International Business Strategy in HR of the Chinese MNCs Dissertation

International Business Strategy in HR of the Chinese MNCs - Dissertation Example As the discussion stresses the MNCs have started dominating the world market and how they manage their personnel on an international scale is considered critical to the success of globalizing strategies. When firms operate across boundaries the organizational culture is secondary to the national culture.From this paper it is clear that most studies in international business focus on the success and failures of MNCs from developed countries in developing and emerging economies. However, in recent times MNCs from emerging economies such as India and China have also been making entry into developed as well as developing nations. The theories of internationalization are based on the MNCs from developed countries. These may not applicable to MNCs from emerging economies as they lack the expertise in best practices. They particularly face issues in HR management due to lack knowledge of cultural integration. This is because the MNCs from emerging markets come from a national, cultural and institutional background that differs from the developed country MNCs. This gives rise to the importance of understanding the cultural context and its contribution in the success and failure of the emerging MNCs.  Since the Chinese MNCs have been venturing overseas with the support of the government, it has been considered essential to evaluate how national cultures can make an impact on the HRM practices. Bunchapattanasakda and Wong (2011) contend that nations with comparative advantage would tend to transfer their home practices to their overseas subsidiaries but those with low comparative advantages may be forced to adopt the overseas practices. Several MNCs in Europe and the US were taken over by Chinese companies such as China Mobile and TCL but they failed to operate the takeovers successfully (Cao & Forrest, 2011). The main reason cited has been the lack of experience to handle the organization due to language and cultural barriers. The Chinese MNCs could not win the suppor t of the stakeholders due to limited global visibility. Networking and guanxi, typical of Chinese culture, did not appear to work in western business environments. Fan, Nyland and Zhu (2009) suggest evaluating the factors that drive the Chinese MNCs to integrate their operations globally. One of the main causes of failures that have emerged is the lack of knowledge in managing human resources by the Chinese managers. Xhang (2003)

Bipolar Mood Disorder Essay Example for Free

Bipolar Mood Disorder Essay Many people ask, â€Å"Is Bipolar disorder real?† Some people believe that Bipolar Disorder is not real since having mood swings is a common factor in one’s life, especially in adolescence. They also say that all people in one point experience sadness, even the happiest people. But Bipolar Disorder is real. The illness isn’t just about being a little depressed once in a while. Bipolar Mood Disorder, or manic depression, is a serious mental disorder that causes a person to have dramatic changes in his/her mood, ability to function, and energy level. It can cause damaged relationships, risky behaviors, and even suicidal tendencies in one’s life if left untreated. The illness consists of the changing of mood between two emotional stages; mania and depression. Although the person alternates between these two episodes, at one point he/she may experience normal moods. Bipolar Disorder Bipolar Disorder was first noticed in the second century, making it one of the oldest known illnesses. The first symptoms of mania and depression were recognized by Physician Arateus of Cappadocia, an ancient city in Turkey. He felt that mania and depression could be linked to each other and that they both were different types of the same disease. Mania is one of the symptoms of bipolar disorder. It divides into two categories; hypomania and mania. Hypomania is a less severe form of mania. During hypomania, one may feel extremely good, excited, and excessively happy. One feels like they can accomplish anything. â€Å"At first when Im high, its tremendous ideas are fast like shooting stars you follow until brighter ones appear All shyness disappears, the right words and gestures are suddenly there uninteresting people, things become intensely interesting. Sensuality is pervasive, the desire to seduce and be seduced is irresistible. Your marrow is infused with unbelievable feelings of ease, power, well-being, omnipotence, euphoria you can do anything but somewhere this changes.† This phase does not last forever. For someone who is bipolar, hypomania can evolve into actual mania, or depression. During Mania, one can go from being happy to feeling furious, irritable, and aggressive. Some symptoms of mania include increased reckless behaviors, talkativeness, sudden shifts from being happy and joyful to being hostile, restlessness, racing thoughts, and excessive energy. Aside from mania, the other symptom of bipolar disorder is depression. During depression, one may feel sad, guilty, anxious, hopeless and/or worthless. Other symptoms of depression include loss of energy, loss of interest in things one used to enjoy doing, difficulty concentrating, feeling restless and agitated, insomnia, changes in appetite, and thoughts of death and attempting suicide. Types of Bipolar Disorder There are many types of Bipolar Disorder; Bipolar I, Bipolar II, Cyclothymic disorder, and rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. In Bipolar I, one goes through severe mood shifts from mania to depression. Bipolar II is a milder form of Bipolar II, containing milder episodes of hypomania that then can evolve into severe depression. Cyclothymic disorder consists of brief periods of depression that last shorter and less extensive than full episodes of depression. Last is rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. The illness is described as rapid-cycling when one has more than 4 episodes in less than a 1-year period. The shift of polarity from mania to depression in rapid-cycling can be in one week, or even as short as in a day. The rapid-cycling pattern can increase severe depression and suicidal thoughts. Causes of Bipolar Like any other psychological disorder, there is no exact cause of Bipolar Disorder. It can contribute from many different factors, the main ones being biological, genetic, and environmental. Scientists believe that primarily it is caused from biological factors. This is because in people who are bipolar, some of their brain’s neurotransmitters, which are the chemical transmitters of the brain, don’t function properly. Another factor that contributes to Bipolar Disorder is genetics. Bipolar Mood Disorder tends to run in families, so if one’s parent has bipolar disorder, he/she is 15-25% more likely to inherit the illness. The last factor that causes bipolar is environmental influence. Factors in life such as major stress or a life-changing event can trigger a biological reaction, thus making one develop Bipolar Disorder. Treatment Treatment is available to anyone who suffers from Bipolar Mood Disorder. The illness is often treated with medications. When prescribed medications, the patient is required to take daily medications such as mood-stabilizers. They are the most effective solutions for Bipolar Disorder, along with Lithium. Psychotherapy also plays an important part in treating the illness. If considering counseling, you can consult your family doctor. They may recommend psychotherapy, and prescribe medications for the disease. Other professionals one can visit are psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists with a professional degree in the field of the brain. Mood Stabilizers Mood Stabilizers have the ability to decrease the severity of depression and mania, and also decreases the frequency in which they happen. The most common type of mood stabilizer is Lithium, which has been known for helping people who deal with mood swings for years. Conclusion Bipolar Mood Disorder is actually a serious mental disorder which causes one’s mood to shift dramatically in a period of time. The symptoms of bipolar include mania, which is the high, and depression, which is the low. The illness can affect one’s mood, behavior, and way of living, and can also make concentrating difficult. Depending on the type of the disease, one can change mood in months, weeks, or in days. Bipolar Disorder can be caused from many factors, including genetic, biological, and environmental. Many people suffer from this illness, but luckily there is a solution to improving it. With medications and psychotherapy, one can regulate their mood swings and their severity, making Bipolar Disorder easier to deal with.

Comparing Philosophies in West-Running Brook and Meditation 17 Essay

Philosophies in West-Running Brook and Meditation 17  Ã‚     Ã‚   No matter the elaborate chicanery afforded its disclosure or evasion, the subject of death relentlessly permeates the minds of men. Death and its cyclical, definitive nature connects all humans to one another. Robert Frost in "West-Running Brook" and John Donne in "Meditation 17" provoke a universal reexamination of the relationship between life and death. While both authors metaphorically represent this relationship, the former assumes a pessimistic approach by negating any correlation between the two, whereas the latter, voicing man’s dependence on G-d, optimistically surmises the crossover a restoration of our natural haven. Frost utilizes "West-Running Brook" as a catalyst towards an insightful philosophy comparing human existence to a west-running brook. The westward direction of the brook informs the reader of the poem’s focus on death due to the inherent archetypal associations between death and the sunset, which occurs in the west. "Running" and a stylistically choppy sentence structure convey the poet’s belief in the rapid and ephemeral pace of life. Repetition of the phrase "runs away" ("it runs away, it seriously sadly runs away") serves as a constant reminder of this transient aspect of life while adding an element of despair and loneliness. "The Frostian consciousness normally resides in the time-space continuum, and finds it extremely difficult to move behind or beyond†¦while remaining drenched in skepticism(Hart 442)." "What all this comes to is a detachment which in its cultural context is a poetry of isolationism(Traschen 63)." Frost’s isolation accosts the reader who cannot help but to sympathize and possibly empathize with his situation. Frost’... ...d Brave Scorn: John Donne. Duke University Press, 1982. 178. Kemp, John C. Robert Frost and New England: The Poet as Regionalist. Princeton University Press, 1979. 273. Lewalski, Barbara. Protestant Poetics and the Seventeenth Century Religious Lyric. Princeton University Press, 1979. 253-282. Murry, John. "Donne’s Devotions." The Times Literary Supplement.11 Mar. 1926. No. 1260. Ogilvie, John. "From Woods to Stars: A Pattern of Imagery in Robert Frost’s Poetry." South Atlantic Quarterly. Winter, 1959. 64-76. Sherwood, Terry. Fulfilling the Circle: A Study of John Donne’s Thought. University of Toronto Press, 1984. 231. Traschen, Isadore. "Robert Frost: Some Divisions in a Whole Man." The Yale Review. Vol. LV, No. 1. Autumn, 1965. 57-70. Untermeyer, Louis. "Still Robert Frost." Saturday Review of Literature. 22 Dec. 1928. 71-74.      

E-Books and Traditional Books

Throughout history of people, writing is the most significant way of communication and knowledge sharing. Human written on the walls and stones in the beginning. After that papers took the place of walls and stones. At the present time, thanks to technological advancement, lettering can write on electronic devices that called as e-books. This situation causes argument between e-book and paper book. It is argued that e-books will take the place of paper books in the future; in spite of benefits of e-books people should paper books, since it causes negative results such as physical sickness on human body, being less interactive and being easily copied. It is claimed that e-books can be read anywhere such as on the bus, in a cafe, subway, airplanes thanks to computer and smart phones; however this advantages result in physical sickness on human body. Computers and smart phones can have hundred of e-books in their memories. For this reason their using areas increasing day to day. Nevertheless this situation is not suitable in terms of human health. Because of making heavy weather of electronic devices for instance looking at screen for a long time, some disorders observable such as eye strain and headaches. Furthermore, due to screen resolution lower than paper, reading on e-books is more difficult. It is clear that e-books devices are harmful for human body. Another frequently heard arguments in favour of e-books is based on thanks to e-books nature is protected, however electronic books without paper less interactive. It stated that forests are destroyed for paper. Therefore e-books are appearing like eco-friend. Nonetheless only old and broken trees are cut to produce paper. In addition, electronic books are lower interaction between reader and writer. As Stokes states e-books are make it difficult to easily mark them up via underlining, highlighting and marginal notes (n. d). In briefly, paper books should be preferred in terms of interaction. Although it is argued that e- books are more available in global world and they are more economic, they are make it difficult to duplicate. It is often maintained that when you have a laptop and wireless internet connection, you can download all of books. Besides cost of e-books are lower than printed versions due to no printing expenses. However, e-books can be downloaded and shared via internet. Thanks to computer and smart phones, e-books are copied without difficult. Besides e-books can be easily hacked,stolen,lost on the internet without approval from the author or publisher. It is indicated in Wikipedia, duplicating of paper books in an amateur printing press is more difficult. To sum up, traditional books should be prefer by readers because they are more interactive, more reliable for preventing to copy and they do not have physical sickness on human body. Even if electronic devices are improved rapidly, none of them can not give friendliness and paper smell of traditional books to readers. They might be our closed friend whatever our age.

Impact of the Black Death

IMPACT OF THE BLACK DEATH The topic of this paper is the Impact of the Black Death. We will discover what the Black Death is, where it came from, and Influence that is had on society. The Black Death was a fast spreading plague that was reported aboard Genoese vessels in early October 1347. Because these vessels were sent back out to sea where everyone who encountered these vessels was contaminated by a fast spreading plague. Was there any way to have prevented this epidemic? Martin, S. , (2001), Black Death, Pocket essentials, Harpenden, Great Britain, This book tells what the black death is, when it started, and how it spread. I can obtain quite a bit of information from this book to help me with my research for my paper. Dates, names of vessels, cities, how they destroyed the plague, are among a few of the things that I can learn from this reference. Borsch, S. , (2005), Black Death Egypt and England: A Comparative Study, University of Texas Press. This Citation shows how the plague entered into these societies, and traveled from one society to another. How they handled the death. Wray, K. , (2009), Medieval Mediterranean, Volume 83: Communities in Crisis: Bologna, During the Black Death, Bill Academic Publishers, And Boston, MA, USA. This citation deals with the stress and actions the people took to stay alive. Riva, M. , Papio, M. , Roz, G. , (2010), The Decameron Web: Plague, www. brown. edu/departments/Itlian_studies/dweb/the_project. This web site has much useful information about the Black Death and the impact that it had on societies in this period. How many people were taken by the Black Death, and numerous of other information that I can use to help me in my paper. Dennis, DT. , Gage, KL. , Poland, JD. , and Tikhomirvo, E. , (1999), Plague Manual, World Health Organization, www. cdc. gov. Reference Page Martin, S. , (2001), Black Death, Pocket essentials, Harpenden, GBR Borsch, S. ,(2005), Black Death Egypt and England: A Comparative Study, University of Texas Press. Wray, K. , (2009), Medieval Mediterranean, Volume 83 Communities and Crisis: Bologna, During the Black Death, Brill Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, USA. Riva, M. , Papio, M. , Roz, G. , (2010), The Decameron Web: Plague, www. brown. edu/departments/italian_studies/dweb/the_project. Dennis, DT. , Gage, KL. , Poland, JD. , and Tikhomirvo, E. , (1999), Plague Manual, World Health Organization, www. cdc. gov.

Restaurant Automation Software Requirements Specification Essays

Restaurant Automation Software Requirements Specification Essays Restaurant Automation Software Requirements Specification Paper Restaurant Automation Software Requirements Specification Paper Purpose goal for this reject is to introduce automation in privately-owned restaurants, that is, small- to medium-sized establishments. Typical problems restaurant personnel are facing include: ; Coordination of their work activities ; Anticipating and handling periods of low/high patron traffic ; Recognizing trends early enough to take advantage of bestsellers or abandon the flops ; Lowering operating costs, and increasing efficiency/productivity and profits Scope aim of this project is to develop a software system that would eliminate the need of traditional pen/paper approach for privately- owned restaurants. The project s focused on making the restaurant fully automated such that it is easier to co- ordinate various work activities that go on inside a typical restaurant. The main features of the project include: Organizing a database for a medium sized restaurant Coordinating work activities of the various actors Host, Waiter, Cook, Busboy and Manager Increase efficiency by minimizing time between an order is placed and the billing Increase profits by reducing operating costs and increasing revenues by increasing efficiency Archiving information of the workers and hours worked Definitions, Acronyms, and Overcompensations Manages inventory, payroll, employee list and charts and statistics for the restaurant Host Assigns and seats people who come to the restaurant Waiter Takes the order from the customer onto a PDA and delivers the order to the customer Cook Reads the order placed from a terminal in the kitchen and cooks food accordingly. Also the cook informs the waiter when the order is ready. Busboy Keeps track of the dirty tables and updates status when he/she is done cleaning Add/Edit Employee Button on the Management page to add or edit th e information of an employee at the restaurant such as employee identification number, their password, employee type and their wages. Manage Inventory Button on the Management page of all the items required for food preparation in the restaurant Manage Payroll Button on the Management page to manage the payrolls of the various employees in the restaurant Reports Screen statistical data analysis of the traffic flow in the restaurant Grid GUI layout of the tables in the restaurant Efficiency analysis Performance measure of all waiters in the restaurant Overviews restaurants today still use the same basic methods from years ago to handle orders from customers. Often times this leads to complicated coordination of activities between chefs and waiters. This also means that other tedious tasks, such as inventory checks, fall to the managers to perform. This project seeks to introduce associated with current restaurant management practices. Overall Description propose a software solution to the above problems which would allow the restaurant management to be easier and offer more coordination for the everyday work. A touch screen will be used by the staff to log in and complete the desired task. The supported employee roles are: Host, Waiter, Cook, Busboy and Manager. The various employees have user accounts and login using their passwords they need to member except the cook. Logging in and out will be exploited as triggering events to update and organize the data. When a person enters the restaurant the host will greet the customer and log in to see the tables that are free. The host can also show the floor status to the customer for their preference (e. G. If the customer prefers a free table near the window etc. ). After being seated the assigned waiter for that particular table takes over from the host and takes the order from the customer on a PDA. The order is seen by the cooks in the kitchen who can right away start preparing the order. After the customer is done eating they are billed and the order is archived in the database for calculation of the restaurant revenues for that day/month/year. This also allows preparing easy statistics regarding high patron service hours etc. The Busboy who checks the table status can then take care of the dirty table and after he is done cleaning can mark them as ready to use in the system. The manager has administrative power over employee profiles. They can do the following: 1. The ability to create and modify profiles 2. Track employee activities 3. Authorize restricted waiter activities. We will take into account the number of clicks that are necessary to accomplish the individual tasks and try to minimize the number of clicks for efficient deployment of our system. Product perspectives system will consist of two parts: one mobile application and one web portal. The mobile application will be used to view table status, enter customers orders, view orders information and status. The web portal will be used for managing restaurant information, staff information, and data analysis. Since this is a data-centric product it will need somewhere to store the data. For that, a database will be used. Both the mobile application and the web portal will communicate with the database. Both the mobile application and the web portal will be able to get, add and modify data in the database. All of the database communication will go over a LANA. Product functionalist the mobile application, the user will be able to modify personal information, add orders, view or modify orders and table status and information, depending on the users position in the restaurant: Hosts and bus boys will be able to view and update table status. Table status will be displayed in a map of the restaurants floors, based on their real location in the assistant. Table status can also be modified on this map. There will 3 table statuses: Ready, Occupied and Dirty. Waiters will be able to add and modify orders. The menus items will be displayed in a list view, with a check box, a quantity field and a note field on each of the item. When the waiter press the Create Order button, the order will be created and submitted to the database. Waiters can also edit and cancel orders upon customers requests. After customers finished the food, waiters can also generate bills base on the orders. Chefs will be able to view incoming orders and modify order status. Orders will be display in a list, which is sorted base on the time of the orders. The orders will also be grouped base on their items for easy preparation. After the order is completed, the chefs will have to update the order status, and a notification will be sent to the waiters. The web portal will provide functionality to manage the system, the restaurant data, and staff information. The web portal will also provide a variety of report generating tools. The reports analysis will consist of by-the-day and by-the-hour breakdowns of: ; Revenue and revenue percentage per menu item ; Menu item popularity ; Personnel efficiency Average turnaround time ; Average preparation time User characteristically are two types of users that interact with the system: users of the mobile application and the system administrators. All mobile application users can use the application to modify personal information. Users are also able to view, add or modify orders and table status depending on their position at the restaurant. Users can also retrieve lost password through email. The administrators will not use the mobile application but the web portal instead. There they will manage the information about the restaurant such as menus, table maps and employees accounts. The web portal will also provide administrators with report generating tools for management purpose. Constraints LANA connection is a constraint for the mobile application. Since the application fetches and modifies data from the database over the LANA, it is crucial that there is a stable LANA connection for the application to function. Both the web portal and the mobile application will be constrained by the capacity of the database. Since the database is shared between both applications, it may be forced to queue incoming requests and therefore increase the time it takes to fetch data. FUNCTIONAL Requirements The actors# Main functions Waiter Kitchen Staff Host Bus Boy Manager 1 View Menu Food (View , Update) x xx 2 Odder Food (View , Update) x X 3 List table(View ,update) x xx 4 Invoices xx 5 Report X 6 Create update User X 7 Shift (Create , update) X 8 View Shift xx The use systematic Functions Main Use Cases Use Case # Login This is Authentication User. When is use Application. LO_I . 1 View Status Table We have seen status table. (Find Table is blank). SST_I . 1 Update Status Table Change Status Table. (Table have got Guest). SST_I . Create Order Food Create are List Order Food. OF 1. 1 Update Status Order Food Change Status Order Food When chef cooked. OF_I . 2 Create Bills The Payment request. CB_I . 1 View Bill View is total payment. CB_I . 2 Daily report Report is payment, food etc. DRY_I . 1 Add employe e Manager add employee into database ICC_II Update employee Manager update employee into database US_02 Delete employee Manager delete employee in database US_03 Add menu Manager add food into menu in database US_04 Update menu Manager update food into menu in database US_05 Delete menu Manager delete food in database US_06 View report Manager view report CO_07 Use Cases Diagram Functional Requirement one user case ID US 1 Name Add employee Goal Want to add a employee Actors Manager Pre-conditions User must log in with role Manager Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . Add a employee. 3. Enter employee information: Name, age 2. Display add a employee form and request to enter skill employee information. 4. Validate employee information. Display Complete! message. Exception IA: if role is not correct, show error message and ask to log in again. AAA: if skill category information is not correct, show error message and ask to input again. Open Issues user case ID US 2 Name Update employee Goal Want to update a employee Post-conditions Main Flow 1. Update a employee. 3. Enter employee information: Name, age. 2. Display update a employee form and request to enter employee information. 4. User case ID US 3 Name Delete employee Goal Want to delete a employee Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . Choose employee. 2. Display Success! message. Exception IA: if role is not correct, show error message and ask to log in again. AAA: if skill category information is not correct, show error message and ask to input again. Open Issues N/A user case ID US 4 Name Add menu Goal Want to add menu Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . Add menu. 3. Enter food information: Name, money. 2. Display add menu form and request to enter food information. 4. Validate menu information. Display Complete! Message. Exception IA: if role is not correct, show error message and ask to log in again. AAA: if skill category information is not correct, show error message and ask to input again. Open Issues N/A user case ID US 5 Name Update menu Goal Want to update menu Post-conditions Main Flow 1. Update menu. 3. Enter employee information: Na me, money. 2. Display update menu form and request to enter food information. 4. Validate employee information. Display Complete! message. Exception IA: if role is not correct, show error message and ask to log in again. AAA: if skill category information is not correct, show error message and ask to input again. Open Issues N/A user case ID US 6 Name Delete menu Goal Want to delete menu Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . Choose food. 2. Display Success! message. User case ID US 7 Name View Report Goal Want to view report Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . View report. 2. View report user case ID SST 1. 2 Name Change status table Goal Want to change status table Actors Host, waiter, bus boy Post-conditions Main Flow Change status table. Host change to empty from people +Waiter change to people from clear *Bus boy change to clear from empty Notify message + host send message for waiter+waiter send message for bus boy + bus boy send message for host user case ID SST 1. 1 Name View status table Post-conditions Main Flow View status table. User case ID OF 1. Name Create order Goal Want to create order Actors waiter-conditions User must log in with role waiter Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . Create order 3. Enter number 2. Display create order form and choose food 4. Send information for chef. Display Comple te! message. Exception IA: if role is not seer case ID OF 1. 2 Name Modify order Goal Want to modify order Actors Waiter-conditions User must log in with role waiter Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . Modify order 3. Enter order information: number 2. Display modify order form and request to enter update order information. 4. Send information for chef. Display Complete! message. Exception IA: if role is not correct, show error message and ask to log in again. A: if skill category information is not correct, show error message and ask to input again. Open Issues N/A user case ID CB 1. 1 Name Create bill Goal Want to create bill Actors Cashier Pre-conditions User must log in with role Cashier Post-conditions Main Flow 1. Create bill 2. Display bill and send for waterproofing IA: if role is not correct, show error message and ask to log in again. AAA: if skill category information is not correct, show error message and ask to input again. Open Issues N/A Name View and Update Food. Goal Wa nt to view and update food Actors Chef Pre-conditions User must log in with role chef Post-conditions Main Flow 1 . U food 2. Chef choose food and change status food. Display Complete! . Send message for waterproofing IA: if role is not correct, 3. 4 Database Diagram . 5Sequence Diagram 3. 5. 1 View table status View table status 3. 5. 2: Login 3. 5. 3: Manage Order 3. 5. 4: Manage Payment 3. 5. 5: Manage Table 3. 6Class Diagram NON-FUNCTIONAL Requirements The menu (Android Interface) should contain text and graphics that describe each item to an average customer. Usability The systems user interface will be very simple and self-explanatory. The manager and the cook will interact with the system through touch-screen LCD. They are very easy to adapt to and use. The users Just have to touch the option they want. The waiters will interact with Pads. They will each be able to access the tables that they are responsible for. The menus for the restaurant will show up as drop-down menus on the Pads. The waiters only have to select the item that the customer ordered from the drop-down list. Reliability The system is guaranteed to be reliable. All inputs to the system will be selections from options that the system will show on the screen. Since the system will only provide valid options, there is absolutely no possibility that invalid inputs can be entered. Each user will have a unique surname and password. Dichotomies the risk of unauthorized access to the system. Also, users can only access parts of the system that they require for their Job. For example, a waiter cannot access the inventory management or the payroll feature of the system. Those parts among a few otherness only be accessed by the manager. All these constraints will ensure the reliability of the system. Performance product shall be based on web and has to be run from a web server. The product shall take initial load time depending on internet connection strength which also depends on the media from which the product is run. The performance shall depend upon hardware components of the client/customer. Supportability system will support changes that the restaurant might need to make in future. The manager will have the ability to modify items from the menu. He will also be able to add or delete users to the system for layoffs, retirements or new hires Design Constraints-line User Documentation and Help System Argumentativenesss Counterintelligences section provides a detailed description of user, hardware, software and communication interfaces of the Restaurant Automation software system. User Interfaces Mobile application user should be able to see the login page when he/she opens the application. After the user logged in, he/she will be taken to the main screen of the application. The application main screen will differ base on the user position in the restaurant: Host and Bus Boy: the main screen will consist of a table map of the restaurant. The user can navigate between different table map in each floor of the restaurant by swiping the screen left or right.

Process of Change Inventory

Process of Change Inventory Introduction Inventory has always been defined as the taking of stock for raw materials, supplier components, and works in process and even finished goods that appear at various points of production and logistics channel. Others define it as the listing of assets or any form of items for formal purposes. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Process of Change Inventory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Inventory involves several activities which among others include recording of items, time and even costs involved in the management of the listed items. The process of taking inventories involves a cost and that is why several methods of taking inventories exist and people adopt the different methods depending on the processes involved. Process Management problems involve decision making problems. The fact that companies have to acquire, allocate and control the factors of productions brings out the necessity for inventory m anagement. In order to improve the management of a business, sometimes it is necessary to change the inventory method so as to realize what you have not been achieving and the reasons behind. In order to reduce the inventories and thus the costs involved, it should be the role of the company management to ensure that the activities taking place in the business are geared towards achieving and meeting the customer needs without excess stocks being left unused. The process of change of inventory can also be achieved through analysis of all the inventory items involved. With the goods in the inventory being important according to their contribution towards the company goals, the items which generate high returns should be given a higher priority compared to those with low returns. The process of inventory can also be changed by classifying the inventory according to the bulkiness in order to be aware of the transport logistics that may be involved. This is due to the fact that differe nt items require different transport means. The inventory method can also be changed by adapting new, better, and improved demand forecasting methods. Better forecasting methods reduces variability in terms of the expected against actual sales. The management can also introduce inventory management software which, when data is fed to it, can predict all the inventory management that is involved. Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By managers using this software, they are able to predict easily the fast moving inventories as well as the more profitable items in the company. Finally, the use of postponement methods is another way of improving and changing the inventory method. This process involves modifying or customizing products after the main manufacturing process has been completed then delay the configuration and distribution process to the time when the distribu tion cycle will be favorable. Conclusion When the management decides that the existing inventory method in use is not serving the business right, then a process of changing the inventory begins. From the study we can conclude that the process of inventory change can be brought about by the desire to reduce the inventory so that no excess inventories are left idle. The desire to introduce better forecasting methods in order to ensure the business gains optimally from the inventory is another reason why the inventory process might be changed. Another reason why change of inventory might be necessary is if the business plans to delay the configuration and the distribution process so that to ensure the time for release will be favorable and this can force also the change in the inventory process.

Filling Vacancies in the US Senate

Filling Vacancies in the US Senate Senate seats become vacant for a variety of reasons the Senator dies in office, resigns in disgrace or resigns to assume another position, usually an elected or appointed government position.What happens when a Senator dies in office or resigns? How is the replacement handled?Procedures for electing Senators are outlined in Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, as later amended by paragraph 2 of the Seventeenth (17th) Amendment. Ratified in 1913, the 17th Amendment not only changed how Senators are to be elected (direct election by popular vote) but it also outlined how Senate vacancies are to be filled: When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. What Does This Mean in Practice? The U.S. Constitution grants the state legislatures the power to determine how U.S. Senators are to be replaced, including empowering the chief executive (the governor) to make these appointments.Some states require a special election to fill a vacancy. A few states require the governor to appoint a replacement of the same political party as the previous incumbent. Typically, a replacement holds office until the next scheduled statewide election.From the Congressional Research Service: Prevailing practice is for state governors to fill Senate vacancies by appointment, with the appointee serving until a special election has been held, at which time the appointment expires immediately. In the event a seat becomes vacant between the time of a general election and the expiration of the term, however, the appointee usually serves the balance of the term, until the next regularly scheduled general election. This practice originated with the constitutional provision that applied prior to the popular election of senators, under which governors were directed to make temporary appointments when state legislatures were in recess. It was intended to ensure continuity in a state’s Senate representation during the lengthy intervals between state legislative sessions. Exceptions or Where Governors Do Not Have Unlimited Powers: Alaska, Oregon, and Wisconsin do not allow the governor to make interim appointments; state laws require a special election to fill any Senate vacancy. Oklahoma also requires that Senate vacancies be filled by special elections, with an exception. If the vacancy occurs after March 1 of any even-numbered year and the term expires the following year, no special election is held; rather, the governor is required to appoint the candidate elected in the regular general election to fill the unexpired term. Arizona and Hawaii require the governor to fill Senate vacancies with a person affiliated with the same political party as the previous incumbent. Utah and Wyoming require the governor to select an interim senator from a list of three candidates proposed by the state central committee of the political party with which the previous incumbent was affiliated. In the event of a Senator’s death, his or her staff continue to be compensated for a period not exceeding 60 days (unless the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration determines that more time is needed to complete the closing of the office), performing duties under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate.

Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Justice - Essay Example Justice is the subject which is like the mirage for the philosophers, politicians, sociologists, economists and various types of non-governmental organizations. No two human beings are alike, their expectations are not alike, their reactions to the various life-situations are not alike, and how then a uniform system of justice can be framed that satisfies the needs of all? Is it correct for an individual, when all the avenues for seeking justice are closed, to remain satisfied thinking about the platitude, ‘It is better to deserve without receiving, than to receive without deserving’? That would be the defeatist attitude towards life, and such a man would reach the dead end of the road in the pursuit of creativity in life. The greatest contributor in the hot race of securing justice is the concerned individual, and not any outside agency. When one realizes that one is the creator of one’s destiny and not the victim, the gates for the mansion of justice will automa tically open. Aristotle suggests that justice occurs when everybody gets what they deserve. But the question is how to achieve that state? Does a man know what he deserves and at what level of internal and external progression he is placed? Self-introspection is the beginning of the process of seeking justice. Even the best governors of society can provide a reasonably good framework of rights within which individuals can follow their own values, but that cannot be the perfect mode that satisfies the cravings of one and all. Political activity at the highest form of its perfection will fall short of providing assurance of good life to all. Governance under all political philosophies be they capitalism, communism, socialism, theocracy, fundamentalism and the like have failed to provide total justice to an individual. As such, political establishment is not the panacea to secure equitable justice

New position is to develop a project portfolio management process and Essay

New position is to develop a project portfolio management process and then use this process to select projects for your Strategic Business Units portfolio - Essay Example Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is regarded as an effective set of practices that enable organizations to gain the capability of managing projects. The set of practices within the PPM ensures to make proper alignment of different required project activities and working elements in accordance with the postulated goals and objectives of the projects that undertake by a particular company (Morris & Pinto 94-112). With respect to the predetermined business goals of the company, the proposed portfolio process has been characterized into few major stages including project initiation, planning and execution along with controlling stage. The following discussion briefly discusses these key phases of the proposed PPM procedure. Project Initiation Stage. The initiation stage of the project will focus on identifying its potential scope regarding the products and/or services offered by the company to the clients (Levine 85-108). In relation to the business practices of the SBU, the activities in the initiation stage will help the company to recognize the project scope along with the objectives while expanding business to the markets of Europe and Alaska. Project Planning Stage. The planning stage of the respective project will focus on three major key areas such as scheduling activities, resource planning and cost planning associated with different operational services linked with production/selling actions of the SBU (Levine 85-108). With regards to the proposed PPM process, the activities relating to the determination of potential risks, quality related issues and different change management obstacles can help the managers of the company to formulate effective decisions. Executing and Controlling Stage. During this phase, all the processes, plans, activities and schedules are properly utilized, ensuring that the respective

Obamas election to be the first black president of the USA Essay

Obamas election to be the first black president of the USA - Essay Example There are many opinions some of which the paper takes up relating to essentially two of the political theories. There are many opinions about the methodology of study of political science. Now the question is which study will be best suited to test the empirical or theoretical validity to justify Obama’s selection as the president of U.S. In this respect what study can give us a perfect prediction of Obama’s success in the last general election in U.S.A? Although there is no proven mathematical formula of politics for his success. There is also a debate as to what are the predicted factors that led him to be the president. Political theorists differ about the political prediction in the U.S in recent times over the issue. The paper carefully analyzes the question - Is there any calculative mathematical formulae used for Obama’s success to the chair of the president? The method followed is this paper is that of secondary research encompassing a literature review of four works out of which the works of Ian Shapiro (2002), ‘Problems, Methods and Theories in the Study of Politics’ and that of Peter Guy (2005), ‘Institutional theory in political science’ are the main ones from where two theories have been adopted for the analysis in this paper. Shapiro describes the political scenario of America as a fractured discipline. This theory relates to problem driven and theory driven study of politics. The paper finally focuses on the importance of predictability of the factors leading to a political event adopting the case of Obama’s election. In respect of the research question we can discuss two studies, namely, 1) â€Å"Problems, Methods and Theories in the Study of Politics† by Shapiro (2002): The theory states that the science of American politics is basically a fractured discipline; and 2) â€Å"Institutional theory in political science† by Guy (2005): The theory of institutionalism may be divided into two categories

Marketing Plan of APPLET-I Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing Plan of APPLET-I - Research Paper Example The paper presents the environmental analysis regarding the current situation of the organization or firm to the marketing environment (target market). The environmental analysis mainly considers the external factors influencing the market. There are a number of external factors they are, economic, competitive, political, legal (regulatory), technological and socio-cultural factors. These factors are also known as macro environmental factors. This study analyzes the strategic decisions for doing the market research. The competition among the computer training centre is strong in Cochin. The company faces competition from many online education organizations. The main competitors for the company are Gtech and Aptech and 30 to 40 percent of market share are holded by them. But the new courses like I phone and I pad applications are only provided by the Applet-I. So at the initial stage we are not expecting much competition. The economic factors are used to reduce the overall cost, like promotion expenses and other expenses. Economy force is an important macro environmental factor because, these forces effectively make decisions how to operate the business. Most of the new generation business largely invests the amount to the promotional activities. APPLET-i, introducing the specialty in promotion. There are some new techniques are used with low cost comparing with the competitors. The main promotion tool is social networking sites such as face book, orkut etc. No political influences is expected to affect the smooth operations of Applet-I. 4. Legal Forces: By paying more attention in advertisement through Medias and through the direct contact of targeted customers, the company can reach upto the target groups. So we are keeping ourselves aside from distributing advertisements through mails (junk mails). 5. Technological Forces: In this most modern world technologies are changing second by seconds. The technological forces include the aspects of research and develo pment, automation, the rate changes in technology etc. Technological forces influence the outsourcing decisions. The changes in technology can effects the cost, quality and make innovation like products, process, new technologies, services and ideas. In APPLET-i using the modern technology for its services. 6. Socio Cultural Forces: Today the people have a positive attitude towards the computer education. They find it as an easy  and convenient way for  attaining any certified course within a very short duration. They can learn it as a part course too. This is less time consuming and cost effective too. Company Analysis: APPLET-i is based

Barnes and Nobles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Barnes and Nobles - Essay Example The mission of the company is to operate the best specialty business in America, regardless of the product they sell; a value statement of the company is that as a bookseller they are determined to be the very best in the business regardless of the size, pedigree, or inclination of their competitors (Barnesandnoblesinc, 2011). The company wants to serve its customer and become a valuable resource to them. The vision, mission, and value statements of the company will be validated in the research paper utilizing various techniques. The first step in the investigation will be thoroughly analyzing the information the company offers in its corporate website. The corporate website of a corporation is a valuable resource that provides important and relevant information for users of financial information and the other stakeholders of the company. I will research secondary sources to validate the company’s claim that the firm is the top bookseller in the world. Obtaining information re garding the market share of the company is a good way to determine how much reach and business activity a company has. To test whether the company’s customer are happy with the level of service they receive from Barnes and Nobles the use of primary research would be very useful. Two techniques that can be used to test the customer service the firm provides are questionnaires and mystery shoppers. Even though I do not work for the company which inhibits my ability to actually perform the primary research the strategic paper will include a template of the questionnaire and an action plan of how to implement the mystery shopper research. The week six strategic plan will include both internal and external environmental analysis. One of the primary sources that will be used to perform the internal analysis of the company will be the annual report of the firm. The annual report is a business report that must be filed by all public companies once year as mandated by SEC regulations. The annual report discusses the financial, operating results, and strategic path of the company. The corporate website of the firm is also a good resource to evaluate the internal environment of the company. Other secondary research will be performed on the company using the internet and other professional databases. I will search within the firm’s website to see if the firm published a corporate social responsibility report. The external environmental analysis will use various sources. One of the sources that will be used is the expertise of Team C. During week two for our team’s innovation project I suggested a company called Papyrus Australia that everybody liked. I suggested the company hoping it would be chosen because I foresaw how the product this company developed would be an excellent opportunity for Barnes and Nobles. Papyrus Australia invented a new type of paper called banana ply paper made up of the truck of banana trees. The week 2 team paper will be used as a source document to develop an alternative solution for Barnes and Nobles. I will investigate using secondary research the status of the industry in 2011. A database that might very useful for this task is the Plunkett Research database. Another technique that might be useful during week six to facilitate the external environmental analysis is benchmarking. Benchmarking allows an investigator to compare the best practices in other industries to find solutions for the company.

Marketing Plan of APPLET-I Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing Plan of APPLET-I - Research Paper Example The paper presents the environmental analysis regarding the current situation of the organization or firm to the marketing environment (target market). The environmental analysis mainly considers the external factors influencing the market. There are a number of external factors they are, economic, competitive, political, legal (regulatory), technological and socio-cultural factors. These factors are also known as macro environmental factors. This study analyzes the strategic decisions for doing the market research. The competition among the computer training centre is strong in Cochin. The company faces competition from many online education organizations. The main competitors for the company are Gtech and Aptech and 30 to 40 percent of market share are holded by them. But the new courses like I phone and I pad applications are only provided by the Applet-I. So at the initial stage we are not expecting much competition. The economic factors are used to reduce the overall cost, like promotion expenses and other expenses. Economy force is an important macro environmental factor because, these forces effectively make decisions how to operate the business. Most of the new generation business largely invests the amount to the promotional activities. APPLET-i, introducing the specialty in promotion. There are some new techniques are used with low cost comparing with the competitors. The main promotion tool is social networking sites such as face book, orkut etc. No political influences is expected to affect the smooth operations of Applet-I. 4. Legal Forces: By paying more attention in advertisement through Medias and through the direct contact of targeted customers, the company can reach upto the target groups. So we are keeping ourselves aside from distributing advertisements through mails (junk mails). 5. Technological Forces: In this most modern world technologies are changing second by seconds. The technological forces include the aspects of research and develo pment, automation, the rate changes in technology etc. Technological forces influence the outsourcing decisions. The changes in technology can effects the cost, quality and make innovation like products, process, new technologies, services and ideas. In APPLET-i using the modern technology for its services. 6. Socio Cultural Forces: Today the people have a positive attitude towards the computer education. They find it as an easy  and convenient way for  attaining any certified course within a very short duration. They can learn it as a part course too. This is less time consuming and cost effective too. Company Analysis: APPLET-i is based

Boatright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Boatright - Essay Example Therefore, since the individual assumes the risks involved, he can be said to be contributorily negligent (Edwards, Edwards, and Wells, 2008). Individual autonomy incorporates moral and political values that dictate how individuals govern themselves, irrespective of their role in social structure, as well as political alienations. In addition, an individual’s moral principles and responsibilities, and the legality of political weight are critical in self-governing the individual (Christman, 2011). Kant investigates the ideas and concepts surrounding morality and elucidates commonsense ideas that are crucial in coming up with our moral judgments. In the case under study, the individual may have been under intense pressure to find a job because of the need to fend his family and himself. However, he was well aware of the risky conditions that were combined with the job he accepted. Based on the doctrine of volenti, the individual cannot be able to bring a claim to his employer because of his assumptions on the risks involved (Miller & Jentz, 2009). The plaintiff already accepted to take the risks involved in exchange for the job. Lundmark (1998) asserts that assumption of the risk is a volitional act, and it cannot be present if the claimant has no knowledge or awareness of the impending dangers associated with the job at hand. This doctrine provides a complete defense for the defendant since the individual can be held to have voluntarily accepted the risks involved with the job. However, in case the defendant is found to have committed any form of negligence, damages sustained by the plaintiff can be viewed to be inconsistent. Kant draws his views from moral philosophy and provides general judgments that are deemed to be deeply held. In addition, Kant argues that the moral judgments should be widely accepted and acceptable to

Implant tractable ID chips in newborn babies Essay Example for Free

Implant tractable ID chips in newborn babies Essay Our companys idea to implant tractable ID chips in newborn babies offers a revolutionary approach to effectively combat the high incidences of abductions of newborns and children, a menace against which eve police forces are finding themselves helpless. Once the chip is placed within children, their every movement can be traced to exactitude using the GPRS technology, making their abduction and subsequent hiding a practically impossible task. Apart from this, these IDs would act as a database for these children, containing their relevant medical, physiological and personal details, with provisions of constant upgrades. Thus doctors needs to only access childrens ID to know their history of previous medical complications and treatments, police officers can easily trace parents of a lost child and parents can keep constant vigil on the movement of their children even from their workplace. However, there are many exacting complications in successful rollout of this idea. It can be safely assumed that this concept would come under severe moral, ethical, and religious censure through the entire world. Many, if not all, would form organizations and international groups to canvass on social and legal platforms against our proposal to tag human infants, and doubts would be raised on even our integrity, commitment and sanity. Moreover, the thrust of objection and criticism is likely to come from our own scientific intelligentsia, religious and spiritual gurus, intellectuals and similar eminent personalities. These estimated objections and criticism are hardly a surprising possibility, given worlds historical anathema against every new scientific invention or discovery, any path-breaking medicinal technology, or even against any idea that appeared contrary to its set of framed ideas and concepts. History is replete with evidences that from the time of Archimedes to modern day age of cloning, people have always approached every major scientific and technological breakthrough with skepticism, incredulity and more than often, downright hostility. We can see how strong the sentiments ran when Copernicus presented the theory that its Sun that is at center of solar system, and not moon and that world is sphere shaped, against what world had been led to believe (Hall, 1954). Later Galileo was humiliated by Roman Church on the same issue. We further see the way almost entire educated western society rose against Charles Darwin for his theory of evolution through natural selection and the stringent social and religious criticism he was subjected to (Hall, 1954). Even Einstein, one of the greatest human brains of all times, was not spared from hostile criticism and rejection when he denied the existence of gravity in his general theory of relativity (Hawkins, 1988). Technological innovations and many scientific inventions were treated with similar aggressive denial and denunciation. Whether it was construction of railway locomotives, invention of telegraphs and telephones, constructions of dams, introduction of vaccination techniques, advent of contraceptive pills, gene therapy or subject of cloning and stem cell research, a significant section of society always protested and rejected the concept on plethora of supposedly ethical and moral grounds (Thomas, 2005). It is futile to say that each of these innovations contributed to further advancement and growth of human society. The reason of this persistent fear of new technological innovations is that they defy and sometimes even break the existing concepts, perceptions and notions. Often these concepts and perceptions are embedded part of a social culture, and therefore their rejection is construed as a planned attack by scientists and technicians on the very foundation of the culture (Lyne, 2005). We cannot flippantly dismiss their fears, and overlook their arguments just because they happen to contradict our idea. Instead, we need to reach out to people, address their every valid question and dispel their remotest of the doubts related to implant of IDs in newborn babies. My own understanding of the issue says that we should move ahead with project because when people are presented with rational arguments and valid answers to their queries, their gravest arguments turns in staunchest of the support. Indeed, one of their first objections we are likely to face is ethical as well as medical propriety of inserting an unnecessary foreign object in the fragile body of a newborn. But as we maintain, this implant is done for childrens own security and safety. Further, the chip is especially designed in such a way that its implant would cause minimum distress for child and the implant can be done by any surgeon through a very superficial incision. The presence or location of the chip may very well remain unknown to child unless specifically told. Of course, implanting a foreign object in human body in itself is no more an ethical issue, especially after advent of pacemakers and artificial limbs. Rather a valid query may concern the possible radiation effect of the chip on childs developing body, and whether that this radiation would impede or in any way alter hormonal or chemical composition of the growing child. But as our repeated lab tests and years of experiments have shown, the chip does not interfere with human bio- chemical growth in any way. It stays in the body like a neutral object, deactivated unless recalled for. Even upon activation, the signals emitted by chip are no more harmful than the fields of electromagnetic radiation surrounding us every second of our life. The final debate around our proposed chip would center on moral and ethical issue of tagging children. Is it right to tag children like animals are tagged in zoo and safari and then observed? Further, when these children grow up, they might become uncomfortable with the idea of being watched or remotely tracked for their every movement, and may very likely treat this an infringement of their privacy. But in my opinion, these objections are specious, and deviating from our main issue- that of stopping crime and providing a safe and secure world for children. Parents, and later on Children, may be given the option to remove or manually deactivate the chip, when they start to feel that it is more a burden than as a benefit. However, for that time that it is there, it is the best way to ensure infants are secure, safe and sound under their parents, physicians and teachers constant observation. It is the best way to completely eliminate the threat of organized abduction industry, and certainly it is the surest way to ensure that no child goes every lost or missing. I would reiterate therefore we should confidently move ahead with this revolutionary idea and usher in the new era of human-technology integration.

New Labours Traditional Family Values in Policy

New Labours Traditional Family Values in Policy In Comparison to the Thatcher Government, in what ways does New Labour try to bring back traditional family values through policy and legislation? Abstract The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate and compare the way in New Labour is trying to bring back traditional family values through policy and legislation with the ways in which the Thatcher government had tried to do so. As will be explained and analysed there are some similarities and indeed some profound differences between the objectives and the methods of New Labour and the Thatcher governments. As will be analysed in great depth both the Thatcher government and New Labour government came to power with wide-ranging visions of how they wished to transform the politics, the economy, and the society of Britain. The Thatcher government’s attempts to bring back traditional family values through policy and via legislation will be evaluated first, in order to examine the extent to which its objectives succeeded or if those objectives failed. Arguably, the Thatcher government had a massive impact upon the social, economic, and the political make up or infrastructure of Britain, even if not always in the ways that it had intended, or had hoped for. The Thatcher government also discovered that the consequences of their policy decisions could be contradictory, rather than complimentary to the primary objectives of the legislation that they passed. The latter parts of the dissertation will concentrate upon the transition of the Labour party away from its traditional economic and social policies into New Labour and how, that transition affected its policies and objectives. New Labour was a reinvention of the Labour party designed to regain power after 18 years in the political wilderness. Traditionally, the Labour party had regarded the promotion of social ownership of the means of production (the infamous clause four of its constitution); and the provision of generous benefits by the welfare state for those in need as sacrosanct policy areas. Labour governments had used progressive taxation and high public sector borrowing to pay for high social policy expenditure if that was needed. Those were the policies mainly used to maintain or bring back traditional family values by all previous Labour governments. New Labour, as will be demonstrated, turned away from the concepts of increasing levels of social ownership, and set limits for the use of progressive taxation and increasing public sector borrowing, whilst promising to reform the welfare state. The combination of these measures was intended to focus help on to those people that needed help the most. It also arguably, gives cause to debate whether New Labour is driven by its ideological principles; or if it is driven by the more selfish desire to obtain and subsequently retain governmental office. After all, as any self-respecting politician will tell anybody willing to hear them, it is no good having a vision of transforming society if there is no political office or power to do anything about enacting that vision. Certainly before winning the general election of 1997 New Labour emphasised its intention to bring back traditional family values through policy and where it was considered to be necessary through legislation. As a party New Labour committed itself to improving public services, fighting crime, and a host of other measures to make Britain a better place to live in. Also to be discussed is New Labour’s policies and legislation upon human rights and equality for all, that in many respects goes beyond bringing back traditional family values. Whilst politicians are generally in agreement over the need for traditional family values, they differ as to the best policies and if needs be the best legislation to restore, promote, or protect traditional family values. Differences over the best ways to achieve traditional family values are influenced by differing ideological approaches, as well as different understandings of human nature. Governments do not only rely on policy and legislat ion to achieve or at least aim to achieve their objectives. Governments try to influence the public through official statements, press and television articles, as well as presenting its objectives to the public as frequently as possible. The public of course does not have to be persuaded by the influence, policy, and legislation of any government. Indeed the public can affect the policy and legislation that governments adopt by voting those governments in and out of office at every general election. The media has a great deal of influence in its own right when it comes to the moral attitudes and acceptable standards of behaviour that the British public hold. All are issues and influences upon the restoration or promotion of traditional family values will be evaluated. Introduction Before evaluating and analysing the ways in which New Labour and the Thatcher governments aimed to bring back bring traditional family values, it would be best to define what is meant by traditional family values. Usually traditional family values are considered to be the promotion of long lasting marriages, bringing up children to be well behaved and law abiding, and educating everybody to respect law and order. Traditional family values are also linked with a religious or moral upbringing, yet it can also encompass people being responsible for providing for their own financial and social welfare through working hard and saving, as well as taking responsibility for their own actions. Traditional family values were linked in public perceptions to Victorian times, the majority of people may now be materially better off yet their sense of morality, and the willingness to accept traditional family values has declined noticeably (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p.42). In the British conte xt the religious influences upon traditional family values had been predominately Christian in their origins. The dominant family values in Britain have been altered by different factors since the 1960s. The belief in Christian values has declined due to the processes of secularisation and liberalisation, changing social attitudes arguably helped by changes in fashion and media coverage. Family values are also different due to the immigration of people into Britain with different religious faiths such as Islam, and Hinduism (Modood, 2005, p.192). Different religious beliefs mean that although non-Christians often have a strong sense of morality and an understanding of how to behave, those moral values are similar yet not necessarily the same as traditional family values as they are perceived (Forman Baldwin, 1999, pp. 10-11). British governments, assuming that they have a sufficient Parliamentary majority are generally able to carry out policy objectives and pass legislation as they feel necessary, or, to keep to the pledges they made in their party manifestos during the previous general election campaigns. The power and the authority held by British governments to carry out their policies is great, and the vast majority of the population accepts the legislation passed through Parliament. However, it is under the assumption that the government can be voted out at the next general election if the majority of voters are unhappy with its performance, or achievements. Much harder to define or evaluate can be the influence that governments have upon people’s beliefs and behaviour. Parties win general elections sometimes because they are the least unpopular party, rather than because they are the most popular. Voters can be as pragmatic or as cynical as the politicians that they vote for or against, they vote for the party that makes them better off, as much as the party that wants to influence or potentially change their beliefs and behaviour (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, pp 4 –5). Now attention is turned to the discussion of how differing ideological, or political beliefs have influenced the Thatcher and New Labour governments into making policy and legislation that affects social policy in Britain. The classical liberal approach to traditional family values was that governments should not intervene in social matters just as they should keep economic interventions down to an absolute minimum. The classical liberal approach regarded the role of governments as being strictly limited to providing legislation when required, and limited educational, law and order, and national defence facilities or services. The moral, religious, and social values may have been Christian yet that was just by historical chance. Classical liberal thinkers such as John Locke argued that the government should tolerate diversity and allow its people to act in anyway they wanted that did not contravene national laws (Lacey, 2006, p.7). For classical liberals, governments should have gone no further than regulating workplace safety and regulating the Poor Law administration. The teaching of traditional family values was down to churches (or other religious institutions), schools, and individual family groups themselves (Eatwell Wright, 2003 p. 36). The ideas of classical liberalism would re-emerge from the 1960s in the guise of neo-liberalism and would have the most influence in Britain upon the government that was led by Margaret Thatcher between May 1979 and her removal from office in November 1990. The Major government that held office from 1990 through to 1997 was regarded as being less dogmatic and more pragmatic than its immediate predecessor was, though conversely placing a greater emphasis on individual morality and standards of behaviour (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 287). Another strand of liberal political ideology emerged at the beginning of the 20th century that favoured a higher level of government intervention in social and economic matters. This ‘new’ liberalism was responsible for the first moves towards establishing the welfare state in Britain. The new Liberals regarded poverty as being the largest single threat to traditional family values, as well as being socially divisive. Poverty often led families into the dreaded workhouses that separated parents from their children, and then parents from each other. Poverty in other words could stop people from caring for each other, it stopped relatives being cared for, and prevented people looking after themselves. The workhouse was, according to the new liberal ideological perspective, the biggest breaker of families, something that grinding poverty did not always achieve (Moran, 2005, p. 28). The introduction of Labour Exchanges, national insurance, which paid small amounts of unemplo yment benefit, and limited old age pensions may have done little to reverse poverty, yet it heralded greater levels of government intervention in social and economic affairs, especially after Labour’s landslide election victory in 1945. All those new Liberal reforms were intended to preserve family units, as unemployment, underemployment, and old age were all factors that made people poor, and put them in the workhouse, or drove them towards committing crimes to make money. Had the British economy been stronger during the inter-period then the limited welfare state of the Liberals might have been extended earlier. There were limited extensions such as the development of council houses and some free health care for the poorest families (Eatwell Wright, 2003 p.38). The Liberal party itself appeared to be in a virtually terminal decline after the First World War with its former supporters either switching their votes to the Conservatives or the Labour party. Conversely it would be variations of liberal ideology that have arguably had the most political, social, and economic influence upon post-war Britain and the values that British government aimed to promote through policy and legislation. New Liberalism had a pronounced influence upon the welfare state and Keynesian economic policies pursued from 1945 through to the late 1970s, particularly under the auspices of the Beveridge Report and the wish to avoid mass unemployment on the scale of the 1930s. New Liberalism also influenced the decision of British governments to accept changing social attitudes by changing policy and passing legislation to recognise the slackening hold of traditional family values. The use of Keynesian economics was lessened during the Callaghan government as it was forc ed into accepting a loan from the International Monetary Fund, and had to reduce public spending before that loan was made available. Of course, it was the revival of neo-liberal ideology that strongly influenced the Thatcher government and meant that the New Labour government had to take power in radically different social and economic circumstances than the Labour governments of the 1970s had faced (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 54). In contrast, the Conservative ideological perspective often placed a greater emphasis upon the promotion and the respecting of traditional family values, either to protect property or to maintain social stability. Conservative politicians in Britain regarded themselves as being the party that maintained law and order better than any other political party, to protect social stability, and strengthen national unity (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 51). The Conservative party was the party that usually claimed to be the guardian of traditional family values. The Conservative party had strong links with the Church of England. Indeed, sometimes people referred to the Church of England as being the Conservative party at prayer. As such the Conservative party took a negative view about human nature that helps to explain its tougher stance on law and order issues (Jones et al, 2004, p. 155). Unlike the classical Liberals, the Conservatives were prepared and remain prepared to actively change gover nment policy, and enact legislation if that was needed to protect traditional family values. Previous Conservative governments in Britain have passed both restrictive and liberalising legislation when they have considered such actions to be justified by present circumstances. Conservatives have been repressive, regressive, or liberal in character at different times (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 54). There was a strong paternalistic streak in the British Conservative party, which has sometimes dominated the party, and at other times has had very little influence over the party’s policies when in government. The paternalistic streak has not always gone well with other ideological influences within the party that have been opposed to intervening in society or the economy. For instance, compare the ideological beliefs of Harold MacMillan, or Anthony Eden with Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher did not like the paternalistic ‘One Nation Tories’, and instead attempted to transfo rm British society (Moran, 2005, p. 28). The Labour party was created specifically to further the interests of the working classes, as such the only traditional family values it wished to protect, promote, or bring back were those that it believed would benefit the working classes. The Labour party was committed to the social ownership of the means of production, and the introduction of extensive welfare, and social security provision. Not only would these measures improve social equality, they would reduce poverty, and make British society better by making it fairer for all. The Labour party was also a political party that was moderate and gradualist in its approach to achieving social, economic, and political reforms. The decline of the Liberal party allowed Labour to become the second main political party in Britain and even form a government in 1924. The first Labour government was only a minority administration, and was therefore unable to achieve much (Wilson, 2005, p. 252). The second Labour government elected in 192 9 had a parliamentary majority, yet its time in office was blighted by the onset of the Great Depression. The party was divided by Ramsey Mac Donald’s decision to cut unemployment benefits, and the introduction of other austerity measures that made the affects of unemployment worse for many of the people that Labour was supposed to help (Wilson, 2005, p. 285). Labour got its big chance to profoundly alter British social and economic policies as a result of the wartime feeling that something should be done to make Britain a fairer and less poverty stricken place to live in. Labour fully backed the proposals of the Beveridge Report and introduced a comprehensive welfare state and reaped its sensational electoral benefits in 1945 (Lacey, 2006, p. 260). The Labour party managed to achieve its social and economic aims during the Atlee governments of 1945 through to 1951. Its objectives were achieved with the introduction of a comprehensive welfare state, the National Health Service (NHS), and increased educational opportunities. To banish the possibility of mass unemployment on the scale of the 1930s, industries were nationalised and Keynesian demand side economic policies were pursued. From the Labour party’s perspective Britain’s traditional family values should have been protected or even promoted by declining levels of poverty, better health care provision, and higher levels of educational achievement. The welfare state and the NHS seemed to be safe as the Conservatives accepted the vast majority of Labour’s reforms (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003, p. 11). In fact, the Conservative Party enjoyed considerable success in the 1950s as the British electorate trusted them to leave the welfare state and public servi ces untouched, whilst successfully managing Keynesian economics to make people financially better off (Sandbrook, 2005 p. 51). Until the late 1960s it seemed that British governments had managed to achieve strong economic growth, an effective welfare system, and a high degree of social harmony. The period also introduced legislation that liberalised British society, for instance the legalisation of homosexuality, abortion, and the abolition of the death penalty. Legislation was also passed that made it easier to get divorced. However, there were to be social, economic, and political developments that loosened the post-war political consensus. The loosening of that post-war consensus began with deteriorating economic growth and social changes, developments that would eventually lead to the emergence of Margaret Thatcher as a politician that was determined to radically alter the political, social, and economic fabric of Britain (Forman Baldwin, 1999, p. 11). It was not just Britain’s relatively poor economic performance that Margaret Thatcher wished to tackle; she wanted to tackle the political, social , and economic decline of Britain. Margaret Thatcher wished to reverse what she considered to be the harmful social and economic consequences of decline fostered by the liberalisation of moral values caused by the legislation of the 1960s and the changes in social attitudes that occurred during the same period (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 42). On the other hand, New Labour wished to regain power by gaining the votes of people that had previously voted for the Thatcher and Major governments, whilst retaining the support of their loyal Labour supporters. Traditional Labour party supporters had not supported the party because it claimed to protect or restore traditional family values; instead they believed that a Labour government would make them better off, and British society fairer. However, traditional Labour voters had been reduced in numbers by the reduction in the size of heavy industries and the Thatcher government’s economic policies such as the sell off of council housing and privatisation (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 12). The combination of changing social and economic trends, the privatisation policies of the Thatcher government, as well as party in-fighting had condemned the Labour party to four consecutive general election defeats. The Labour Party had expected to win the 1992 general election, altho ugh the Major government managed to get re-elected by scrapping the poll tax (Jones, 1999 p.1). New Labour might not have emerged at all if John Smith had not died leading to Tony Blair becoming the party leader, and going on to reorganise the Labour Party, reshaping its policies, and its image in order to gain power (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 5). Whilst New Labour emphasised that it would no longer pursue traditional Labour party economic policies, it would stress that it was keen to make British society fairer than it had been during the Thatcher and the Major governments. New Labour stressed that it stood for fairer social values, for instance actively trying to encourage the acceptance of cultural diversity, or promoting gay and lesbian rights (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 397). New Labour shifted its economic policies to the right first, then moved its social policies in a similar direction (Moran, 2005, p. 28). Tony Blair and New Labour stressed that once in power it would help to bring back traditional family values by being tough on crime by tackling its social and economic causes (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005, p. 6). New Labour has also pledged to reform welfare provision, the NHS, and the education system to improve performance and reduce social exclusion. New Labour wanted to restore what it considered to be traditio nal family values through policy and legislation, yet with the emphasis being different from the emphasis of the Thatcher government in rhetoric if not in substance (Jones, 1999, p. 2). All governments have to be aware of the public scrutiny that they may have to endure, through Parliament, through media coverage and speculation, as well as been observed by the general public. The government of the day can have its policy and legislation objectives overturned and jeopardised by adverse publicity or media revelations. The media is very useful for the government to sell its policies and pieces of legislation to the electorate yet no government can expect favourable media coverage all of the time and sensible governments will try to manage media coverage to get the best results. The Thatcher and New Labour governments took media management techniques seriously for their periods in office although that has not guaranteed that they will succeed in making all their policy and legislation succeed, whether or not it was meant to restore traditional family values (Jones, 1999, p. 52). Chapter One – The Thatcher government and returning back to traditional family values This chapter will deal with the subject of the Thatcher government and its attempts of returning to traditional family values through policy and legislation. Margaret Thatcher broke the mould of the average Conservative party leader, and it was not simply because she was the first woman to gain that position. Although the Conservatives had been stung by the size of their election defeat in 1945, they had soon recovered to regain power by 1951 (Wilson, 2005, p.484). Successive Conservative leaders from Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold MacMillan, and Alec Douglas Hume had accepted the post-war political, economic and social consensus established after 1945 (Sandbrook, 2005, p.51). It had been Margaret Thatcher’s immediate predecessor as Conservative leader, Edward Heath that had first attempted to overturn the post-war consensus through the adoption of the Selsdon programme. As Education secretary, Margaret Thatcher was part of the Heath government that eventually returne d to Keynesian economic policies, due to trade union opposition, and the desire to increase economic growth to prevent unemployment levels going past one million (Fisher, Denver Benyon, 2003, p.11). The Heath government would fall victim to increasing trade union opposition that led to the three day week, whilst Heath’s defeat in both general elections of 1974 meant that leading Conservatives were looking for alternative policies and a new leader with a different approach to the discredited Heath. Margaret Thatcher decided to stand for the party leadership and succeeded in displacing Heath. After she became Conservative leader, her differing ideological outlook from her post-war predecessors started to emerge. Thatcher’s right wing rhetoric, no nonsense leadership style, her forthright messages, and obvious sense of nationalism struck the right chords with the British electorate during the late 1970s (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 160). Margaret Thatcher was determined to restore the electoral fortunes of the Conservative and then went on to revive the ailing British economy by fundamentally altering social, economic, and political attitudes within the country. Thatcher believed that Britain needed to radically overhaul its social and economic policies to reverse economic decline and social decadence. The medicine that Thatcher prescribed to cure Britain of its social and economic woes was the adoption of neo-liberal economic policies and a return to traditional family values. According to neo-liberal economists such as Hayek and Friedman, Keynesian economics and extensive welfare states like Britain’s after 1945 were socially and economically detrimental. Thatcher had been introduced to these concepts by one of her closest advisors, Sir Keith Joseph, and she saw them as the solution to Britain economic decline and social degradation (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 54). The welfare state removed the incent ive to work, or the incentives to reduce the size of families, whilst providing adequate standards of living for those that were work shy or content to have children outside of marriage and long term relationships. The pursuit of Keynesian economic policies had increased the power of trade unions whilst restricting the efficiency of both public and private sector enterprises. Thatcher argued that excessively high rates of taxation reduced the incentives for people to work harder and meant that some people were financially better off by being unemployed. Thatcher’s solution to these problems was to end Keynesian economic policies, lower taxes, sell off public assets, and attempt to reduce the size of the welfare state. The inability of the Callaghan government to solve Britain’s economic ills and the Winter of Discontent of industrial action and public sector strikes allowed Thatcher to take power after winning the general election of May 1979 (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003, p.11). Once in office the Thatcher government undertook a radical reshaping of economic policy that had a major impact upon British society and influenced the success of policy and legislation to bring back traditional family values. The pursuit of economic liberalisation was the government’s policy given priority over all other policies and initiatives. Thatcher believed that economic liberalisation would be the catalyst that would modernise and revive Britain’s economic performance, with the anticipated consequence that it would revive at least some of the traditional family values. That was the underlying belief that people should work to make their lives better rather than relying upon the welfare state to give them handouts. The problem with adopting monetarist economic policies was that it resulted in the highest levels of unemployment witnessed in Britain since the Great Depression of the 1930s. With more than three million people unemployed, expenditure on the social s ecurity budget increased rather than decreased. Economic policy in this instance actually made the return to traditional family values less likely to be achieved. High unemployment levels instead meant a return to inter-period levels of poverty, and the closure of unprofitable coal mines and steel mills devastated whole communities (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 54). High unemployment levels also helped the Thatcher government to break the power of the trade unions more effectively than legislation on its own. That legislation was restrictive of trade union powers in its own right, more so than the failed efforts of the Heath government a decade earlier. The Thatcher government regarded employment legislation as vital in making its efforts to erode trade union power effective. The Employment Act of 1980 took away the rights of trade unions to operate closed shops (allowing workers the right not to join trade unions), take secondary industrial action, or, use flying pickets to force employers to give into their demands. The Employment Act also laid down certain conditions that trade unions had to follow exactly before they could take industrial action. For instance, trade unions had to hold postal ballots to vote for or against strike action. Any trade union that did not hold official ballots was going on strike illegally, and therefore faced lega l action from employers. For the Thatcher government the Employment Act of 1980 proved invaluable with its conflicts with the militant trade unions, especially the coal miners (Forman, Baldwin, 1999, p.450). For the Thatcher government its conflict with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) led by Arthur Scargil proved the ultimate test of whether it could change the social and economic structure of Britain to fit in with its ideological outlook. The NUM had been regarded as being largely responsible for the defeat of the Heath government during the 1970s, so the Thatcher government wanted to defeat it as a symbol of Britain being transformed economically, socially, and politically. Although the Thatcher government did give way over pay disputes in 1981 as it did not believe it could defeat the NUM, it was biding its time. However, by 1984 the Thatcher government was certain that the situation had changed in its favour through its new legislation that reduced secondary strike action, and because coal had been stockpiled at power stations to prevent the NUM from forcing the government to give in. The bitter miners strike of 1984-85 effectively broke the power of the NUM forever, and sho wed that the trade unions could no longer bring down any government that they wanted to (Forman Baldwin, 1999, p. 196). As part of its policy objectives to bring back traditional family values the Thatcher government tried to improve the law and order situation without much apparent success. Once again the economic policies of the Thatcher government had consequences for the successful conduct of its social policies. The chief consequence of Thatcherite economic policies was as already mentioned high unemployment. High unemployment made it harder to reduce the level of crime; in fact crime rates rose as sharply as unemployment rates did throughout much of the 1980s (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003, p. 12). Unemployment increased peoples’ sense of desperation as well as putting many of them into poverty. Crime increased as people tried to make ends meet, and it also increased as a result of a rise in the number of people taking illegal drugs. High unemployment and the illegal drug trade meant that respect for law and order was reduced in the majority of inner city areas rather than improved. A com bination of high unemployment, heavy handed policing, and increased levels of racial tension lead to the outbreak of inner city riots in 1981 that alarmed the Thatcher government (Jones et al, 2004, p. 628). To prevent a repeat of those riots the Thatcher government introduced urban redevelopment areas, and attempted to change the policing methods used in areas that contained ethnic minority communities. The Thatcher government tried to reduce crime by allowing courts to set tougher sentences and the introduction of youth detention centres, yet nothing seemed to work (Jones et al, 2004, p. 628). The failure of the Thatcher government to reverse the rising crime figures is a clear demonstration that the social policy, and legislation of governments can have little or virtually no influence over people’s behaviour if they did not want that behaviour to be altered. Although there was a strong link between rising crime and rising unemployment during the Thatcher government the le vels of crime have not decreased, despite unemployment falling since its peak in the late 1980s (Jones et al, 2004, p. 629). Other areas of the That

Essay --

Police Canine Training I’ve always felt that animals are the purest spirits in the world. They don’t fake or hide their feelings, and they are the most loyal creatures on Earth and somehow we humans think we’re smarter. I chose this topic about the canine because, some of these canines risk their life’s to protect dog’s best friend. What is Canine? The canine (K-9) is referred to as a police dog. There are different certain breeds of k-9’s used, for example ,German Shepard’s (protection, attack dog, ground based tracking and air based tracking, locating human remains, locating drugs, locating IEDs, locating evidence), Rottweiler’s , Doberman Pinner’s, Labrador Retriever’s (locating bombs, drugs ) and Belgian Malinois’s (protection, attack dog, locating IEDs, locating evidence, locating drugs, prisoner transport, human tracking) . The k-9 have specialized talents such as search and rescue, cadaver dogs, enforcing public order, detection dogs, and arson dogs says officer olive. The K-9 handler will be tested on with their k-9 abilities to demonstrate their physical ability to control ...

Tyler Cowen’s Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World

Trade and commerce carry a crucial role in creating and changing cultures of races and tribes. In Tyler Cowen’s book entitled ‘Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World’, trade is depicted as a living entity that builds, grows, and transforms, depending on the elements that influence trade. Cultural homogenization and heterogenization have the ability to work together, with some traits or phenotypes of the two cultures becoming more alike, while others become more different over the process. However, Cowen has failed to realize that, given a specific environment, trade does not always lead to wealth or cultural diversity within a certain environment. With trade and commerce influencing the formation, transformation, and reformation of cultural diversity, there are significant roles that the individuals living in the society must carry. Tyler Cowen’s Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World: On the Issue of Choice and Positive Liberty in the Cultural Marketing Industry Trade is one of the oldest trends, which has continued to change the world and the course of human history. It changed culture, language, the state of art and heritage, and thanks to trade, the alphabet of the Phoenicians and the numerals of the Arabs were both preserved even to this very day. Businesses and immigrants carry a crucial role in creating and changing cultures of races and tribes. Reflecting the Darwinian Theory, which says that individuals or groups of individuals compete so as â€Å"to achieve their goals of fitness and reproduction† (Saint-Paul, 2002, p. ), internationalization is being born. This pertains to â€Å"the geographic spread of economic activities across national boundaries† (Gereffi & Memedovic, 2003, p. 2). The world economy started to form and be active; with trade and business spreading across boundaries†¦ forming cultures that affect the way people live. In Tyler Cowen’s book entitled ‘Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World’, it is stated that â€Å"Trade†¦ shapes our sense of cultural self† (Cowen, 2002, p. ). This book proves how trade invasion both creates and destroys culture—that while one culture is being destroyed, another is being created. Trade here is being depicted as a living entity that builds, grows, and transforms, depending on the elements that influence trade itself. Globalization is a creative destruction because it multiplies diversity within a specific individual or race, as it decreases diversity outside the specific individual or race. This paper revolves around Cowen’s book and his manifestation that creative products—those that pertain to music, literature, cinema, cuisine, or the visual arts—are at allies with trade and commerce. Nevertheless, we shall prove how Cowen (2002) failed to realize that, given a specific environment of a town or country, trade do not always lead to wealth and diversity within a certain environment. Groups and individuals carry the most significant roles on whether trade would transform them†¦ or if they would transform trade. Main Body The version of Cowen According to Cowen (2002), â€Å"To varying degrees, Western cultures draw their philosophical heritage from the Greeks, their religions from the Middle East, their scientific base from the Chinese and Islamic worlds, and their core populations and languages from Europe† (p. 6). He says that internationalization intensified starting in the 19th century, when the means of travel developed with the inventing of cars, railroads, and steamships, while promoting cultural diversity and creativity (p. 6). In contrast, the era of cultural decline during the Dark Ages (422 A. D. – 1100 A. D. ) also reflected â€Å"a radical shrinking of trade frontiers† (p. 6). Through literature, music, art and cinema, and even sports, the tide of cross-cultural exchange of trade has influenced the exchange of creative production as well. However, as Cowen (2002) stated, â€Å"Just as trade typically makes countries richer in material terms, it tends to make them culturally richer as well† (p. 13). Cross-cultural trade and exchange have made way for greater opportunities in wealth, technology, and what he called as ‘cultural blossomings’ (p. 3). As diversity across societies forms or transforms (with the help of trade), diversity inside and outside the society moves in opposite directions: When one society trades a new artwork to another society, diversity within society goes up, but diversity across the two societies goes down. The question is not about more less diversity per se, but rather what kind of diversity globalization will bring. Cross-cultural exchange tends to favor diversity within society, but to disfavor diversity across societies. (p. 15) In the broader prospect of the topic of globalization, Cowen’s version fit within the paradigm that says that, diversity over time is greatly influenced by trade and commerce between societies. Being the best manifestations of culture, creative products influence internationalization that, sequentially, influences the formation of these creative products. The paradigm of Cowen Cowen’s paradigm in his book ‘Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World’ creates the thought that cultural diversity is being formed, transformed, or reformed out of a society’s trade and commerce industry. Through cross-cultural trade, there is an exchange of creative production through the intention of gaining wealth, technology, knowledge, and what Cowen (2002) defined as ‘cultural blossomings’. This, however, is just another way of reusing or reinterpreting Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which states that â€Å"the proportion of organisms in a species with characteristics that are adaptive to a given environment increases with each generation† (American Heritage Science Dictionary, 2002). It is like saying that, in a world where cross-cultural interaction takes place frequently—especially under internationalization—the favorable characteristics of a cultural society are transmitted for adaptation to another trading society; while the unfavorable ones of that cultural society tend to diminish against adaptation within the spectrum of the two societies. What Darwin calls the ‘phenotype’ (i. e. observable characteristics of organisms) reaches the cultural society though trade and commerce, and according to Cowen (2002), this is being transmitted in the form of creative production by means of music, literature, cinema, cuisine, or visual arts. Not only wealth and goods are shared but also the ideas, the art forms, and the basic culture that is most prevalent within the society. As they reach places that are beyond the border of that society, people tend to choose and adapt the favorable phenotypes, rather than the unfavorable ones. It is like saying that cultural human evolution revolves around the sharing and reproduction of creative, cultural phenotypes; and those that are being categorized as ‘favorable’ increase in frequency and power, as when compared over to the ‘unfavorable’ ones. As a result, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Mickey Mouse became as global as the number of countries that the government of the United States has reached and occupied. International capitalism serves as both the cause and effect of cultural diversity. The gap filled by Cowen â€Å"The question is not about more less diversity per se, but rather what kind of diversity globalization will bring. –Cowen, 2002, p. 15 Trade and commerce influence the formation, transformation, and reformation of cultural diversity. Reinterpreting diversity-over-time as a value, Cowen (2002) has come up with the term operative diversity or â€Å"how effectively we can enjoy the diversity of the world† (p. 16 ). Stating how the world was much diverse during the 15th century than how it is today, he reinterpreted human evolution by stating the following lines: â€Å"Markets have subsequently disseminated the diverse products of the world very effectively, even when those same cross-cultural contacts have damaged indigenous creative environments† (Cowen, 2002, p. 6). Cultural homogenization and heterogenization, according to Cowen (2002), have the tendency to go together, with some phenotypes of the two cultures becoming more alike, while others becoming more different over the process. This is the gap filled up by Cowen (2002) when he wrote ‘Creative Destruction’. Although there is some truth over the natural selection theory, it does not clearly state how the organisms (or societies) react to one another, especially regarding culture. It just summarizes that the strong, favorable phenotypes survive, while the weak and unfavorable ones tend to diminish. Unlike the theory of the natural selection, which interprets adaptations and human evolution by defining traits (e. g. , cultural, environmental) as strong or weak, or as favorable or unfavorable, Cowen’s theory clearly points out that, in a certain cultural environment, there is a specific kind or manner of diversity, which sprouts out of the interaction. Cultural diversity does not just strengthen or weaken, they do not just live or die, but have the tendency to form, transform, or be reformed through homogenization and heterogenization of traits and cultures. It is not merely ‘destruction’ but a creative destruction because of the many ways that may bud or develop out of a specific cultural interaction. The gap left by Cowen Cowen’s book states that, as trade and commerce intensify, internationalization and globalization also intensify†¦ and, with this, the promotion of cultural diversity and creativity. Cultural decline happens with the weakening of trade and commerce, and this brings lesser diversity to culture and creative production. Trade and commerce should bring more wealth, technology, and cultural blossomings, in the same way that all these bring more numbers to trade and commerce. It is a two-way process that is resilient and ongoing†¦ changing culture and diversity inside and outside the society. However, it would be utterly wrong to explain cultural evolution in such a plain, simple picture between trade and culture inside and outside the society. Given a specific environment, Cowen (2002) has failed to recognize that trade does not always lead to the intensification of internationalization or globalization. It does not always bring more wealth, or technology, or cultural blossomings; and a fall in trade does not always mean a fall in terms of diversity. One good proof is the Asian crisis that transpired in the year 1997. In a changing era of globalization, East Asia received much criticism when what was called the ‘engine of the world’ financially collapsed because of some unregulated flows of the global capital. In the same way that Mexico experienced financial collapse in 1994, East Asia’s version was much worse, since it reached many countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea. This is an economic collapse, and the crisis was brought about through the globalization of the financial markets, where local banks and finance companies subjected more on foreign loans that, by 1996, were much loaded with non-performing loans. This gives the conclusion that, despite successful trade and commerce industry, an exchange of goods does not always lead to the intensification of internationalization or globalization. It does not always bring more wealth, and although it can intensify technology, diversity, and cultural blossomings, it can degrade wealth at the same time. The lens used by Cowen Cowen’s paradigm sets the thought that cultural diversity is being formed, transformed, and reformed out of a society’s trade and commerce industry. His lens is better than that used by the Darwinians, which is a way of saying that the strong and favorable characteristics of a cultural society are transmitted for adaptation to another trading society; while the weak and unfavorable characteristics of that cultural society tend to diminish against adaptation within the spectrum of the other society. Cowen’s lens appear to be more concrete and detailed—like a microscopic device that takes into account how individuals react, what are the changes, or which characteristics are maintained. More flexibly, he takes into account the true complexity of the environment—with individuals or societies that have the ability to choose which ones are to be accepted or left behind. It shapes the cultural self by making a decision on which kind of diversity globalization should be allowed to bring. Thus, cultural diversity do not just strengthen or weaken but forms, transforms, and reforms itself. Homogenization and heterogenization can blend together, and the type of diversity that springs forth out of the interaction is influenced by the members of the trading societies. Cowen’s lens are, in a way, similar to the lens used by Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick, when he stated in his book entitled Anarchy, State, and Utopia that the â€Å"market society offered a cultural utopia based on freedom of choice† (Cowen, 2002, p. 2). He portrayed in his paper about a ‘libertarian’ world, where individuals have the freedom to choose their own lifestyles, mores, and their culture (p. 2). Cowen has criticized this, as he raised the question on â€Å"how much choice actually is available in the market† (p. 2). True, there are not many choices left for a society that has done almost everything in coming up with the best type of environment (not precisely cultural environment) that would be best for the society. Yet for those that have much more left to do, there are a thousand choices that can be used in improving the state of their environment. The market, still, has its own liberty. Conclusion â€Å"[T]he market does in fact expand our positive liberties and increase the menu of choice. If not, the freedom to engage in marketplace exchange will stand in conflict with other notions of freedom†¦ More generally, the question at stake is what kinds of freedom are possible in the modern world. † –Cowen, 2002, p. 4 The lens used by Cowen (2002) is far better than that used by the Darwinians. Despite the fact that Cowen (2002) supports the Darwinian Theory that everything utterly revolves around ‘natural selection’ in the society, he supports the idea that there are meaningful ways on how trading societies influence one another’s culture and traits. His views, however, has failed to acknowledge the following statements: first, that trade and commerce do not always lead to wealth, technology, or cultural blossomings; second, that trade and commerce do not always lead to an intensified state of internationalization; third, that trade and commerce do not always lead to an intensified state of globalization; fourth, that a failing finance, due to failure in trade and commerce, does not precisely mean failure in terms of diversity or creative production; fifth and final, that liberty is exceedingly available, especially to societies that have much more to improve. Cowen’s lens is more focused on the surrounding environment of the West. Despite being more concrete and detailed, it has failed to take into account the meaningful ways that people can approach the state of liberty, which people can have, especially concerning trade, commerce, and even culture. Cowen’s book has given enough evidence to prove that trade and culture undergoes a two-way process that is resilient and ongoing, as it changes the environment inside and outside the society. It is not a simple interaction, however, and we can say that failure in terms of trade and commerce could be the effect of a failure in terms of wise and proper execution of choice and liberty. As citizens carry the most significant roles in a society, the choice on whether culture will be formed, transformed, or reformed lies on their bare hands.