee‘s competence , the development of a shared vision of the business and the various business strategies employed so that they are aligned together to provide maximum benefit to both the employees and the employer. For a business operating in more than one country, the dilemmas regarding HRD and HRM strategies are numerous and varying in their degree of influence on the organizational success, however, since organizational effectiveness is a key component which drives the need to have any such strategy to begin with, these dilemmas pose a serious question for all such organizations. This paper has tried to evaluate the major forces which drive organizations to bring about a change in their management philosophies and how these changed perspectives affect the Human resource development policies of these firms. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of management ideals and strategic decision making on the

Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S.

Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S. Li Luo Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S.:  The Fight for Equal Rights and Equal Citizenship Intro and Thesis â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.† Declaration of Independence, 1776 When we look back at American history, this well-known statement that was written in the Declaration of Independence has been constantly brought up by different groups of people to defend their equal rights and freedom in the society: America’s founding fathers used it to light up American’s spirit to fight for their freedom and rights from the oppression of Britain; African-Americans borrowed it to fight against their same rights as white people that has been denied by the laws for a long time. And right now, in our generation, we are witnessing a new battle for equality Same-sex marriage. The fight for same-sex marriage has a deep historical origin. Ever since the beginning of human civilization, marital and family relations have always been the foundation of human society. Marriage creates intimacy and family among individuals, it also provides order, stability and consistency which are essential to the survival and prosperity of human society. Based on those principles, people build up traditional family values, provide legal recognition and all sorts of privileges/rights through public institutions to reinforce this social norm. However, as the traditional marital relations and social order are rooted in heterosexuality, many people consider the legalization of same-sex marriage as a threat to this social norm, and refuse to give LGBT people the full rights and citizenship. In this paper, I will analyze the battle of same-sex marriage from three different perspective: rights and obligations; separation of powers and federalism; factions and democratic consensus. In the last section, I will conclude that as LGBT people constantly fighting for their equal right of marriage, and the fact that more and more American people are willing to accept gay people, the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage looks promising and the boundary of citizenship in American society is being refined. Rights and obligations: the unequal citizenship in terms of LGBT groups’ right of marriage. Citizenship has different meaning in different perspective. Citizenship can be used to describe someone’s legal identity, it also can mean people’s engagement in politics and community. In the article â€Å"The Meaning of Citizenship†, Kerber offered a different way to think about the definition of citizenship – a formal legal status with the possession of guaranteed rights as well as obligations. She believes that rights and obligations should be equal: If a person wants to enjoy the privileges and freedom his or her state provides, he or she must fulfill their obligations as a citizen. However, in some cases, certain groups of people are not being offered equal rights even though they meet their responsibilities. Specifically speaking, in some states, LGBT people are refused to be given the same rights as heterosexual people to marry the ones they love even the same amount of obligations are fulfilled. Besides, since marital and family relations are the foundation of human society, without legal marriage status, same-sex couples usually face many more economic and legal disadvantages compared to opposite-sex married couples, including medical care, inheritance, income tax, etc. Should government provides equal right of marriage to LGBT people? The debates over this topic have lasted for more than four decades. In 1970, two students from University of Minnesota, Richard Baker and James Michael McConnell became the first gay couple to apply for a marriage license (Rimmerman, 101). Unsurprisingly, their application was denied by the local county, and in their appeal case Baker v. Nelson, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a state law that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples (Rimmerman, 101). In the following two decades, many other states successively received similar suits, however, they all ended up in the same fate as the first one being rejected to give the right of marriage for gay couples. It wasn’t until early 1990s that the debates over same-sex marriage emerge to the national level. In 1991, in the case of Baehr v. Lewin, Hawaii Supreme Court rules that denial of same marriage right for same-sex couple violate the state constitution (Rimmerman, 103). This judgment raised a lot of concerns of people who oppose same-sex marriage. They fear that this result might lead to final approval of same-sex marriage in Hawaii and the U.S. nationwide (Rimmerman, 103). Therefore, with the purpose of preventing legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Hawaii, in 1996, conservatives introduced and pushed the pass of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Under the provisions of the DOMA, the word â€Å"marriage† is strictly define as the legal union between a man and a woman. Furthermore, DOMA permits states to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. I will consider the debates over this federal law in terms of Equal Protection Clause and Full Faith and Credit Clause. The LGBT people have long been tried to fight for their equal rights of marriage, even though they have faced many impediments from conservatives. There are a series of struggles in court, including Lawrence v. Texas, United States v. Windsor, etc that can proves LGBT people’s struggles. I will analyze some of the most important cases in detail to examine how LGBT groups use their judicial power to challenge DOMA and secure their rights. How separation of powers within government and federalism apply to the same-sex marriage issue. Madison argues that creating â€Å"checks and balances† within government can prevent abuse of power. This idea can be applied to the same-sex marriage issue. In United States v. Windsor, the Federal Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA that defined â€Å"marriage† and â€Å"spouse† to apply only to heterosexual people. This is an example that Judicial branch checking the Legislative branch. I will also describe other cases including Baker v. Vermont, Hollingsworth v. Perry. In Federalist No. 51, Madison’s argument that a separation of powers can create a balance of interests can be extended to the idea of federalism. Federalism gives states the freedom to make their own policy that suits local circumstances. When different states make different laws and take different attitudes towards the same-sex marriage issue, this is the practice of federalism. To break this inequality across states and local areas, LGBT groups are now working hard to promote the legalization of same-sex marriage on the federal level. The Supremacy Clause and 10th Amendment will also be mentioned to illustrate its principle. Competing factions in the same-sex marriage issue. Federalist No. 10 discussed about how to break and control factions to avoid tyranny of the majority. In terms of the same-sex marriage issue, American society was divided by different groups that either support it or are against it or take neutral stance. I will list some major political and social groups and illustrate their attitudes towards the same-sex marriage issue, including Democratic and Republican Parties, Churches/Religious institutions, and human rights Organizations. Since LGBT group are pushing national legalization of same-sex marriage, is this a tyranny of the majority? I will discuss about this question in detail and give my answer that it’s a majority rule rather than tyranny of the majority. Conclusion Summarize key arguments. Add current data: Marriage between same-sex couples has been recognized on the federal level. As the Supreme Court decided to let stand rulings that allow same-sex marriage in late 2014, now 37 states have legalized same-sex marriage with more states to join them. The road of marriage equality looks more promising than before, and we can see that citizenship is being redefined to provide equal rights to LGBT people. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY COURSE TEXTS Kerber, Linda K. The Meanings of Citizenship. The Journal of American History 84.3 (1997): 833. Print. In this article, Kerber offers several ways to interpret citizenship, including formal legal status, possession of guaranteed rights and bearing of obligations. She believes that the meaning of citizenship is constantly changing and proposes a new way to look at citizenship: â€Å"A braided citizenship†. Different groups of people from different genders, races, classes and nations of origin have been fighting for their equal citizenship in the U.S. Kerber analyzes each group of people’s struggle in detail to illustrate how the boundaries of citizenship have been changing overtime to support her statement. I will use Kerber’s idea of citizenship in terms of the relations of rights and obligations to help me analyze the legitimacy of gay rights, more specifically, same-sex marriage. And by using all kinds of evidence of LGBT people’s fight for equal rights as part of the braided citizenship to justify how same-sex marriage redefines the boundaries of citizenship. Madison, James. Federalist No. 10: The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard against Domestic Faction and Insurrection.New York Daily Advertiser, November 22, 1787. Print. In this work, Madison states that people are diverse by nature and self-interested, so that factions are formed inside every society. He argues about the need to break and control factions which he identifies as a threat to popular governments that may lead to tyranny of the majority. He believes that in a large republic government is run by representatives chosen by its people. With so many different interests and groups, it would be more difficult to form a majority faction, thus it can better guard against the dangers of tyranny of the majority and protect the rights of all its people. I will use this resource to illustrate different groups/factions’ stances in terms of same-sex marriage, and to argue about the question: Is legalization of same-sex marriage a tyranny of the majority? Madison, James. Federalist No. 51: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments. New York Packet, February 8, 1788. Print. In Federalist No. 51, James Madison addresses how the separation of powers within the government can be created under the new constitution. He believes that people are not â€Å"angels†, which means that if there isn’t any form of control over government, leaders will abuse their power. However, â€Å"Ambition must be made to counteract ambition†. By creating a system of â€Å"checks and balances†, in which the government is divided into different branches, the overlapping power between those three branches would put restrictions on government, thus preventing the misuse of powers, and protect the rights of the people. I will draw on Madison’s idea of checks and balances inside government to argue about how different branches work to protect LGBT people’s rights. I will further consider separation of powers in terms of federalism to examine same-sex marriage court cases. ADDITIONAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY SOURCES Rimmerman, Craig A. The Lesbian and Gay Movements: Assimilation or Liberation? Boulder, CO: Westview, 2008. Print. This book gives people an historical perspective to understand lesbian and gay movements. Rimmerman tackles the challenging issue of what constitutes movement effectiveness and how effective the assimilationist and liberationist strategies have been in three contentious policy arenas: the military ban, same-sex marriage, and AIDS. I will focus on the same-sex marriage policy part of this book, using those detailed analyses of important courts cases in history to examine LGBT groups’ efforts to fight for their equal right of marriage. â€Å"So Far, so Fast.†The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 11 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. This article gives a brief introduction of the progress in terms of the same-sex marriage agenda since the early 2000s, and it gives some explanations of why this agenda has changed so fast in such a short time, including the change in moral judgment and transformation of LGBT people, too. I will use this resource in the conclusion to show why the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage is promising.

Langston Hughes Biography :: essays research papers

Langston Hughes was born at the turn of the century. Hughes spent a rootless childhood moving from place to place with his mother who was separated from his father. During one year in high school, Hughes spent time with his father in Mexico, a light-skinned man who found an escape from racism in ranching. It was in that very high school that Hughes wrote his first poem after being elected â€Å"class poet† by his fellow classmates. His father was James Nathaniel Hughes, a man who studied law but was unable to take the examination for the bar because he was black. His mother was Carrie Hughes, a woman who studied at the University of Kansas, in an ongoing struggle to earn a living outside of domestic labor. With aid from his father, Hughes attended Columbia University, but soon became disgusted with university life and immersed himself in his first love—the poetry, jazz and blues of Harlem. Hughes supported himself in odd jobs like being a nightclub doorman while he traveled to places like West Africa, Italy, and Paris. During this time, Hughes wrote poems that earned him a scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. His first published poem was also one of his most famous, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", which was published in The Brownie’s Book. Some of the poems by Hughes provide political protests or social criticism, while others depict poverty, prejudice, and hopelessness in the life of an African American in Harlem. Later, his poems, short plays, essays, and short stories appeared in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine; they were also showcased in Opportunity Magazine as well as other publications. One of Hughes' finest essays appeared in print in 1926, entitled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.† His grandmother, Mary Sampson Patterson Leary Langston, was very prominent in the African American community of Lawrence, Kansas.

Machiavelli, A Founding Father?

Machiavelli advocated centralization and concentration of power in The Prince while the authors of the Federalist Papers call for the separation of powers and a system of checks and balances.   The Prince, however, was a job application to Lorenzo di Medici the son of Piero di Medici.   Lorenzo had just inherited the principality of   Florence by settlement of a war with the Pope and his mercenaries ( Lerner xxvii) in 1512. Machiavelli, was however, not as alien to the ideas of the Convention espoused by the various   Federalist Papers.  Ã‚   For much of his life he was staunchly republican in his outlook; the loss of the Florentine Republic and his position as an advisor to the powerful were powerful motivators to write a pro-monarchy text to regain his former position in the new state.( Lerner xxviii) During this imposed exile from the halls of power Machiavelli’s works included the Discourses, an analysis of the Roman Republic, its power structure, and its defects.   In The Discourses Machiavelli is plainly pro-republic, though he also manages to treat the issue of a monarchy as well.   Machiavelli’s ideas are included to some degree in the Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States. Machiavelli, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison would all find agreement in some of the most important aspects of the governing of a Republic; including the use of a standing army and the separation of powers. Standing Army The issue of a standing army was a touchy one for the convention.   The military was part of the executive power and a standing army could be abused.   Indeed he warns of this in Federalist #8 : But in a country, where the perpetual menacings of danger oblige the government to always be prepared to repel it, her armies are must be numerous enough for instant defence.†Ã‚  Ã‚   The importance of the of the soldier is enhanced and the military state is elevated above the civil. In territories that are often the theatre of war , are unavoidably subjected to frequent violation of their rights; and by degrees the people come to consider the soldier their superiors. ( #8, p35)However , the Convention left the raising of regular troops solely under the authority of   Congress, and not the President. Thus   they are under the control of the people; the Congress shall decide when a standing military is necessary; before a President has them to Command.   Hamilton says that the power to maintain a standing army in time of peace is a necessary caution given the fact that the Dominions of Britain and Spain border the fledgling nation.(#24, p120). Machiavelli would agree: â€Å"Such princes and republics of modern times as have no national troops for defense or attack ought well to be ashamed of it†¦.† (prince 175) and I conclude, therefore, that no principality is secure without having its own forces† (Prince pg 52-53) Separation of Powers The separation of powers has been regarded as the hallmark of republican principles.   The separation of power among three distinct branches of government prevents any one person from acting as â€Å"legislator, judge, and executioner.†Ã‚   In this way the abuse of power leading to Tyranny is avoided. Machiavelli states much the same in The Discourses: ALL those who have written upon civil institutions demon- strate (and history is full of examples to support them) that whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it. ( 117) An early form of the system checks and balances was the formation of the Tribunes in the Roman Republic.   The Tribunes served to act as a sort of Legislative judge curbing and investigating alleged excesses by the Senators of Rome.( Machiavelli, â€Å"Discourses†, 118)   The Convention went further; it gave executive authority to the President, but withheld the purse, and it gave the Sword to Congress but required the Executive to wield it, and gave the Law to Congress but allowed both the Justice and Executive to disapprove it, gave Congress the means to remove an executive or a justice from office, but made the members of Congress answerable to the whole of the People. Madison says that â€Å"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judicial in the same hands, whether of one, of few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of Tyranny.†(Carey lxx)  Ã‚   So both men believed that the separation of powers in a Republic is a fundamental principle defending the liberty of the citizen.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both men also believed that the authority of the supreme executive should to some respect be stronger than that of the regional powers. While the Federal system resembles more closely the â€Å"Prince and Baron† model warned against by Machiavelli; through well-thought out assignment of the powers to the Federal Government the position of the regional powers (Governors of the States) approach the â€Å"Prince and Servants† model advocated by him.   The Convention took the middle ground with the powers of the Executive (federal) being supreme only in its assigned sphere and that of the regional to be supreme within its own sphere.   Conflicts between States and the Federal authority were to be resolved by the Supreme Court.   Therefore no one State was in a position to help outside enemies to oppose the Federal government, but simultaneously the Federal authority could not rule by fiat as a Prince might have done. Conclusion: So which model was more capable of maintaining order and curtailing disorder from below?   History seems to indicate that the careful checks and balances and the general separation of powers have been more enduring than a centralized Monarchy.   France proved the wisdom of the system of checks and balances when the National Assembly seized all power for the purpose of reforming the government.   This attempt, while its aims were noble, failed catastrophically and subjected the People of France to a series of tyrants, emperors, and various violations of their civil liberties for nearly a century. Absolute Monarchy as Machiavelli said, is stable only so long as the ruler is ruthless when necessary and is either loved or feared by its people.   The problem seems to be that this merely builds up pressure in the people; who will begin to rebel the moment any hesitation by the monarch is shown either internally or through circumstance such as war.   This process happened on a world-wide scale and was experienced by Britain, France, Egypt, Iran, and may be happening now in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates of the Middle East. Machiavelli states that all laws of liberty come from the open opposition in the legislature between two classes; the Nobles and the People.(Machiavelli,   â€Å"Discourses†, p119)   The constitution eliminated the Nobility but a similar problem of factions: Those who have power, those who want power, those who want to oppress.   In a similar fashion to the Tribunes of Rome the various divisions of power executive, legislative, judicial, the National, and the Regional allow open discussion and opposition without providing any overt favor to one faction over another;( Madison, â€Å"Federalist #10†, pp 42-48) ensuring that laws of liberty continue to come from the discourses of those vying for power. ( Madison, â€Å"Federalist #10†, pp42-48) The Republican ideas that Machiavelli held and published in his works might well mark him as one of the founders of   the modern republic along with Locke, Montesque, and the other Enlightenment philosophers. Works Cited Carey, George W. and James McClellan. Reader’s Guide. The Federalist. By   Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Indianapolis:   Liberty Fund 2001 Hamilton, Alexander, John Jay, and James Madison. The Federalist. Ed. George W. Carey and James McClellan. The Gideon Edition. Indianapolis:   Liberty Fund 2001 Learner, Max. Introduction.   The Prince and the Discourses. By Niccolo Machiavelli. New York: Random House 1950 Machiavelli, Niccolo. â€Å"The Prince†. Ed. E.R.P Vincent. Trans. Luigi Ricci. The Prince and the Discourses. New York: Random House 1950 Machiavelli, Niccolo. â€Å"The Discourses†.   Trans. Christian E. Detmold. The Prince and the Discourses. New York: Random House 1950         

The Working Roles of Animals

Animals in the media Animals have been used in the media for many years as they catch the eye of the viewer. Animals which are used in advertisements usually don’t have any or much relevance to the products being advertised. An example of this is the adverts for Dulux Paint, which uses an Old English Sheep dog in their adverts. They have used this breed of dog in their adverts since 1961 because this breed of dog has been used for so many years people associate it with the Dulux Company.The adverts catch people’s attention and as the dog has no relevance to paint products and therefore people will discuss the adverts. Another example of animals having no relevance to the product in which they are being advertised is the Andrex adverts, they use Labrador puppies in their adverts for toilet paper. When the adverts first came out, Golden Labrador puppies became extremely in demand. However some of the people who were buying the puppies had done little to no research about the dog. The appeal of owning a Labrador was having a small, cute dog.However many owners didn’t realise the size that they would grow to, many owners then re-homed them as they grew larger. However, there are exceptions to this where the animals are relevant to the product being advertised. These adverts are usually for pet products and rescue centres. Recue centres use abandoned looking animals in their adverts, which is an emotive technique. Another example of animals being used relevantly in adverts is pet products, such as Iam’s or Pedigree. They show the animals which the product is for. They use cute animals which the public find appealing.Many adverts portray animals inaccurately; this causes people to believe that the images which are shown are a true reflection of the animal, as they have little or no knowledge of how the animal behaves. This may result in people potentially buying dangerous pets. This can be harmful to the owner or the animal and can result in abandonment. Animals which are portrayed as unpleasant, scary or dangerous can be in danger when people assume animals are worse than they are from seeing them on television. A good example of this is ‘Harry Potter’, where spiders are shown to be dangerous and scary.This causes people to have a higher fear of the animals, this can also develop into phobias, which may result in people hurting or killing animals. Another good example of where animals are portrayed to be much more vicious than they actually are is in the film ‘Jaws’. Great white sharks are perceived to be human killers and go out of their way to hunt humans whereas in reality the chance of being killed by a shark is less than 1 in 264. 1 million (1). Films also promote animals, implying that they would be good pets.In the film ‘101 Dalmatians’ many breeds of dogs are perceived as being extremely intelligent and easy to care for. This causes people to purchase them without doing the correct research and easily become overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a dog. Animals in sports The most popular sports involving animals are horse racing, dog racing and angling. Many people find pleasure and excitement in racing and betting on animals, it creates enjoyment for owners, trainers and spectators. A large part of racing is when people gamble on the race.This will generate money for the owners and trainers of the animals as well as the book makers and the people who place the winning bets. Television will provide a source of income and promote the sport. People may also watch the races and place bets at their local Bookies. The animals which win the most races, are the most successful and will be highly valued for breeding. This helps to ensure good offspring for racing. Race horses will usually be spoilt and have the best quality of life to ensure that they are the fittest they can possibly be for racing. However, Greyhounds may be starved and beaten before races.Starving the dogs may provoke them to run faster to try and catch the ‘rabbit’ because their natural instincts kick in. Some owners/trainers may be more concerned with the financial gain than the animals’ welfare. As a result animals may be harmed during training. This also means that animals that are not fit enough to race may be abandoned, rehomed or destroyed. Animals may also be killed during racing as a result of injuries. Angling is very popular in the UK. Live bait is usually used to attract the fish but dead bait or artificial lures can be used instead.There are different types of angling including coarse, game and sea. The advantages of angling include the financial gain for manufacturers, dealers, charter skippers and the owners of the lakes and rivers where fishing takes place. The water quality in the lakes and rivers has greatly improved over recent years to benefit the stocks which also improve the quality of the fish’s life and the underwater ecosystem. Many of the fish are returned to the lake or river in which they came. There are also disadvantages with angling. Fish will become stressed and physically injured through being captured and handled.Even when the fish are returned to lake/river, they may not always survive due to the shock. Careless anglers have been known to spread disease within the lakes and rivers. Alien species have also been introduced to the ecosystem which shall compete with the native species. Animal fighting is illegal in the UK as well as other countries. Animals which are used to fight include bulls, cocks, dogs, fish, as well as badger and bear baiting. There are no advantages in this for the animals however some people get pleasure and money from this particular sport.The dogs are mistreated and starved so they become more aggressive. All animals involved in fighting suffer and many die from injury and infections to wounds received. The survivors to the fight will not receive the veterinary treatment that they require; therefore the healing process will be long and painful. Animals in work Animals have been used for helping disabled people and in working situations for many years. Guide dogs are given to the blind or extremely visually impaired people so that they find it easier to partake in everyday life.The dogs are trained to watch out for cars and objects that the owner may walk into, the dog will be able to guide them away from danger. Dogs can also be specially trained to help the disabled by opening doors, retrieving medicines and food. They can also be trained to alert help if the owner is injured or is unconscious. Some dogs can be trained to detect oncoming epileptic fits and can therefore warn the owner before a seizure occurs. Animals can also be used in a farming environment. The dogs which are commonly used are Border Collies, they are used to herd animals into a group.They are extremely intelligent and can learn commands by whistling and speech easily. They are trained to know the difference between herding left and right, they are also usually trained from a young age and are used until they are old. Dogs such as Spaniels can be used as gun dogs, this is where a shooting team shoots down birds and the dog will retrieve it unharmed. Horses were used to plough fields, gather sheep and cattle and transporting goods. However, they have now been replaced by machines. Animals in commercial use Animals can be used for their meat or for the products they produce.Chickens are used for their eggs until they can’t produce anymore, then they are killed for their meat. Battery farms keep chickens in cruel conditions, they will sometimes be force fed and have their beaks cut off to avoid pecking other chickens in the overcrowded conditions. Free range chickens however, are kept in good conditions with lots of room to run around. Cows are used for their milk, which can be turned in to yogurts and cheese; meat and their ski n, which is used to make leather. Animals can also be used for medical testing as well as the testing of cosmetics.Many animals are put through stressful situations whilst being tested on. Medical testing can include testing drugs on animals for humans. However, animals have a different anatomy to humans and what may be harmful to them may be good for humans. For example, rabbits will die from taking Penicillin whereas it is beneficial to humans. Testing cosmetics on animals is needless as there are alternative methods to testing products. It’s not as common as it used to be, however, it does still happen. Products that don’t test on animals often publicise it as it’s an effective selling point.

The Cloning Controversy essays

The Cloning Controversy essays Recently, we have all seen the controversy over whether or not we should attempt to clone. If you haven't heard: A group of scientists in Scotland announced the birth of a sheep cloned from embryonic cells, presaging Dolly. Dolly's was the birth heard round the world. The first mammal ever cloned from a single adult cell, she was living proof that scientists had solved one of the most challenging problems of cell biology. Her creation raised a troubling question: Can humans, too, be cloned? And if so, Should humans be able to play God? Cloning has been an idea that the world has awaited and feared for decades. Cloning has been around since the 1950s when 2 scientists made a frog from tadpole cells. In the 60s, scientists cloned frogs again, but this time using cells from older tadpoles. What has just happened recently is the cloning of a mammal. The sheep named Dolly. A mammal born from a single adult cell. The question is: Is cloning good or evil? Some say this is one of the most remarkable breakthroughs of science history. Man Creates Life. Amazing. But, let's rethink this.. Is the ability for man to create life (in a sense play god), is this a good thing or a bad thing? Why would it be a bad thing? This is an incredible breakthrough of scientific history. This area of microbiology needs to be further explored. There are several advantages that cloning may serve. A child needs a bone marrow transplant within the next two years. You could clone a copy and retrieve the bone marrow. Cloning would give lesbians a way to bear a biological descendant without visiting the sperm bank. Perhaps the army could breed stronger, braver soldiers to use just for battle. Let's look at the advantages to cloning mammals: A farmer could clone his prize cow over and over making several copies of it, producing better milk with more nutrients. A shepherd could clone the sheep with the best wool and he wou ldn't need as many sheep. We could clone endange...

How to Write an Exemplification Essay on Myths and Religion

How to Write an Exemplification Essay on Myths and Religion No one can write in a certain style he or she does not understand and any attempt to do that for an academic essay will definitely lead to failure. Therefore, any student assigned the task of writing an exemplification essay must first know the rules associated with such act and here is a brief explanation of what it entails. The term exemplification means to provide examples explaining something such as subject matter or topic. So an exemplification essay is one that attempts to make use of examples to prove a point about whatever is been written about. The key to writing an excellent exemplification letter is ensuring that you pay attention to details by using enough examples including facts to support your arguments. For example, if writing on the topic of myth and religion using examples on how ancient mythology found its way into mainstream religion is a good way to show the ties between both terms. Also, note that the examples used must be good and detailed enough to explain your point. So, here are some important guidelines you could put to use when writing your exemplification essay on basically any topic. Organize with Diligence First, it is important you understand the importance of organization and the part it plays in an exemplification essay. Organization takes into consideration three important factors; chronological arrangement, ascending and descending order of examples to be used. The chronological arrangement is mainly used in descriptive essays were the sequence of steps is crucial to understanding the topic been written about. In ascending order, the examples provided should be arranged from the least important ones to the more important examples while for descending order the examples should be arranged in such a way that the most important examples are first used to make your point before using the least important ones. Tackling Myths and Religion in Exemplification To clearly explain the chronological, ascending and descending order and their use in an exemplification essay let’s use ‘the role of ancient myth in religion’ as a sample topic. And the chosen example to explain this topic is: although, most religions have different creation stories, there is a constant factor which is a divine being, created the world out of nothing’. An observing writer can list three facts from this sentence and they are: Most religions believe the myth that the world was created out of nothing Religions believe in a divine being The creation stories in diverse religions are similar. Therefore, using the points in ascending other, we have 2,3,1 with ‘2’ been the least important and ‘1’ the most important while for descending order, we have 1,3,2 with ‘1’ as the most important and ‘2’ the least important example or fact that buttresses the importance of mythology to religion. Exemplify with Discussions Secondly, clear discussions should be used to lay out examples and connect their importance to the topic chosen. This eliminates the possibility of confusing the reader about the point you are trying to make without distorting argument. Lastly, been organized provides the basis for putting the right things in their places such as the introductory statement, essay body and the concluding statement. So here we come to the end of our guidelines on how to write an exemplification essay using myth and religion as an example.

Equilibrium Constant and Reaction Quotient Example

Equilibrium Constant and Reaction Quotient Example In chemistry, the reaction quotient Q relates the amounts of products and reactants in a chemical reaction at a given point in time. If the reaction quotient is compared with the equilibrium constant, the direction of the reaction may be known. This example problem demonstrates how to use the reaction quotient to predict the direction of a chemical reaction towards equilibrium.Problem:Hydrogen and Iodine gas react together to form hydrogen iodide gas. The equation for this reaction isH2(g) I2(g) ↔ 2HI(g)The equilibrium constant for this reaction is 7.1 x 102 at 25 Â °C. If the current concentration of gases are[H2]0 0.81 M[I2]0 0.44 M[HI]0 0.58 Mwhat direction will the reaction shift to reach equilibrium?SolutionTo predict the direction of equilibrium of a reaction, the reaction quotient is used. The reaction quotient, Q, is calculated in the same way as the equilibrium constant, K. Q uses the current or initial concentrations instead of the equilibrium concentrations use d to calculate K. Once found, the reaction quotient is compared to the equilibrium constant. If Q K, there there are more reactants present that at equilibrium and reaction will shift to the right.If Q K, then there are more products present than equilibrium and the reaction will need to produce more reactants shifting the reaction to the left.If Q K, then the reaction is already at equilibrium and there will be no shift. Step 1 - Find QQ [HI]02/[H2]0Â ·[I2]0Q (0.58 M)2/(0.81 M)(0.44 M)Q 0.34/.35Q 0.94Step 2 - Compare Q to KK 7.1 x 102 or 710 Q 0.94 Q is less than K Answer:The reaction will shift to the right to produce more hydrogen iodide gas to reach equilibrium.

Research Request - Has the U.S. governments war on drugs done anything Proposal

Request - Has the U.S. governments war on drugs done anything to reduce the use of illegal drugs - Research Proposal Example The message to the Congress comprised of text concerning with devoting more federal resources to preventing new additions and rehabilitating those who were already addicted, however, this part was not the center of attention like the war on drugs. It is estimated that the US devotes more than one billion dollars every year towards the War on Drugs and this research seeks to find out if the War on Drugs has been successful in reducing the use of illegal drugs in the United States and how effect this is on the overall drug issue. Almost three million people use eighty percent of the illegal hard drugs in the United States and there is highly likelihood of dealing with the Drug-trafficking organizations through changing the behavior of the heavy users of these drugs (Cassel & Bernstein, 2007). A reduction of the rate of consumption of the casual users will not have a considerable effect on the flow of drugs into the country or the flow of money into the areas that produce the drugs. The experience the US has had with marketing’s power has inclined the country to prefer prohibiting and enforcing rather than legalizing and marketing of the drugs. However, this option has associated consequences as an increased number of American citizens go to jail for offences associated to drugs as well as parole violations as compared to property crimes (Alexandrova, 2004). Further, even though the nation spends five times more to jail the people convicted of drug offences that it did thirty years ago, the prices of cocaine and other drugs have reduced by eighty to ninety percent compared to the prevailing prices during the beginning of the war on drugs. Consequently, critics have argued that imprisoning the low-level dealers in the streets is a futile endeavor as their transactions that cost approximately two hundred dollars will cost the state almost one hundred thousand dollars in the offender is given a sentence that

Anthropogenic climate change and its effects Research Paper

Anthropogenic climate change and its effects - Research Paper Example Despite the fact, that many European and Western countries have ensured strict measures against growing population yet many Asian, African and Latin American countries in the world have failed to understand the same (DiMento & Doughman, 2007). Despite the fact that these people present great opportunities for the nations in form of young working people, youth, which is full of energy, and contribute to overall economic growth of country; however, on a global basis, every human is brining with himself the potential to create more pollution and climatic damage to the planet earth (Hansjurgens & Antes, 2008). As mentioned earlier that this is one of the toughest choices because by restricting their populations these underdeveloped countries will put a brake on their future development and growth since without work force the same would not be possible. However, in order to ensure that the planet is face, it is important to undertake this decision (Bulkeley & Betsill, 2005). One of the bi ggest sources of pollution and climatic change has its roots in the greed of humankind in electricity generation, which not only disturb the atmosphere of earth but also disturbs the land as well. We are quickly running out of the world’s fuel resources and our hunger of exploring more fuels and consuming them is creating more pollutants and dangerous gases (Hoffman & Woody, 2008). Therefore, another decision would be to use solar energy all over the world to meet the energy requirements of the planet. Estimates indicate that the total energy which can be created by all of sun rays that are aimed at our planet in 24 hours are more than enough to meet the energy requirements of this planet for more than an year (Letcher, 2009). However, for implementing the same many countries will have to divert their funds from other developmental and non-developmental expenses to the creation, manufacturing, and use of solar energy systems (Hansjurgens & Antes, 2008). Furthermore, like the United States and other Western countries, these countries will have to ensure that tax exemptions and other economic measures are taken to pursue people for buying these solar energy panels. Furthermore, it may also require the planning and design of buildings and houses in such a way that they could install these panels on their roofs. In addition, this would also mean that the percentage of new skyscrapers would decrease significantly (Nelson & International Food Policy Research Institute 2009). Rather than building new mega cities, industries and others, nations will have to invest their fortunes in building and growing forests. It will have to give back to this planet what it has taken from the planet. Humankind has cut down billions of trees on this planet for the past couple of centuries to make room for its own buildings, cities and other mega structures. However, this is has created a serious misbalance in the overall atmosphere and ecosystems. By stopping the progress and growth of industries and planting trees instead, nations would be able to play their part in saving the planet (Hoffman & Woody, 2008). Plastic bags pose the biggest threat in terms of environmental degradation. These

Oil Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oil - Research Paper Example The question that would equally be important to answer is the impact of alternative sources of energy on oil dependency and the aggregate global economy (Gudmestad,et al. 34). Oil industry is one of the strongest among other industries due to the significant power it wield in global economic activities. It is equally important to underline the geopolitical aspects of its production which is limited to some parts of the world. It is a common knowledge that the leading oil cartel is OPEC with a strong bargaining power in the international petroleum oil market (Omeje 168). The Dollar strength is significant shaken by oil prices and this is a key factor that proves the influence of oil industry in social, economic and political decisions made by governments and the private sector. There has been an increasing campaign for alternative source of fuel for powering vehicles and it is imperative that a critical analysis is undertaken to this effect to establish the possible consequences this would have in the economy and Oil industry. Recent Oil prices have shown a sharp volatility that began in 2008 across the world. In this regard, it is important to understand the basic facts in oil industry that explain the possible fluctuation of the commodity and the market trends. Socio-economic and political analysts have established that the oil market trend has outgrown the forces of demand and supply. This means that other factors like petroleum oil investors’ behavior in respect to prices is likely to affect the industry. To give light on the possibility of this scenario, past records and investigative analysis indicates that some economic strategies by oil firms is responsible for the fluctuation stint experienced in 2008. Since oil is such a precious commodity on whose wheels the global economy rides, most of the firms have resorted to hedging tactics to exploit the changes in international prices with a goal of maximizing profit. It therefore evident that some of t he financial woes that have been experienced in late 2000s can be attributed to financial market shockwaves of oil firms malpractices. Due to the lucrative opportunities in the industry, most of the investors lead in speculative behavior by divesting funds through pension funds, hedging and investment banks which reflects on the experienced changes in the global economy(Omeje 178). This emerging scenario has made it difficult to predict oil market trends. The oil industry analysts are still debating on the level of significance of forces of demand and supply in Oil industry but one issue that comes out more challenging is the lacking sense of emerging reality in this industry by investors. A crucial aspect of Oil industry has been on the basis of absolute price dictation by OPEC countries but this has so far changed. Changing socio-economic and political landscapes has made oil market to behavior like any other commodity. It is therefore important to underline the diminishing monopo ly based pricing style that was previously used by OPEC. The observed case of US exploring its oil has equally contributed to the shift in pricing strategy previously used by global producers. One observation across the world is that Oil products have become the most actively traded item. Despite market concentration noted in New York, Singapore and London in UK, both refined and crude oil has gained trading popularity

Friedrich Nietzsche Morals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Friedrich Nietzsche Morals - Essay Example His radical moral philosophy has been a probing topic of analysis in philosophy and there have been several articles dealing with his moral philosophy. There have also been several significant attempts to associate his moral philosophy with other distinctive areas of knowledge including science, epistemology, ethics, and literature. One such critical approach has observed Nietzsche as a bridge between nineteenth-century atomistic science and process philosophy in twentieth-century physics, literature and ethics. Friedrich Ulfers and Mark Daniel Cohen, in their important article, 'Friedrich Nietzsche as Bridge from Nineteenth-Century Atomistic Science to Process Philosophy in Twentieth-Century Physics, Literature and Ethics,' attempt to establish that philosophy has its root in science and Nietzsche's moral philosophy illustrate this point. The major thesis of their article is that "the late nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche established a philosophy rooted in science and succeeded in laying the foundation for a system of values capable of generating alternate forms of cultural expression--many of which have come to fruition in our own time, many of which have yet to be achieved. In particular, his philosophy, beginning in science, is capable of setting standards for and structuring radical formations in epistemology, ethics, and literature." (Ulfers and Cohen, 21) This paper undertakes an analysis of the article by Ulfers and Cohen in order to comprehend the major arguments of the authors and to respond to them with careful reasoning. Introducing their major arguments, Ulfers and Cohen mention that distinctive emergence of philosophy, art, literature, and science or 'the signal moments of culture' in our social life resulted in the systems of values and they bring about the connection between values and such essential areas of knowledge. The authors also make it explicit that there is essential relationship between science and moral values. "Even presumably objective scientific theories are barometric readings of our assumptions and implicit values. They are litmus tests of the cultural agar in which they grow--indicators of the fertility and of the active bases and acids of the ideological loam" (Ulfers and Cohen, 21) This is a major attempt by the authors to connect value system and scientific roots and they maintain that science has a distinctive connection with everything that mount from the soil. Even the natures of human beings are closely linked with sciences. It is in this background that the authors of th e article present their chief proposition that Friedrich Nietzsche established a philosophy which was rooted in science and put down the groundwork for a system of values that could produce alternate forms of cultural expression. Ulfers and Cohen stipulate that Nietzsche's philosophy started in science and it can lay down standards for and structure fundamental formations in epistemology, ethics, and literature. Therefore, the central argument of the article attempts to illustrate the connection between science and moral value system with the example of Nietzsche's philosophy. "Nietzsche was primarily an ontologist -- a philosopher of the real, a delver

Product and Service Design Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Product and Service Design - Research Paper Example Limitations of the review can be summarized in the following manner; The researcher is reviewing only chapter 4 but through reading of all the chapters is needed in order to provide comprehensive review of the book. Lack of knowledge about all the aspects covered by William J Stevenson might encourage the researcher to take subjective view while reviewing the book. The researcher is reviewing the 11 Edition (Global Edition) of â€Å"Operations Management† written by William J Stevenson while Chapter number 4 named as â€Å"Product and Service Design† is the topic of discussion in the review. In this chapter, Stevenson (2011) has penned down topics like definition of product design, why companies go for product design, human aspects, cultural aspects, environment sustainability factors, design considerations, different phases of design and production and service design. Before going to the main discussion, let us try to understand credential William J Stevenson who is th e author of the book. Name of the Author and Publisher Dr. Stevenson or William J Stevenson wrote the book â€Å"Operations Management† which was published by McGraw-Hill Education. McGraw-Hill Education is not only the publisher of the book but also they hold distribution right of the book. Dr. Stevenson is an associate professor of Decision Sciences in the College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology (Stevenson, 2011). The author has years of teaching experience in the field of production/operations management, quality concepts, management science and quality applications and Dr. Stevenson wrote many articles in the field of Management Science and Decision Sciences (Stevenson, 2011). Dr. Stevenson earned M.B.A and PhD in the field of production/operations management from University of Syracuse. It is evident from such descriptions that there might be argument regarding the content of the book written by Dr. Stevenson but there should not be any argument exists r egarding academic qualification of Dr. Stevenson. Objectives and Targeted Audience Every book is written taking into consideration of the requirements of target audience. Simple fact is that every book has its own target audience and success of the book is being considered whether the book meets the expectation of its target reader or not? Now, the question is that what is the objective of the book â€Å"Operations Management† written by William J Stevenson? Another important thing is that who are the target audience for the book? Well, to be honest, the book has been primarily written for college students and university students who want to know about product and service design process. In the first place, the book can be considered as the rudiments of product & service designing process but cannot be considered as scholarly source that can be reviewed and criticized by other academic scholars and industry experts (Stevenson, 2011). According to writer of this review, the bo ok has been written for teaching purpose and focus of the book is not to develop a

Oregon Death and Dignity Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oregon Death and Dignity Act - Essay Example The debate centers on individual autonomy, whether or not patients who suffer from extreme pain and have a terminal or degenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s, AIDS and multiple sclerosis have the right to an assisted death of the type and time of their own choosing. â€Å"Active euthanasia occurs when the medical professionals, or another person, deliberately do something that causes the patient to die† (â€Å"Ethics†, 2006) A doctor’s involvement in the procedure could be to either prescribe a lethal dose of drugs with the express intent of ending a life or by intravenously inserting a needle into the terminal patient who then activates a switch that administers the fatal dose (Naji et al, 2005). Many terminally ill people choose to end their own life to evade the previously discussed detriments of a terminal illness. Suicide rates are by far the highest among the elderly population for this reason. â€Å"If these people are going to commit suicide, which is better, controlled, compassionate doctor-assisted suicide or clumsy attempts like taking sleeping pills, jumping off a building, or firing a bullet into ones head?† (Messerli, 2007). Only one state, Oregon, and three countries, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands, allow assisted suicide. The law in Oregon was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court early last year and was upheld by a vote of six to three. In 2001, President Bush attempted to derail the Oregon law permitting euthanasia stating that assisted suicide wasn’t a ‘legitimate medical purpose.’ The justices, however, were not convinced by Bush’s argument. â€Å"Justice Sandra Day O’Connor pointed out that doctors participate in the administration of lethal injections to death row inmates† (Roh, 2006). The Oregon laws are shaped after those in the Netherlands and are designed to ensure second opinions have been consulted and there is an imminent presumption of death

Product and Service Design Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Product and Service Design - Research Paper Example Limitations of the review can be summarized in the following manner; The researcher is reviewing only chapter 4 but through reading of all the chapters is needed in order to provide comprehensive review of the book. Lack of knowledge about all the aspects covered by William J Stevenson might encourage the researcher to take subjective view while reviewing the book. The researcher is reviewing the 11 Edition (Global Edition) of â€Å"Operations Management† written by William J Stevenson while Chapter number 4 named as â€Å"Product and Service Design† is the topic of discussion in the review. In this chapter, Stevenson (2011) has penned down topics like definition of product design, why companies go for product design, human aspects, cultural aspects, environment sustainability factors, design considerations, different phases of design and production and service design. Before going to the main discussion, let us try to understand credential William J Stevenson who is th e author of the book. Name of the Author and Publisher Dr. Stevenson or William J Stevenson wrote the book â€Å"Operations Management† which was published by McGraw-Hill Education. McGraw-Hill Education is not only the publisher of the book but also they hold distribution right of the book. Dr. Stevenson is an associate professor of Decision Sciences in the College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology (Stevenson, 2011). The author has years of teaching experience in the field of production/operations management, quality concepts, management science and quality applications and Dr. Stevenson wrote many articles in the field of Management Science and Decision Sciences (Stevenson, 2011). Dr. Stevenson earned M.B.A and PhD in the field of production/operations management from University of Syracuse. It is evident from such descriptions that there might be argument regarding the content of the book written by Dr. Stevenson but there should not be any argument exists r egarding academic qualification of Dr. Stevenson. Objectives and Targeted Audience Every book is written taking into consideration of the requirements of target audience. Simple fact is that every book has its own target audience and success of the book is being considered whether the book meets the expectation of its target reader or not? Now, the question is that what is the objective of the book â€Å"Operations Management† written by William J Stevenson? Another important thing is that who are the target audience for the book? Well, to be honest, the book has been primarily written for college students and university students who want to know about product and service design process. In the first place, the book can be considered as the rudiments of product & service designing process but cannot be considered as scholarly source that can be reviewed and criticized by other academic scholars and industry experts (Stevenson, 2011). According to writer of this review, the bo ok has been written for teaching purpose and focus of the book is not to develop a

Sukarno, President of Indonesia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sukarno, President of Indonesia - Essay Example Deborah Rhode wrote an entire book studying the growing discussion about what global moral values there might be without coming to any actual conclusions (2006). However, there is a consistent need for a moral leader to be interested in providing the greatest good to the largest number of people, taking on a utilitarian approach to leadership. How that might be accomplished is a matter of individual values, beliefs, and political/social/economic climate. Taking a closer look at a leader such as Sukarno of Indonesia may help us to understand more about how individual values and beliefs can combine or collide with the climate to create the moral leader. Sukarno was born in 1901 to an aristocratic family and was given the best of educations, starting at boarding schools by the time he was 11 years old. When he graduated high school, he married the daughter of the man who owned his boarding house and then moved on to college. By the time he graduated college, he had divorced his first wi fe and married the ex-wife of his new boarding house's owner (Adams, 1965). He reportedly was very creative and had a photographic memory, which made it easier for him to become fluent in a number of different languages (Ludwig, 2004). After he finished his schooling, Sukarno went on to divorce and marry another woman and to start his own architectural company with a partner. His designs were shaped by his politics and vice versa. According to Rudolf Mrazek (2002), Sukarno was a very modern leader and believed the future would be blind to race, would be neat and Western in style, and would be anti-imperialist. While in high school, he had been influenced by Tjokroaminoto's nationalist ideas, but he also studied Western, communist, and Islamic political philosophy while he was in college (Adams, 1965). He eventually developed his own style of leadership which he called Marhaenism, based on concepts of socialist self-sufficiency. He was also irritated with the mostly Dutch-dominated s ocial clubs he encountered at college and organized his own study clubs for Indonesian students. By the time he was 26 and graduated, Sukarno and his friends created a pro-independence party called the PNI (Adams, 1965) or the Indonesian National Party. As the party leader, Sukarno played a major role in establishing the party platform which advocated Indonesian independence and fought against imperialism and capitalism because these systems did not add value to the lives of the Indonesian people. In keeping with Sukarno's modern beliefs, the party also advocated a secular system of leadership that ensured unity among the various different races of the region. The party was very quickly populated by members from the university who wished to gain greater freedoms and opportunities which had not been available under the Dutch colonial occupation (Adams, 1965). Within three years, it had gained more than 10,000 members, forcing the government to react. They arrested Sukarno and seven o f other party leaders and put them on trial for threatening the public order. Sukarno received four years of jail sentence and the party subsequently dissolved (Ricklefs, 1982). Looking at this party and Sukarno's historic defense speech on the day of his trial helps to reveal some of the values that Sukarno stood for at his most idealistic phase and illustrates the kind of moral leader he was. When Sukarno was arrested for his involvement with the PNI, he was permitted to deliver a speech in his defense. This speech has since

Research Methodology into Ratio Analysis of HSBC Bank

Research Methodology into Ratio Analysis of HSBC Bank In this project my aim is to analysis the Ratio Analysis to find financial position of the HSBC bank by using the financial tools and also to know the functions of Internet Banking System in HSBC Bank. This study based on financial statement such as Ratio analysis and financial performance. This project helps to identify and give suggestion the area of weaker position of business transaction in HSBC. This study is made to evaluate the Ratio analysis as per trend analysis. Here I have given the Title, Aim, Objectives of the project, Introduction and background of the company chosen. It also gives the summary regarding the literature review, methodology using for the research, data collection methods and data analyzing procedures. Introduction: Finance is very essential for every business to run successfully. To run the business every organization will need financial support. In our present economy finance is defined as the provision of money at the time when it is required. Every enterprise whether big or small needs finance to carry on its target. In fact finance is so indispensable today. It can be said as blood of an enterprise. Without adequate finance no enterprise can possible accomplish its objectives. In the early years of its evolution it was treated synonymously with the rising of funds. In the current literature pertaining to financial management a broader scope so as to include in addition to procurement of funds efficient use of resources is universally recognized. Nowadays internet is widely used by all sectors of people. Today bank has introduced various facilities through internet. E-Banking is a revolution that changes the banking system around the world. E-Banking is more comfortable for the customers and bank. Title: Critically analyzing the ratios of HSBC bank to study the financial performance of bank during 2010-2011 and also study the functions of internet banking system in HSBC bank. Aim: To study the financial performance of HSBC bank by analyzing the financial ratios from the past five years financial data and also study the role of internet banking system in HSBC bank. Objective of the study: To analyze and evaluate the financial performance of HSBC Bank To study the growth of HSBC in terms of comparative analysis and trend analysis of financial statements for the past five years, from 2006 to 2010. To study the roles of Internet Banking in HSBC To review the benefits of internet banking to customer and bank To make suggestions recommendations for improving the financial position Rationale: Personal Rationale: As I am a finance student, am very much interested in doing the ratio analysis of the company because of that we can able to know the financial performance of any company. I am very eager to know the financial status of the HSBC bank always. Because this bank is globalized bank, it is in every part of the world. Now it has introduced the lot of facility in Internet banking that benefits the customers. I have the relationship with the bank for the past five years. So, I personally interest in doing with HSBC Bank financial performance and internet banking sector. Organizational Rationale: As it is bank, we have wide range of information available in website, articles, journals, magazines and newspapers. HSBC employees are very friendly to their customers. They are always ready to explain their roles of internet banking system. For the financial data, we will able to get the financial statement from their website so there is no lack of information availability. Policy Rationale: The system and the procedures followed by the HSBC bank is also one of my interests to choose the HSBC bank. This bank follows the banking rules and regulations given by the government and fair trade practice. Thats make the customer safety banking. In internet banking system, there are many options for doing the transaction easily and safely. Academic Rationale: There are more resources available for doing this work. There are many financial books available to elaborate the ratio analysis. We have studied in deep about the ratio analysis and Internet banking system. IMPORTANCE OF THIS STUDY The subject matter of financial management is of immense interest for every financial analyzer. It needs special attention because of the complexities involve in managing cash in present day banking function. The important aspect is the estimation of how much of finance. The business organization requires and for what purpose. The most important area of financial management is the working capital management. Here the study tries to reveal the banks position and performance by evaluating the relationship between various components parts of financial statements. Ration analysis has been taken as a tool in assessing the performance of the company in respect of the following aspects. Liquidity Position .Long-term solvency. Profitability. Activity. This study helps to know the usage and the benefits of internet banking system This study helps to study the functions of internet banking in UK HSBC bank Literature Review: 1 RATIO ANALYSIS Ratio analysis is one of the techniques of financial analysis where ratios are used as a yardstick for evaluating the relationship between component parts of financial statements to obtain a better understanding of the firms position and performance. It is used as tool by the company or individual to analysis the quantitative performance of the company financial statement. Meaning Ratio is relationships expressed in mathematical terms between figures which are connected with each other in some manner. Ratio will be calculated from current year figures and it is compared with previous year in order to know the financial performance of the company. It is defined as the systematic use of ratio to interpret the financial statements so that the strengths and weaknesses of a firm as well as its historical performance and current financial condition can be determined. The importance of ratio analysis relies in the fact that it presents facts on a comparative basis Conclusions can be drawn regarding the liquidity position of a firm. It is useful for assessing the long-term financial viability of a firm. It throws light on the degree of efficiency in the management and utilization of its assets. It helps in inter-firm comparison and also with industry averages. Liquidity Ratios: It is the ratio which is used to determine the companys capacity to pay its short- period debt obligations. If the value of the ratio is high, then the margin of safety will become high so that the company able to cover its short term debts. Liquidity ratio includes Current ratio, Quick/Acid ratio and Operating cash flow ratio. Current Ratio It is a quantitative relationship between current assets and current liabilities and indicates and enterprises ability to meet the current obligation. Current assets refer to liquid resources and must be sufficient enough to pay current liabilities when they mature. A relatively high current ratio is an Indication that the firm has ability to pay its current obligations in time as and on the other hand a relatively low current ratio represents that the firm shall not be able to pay its current liabilities in time without facing difficulties. An increase in the current ratio represents improvement in the liquidity position of a firm while a decrease in the current ratio indicates that there has been deterioration in the liquid assets of the firm. The ratio equal to the rule of thumb is 2:1. Quick/Acid Test Ratio: The ratio is ascertained by companys liquid assets and current liabilities. Here liquid assets are those assets which are immediately convertible in to cash without much loss. It is also known as liquidity ratio. It shows the ability of the enterprise to meet its short term obligation without sale and collection of inventories. LeverageRatios: It is the ratio which is used to calculate the financial leverage of the company inorder to know the methods of financing using by the company and to measure the ability of the company to meet its financial obligations. Debt-equity Ratio This ratio indicates the relative proportions of debt and equity in financing the assets of a firm. One approach is to express the debt-equity ratio in terms of the relative proportion of long-term debt and shareholders equity. The debt considered here is exclusive of current liabilities. It is an important tool of financial analysis to appraise the financial structure of a firm. A high ratio shows a large share of financing by the creditors of the firm, a low ratio implies a smaller claim of creditors. Interest Coverage Ratio : These ratios are computed from information available in the profit and loss account. It is also known as time-interest earned ratio. This ratio measures the debt servicing capacity of a firm insofar as fixed interest on long-term loan is concerned. It is determined by dividing the operating profits or earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by the fixed interest charges on loans. Proprietary Ratio: This ratio indicates whether the firm is employing a reasonable proportion of debt or if heavily loaded with debt in which case its solvency is exposed to serious strain. This ratio relates the owners/proprietors funds with total assets. The ratio indicates the proportion of total assets financed by owners. PROFITABILITY RATIOS: This ratio helps to access the ability of business in order to generate the earnings of the business by comparing the expenses and relevant costs during the specific period of time. Net profit Ratio: This measures the relationship between net profits and sales of a firm. Depending on the concept of net profit employed. A high net profit margin would ensure adequate return as well as enable a firm to with stand adverse economic conditions when selling price is declining cost of production is rising and demand for the product is failing. A low net profit merging would have the opposite implications. Return on Assets: Thus profitability ratio is measured in terms of this relationship between net profit and assets. This may also be called profit-to-asset ratio. The concept of net profit may be net profits after taxes net profits after taxes plus interest and net profits after taxes plus interest minus tax savings. Assets may be defined as total assets fixed assets and tangible assets. Return on capital Employed: The term capital employed refers to long-term funds supplied by the creditors and owners of the firm. Here the profits are related to the total capital employed. It can be computed as The capital employed provides a test of profitability related to the sources of long-term funds. The higher the ratio the more efficient is the use of capital employed. A comparison of this ratio with similar firms with the industry average and over time would provide sufficient insight into how efficiently the long-term funds of owners and creditors are being used. Debtor turnover ratio: Debtor turnover ratio indicates the number of times the debtors are turned over during the year. Generally if the value of debtor turnover is high, then there is more efficient in the management of debts and sales. OTHER RATIOS Fixed Assets Ratio This ratio relates the net assets and the long-term funds. Here the ratio should be high. That is the handling of fixed asset should be greater than the long-term funds at an appropriate level. E-Banking: Electronic banking system is the system that allows the individual to do the banking activities by sitting in one place. Electronic funds transfer means doing the financial transactions electronically. This is used for the number of different activities like electronic payments and card transactions where the holder makes payment by using their credit or debit cards.[Brain Dixon and Mary Dixon 2006] Internet banking is also called as online banking, it is an outgrowth of PC banking. Internet banking uses the internet as the delivery channel for conducting banking activity, it is used for the purpose of transferring funds, paying bills, helps to checking and saving account balances, paying mortgages and also help to purchase financial instruments.[Benton E Gup 2005] According to Richard H Baker, advancement in technology helps to develop the system of internet banking. According to industry analysts, internet banking provides many facilitiies Able to access the banking at any time World wide connectivity Very easy to access the information by transacting data Direct customer control of international movement of funds without intermediation of financial institutions in customers jurisdiction According to the report of Global Market for Internet Banking, more than 172 banks in Europe are running the internet banking system and they are very successful in running online banking. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY RESEARCH Research is a process in which the researcher wishes to find out the end result for a given problem and thus the solution helps in future course of action. The research has been defined as A careful investigation or enquiry especially through search for new facts in branch of knowledge RESEARCH DESIGN Redman and Mory (1923) defined research as a systematic effort to gain new knowledge According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining or redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or giving solutions, collecting, organizing, evaluating the data, making deductions and reaching conclusions and at carefully testing the conclusion to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis The research design used in this project is Analytical in nature the procedure using, which researcher has to use facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the performance. With particular reference to working capital management, for the prosecution of the study, both the primary and secondary data. DATA COLLECTION METHOD: Primary Data: Primary data is the information collected by the researcher in first hand. This data is collected by the researcher inorder to analysis the research. Primary data is collected from the field organization selected that is from the employees, customers and observing the real life situations. The main benefit of the primary data is collected only for the specific study so it is more relevant to the study. But there is disadvantage for the collection of primary data it involves more cost and time. It is not suitable for short term study. Primary data for this proposal will be collected from the employees and customers of HSBC bank inorder to know how they run the internet banking system and the functions and benefits of internet banking system in HSBC bank. Primary research may be quantitative and qualitative research. Qualitative research is the method where the researcher set the questionnaire which will give to large number of respondents (Hair, Wolfinbarger, Ortinau, and Bush, 2008, p81). Based on the responses the data will be analysed. In this study, questionnaire will be given to the customers and employees of HSBC bank to analyse the data regarding the functions of Internet Banking. Secondary Data Secondary data is the information which is collected already and it is used for some other studies by different researcher. This data not only used for the current study. The sources of secondary data are books, journals, articles, newspapers, internet, government, corporate reports and library. The advantage of this data it is easily available and also very cheap compared to primary data. In this study we are using secondary data for the analyses of ratio in order to know the financial performance of HSBC bank. From the annual reports maintained by the company. Data are collected from the companys website. Books and journals pertaining to the topic. Research Approach: There are two types of research approaches Inductive and Deductive approaches. Inductive approach is the approach that starts with specific objectives and become generalized. It begins by identifying the issue by observation or being informed. Deductive approach is the approaches where the conclusions derived from the situation. It begins with general situation and ends by identifying the specific issue. Arguments based on the rules, laws and regulation will be using deductive approaches and the argument based on the observations will be using the inductive approaches. SAMPLING PROGRESS Sampling: It is the process of choosing small number of people for doing the research from the large population. That sample group will be tested, analyzed by assuming that sample group represents the entire group (Crouch, S. and Housden, M., 1996, p116). Sampling Unit In this research the target populations are the customers of HSBC Bank Alperton Branch. The sizes of the sampling will be 100 customers. Sampling type will be random choosen among the large population group. From the total sample size the study will be done for the 10 customers and 5 employees of HSBC bank. Ethnography procedure will be used for analyzing the data based on the data collection method. In this method it takes account of words, context and non-verbals. STATISTICAL TOOLS Tool for Data Collection Questionnaire will be used as a tool for data collection as it provides the advantages of allowing the respondents to answer at their convenience and faster data collection. The questionnaire explicitly stated the purpose of study as academic and assured confidentiality of information solicited from the respondent. Percentage method This method is used in making comparison between two are more series of data. Percentages are used to describe relationship. Percentages can also be used to compare the relative terms, the distribution of two or more series of data. The data collected through questionnaire response method was analyzed in the following manner: Raw data will be coded and tabulated and the tabulated data will be converted into percentages, to show the percentage of opinion among respondents. Percentage analysis thus involves the simple interpretation / analysis of the various items taken up in the questionnaire on a percentage basis from the data collected. Interpretations of the graphs also include mean scores obtained by the organization on every aspect / item as calculated. Number of respondent Percentage of Respondents =  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­___________________________________ * 100 Total number of people questioned Weighted average method Weighted average method is defined as an average whose component items are multiplied by certain value (weights) and the aggregate of the products are divided by the total of weights In the Weighted Average Method, the weighted average can be calculated by the following formula K XW = ÃŽÂ µ WX/ ÃŽÂ µX Here XW represents the weighted average X1, X 2, X3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Xn represents the value for variable values W1, W2, W3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Wn represents the weight age given to the variable. Steps:- Multiply the weights(W) by the variables(X) to obtain WX Add all WX to obtain ÃŽÂ µWX Divide ÃŽÂ µWX by sum of the weights (ÃŽÂ µX) to get weighted average. Correlation: Correlation is the techniques of determining the degree of correlation between two variables in case of ordinal data where ranks are given to the different values of the variables. Spearmans coefficient of correlation (or) 1 6 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœdi  ² r = _____________ n (n ² 1) TOOLS OF ANALYSIS Ratio Analysis. Comparative Balance Sheet. Trend Analysis Conclusion: This dissertation proposal starts with the introduction of finance, and helps to know the importance of finance for banking sector. The researcher will work towards the financial ratios of HSBC bank from the sources of annual reports, financial statements like balance sheet in orer to know the financial position of HSBC bank and analyze the role of internet banking in HSBC by getting the data from the bank customer and employees.

Who Killed the Seven Dwarves? :: miscellaneous

Who Killed the Seven Dwarves? Has Disneyfication destroyed the traditional folk tale and damaged children’s illustrated literature? Art & Design BA Hons. ILLUSTRATION Contents 3. Introduction 4. The Death of the Seven Dwarves 5. Folk Tales 6. Rant #1 7. Input ~ Laurence Anholt writes... 8. Beauty and the Beast 9. Cartoons, Capitalism, Commerce and Conjecture 13. Walter Elias Disney 18. Forum 21. I Relent 22. Sycophant 24. Rant #2 26. Tex Avery 27. Cutting Edge and Contemporary with Typographical Twists 31. Conclusion 33. Bibliography / Reference Introduction Having decided to produce a children’s book as part of my Degree course, I initially considered writing a contemporary version of one of the old folk or fairy tales, possibly a story by Hans Christian Andersen or a tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. I narrowed my selections and decided tentatively on a reworking of the classic folk tale ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. I immediately tried to blank all thoughts of ‘Happy’, ‘Dopey’, ‘Sneezey’, ‘Bashful’, ‘Sleepy’, ‘Grumpy’ and ‘Doc’, but this proved harder than expected. How do you go about renaming, individualising and illustrating characters that are so firmly ensconced in the memories of children all over the world? Disney’s monopolising of the fairy/folk tale genre and mass marketing of the characters as toys appeared to limit my options of adapting the ‘Snow White’ story to... a. Mocking the Disney version in the tale itself. or b. Radically departing from the original story and imagery....both of which seemed quite appealing. I finally decided on a subtle combination of both options, but resolved to look further into Disney’s domination and desecration of folk tales, myths, fables and classic children’s literature. The Death of the Seven Dwarfs â€Å"On a high plain between Brugg and Waldshut, near the Black Forest, seven dwarfs lived together in a small house. Late one evening an attractive young peasant girl, who was lost and hungry, approached them and requested shelter for the night. The dwarfs had only seven beds, and they fell to arguing with one another, for each one wanted to give up his bed for the girl. Finally the oldest one took the girl into his bed. Before they could fall asleep a peasant woman appeared before their house, knocked on the door, and asked to be let inside. The girl got up immediately and told the woman that the dwarfs had only seven beds, and that there was no room there for anyone else. With this the woman became very angry and accused the girl of being a slut, thinking that she was cohabiting with all seven men.

I Want to Coach High School Football :: Teaching Education Philosophy

I Want to Coach High School Football As I was preparing to leave high school and look for a career, I had to make an immense decision. I had to decide what field I wanted to pursue, and how to go about it. I knew I wanted to teach because it offered everything I wanted in a profession including, good benefits, decent pay, the chance to work with children, and the chance to eventually coach High School Football. No other career I found can offer all of these advantages. Although I know I want to teach there is more to the teaching profession than that. First, I have to learn the curriculum and then how to bring that material across to the students. The actual learning process comes naturally for me, but I had to stop and think about how I would bring it across once I become a teacher. This involves many aspects of my life and what I feel is important. I feel ones teaching philosophy pulls from every portion of an individuals belief system. These can include your moral and ethical beliefs, your personality, and also what you, as a teacher, feel is important for the students to learn. To me this seems to be a very big responsibility, so when I started considering my teaching philosophy, I did not take the task lightly. It seems to me that there is a very thin line between fulfilling your own expectations as a teacher, and giving the children what they need and even what they want. I decided that I as a prospective educator, found no teaching philosophy that fulfilled all of my beliefs and hopes. I felt that choosing one philosophy in its entirety was to extreme. I feel that there are parts of all of the philosophies that are excellent, but the philosophies as a whole fail the students in some aspects. That is why for me, I chose an eclectic philosophy. I broke down all of the ways of thinking and came up with my own personal philosophy to use some day when I achieve my dream of being a teacher. I feel it is very important to teach the basic skills first.

Relations Between the Soviet Union and China Hostile Essay

What were the turning-point events that kept relations between the Soviet Union and China hostile for over 20 years? There were many disputes between China and Russia between the 1950s and 1960s. The disputes may be caused by ideological differences, self-interest, personalities of the leaders, or domestic problems. Mao and Stalin had ideological differences. Although Mao and Stalin’s ideologies are based on Marxism, Stalin believed Mao using the peasants as the basis for revolution is not the right interpretation of Marxism. Stalin thought workers in cities should be the basis to lead the revolution. Also, Stalin feared Mao compete against him in the Communist world, so Stalin wanted a weak China and the USSR will then dominate Asia. He made his policies through self-interests. Thus, Stalin wanted Mao to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek instead of carrying out a revolution. Therefore Mao believed Stalin was not a true revolutionary. The Sino-Soviet Treaty Alliance is another example, which the Soviets acted through self-interest. The treaty, which was the first treaty between China and Russia, offered the Chinese Soviet expertise and low interest aid. However, it was signed after two months of negotiation and the Chinese was received poor treatment. Plus, the Chinese would have to repay Soviets’ aid with interests. Moreover, the Chinese traditional buildings were replaced with Soviet style buildings and Socialist sciences were prioritized over the western, which was far more effective than the Socialist sciences. Mao was not happy about Stalin’s actions in the Korean War. Stalin encouraged China to send troops into Korea. China sent one million soldiers to Korea and Russia gave China material assistance but China paid $1.35 billion for the Soviet equipment. Between 1953 and 1956, there were tensions and suspicions in Mao and Stalin’s relationship. Stalin might have purposely delay the end of the Korean War in order to weaken China. After Stalin’s death, tension between Russia and China has relaxed. Soviet leaders tried to make the treaties fairer for China. During the leadership years of Khrushchev, tension has eased between China and the USSR. However, tension rose again at the conference of Communist Parties. Mao called Russia to abandon revisionism, which supports Western Capitalists. Mao also believed the USSR is trying to isolate China. Deng believed capitalism had to be crushed in violent revolution. Khrushchev’s visit to Beijing in order to ease the tension caused by the conference was unsuccessful. Khrushchev’s hotel, which was infested by mosquitos, had no A/C in the summer. Also, Khrushchev who was bad at swimming was invited to swim with Mao. It was humiliating for Khrushchev because he had to wear tight swimming shorts and a swim ring. Meanwhile, Deng used this opportunity to criticize the Sovi ets. He said the Soviets had betrayed the Communist movement and had sent spies disguised as technical advisers to China. Next, a series of events caused China and Russia’s relation to deteriorate. The Taiwan crisis resulted the Soviets withdrawing their economic advisers and cancelled commercial contracts with China. Then the Soviets denounced the faulty design of The Great Leap Forward, which made Mao infuriated. Therefore, Mao would now aid any communist countries that do not agree with the USSR. An example of this would be China aiding Albania. In 1961, the USSR withdrew aid from Albania. Then China replaced the Soviet aid to Albania. This led to more hostilities between the two communist countries. Khrushchev and Mao also had different views on nuclear weapons. Mao did not fear nuclear war because he believed war is unavoidable in the revolutionary struggle. On the other hand, Khrushchev want wanted to co-exist with the US. The Test-ban Treaty was signed in 1963, in which the USSR and US agreed to stop nuclear tests. Mao saw this as the USSR siding with the imperialist powers. Also, China called the USSR for help on the development of nuclear weapons, but the Soviets rejected. After Khrushchev left office in 1964, the Soviets continued isolating China. The Soviets criticized the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Also the Soviets used this opportunity to criticize China on its development of worldwide opium trade, receiving assistance from West Germany on nuclear research, and so on. China and Russia also had disputes on border. In 1969, they started fighting because of border disputes and Mao was prepared for nuclear war. In the end nuclear weapons was not used, but the dispute had threatened to turn into a full-scale war. The Vietnam War had also caused the disputes between China and Russia because they all wanted Vietnam to be influenced by their ideologies. In the end, USSR won and the Soviet-Vietnamese Treaty of Peace and Friendship was formed. In conclusion, mainly because of self-interest and different ideological views, Russia and China had conflicts on the Conference of Communist Parties in 1957, Taiwan, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the Vietnam War, and border issues. Because of these serious of events, China and Russia relations were hostile over 20 years.

Good sameritan essay Essay

Should being a Good Samaritan be a law? This is a question that many people do not think about everyday. In my opinion, I believe that there should not be a law on being a Good Samaritan. I believe this because; there should not be a law that causes human beings to put their lives at risk, only to save another’s. This may sound selfish but it is also the truth. Do you think its right for human beings to put their livea at risk to save anothers? The Good Samaritans USA are afraid to Act article states â€Å"They are imposing on us a duty to assist, provided we don’t put ourselves at risk.† (Sjoerdsma Paragraph 4) This means that if we have to be Good Samaritans then there is a chance that we are putting ourselves at risk. There is a chance that we could die. Therefore, there is a chance that there would be many deaths at a cause of this law. If you have a special relationship between the victims, then of course it would only be logical for you to help the person in need. For example, â€Å"certain people have a duty to take care of others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Sjoerdsma Paragraph 9) This would be like between a doctor and a patient. Then it would be the doctor’s duty to make sure that the patient is taken care of. Also the article states â€Å"instead of compelling reluctant incompetent people to intervene, we should concentrate in protecting Good Samaritans who act now without force of law.† (Sjoerdsma Paragraph 6) Here we can clearly see that humans can be good people without law forcing them to do so. It would be better for all of the US to feel like they are doing a good deed by being a Good Samaritan rather than a requirement. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a requirement for US citizens to always be a hero and do an act of kindness. This law would put not only one life at risk but the lives of many others at risk.

Analysis of Internationalisation Strategy Tesco and Lidl Essay

Question 1: Globalisation has, in the last few decades, been one of the dominant trends in retailing. Retailers around the globe are striving for higher global market shares. The food retailing industry which has an oligopolistic market, especially, has strong competition although, with a few large firms dominating the market. Among them Tesco and Lidl are one of the major European retailers. Tesco is the UK’s largest retailer with 28.7% market share, which is 11% more than its closest rival, ASDA (Statista.com, 2015), and is the 5th largest retailer in the world (Deloitte, 2015). And Lidl is the main retail chain (accounting for more than 70% of its sales) of Schwarz group, which is the 4th largest retailer in the world (Deloitte, 2015). Both of these firms are based in Europe with Tesco being a British firm and Lidl a German. These firms are similar not only in their revenues and market shares but also in the generic strategy they have adopted. In terms of business operation, both firms follow Porter’s cost leadership strategy. However, Tesco also incorporates the differentiation strategy (Baroto et al., 2012), hence pursuing a hybrid strategy combining the two, while Lidl solely follows the no-frills cost leadership strategy (Geppert et al., 2015). Both these firms have internationalized in different countries around the globe. Lidl has mainly focused its internationalisation in the European markets, while Tesco, in addition to expanding in different eastern European countries, has also started its operations in drastically different markets such as South Korea, China, India and The USA. However, they have followed different strategies in their modes of entry into foreign markets, with different levels of success. The decision to and the outcome of internationalisation for these two firms have depended on different factors like government regulation, availability of the factors of production, their business operation strategy and so on. One of the main criteria for internationalisation for firms is to possess some sort of competitive advantage, in order to overcome the threats and difficulties usually associated with entering into a new foreign market (Vernon 1966). Lidl being a discounter has a huge advantage in terms of price compared to other supermarkets and hypermarkets. As a result of its no-frills strategy, Lidl can significantly reduce costs in different stages of its logistics and supply chain. Entering into a new country has a lot of challenges and firm  size is one of the things a firm must consider when choosing a country for internationalisation. If th e firm does not have significant market share in its domestic market, it will find it difficult to maintain its operations in foreign markets. In Lidl’s case, they have built a very strong domestic market and therefore, had a strong foundation for further expansion to foreign markets. From Lidl’s previous Foreign Direct Investments, it is evident that that the firm has adopted both acquisition strategy as well as Greenfield investment. However, it has mostly focused on Greenfield investments (Nayak, 2011). Greenfield investment, which entails starting the operations from scratch, gives firms more freedom in selecting their business strategy in terms of choosing suppliers and managing logistics etc. This market entry strategy allows firms to fully utilize their company-specific advantages (Ando, 2005). One of the reasons Lidl chooses this strategy as their international mode of entry, is because of its consistency with their business model. Lidl, like other hard discounters, follows a global standardised strategy (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1989), where majority of the decisions are made by the corporate headquarters, in things like variation of product assortment, design of store outlets or policies and procedures and there is very little localisation (Geppert,201 5). This allows Lidl to implement its own strategic model into a new business in a foreign market. However, in addition to centralizing the strategic aspect of the business, they also centralize some physical aspects of it. â€Å"A global retail strategy relies on standardization to achieve economies of scale and of replication. This means that in different countries similar product lines, distribution system, communication, service level and store design are used† (McGoldrick 2002). Lidl’s business strategy includes a standardized supply chain which allows it to efficiently operate its business in different countries and also provides an economies of scale. Upon entering a foreign market, they set up regional distribution centres (RDCs) to service a significant number of their stores in a certain region. They source their products (except perishables) through their headquarters in Germany and those products are distributed through the RDCs to their respective regional stores. Each of the RDC is linked to a regional management headquarters and they supply around 60 a nd 120 stores (Geppert, 2011). Through this kind of horizontal FDI, Lidl operates in its foreign  markets just as it does in its domestic market. Also, the fact that Lidl has expanded into countries that are geographically closer makes this strategy and business model very effective. This strategy is also consistent with the gravity model of bilateral trade which states that volume of trade is inversely proportional to the distance between the countries and directly proportional to the size of the economies. Lidl’s operating countries are geographically closer to each other and they, as a result, incur less transaction costs, which allows a discounter like Lidl, to adhere to its cost leadership strategy in its foreign markets as well. Moreover, Germany’s central location in Europe as well as it being the largest economy in Europe increases the prospect and efficiency of trade. Furthermore, due to Lidl’s choice of internationalisation strategy, factor abundance plays an integral role, especially in terms of land and space. Greenfield investment requires land to build new stores or the availability of already built stores. â€Å"Discounters’ stores are standardized not only in neighbouring markets, but worldwide, which allows for efficient in-store processes† (Warschun, 2011). Therefore, Lidl which follows a similar standardization strategy, requires specific sizes of land and stores in different parts of the country it wants to expand to. An exception in this case is Sweden, which is geographically a bit farther relative to other countries. Lidl, establishing a Greenfield investment, built their own warehouse in South West of Sweden, however, the warehouse was still served by the same logistics firm used by Lidl in Germany, Pape (Nyberg, 2007). This still allowed for the standard distribution process to be implemented, as Pape is already familiar with Lidl’s business model and distribution modes. Government policies, in both domestic and foreign markets, also have a significant effect on food retailers and their decision to internationalise. In 1968, a retail planning policy was devised in Germany in order to protect the small stores by limiting the size of stores outside city centres and special zones (Geppert et.al, 2015). This helped discount stores like Lidl by stopping bigger competitors from introducing huge supermarkets and hypermarkets. As a result, Lidl gained a significant portion of the market share in the German food retailing market. This strong position in their domestic market meant they had the resources and the motivation to expand  into other markets and a strong domestic presence also benefits Lidl’s centralised business model. Since then, Lidl has expanded rapidly, mostly in European markets, and the number of Lidl stores in Lidl’s major operating countries can be seen from the table below. The table above shows that the total number of stores Lidl had in 2011 in its foreign markets is three times its number of stores in Germany, its domestic market. This shows that Lidl’s endeavours in foreign markets have been successful as majority of their international efforts have resulted in a profit. Lidl doesn’t publish country-by country profit figures, although, its turnover in the UK in 2012, which was  £202 million, increasing by around 40% in the five years since the recession hit (Gibb, 2013), shows that it is making a profit. In 2012, Lidl’s overall profits were up by 37% (Kantarretail, 2012). This can partly be attributed to the recession, because of which the demand for cheaper discounted goods increased, however, it can also be attributed to Lidl’s mode of entry into new markets and its business strategy which takes into account the local culture of the community and country in its foreign markets. For example: Lidl locally sources its pe rishable food products in the UK locally and uses it as its marketing strategy to attract local consumers and to create a friendly brand image. Similarly to Lidl, Tesco also has a very strong presence in its domestic market as it is the market leader in the UK. Being among the top five retailers in the world, Tesco has stores in various countries in Asia and Europe. After achieving rapid growth and gaining the highest market share in the UK, the move to enter foreign markets was part of Tesco’s disciplined international growth strategy (Tesco Annual Report, 2014). Tesco has also adopted Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment in most of its international expansions, usually acquiring existing retailers in foreign markets and implementing its own business strategy like undercutting competitors and introducing own brand products and its club card scheme and so on (corporatewatch.org, 2004). For example: Tesco’s acquisition of American company K-mart’s stores in Czech Republic in 1996 (tescoplc.com) and it currently has more than 300 stores there (Tescopoly.org) Tesco’s first  attempts at internationa lisation were not very successful as their acquisitions of relatively small supermarket chains in Ireland and France were divested soon after acquisition (Geppert et al., 2011). Tesco, then changed their strategy in acquisitions by acquiring larger foreign firms rather than smaller ones. In addition to the acquisition of K-mart in 1996, they acquired 26 S-Mart stores in Hungary in 1995, and ventured into the Irish market again in 1997, this time acquiring the market leader Associated British Food (ABF) (Geppert et al. 2011). As they grew Tesco has favoured large hypermarkets for its international stores rather than supermarkets, since in most countries it is easier to get planning permission for these than it is in the UK. (corporatewatch.org, 2004). One of Tesco’s main strategy in internationalisation has been to understand the market and operate in accordance with the local shopping culture to build better relationship with the consumers as well as suppliers. This is much easier to achieve in choosing acquisitions or joint ventures than through Greenfield investments. Through acquisitions, as a result of the knowledge of local customs and associations on part of the acquired firm, the investing firm can take advantage of pre-existing business network with suppliers and distribution chains. It also takes over the brands (in some cases), the reputation and the existing market share of the acquired firm and this can result in a stronger market presence very quickly (Marinescu & Constantin, 2008). Therefore, using an entry strategy suitable with a lot of market research, Tesco has had success in its foreign expansion in European markets. Some examples include its operations in Hungary, where they strongly focus on local suppliers and 85% of their sales are through local products and In India where they operate a scheme to donate to local charities and organisations (tescoplc.com). The following table with Tesco’s number of stores in 2011, shows that unlike Lidl, Tesco has more stores in its home market compared to all of its international inves tments and the proportion of sales is higher in its domestic market as well since it brings in about two thirds of its total revenues from its home market (Thomas et al., 2013). Contrary to its success in the European markets, Tesco has recently suffered some major setbacks in internationalisation in Asian markets like Japan and  China, and the US. Tesco entered the US market in 2007 and instead of using their tried and tested approach of acquisitions or joint ventures, they preferred to adopt a different strategy and entered the market by establishing a new wholly owned subsidiary as a Greenfield investment. This meant that they did not possess the local knowledge about the market and consumer behaviour. In addition, they initially filled their management positions with mostly British expats instead of hiring locally (Silverthorne, 2010). Competing as a new business in a highly oligopolistic market requires a strong strategy and considerable market research and knowledge about the consumer base so, a lack of that meant Tesco could not entice American consumers. Moreover, their timing of internationalisation was also unfortunate as recession had seriously effected Tesco’s chosen states of California, Nevada and Arizona. Tesco is estimated to have made more than  £1 billion in accumulated loss (Finch & Walsh, 2012). Similarly, also in China in 2013, Tesco had to fold its unprofitable business into a state-run company as a minority partner; this was attributed to a difficulty foreign companies like Tesco, have in negotiating with suppliers and regulators in a fast-growing but tricky market. Furthermore, Tesco also withdrew from the Japanese market in 2012 in a â€Å"move that follows decisions to†¦ focus on investing in its British home market† (Thomas et al., 2013). Tesco’s exit from Taiwan can be credited to low factor abundance, as all the most attractive sites for expansion already been developed or were held under future development option by Carrefour, who had been a well-established retailer in the country. In addition, the highly complex land ownership system was a hindrance for Tesco’s as it obstructed the transfer its skills in site location analysis and property development (Lowe & Wrigley, 2010). However, Tesco has had success in Asia, with Thailand, and South Korea, which is its largest foreign market. Tesco outperformed its global rivals Wal-Mart and Carrefour in South Korea and they were forced to exit the market leaving Tesco as the dominant international retailer there (Lowe & Wrigley, 2010). Tesco had entered both South Korea and Thailand through joint ventures rather than acquisition, this key difference helped the firm massively as the partnerships with local firms offered Tesco the knowledge of local business/regulatory conditions and consumer culture, plus it provided the opportunity to build upon the ‘local’ appeal, especially in  South Korea where Tesco had partnered with Samsung and the use of the name, Samsung-Tesco, proved to be vital (Lowe & Wrigley, 2010). Tesco’s failures in internationalization in some of the Asian and the American markets does show to some extent that geographical distance might have played a part even though the size of the economies involved were quite large. The culture of these markets were very different and as per Krug man’s love of variety model, individuals’ tastes are even more diverse, and Tesco could not adapt to these vastly different markets. In these kind of markets, a joint venture, like it adopted in its Korean and Thai markets, seemed to be the preferable option. Comparing and analysing the strategies of Tesco and Lidl’s shows that, in order to have a successful internationalisation and subsequently continue to have a strong foreign market, the firms must be strong in its domestic market. Both firms use different primary strategy to enter into foreign markets but their internationalisation strategy suits their respective business strategy, as Tesco’s opts for quick growth and seeks to be a market leader in all of its markets usually by acquiring large existing retailers, while Lidl opts for greenfield investments in order to maintain its cost leadership and utilize its standardized supply and distribution chains. Both firms use Horizontal FDI, which does decrease international trade as their services are usually aimed at host country, however, individual governments welcome Horizontal FDI as it boosts the local economy by providing jobs as well as increases competition. In Tesco’s case, it has recently turned its focus on its home market, as it has been losing market share in the UK and two thirds of its revenue come from the UK, however Lidl is growing more internationally and plans to open more stores in its already existing international markets like the UK (Butler, 2014). The world is very small now, especially with the ability to replicate technology easily and the power to move freely between countries. However, the strategies these two forms have used and their effectiveness in different countries show that, although there are fewer differences in consumer cultures and market structures, these differences still matter and play an important role in the success and failure of firms. The ability of a firm to understand the consumer culture is key when it comes to internationalisation. Furthermore, the gravity model does hold to an extent even in the case of internationalisation of firms, as evident from Tesco’s  failure to penetrate most Asian markets they entered compared to their successes in most European markets they ventured into. Tesco’s success in Thailand and Korea shows that a Joint venture with a locally established company would be the ideal mode of entry into risky markets. And a firm’s Internationalisation strategy must also be consistent with its business strategy in order to have a consistent growth in the foreign market after a successful entry. Reference: Baroto, M. B., Abdullah, M. M. B. and Wan, H. L. (2012) ‘Hybrid Strategy: A New Strategy for Competitive Advantage’, International Journal of Business and Management, 7. doi: 10.5539/ijbm.v7n20p120. Bartlett C.A., Ghoshal, S. (1989): Managing across Borders. The Transnational Solution. Boston., Mass: Harvard Business School press Butler, S. 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