Marketing Plan of Nike Essay

The world has a long, rich history of international trade among nations. Most international trade dates from the prevailing age of mercantilism. However, objecting mercantilism is the common idea of trade philosophies proposed by Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Both of them advocated free international trade. The rule of the zero-of-sum game was the core of mercantilism. One country increased the wealth must cause another one decreased from trade. Only one could be beneficial. They thought exports could bring inflows of wealth from and imports could lead outflows of wealth to other countries. It was this thought that each country encouraged exports and restricted imports. 1? The Classical Trade Theory (1) Theory of Adam Smith: Absolute Advantage Adam Smith set himself against the mercantilism. He advocated free trade and proposed the absolute advantage theory. In his theory, each country had its own advantage for producing goods which other country did not possess. It was this that stimulated countries to participate in the international trade by exerting the absolute advantage to obtain more benefits. Adam Smith made two assumptions: First, trade only existed between two countries. Second, each country produced only two products, one product must have absolute advantage, and the other product must have absolute disadvantage. Therefore, each country should concentrate on producing the product with absolute advantage, and then trade the absolute disadvantage product to the other country with the absolute advantage product. After trading, the disengaged, surplus resources and products of each country could be used completely reasonable. Thus, both countries can be beneficial from the trade, not just one. This pulled down the rule of zero-of-sum game and created the rule of n-of-sum game. Adam Smith’s absolute advantage theory successfully promoted the international trade. However, this theory did not deal with the problem that for both two products, one country had absolute advantages and the other country had absolute disadvantages. (2) Theory of David Ricardo: Comparative Advantage Fortunately, another famous economist David Ricardo succeeded and developed Adam Smith’s theory. Just like Adam Smith, David Ricardo also was an opponent of protectionism for national economies. He created his comparative advantage theory. The theory dealt with the problem that could not be dealt using Adam Smith’s theory. The economic motives and causes international trade. According to Ricardo’s theory, even if a country has no absolute advantage in any product, the disadvantaged country can still be beneficial from specializing in and exporting the product for which it has the lowest opportunity cost of production. Though the two theories were proposed hundreds of years, they still play important influences on international trade. Each trading country can improve productivity and the world economic is promoted. The two theories will contribute to world prosperity in the future. 2? The Modern Trade Theory Comparative advantage based on opportunity cost forms the basis of modern trade theory. The theory shows that after comparing, when the country decides to produce its advantage product, it needs to give up the other product that can come forth during the period. The benefit form the product it gives up is its opportunity cost. Here I take a simple example to illustrate this theory. The land for planting rice or cotton, the output of rice is 500 kilogram or 100 kilogram of cotton. If we choose to plant rice, the 100 kilogram of cotton we give up is our opportunity cost. Today, the practice of trade among nations is growing by leaps and bounds. There is hardly a person on earth who has not been influenced in some way by the growing trade among nations. The theories stimulate trade between developed and developing countries that avoid the autarky. International trade increases trading countries’ wealth and world output. That is because with trade, the resources are allocated rationally, job opportunity increase, products quality and variety increase and so on.

Analysis of Anselm’s Ontological Argument Essay

This premise does not state that God’s strengths as this argument is to prove his existence, not whether or not God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good. The second premise means this greatest possible being is either an imaginary being that one has thought of or, a being that we not only is not only thought of but also exists. The third premise and its sub premises states because existing in reality is greater than existing in thought, then the God we have thought of exists in reality or there must be a greater, or more perfect, being that does exist and that being is God. This leads to the conclusion, if you accept the premises then you accept the existence of the greatest being possible, God. This concept of God’s existence is also led with the idea that God is a necessary being, a being that is not dependent of something greater in order to exist. If God relied on another being, like how a children rely on parents to conceive them, then this being called God is not God because it would be imperfect. Therefore, there must be another to call God that meets all the requirements for perfection. One of the first popular objections was created by Gaunilo of Marmoutiers. The premise and conclusion to Gaunilo’s argument is identical to Anselm’s argument except with the replacement of the word â€Å"God† with â€Å"the Lost island† and the word â€Å"being† with â€Å"island†. As simple as that, though Gaunilo’s argument is completely absurd, Gaunilo’s reductio ad absurdum also proves to be as deductively valid as Anselm’s argument. However, this â€Å"Lost Island† could in no way exist. The absurdity and validity of â€Å"the lost island† quickly brought up questions as to how Anselm’s Argument cannot be absurd. Anselm’s argument was not proven invalid until Immanuel Kant, a german philosopher during the 18th century, proposed an objection that would be the decisive blow to the Ontological argument (Immanuel Kant. Wiki). Kant’s objection is how existence is not a predicate (Mike, screen 25). A predicate is used to describe something the subject (this being God in Anselm’s Argument) is doing. In Aselm’s Argument, Anselm premise rely on that being conceived and existing in reality is something that describes God. This rationality does not follow because to exist or conceive does not describe the subject, it only tells us whether it exist or not. Much like how fictional characters do not exist, describing cartoon for example would tell us details of what this cartoon looks like, what its habits are and common antics it goes through, but not whether it exists or not. The question of existence must fall in a separate argument that does not define the character. As there are Arguments to prove God, there are debatable arguments to disprove the God. The First version of â€Å"The Argument from Evil† goes as follow: 1. If God were to exist, then that being would be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. 2. If an all-PKG existed, then there would be no evil. . There is evil. [Conclusion] Hence, there is no God (Sober, 109) The first premise is the definition of what God would be if he were to exist. That is a being that has the power to do anything, had knowledge of everything throughout the span of time and is in all ways good. The second premise is created with the first premise in mind. To expand on the second premise i t states, if God were all-powerful he could stop any form of evil from happening, if he is all knowing then he has knowledge of when evil will occur and if he is all-good then God would stop all evil from happening. If god cannot stop all evil from happening then the definition of God must be incorrect. He then must not be powerful enough to stop all evil, and/or he doesn’t know when evil until it has already occurred and/or good is not all good in that God does not wish to stop all evils. The third premise is stating the fact that there is evil in the world. The conclusion derived since that there is evil, then is what may be defined as God must be lacking in one or two of his qualities and therefore God, by definition, does not exist at all. In order for God to be compatible with evil, God must only allow the evils that would, in turn, lead to a greater amount of good and must take the route that leads to the least amount of evil to gain the greatest amount of good. The soul building defense was created in mind that evil and God co-exist in our world. The defense is that without any evil in the world, our souls would not nurture, or, understand the concept of evil. This defense does not hold true because there has been many evils in the world that seem unacceptable, even though it may have been for the purpose of soul building. God, and all-good being, would then only allow the evils that are essential in soul-building. This would only mean that evil that man commits against man. The reason for this is because anything that happens in nature exceeds soul-building essentials. Another defense is God having given us free will, humans ultimately are the causes of this evil. That is true but the common objection to this is that human do more than enough evil to ourselves, it is going too far to have God throw tornados, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes at us too. At what point do human have such control over nature. The last defense is that God simply works in mysterious ways. Who can explain why natural events take so many lives and injure many others or why some children have to go through great deals of suffering and live through it? It is God’s way and ultimately, no matter how incomprehensible the evil is, it is for the greater good. Certainly the question to God’s existence has been pondered upon by philosophers for over a very long period of time with no progress as whether God exists or not. The ontological argument created by Anselm withstood a great deal of criticism until it was disproved by Kant over 600 years after the fact.

Causes and implications of child marriage in slums in Karachi Pakistan

Causes and implications of child marriage in slums in Karachi Pakistan This chapter includes basic background knowledge of research explaining the key elements of information which is the foundation for the study. The inclusion of reasons for conducting this research are discussed and a methodology write up as an introductory part of study is included and also incorporates a brief summary of limitations that came across in this research and a list of definitions for key word also included. Marriage refers as a â€Å"Mithaq† means a solemn covenant between a wife and a husband and this agreement would be in writing. In Islam and the Quran marriage is a contract. Since an agreement can only be reach in between two parties if they give free consent and such statement make clear that such a contract cannot be relate to children. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that both these individuals must take this decision with a consent at legitimate age. Marriage is a pleasurable bond, a promise to live, matrimony of love and respect in between two souls. The aim of living a satisfying life gets ruined and however the way life thought to live doesn’t exist now and this all becomes reality when a child both a girl and boy forcibly subjected to do early marriage as UNICEF defined early marriage as Child Marriage if a marriage is practicing before the age of 18. UNICEF define early marriage that occur before the age of 18 years or Early marriages are defined as marriages under the age of eighteen. In a condition that an individual to be able to make own self think includes abstract thought process, take decisions and to let live life by taking responsibilities, individual should require to have certain level of mental and spiritual maturity which is physiologically equal to period which will continues till the age of eighteen. Marriage is encountered as a moment of celebration or a milestone in individual’s life but early marriages give no such reason for celebration and, a term child marriage is used to define as marriage or union that take place before 18 years of age, endangers the life trajectories of young girls in many ways, United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that up to 3% of girls before the age of 15 get married in Pakistan and 21% are married before turn to 18. These are the current statistics of the Pakistan Demographics and Health Survey done in 2012-1013. Child Marriage are forced marriage as one or both the partners without giving consent or marry without giving right to refuse.1956 Supplementary Slavery Convention called Child Marriage as Child slavery. Supplementary Slavery Convention recognize the following actions relating to females in context to marriage related to slavery and all have been reported in Child Marriage. The decision taking to promise or giving a female without giving her an authority to say no by her spouse or parents or in consideration with some financial incentives or in case of widow inheritance or associated that female with some values. The Law of child protection (3rd July 2005) said that, a child is a person who didn’t turn eighteen or even if he/she reached stage. UNICEF reported that woman aged 20 to 24 who were married before they were 18 year. A boy and a girl both victimized but girls get affected most as it takes away their emotional, physical and mental wellbeing and limits their childhood a nd decision making ability and mobility.  · Child Marriages is a serious violation of young girls human rights deeply rooted in Pakistani culture, customs and traditional practices.  · In Spite of being illegal by international law, this practice continues and strongly entrenched in sociocultural norms and continue to rob young girl’s childhood. Millions of girls depriving from their basic rights to health, to educate and to empower. Child Marriages denies young girl’s rights to make decisions for their health and wellbeing.  · A framework is needed that would facilitate better to advocates and understand policies and laws that perpetuate Child Marriages.  · In Pakistan Child Marriages incident rates are unknown because of the complexity of this issues and it may often shrouded at provincial level in a wall of silence.  · Child Marriage is a global issue that occur across countries, religions, ethnicities and cultures. Young girls victimized in every region throughout the world.  · If Child Marriages not reduced, around the world, cruel number of women who married as child will increase by 1.2 billion by 2050.In developing countries one in three girls get to married before the age of 18.today more than 700 million women were married as Child. The main objective for doing this research was to explore the immense long existed rationales of Child Marriage practicing in Pakistan. It analyze various religious, social, cultural, traditional, behavioral, economic and political aspects.  · To determine the prevalence and embedded trends of Child Marriage.  · To determine the causes exhibiting Child Marriage.  · To determine and comment on the implication and consequences related to Child Marriages. Very little research has been done on Child marriage prevailing causes and implication in Pakistan. This lack of research creating a knowledge gap that directly affects the work of governmental authorities and policy makers. With this present analysis will enable experts to necessitate to have more understanding of Child Marriage drivers across the globe. In December 2013 World Health Organization arranged meeting of group of experts in alliance with Girls not Bride and UNICEF to identify areas for research and addresses knowledge gap areas. Participants discussed them in relation to following areas  · Inter and intra country dissimilarity in child marriage trends and prevalence: It’s a globalize issue with varying rates within and among different countries. Researchers reported to explore specific segmented analysis in order to address diversity relating to Ethnicity, Geography, socio-economic and educational aspects  · Child Marriage consequences: As it is associated with early pregnancies (births to adolescent’s incidence are around 90% globally in context to child marriage) and child marriage evidence based impact on neonatal, child health and reproductive is expanding. Low level of understanding raising the consequences of domestic violence and mental health issues contributing developmental, gender and social equity outcomes  · Ways to Prevent Child Marriage in Effective Way: In 2011 ICRW done with systematic review of intervention give evidences that how this dilemma should we deal with but limited evaluations found with small number of countries but experts need to have some more attention to rethink how to react to many different drivers of this offensive act and scale more effective program to deal with There is no rigorous data available in Pakistan to make an estimate on number of child marriages as very few cases reported to police and governmental authorities does not menace this actTo identify the gaps associated with Child Marriages incidences and to propose a framework what we should need to do to fill this gap is required.To highlight the contributing factors related to government, society, culture, socioeconomic status and education and propose a framework as an action plan to overcome with it, so that government and regulatory bodies reframe laws and make policies that will help to restru ctured this problem. The research will be done in slums of Karachi, Pakistan. Definitions of key words using in this research are as follows, Poverty: It depends on your access to social services and on income level. In 1995 United Nation World Summit For Social Development define poverty is a state designated by rigorous deprivation of an individual basic human needs such as Health, education, food, shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities. The World Bank describe an individual living on less than with US$ 1.90 per day and defines moderate poverty with less than US$ 3.10 per day. Child Marriages: In 2009 UNICEF define early marriage that occur before the age of 18 years It can be defined as a future action or reasoning evolved with Child Marriages while making any logical judgment that can be the basis for circumstantial evidence. Social Class: Homogenous group of individuals living in a society practicing common social values having similar life interest with enjoying equal position of respect in a society which is being constructed on conceptual structures education, occupation, income and place of residence. Social class can be categorized in Pakistan as Upper Class, Middle Class and Lower Class based on income levels. For income level of Rs 4,000 and less than 25,000were categorized as lower class.For income level of Rs 25,000 to 65,000 less per month were categorized as middle class. For income level of Rs 65,000 to 250,000 per month were categorized as Upper class. Family Honor: The stigma and family distress attached with parents and spouse to premarital sex and child bearing before marriage Social pressure: Define as if a girls left unmarried by the age 15 villagers, neighbors and family naive start making doubt her chastity and health well-being. Haq Mehr: It is defined as the amount of money which the wife is entitled for by her husband in Islam.

Summar of the Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summar of the - Essay Example Bi-directional case studies were conducted to assess the impact at back end and at the clients end. This paper does not limit its research to one area, rather it is based on the study of the content assessment, the technology incorporated and the algorithm used towards the data collection techniques. The categorized usage of blogs has seen implementation from the main leads of the industry. One similar example of its categorized usage came about from Microsoft when they implemented MSDN. The core function of this blog was to provide the technical platform of the users and the players associated. This was one of the broad line major approaches undertaken in recent years towards overall expansion of the blogging field. Apart from this other major efforts and seminars conducted towards further expansion of this field came about in 2008, 2009 in the form of TREC conference. The purpose of this entire activity is to bring uniformity and more effective outlook to the usage of blogs. The broad sectoring would allow for a more active and interactive outlook of the blogging entity making it useful towards different clients. Organizing the blogs can help the companies in many ways. This in turn would allow the companies working according to the needs of the clients. Through the desired segmentation and organization of the data and information of the blog websites that are spread all over, the companies and their targeting approach will allow for promoting their ideas at the right place. In other words, it would enable them reaching to the right kind of clients at the right time and in the right manner. This is the core idea proposed by the research paper at hand. Critical decisions can be made with regard to the areas of investment and the areas of clients requirements fulfillment. Undertaking this task would bring along number of

Discuss Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude Research Paper

Discuss Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude - Research Paper Example She does not consider her mother to be weak in the physical state but in the emotional state (In Leavenworth, 1960, 34).   Hamlet developed a different opinion of romance and love after her mother accepted to marry his uncle shortly, â€Å"two months dead† (138). Gertrude makes Hamlet change his earlier belief that those in love need to hang on one another despite the prevailing challenges. He therefore believes that the action of Gertrude was a betrayal not just to his father but to the whole institution of marriage and love in general (Crowl, 2014, 138-139).   She had shown a lot of affection towards his late father which is evident in the statement, "Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on" but she seems to have quickly forgotten that and was now deeply in love with Claudius. He regards her mother’s action as sign of poor judgment and an act of sheer cowardice (Howard, 2007, 67). The fact that she quickly gives in to the advances if Claudius is an indication that she never loved Hamlet’s father after all which angers Hamlet and increase her hatred towards her. Her action seems to confirm his suspicion that Gertrude and Claudius were having an affair before the death of his father and he suspects that they might have contributed to his untimely death. Hamlet makes a comparison of his mother moving from his late father to Claudius as one moving from the loving arms of the gods to the animals, "So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr" (Shakespeare, Act 1, scene 2). He is quick to judge his mother as being very foolish and uncaring. On her part, Gertrude considers her action as being innocent and not based on any form of malice or insincere motive and wonders how she has been misunderstood by her son. The story shows some evidence that Gertrude got into a

5 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

5 questions - Essay Example Additionally, in 1965, Louis Pasteur discovered that silkworm was caused by a protozoan and this added more information on the prior discovery of the 1935. However, there were still limitations as the results were general instead of being particular. Koch’s discovery was so particular in his results that a particular disease is caused by a particular organism. Truly, Koch did not only isolate the causal pathogen, but he also correlated a specific pathogen to a specific disease. Again Koch provided experimental steps and guideline to prove that a bacterium caused anthrax by using a specimen of purified culture of anthrax isolated from dead animals. In the modern era, Koch’s postulates have been used to assert the causation of infectious diseases through pathogenic microorganism culture and with the aid of electronic microscopes. He was awarded a Nobel Peace prize in 1905 for his work on microbiology. 2. In 1884, Hans Christian Gram described a method of staining bacterial cells while not staining surrounding animal tissues; however, he thought the staining method he developed was faulty because not all bacteria stained. In a letter to the editor of the journal in which Gram published his findings, write your response to Grams concern. His discovery was not a faulty one in any way, it just had some limitations. To prove the reality, the stain work in some of the bacteria specimen he used. However, the failure in the other cases opened a new research question, why not in all bacteria? It has been discovered in modern science that there are almost countless bacteria, each possess a different characteristics. Some bacteria secret a chemical substance the reacts with Hans’s stained to blur vision. Now it has been discovered that the chemical mycolic acid. Mycolic acids produced by the bacteria interfere with the dye, deterring the dye to stain. The acid is a species of bacteria

How Technical Communication Textbooks Fail Engineering Students Assignment

How Technical Communication Textbooks Fail Engineering Students - Assignment Example However, the textbooks used by students are not able to address the issue, as engineering students find themselves to remain limited to established formats, which are meant mainly for students going for humanities based courses. The prescribed technical communication textbooks provide the advice to engineering students for such communication details. However, the information and tools mentioned in these textbooks do not match with the standards required in meeting the engineering or scientific knowledge, which these students gain from their professional courses. The areas covered by these textbooks include the use of active and passive voice, which is more oriented towards humanities. The other major concern refers to citation formats, which are not compatible with engineering studies. The books do not have enough instructions for presentation methods regarding data visualization and research papers, on technical matters. There is little evidence in the textbooks that can provide guidance on arguments and evidence presentation, which is the major requirement for all engineering students who want to become successful technical writers. There is enough evidence that passive voice is necessary to report certain technical details. Most technical communication textbooks prescribe MLA, APA and other citation formats, which favors writing on humanities subjects. However, textbook by Beer & McMurray is the only book that discusses the engineering citation style, IEEE. These books must have enough information regarding interpretation of data and making a conclusion about scientific studies. The learning methods explained in these books must aim at presentation of â€Å"bottom line† conclusions, which are properly highlighted and emphasized. This would help busy readers capture the important aspects of the presented data. In addition, the presentation of data in the form of tables and figures must support the bottom line conclusion. The books must have

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Management - Essay Example The basic idea that runs in our mind when we mention personal investment is about the risks and returns, but in reality we ask ourselves are this really the main concerns we ought to look at? In order to understand well this question I undertook a comprehensive look into the factors that affect personal investment in the UK., Personal investment To begin with, we need to understand what personal investment entails. Personal investing is one of the important components that one needs to understand while undertaking personal finance. Personal investment and personal finance are two terms that in many occasions are used interchangeably. However, it is worth noting that as much as one could use them to mean the same thing, in reality they have a slight difference. Personal finance is the broader term that describes the process of effective organization or management of assets that are in the possession of the family or an individual (Tatum, 2006). Therefore, the basic definition for pers onal investment will be a component of personal finance that involves taking investment activities such as undertaking a secure financial cushion that will cater for later years. One can also put it as, a long-term personal commitment that involves inherent risks and accrues regular income or leads to capital growth (Hargreaves Lansdown, 2009). The relationship between risk and return The key question in this symposium is whether personal investment only revolves around risks and returns. From my own opinion, I will agree with the question. The main reason we would be all want to carryout personal investment is for the returns, which determine how our future will turn out (My Wealth Guide, 2008). On the other hand, we cannot talk about returns and leave out risks because the two go hand in hand. Therefore, to be able to answer this question comprehensively we first need to understand what the relationship between risk and returns. This is because, for anyone who wishes to put his mo ney in an investment, the primary concept they need to understand is the relationship between the risks involved and the returns of the investment. It is worth noting that, in investment, the basic trick that an investor has to be aware of is that the more risk an investment has, the higher the chances of having a better return (TD Direct Investing Ltd., 2010). Therefore, before taking the risk one should have an idea of which risks as an individual one would be willing to take in order to generate more returns with the hope that the risk does not occur. This is why in order to formulate a good investment plan; you will need to asses each available risk that you are willing to undertake. There are many risks in the field of investment and when we look at each risk in detail can take a very long time. However, I have compiled a few of the major risks that tend to affect personal investment in the UK that are as following. We have the: Inflationary risk One think we can all agree on i s that the past few years have not been some of the best for UK and the world in terms of the economy. Moreover, this is where the inflationary risk comes in to play. The risk means that the value of an asset becomes lesser as inflation reduces the value of the country’s currency. Liquidity risk It refers to the risk that you as an investor may encounter when you have a need for liquid assets but are unable to sell or buy an investment because of the

Few Major Brands of Kellogg Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Few Major Brands of Kellogg Company - Essay Example The case study is based on the analysis of marketing mix for Kellogg Company. The marketing mix is an essential business tool used by organizations to determine a product or brand offer. It is normally associated with price, product, placement, and promotion of any organization. These elements help marketers to create the market strategies and positioning of the company. The first element, product, helps a company to understand that how their offering meets the changing needs of customers. The price charged by any company is an important element to assess the sales of the products and place denotes the availability of the product. The last element, promotion, is very important to understand various ways of the positioning of the product (Borden, 1964). Marketing mix of Kellogg Company will help them to plan their marketing strategies and resource allocation (Vignali, 2001). Product: The products of Kellogg’s can be classified as convenience products. Convenience products are those which are purchased by consumers without much consideration. Most of them are low priced, easily available and frequently parched products (Vignali, 2001). Developing new product is extremely risky and expensive procedure for any business. To develop a new product, the company needs to assess the rapidly changing market and they need to predict the changing needs of customers (Annacchino, 2003). The Kellogg Company is very successful in developing any new product since its inception. Their first established product in the market was cornflakes and it helped them to attain the highest market share in the cereal market. Consumers generally purchase their product easily as the company holds a reputation for providing good quality products. Their existing products are very popular and generate a huge profit for the company. This financial gain helps them to invest in the de velopment of new products and sell them at low price as the cost is covered by the profit.

The Neoclassical World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Neoclassical World - Essay Example Recorded revolutions in history have strongly exhibited the power of extraordinary artists and how they influenced, promoted, lead and executed the activities of revolution which finally made a common man victorious over ruthless tyrants. One of the beautiful characteristics of history is, as they say that it repeats itself. The proposed methodology seeks to find answers from the past, exploring the reinforcement of revolts during the French revolution, the artistic and political role of the revolutionary French painter Jacques-Louis David. It also struggles to find an inspirational connection between David’s work and the present uprisings in the Arab world which is also known as Arab Spring. What role, media has acquired for the awareness and what it may accomplish by inspiring the masses and promoting the rights of a common man through its various channels and networks around the globe. To fulfill this rigorous task, I have divided this essay in to five sections, while the f irst two discusses about the contribution of David’s art pieces during French revolution; the latter two highlights the significant inspirations derived from his work in the present time and how media can role play David to reinforce or promote Arab Spring. I have also included my observation proceeded by the conclusion on this research. David and the French Revolution Delacroix called him 'The father of the entire modern school in painting and sculpture' (Delacroix, 768) Jacques-Louise was a French artistic leader who rose prominently in the 1780's France .His monumental paintings carried antique themes; they were aesthetic and stylistic forms of French art. He contributed to the French revolution and also served in the National convention as a deputy in the period from 1792 to 1794. He was put in prison after the fall of Robespierre in 1794. His works and paintings depicts the psychological expressions of an Individual’s character through his most famous work â€Å" Oath of the Tennis† and â€Å"Coronation† in which he painted group of people standing and witnessing the significant incidents in history (Dorothy 35). He also used to deliver speeches on issues that concerned him from art to politics to reinforcement and these were also published (Dorothy 42). Stefan Johnson, in his book analyzes David's Tennis Court Oath as being a revolutionary event both dignified and rebellious. It features a man in the centre slightly above the others, reading out an oath while people surrounding him are to repeat the oat after him. The ceremonial oath was done on June 20, 1789 in the tennis court right outside the royal palace in Versailles and just after three weeks the France witnessed the beginning of its revolution (Stefan 5). All the educated and intellectual class in that era was afraid of revolution. While expressing such fear they used to repeat these words mob, crowd, and the mass. At that point of time, the mass was often recognized as a band of fools (Stefan 8). 21st Century and the Arab Spring Arab spring is a term given to the revolutionary storm in the Middle Eastern countries; these disturbances started in December 2010 and are still going on. Countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen forcefully evicted their respective rulers from powerful positions. Countries like Bahrain, Syria are also on the threshold of uprising. Mass Protests against the

Iran-Contra affair Essay Example for Free

Iran-Contra affair Essay The United States became a child of the enlightenment with the birth of its diplomacy in the modern world with an exceptionalist self perception. Its diplomacy was reinforced with a moral force owing to its messianic tendencies during its initial visions. The goals of the nation were unambiguously articulated in the early works of the States and the Republic. These writings formed the foundation of United States identity, making it stands out among the other nations of the world. By the principles upon which the nation was founded, high levels of integrity were to be observed among its citizens and officials. As such, transparency and accountability were meant to be the guiding principles of all public office holders. The role of the leaders was to act in the interest of the subjects and the interest of the nation. According to Ryan, the fundamental to democratic theory is the idea that the legitimacy of a government is founded on the consent of the governed. Practically, this was not extended to all the governed, but to the citizens, to those who had stakes in society. Even then, issues concerning policy must be agreed upon by the citizens through their representatives. The strength of the basic principles upon which the United States were founded has been tested ever since the birth of the nation. There have been significant constructions that have remained potent forces throughout the United States policy making in the twentieth century. The development of collective memories and ideological assumptions that form the reference points in United States diplomacy is among these forces. Again, the basis of a sphere of influence approach to policy making and the way in which the various universal ambitions are influenced by practical necessity or the incapability to further the sphere unchallenged also remained a potent force in United States policy making. It therefore comes as a surprise that the very principles that form the basis of the American strength are blatantly abused by the very individuals and officials meant to protect them. The Iran-Contra Affair is an example of this gross violation of the American principles. Background The relationship between the United States and Iran has not been good since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. As such, the relations have been anything but poor. It therefore comes as a surprise if claims begin to circulate to the effect that the two countries are having some form of arms deal. A Lebanese weekly, on November 3, 1986, reported that the United States had made a secret arms sale to Iran. Reports that followed suggested that the aim of the sales was to secure the release of American citizens that had been taken captive in Lebanon. The reports were difficult to believe as the Reagan administrations policy on arms sale especially to the Government of Khomeini of Iran was only rivaled by a few on strictness. Initially, the United States government denied the reports. However, the truth of the claims was revealed later in the month just as had been stated by the weekly. The United States had indeed sold weapons to Iran so as to secure the release of American hostages in Lebanon. As much as the weapons were sold to Iran, the number of American hostages in Lebanon remained the same. Three hostages were released and three more were taken captive during the period of the sales. The fact of the sale was proved even further when the Attorney General announced on November 25 that the proceeds from the Iran arms sale will be channeled to the Nicaraguan resistance. This happed at a time when the United States military aid to the Contras was prohibited. Iran and Nicaragua were thus brought together in a credibility crisis that posed serious questions about the adherence of Reagans administration to the constitutional process of the government. During the 1980s, Iran and Nicaragua had posed serious challenges to the United States foreign policy. The propriety and legality of the actions taken by the staff of the National Security Council and other government officers with regard to the sale of the arms and the secret assistance to the Contras raised deep concerns among the members of the Public and Congress. The United States assistance to the Contras was not a new issue as the Congress and the President had engaged in serious debate concerning the proper course of United States policy with Congress resolving to bar support of Contra military operation for almost two years. Senior government officials had also reiterated the administrations willingness to abide by the law. The United States foreign policy and the democratic rule of law came to be faced by such serious implications by the Iran-Contra Affair that the 100th Congress rooted to undertake its own investigation of the Affair. Origin The Iran-Contra Affair can be traced in two unrelated revolutions in Iran and Nicaragua. In 1979, the government of General Debayle in Nicaragua was overthrown and replaced by a government controlled by Sandinista leftists. During the same year in Iran, the pro-Western government of Pahlavi was overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists let by Ayatollah Khomeini. The Khomeini government allegedly became a supporter of terrorism against the citizens of United States. Following the revolution in Nicaragua, the United States policy towards the Sandinista government was such as to encourage it to keep its pledges of pluralism and democracy. However, this government became increasingly autocratic and anti-American. Nicaraguan government begun aiding a leftist insurgency in El Salvador, turned toward the communist countries of Cuba and Soviet Union for political, military and economic assistance. The United States, by December 1981, had started to support the Nicaraguan Contras. The CIA was the United states government agency that assisted the Contras, arming, feeding and clothing them in accordance with presidential decisions and funds appropriated by Congress. However, the contras failed to win widespread support or military victories despite this support. As much as the United States president continued to favor support of Contras, the majority of the public were opposed to it. Those who did not support Contras feared that the involvement of the United States with the Contras might lead it to a similar situation experienced in Vietnam. Its supporters on the other hand feared that the Soviets would have a dangerous hold in Central America without United states involvement. In 1983, Congress prohibited aid to contra for the purpose of overthrowing the Sandinista government. In 1984, it further limited aid to the Contras. The Congress later cut off all funds to the Contras following a disclosure that the CIA was involved in mining of the Nicaragua harbor without notifying Congress. The president however still felt strongly for the Contras and was therefore focused on keeping them alive . With this regard, he ordered his staff to device a way of keeping the Contras together which led to the NSC becoming operational entity that saw the secret running of the contra assistance effort, and later the Iran initiative. Having been denied funding from by the Congress, the president turned to private sources and third world countries. The president, together with the NSC secretly raised money from other countries to support the Contras. The Flaws Iran-Contra has two illusions at its heart. The first was that Iran would be easy to handle; and the second was that the Nicaraguan contras would save the United States from Communism. Both the illusions were destroyed in ways that showed how fragile the policies were and this occurred within a month of each other. At the beginning of the October 1986, a supply aircraft carrying weapons to the contras was shot down by the Sandinistas. On November 3, a Lebanese weekly magazine carried the story of United States dealings with Iran. With this revelation, it did not appear ordinary that the United States government was involved in either operation. However, the truth of the matter was that the United States was directly involved in both the events. It cannot be denied that the common characteristic of the Iran and Contra policies were deception, secrecy and contempt of the law. There existed a small clique of senior officials who believed that they were the only individuals who knew what was right. They conceived knowledge of their actions by other individuals in the government as a threat to their objectives. The American people, the Congress and the Secretary of State were not enlightened on the actions of these people. The official documents were destroyed when there was a threat to expose their plans. Cabinet officials, elected representatives in congress and the public were told lies. Key facts were also hidden to the president. The United States constitution is particular on the process by which laws and policy are to be made and executed. The essence of the American democracy is the constitutional process, which is also the foundation of its strength. Experience and common sense have shown that flawed process leads to bad results. The departure of Reagans administration from democratic process established the conditions for policy failure which resulted in contradictions that undermined United States credibility. United States went after two contradictory foreign policies simultaneously, a public and a secret one. The public policy was opposed to making any concessions for the release of hostages for fear of such concessions encouraging more hostage taking. At the same time, the United states was secretly trading weapons to secure the release of the hostages. The public policy was meant to ban the shipment of arms to Iran and to exhort other governments to observe this embargo. At the same time, the United States was secretly selling sophisticated missiles to Iran. The public policy was also meant to improve relations with Iraq. The United States was on the other hand shared intelligence on Iraq with Iran secretly. The public policy was also to encourage all governments to punish terrorism and to support the refusal of Kuwait to set free the Dawa prisoners convicted of terrorist acts. Senior officials at the same time secretly endorsed a Second-Hakim plan to allow Iran to secure the release of the prisoners. The letter and spirit of the Boland Amendment that barred military and paramilitary assistance to the contras was to be observed by the public policy. The NSC staff was secretly directed and funded the military efforts of contra. The administration was also meant to consult with the Congressional oversight committee with regard to covert activities in a â€Å"a new spirit of frankness and cooperation† . The CIA and the White House were on the other hand secretly withheld all information about the Iran initiative and contra support network from the committees. Covert operations were to be conducted mainly through the CIA or other organs of the intelligence community authorized by the president. However, even though the NSC was not authorized, its staff secretly became operational and employed private, non-accountable agents to account in covert activities. All these contradictions in policy resulted in policy failure. Iran was armed by the United States, together with its most radical elements. However, the United States neither attained a new relationship with Iran nor reduced the number of American hostages in Lebanon. The sale of the arms did not result in the moderation of Iranian policies. Iran up to the present moment still sponsors actions that are directed against the United States in the Persian Gulf. The United states made itself vulnerable to blackmail by adversaries who were likely to reveal the secret arms sale. The credibility of the United States with allies and friends was undermined by its position of opposing arms sale to Iran while doing the same herself in secret. An illicit funding was sought by the United States for the contras through profits from secret arms sale with the considerable amount ending up in the personal bank accounts of the private individuals who executed the sales. The Iran-Contra Affair also indicates a serious flaw in policymaking process. The highest level of the United States government was marked by confusion and disarray. Under total misapprehension, McFarlane set on a dangerous trip to Tehran . He assumed that the Iranians had promised to secure the release of the American hostages before the delivery of arms while on the contrary, they had only promised to seek the release of the hostages after the arms had arrived. Initially, the president told the Tower Board that he had approved the first Israeli shipments. He then denied then finally said that he did not know whether he had approved the arms shipment as his top advisors were not in agreement on the issue. He also claimed that he did not recall signing a Finding approving the shipment to Iran. However, Poindexters testimony was on the contrary. The American public was incorrectly assured by the president that the NSC staff was adhering to the law and that there was no connection between the government of the United States and the Hasenfus airplane. His staff was on the other hand conducting a covert operation to support the Contras. Another striking feature of the Iran-Contra Affair was that it was marked by pervasive dishonesty and excessive secrecy. The Congress and the American people were constantly and repeatedly told lies about the contra covert action and Iran arms sales. North admitted to altering and destroying official documents. Conclusion Any public official must work on behalf of the state and thus, any action must be directed towards furthering the ideals of the state. As such, the public must be informed of the whatever is going on. Democracy dictates that the representatives of the people must be involved in the decision making process. The nations foreign policy makers act on behalf of the state. Even then, the citizens must be made known the implications and goals of certain actions that are being taken by the state. The Iran-Contra affair, in the contrary, operated against this principle. The affair would have fallen under the broad foreign policy, which was however not the case as it was carried out in secret. As much as policy makers have an interest in maintaining and advancing their domestic political positions, they must also seek to advance the interest of the state internationally. However, the Reagan administration locked policy makers out of the affair which may have led to its failure. The fact is that the administration well knew the consequences of their action and went ahead to carry it out secretly. The administration knew it would lose favor among the citizens if they went ahead and carried out the operations even after Congress was opposed to it. Given the desire for political survival, the administration pretended to be concerned with the domestic impact of the various options that it had. Behind the scenes, it went ahead with its initial plans with no regard for the congress and the public. This in itself was a mockery of democracy.

Education and Louisiana Content Standards Essay Example for Free

Education and Louisiana Content Standards Essay The word comes from the Latin word currere which means the course to be run. It contains the courses of study that a student has to complete successfully to obtain a degree certifying competence. (It is the What and Instruction is the How) In K-12 schools, it also contains the standards and benchmarks for each of the courses of study. Students must successfully complete the benchmarks in order to complete the course. In this new age, those benchmarks are measured by the Louisiana Educational Assessment Plan (LEAP). During the 1920s, the definition of curriculum as school experiences was developed by progressive educators to emphasize the quality of experiences. What children learn in school is wider than what goes on in the classrooms. It includes experiences in hallways, the cafeteria, playground, etc. These experiences cannot be separated from the responsibility of educators. There are five types of curriculum: FORMAL- The formal curriculum is the intended curriculum, explicit, overt, and written. It includes the planned and advertised menu of courses, the content of those courses, the catalog descriptions, and the regular public activities included in those courses. You will find this in the Louisiana Content Standards and Benchmarks and the Grade Level Expectations (GLEs). INFORMAL-The informal curriculum is also intended, but not explicit or written. This includes such things as citizenship, manners, and social skills and is influenced by the teacher and his or her educational philosophy. It is reflected in the classroom and is often found in the rules and procedures that a teacher implements. It is also evident in the methodologies chosen by a teacher. For example, I have a strong belief in learning styles; therefore, in face-to-face classrooms, I include a lot of hands-on activities for students to participate and engage in. Also, I include activities that involve lots of student interaction. The hidden curriculum is the covert, or implicit, implied by the very structure of the school buildings. It is learned by exposure of living in  the environment. It is characterized by the reward systems, physical plan of the school, furniture arrangement, etc. When you look at a school, is there a trophy case for sporting events, but not academics? Are classes dismissed every Friday, 6th or 7th period, for a pep rally? If so, that school would value athletics over academics. As you look at the structure of the school, is there a computer room, or is technology evident in every classroom? Are teachers allowed to attend professional development activities during the school day? All these things will provide information about the hidden curriculum of the school. Hidden curriculum is researched by critical theorists. NULL-The null curriculum is what is left out, not attended to, or taught. What is missing from your school, or even the Louisiana Content Standards and Benchmarks? Does the school embrace diversity, or just say it does? EXTRA-The extra-curriculum includes those activities that are structured by the teachers and administration. If a school has a football team, a basketball team, track team (etc.) but no history club, Spanish club, math club (etc. ), one might infer that athletics are valued more than academics. If the school has a basketball team and track team and also has National Honor Society, Future Farmers of America, (etc. ), one would infer that all learnings are valued. What is the relationship between Formal Curriculum and Hidden Curriculum? What is the relationship between Formal Curriculum and Informal Curriculum? How do all forms of c urriculum relate to each other curriculum?

Explaining Buoyancy And Its Effects Philosophy Essay

Explaining Buoyancy And Its Effects Philosophy Essay Buoyancy is a wonderful law that God has made so that we and things He made could float. Unfortunately buoyancy is more complicated than that. A Greek mathematician named Archimedes stated his principle, any object wholly or partly immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. (Wikipedia, par. 2). Archimedes was a brilliant man, who very much understood buoyancy and how it works. For buoyancy to work an object must be put in a fluid. The weight of the water that the object takes up is pushing up on that object with the equal amount of weight. As you now may notice objects with greater volume have greater buoyancy. For instance, a ten pound brick will sink faster than a twenty by twenty foot sheet of cement. Buoyancy is greatly considered when it comes to boat making. The architect of the boat has to greatly consider buoyancy and how it works. Even back in the Indian times, they understood that in order for their canoes to float , it would have to be hollow. Even though they did not understand buoyancy, they knew that the less weight that you had of an object the better it would float. (valkyreicraft.com). Now we know that different particles in the water, such as salt, help buoyancy out. The salt that we know is in the ocean or a body of water is a process called salinity. Salinity is the saltiness dissolved salt content of a body of water. (Wikipedia, par. 1). If you go snorkeling in Hawaii you will notice that you float better than you do here in California. Thats because there is more salt in Hawaii than here. The salt is taking up part of the volume in the water therefore it puts more pressure on an object taking up volume in the water. As you may see, there are many different properties and objects affecting buoyancy, different minerals in the water and different sizes and weights that affect how an item floats. An object that floats in the water is positively buoyant. An object that doesnt float is negatively buoyant. And an object that floats at the same level in the water is neutrally buoyant. Big ships, especially cruise ships, want to be very much positively buoyant. The more positively buoyant they are, the more they can fit in things on the ship. A ship can be designed to carry a specific weight of cargo. It must adapt to how many people the ship can hold and how much stuff. The law of buoyancy not only determines the draft at which a ship will float, but also the angles that it will assume when in the water. The early stages of building the ship design will struggle to predict the size and weight of the ship. The architect must be experienced in buoyancy and how it works. (britamica, par. 1-3). Although you may think that buoyancy is only used when an object floats, it isnt. Buoyancy is also in the progress when an object sinks. As I said earlier, an object that sinks is negatively buoyant. The downward force is due to gravity. Many objects sink because it weighs more than the amount of fluid displaced. Like a submarine or an anchor, experts find ways to make objects sink better. There are so many different ways in considering buoyancy. When an object is fully submerged in water, the force of buoyancy pushes on all sides of the object. Due to a net force upward, the object will rise to the top depending on if it is positively buoyant. The force on the object also increases as it goes deeper in the water, which is due to higher pressure deeper down. Buoyancy, as we now know, works in three different ways. Buoyancy is acted upon by an object floating. Due to the upward force of an object that displaces an amount of water. Buoyancy is acted upon by the sinking of an object. An object will sink to the bottom because the object weighs more than the weigh of the water that it displaces. Finally buoyancy is acted upon by an object being fully submersed in a fluid. An object fully submersed in a fluid is acted upon by all sides of the object. Buoyancy is acted upon in three different ways. There are three different properties affecting buoyancy. The first property is gravity. Gravity is the pull on an object due to the gravitational force in the Earths atmosphere. Gravity affects buoyancy because even under water gravity pulls down on an object. The second property affecting buoyancy is mass. Mass is the amount of matter in an object. The more mass an object has the more capable it is to float, or positively buoyant. The last property affecting buoyancy is weight. Weight is the pull of gravity on an object. As you can see weight is simply how much gravity is being used on it. Weight affects buoyancy by pulling down more on an object. Gravity, mass, and weight are the three main properties affecting buoyancy. (web definition). Buoyancy is also used in the Bible. When one of Elishas servants was cutting down a tree by the Jordan River and his ax head flew of the ax and went into the river. The servant then cried alas, master! For it was borrowed. (New American Standard, 2 Kin. 6.5). Elisha then cut off a stick and threw it in the water. Suddenly the iron ax head floated at the top of the river, and was probably positively buoyant. God uses his miracles through science, which he created. God defied buoyancy to show miracles through his prophets. God made certain animals to adapt to buoyancy in different ways. Some animals were created with buoyant organs. Small ocean animals sink slower than bigger animals and can sometimes hover in place. Large ocean animals sink but sometimes are created with buoyant organs. Another way God shows buoyancy through buoyancy is, animals having fluids in their bodies to help them float. Some ocean animals are created that have low-density organic compounds r body fluids of unusual ionic composition. God made buoyancy to aid animals for how they swim. Animals are another way through which God expresses his brilliant creation and helps us look at and understand buoyancy. (oxfordjournals, par. 1). There are so many different ways through which buoyancy is expressed and seen. As seen before, buoyancy is affected by three different things, gravity, mass, and weight. We saw that an object in water is either positively, negatively, or neutrally buoyant. We learned that many different companies have to consider buoyancy, like ship builders, and divers equipment. Also that buoyancy is acted upon in three different states, floating, sinking, or fully submerged in water. We say how God used miracles in the Bible through buoyancy. Finally we saw that God, through His creation of animals, used buoyancy. Buoyancy is a scientific law that God created to help us understand how things float and to put us in awe of his brilliant creation.

Soviet Union Breakup :: essays research papers

The Breakup of The Soviet Union  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this essay I am going to talk about the breakup of the Soviet Union and all of the events that took place before, during, and after the split up. I will look into the C.I.S (Commonwealth of Independent States), the Government, economy and the conflicts of the former U.S.S.R.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In July of 1991, President Mikhail Gorbachev and ten other Repulic leaders all met and signed a treaty giving each Republic more self-government. Five more leaders were to sign the treaty on August 20, but on the 19th of the month Communist leaders, led by Boris Yeltsin planned a coup against Gorbachev's Government. They trapped him and his family in their vacation home but he refused to give in to the demands. While this was going on, protesters held demonstrations and strikes broke out all over the country. The Commuist party was suspended in many republics, including the Russian Federation. A few days after the coup, Gorbacev resigned from the party leadership.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In September 1991 an interim government was set up until a new treaty could be worked out . This government included Gorbachev and the leaders of the other Republics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On December 8th Russia proclaimed itself the Soviet Union's successor. Boris Yeltsin and the Presidents of Ukraine and Belarus announced the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States and that the U.S.S.R had no longer existed. The Commonwealth of Independent States was an association of nations that were formerly republics of the Soviet Union. They encouraged all others to join with them. On December 21, eleven republics joined, Armenia, Belarus. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Moldova, Russia, Tajistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Georgia became a member in 1993. The headquarters were located in Minsk, Belarus. Only three republics have yet to join, they are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The C.I.S was created for several reasons, the economies of the former republics were closely linked and most members wanted to keep some economic ties, each member also wanted to guarantee its own territory and Sovereinty, the members also sought to reassure the world that the nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union were under reliable control. The C.I.S was created to help out new and developing countries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although everything seemed to be all right, they did dispute some matters, they originally only wanted to have one military between all republics but it was changed and each had its own, Russia and Ukraine argued over who owned the Black Sea Fleet, another problem was that most of the members wanted to change the currency from the Ruble so each had to create its own.

Gregors Obsession with Money Exposed in Franz Kafkas Metamorphosis Es

Gregor's Obsession with Money Exposed in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis In his story The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka gives us the story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into an insect-like creature. Gregor, however, remains strangely indifferent to his plight, in a manner that seems inhuman to most readers. This is not due to a lack of omniscience on the narrator's part that causes the indifference to go unmentioned, and neither is it due to inobservance on the part of Gregor to the point of not noticing that he has been changed into an insect. Rather, Gregor does not pay much attention to his new form as an insect because his life as a human lacked many ordinary human characteristics. In other words, Gregor was mentally not human even before his change in physical form. Just after his metamorphosis, Gregor makes an important observation on his job as a traveling salesman: "Oh God," he thought, "what a grueling job I've picked! Day in, day out - on the road. The upset of doing business is much worse than the actual business in the home office, and, besides, I've got the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate. To the devil with it all!" (4) Most "normal" people would claim that meaningful relationships constitute the core of the human experience. But Gregor's concerns seem much more mundane. He begins with complaining about the quotidian problems of his job and only in the end reaches that which is really important - and then he immediately goes on to continue thinking about his job. He is obsessed with work, "a tool of the boss, without brains... ...c. But we could also interpret this sentence in the opposite light, to assert that Gregor is an animal by dint of his ability to feel. This is supported by Gregor's ruminations on his plan to send Grete to the Conservatory: "...and it was his secret plan that she who, unlike him, loved music and could play the violin movingly..." (27, italics added). Thus, Gregor as a human being could not derive pleasure from music, indicating that he lived in a deprived, insect-like emotional state. As we have seen, Gregor's mental life was extremely limited even before his physical metamorphosis. Perhaps Kafka intended this story as a means of pointing out that many people in an increasingly capitalist society, like Gregor, become more and more obsessed with money and thus live a mechanical life, like an insect. Thus, they sequester themselves from the pleasures of the soul. Gregor's Obsession with Money Exposed in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Es Gregor's Obsession with Money Exposed in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis In his story The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka gives us the story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into an insect-like creature. Gregor, however, remains strangely indifferent to his plight, in a manner that seems inhuman to most readers. This is not due to a lack of omniscience on the narrator's part that causes the indifference to go unmentioned, and neither is it due to inobservance on the part of Gregor to the point of not noticing that he has been changed into an insect. Rather, Gregor does not pay much attention to his new form as an insect because his life as a human lacked many ordinary human characteristics. In other words, Gregor was mentally not human even before his change in physical form. Just after his metamorphosis, Gregor makes an important observation on his job as a traveling salesman: "Oh God," he thought, "what a grueling job I've picked! Day in, day out - on the road. The upset of doing business is much worse than the actual business in the home office, and, besides, I've got the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate. To the devil with it all!" (4) Most "normal" people would claim that meaningful relationships constitute the core of the human experience. But Gregor's concerns seem much more mundane. He begins with complaining about the quotidian problems of his job and only in the end reaches that which is really important - and then he immediately goes on to continue thinking about his job. He is obsessed with work, "a tool of the boss, without brains... ...c. But we could also interpret this sentence in the opposite light, to assert that Gregor is an animal by dint of his ability to feel. This is supported by Gregor's ruminations on his plan to send Grete to the Conservatory: "...and it was his secret plan that she who, unlike him, loved music and could play the violin movingly..." (27, italics added). Thus, Gregor as a human being could not derive pleasure from music, indicating that he lived in a deprived, insect-like emotional state. As we have seen, Gregor's mental life was extremely limited even before his physical metamorphosis. Perhaps Kafka intended this story as a means of pointing out that many people in an increasingly capitalist society, like Gregor, become more and more obsessed with money and thus live a mechanical life, like an insect. Thus, they sequester themselves from the pleasures of the soul.

Essay --

Teresa Devlin 12 February 2014 PSY2012L The research article that I read was about the relationship between the use of technology in children and how their creativity level increases as a result of using different types of technological devices. This research was done by measuring the child’s level of creativity after using different types of electronic devices based on Torrance’s test of creative thinking, which is said by many researchers to be the best and most accurate way to measure creativity in children. The hypothesis of the study was that one of the four electronic devices would cause for a greater level of creativity. The four devices that were used in this study were computers, the Internet, video games, and cell phones. The researchers were very drawn to the fact that many children played video games and that video games are a part of many children’s every day activity. The study was conducted with almost five hundred 12 year-old children. The gender ratio was about half female and half ma le. The ratio of the racial backgrounds was about 70% Caucasian and 30% African American. The study was set up so the participants had two stimuli to respond to, which were pictures of an elf and an egg. The participants were to respond to the stimuli in the form of questions about what they thought of the pictures, to list what they thought was happening in the picture, and the possibilities of what they think might happen next in the picture. They were also asked what their favorite video game was. The independent variable, or the variable being changed, was the use of the four devices. The dependent variable, or the variable that is being measured, was the level of creativity after using the device. The research was conducted o... ...o become creative so you should go out and buy your child a video game if you want them to become more creative. That is why causal conclusions cannot be made in this correlational study. I think that another explanation of why children that play video games scored higher on the creative thinking tests is because video games open you into a new world. I think that they open your imagination and allow you to think like you never have before because of the things that video games portray such as outer space, different worlds, and things that are impossible for us humans to psychically do like turn into a fire-breathing dragon. I think that with children being able to open up their imagination it allows for a greater level of creativity. Works Cited Snider, Mike. "Research: Video Games Help with Creativity in Boys and Girls." USA Today 02 Nov. 2011: n. pag. Print

Investigation of the hill reaction

Theory: Photosynthesis is a process carried out in plants, in the photosynthetic organ which is the leaf. CO2 + H2O –> (CH2O)n + O2 A plant takes in CO2 and H2O and absorbs sunlight in order for photosynthesis to take place. These reactants then travel to the chloroplasts in the palisade cells of the leaf, where the actual process takes place. In photosynthesis there are two reactions; the light dependant reaction and the light independent reaction. The light dependant reaction takes place in thylakoids of the grana of the chloroplasts whereas the light independat takes place in the stroma. The thylakoids of the chloroplasts contain pigments which can be divided into accessory and primary pigments. These pigments form light harvesting clusters which can then be divided into different photosystems, those being photosystem I and photosystem ll. In photosystem I, the accessory pigments trap energy from the sunlight and funnel it to the primary pigment or chlorophyll a. This then becomes excited and releases an electron which is accepted by an electron acceptor. The electron then moves through a series of electron carriers arranged in order of their redox potentials. Meanwhile, the photosystem is said to be unstable as a result of chlorophyll a losing an electron. The electron then moves back down the series of electron carriers to return to stability producing energy thus A.T.P. Photosystem II differs in that the process is non cyclic (i.e. the electron emitted from chlorophyll a does not return to chlorophyll a), it produces NADPH and O2 as a by-product in addition to A.T.P. and photosystem I is in fact a component of photosystem II. In this case the electron emitted from chlorophyll a travels through a series of electron carriers and then is accepted by a hydrogen ion (which is then picked up by NADP+) and this upsets the equilibrium for the splitting of water, causing more water to split. However, the electrons harvested from the splitting of water goes to photosystem II(which would have been energized to release an electron simultaneously with photosystem I), which would have been unstable. Also, the electron that left chlorophyll a from photosystem I would have passed through a series of electron carriers, arranged in redox potentials, to stabilize photosystem I producing A.T.P. The NADPH and A.T.P are then transported to the Calvin cycle. Apparatus: * Filter funnel * Muslin * Mortar/pestle * Ice/salt water bath * Lamp * Test tubes * Foil Materials: * Lettuce * DCPIP (blue) * Isolation Medium * Chloroplast suspension Method: 1. The chloroplast suspension was prepared and placed in test tubes covered with aluminium, then placed in salt/ice water. 2. 0.5 ml of the suspension was then placed in another test tube followed by 5 ml of DCPIP. 3. The foil covering that tube was then removed and the exposed solution in the test tube was placed next to the light source of the lamp at a measured distance of 10 cm. 4. The time for taken for the blue DCPIP to turn from blue to colourless was then observed and recorded. 5. 0.5 ml of the isolation medium was placed in a test tube followed by 5 ml of DCPIP solution. 6. This solution was then placed at a distance of 10 cm away from the light source and the time taken for a colour change was observed and recorded. 7. 0.5 ml of the chloroplast suspension was placed in a test tube followed by 5 ml of DCPIP. This was then placed in the dark and the aluminium foil was not removed. 8. The time taken for a colour change from blue to green was then observed and recorded. Diagram: Diagram 1.0 shows setup of apparatus to check time taken for colour changes in tubes. Results: Tube Time taken for colour change from blue to colourless/min 10 cm away from light source 1.53 100 cm away from light source 15.55 Isolation in medium only No change Tube in dark No change Table shows different times for colour changes to be observed. Discussion: Photosystem ll as mentioned in the theory, NADPH and 02. In this process light strikes both photosystem l and ll, the energy is funneled down by the accessory pigments to the primary pigment and this causes the primary pigment from PS l and PS ll to release an electron. The electron from PS l is accepted by an electron acceptor and then passes through a series of electron carriers arranged in their redox potentials. The electron then is accepted by another electron acceptor and then neutralizes the H+ in the splitting of water. H2O – 2H+ + 2e- + O2 This H is then picked up by NADP and forms NAPH. NADP is therefore an electron acceptor. As the H is picked up, this disturbs the equilibrium causing more water to split. However, Robert Hill discovered, that isolated chloroplasts can in fact, liberate oxygen, from the equation above, in the presence of an oxidizing agent or an electron acceptor. In photosynthesis this is NADP but another one, that being DCPIP can be used in isolated conditions. In this process, the DCPIP which is blue becomes reduced DCPIP which is colourless. This is known as the Hill reaction. In the experiment, the mortar/pestle was used to grind the lettuce and the muslin is used to collect the isolation medium. The isolation medium is a solution made up of sucrose and potassium chloride dissolved in a phosphate buffer. The isolation medium provides a buffered environment which does not allow the chlorophyll to leave the lettuce leaves. In this experiment, the light source used was a lamp. In this case, the light intensity was varied by changing the distance from the light to the tube. The relationship between the amount of light and the distance is said to be one that obeys the inverse square law. For example if 10 cm were 100 units then 20 cm would be 10 units. With all other factors being constant and optimum, the light intensity is said to be a limiting factor, i.e. a factor that would the control the rate of photosynthesis. Therefore as the light intensity increases, so should the rate of photosynthesis thus, as the distance of the tube from the light source decreased, the time taken for the colour change to take place should have taken longer, which was the case. It can be observed that as the distance increased to 100 cm away from the lamp, the time taken for the colour change at 10 cm, 1.53 minutes increased to 15.55 minutes. The investigation then goes on to show that in the presence of the isolation medium only, in the tube there was no colour change at all. This is because the isolation medium contained no chlorophyll for photosynthesis to take place. However, when the tube with the chloroplast suspension which includes the isolation medium was placed in a tube, but in the dark, there was no colour change either. This shows that light is needed for photosynthesis to take place. Precautions: * The amount of chloroplast suspension and DCPIP placed in the tube was standardized. * The distance of the light source from the tube was ensured with a centimeter ruler. * The salt/ice water was used to preserve the samples so that no biological activity would have taken place before the experiment had taken place. * The aluminium foil was used so that no light would have entered the sample before the experiment started. Limitations: * The DCPIP was blue in colour and the chloroplast suspension was blue in colour. Therefore, the colour change was not from blue to colourless and this could have affected one's observation of the colour change. Sources of error: * The experiment was done during the day and sunlight entering the room could have affected the results in some way of it had any exposure to the test tubes. Improvements: * It could have been ensured that the room was completely dark or sunlight was not reaching the tubes in any way. * The amount of light could have been reduced by putting layers of tissue paper between the light and the test tube to produce a range of light intensities.

Gas Injection

In the production of oil from subsurface reservoirs, 65% of the oil initially in place (OIIP), on average, is left in the reservoir after more oil as possible has been recovered by natural depletion and with the aid of water flooding. Residual oil and gas are enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. EOR techniques are classified into thermal (such as steam or hot water injection) techniques and non-thermal techniques (including designer water flooding, gas injection and chemical flooding). The former is primarily intended for heavy oils, while the latter are normally applied in light oil reservoirs. There are some of the non-thermal enhanced oil recovery methods, such as polymer flooding, alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) and alkaline flooding are much expensive and are also subjected to some operational restrictions, such as temperature (reservoir) and formation permeability. Gas injection techniques in various forms consisting of hydrocarbon gas injection (including natural gas, enriched natural gas and a liquefied petroleum slug driven by natural gas) and non-hydrocarbon gas injection (such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen and flue gas) are widely used to reduces the residual oil saturation. In gas injection, a compressed gas such as carbon dioxide (CO2), natural gas (consisting primarily of methane, CH4), nitrogen (N2), or flue gases are injected into the reservoir to displace oil toward the production wells. The injected gas either partially dissolves in the oil (immiscible gas flooding) or mixes completely with it (miscible flooding), leading mainly to swelling of the oil, viscosity reduction in the oil phase and also for miscible flooding, lowering of the interfacial tension (IFT) between the displacing phase and oil . CO2 injection is preferred because it applies for two different purposes; improving oil recovery and CO2 sequestration for diminish the greenhouse gases emissions. Several problems such as corrosion in the production wells or injection and surface facilities as well   , CO2 separation from the saleable hydrocarbons, large requirement of CO2 per increase in barrel and asphaltene precipitation which causes formation damage and wettability alteration have been reported for CO2 injection process. Injection of N2 or nitrogen-contaminated lean hydrocarbon gases are appropriate EOR processes for deep reservoirs, high pressure reservoirs, with light or volatile oil that are rich in light and also intermediate hydrocarbon components (C2–C5) due to their miscible displacement potential. Low cost, abundance and availability of nitrogen are the most reported advantages for nitrogen injection. Nitrogen is produced by cryogenic processes from air for a long period of time.CO2 (carbon dioxide) flooding enhances oil recovery by the following main mechanisms: (1) oil swelling, (2) reduction of crude oil viscosity, and (3) reduction of interfacial tension (IFT), the latter pertains to miscible flooding . The mechanism of swelling of oil by carbon dioxide injection which makes the volume of oil increase would help discontinuous oil droplets trapped in a porous medium to merge with the flowing oil phase. Reduction in the viscosity is another major mechanism which is significant at even moderate pressures. The amount of solution gas or oil ratio in case of nitrogen injection is lower than that of CO2. The swelling factors of N2 were also lower than those of CO2 due to nitrogen lower solubility in the oil. If the pressure is low (lower than 3 MPa), solubility of nitrogen and flue gas is negligible. The viscosity reduction due to N2 injection is much lower than that of carbon dioxide injection. Addition of N2 to the injection gas implies that some mechanisms other than swelling and viscosity reduction are important. One possibility is the buildup of free gas saturation with the N2 containing injectants that may decreases the relative permeability to water, thereby improving the mobility ratio. Moreover, nitrogen has a higher molar volume than CO2 which tells that one mole of nitrogen displaces a higher volume of gas than that of CO2. Therefore, N2 is more favorable in terms of displacement volume. So that our focus in this study is on N2.Literature review on N2 miscibility Immiscible gas injection can potentially recover a large amount fraction of the remaining oil after primary depletion or water flooding (WF). However, such potential has hardly ever been realized because of the low vertical efficiency and areal sweep efficiency. Nitrogen injection process is also performed either by miscible or immiscible, depending on the injection pressure of N2, reservoir temperature and reservoir oil composition. Miscibility is theoretically defined as the conditions at which there is no interface between the reservoir oil and displacing phase . In other words, it can be say that two phases are miscible when a single phase fluid is produced after intermingling of two fluids with each other at any ratio. The lowest operating pressure, at reservoir temperature, at which miscibility is achieved between reservoir fluid and injection gas is termed as the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) . There has been a few correlations in the literature for N2 MMP estimation producing different average absolute error values. A study done by Fathinasab, Ayatollahi and Hemmati-Sarapardeh   had resulted in a correlation for MMP which will be used for pure N2, nitrogen mixtures and lean gases. The developed correlation yields the least error and is a function of average critical temperature of the injection gas, reservoir temperature, C7 + fraction molecular weight of crude oil, volatile components (mole fraction) and intermediate components (mole fraction) of crude oil. Since N2 is not as good a solvent for oils as carbon dioxide (CO2), or even methane (CH4), the pressure required for nitrogen to become miscible with any oil should be greater than that for methane which, in turn, is higher than CO2 . This especially makes nitrogen attractive for highly undersaturated reservoirs at immiscible conditions. Literature review on challenges in gas flooding and a solution The major technical challenge of immiscible gas injection is to maintain proper sweep efficiency of the injected gas, improve gas utilization and delay its breakthrough. These result from a combination of gravity override and gas channeling through high permeability streaks in the formation. Gas segregation, channeling and fingering through high permeability streaks are inherent in any gas injection; they are due to the excessively higher mobility and far lower density of gas (displacing phase) compared to oil or water (displaced phase). Unfavorable mobility ratios lead to even more severe channeling in heterogeneous reservoirs and heavier oil reservoirs. Consequently, the drive fluid does not contact a large part of the reservoir and the volumetric sweep efficiency of the reservoir remains poor . Furthermore, a displacement is adversely affected by capillary end effects, arising from the discontinuity of capillarity in the wetting phase at the outlet end of the core, that, for the gas/oil system, cannot be overcome by high gas throughput rates. WAG injection is implemented to improve mobility ratio and sweep efficiency.

Foreign market entry strategies Essay

â€Å"Firms which participate in the business system as partners complement the company and its suppliers, thereby increasing the value to customers†. Explain your understanding of this view and provide examples to reinforce your arguments. For a company, entering new foreign markets may be achieved in a variety of ways. Each of these ways places its unique demands on the company in terms of organizational and financial resources. Most of the times, entering international markets is not a matter of choice but of necessity to remain competitive in new or established markets by meeting the consumer’ needs and values. The decision to go international represents an important commitment, to go into a new line of activity, this being the reason why it should be taken step by step: obtaining information, analyzing them, formulating alternative action plans, (Tookey, 1975) and of course find the right partners that match the company brand image and values. The international business system model is focused on the advantages determined by the internationalisation process and less on the development process of the internationalisation of companies. The main scope obtained by applying the Uppsala Model is predicting the company’s evolution on foreign markets. Two elements are at the basis of the model: the notion of essentiality attributed to the process and the notion of physical distance. The internationalisation of a multinational company takes place step by step, according to the Uppsala Model, which minimises the risks regarding the new market (Johanson; Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975). Therefore, the company is being involved gradually (investments, control and profit), getting to the point of creating a production subsidiary which ensures also the selling of the products on the new market. The stages of the internationalisation process are presented in Appendix 1. The concept of physical distance, the second element the Uppsala Model is based upon determines the companies to select, in a first stage, the neighbour countries in order to reduce the cultural, economical, political differences. According to this approach, the bigger the physical distance, the bigger is the incertitude about the new market and bigger the risks associated to this market. In the view of the globalisation phenomena, there are numerous criticisms about the â€Å"physical distance† notion. Many papers have developed the subject of the company’s internationalisation; a special place holds J. Birkinshaw who analysed the problems regarding the role of the subsidiaries and the evolution of the mandated in the internationalisation process at the multinational’s level. Therefore, Birkinshaw and Hoods (1998) have shown that creating a subsidiary can be explained on the basis of the interactions between the decisions of the mother-company, the initiatives o f the subsidiary and the specific conditions existing on the new market. The model developed by Birkinshaw (1997) is based on three variables: The relation headquarters – subsidiary; the subsidiary’s initiatives and the local environment. Regarding the internationalisation process, the company has more options (see Appendix 2) The first choice is represented by the development of the existing markets and it is being used by companies that are acting on highly competitive markets; the second choice – the company can choose to develop its activity on new markets, similar to the ones they are already acting on – in this case, they are usually choosing to export their products; the third strategy is developing a new line of products similar to the ones they already have and which will be sold on similar markets- in this case the company can choose between strategic alliances: creating a joint venture or licensing. . Management’s involvement in export operations is different, as we talk about passive exporters (when selling abroad is induced by the demand existing on the foreign market, meaning that the business is initiated by the importer) or active exporters (when the operation is initiated by the seller, which has an export strategy and a suitable business plan (Popa, 2006) From the operational point of view, exporters can be indirect exporters(with the participation of trading houses), when it isn’t necessary to create an organizational structure specific to the export activity or direct exporters, which is made by the producer, which is creating services or departments for international business. The determinants of export behaviour are experience and uncertainty effects; behavioural and firm-specific influences and strategic influences. 1. Experience and uncertainty effects Knowledge and learning regarding the exporting activity may be possessed or accumulated by the company in time. Experience has a key role, as firm’s involvement in international markets is most of the time a gradual process. During the early stages of exporting, firms have a more concentrated foreign market focus, while increased involvement in foreign market encourages diversification to a wider range of markets. As a firm’s knowledge of an export market increases, the uncertainty factor diminishes. This knowledge allows the identification of concrete opportunities, as distinct from theoretical that may be apparent from objective knowledge. 2. Behavioural and firm-specific influences Recent theories of exporting are strongly influenced by the behavioural theory of the firm, which stresses decision-maker characteristics, organizational dynamics and constraints, ignorance and uncertainty as key variables in decision making. Exporting has been described as a development process based on a learning sequence involving six stages Bilkey and Tesar, 1977): Stage 1: the firm is not interested in exporting Stage 2: the firm supplies unsolicited business, doesn’t examine the feasibility of active exporting Stage 3: the firm examines the feasibility of exporting in an active way Stage 4: experimental exports on neighbour countries Stage 5: the firm becomes an experienced exporter Stage 6: the firm explores the feasibility of exporting to additional countries of greater business distance. According to Welch (1982), the export commitment is influenced by four groups of factors (see figure 4): pre-export activities, direct export stimuli, latent influences on the firm and the role of the decision-maker. 3. Strategic influences The opinion among researchers and managers is divided on the issue of the relation between the firm size and export success. Still, the importance of a positive managerial attitude to exporting and the necessity of committing managerial and financial resources to the internationalization process are crucial to the success of the firm, irrespective of size. As a mode of international market entry, strategic alliances allow the firm (Bradley, 2002): †¢ Access to assets not readily available in the market †¢ Access to technology and markets †¢ The smaller firms can have access to technology and new products †¢ The larger firms can have access to markets †¢ Synergetic effects in the partner firms. Choosing the way to enter a foreign market represents an important part of the foreign direct investment strategy. The companies should select the new market, decide upon the types of operations that are about to be developed on these markets and decide the type of entry –green field investments, acquisitions, joint ventures. Choosing the way to enter a foreign market was also explained through cultural and national factors. Many studies have been concerned about this topic: †¢ Kogut and Singh (1988) after researches have concluded that a big cultural distance between the country of origin and the host country have as a result choosing joint ventures or green field investments. †¢ Gatignon and Anderson (1988) have shown that an important socio-cultural distance, measured with the help of the Index developed by Ronen and Shenkar (1985) – goes to the partial propriety right. †¢ Gatignon and Anderson (1988) have concluded that multinational companies avoid having 100% owned subsidiaries in high risk countries. †¢ Cho and Radmanabhan (1995) have shown that companies from Japan are not willing to make acquisitions in developing countries. Choosing the joint venture as a mechanism to enter new markets (especially the developing countries and the ones with centralised economy) is usual ly a second-best option for the companies from developed countries. Still, the companies show through this the major interest for the local market; the participation in the joint-venture could be qualified as a foreign direct investment. Many times, this mechanism represents the only way to be present on a certain market. Licensing in international markets: License is the purchase or sale by contract of product pr process technology, design and marketing expertise (Bradley, 2002). It involves the market contracting of knowledge and know-how. International licensing takes place when a company provides, for a certain fee-royalty, a technology needed by another company in order to operate a business in a foreign market. Licensing of this firm involves one or more of these elements: †¢ a brand name †¢ operations expertise †¢ manufacturing process technology †¢ access to patents †¢ trade secrets. Licensing may be attractive when host countries restrict imports or foreign direct investment, or when the market is small and when the prospects of technology feedback are high. Franchising to enter international markets: Franchising is a derivative of licensing. In franchising a business format is licensed, not a product or a technology. Trademarks, trade names, copyright, designs, patents, trade secrets and know-how may all be involved in different mixtures in the „package† to be licensed. Franchising is a form of marketing and distribution in which the franchisor grants an individual or company, the franchisee, the right to do business in a prescribed manner over a certain period of time, in a specified place (Ayling, 1986). A franchise is, according to International Franchise Association (IFA), the agreement or license between two legally independent parties which gives: †¢ a person or group of people (franchisee) the right to market a product or service using the trademark or trade name of another business (franchisor) †¢ the franchisee the right to market a product or service using the operating methods of the franchisor †¢ t he franchisee the obligation to pay the franchisor fees for These rights †¢ the franchisor has the obligation to provide rights and support to franchisees. Types of Franchises There are two main types of franchises: product distribution and business format. Product distribution franchises simply sell the franchisor’s products and are supplier-dealer relationships. In product distribution franchising, the franchisor licenses its trademark and logo to the franchisees but typically does not provide them with an entire system for running their business. The industries where you most often find this type of franchising are soft drink distributors, automobile dealers and gas stations. Some familiar product distribution franchises include: Pepsi, Exxon, Ford Motor Company. Although product distribution franchising represents the largest percentage of total retail sales, most franchises available today are business format opportunities. Business format franchises, on the other hand, not only use a franchisor’s product, service and trademark, but also the complete method to conduct the business itself, such as the marketing plan and operations manuals. Business format franchises are the most common type of franchise. The United States, today reported that the 10 most popular franchising opportunities are in these industries: fast food, retail, service, automotive, restaurants, maintenance, building and construction, retail—food, business services, lodging. The many advantages and disadvantages of owning a franchise should be carefully evaluated before deciding to purchase one. Throughout all these different foreign market entry strategies, by understanding every characteristic detailed we can conclude that partnership can be at the core of international marketing decisions and enable possibilities of internationalisation. Partnerships can be structured in various ways depending on their purpose. Wholly foreign-owned enterprises, non-equity/contractual/co-operative strategic alliances, equity strategic alliances/joint ventures, and franchises, are basic types of formal partnerships. There are numerous other types of informal partnerships including; joint marketing & promotion, joint selling or distribution, technology licensing, R & D contracts, design collaboration, production agreements, and other synergies. Consequently, the ideal partner in a business partnership is one that has resources, skills and assets and values which complement the company. The partnership has to work financially and contractually, but it is also essential that a partner’s areas of strength and weakness are known and that an assessment is made of what actions would be needed to achieve an appropriate level of operational fit between the cultures of the two organisations. To meet the market needs effectively and in a sustained way, the business partnership must be based on a systematic and transparent agreement between the client and the partners (common values). That agreement provides the basis for a partnership deal and has to be sufficiently strong to engage the sustained commitment of both parties but also sufficiently flexible to enable the partnership to be responsive to changes in market needs and conditions. Being at the forefront partners are an extension of the company capability, image and valu es perceived by the consumer, therefore, complement the company by increasing the value to customers. For instance, Sony is an international and reputed company for its high standards range of TVs. Today, within the UK market, Sony position itself as a seller of durable and high end products by practicing a selective distribution. Their products are mostly found at Sony Centres (Sony own shop) or PC Currys World, exclusive partner (distributor) chosen by Sony well known in the market and sharing similar values such as expertise in the audiovisual area or guarantee of quality products and services. It reflects well a relevant and consistent image of the values conveyed by both organisations to the customers.