Green Banana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Green Banana - Essay Example The native pointed it out to the American, explaining that the rock is the center of the world. The American professor was politely noncommittal. The mechanic who repaired the jeep’s radiator noticed the green banana â€Å"fix† and asked the American where he had learned it. Upon hearing the traveler’s reply, the mechanic also pointed out the rock that was the center of the world. Reflecting upon this experience, the American experienced a sort of epiphany as he realized that there are â€Å"green bananas† everywhere, and that the â€Å"center of the world† is unique to everyone because it is a reference to a personal comfort zone. The story of the green banana is ripe with symbolism (pun intended). A simple piece of fruit is used to make the reader realize that sometimes what he or she is looking for has been there all along. We may see a green banana in the grocery store and dismiss it, reaching instead for a selection of yellow ones. Being brought up that bananas should be yellow, and that unripe fruit causes uncomfortable intestinal distress, it is logical that the green ones should be passed over. As the writer attests, being a â€Å"product of American higher education† he thought of the banana only as a food source. Had he not been stranded, he surely would have scoffed at the suggestion by a villager that a green banana could be used to plug a leak in a radiator. Prior to this event, he had no incentive to explore the various uses of all kinds of bananas, much like most of us remain ignorant to the contributions possible by others because we have no need to change our ways. This perspective is d etrimental to our development as a society in that it prevents collaboration and the free exchange of different thoughts and ideas. This self-centeredness keeps us ignorant of the many gifts to be offered by other cultures. Such is the case for the American stranded in the village. He was bemused when the child showed up with the green

Meaning of Life and Jeremy Fink Essay Example for Free

Meaning of Life and Jeremy Fink Essay A) MEANING OF LIFE – BY JEREMY FINK. B) CHARACTERS: JEREMY FINK, LIZZY MULDOON, MRS. FINK, MR. MULDOON, MR. OSWALD, SAMANTHA AND RICK, JAMES AND MR. FINK. CONFLICT: THE CONFLICT IS ABOUT JEREMY TRYING TO FIND FOUR KEY’S THAT WOULD OPEN THE BOX WHICH HIS DAD LEFT IT FOR HIM FOR HIS THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY PRESENT WHEN HE DIED AND JEREMY IS TO FIND THE KEY THAT WOULD FIT ALL FOUR SPOTS IN THE BOX BEFORE HIS THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY. SETTING: HAPPENS IN MODERN DAYS IN NEW YORK CITY. BASIC SITUATION: JEREMY AND LIZZY TRY TO FIND THE KEY BEFORE JEREMY’S THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY. C) PLOT: JEREMY SEE’S THE POSTMAN WITH A BOX ADDRESSED TO HIS MOM. JEREMY TAKES THE BOX AND OPENS IT TO SEE A BOX. WHEN HIS MOM COMES AND SEES HIM WITH THE BOX HIS MOM TELLS HIM HOW THE BOX WAS HIS PRESENT HIS DAD LEFT HIM FOR HIS THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY AND HAD TO FIND ALL FOUR OF THE KEYS THAT WOULD OPEN IT BEFORE HIS BIRTHDAY COMES. LIZZY AND JEREMY GET IN TROUBLE AND THEY HAVE TO DO COMMUNITY SERVICE. THEN THEY MEET MR. OSWALD WHO TRIES TO HELP THEM. THEIR COMMUNITY SERVICE WAS TO DELIVER STAFF TWO NEW PEOPLE WHICH THEN THEY GET TO MEET NEW PEOPLE. D) CLIMAX: IS WHEN LIZZY AND JEREMY OPENED THE BOX AND DISCOVERED HIS. FATHER’S MEANING OF LIFE. E) FALLING ACTION: IS WHEN JEREMY OPENS THE BOX AND FINDS IT FULL OF STONES. JEREMY THEN REMEMBERS HIS FATHER HAD COLLECTED EACH STONE AT EACH IMPORTANT EVENT OF HIS LIFE. F) RESOLUTION: IS WHEN JEREMY FIND OUT THAT MR. OSWALD, JEREMY’S MOM, THE MAILMAN, AND LARRY FROM LARRY’S LOCKS WERE ALL IN JEREMY’S DAD’S PLAN TO GIVE JEREMY THE BOX AT THE RIGHT TIME AND SO THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK FOR ALL FOUR OF THE KEYS, ALTHOUGH MR. OSWALD HAD THEM ALL ALONG. BY HAVING THIS PLAN HIS DAD KNEW THAT JEREMY WOULD MEET NEW PEOPLE AND GET TO EXPERIENCE. DIFFERENT THINGS HE WOULD NEVER DO. G) POINT OF VIEW: FIRST PERSON BECAUSE THERE IS TOO MUCH FEELINGS AND EMOTION IN THE BOOK. H) PERSON VS PERSON- JEREMY AND LIZZY AS THEY TRY TO FIND THE KEYS TO THE BOX. PERSON VS SOCIETY- JEREMY AND THE SOCIETY MEETING NEW PEOPLE TO TRY TO FIND THE KEY TO THE FOUR HOLES. I) THEME: A LESSON THIS STORY TEACHES ABOUT LIFE IS TO NEVER GIVE UP, AND ALWAYS BE MOTIVATED TO DO SOMETHING YOU KNOW YOU REALLY WANT TO DO. J) SIMILE- AS HARD AS IT CAN BE WITH HOPE ON THE WAY. SIMILE- LIFE IS AS EVENTFUL AS A JOURNEY. METAPHOR- NO PAIN, NO GAIN.

The Prevention Of Computer Viruses Computer Science Essay

The Prevention Of Computer Viruses Computer Science Essay What is a computer virus? A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself[1] and infect a computer. The term virus is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive. How are viruses transmitted can be transmitted person to individual by bodily fluids like HIV. Viruses approaching the common cold can be transported through the upper air we breathe. Viruses can also be transferred from your pets to you. Fortunately our body has an immunodefense workings that is intricately designed to row these pathogens. How do you prevent viruses? List the softwareà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s name. The internet is an amazing place that allows each and every one of us easy access to a wide variety of resources. Unfortunately, there is an increasing amount of viruses, worms, spyware and spam that can easily infect your computer. Your computer in fact may already be infected and you may not even know it. If your computer is unusually slow or crashes periodically, it may be infected. In fact, if you do not address the problem with this computer it may in fact infect other computers on your network. The result of a virus or worm attack can include an inability to access the internet, missing icons on your desktop, missing files and many other potential problems. There are ways, however, that you can fight back. Of course before making any changes to your computer, it is always a good idea to make a backup. FIGHT BACK 1. Run Microsoft Windows Update often. With new viruses and worms constantly being created, it is important to keep the Microsoft Windows operating system up to date. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and follow the instructions on screen. By installing the critical updates found on the Windows Update website, you are greatly reducing the chances of your computer from becoming infected. 2. Update the virus pattern of your Anti-Virus software frequently. Almost all Anti-Virus software programs update automatically, but you will want to check to make sure that this process is taking place. If a new virus is introduced and your pattern file is out of date, you will not be adequately protected against this new threat. I highly recommend the use of Trend Micro PC-Cillin. Unlike other antivirus software programs, it does not tap your system resources by taking up a lot of memory. It also works in a very transparent fashion with continuous pattern updates. 3. Remove Spyware and Adware. When you visit websites or install new software, you may be inadvertently installing Spyware and Adware onto your computer. Spyware and Adware allows third parties to: (a) monitor the use of your computer over the internet and (b) market specific products to you on the internet based upon the use of your computer. Go to http://www.download.com in order to download and install: (1) Ad-aware and (2) Spybot Search Destroy. Properly updated, both of these programs will remove all known Spyware and Adware. 4. Prevent Spam. A large number of worms and viruses are distributed through spam email. The first step in preventing spam is to not post your email address on a website. If you need to provide a means for contacting you via email, you will want to create a submission form that does not display your MAILTO in the code/page source of your webpage. You may need to contact a web designer in order to properly implement this process into your website. Another method is to use the Master Spambot Buster which works just like a MAILTO link but without displaying your email address in the code for bots to pick up. In addition, you should always use Private Registration when registering a domain name for a website. If you go to http://www.netsol.com and do a WHOIS on your website, you do not want to see your email address publicly displayed in your domain record. Automated programs called robots regularly crawl websites such as this looking to pick up email addresses for use by companies that spam. If robots on the internet have already picked up your email address, you will of course want to use some form of spam prevention. Many web based mail programs already allow you the ability to prevent spam. However, many mail clients on business networks do not have this functionality. There are a variety of products in the marketplace to address this problem, but one of the most popular is http://www.spamarrest.com. By using Spamarrest.com, you manage who you allow or do not allow to receive email from. When someone sends you an email for the first time, they must verify that they sent you an email. If they do not, the email is placed in your unverified folder on Spamarrest.coms web servers. All blocked mail is then placed in Spamarrest.coms spam folder. Meanwhile all approved mail is sent as it normally would directly to your computers Inbox. CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL Although the software described here is easily used, different hardware and software configurations can lead to unexpected results that may damage your computer. If you are experiencing difficulties with viruses, worms, spyware or spam, you may want to consult a professional. How do you know that your computer is infected by a virus? If you suspect or confirm that your computer is infected with a computer virus, obtain the current antivirus software. The following are some primary indicators that a computer may be infected: The computer runs slower than usual. The computer stops responding, or it locks up frequently. The computer crashes, and then it restarts every few minutes. The computer restarts on its own. Additionally, the computer does not run as usual. Applications on the computer do not work correctly. Disks or disk drives are inaccessible. You cannot print items correctly. You see unusual error messages. You see distorted menus and dialog boxes. There is a double extension on an attachment that you recently opened, such as a .jpg, .vbs, .gif, or .exe. extension. An antivirus program is disabled for no reason. Additionally, the antivirus program cannot be restarted. An antivirus program cannot be installed on the computer, or the antivirus program will not run. New icons appear on the desktop that you did not put there, or the icons are not associated with any recently installed programs. Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers unexpectedly. A program disappears from the computer even though you did not intentionally remove the program Why virus-scanning software needs to be updated regularly ? computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself[1] and infect a computer. The term virus is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.[2] Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.[3][4] As stated above, the term computer virus is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, even those that do not have the reproductive ability. Malware includes computer viruses, computer worms, Trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware and other malicious and unwanted software, including true viruses. Viruses are sometimes confused with worms and Trojan horses, which are technically different. A worm can exploit security vulnerabilities to spread itself automatically to other computers through networks, while a Trojan horse is a program that appears harmless but hides malicious functions. Worms and Trojan horses, like viruses, may harm a computer systems data or performance. Some viruses and other malware have symptoms noticeable to the computer user, but many are surreptitious or simply do nothing to call attention to themselves. Some viruses do nothing beyond reproducing themselves. The Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy: You should be ready to prove the authenticity of your work. If any form of plagiarism/reproduction of answers/work discovered, you will be awarded zero mark. Late submission of the assignment: If any late submission of your work, mark will be reduced. Your are expected to cover the following outcomes Outcome 4. You are expected to practice the skills that are related to the following graduate attribute: Recognize the importance of lifelong learning and are committed to self development Declaration by student (Hand written) TO MY LECTURER Mr. Sheik Mohammed I CERTIFY THAT ALL OF THIS WORK IS: (a) DONE BY MYSELF (b) PRINTED BY MYSELF Students signatureMahmood Khalfan Ali.. Submit ion Date: ..22j1047

Julius Caesar - Analyses Of Characters :: essays research papers

Julius Caesar is very much a warrior and he thinks that he is above every one else and that he is more than an ordinary man. As a result he is very arrogant and takes very little notice of the people around him. As far as he is concerned, they are meaningless and not worth his time. He believes he is honourable but really is not. In a way he wants to be trusted and to be a trusted leader of the Roman people but he is very unwilling to do anything to gain trust. Ordinary people have a great deal of respect for Caesar and probably believe that he would be a good, powerful leader who has Roman’s troubles at heart. Caesar probably believes those things as well but he is ruthless and he craves power. He also believes that everybody likes him and that is why he’s surprised when the conspirators approach him. Then he realises that they have seen through his façade and see that he is really an arrogant power-crazy man. Mark Antony is a very honourable soldier who is loyal to anyone in power. He was a great friend to Caesar and thought very highly of him. He is extremely angry at Caesar’s death. He is a very cunning man as can be seen in the second part of the scene and he is able to manipulate people. He cared a lot for Caesar and as a result he grieved a lot when Caesar was killed. Because he was very close to Caesar he wants revenge and, although he can hide it, has a lot of hatred for the conspirators who killed Caesar. At first it seemed that he was so upset that Caesar had died that he would wish to die also. However, later he seems to decide that revenging his death would be a better way. He knows the conspirators only as other Romans, he does not know them as friends and knows very little about them. As a result he may not know about Cassius’ cunning mind that has already discovered Mark Antony’s plan for revenge. Cassius is very crafty and tactful. He sees through most people to what they are truly like. He is also very good at manipulating people, much like Mark Antony. He is a friend to Brutus but he took advantage of that friendship to make sure he killed Caesar. Julius Caesar - Analyses Of Characters :: essays research papers Julius Caesar is very much a warrior and he thinks that he is above every one else and that he is more than an ordinary man. As a result he is very arrogant and takes very little notice of the people around him. As far as he is concerned, they are meaningless and not worth his time. He believes he is honourable but really is not. In a way he wants to be trusted and to be a trusted leader of the Roman people but he is very unwilling to do anything to gain trust. Ordinary people have a great deal of respect for Caesar and probably believe that he would be a good, powerful leader who has Roman’s troubles at heart. Caesar probably believes those things as well but he is ruthless and he craves power. He also believes that everybody likes him and that is why he’s surprised when the conspirators approach him. Then he realises that they have seen through his façade and see that he is really an arrogant power-crazy man. Mark Antony is a very honourable soldier who is loyal to anyone in power. He was a great friend to Caesar and thought very highly of him. He is extremely angry at Caesar’s death. He is a very cunning man as can be seen in the second part of the scene and he is able to manipulate people. He cared a lot for Caesar and as a result he grieved a lot when Caesar was killed. Because he was very close to Caesar he wants revenge and, although he can hide it, has a lot of hatred for the conspirators who killed Caesar. At first it seemed that he was so upset that Caesar had died that he would wish to die also. However, later he seems to decide that revenging his death would be a better way. He knows the conspirators only as other Romans, he does not know them as friends and knows very little about them. As a result he may not know about Cassius’ cunning mind that has already discovered Mark Antony’s plan for revenge. Cassius is very crafty and tactful. He sees through most people to what they are truly like. He is also very good at manipulating people, much like Mark Antony. He is a friend to Brutus but he took advantage of that friendship to make sure he killed Caesar.

Csr in Inidan Banking Sector Essay

State regulatory bodies, NGOs, media, customers have significantly addressed social responsibility issues in banking sector. International organization such as World Bank also exerts pressures on banks to analyze social and environmental risk involved in projects to be financed. In addition the reputation and resultant profitability of an organization are greatly effected by their CSR activities. Researchers have found a positive correlation between CSR and financial performance of the organization. Around the globe, a good commitment is being shown by the banking industry to CSR principles. Banks are showing conscious efforts to reduce the regulatory actions by depicting a good environmental citizen image. Banking in India has originated in the last decades of the 18th century with the establishment of General Bank of India in 1786, and the Bank of Hindustan set up in 1870 (both banks are now defunct). At present, the commercial banking structure in India consists of Scheduled Commercial Banks & Unscheduled Banks. Banking in India has evolved in four distinct phases: Foundation phase, Expansion phase, consolidation phase and Reforms phase. An integrated approach of combining CSR with the ultimate customer satisfaction is being adopted by Indian banking industry voluntarily. An attempt has been initiated to ensure social responsible behavior of banking sector in a more systematic manner. Public and private sector banks have common thrust areas which are children welfare, community welfare, education, environment, healthcare, poverty eradication, rural development, vocational training, women’s empowerment, protection to girl child, employment. The core areas for reporting CSR activities are slightly different in both public and private sector banks. The major areas investigated for reporting CSR activities in public and private sector banks is shown by the Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively below: X axis in the below charts represents the fields of CSR activities and Y axis represents the number of banks working in the particular fields out of the selected sample. Figure 1: Core thrust areas for reported CSR activities in public sector banks Source: 1-IJAEBM-Volume-No-1-Issue-No-2-CSR-Practices-and-CSR-Reporting-in-Indian-Banking-Sector-058-066 As per the chart above rural development has been the ost actively participated activity for Indian public sector banks. Besides, their primary focus has been on gender equality through women empowerment. Figure 2: Core thrust areas for reported CSR activities in private sector banks Source: 1-IJAEBM-Volume-No-1-Issue-No-2-CSR-Practices-and-CSR-Reporting-in-Indian-Banking-Sector-058-066 Enhancing the level of education and employment has been the major areas for reporting CSR activities i n Indian private sector bank. Following are community welfare, programs for child welfare and protection of environment. 3. 1 RBI guidelines on CSR: On December 20, 2007 RBI circulated a notice for all the scheduled commercial banks to highlight the role of banks in corporate social responsibility, with title â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Non-Financial Reporting – Role of Banks†. Major issues discussed in the notice were regarding – 1. Corporate Social Responsibility 2. Sustainable Development 3. Non-Financial Reporting Talking about the corporate social responsibility program RBI followed many international initiatives to highlight the importance of the notice like – 1. United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) 2. They can achieve the mission by supporting initiatives that are * Cost effective * Capable of large-scale replication * Measurable * Having potential for both near and long-term impact. * Banks must provide appropriate training to its employees on environmental and social risks in lending to ensure that climate change is taken into account in corporate banking decisions. 6. Conclusion The CSR moment in the banking sector is slowing picking the pace. Many banks are showing their inclination and interest towards the CSR activities and believe it as their social responsibility. On the other side CSR reporting practices are far from satisfaction. There are hardly few banks which report their activities on triple bottom line principles. The lack of uniform standards for rating CSR practices leads to problem in comparison of corporate houses and difficulty in determining the CSR rating. In spite of the slow adaptation of CSR reporting practices in India, it is predicted to pick up a great pace in near future. The need for enacting some stringent regulatory provisions to ensure adherence to social responsibility principles is necessary. https://ru.scribd.com/doc/19779226/CSR-PROGRAM-IN-BANKING-SECTOR-AN-INDIAN-PERSPECTIVE http://www.karmayog.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility

Are You Acquainted with Construction of Roller Crusher Essays

Are You Acquainted with Construction of Roller Crusher Essays Are You Acquainted with Construction of Roller Crusher Essay Are You Acquainted with Construction of Roller Crusher Essay As we all know that the roll crusher is one mining machine which can be often seen in the jobsites, which is mainly used for crushing the materials such as the pebbles, quartz and ceramics and whose another name is teeth roll crusher. However, do you know the construction of roller crusherAdjustment device is used to adjust the gap between the two broken roller size (that is, the row ore mouth), it is through the increase or decrease in the number of gasket between the two roller bearing, or use the worm gear adjusting mechanism to adjust and to control the broken product granularity.The roller crusher rollerIs a device on the horizontal axis parallel to the two opposite rotary roller, it is an important task of the breaker.One of the roller bearing (pictured right) is movable, the other a roller bearing is fixed, the broken roller is made up of shaft, wheel hub and roll leather.Roll axis adopt key cooperate together with conical surface of wheel, roller fixed on the wheel hub, with three pieces of taper arc iron, using bolt and nut are fixed together.Because the roller skin of roller crusher (chinaquarry.com/products_show/roll_crusher.html) direct contact with minerals, so it need often change, and is commonly used to wear good high manganese steel or carbon steel special chromium (chromium steel, manganese steel, etc.) production.The spring safety deviceIt is important for roll crusher a parts, spring tightness, the ore crusher work normally and overload protection has a very important role.Machine to work properly, the pressure of the spring should be able to balance between the two rollers of force, to keep the row ore mouth gap, make the product granularity.When the breaker into the broken objects, spring should be compressed, forcing movable crushing roller lateral movement, row ore mouth width increases, ensure the machine from damage.The broken object, after being ruled out spring restorable, machine work as usual.Transmission

Dark Side Of Nowhere (Summary) Essays - Fiction, Jason Voorhees

Dark Side Of Nowhere (Summary) Essays - Fiction, Jason Voorhees Dark Side Of Nowhere (Summary) This book starts out with a boy named Ethan dieing and everybody said it was appendicitis however later Jason and some others realized it wasnt. Jason didnt like his life because he thought it was too boring and he thought his parents were too nice because they never punished him too badly. Also at Ethans wedding, Jason wondered why Ethans parents didnt cry but his dad said it was shock however later Jason learned Ethan hadnt died at all. At a Little League game in Billington, Jason got in a fight with a boy because that boy was insulting the pitcher who was the girl that Jason liked. He got badly beat up and he went to the restroom to take care of the bruises that he had gotten. Then his school janitor, Mr. Grant, walked inside the restroom and gave Jason a glove that shot out BBs however Jason learned that the glove shot BBs by himself. He also told him to meet by a barn in a place called Old Town to learn what to do with it. The next day, Paula, the pitcher that Jason liked, went to Jasons house and told him he ruined her no-hitter yesterday. She was turning to leave but Jason wanted her to stay there so he decided to show her the glove Grant had given him even though Grant said not to show anyone the glove. He went to the back of his backyard and showed it to her. Then they went to Old Town because they got carried away in a game when Paula took the glove because she wanted to know where Jason had gotten the glove. They went into Old Town and they found many sightings that were weird such as a picture of a person that looked exactly like Billy Chambers who was a kid that went to their school and they saw a message carved into a wall that said, God Help Us. At school the next day, Jason said he had to get his monthly shots so he couldnt help Paula search around Old Town. Jason and everybody else who did receive them thought they were for health however they learned later that they were to keep their natural bodies and not their alien bodies. The next day was the day that Jason was supposed to meet to learn about the glove however Paula wanted him to help search for the truth about Old Town however he said he had a meeting and Wesley saved him by saying it was a Boy Scout meeting because Wesley also had to meet there. Wesley had received his glove 2 months before and he along with many others was sent to go there. Jason realized that these were all people who had parents that were their parents closest friends. At home, his parents said they were moving and they were not going to stay in Billington. Jason wanted to know why and he pulled out the glove that he got from Grant. His dad furiously wondered where he had gotten that and he got very mad. He finally went out and went to a storm cellar in Old Town that was actually a space ship. There, Jasons dad told him everything: about how he was an alien and how they got to Earth and about them stealing the faces of the human civilians that previously lived there before they were killed. At school the kids talked about them being alien because most of their parents had told them. Also Jason learned that the monthly shots were turning into weekly shots. Also the kids learned that Ethan really hadnt died, he was just in alien form so he couldnt come to school. Also they turned the meetings for the aliens into everyday since it was summer and the people begin thinking they were better than everyone. A few days later people rushed to Jasons house because they were becoming the aliens in the form that they actually were. They wanted to know what was happening so they went to Grants house. Grant said it was test to see if Jason could unite all of them and he showed Jason what

An Introduction to Psychological Warfare

An Introduction to Psychological Warfare Psychological warfare is the planned tactical use of propaganda, threats, and other non-combat techniques during wars, threats of war, or periods of geopolitical unrest to mislead, intimidate, demoralize, or otherwise influence the thinking or behavior of an enemy. While all nations employ it, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) lists the tactical goals of psychological warfare (PSYWAR) or psychological operations (PSYOP) as: Assisting in overcoming an enemy’s will to fightSustaining the morale and winning the alliance of friendly groups in countries occupied by the enemyInfluencing the morale and attitudes of people in friendly and neutral countries toward the United States To achieve their objectives, the planners of psychological warfare campaigns first attempt to gain total knowledge of the beliefs, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities of the target population. According to the CIA, knowing what motivates the target is the key to a successful PSYOP.   A War of the Mind As a non-lethal effort to capture hearts and minds, psychological warfare typically employs  propaganda to influence the values, beliefs, emotions, reasoning, motives, or behavior of its targets. The targets of such propaganda campaigns can include governments, political organizations, advocacy groups, military personnel, and civilian individuals. Simply a form of  cleverly â€Å"weaponized† information, PSYOP propaganda may be disseminated in any or all of several ways: Face-to-face verbal communicationAudiovisual media, like television and moviesAudio-only media including shortwave radio broadcasts like those of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or Radio HavanaPurely visual media, like leaflets, newspapers, books, magazines, or posters More important than how these weapons of propaganda are delivered is the message they carry and how well they influence or persuade the target audience.   Three Shades of Propaganda In his 1949 book, Psychological Warfare Against Nazi Germany, former OSS (now the CIA) operative Daniel Lerner details the U.S. militarys WWII Skyewar campaign. Lerner separates psychological warfare propaganda into three categories:   White propaganda: The information is truthful and only moderately biased. The source of the information is cited.Grey propaganda: The information is mostly truthful and contains no information that can be disproven. However, no sources are cited.Black propaganda: Literally â€Å"fake news,† the information is false or deceitful and is attributed to sources not responsible for its creation. While grey and black propaganda campaigns often have the most immediate impact, they also carry the greatest risk. Sooner or later, the target population identifies the information as being false, thus discrediting the source. As Lerner wrote, Credibility is a condition of persuasion. Before you can make a man do as you say, you must make him believe what you say.† PSYOP in Battle   On the actual battlefield, psychological warfare is used to obtain confessions, information, surrender, or defection by breaking the morale of enemy fighters.   Some typical tactics of battlefield PSYOP include:   Distribution of pamphlets or flyers encouraging the enemy to surrender and giving instructions on how to surrender safelyThe visual â€Å"shock and awe† of a massive attack employing vast numbers of troops or technologically advanced weaponsSleep deprivation through the continual projection of loud, annoying music or sounds toward enemy troopsThe threat – whether real or imaginary – of the use of chemical or biological weaponsRadio stations created to broadcast propagandaRandom use of snipers, booby traps, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)â€Å"False flag† events – attacks or operations designed to convince the enemy that they were carried out by other nations or groups In all cases, the objective of battlefield psychological warfare is to destroy the morale of the enemy leading them to surrender or defect.   Early Psychological Warfare While it might sound like a modern invention, psychological warfare is as old as war itself. When soldiers the mighty Roman Legions rhythmically beat their swords against their shields they were employing a tactic of shock and awe designed to induce terror in their opponents.   In the 525 B.C. Battle of Peluseium, Persian forces held cats as hostages  in order to gain a psychological advantage over the Egyptians, who due to their religious beliefs, refused to harm cats.   To make the number of his troops seem larger than they actually were, 13th century A.D. leader of the Mongolian Empire Genghis Khan ordered each soldier to carry three lit torches at night. The Mighty Khan also designed arrows notched to whistle as they flew through the air, terrifying his enemies. And in perhaps the most extreme shock and awe tactic, Mongol armies would catapult severed human heads over the walls of enemy villages to frighten the residents. During the  American Revolution, British troops wore brightly colored uniforms in an attempt to intimidate the more plainly dressed troops of George Washington’s Continental Army. This, however, proved to be a fatal mistake as the bright red uniforms made easy targets for Washington’s even more demoralizing American snipers. Modern Psychological Warfare Modern psychological warfare tactics were first used  during World War I. Technological advances in electronic and print media made it easier for governments to distribute propaganda through mass-circulation newspapers. On the battlefield, advances in aviation made it possible to drop leaflets behind enemy lines and special non-lethal artillery rounds were designed to deliver propaganda. Postcards dropped over German trenches by British pilots bore notes supposedly handwritten by German prisoners extolling their humane treatment by their British captors. During  World War II, both Axis and Allied powers regularly used PSYOPS. Adolf Hitlers rise to power in Germany was driven largely by propaganda designed to discredit his political opponents. His furious speeches mustered national pride while convincing the people to blame others for Germany’s self-inflicted economic problems. Use of radio broadcast PSYOP reached a peak in World War II. Japans famous Tokyo Rose broadcast music with false information of Japanese military victories to discourage allied forces. Germany employed similar tactics through the radio broadcasts of Axis Sally.   However, in perhaps the most impactful PSYOP in WWII, American commanders orchestrating the leaking of false orders leading the German high command to believe the allied D-Day invasion would be launched on the beaches of Calais, rather than Normandy, France. The Cold War was all but ended when U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly released detailed plans for a highly sophisticated â€Å"Star Wars† Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)anti-ballistic missile system capable of destroying Soviet nuclear missiles before they re-entered the atmosphere. Whether any of Reagan’s â€Å"Star Wars† systems could have really been built or not, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev believed they could. Faced with the realization that the costs of countering U.S. advances in nuclear weapons systems could bankrupt his government, Gorbachev agreed to reopen dà ©tente-era negotiations resulting in lasting nuclear arms control treaties.   More recently, the United States responded to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks by launching the Iraq War with a massive â€Å"shock and awe† campaign intended to break the Iraqi army’s will to fight and to protect the country’s dictatorial leader Saddam Hussein. The U.S. invasion began on March 19, 2003, with two days of non-stop bombing of Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad. On April 5, U.S. and allied Coalition forces, facing only token opposition from Iraqi troops, took control of Baghdad. On April 14, less than a month after the shock and awe invasion began, the U.S. declared victory in the Iraq War.   In todays ongoing  War on Terror, the Jihadist terrorist organization ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria- uses social media websites and other online sources to conduct psychological campaigns designed to recruit followers and fighters from around the world.

Nanorobotics in Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nanorobotics in Medicine - Essay Example The very advantages of such reduced size are the high degree of precision and control on the end product. Therefore, what cannot be reached or manipulated in the past due to space and size restrictions can now be easily accessed and operate on through appropriate miniature tools (Cavalcanti 1, Martinac and Metelko 1). Not only telecommunications and materials science are experiencing the excitement in this new technology. The world of medicine is said to be one of those that will greatly benefit from nanotechnology. Experts clearly see the impact of this technology in the practice of medicine. In fact, funds have been flowing towards this area recently. In the US alone, according to Freitas (1) more than $500 million was allocated for nanotechnology research and development in 2002, $849 million in 2004 and reached $1 billion in 2006. In Europe, the European Commission apportioned 1.3 billion euros for nanotechnology R&D for 2003-2006. Furthermore, biomedical nanoscale applications were projected to have a 35% per year growth rate (Freitas 1). Due to the great interest in application of nanotechnology in medicine, a new field of science emerged and called nanomedicine. Nanomedicine is defined as the utilization of the knowledge of molecular characteristics of the human body for the diagnosis, tre atment, prevention, relief, improvement of pains, injuries and diseases. Frontiers in nanomedicine include three main categories. These are nanoscale structured materials or nanodevices, engineered microorganisms and nanorobots (Martinac and Metelko 2). Nanoscale structured materials or nanodevices are microscopic devices that can be used in implants or for delivering drugs to specific sites. Examples of nanodevices are nanopores which can contain large amounts of drugs or enzymes for controlled release using the very high surface area and size of the pores. Engineered microorganisms include bacteria and macrophages that can produce enzymes or perform new beneficial functions. Expectations are high in the branch of medical nanorobotics (Martinac and Metelko 2). Nanorobots are envisioned to offer advances through miniaturization of electronic medical devices by recreating naturally existing models such as those of bacteria and viruses. This entails fusing microelectronics and modified microorganisms to develop new artificial biological devices or engineer ing microelectronics alone that can perform specified tasks inside the human body (Freitas 9). Just like every normal machine or tool, nanorobotics are envisioned to be built from scratch although in microscopic proportions. Therefore, there is a need to design basic parts and components with minimum specifications and but with more than enough functionality. In other words, the first objective is to manufacture nanobearings and nanogears which will provide the above capabilities. Overlap-repulsion bearing designs by Drexler and Merkle pioneered these efforts (Freitas 10). A functioning nanorobot is seen to have molecular sorting rotors and a robotic arm. The latter is also called a telescopic manipulator. The exterior must contain or be made up of materials like glycocalyx that do not react or prevent absorption of blood materials such as fibrinogen. These components are also placed to provide biocompatibility and prevent immune system reactions. In addition, chemotactic sensors, molecules with specific binding

The Role of the Manager in a Company Research Paper - 1

The Role of the Manager in a Company - Research Paper Example The managers are expected to be agile and adaptive and perform in a more involved manner. The functions of the managers are also extended to participation in the implementation of strategies rather than only formulating the strategies. To perform their functions effectively in the modern day businesses, managers have to achieve three main managerial skills which are communication and interpersonal skills, technical skills, decision making and conceptual skills. The managers are significant influencers of the macro environment within an organization. Therefore, they also actively influence the ethical environment within an organization. The managers in modern businesses have to be ethical leaders who would lead the employees in an ethically compliant and value adding manner. The thinking and behavior of a manager directly influences the work environment. An ethical manager helps to build ethically sensitive employees. On the other hand, a manager following unethical disciplines will create a workforce that would be insensitive to ethical factors. Demonstrating self-controlled decision making on the part of the mangers may lead to loss of trust and compliance among the employees and significantly impact the ethical environment. Managers need to have key competencies and skills in order to steer the organization in the right direction. Performing in an ethical manner is one of the pre requisites in the global business environment. The three r oles of managers which are interpersonal roles, decisional roles and informational roles should be performed in an ethical manner to ensure that an ethical environment is created within the organization. Strategic planning involves a set of processes that are devised to make key decisions regarding the long term strategies and goals of an organization.  

Critique of an evidence-based practiced guidelines Essay

Critique of an evidence-based practiced guidelines - Essay Example The recommendation places a strong reliance on the standardized tools over the nurse’s observations as the tool for determining the patient’s condition, and the action to be taken. For instance, under the recommendations, nurses and medical staff charged with rendering care to a patient suffering dementia, delirium and depression in older adults should rely on the standardized tools for determining cognitive changes in the patient to substantiate their clinical observations. This recommendation is rated with the highest rating of A. It is the first and foremost recommended method under the rating scheme as it is the only recommendation to be identified by a A in the ‘strength of evidence.† The B rated recommendations are those observations of the patient’s condition as observed by the nursing team, and which observations are subject to the nurse’s understanding of the identifying factors associated with the conditions of delirium, dementia and depression as pertains to older adults. The C rating recommendation are those aspect of observation and response made and taken by the nurse that do not rely on the standardized tools, but only on the nurse’s observations and how the nurse might interpret and apply individual understanding to their observations. The strength recommendations puts the heaviest weight on the standardized tools for both determining the cognitive level versus condition, and the action that level and condition warrants in referral or intervention according to the standardized tools. On page 15, under the subtitle Guideline Development Process, the method of guideline validation employed the collective review of the guidelines by a team of medical personnel and experts, whose collective expertise has involved a focus or specialty in geriatric mental healthcare. In assessing the guidelines, the

Law being ubiquitous in everyday life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Law being ubiquitous in everyday life - Essay Example As result, this faith on media is not as strong as it used to be and today's audience is not passive like past, but highly active and critical to media reports, treating it as 'one' of the sources in shaping their understanding of the legal system5. This essay will look at three different dimensions of legal consciousness and will argue that although law is often portrayed as a remote phenomenon, it is still ubiquitous in everyday life, however its presence varies from person to person according to his/her social background. The essay will also examine, how media dramatizes events, simplifies legal language and misreports legal information, selecting sensational news to increase profits. It will also argue that despite media's power and influence, personal experience of the legal system also creates knowledge of the legal system increasing public awareness. ... Law being ubiquitous in everyday life Some legal scholars see law as an important part of everyday life, whereas others assert its presence as marginal7. For years legal scholars examined subjective experiences and public perceptions of law to understand, how society forms an' internal' feature of social relations8 and to comprehend whether it is ubiquitous in social relations. Legal consciousness measures people's awareness and attitudes towards law and the legal system. Legal consciousness examines, what people 'do' and 'say9', how they engage, avoid, or resist the law. Ewick stated, that legal consciousness is shaped by "cultural schemas that define the pattern of social life10" facilitating our behaviour towards other members of society. The presence of law in everyday life and extend of legal consciousness varies and depend on person's race, education, background and experience of the legal system11. The individuals who encounter a greater personal experience are less likely to rely on media. The law is applicable in different ways and holds different meanings for people in a society as Ewick introduces three different forms of legal consciousness: before the law; with the law; and against the law12. 'Before the law', views law as an independent entity with fixed rules and procedures, but these procedures are removed from daily life affairs and are invoked only, when people turn for legal assistance13. The engagement 'with the law' states that law is perceived as a game, and law exists as a part of everyday life14. Under the 'against the law' framework states, that people resist the law, avoiding its presence in their daily activities and try to disobey wherever possible15. Thus individuals

Personal paper on SoHo, NYC. First-person Essay

Personal paper on SoHo, NYC. First-person - Essay Example . Geographically, Soho is a neighborhood located in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is a zoned neighborhood bounded by Houston Street and Lafayette Street, with the Centre Street on the East and Canal Street on the South. As a place, one can immediately observe that there is more to the city than its geographical location evident with the characters of its more than 250 iron cast buildings. Indeed there is more that meets the eye because what made Soho special are not only its buildings but its inhabitants and its history. Dreams and perfection were created in that community, a dwelling place were great artworks were conceived and worked during the stillness of its night and the brightness of its day. Soho’s nature to become the nest and breeding place of so many artists can be said to be a happy accident or perhaps even by Divine Providence. In the early part of Sohos history, the place was virtually empty where its historic buildings became unattractive to factories or any form of business. At some point, it was thought of as a miserable place, without place to work, all space and no money from industry where abandoned buildings litter the community. For a time, there may be no money coming in during in Soho but its historic buildings and its lofts that has large unobstructed space where light can get in freely, has a special charm to artists. It could provide them the space to work and for their art to flourish. Its bane of being absent of industry and factories actually became an advantage and an asset because it afforded artists rent cheap to do their creative works. Just imagine a place, or a community where all of its residents are dreamers or purveyors of beauty whose heads are always on the cloud even if their feet touches ground. Many may have been gone but you can still feel that artistic aura, to explore and to open up, and pour ourselves in creative ways that only God understand.

Rhetorical Appeals in Editorials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rhetorical Appeals in Editorials - Essay Example Although the hospitals have their emergency rules as well as total accord privacy to the woman especially since she is in labor-men would feel that they are left out that most laws favor women. Another instance of pathos occurs when the author empathizes with the estranged ex-fiancà ©e, arguing that it would be embarrassing to have a man with whom they have separated being forced to watch her as she goes through the pain of childbirth. Not only would this embarrass her, but it would also remind her of their intimate moments before they broke up. Reference to intimacy is another use of pathos (emotional appeal of the reader). Use of ethos occurs since the guest blogger works for a reputable publisher-the Los Angeles Times. The news agency is a reputable newsroom and people would easily believe the credibility and accuracy of the publications (Behrens & Leonard 27). This makes the whole story believable and very appealing to the readership. Use of logos occurs when the author mentions that devoid of emotions and blame-game, it is always the right of hospital management to reserve the right of entry into hospitals. Fathers are always required to wait outside, not to be in the maternity room. Common sense demands that hospital patients’ feelings are respected. Logic would require that as a father, Plotnick is present during birth because he is the father of the unborn baby (Behrens & Leonard 81). This is an example of logos. Use of logos occur when the author argues that the case should have been dismissed; that in fact, there was no need to file a case since the laws are clear: hospital privacy laws deal with communications and records and gives the patient an upper hand (in this case the pregnant woman) as regards their absolute privacy.

Law being ubiquitous in everyday life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Law being ubiquitous in everyday life - Essay Example As result, this faith on media is not as strong as it used to be and today's audience is not passive like past, but highly active and critical to media reports, treating it as 'one' of the sources in shaping their understanding of the legal system5. This essay will look at three different dimensions of legal consciousness and will argue that although law is often portrayed as a remote phenomenon, it is still ubiquitous in everyday life, however its presence varies from person to person according to his/her social background. The essay will also examine, how media dramatizes events, simplifies legal language and misreports legal information, selecting sensational news to increase profits. It will also argue that despite media's power and influence, personal experience of the legal system also creates knowledge of the legal system increasing public awareness. ... Law being ubiquitous in everyday life Some legal scholars see law as an important part of everyday life, whereas others assert its presence as marginal7. For years legal scholars examined subjective experiences and public perceptions of law to understand, how society forms an' internal' feature of social relations8 and to comprehend whether it is ubiquitous in social relations. Legal consciousness measures people's awareness and attitudes towards law and the legal system. Legal consciousness examines, what people 'do' and 'say9', how they engage, avoid, or resist the law. Ewick stated, that legal consciousness is shaped by "cultural schemas that define the pattern of social life10" facilitating our behaviour towards other members of society. The presence of law in everyday life and extend of legal consciousness varies and depend on person's race, education, background and experience of the legal system11. The individuals who encounter a greater personal experience are less likely to rely on media. The law is applicable in different ways and holds different meanings for people in a society as Ewick introduces three different forms of legal consciousness: before the law; with the law; and against the law12. 'Before the law', views law as an independent entity with fixed rules and procedures, but these procedures are removed from daily life affairs and are invoked only, when people turn for legal assistance13. The engagement 'with the law' states that law is perceived as a game, and law exists as a part of everyday life14. Under the 'against the law' framework states, that people resist the law, avoiding its presence in their daily activities and try to disobey wherever possible15. Thus individuals

Rhetorical Appeals in Editorials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rhetorical Appeals in Editorials - Essay Example Although the hospitals have their emergency rules as well as total accord privacy to the woman especially since she is in labor-men would feel that they are left out that most laws favor women. Another instance of pathos occurs when the author empathizes with the estranged ex-fiancà ©e, arguing that it would be embarrassing to have a man with whom they have separated being forced to watch her as she goes through the pain of childbirth. Not only would this embarrass her, but it would also remind her of their intimate moments before they broke up. Reference to intimacy is another use of pathos (emotional appeal of the reader). Use of ethos occurs since the guest blogger works for a reputable publisher-the Los Angeles Times. The news agency is a reputable newsroom and people would easily believe the credibility and accuracy of the publications (Behrens & Leonard 27). This makes the whole story believable and very appealing to the readership. Use of logos occurs when the author mentions that devoid of emotions and blame-game, it is always the right of hospital management to reserve the right of entry into hospitals. Fathers are always required to wait outside, not to be in the maternity room. Common sense demands that hospital patients’ feelings are respected. Logic would require that as a father, Plotnick is present during birth because he is the father of the unborn baby (Behrens & Leonard 81). This is an example of logos. Use of logos occur when the author argues that the case should have been dismissed; that in fact, there was no need to file a case since the laws are clear: hospital privacy laws deal with communications and records and gives the patient an upper hand (in this case the pregnant woman) as regards their absolute privacy.

Fitzgerald and Gatsby Essay Example for Free

Fitzgerald and Gatsby Essay Francis Scott key Fitzgerald was a popular american storyteller. Born September 24th, 1896 and died in December 21st, 1940, Fitzgerald lived the prime of his life in the Roaring-Twenties. The values and morals were declining in favor of materialistic and careless attitudes following the world war. Social prestige no longer came to how hardworking and knowledgeable you were but how much property and goods you had. People began to think that instead of earning a place in society you could purchase it. This corrupted the characters in the novel The Great Gatsby and twisted the American dream. In the novel by Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby he connects many of the characters to real people that he has delt with in his life. Fitzgerald’s character Gatsby is a mirror of himself. In many ways Fitzgerald betters himself through Gatsby and his characteristics but still follows a close backbone to Fitzgerald himself and events in his life. James Gats was born into a poor, disadvantaged farm family and came from nothing. Fitzgerald was born into a deprived family and had to create himself on his own. Neither came from old money or was born into the elite class but rather had to work for all of their money. Fitzgerald loved to party and drink but with that came many things he did wrong when he was drunk. Gatsby threw many parties but never drank so he wouldnt miss a beat. It says how Gatsby learned from Dan Cody, that when he was drunk women took advantage of him and he made ignorant mistakes. Fitzgerald was taken advantage by his wife and spent money very foolishly when he was drunk. Gatsby was created without Fitzgeralds alcoholism. Fitzgerald was also enrolled in the army and became a military officer but never went to war. Gatsby returned home as a war hero with medals of honor. Gatsby never had money problems it seemed as he never really worked but the money just kept coming in. Fitzgerald was always fighting to keep making money and worked for hours on end to make ends meet so he could support his lavish, careless, and drunken lifestyle. Fitzgerald was a major party addict. He loved the fast life. He was an excessive partier but his home life suffered and was extremely unhappy. Gatsby Through many big parties almost every weekend but he was lacking the only thing money couldnt buy him, love. Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby fell in ove at a young age with a woman out of their league. Fitzgerald with Ginevra and Gatsby with Daisy. Both Daisy and Ginevra came from a background of old money. They lived luxurious lifestyles. These women were beautiful,rich and characterized everything these men believed were perfect. They were blinded by materialistic things rather than inner beauty. At the time these men were still unsuccessful and couldnt support these high maintenance women. Their love lives are very similar. Both Daisy and Ginevra did love them but could not marry them because â€Å"Rich girls do not marry poor boys†. The women moved on but the men still loved them and were even more determined to become successful and win their lovers back. In the end both men were successful and earned a lot of money to move into the elite class. They so called conquered the American Dream But they were still unhappy. They didnt have the loving family unit or white picket fence house instead they had excessive amours of money, designer clothing, expensive cars, big unfriendly mansions and a cold separated family. But both Daisy and Ginevra got married already to rich men who could support their lifestyles. They were both unhappy with their marriage. Fitzgerald meets up with Ginevra again and has a second and last chance to impress her and win over her love now that he was successful. They meet at a bar and he drinks and is out of control. He is rude and is not the way Ginevra remember the Fitzgerald she fell in love with and loses his chance. Gatsby gets a second chance with Daisy too. When he firsts meets her she seems different to him, Older and less bubbly but he still loves her. But he goes out to lunch with her and her husband and takes things too far trying to win her back and loses his final chance. Through time things have changed about each character but in their minds they were static. They were both imagining different visuals and personalities from their youths. Everyone in life gets older and matures. It did not work out in the end for both men. The American dream was twisted and all of the riches they earned were wasted because money cannot buy true love. It just was not ment to be. Even though money is up there with oxygen it isnt everything. These men where searching for love and happiness and money was not going to buy it. The novel parallels to Fitzgeralds life immensely. Its captures and llustrates many of the issues Fitzgerald suffered. He had constant implications with women in his life therefore he portrays them as shallow, ignorant, and disloyal in the novel. Fitzgerald used many of his emotions to influence his novel and that is why it mirrors his life so closely, as well as many of the other pieces of writing he has created. He is a gifted writer and lived a rollacoster lifestyle up until he died of a heart attack. If only he realized sooner how to prioritize his life he could lived much happier. It is unfortunate what he had to go through. But there is no reward for living life as a drunken partier.

Alibaba Is A Business To Business Company Marketing Essay

Alibaba Is A Business To Business Company Marketing Essay Alibaba.com is regarded as a dominant player and a high-growth company due to its large membership base and its phenomenal growth. Its total registered user base grew from 6.0 million in 2004 to 19.6 million in 2006. In the same vein, it registered a cumulative annual growth rate of 94.8% in 2006 alone. One of its major competitors in the international marketplace B2B giant Global Sources, which has an online directory of many other B2B services it offered, such as print business directories and exhibitions, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 7). However, Alibaba.com has various strengths which served as its competitive advantages over Global Sources and other competitors. Indeed, Alibaba.com should continue in being a dominant player in the B2B eCommerce industry. Among all the upcoming B2B in china, Alibaba.com has received much despite not been listed in NASDAQ .In 2001 the company was featured by Forbes as its cover story also selected as the only firm on the Forbes Best of the Web:B2B list founded in china (Doebele,2000).By 2002 the Alibaba.com was selected and featured by Forbes again as its only Best of the Web:B2B in the month of September.(Qin Hu et al.,2004). 1. 0 Background 1.1 What is Alibaba.com Alibaba.com was founded in June 1999 by Jack Ma and eighteen other founders (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 3). It is a business-to-business portal which allows suppliers of everything from 176 countries to connect with buyers around the world. (Bi, 2002). The Companys founder Jack Ma was nominated as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and was honored as a recipient in the Asian Business Association Business Leadership Award in 2001, on the 27 December 2001 with the registered 1,000,000 Alibaba.com member, which became the only B2B Webster with 1,000,000 registered business members from 202 countries. (Qin Hu et al., 2004) Since inaugurating its website in simplified Chinese to serve the Chinese mainland market in 1999 (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 3), it has now become worlds largest online business-to-business global trading marketplace, with 2.5 million and 14 million registered users in its international and Chinese domestic marketplaces respectively , (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). Based on the number of registered users and market share by revenue at the end of the second quarter of 2007, Alihaba.com was considered as the largest online B2B company in China. The international marketplace was served through its English language website which caters to global importers and exporters (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). On the other hand, the China marketplace was served by its Chinese language website, Alibaba.com which caters to domestic suppliers and buyers (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4).Alibaba.com online transaction basically has six levels as describe CTO,John Wu which are information exchange, negotiation, price bargaining, shipping, insurance, inspection and customs processing and payment. As its lowest level that Alibaba.com operates. In other words it only provides an information platform on which the buyers and sellers meet and post business information.(Qin Hu et al 2004). Farhoomand (2008, p. 4) explains that the business model of Alibaba.com centers on the use of the marketplace by suppliers and buyers who would establish their presence online, identify potential trading partners and conduct business with each other. Farhoomand (2008, p. 4) describes the manner by which the Alibaba.com interface is used by suppliers and buyers in China and around the world in their trading activities: , Suppliers and some buyers would use the marketplaces to host their company profiles and catalogues in standardised formats known as storefronts and post listings such as products, services and trade leads. Users could view storefronts and listings in over 30 industry categories and nearly 5,000 product categories by either searching for keywords or browsing through the online industry directory. (Farhoomand 2008, p. 4). Figure 1 presents the value proposition of Alibaba.com and the manner by which it effectively facilitates the conduct of trade within the context of B2B commerce. Figure 1 Alibaba.coms Value Proposition Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 17) Figure 2 below shows the typical process of trade in Alibaba.com. Suppliers and buyers were able to successfully establish large online comminutes in Alibaba.com which features active listings, enquiry exchanges, instant messaging, discussion forums and other user-friendly community features, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). Figure 2 A Typical Trading Process in Alibaba.com Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 17) Although Alibaba.com offers free basic services to its all its registered members, it generates is revues from the services purchased by suppliers which include membership packages that provided priority placement of storefronts and listings in the industry directory and search results, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 5). These suppliers are charged from their subscription to value-added services which include: (1) purchase of additional keywords which help improve their search result rankings; and (2) premium placement on Alibaba.coms web pages (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 5). 1.2 Why Should Alibaba.com be Considered a High Growth Company? Alibaba.com should be considered as a high-growth company due to its large membership base and its phenomenal growth. Its total registered user base grew from 6.0 million in 2004 to 19.6 million in 2006. In the same vein, the total number of its paying members grew from 77,922 in 2004 to 219, 098 in 2006. Figures 3 and 4 below show the growth in the number of Alibaba.coms registered users and paying members, respectively. . Figure 3 Growth in the Number of Alibaba.coms Registered Users from 2004 to 2006. Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 5). Figure 4 Growth in the Number of Alibaba.coms Paying Members from 2004 to 2006. By the end of 2007, Alibaba.com has already successfully captured 50% of the market share of Chinas online e-commerce revenue (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 19). Figure 5 below presents the market share of Chinas online e-Commerce Market by Revenue. Basically the pie chart demonstrated how successful Alibaba.com has been able to stay above its major competitors by seizing half of the market share. Figure 5 Market Share of Chinas Online E-Commerce Market by Revenue Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 19). Moreover, its phenomenal growth in the B2B industry is buttressed by its impressive financial standing. By the end of 2004, its annual revenues totaled US$48.3 million, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 5). With a cumulative annual growth rate of 94.8%, its annual revenues amounted to US$183.2 million at the end of 2006. Figure 6 below presents the financial data of Alibaba.com from 2004-2007. Figure 6 Financial Data of Alibaba.com from 2004-2007 Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 5) 1.3 Who is Jack Ma? Jack Ma is the founder and chairman of Alibaba.com and is a native of Hangzhou, which is situated approximately 100 miles southwest of Shanghai, where the companys headquarters resided (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 3). Jack Ma is one of the first entrepreneurs to develop e-commerce in China, (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). He, together with his partners have successfully established the following: (1) first internet commercial website in China; (2) a B2B marketplace platform for suppliers and buyers around the word; (3) the worlds first on-line credit platform for companies, called the Trust Pass (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). Jack Ma grew up during Chinas Cultural Revolution and became fascinated in learning English at the tender age of 12, (Farhoomand, 2008, pp. 3-4; Fannin, 2008). For eight years, he rode 40 minutes every morning on his bicycle to a hotel near the West Lake and practised his English by giving free tour guides to foreigners, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). Later, when he decided to pursue a degree in education out of his desire to teach English to high school students, he flunked his admission exam twice for a University, prior top being accepted at Hangzhou Teachers University, (Fannin, 2008). After graduating, he was offered a teaching job with a rate of 100 to 120 renminbi, which is equivalent to USD $12 to $15 per month, (Fannin, 2008). Then in 1995, he was employed by the Chinese government to settle a dispute between a Chinese firm and its US partner, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). The US partner held Ma captive at gunpoint for two days before he regained his freedom by agreeing to become a p artner in an internet startup in China, even though he had no concept of the internet at all, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). During the same year, Ma joined a trade delegation in Seattle as an interpreter wherein a friend showed him a computer with an internet connection (Fannin, 2008; Farhoomand, 2008). There, he was surprised to find out that nothing turned up in the search results when he searched for the word China. This prompted Ma and his friend to set-up a website and name it China Pages ((Fannin, 2008). Upon his return to China, he borrowed $2,000 to establish China Pages which shared a strikingly similar ideology with Alibaba.com: to list Chinese companies on the internet and help foreigners find their websites, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). However, China Telecom bought out his stake which eventually forced him to return to civil service. In 1998, he started to resume work on his vision of connecting Chinese companies to the world through the internet. Then, in December of that same year, Ma finally realised his vision with the establishment of Alibaba.com, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4; Fannin, 2008). Indeed, Ma had the makings of a successful business leader. Under his leadership, Alibaba.com became a leading B2B marketplace which have successfully attracted more than 17million registered members in 220 countries globally, with daily postings exceeding 35 million, making Alibaba.com the most active Internet marketplace and B2B community worldwide, (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). 1.4 What is the Basis for the Report? This report is primarily based on secondary data obtained from the case study undertaken by Farhoomand (2008) and from other relevant online and offline sources. This study did not use any primary research methods such as interviews in gathering information about Alibaba.com. 2.0 The beginning of Alibaba.com Jack Ma officially launched Alibaba.com online in December 1998, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 3). Alibaba.com originally served as a bulletin board service for businesses to post buy and sell trade leads. Jack Ma and 18 other founders established the Alibaba group in June, 1999, which is the parent company. It first served clients domestically (Farhoomand, 2008,p.3). 2.1 The Opportunity In 1995, while in Seattle, Jack Ma made his first contact with the computer and internet and was shocked to find out that no search results could be found for the keyword China. Together with a friend, Ma decided to set up an online company and name it China pages. In 1998, upon his return to China, he launched China Pages which featured a list of companies on the internet and help foreigners find their websites, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). After three months, Ma and his team established Alibaba China which was a major operating subsidiary in China and which served to carry out the business of operating B2B marketplaces, ((Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). After three more months, three more sites were set up by the team, which include: (1) an English site for international users; (2) a Korean site for Korean users; and (3) a traditional Chinese site for Chinese users outside China ((Farhoomand, 2008, p. 4). 2.2 Competitive Environment Even during its infancy, Alibaba.com has already been faced with stiff competition from rivals based domestically and internationally, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 7). One of its major competitors in the international marketplace B2B giant Global Sources, which has an online directory of many other B2B services it offered, such as print business directories and exhibitions, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 7). Global Sources was first established in Hong Kong in 1971 as a monthly trade magazine for consumer products made in Asia for export to Western markets , (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 7). As of the end of September 2007, Global Sources already has a community of over 647,000 buyers and 160,000 suppliers (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 7).Moreover, Global Sources has successfully : (1) enabled suppliers to sell to hard-to-reach buyers in over 230 countries; (2) delivered information on two million products annually; (3) operated 14 online marketplaces that delivered more than 23 million sales leads annually; (4) pu blished 13 monthly magazines and over 100 sourcing research reports per year; and (5) organised nine trade-specific exhibitions that ran 22 times a year across seven cities, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 7). Farhoomand (2008, p. 7) explains that Global Sources could be considered as a serious threat to Alibaba.com because its revenue source was shifting online, as evidenced by its 2006 annual report demonstrating that online businesses generated over 40% of total revenue. Figure 7 below shows the contributors to Global Sources revenues for 2006. Figure 7 Contributors to Global Sources 2006 Revenues Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 8) 2.3 Strategic Review of the External Situation at Start up Ma only had to carry out very little analysis before launching Alibaba.com due to the structure of the B2B marketplace subsector at that time, which is characterised by a high national internet penetration rate and a robust growth of the Chinese online shopping market; the Chinese B2B eCommerce Market, the Chinese SME and usage of third party eCommerce among Chinese SMEs (Farhoomand, 2008). 2.4 What Competences were Required There were numerous competencies required in the establishment of Alibaba.com. First, it needs to posses the capacity to make its online marketplaces more effective for SMEs around the world, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 6). To do this, Alibaba.com needed to employ people with the necessary technical skills . Moreover, it needed to have people who could help it : (1) expand of it user base and active listing; and (2) enhance community experiences to further improve user loyalty and activity through continued development and introduction of new features and tools (Farhoomand, p. 7). 2.5 Summary of Alibaba.coms Early Years Alibaba.com was officially launched online in December 1998. On July 9, 1999, and September 9, 1999, Alibaba (China) Technology Co., Ltd was founded in Hong Kong and Hangzhou, respectively (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). In October 1999, Goldman Sachs invested USD 5 million in Alibaba. (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). In October 2000, Alibaba launched the Gold Supplier membership scheme to serve Chinese exporters, followed in August 2001 by the launch of International TrustPass, a membership service catering to exporters outside China. China TrustPass was launched in March 2002 to serve SMEs engaged in domestic trade, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 3). 3.0 Alibaba.coms Development from 2002 2007 3.1 Evolution of Alibaba.com On March 2002, Alibaba China launched its TrustPass plan initiative, which made Alibaba the worlds first on-line credit business community, (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). By the end of that same year, Alibaba.com has successfully started making profits (Alibaba.com: A Smiling Community with a Dream, undated). After several years, in November 2007, Alibaba.com debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising US$1.5 billion to become the worlds biggest internet offering since Googles initial public offering (IPO) in 2004, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 1). According to Qin Hu et al.,(2004) many other businesses owner believe that alibaba.com growth and impact will only become more prevailing in the future.Over the years the sale of goods on the internet by American firms is assumed to reach US$ 1.3 million by 2003.By 2004 the European online business to business sales is expected to be US$1.6 million compare to China largest population in the world. However some compa nies in euro are still probing this new source of revenue. 3.2 Understanding the Market and Their Target Customer Alibaba.com operates in a business environment whose structure is largely shaped by the following: (1) National internet penetration rate ; (2) Chinese online shopping market; (3) the Chinese B2B eCommerce Market; (4) the Chinese SME; and (5) usage of third party eCommerce among Chinese SMEs (Farhoomand, 2008). In terms of the national internet penetration rate, in 2007, China registered an internet penetration rate of 12.3% trailing after the US, Japan and South Korea, whose penetration rates were above 65% (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 2). However, Chinas internet penetration rate has been documented to grow at approximately three percentage points annually. Figure 8 shows Chinas internet penetration rate from 2002 to 2007. Figure 8 Chinas Internet Penetration Rate from 2002 to 2007 Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 10). In the same vein, Chinas online shopping market has also showed a rapid trend of growth (see Figure 9 below). Figure 9 Chinas Online Shopping Market from 2006 to 2007. Source: Farhoomand (2008, p. 10). 4.0 The Future for Alibaba.com Just one after the IPO in 2007, Alibaba.com has already considered a venture with Softbank. Although the Japanese telecom giant disclosed no details regarding the venture, it was likely that Alibaba.com would expand its service to mobile users in Japan, a market that had been impenetrable to the Chinese e-commerce company, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 9). In China, Alibaba.com toppled EachNet, an older rival backed by global leader eBay, (Farhoomand, 2008, p. 1). The future of Alibaba.com seems bright due to a combination of the positive influence of its competitive strengths and effective strategies. According to Farhoomand (2008), Alibaba.com has numerous strengths which serve as its competitive advantages over its rivals. These strengths include the following: (1) it had effectively built a premier brand in the e-commerce domain, boasting the highest traffic among all online B2B marketplaces; (2) it focused exclusively on the highly lucrative SME sector; and provided tools and solutions tailored to SMEs, Alibaba.com was confident in the value proposition of their service offerings ; and (3) its sales force and customer service support in attracting and retaining users, especially those who paid for subscriptions, were excellent. 5.0 Conclusions The results of the critical examination of the various information regarding Alibaba.com, including its strengths and achievements only indicate that Alibaba.com should remain a dominant player in the B2B marketplace category of eCommerce. Its solid financial standing would help it whether the uncertainties of the future which is largely brought about by the stiff competition in the industry. Moreover, its sound and innovative business model is rather hard to copy, making it difficult for new entrants to compete with Alibaba.com. With respect to its key competitor, Global Sources, Alibaba.com only needs to continue to innovate and diversify its businesses in order to gain competitive advantage over Global Sources and other international rivals.

Salvador Dali’ Essay -- essays papers

Salvador Dali’ Domenech was born on May 11, 1904 in the small farming town of Figueres in the Catalonian region of Spain. It was here in the foothills of the Pyrenees where Dali spent his youth, that many of the ideas, inspirations, and images repeated in his paintings have their roots. As a young boy Dali attended the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. At the academy Dali studied many different painting styles and became quite proficient at them. Many of his earlier works include impressionist, cubist, and realist techniques. As Dali matured, these interests were transformed into his own surrealistic style. The first recognition of Dali’s talents came with his first show held in Barcelona in 1925. He became known globally when three of his paintings, including The Basket of Bread were on display at the 3rd annual Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1928. It was also this year that Dali joined a group of painters led by Andre Breton known as the surrealists. Soon after this Dali met Gala Eluard when she was on a trip with her husband Paul Eluard. Gala became Dali’s lover, business manager, and primary inspiration. Dali soon became the leader of the Surrealist movement, until he was expelled from the group during a trial in 1934 due to political clashes during WWII. After this expulsion Dali slowly moved away from his surrealistic style and moved into his classic period. His new interests in the Catholic Church, science, and history are evident in these works. Some of his most well known works from this period are The Hallucinogenic Toreador, The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, The Sacrament of the Last Supper, and The Ecumenical Council. Many of these classical works were done on large canvases 14 feet high. In order to paint these huge canvases, Dali removed a section of his floor and set up a system of pulleys so he could raise and lower the canvases between the two floors. Dali’s wife Gala died in 1982 and he was faced with a deteriorating health in his own life shortly after. In 1984 Dali was injured in a fire in his home in Pubol, Spain. In 1986 a pacemaker was implanted into Dali, and he died from heart failure on January 23, 1989. During his life, Dali was responsible for thousands of works, which varied from oils, watercolors, drawings, graphics, sculptures, jewels, and fashion designs to ... ... a woman in a yellow boat located close to the bottom center of the painting represents this invasion. The large flies flying past this bay are symbolic of Dali’s common joke that even the notorious flies of the region could not drive away the tourists. Just above the bay, the bull appears. Dali painted the bull using the tentacle of an octopus. In the seats is a glowing bust of his wife Gala. The frown on her face is because she hates bullfights. In the back of the arena are many doors around the perimeter. Every door but one has a statue standing near it. These statues give the doors manmade and earthly qualities. The one door in center without the statues actually has an angel at each side. These angels represent a passage to heaven. This is where the bull or the toreador exits when one of the two is killed in the fight. In the bottom right corner is boy standing with a whip behind his back. This is Dali himself watching over the scene. The images in this painting are very different from the melting figures and objects from his surrealistic period. This classic period brought about much more realistic figures, while still having that twist that Dali is famous for.

Americans Take Their Education For Granted :: essays research papers

Americans Take Their Education For Granted   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Americans take their education for granted. Education has become one of the most important aspects of a person's. With seventeen years of formal education, a person can do almost anything he or she wants to do. Yet many in America take this for granted. Some American students today would rather not be in school. They would be much happier at home or going someplace with their friends. Once in school, many students forget why they are there—to get an education. Instead of going to classes, students might cut class or not even show up to school at all. I think our decreasing status as an economic super power can be attributed in part to the effects of this attitude. I believe there are two reasons behind this attitude--the lack of family values and the lack of responsibility taken by some of America's youth. Children often do not understand the value of the education they are receiving. Parents need to drill the importance of an education into their child's head. If children are not made aware of how meaningful school is, chances are they will fail when they are adults. Parents have to instill in their child the discipline and motivation it takes to do well in school. Parents have to teach their children that school always come first. Students need to put school on top of their priority list too. Parents also need to assure that their children understand their own responsibility to get their work done well and handed in on time. But parents can only do so much—ultimately it is the students who have to do the work. Children must learn to accept responsibility for the results of their own actions. Students will sometimes blame the teacher or others if they get bad grades. I have only one response for these students--the teachers aren't the

Sample Business Plan

Business Plan CLK Corporation Food Industry Members: Claudine Aurellano Liza Gaston Kashka Lantion A. Name of Enterprise Krasi & trofi? Once upon a Greek Bistro†¦ B. Location Bonifacio High Street Global City, Taguig City C. Project Description Krasi & trofi? (once upon a Greek Bistro†¦) will open at Bonifacio High Street(B1). The store is open from Monday to Sunday at 10AM to 10PM. It introduces an exquisite type of Greek Cuisine in the Philippines. It offers a Greek traditional way of fine dining, where customers can enjoy the customs of Greece like being introduced to the Greek superstitions, traditions, and holidays. The Bistro’s color scheme is blue and white since it’s the color of the national flag of Greece. Its advantage is the specialty dishes that are Greek inspired, as well as the fresh ingredients. D. Project Objective †¢ To introduce a new taste to Filipino customers. †¢ To introduce to Filipinos the traditions and cultural ways of Greeks. †¢ To attract future investors through the unique way of our business. In any business, the main goal is to earn profit. †¢ To be competitive in the food industry by producing income. E. Mission Statement Our product mission is to let our clients/target market experience the Greek way of living as well as satisfying their wants, needs, and expectations. Our economic mission is to gain profit and to expand the business as well as to achieve our set margins in order to have a stable business and to satisfy shareholders. Our social mission is to provide employment to Filipinos and give them a great opportunity of experiencing a different way of serving in a fine restaurant, in order for them to have an extraordinary skill in the future. Vision The company’s vision is for the next 3 years is to increase our profit to more than 50% of our current earnings. The business performance will also increase and attract other investors and shareholders. Gaining more investors will lead to the expansion of the business to greater markets. In those three years we intend to gain more clients that patronize our product and services. We, not only sell the products, but as well as the different yet wonderful experience in dining with us. F. Highlights of the Project †¢ Company’s History Greece is famous for their large appetite which is identical to the eating habits of Filipinos, that is why Krasi & trofi? wanted to bring a new kind of cookery that is familiar as well in the Filipino culture. Greece is also known for its specialty ingredients like lambs, yogurts, olives, and wine that create remarkable dishes. Greece is also well-known for its lively entertainment and its superstitions and traditions that they practice up to now. Krasi & trofi? would also illustrate a Greek Style of service that would bring excitement and satisfaction to its customers. Project time table and status †¢ Industry analysis †¢ Financial analysis †¢ Investment G. Major Suppositions Used and Summary of Findings †¢ Market Viability †¢ Technical Viability †¢ Financial Viability †¢ Socio-Economic Viability †¢ Management Viability H. Conclusion of the Study ‘ Chapter II Market Study A. Product Description Krasi & trofi? is a fine dining Greek Bist ro that caters dishes like Fricasse (arn-nee free-cah-seh), a stew lamb made with spinach, Sadziki (tsa-tsi-key): Yogurt, cucumber and garlic, and salt. It is great on fresh Greek bread. Those are few of the cuisines that we offer. Our dishes are both Greek and Filipino-inspired that interest more customers. B. Demand and Supply Demand  refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship. Supply  represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied  to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand. C. Demand and Supply analysis The analysis of demand and supply depends on how the relationship is doing. For example, if the demand is high and the supply remains constant, the price therefore will increase. It is because there is a scarcity of supply; therefore there is a limited number of product/service that can be purchased so people who can only afford the product can buy it. And when the demand is lower than the supply, then the price would decrease because the company should be able to produce and sell all the supplies in order to gain back their capital. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand. D. List of competitors CYMA Greek Taverna Manos Greek Taverna E. Study on Product, Place and Promotion (Needs geographic, survey and demographic) F. Marketing program

Cultural Analysis – Taiwan

Abstract This paper is an analysis of culture within Taiwan. It will focus on how different cultural elements and dimensions effect and influence business in Taiwan. This paper will also look into the implications for businesses from the United States seeking to conduct business within Taiwan. Taiwan has a unique blend of traditional Chinese cultural as well as modern Western influences. It is an open and welcoming culture and one that plays an important role in the East Asian economy. Global Business Cultural Analysis: Taiwan Introduction to Taiwan Taiwan is a small island country located off the east coast of China in Asia. Also known as the Republic of China (ROC), it is the place where the ROC settled after losing control of mainland China to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan’s population is made up of mostly Han Chinese with a few other Chinese ethnic groups and a smaller number of aboriginal tribes. The official language spoken in Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese; however, about 70% of people in Taiwan speak both Mandarin and a dialect known as Taiwanese. Another dialect call Hakka is spoken by about 15% of the population and the aboriginals have several other dialects as well (Deaton & Paxson, 2000). Taiwan has unique political status because of their strained relationship with China. At present, the PRC claims it has control over Taiwan and its territories, even though the PRC has never has exercised any governmental control over those regions. China has threatened to put political pressure on any country wanting to officially recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation, which has led many countries, including the United States, to only recognize Taiwan in an unofficial capacity. These countries, while still doing business with Taiwan, are forced to only officially recognize China, thereby reducing Taiwan’s global influence (Friedberg, 2005). On the economic front, Taiwan has done very well in the past few years, experiencing rapid economic growth. It is commonly referred to as one of the East Asian Tigers, a group which includes Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. The countries in this group were relatively poor until around the 1960’s when they underwent educational reforms. These educational reforms, coupled with their cheap yet dynamic workforce helped industrialize their countries and spark rapid economic growth. â€Å"In the 21st century, all four regions have since graduated into advanced economies and high-income economies† (Vadra, 2010, p. 0). Although the economic growth rate in Taiwan has slowed recently, it remains at a relatively high, yet sustainable rate. What are the major elements and dimensions of culture in Taiwan? Taiwan, like almost every country, has many different elements and dimensions of culture woven together to form an intricate and unique society. These components of so ciety affect day to day life in both obvious and also unexpected ways. Taiwan has the same core grouping of cultural elements that one would think of affecting any country: communication, religion, ethics, moral values, social structure, and education. However, the main elements which control the actions of most individuals and society as a whole will differ from other countries. For Taiwan, education and religion along with social structure play the major roles in the shaping of Taiwanese culture. It will be found that the main, guiding cultural elements in Taiwan, such as their religions, the sources from which they get their values and attitudes, and also their feelings of responsibility, are especially different from the main cultural elements guiding most of the western world. 1. 2. Communication Communication plays a major role in any functioning society. The way people communication and interpret the communications of others can drastically shape the actions of a society. Communication within a culture can usually be defined as either low context or high context. In low context cultures, â€Å"cultural behavior and beliefs may need to be spelled out explicitly so that those coming into the cultural environment know how to behave† (Satterlee, 2009). On the other hand, in high context cultures, â€Å"as a result of years of interaction with each other, many aspects of cultural behavior are not made explicit, because most members know what to do and what to think† (Satterlee, 2009). Communication within Taiwan is high context, with more nonverbal forms of communication used than in low context countries, such as the United States or United Kingdom. Even the official spoken language of Taiwan, Mandarin Chinese, is a high context language (Hall, 2000). High context communication. High context communication implies that â€Å"there is less verbally detailed communication and less written/formal information. Instead, there is a more subliminal understanding of what is communicated† (Kuo-Ying & Majtaba, 2010). Duties and responsibilities are frequently assumed or subtly implied rather than directly assigned or commanded. Elements of communication in high context cultures such as Taiwan include indirect and embellished verbal messages, avoidance of directly challenging another person’s opinions, and situational changes. Also, an importance is placed on personal face-to-face interaction. Nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication plays a large role in the communication process in high context countries like Taiwan. Elements, such as facial expression, eye movement, the tone of voice, gestures, and body language are all important parts of communication within Taiwanese culture. Religious beliefs Taiwan has a large population of people practicing eastern religions such as Buddhism, Taoism and small bits of Confucianism, as well as a small but growing Christian and Catholic population (Chou, & Chen, 2005). It is also common for individuals to do some mixing of religions to accommodate their personal ideas or desires. Most religions in Taiwan incorporate ancestral worship, which is a large part of the religious practices in Taiwan. Ancestral worship even affects national holidays within Taiwan. Ancestral worship in Taiwan. Ancestral worship is a religious act born from the belief that an individual’s ancestors have a continued existence after death and that these spirits of deceased family members have the ability to influence things in the physical world. Ancestral worship is practiced by some out of respect and honor for their ancestral heritage. For others, however, it is practiced more out of fear of upsetting spirits that may possibly influence the individual’s fortune on earth. In Taiwan, several national holidays are focused around ancestral worship practices. Among these holidays is Tomb Sweeping Day, a holiday where families visit the graves of their ancestors to attend to their burial place as well as pay homage. Another holiday which sprang from the traditions of ancestor worship is Ghost Festival, which is a time where people place food outside their homes to feed wandering spirits. Chinese New Year also has its roots in the traditions of ancestor worship and is a time often used by families to pay their respects to their ancestors (Newell, 1976). The role of Buddhism in Taiwan. Buddhism and Taoism are the two foremost religions practiced in Taiwan. Combined, they are practiced by more than 75% of the religious population in Taiwan (USDS, 2008). Although Buddhism teaches the putting aside of earthly ties and possessions, including family, influences from both Taoism and Confucianism and integrated some forms of ancestral worship into practiced Buddhism within Taiwan. The role of Taoism in Taiwan. Taoism and Buddhism together are the two largest religions in Taiwan. The beginning of the Taoist religion came from the early Chinese nature worshipers. Taoist beliefs center on the idea that all things have a natural order and that through obtaining harmony with nature one can obtain eternal life. These beliefs add to the non-confrontational aspects of Taiwan’s high context culture. The role of Confucianism in Taiwan Confucianism, though practiced in Taiwan by lesser numbers than Taoism or Buddhism, is to many â€Å"an honored school of thought and ethical code† (USDS, 2008). Very similar to Taoism, Confucianism has more of a focus on performing well within society and also ritualistic ancestor worship. The Role of Christianity in Taiwan. Christian churches have been active in Taiwan for many years, and today, the population includes a small but significant percentage of Christians† (USDS, 2008). Both Catholic and Mormon churches are set up in Taiwan, but their numbers are much smaller. A majority of the aboriginal population in Taiwan are Christian. Ethical practices Ethical standards are often tied very closely to the culture in which they are practiced. According to Stedham, Yamanura, and Lai in an article examining Japanese and Taiwanese ethics: â€Å"ethics cannot be understood independent of the local cultural fabric† (2008). Taiwanese tend to be very utilitarian representing â€Å"a collectivist culture that tends to be more homogeneous and has a greater group orientation† (Muk, 2007). Therefore, ethical decisions made by Taiwanese people are likely to focus on the wellbeing of their social group. Values and attitudes â€Å"Values are invisible and a ‘core element of culture’. These invisible values become evident in behavior. Decision making and the resulting actions and behavior are manifestations of the predominant values in a culture† (Stedham et al. , 2008). In Taiwan, many of the values center around the individual’s social groups, most notably, the family. Saving face is another factor which often influences and motivates decision making within the Taiwanese culture. The concept of face is â€Å"related to the preference for harmony and avoidance of conflict. One aspect of face is concerned with a person’s moral character which can only be earned by fulfilling one’s obligation to others† (Stedham et al. , 2008). Face also includes â€Å"one’s reputation or prestige which can be earned through accomplishments or through bureaucratic or political power† (Stedham et al. 2008). Great lengths will be taken to avoid situations which might cause damage or embarrassment for one’s self or other resulting in a loss of face. Another factor affecting Taiwanese cultural attitudes is the concept of guanxi, which literally translated means relationship. Having a good reputation and relations on both a personal and professional level is very important to Taiwanese people. Attitudes toward gender within Taiwanese society. Gender, though in the process of equalizing, still plays an important role within Taiwanese society. Research indicates that women in Taiwan’s job market â€Å"suffer lower earnings than men as job opportunities are not made available to them due to the labor market discrimination, family responsibilities, or lack of job mobility† (Bishop, Gronder, Liu, & Chiou, 2007). However, due to the fact that Taiwan’s industry is constantly growing, with more jobs in the labor market being filled with female workers, discrimination against females in both hiring and compensation is effectively diminishing over time (Bishop et al. , 2007). Generational differences. Younger generations tend to follow the religious or ethical guidelines set by their predecessors more out of tradition than true belief. Therefore, there is some movement away from previously accepted religious thoughts and ideas within the younger generations in Taiwan. Recent research indicates that â€Å"young Chinese people seem not to identify themselves with traditional Chinese values and Confucian ethics. Maybe it is the result of conflict between Eastern and Western cultures. However, traditional thoughts still significantly influence most people in Chinese ocieties† (Lin & Ho, 2009). Social structures Social structures are very important in Taiwan because the culture is quite Unitarian in its design. One of the largest and most central social structures in Taiwan is family and filial piety. Religion, because of its widespread acceptance, is also a major social structure in Taiwan. Another important social structure is politics with many people in Taiwan voicing their opinions on political matters, especially those matters dealing with mainland China. Military service also has bearing within society, and is an inevitable part of young men’s lives in Taiwan due to the fact that military service is compulsory. The importance of filial piety. Especially popular in Confucian households, filial piety is, along with brotherly love, considered the ‘roots’ of humanity. It is believed that the way perfect virtue and human perfection will become evident as an individual shows care and respect for these ‘roots’ of humanity (Ruiping, 2006). This belief translates into strong familial ties within the Taiwanese culture, as well as deep feelings of responsibility to one’s family. The cultural effects of politics. A Datamonitor country profile of Taiwan stated: â€Å"the issue of reunification with mainland China continues to dominate domestic politics and international relations. With both the People’s Republic of China (the mainland) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) claiming to be the legitimate authority over Taiwanese land, frequent tensions between the two are common† (2010). Within Taiwan, the debate over international policy with China is ongoing, with some in favor of increasing ties with the mainland and others advocating more independence for Taiwan. Another aspect of the strained relationship between Taiwan and China is the fact that China has greater influence in the global arena and has therefore been able to stop Taiwan’s efforts in seeking to gain global recognition as a sovereign national by the United Nations. China has also threatened severing diplomatic standings with any country to officially recognize Taiwan as its own nation. Therefore, many countries, including the United States maintain unofficial diplomatic ties with Taiwan, keeping their official diplomatic status with China intact. Mandatory military service. It is written into Taiwanese law that males between the ages of 18 and 22 are eligible for selective compulsory military service. Service duration is 12 months. Males students seeking higher education can obtain deferments, were they have several years to complete their education before serving their time in the military. Also, any citizen between the ages of 19 and 36 are considered eligible for drafting into the Taiwan military (USDS, 2008). Education Education is a very important part of Taiwanese society. Because of the high population density in Taiwan, there are high levels of competition for spots in top universities as well as positions in the job market. Academic excellence is so emphasized by parents that it often creates stress for students, who feel pressured to be the best. Emphases on education. Even though Taiwan’s laws mandate education through the ninth grade, approximately 95% of students go on to some form of higher education. Many parents see education as the best way to advance their children’s future. Taiwan also has a large number of cram schools for subjects ranging from math and English to sports. Students will often spend several hours after the normal school day or on weekends getting extra tutoring and study at cram schools. High stress levels in education faced by students. According to statistical analysis by Cheng Kai-Wen, some of the biggest contributors to stress for Taiwanese college students include fear of inferiority, excessively high expectations from parents, anxiety about the future, and lack of sleep (2009). Many parents believe that a better life can be achieved through academic excellence and therefore push their children to perform well in school. This mind set from parents can lead to children who feel guilt or shame when they are not performing up to expectations. Though Taiwan has not seen the high rates of student suicide that its Asian neighbor South Korea has experienced, it is not unheard of for students to take their own life after poor test performances. Higher education. Higher education is popular in Taiwan and, due to an increasing number of universities, greater numbers of students are able to attend under-graduate and graduate schools. How are these elements and dimensions integrated by locals conducting business in Taiwan? Successful businesses will understand the culture they are operating within and seek to incorporate elements of that culture into their policies and practices in order to be more appealing to their target markets. Therefore, many elements of culture will automatically be integrated into locals’ businesses. In Taiwan, cultural elements such as religion, education, and attitudes are sown into the fabric of local businesses. This section will examine how elements such as religion, education, and ethics are taken from the surrounding culture and integrated into local businesses within Taiwan. 1. 2. 3. Religion in local business Research done on the affects of religion in business negotiation styles indicated that the principles of Buddhism as well as Confucianism can have an effect on the business making decision made by Taiwanese (Farazmand, Tu, & Daneefard, 2011). Business decision made will take into account the good of the group over the good of the individual. Also, because of the high religious population, there is a large market for items used in religious practices such as incense burners, paper money, good luck charms, prayer beads, and religious ornaments. Education and its effects on business With increasing levels of education in Taiwan has come increased competition for better and higher paying jobs. This increased competition has led to a rapid growth in the number of people obtaining higher education degrees, such as masters or doctorate degrees (Wang, 2003). Taiwan’s economy is very open to small business owners, which gives those with the education and desire to start their own business a welcoming and available environment. Business ethics and attitudes In Taiwan it is believed that â€Å"ethical standards and moral conduct must come from within business people† (Cavico, Majtaba,Venezia, & Venezia, (2011). Many ethical standards and cultural attitudes in Taiwan are rooted in their religious beliefs, especially the teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Taiwanese businesses incorporate these standards of hard work, and family responsibility. Often, the unwritten cultural norms are relied upon to govern the decisions of employees. Also, the concept of corporate social responsibility is gain more popularity in Taiwan, with more people calling for corporations to operate in a more honest and open manner (Ip, 2007). Generational differences. As the new generations shift away from the traditional religious practices and beliefs held by previous generations there is also a shift in moral and ethical standards. Thought possibly to be a result of the increasing embracement of Western culture, this shift in viewpoint within Taiwan could actually be beneficial for American businesses within Taiwan due to the fact that the younger generations are moving more towards Western values and ideas. After researching moral cognizance in both the United States and Taiwan, Cavico et al. ecommended a stronger push not only for business ethics education, but for the incorporation of teaching ethics into every aspect of education (2011). How do these factors compare with culture and business within the United States? The differences between high context and low context cultures include communication differences, relational differences, as well as religious and educational differences. Research has shown that there is a â€Å"significant di fference between Taiwan and America in individualism/collectivism attitude† (Jung-Tsung, 2010). Communicational differences Communication differences between the United States and Taiwan involve so much more than a simple difference of spoken languages. There is a completely different style of communicating with different backgrounds of understanding as well as different personal beliefs and goals. Businesses in the United States operate within a low context culture whereas businesses in Taiwan operate within a high context culture. To cross this barrier will require American businesses to have an understanding of high context communication and managers that are capable of working within a high context environment. Comparing high context and low context cultures. â€Å"High context communication tends to be more indirect, ambiguous, and understated than low context communication, which is direct and precise, and expresses feelings and intentions rather open† (Usunier, & Roulin, 2010). Therefore, business communication may contain more implied concepts in Taiwan than business communication in the United States. Religion in the workplace The United States approach to dealing with religion in the workplace has been one of suppressing outward signs and discussion of religion so as to avoid any potential conflict which may arise. Taiwan tends to be more accepting of displays of religion, probably due to their focus on group harmony. Many prominent businessmen in Taiwan are very open about their religious affiliations, making charitable donations in the name of their religion (Hoh, 2002). Religious discussion is allowed and sometime encouraged, but when issues become uncomfortable or divisive it is ignored or avoided. Education emphasis in the US compared to in Taiwan In Taiwan, there is an emphasis put on education by parents and also businesses looking to hire new employees. In fact, education is emphasized so heavily that â€Å"attendance at  cram  schools  is an experience that the majority of Taiwanese have while growing up† (Liu, 2012). This causes individuals to seek higher education such as graduate degrees or doctorates in order to obtain highly contended, higher level jobs. Social Structures One of the main differences between Taiwanese social structures and those in the United States is the strong family connection maintained by the Taiwanese people. While Americans still view family as an important group in society, the feelings of filial piety in the United States are not as deep and motivating as they are in Taiwan. Also, religion, while still a factor in American culture is not as prevalent to the culture as it is in Taiwan. What are the implications for US businesses that wish to conduct business in Taiwan? Businesses seeking to conduct business within Taiwan should have a clear and complete understanding of how business is done in Taiwan. Not only should they learn laws and regulations which will be relevant to their desired business, but they must also study the culture to understand the people and what motivates and inspires them. Businesses from the United States who are studying the culture of Taiwan will discover important differences between American and Taiwanese ways of doing business. They will then need to incorporate policy which will successfully blend the needs and goals of their business with the needs and goals of the Taiwanese culture. Possible miscommunication Whenever companies conduct business in a foreign country, language must be taken into account. The Taiwan’s national language is Mandarin Chinese, with some of the population speaking Hakka along with some aboriginal dialects. There has been a strong push recently to learn English in Taiwan, with English classes being mandatory in school and a large number of English cram schools open for further training. Even so, the English level may be quite low, so American businesses seeking business opportunities in Taiwan should have interpreters who have a complete knowledge of both languages. An understanding of the culture is also important when communicating and research on cultural do’s and don’ts should be conducted before initiating communication to avoid confusion and unintentional offense. For example, it is offensive in Taiwanese culture to give a clock or watch to someone as a gift because it symbolizes the termination of the relationship. A full understanding of the culture will help businesses from the United States in forming good relationships and create good guanxi for their company in Taiwan (Stedham et al. , 2008). Accommodating religious freedom It is important for American businesses to understand and facilitate the different religious practices in Taiwan. As simple as insuring employees have adequate time off for important religious holidays and not requiring them to break their religious convictions, such as vegetarianism, respecting and accommodating the religious beliefs of the Taiwanese will help to insure the success of a prospective business there. The cultural element of avoiding conflict will help to make sure no religious discrimination or fighting will take place so businesses need not worry about that aspect as much as they do in America. Ethical policies Businesses from the United States with operations in Taiwan should have ethics policies that are written with the Taiwanese culture in mind. They should remember that, often times, there is no need to spell everything out specifically. With the concept of corporate social responsibility become more prevalent in Taiwan, it will be important for American business to highlight appropriate social involvement (Ip, 2007). Understand employee’s family focus. One aspect that businesses can encourage their employees to focus on is family. This will demonstrate the company’s commitment to one of Taiwan’s most important social structures, the family. The encouragement and facilitation of strong family ties will go a long way to establish a favorable public image for foreign companies operating within Taiwan. Effects of current political environment Taiwan’s economy is currently independent of China; however, any foreign business in Taiwan would be wise to watch the political relationship between mainland China and Taiwan very closely. Taiwan has been slowly moving towards closer ties with China which would allow China to â€Å"assert increasing influence over Taiwan. As a consensus emerges in Taiwan on establishing closer relations with China, the thaw [of political tensions] is calling into question the United States' deeply ambiguous policy, which is supposed to serve both Taiwan's interests (by allowing it to retain its autonomy) and the United States' own (by guarding against an expansionist China)† (Gilley, 2010). Should China be allowed to exert control over Taiwan’s economy and political environment it could drastically change the way foreign businesses are allowed to operate in Taiwan. The effects of national healthcare on business. While healthcare is not a major cultural issue, it is useful to note that Taiwan currently has nationalized healthcare, offering inexpensive healthcare to all their citizens. While some in Taiwan oppose this system of healthcare because it can be easily abused, national healthcare would affect businesses by lowering their employee coverage costs. Conclusion With favorable ties to the United States and growing acceptance of the Western world, Taiwan is a promising opportunity for businesses from the United States. With careful research and consideration of the culture, Taiwan could be a very profitable venture. American companies in Taiwan should be careful not to ignore the strong cultural elements in Taiwan, such as religion, family, and communication differences. However, because of Taiwan’s willingness and eagerness to work with foreign business and to expand its global presence, it is very open to foreign commerce. Taiwan’s rapid growth and solid economy can be a very useful tool in the future as they seek to gain wider global acceptance. Taiwan’s favorable economic situation provides the ideal environment for businesses from the United States. American businesses can take advantage of the available workforce and welcoming culture found in Taiwan. Ultimately, Taiwan is a culture that is based in tradition, yet still open to new ideas and influences. The people are friendly and accepting of foreigners into their culture. They are eager to share their culture with others. On the business side of things, Taiwanese companies work together with many American corporations and the both the culture and regulations in Taiwan in favorable to incoming businesses. 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