Schumpeter''s Theory of Creative Destruction Term Paper

Schumpeter''s Theory of Creative Destruction - Term Paper Example The phrase as used by Schumpeter has very little similarity with the one that was used by Marx. Therefore, the phrase became popular within the neo-liberal and free-market economics as it was employed to describe processes like downsizing in order to enhance the efficacy and dynamism of an organization. Therefore, creative destruction can be described as a process whereby something new results in the destruction of what had been in existence before it. The phrase is employed in a number of areas like economics, development of products, corporate governance as well as marketing and technology. For instance, creative destruction in product development is almost similar to disruptive technology and a common example is the smartphone that has ended the life of the regular phone, mp3 players, cameras and watches among other devices in the market. In relation to marketing, creative destruction can be identified in the advertising campaigns that focus new and lucrative markets while risking alienation of the markets that had been in existence. According to the theory development by Schumpeter, creative destruction will result in consequent failure of capitalism as an economic system, but in the present business use, the phrase refers denotes unpleasant options that are perceived necessary for sustainability. In regard to business, the corporate executives regularly describe solutions to reduce costs that are not popular with the rest of the employees such as downsizing and outsourcing as form of creative destruction. The consequence of this is that even though these actions may be considered as injurious particularly to the affected employees, the business will be transformed for the better. This paper seeks to understand the theory that was developed by Schumpeter concerning creative destruction and it has affected capitalism in the current economy. Schumpeter’s main message is that the

Kant Metaphysical Exposition of Space Essay Example for Free

Kant Metaphysical Exposition of Space Essay Kant: Explain and asses what you think to be the best argument Kant gives as his Metaphysical Exposition of Space (B37-40) that space cannot be either and actual entity (Newtonian concept) or any independent relation among real things (Leibnizian concepti be on). In other words, is he successful in arguing that space must be (at least) a form of intuition? Do any of his arguments further show that space must be ONLY a form of intuition and not ALSO something Newtonian or Leibnizian? In his Metaphysical Exposition of Space, Kant attempts to show that the experience of space is just a form of intuition. Kant defines space as that of which we sense out side of us, in comparison to our mind, which is our inner sense. This outer sense of space, he claims, is known only to us because we have a intuitive sense of there being space in the first place. Kant asserts this argument in direct response to two other claims about the nature of space. The Newtonian concept of space holds that space is an entity existing in its own right, with objects merely being in it. The Leibnizian concept of space however holds the opposite, space doesnt really exist and is just a relation created between existing objects. Kant believes both concepts are wrong and claims that to first know about objects in space, we must have some deeper knowledge of space to put them in space. He further tries to claim that space is only a form of intuition and not just the foundation to support either of the other two concepts. Kant presents some strong points showing the faults in the other concepts and provides a reason alternative to what makes the nature of space. However his concept too, that space is known only through intuition, also isnt as strong as it should be. It appears that space may be known through intuition from an individual perspective, but on closer investigation, taking in all forms of life and evolution, where did this pre wired intuition of space have its start? Kants concept of space seems to be well grounded in some areas and not in others. Kants definition of space helps him prove that the concept of space is a form of intuition. Space, he holds, is everything that is sensed outside of us. The mind is the inner sense and everything else is in space. We then represent objects in that space, where they are interpreted as having shape, magnitude and relationships to other objects in space. But then what is this space, Kant questions? Not satisfied with the current theories of the nature of time, Kant moves to show their faults through a set of arguments. The Newtonian concept of space claims that space exists as an entity in its own right. This concept is the most user friendly, and it is similar to the common sense view that most people grow up with. That is, we experience objects around us as exist in a void of space, where that void itself can exist on its own. Objects exist in this space, which is an infinite entity. The theory claims that through our sense, sight, touch extra, we learn about the world. We learn from our senses about space and how it works. We start of in the world with no idea of space and through a trial and area type system of learning, we being to understand the nature of space and of objects in it. Space exists and we lean of its existence though life experience. Kant cannot accept the Newtonian concept of space. In his first argument, Kant claims that space is not a concept that has been drawn from our experiences. His reasoning behind this is; how can we know to put the data that we gain from our senses into a world of space if we dont know of space to begin with? That is, to know to put this sensory data into a thing called space, we must first have some idea of space. Kant does not think that it is possible to stumble across the idea of space just through trial and error. Space, he claims, must be an intuitive idea that we are born with, so we know to put the data we gain into some logical order. We cant experience space without first having some idea of it being there. We must know what we are looking for, before we can find it. Kant seems to be onto something with this argument. It does seem plausible to think that the idea of space is already programmed into our brain. For we are objects ourselves that did develop in this world. But then isnt that learning about space through experience just over a few generations. So on a longer time scale we gradually learnt how to interact with space. The intuition of space is just another characteristic that we gain from our ancestors. The species, or life, learnt about space. But this is not what Kant is trying to claim. He is claiming that it is intuition that we have always had, the entire human existence has always had. This on the biological level seems rather odd. Is it just humans that have this intuition? It doesnt seem grounded to answer this question with a yes. But then back in early beings of life, do single cell organisms also have this intuition, do they even know they exist? So Kant must mean fully developed humans, or at least fairly intelligent animals. But this still suggests that having the intuition of space is something that is developed over evolution. So in turn is something that is gain from the species evolutionary experience. It is an odd claim to say that just one day a higher level animal just suddenly experience space. Perhaps now we have some basic animal instinct of how space works, Kant does not justify how this come about. The intuition of space my have evolved, which is a from of long term experience. The Leibnizian concept claims that space is just the relationship between objects and cannot exist on its own. Unlike the Newtonian concept of space, this theory claims that space does not and could not exist without the presents of objects. Space is just an attribute of objects, without them space is not present. If there was no objects there would be no need for space and it would not be present. We see objects all around us, and in order to understand the raw data presented by our senses we dream up relationships among them which we call space. Space is not an entity in its own right, it is simple the relation between existing objects. Kant can also not accept the Leibnizian concept of space. In his second argument, Kant claims that it is possible to have space without the presents of objects. Using a thought experiment Kant tries to show that we can image an empty space, a space without objects in it. He uses the experiment as a direct attack on the Leibnizian concept that space is just an attribute of objects. Kant believes that it is possible to image empty space, free of any objects. He claims that since this is possible space must be more then just an attribute of existing objects. Kants argument here doesnt seem as strong. He just seems to state that we can imagine empty, boundless space. It seems slightly more difficult to achieve then what he makes out. At first it seems sure, we can think of empty space, but is it really empty space that we are imagining here? Maybe we can think of a void, but isnt that just the space between objects? The depths of space, are just long distances from existing objects, not empty space. It seems every time we try to think of space it is in relation to objects or boundaries. Kant tries to make the thought experiment seem simple, but on closer inspection, imagining space total separate to objects is very difficult. Space might be its own existing thing, but it is not shown through this method of reasoning. It still seems plausible that space in known by our intuition, however that intuition is just knowing to see that existing objects have the attribute, and relation to other objects, space. Kant does not strongly prove that space can exist on its own. Kant claims that space is an existing thing that we are born being aware of and nothing more. It can only be this and not a combination of intuition and the Newtonian and Leibnizian concepts of space. It cant be, for example, that space is an intuition of a simple relationship between objects, or that we intuitively need to learn of its existence through experience. Kant uses further arguments to show this. In his third argument Kant further shows that to understand space we must first have the framework set out to understand that space must exist. That is it must be known by pure intuition alone. For the Leibnizian concept to be correct, it would seem possible to think of separate spaces. That is, according to the theory, space only exists with resect to objects, or every object has its own space. It seems the concept is suggesting that there is lots of little spaces everywhere, that connect, or not connect, regarding if the objects are close or near. Kant believes that is not a very reasonable way of seeing how the world or space works. Intuitively we seem to know that there is one infinite space, that maybe divided up by objects, but is still known to be part of the one big whole of space. Kant even seems to suggest that it is impossible for our minds to imagine no space at all. Our intuition of space is so strong, our minds cannot interpret the world without it. Space cannot be intuitive and a relation between objects, Kant believes it must only be known intuitively The mind experiment Kant uses here seems much more agreeable. I does seem that we see space as one big infinite entity, in which all objects exists. The Leibnizian theory does seem to infer that there are lots of little independent spaces following the object they belong to. This seems to be a very strange way of seeing the world indeed, and one very hard to imagine. Kants argument against the Leibnizian concept is strong here, but does it prove that both space is an intuition and not at all an aspect of an object? It appears we can agree with Kant that space is not just a relation between objects, that it exists in its own right. But what is not strong is that intuition is the way we can experience and not through learning from our senses. In his forth and finally argument on the nature of space, Kant tries to show that it is not something we intuitively know to look for, but that we are already born knowing of its existence. Kant believes that it is not possible to interpret the raw data given to us by our senses into any order without first knowing to put it into space. The data would simple not make any sense. And why would just having this data spore the idea of putting into an order of space. How do we know to link that sound with that vision? Yes we learn other things about the world from experience, but this only possible by having the framework of knowing how space works in our heads to being with. All other knowledge is built on the bedrock of us knowing that things outside of us work in space. Kant claims that knowing space is through intuition alone, and through a combination of intuition and learning. Kants argument here is partly agreeable. He makes a strong point that linking to very different experience, like sight and sound, into one event, would be very difficult achieve, if at all, if they werent put into space. From a person to person basis his concept of space is quiet agreeable. If each person was to learn in their life time about how space worked, wouldnt there, by numbers, be some people they never stumble across its working, or even people taking different amounts of time to achieve this knowledge. It would seem that these people would behave very strange in the world. Babies seem to develop an idea of how space works in all about the same way and time frame. If it was up to each individual to learn, or to stumble across the truth, the world would probably be a very different place. So yes, Kant seems to be on the right track that each person is pre wire to expect a world with space, this does not however explain how and when and for what level of life this pre wiring occurred. Kants theory of intuitive space needs to be more developed. Kant finally concludes that space cant be known through trial and error, it cant be an attribute of objects, and must be known through the intuition alone. The raw data that our eyes and ears gather would be useless if our mind didnt have space to make sense of it all. But would space still exist even if it wasnt an intuition? Kant would seem to answer yes to this. So is the need to have the intuition of space to understand it just a human condition? Kants reply to this one does not seem as clear. Surely before humans there were living beings interacting in space. Did these living things need an intuition of space to survive? For humans it seems necessary that we understand the nature of space, otherwise I dont think we would be able to survive. But then if we didnt understand what our senses where telling us by putting them into the concept of space, why would we evolve senses at all? Surely we wouldnt have eyes and ears ect. If we evolved not needing or using them. So does every animal that has the same sensors as us have the same intuition of space as we do? This idea seems to be begging the question ? what came first the intuition of space, or the senses and the ability to perceive it? For one seems to be seems to be surely useless with out the other. Kants concept seems to work if we just look at a snap shot of the world functioning today, however it does not satisfy how the world got to be the way it is. Perhaps this is not goal he was wanting to achieve, but for his concept to hold these questions of evolution need to be answered. Kants claims show the faults in past concepts, however his concepts is not total solid yet either. Kant resolves some issues, but then raises some more. It seems now that we cant take for granted what we all assume that we learn about space through experience, and it seems too that space exists in its own right. Kant seems to make this clear, he does not however clearly prove that space is known by intuition alone.

Acid Rain :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Acid rain is a very big pollution problem in the world. It has killed fish and other aquatic life in many lakes and streams. It harms human health, disfigures monuments and erodes buildings, and, along with other pollutants, threatens forests. The story of acid rain can be compared to the plot of a science fiction movie. In the 1950s an invisible force begins to destroy lakes and rivers, killing trout and salmon. By the 1960s it is harming the waters of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. High-altitude forests are beginning to fade away. City statues are gradually eaten away. The appearance from the damage of the aliens is starting to appear all over. Just as in science fiction movies, the authorities refuse to warn the alarmed citizens. Also, at the last moment the scientists figure away to destroy the aliens. Unfortunately, fiction and fact falls apart at this point. There is no quick remedy that will wipe out acid rain completely. (Pringle 1-2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Coal was the main fuel of many industries in the early nineteenth century. Coal contains sulfur and when burning it, it will produce sulfur dioxide. When in the atmosphere, sulfur dioxide may be converted to sulfuric acid (Pringle 8). Acid rain is dispensed across the world by air currents. When attempting to fix local air pollution problems, the solutions actually added to acid rain problems on other parts of the world. High smoke stakes were developed to distribute pollutant acid-laden smoke higher in the atmosphere and spread it elsewhere (Merki 598). This was a quick remedy to a local problem, but harmed other parts of the world. Acid rain is a global problem because it more often than not, spreads over national borders instead of staying in a local spot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several causes of acidification, and various mechanisms by which it may occur. Acid rain falling on water bodies has a direct affect. In areas where soils are acidic, runoff from the soil transports acidic water, which may also contain aluminum, into lakes and rivers. Soil acidification may be caused by acid rain, but other factors may also be involved. For example, if pasture reverts to coniferous acidic runoff even though the rain itself is not acidic. Salty rain leaches acid components out of the soil and transports them to the rivers. (Rivers 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chemical content of acid rain is in itself dangerous to fish and other freshwater organisms.

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It is very important for the local organization to transition their strategic to the MEN. Because of the MEN can bring more new opportunities, knowledge, and resources of the information to the organization more than the domestic. It also can help the organization get more competitive advantages in the global. Introduction Tease Motors, Inc. Is a California-based company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars and electric vehicle perpetration components including lithium-ion battery packs (â€Å"Tease motors,† 2013). Tease Motors is named after electrical engineer and physicist Nikolas Tease.Because of Tease uses an AC motor descended directly from Nikolas Teasel's original 1882 design. Tease Motors producing the first fully electric port car in the world (â€Å"Nikolas tease,†). Background In July 2003, Martin Bernhard and Marc Tarpapering incorporated Tease Motors. In February 2004, Leon Musk became Teasel's Board of Directors as its Chairman. Musk's prima ry goal was to commercialism electric vehicles all the way to mass market, starting with a premium sports car aimed at early adopters and then moving as rapidly as possible into more mainstream vehicles, including sedans and affordable compacts.There are four car models in Tease Motors, which are Tease Roadster, Model S, Model X, and Future models (â€Å"Model s,† 2013). Tease Motors was founded in San Carols, California, in Silicon Valley. In April 2008, Tease Motors opened its first retail store in West Los Angels, California. In July 2008, Tease Motors opened its second retail store in Menlo Park, California. In July 2009, Tease Motors opened a display showroom in New York City's Chelsea Art District. In July 2009, Tease Motors also opened a store in Seattle.Tease subsequently opened stores in Washington, DC; New York City; Chicago; Danni Beach in Florida; Boulder, Colorado; Orange County in California; San Jose in In August 2009, Tease Motors planned to move its corporate headquarters and lid a perpetration development facility at 3500 Deer Creek Road, in the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California. The new facility would occupy 369,000 sq. Ft. (34,300 mm) on a 23-acre (93,000 mm) parcel previously occupied by Agilest Technologies.In February 2010, Tease completed the headquarters move. About 350 employees are expects to be based at the Stanford site initially, potentially increasing to 650 (â€Å"Tease motors,†). Why TEASE Company Need Expand Their Operations Internationally With the development of the internal business, it is necessary that TEASE expand their operations internationally. And there are four reasons as the following: First of all, among the earliest motivations that drove companies to invest abroad was the need to secure key supplies. Christopher & Paul, 2008) With the increase of TEASE cars' demand, they will need more and more materials from different countries. Just like the automobile batteries, which need some cou ntries that have good technology and experience for produce the batteries for the new cars. Also some of the automobile materials need stable producing area to guarantee quality. Secondly, another strong trigger for internationalization could be described as market-seeking behavior. In order to find more wide market and opportunities, TEASE need expand their operations internationally.For example, even though make the TEASEL'S car in the U. S. , American people may not the main consumers of the cars. The reason is that from the culture things American people prefer large and straightforward cars than the light vehicle. However, in other countries, TEASE cars maybe very popular, because the countries which have different cultures may prefer the light vehicle better than the heavy-duty vehicle. So in this case, the TEASE will get more opportunity and market shares in these areas.Beside the culture, different countries developing degree and policy will impact the selection of the cars. For example, in china because of the air pollution, the government made a lot of the rules for limiting the carbon emissions such like some taxes of the carbon emissions. So the electric car will be more and more popular in China. Doing business in foreign countries will get more competitive advantage than Just doing business in home country. The third is that traditional and important trigger of internationalization was the desire to access low- cost factors of production.Christopher & Paul, 2008) No matter what the motivation is, the final things that the company focuses on is the profit. Beside the high sales volume, another important thing they should pay attention is cost. There is a problem the managers considering the every day, which is how to reduce the cost. There is no doubt that expand the operations internationally is a good way to reduce the cost. For example, the labor is more and more expansive in recent years, especially in some developed countries.So if a company could build their manufacture in some developing countries that have low labor fees. They will save a lot of cost. Beside this reason, the freight is another problems for the cost. So the good way to solve the cost problems is expand the operations internationally. The fourth is that internal business will increase scale economies, ballooning R&D investments, and shortening product life cycles that transformed many industries into global rather than national essential prerequisite for companies to survive in those businesses. Christopher & Paul, 2008) The Benefit of Expand Operations Internationally For TEASE Once the TEASE expands their operations internationally, they could use Global Hess. Global chess is a kind of competitive strategy, which could be played only by the companies that managed their worldwide operations as interdependent units that implemented a coordinated global strategy. (Christopher & Paul, 2008) TEASE will get a lot of benefit from the strategy. First of all, that is a positive complementation. For example, now TEASE is very good brand of battery vehicle.And it was born in US with a very good reputation. Because of it name and brand, more and more people know that, especially the foreign countries, they are very expected to try this new care ND that is the reason why that is so popular in some Asia countries. We know that the America population is limited; also because of the fierce competition there are not some much people in US automobile market. However, in Chinese the market will be very wide, there are a lot of people who need good vehicle. So TEASE could get a huge profit from Chinese market.And use this money to create new technology in TEASE in US, and use them back to the Chinese and create better service and suitable cars for Chinese drivers. So that will be a very positive complementation. The second hint is it could promote the company's bad position. For example, TEASE cars will be sold in a lot of countries. However, we c ould not guarantee that TEASE cars could sell well in every country. If a new product want to enter in a new market, it need a very long process, people need time to accept it.During this time, the company will spend a lot of cost such as the inventory fees, advertising fees, managing fees and so on. Expending operations internationally which offer a possible that using Global chess. For example when the company get trouble in Europe, they could use the Asia arrest's good profit to help the Europe company ride out a storm until the new cars are accepted by Europe customers. Finally, this strategy could make sure the abundance of capital.Global chess is very helpful for TEASE adjust their capital among the world business. And that will make the TEASE Company having more power for respond the risk of the world business. Issues When TEASE Becomes Transnational Organization The issues that transnational organizations have to facing with are: the force for local differentiation and respo nsiveness, and the challenge of management style and the lobar business management strategies. With regard of push Tease Motors, Inc. Into transnational organization, these issues are unavoidable.First, the core issues that inside the force for local differentiation and responsiveness is: Cultural differences, government demands and growing pressures for localization. Cultural differences in other word operating in a diversified condition could have numerous barriers and uncertain issues. Each market has their characteristics and talent. For example, in Japan, people are exchanging gifts with their working partners such as suppliers or customers. For American managers it is definitely looks like bribe. And many U. S. Managers thought the action is wrong. Ultra, they turned to accept it and even encourage, the practice as ethical behavior in Japan (Cert., S. & Cert., S. (2012). As this case, the management of transnational organization must facing with the culture shock by diversity. When TEASE reforms them into a transnational organization, they must know the culture of the targeted market. For instance, in vehicle industry, U. S. Market has more pick up truck or heavy engine vehicle. One of the reasons is the usage. However, the other reason is not cause of any geographic or physical reason but people Just like it.When promoting TEASE vehicle to China, management has to a lot of research and completely understanding what they like but not only consider about the pricing or design. In other word, transnational organization managements need to not only consider about technical and general marketing issues but also have to capture all of these specific traits in the target market. The second issue government demands is the issue between home country government and host country government. Both of these two sides are desire for benefits. For host country the benefits would be funds, technology, and expertise from the transnational organization.And for home countr y that desire the transnational organization can successfully growing the host country and bring extra revenue and benefit to both company side and government side. The government of host country is an extremely important access point for the transnational organization. It could let the company access to the local market or receive resources in the host country. When both side of home and host government come into win-win situation, the conflict would not be exist. However, actually the conflicts still existing between two parties.For example, transnational organization would drive rural exodus, rising consumerism, rejection of indigenous values, or a breakdown of traditional community structures of the host country (Bartlett & Beams, 2011). Thus the government of the host country would take a good balance to treat transnational companies. For example, there were a lot of issues of North American Free Trade Agreement (NONFAT); the free trade agreement between the United States, Cana da and Mexico. The expectation of the agreement should be numerous positive things or all of the partner countries.However, in Mexico government perspective, they complained about the environmental pollution issue because of NONFAT. The huge amount of trading also caused a serious damage of nature in Mexico. Deforestation and reduce of farmland getting much worse than before. In annual, more than 630,000 hectares of land has been deforesting after NONFAT official started. Moreover, the large amount using of agriculture chemical also brought a terrible damage of the land. Also other industries cause scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities, water pollution issue and scarcity of fresh water simultaneously.According to this Mexico government had announced compensation to the United States government. The data should be questionable here because there is no evidence of the pollution is exactly caused by free trade agreement. However, the point in here is; even under a free trade agreement between two countries, there still have conflict from each other. Similarly, when a transnational organization goes into a oversea market, even they bring new Job opportunities or contribute to the host country, there still would have complain by the government (Villager, 2012). Hence the pressure from governmentThirdly, according to the development of information technology, the living standard is increasing continuously. To meet the needs in each market, transnational organization should be very flexible with market trend. A large group of consumers has emerged to reject the homogeneity product design and performance of standardized global products (Bartlett & Beams, 2011). For example, TV is becoming a part of necessary items in each home. More people are connecting DVD player, game player, computer or other equipment with TV let the homogeneity product â€Å"TV† becomes more entertained product.Hence for TEASE to Join a new oversea market, only selling the vehic le would not be enough to survive in current market trend (Bartlett & Beams, 2011). For TEASE Motors successfully go into oversea market, they should have an unbeatable management style and the global business management strategies. Three strategies that TEASE Motors can be use, Decentralized Federation, Coordinated Federation or Centralized Hub. Each strategy has characteristics for prevent unexpected issues. Decentralized federation is an organizational configuration model that provides authority of most key assets and resources to each subsidiary.And the connection between each subsidiary and head office is comparatively loose. In other words, the organization treats subsidiaries as independent national businesses (Bartlett & Beams, 2011). In TEASE Motors' case, this model should not be efficient and sustainable. The separation of each subsidiary would cause the leaking of information. The coordinated federation indicates decentralized many assets and resources to each subsidiary but still the corporate management has the authority to control everything.Additionally, the linkage between each subsidiary and head office is very tight and formal thus compare with centralized federation, it would be relatively easier to control and protect technologies. Last, the centralized hub means most of the assets and resources are controlled by center office. It only allows a small portion of authority to each subsidiary about management. In other words, this type of managing strategy treats subsidiaries as a pipeline for global marketing (Bartlett & Beams, 2011).It sounds a good managing strategy for TEASE to protect its information and technologies. However, it might cause losing chance to gain new opportunities. Again according to he development of living standard and culture difference, we cannot give a conclusion only consider with these definition of managing model. In management perspective of TEASE, extend market business into transnational organization must cons ider every single piece of information. If they do not have a complete managing strategy, it would be very vulnerable to leak their top business secret or core technologies to others.How to solve the problems in establishing a transnational company In the process of becoming a transnational company, different levels of economic, political, culture, genealogical and management forces are faced to the company. Thus, It becomes more and more vital to the company that how to develop their ability to effectively solve those diverse and conflicting problems at the same time. Transnational company needs to use transnational strategy to solve the conflicting environmental forces and win the competitive advantages.In the aspects of responding to the force for global integration and coordination, transnational company must build global efficiency through a worldwide infrastructure of distributed but specialized assets and capabilities that exploit comparative advantages, scale economies, and scope economies simultaneously. ( Bartlett & Beams, 1943 Pl 25). Through exploiting differences in sourcing and market potential across countries, exploiting economies of scale, and exploiting economies of scope, the transnational company can build worldwide competitive advantages.In the process of exploiting worldwide economies of scale, the transnational company must develop a more sophisticated and differentiated configuration of assets and capabilities, which means the transnational company needs to centralize the key resources and capabilities within the home-country operation to not only realize call economies but also protect certain core competencies; certain other resources must be ex-centralized to complement the benefits of scale economies; and some other resources must be decentralized on a regional or local basis to protect against operation risk and reduce logistical and coordination costs.Also, in order to achieving the competitive advantages, transnational company ne ed to fully understand the concept of â€Å"global chess† which is using cross-subsidizing method to leverage their existing strengths to cover their weaker products and market positions.On the other and, the transnational company not only need to build an interdependent and integrated network organization within the company but also need to collaborate relationships externally with other firms. This needs the transnational company to form strategic alliances and coalitions to collaborate, isolate and defeat competitors through the technology exchange, global competition, industry convergence, economies of scale and reduction of risk.In the aspects of responding to the force for local differentiation and responsiveness, because more and more national customers o longer demand simply differentiation and the host government desires to build their national competitiveness and dominates economic policy in many countries, so transnational company must have the flexibility to chang e product designs, sourcing patterns, and pricing policies continuously to remain responsive to continually changing national environment and to snatch the minimum scale efficiency, as well as the requisite government relationships and consumer understanding to respond to market.In the aspects of the forces for worldwide learning and innovation, transnational company must build the capability to learn environmental and nominative information from many complex circumstances in different parts of the world, collate and interpret that information to become a part of the company's shared knowledge base and provide input to future strategies. Also, transnational company needs to spread and share its learning outcomes to other companies throughout their global operations.In addition, although some products and processes must still be developed centrally for worldwide use and others must be created locally in each environment to meet purely local demands, transnational company must create truly transnational innovations through increasingly use its access to multiple centers of technologies and familiarity with diverse customer learning and innovation is to act as the sensors of new market trends or technological developments; to attract scarce talent and expertise; and to collaborate with other subsidiaries to exploit the resulting new products and initiatives worldwide. Bartlett & Beams, 1943 IPPP) Responding to management forces In the process of managing a transnational company, the management must create the ability to sense and analyze the numerous and often conflicting worldwide opportunities, pressures, and demands.Within the management groups, national subsidiary management is needed to sense and represent the changing needs of local consumers and the increasing pressures from host governments; capable global business management is required to track the strategy of global competitors and provide the coordination necessary to respond appropriately; and influe ntial worldwide functional management is needed to concentrate corporate knowledge, information, and expertise and facilitate their transfer among organizational units. Bartlett & Beams, 1943 IPPP). Because of the unbalance relationship between sectional subsidiary management, global business management, and worldwide functional management in the decision-making, the transnational company need to build the multidimensional perspectives which means the transnational company need to build up the capability, credibility, and influence of the less powerful management groups while protect the moral and expertise of the dominant group to balance the different management groups.Simultaneously, the transnational company should build the integrated network configuration, which means the management needs to specialize and give the responsibility to their national units to dead them become the company's world source for a given product or expertise. However, the parent companies still hold the capability to secure and tap into the operation activities of their national units. Finally, the management in transnational company is required to have the ability to differentiate its operating relationships and change its decision-making roles by function, across businesses, among geographic units, and over time.In turn, the management process must be able to change from product to product, from country to country, and even from decision to decision. ( Bartlett & Beams, 1943 IPPP). Similarly, the transnational company not only needs to build an interdependent and integrated network organization within the company but also need to collaborate relationships externally with other firms. In the process of managing the alliance as following: 1. The management of transnational company needs to evaluate the potential partners, escalate the commitment, and try their best to make the scope of alliance simplicity and flexibility. . The management needs to manage the boundary though struct uring the interface, manage the knowledge flows through integrating the interface, and provide the tragic direction through building an effective governance structure. Responding to challenge forces In responding to the challenge force, the transnational company needs to become a transformation company that not only complete the commitment required but also help developing countries deal with problems.The transnational company needs to make significant investments in developing products or services to meet important to use their positive influence to improve the exploitative and unfair circumstance in the workplace and the communities in which they operate. China – A New Market 1. The Reason of Choosing China A. New Entrepreneur Sometimes, companies that enter the market first would take more advantage than the others, which enter the market later, such as Amazon and Fed. They are both good examples to show the advantage of being leading entrepreneurs. But for China ‘s foreign enterprises, the situation would often Just be the opposite.In this vast, undeveloped, and big market, the phenomenon that firms, which enter later, would take more advantages occurs. In fact, Just entering the market, enterprises are likely to get support from the pioneers. The specialists of business and the legal said that n the automotive, retail and technology industries, new entrants that enter into the business may be more smoothly. Many foreign companies can set up fully owned Company directly, rather than Joint ventures with Chinese government-owned enterprises. Moreover, we can also learn from the lessons advance into the enterprise.Some previous companies entering China is still enduring the trauma that Chinese bureaucracy gave them the last eighties and nineties, not to mention sometimes they had to corruption and inefficient behavior and even local businesses cooperation. B. Potential Upscale Market According to recently study, the power of Luxury purchasing of Chinese consumers is one of the top three positions of the entire world. That implies that China is absolutely a market of huge potential and we should make Tease a luxury brand and the target costumers are the people who are not sensitive to price.About the dealer location, we should select the most high-end shopping center, with many famous brand luxury goods and fashion neighbor, we can see that the initial positioning Tease into China, taking the luxury car brand image. We may take experiences from Apple, for the reason that we are similar with Apple. Since Steve Jobs' published speech, prices of apple products tend to lead to amazing cheer, given Apple's these experiences in China, Phone's brilliant achievements, we have no reason not to learn from Apple. 2.Management Configuration To protect the core technology and essential patents, we decide to adopt geographic subsidiary management; means that we would like to operate subsidiary company in China instead of choose a partner of international Joint ventures. We would send top managers from the US parent company to supervise the local companies and do decision-making with few local managers. We would like to choose Chinese local lealer to make marketing research and development, make marketing plans and charge the sales department. 3.Tease Commitment in China Tease is committed to the principle of working in China, with China, for China. We desire to bring about positive change also extends to the workplace and the communities which we operate. In that case, we would build a partnership with Non- governmental Organizations or supra-government agencies that can provide expertise in social program delivery that the companies typically lack. To be pacific, friendly and be helpful to the local communities though all the sections. We would ray the best to focus on design and develop the new economizing energy engine.

Professionalism in Nursing Essay

There are many professions and disciplines in which professionalism is of the utmost importance, and nursing is among them. Within the field of nursing, there is much value to be placed with the enhancement of professionalism within the profession. Nursing is a profession that relies on practitioners to act in a way that represents the virtuousness of the broader discipline, as all nurses are in a position of responsibility. The following essay will further examine the topic of professionalism in nursing, and from this it will be clear that professionalism among nurses is of the utmost importance, and nursing educators need to emphasize this fact early on, so that nurses can establish professional tendencies that will follow them throughout their career. More than any other profession, nursing has long been concerned with establishing professional values and behaviors within their discipline. Nurses are people that work within the medical industry, and therefore they see people all of different types, with different medical conditions. There is an inherent need for equality and human dignity, and this is part of the expectation of professionalism that nurses have. Additionally, the nursing industry is broad, encompassing different people in different situations, but there needs to be something that binds them all as nurses. This is where professionalism comes in. For example, in North America most people have faith that wherever they are, there is competent medical care available. This includes nurses, and therefore there needs to be a level of professionalism which links nurses everywhere so that people can continue to have faith that wherever they go, they can count on the availability of quality medical care. Professionals in the nursing field are those nurses that understand that their discipline extends beyond the individual, and it is the collection of nurses throughout the nursing community that create the industry. Nurses need to understand that they are a team, and they must all work together –  not just with each other, but also with other members of their health care community, from physicians to administrators. According to Girard et al., â€Å"Professional nursing practice is a commitment to compassion, caring and strong ethical values; continuous development of self and others; accountability and responsibility for insightful practice; demonstrating a spirit of collaboration and flexibility.† There are lots of expectations that fall upon nurses who seek to be professional in their practice. To begin with, nurses must understand that they are working within a broader profession, and therefore they must act in accordance with professional guidelines that have been set for them. In Ontario, it is expected that all nurses abide by the Standards of Practice for Registered Nurses. Nurses should also ensure that they have the training, experience and skills needed to perform the tasks that they are expected to perform. This includes having an understanding of the theoretical frameworks which have come to shape the discipline over the years. For example, a professional nurse should have an understanding of Jean Watson’s Theory of Care, and the impact that it has had on the development of nursing practice. By having grounding in nursing theory, nurses are better able to make the best decisions in the course of their daily practice, and this contributes to their overall prof essionalism. A further component of nursing which is essential to professionalism is quality care. Nurses are expected to give the best possible care to all clients, regardless of the situation or who they are. Professionalism means that all nurses treat everybody equally, and do their best to ensure that the highest quality care is being provided. This includes a dedication to principles of justice, honesty, respect and integrity. When people require the care of nurses, they do not necessarily personally know the nurse that will be giving them care, but there is always an expectation that the nurse will provide good care, whoever the nurse is, and this expectation is a consequence of the professional reputation that nurses have garnered, and it is important that nurses continue to warrant this professional reputation. Nursing professionalism stems from nurses developing their practice. This means that nurses need to work to educate others about the role of nurses within the health care sector, as well as lead by example. Nursing  professionalism requires that those who work within the industry are leaders, and this facilitates the passage of professional tendencies from older and more experienced nurses to newer nurses. Overall, nurses need to conduct themselves in a way that is good for the profession; a way that reflects well on all nurses, not just the individual. This works to give nurses and nursing the reputation of professionalism, and further serves to benefit the profession. Beyond these things, there are also many more factors that contribute to the overall professionalism in nurses, and these factors are so important because people inherently trust that nurses are professional. As such, appearance goes a long way in maintaining the image of being a professional. To begin with, nurses must understand that their appearance says a lot about them. Nobody wants to go to a hospital or a clinic and see a nurse that is not well put together. By putting forth a clean and professional appearance, people will automatically feel at ease with the situation they are in, and will more likely to be cooperative throughout the process. Furthermore, a professional does not discriminate against people; they treat everyone the same – whether they are doctors, patients, janitors or administrators. It is important not to facilitate a hierarchy within the organization that you work in. A nurse also needs to continually improve. Just because a nurse has finished their training, does not mean that they are done learning. Becoming an excellent service provider means continually learning from the experiences you have, and building on them to provide quality care in the future. In fact, professionals realize that formal training is only part of the process. When they are on the job, they realize that they will continue to learn, from their experiences and those around them. True professionals capitalize on the experiences that they have, and leverage them to become better nurses with each passing day. Finally, nurses must always give their best effort. It is not acceptable for nurses to only give a partial effort on some days. Regardless of how â€Å"well† a nurse is feeling on any particular day, it is important for the pursuit of professionalism that nurses are able to provide excellence, day in and day out. Professionalism is not something that comes easy, and therefore it is  important that nurses evaluate themselves on a continual basis to ensure that they are maintaining the standards that make them professional. There are a number of questions that a nurse can ask themselves each day. The first is whether or not they are being professional. The reality is that most people are aware whether or not their actions constitute as being professional. For example, if a nurse wears a dirty or unkempt uniform to the hospital, they know they are being unprofessional. By undergoing a process of self-evaluation, a nurse can determine, on a daily basis, what they can do to improve themselves and become more professional. For example, if a nurse has a dirty uniform, they need to ask figure out why this is the case. Maybe it is just an isolated incident and it is unlikely to happen again, but maybe it is something that happens often, in which case the nurse will need to take a step back and figure out what can be done to prevent this from happening on a regular basis. A nurse also needs to look within themselves to determine if they are treating others with the respect that they deserve. It is important to understand that nursing is a team game, and all the members of the team rely on each other. For example, a nurse could not provide quality care if the janitor did not do his or her part. For this reason, nurses need to continually ask themselves if they are treating others with the level of professionalism that they would expect to be treated. In many cases, this self- evaluation will show that they have been treating others professionally, but it might also show that there are improvements to be made. Finally, nurses need to continually ask themselves how an increased level of professionalism could improve the workplace. There are often small steps that can be taken to make a big difference, and by re-evaluating oneself on a daily basis, a nurse can identify what they are doing well, and where improvements can be made for the purpose of improving professionalism. While all nurses have a role to play in creating professionalism, there are some barriers that stand in the way. One of the major barriers is a difference in educational background among nurses. Different nurses have different levels of education, and this can serve to divide, but nurses  ought to work to minimize the effects of educational disparity among them. Further, gender issues can serve as a barrier to professionalism. Nursing has long been thought of as female-dominated (or â€Å"women’s work†), but now more than ever, men are entering the profession, and equality among the sexes in the profession is something that will serve to increase professionalism as well. These are just two of main barriers that stand in the way of professionalism in nursing, but these barriers and others do not stand in the way of professionalism, rather they are just reasons for nurses to work harder for the benefit of the reputation of their profession. Overall, it can be seen that maintaining professionalism in nursing is essential to the profession. Nurses put themselves in positions of trust each and everyday, and therefore it is essential that the people that rely on the care of nurses are confident that they are being cared for by professionals. There are barriers to professionalism in the nursing industry, but they can be overcome if nurses work together toward a common goal. This essay has shown that professionalism among nurses is of the utmost importance, and nursing educators need to emphasize this fact early on so that nurses can establish professional tendencies that will follow them throughout their career.

Hitchcocks Notorious in the Company of Antonio Damasio essays

Hitchcocks Notorious in the Company of Antonio Damasio essays Alfred Hitchcocks Notorious is an amazing film with an extreme depth of field. The film goes very fast, like an express train, or a feverish dream. It emphasizes expressive and poetic theory as opposed to formulaic and plodding. Notorious becomes essentially abstract, like an outline of things much deeper, more secretive, and unspoken. This film is one of great emotion. One goes from the highs and lows, and then from ecstasy to tragedy and back again. Antonio R. Damasio wrote the article entitled Descartes Error and the Future of Human Life. Contained within this article Damasio offers a superb realization of the power of emotion. Through this emotion he elucidates a poetic intelligence in film that lights up the screen and creates one of the greatest movies of all time. Notorious setting is a result of the confused politics and morality, both personal and collective of the immediate post- World War II period in America. At the start of the film, Alicia, the leading lady, has just been confronted with the facts of her fathers war crimes of treason in collaboration with the Nazis. This father is carted off to jail, and a government agent, Devlin, starts tailing Alicia, the daughter. Alicia is infamous for committing a misdemeanor like a harlot. She throws herself, over and over, against the rocky reefs of Devlin. She is a modern, post-war woman. Alicia is a hostess, and flirts with the fantasy of domesticity, and of being a wife: Marriage must be wonderful, she says, With this sort of thing going on every day. She wants to believe all that, but maybe shes not so sure. She needs the proof of love, commitment and trust from Devlin, if shes really going to have to give up being promiscuous. But at the same time, shes driven towards the flame of love. Alex is a very interesting character who was developed as deceitful an...

How to Save 50% of Your Income for Retirement

How to Save 50% of Your Income for Retirement You may think you have years and years to go before you have to start thinking about retirement. Think again. Though the idea isn’t looming on your horizon just yet, it’s actually the best time to start planning. Give yourself a huge edge to being wealthy in your old age. Compare what you’d have after 40 years of savings as opposed to 20- more than double, giving interest rates. You’ll be able to retire sooner, and better. You don’t even have to make a lot to save. There’s plenty you can do making less than $40k per year. So stop procrastinating. Don’t pass up on any opportunities that come your way. Keep your eyes open for them and take them whenever you can- your future self will thank you.1. Save NowIt doesn’t matter whether you’ve never saved, are bad at saving, or have no idea how to do it. Now is the time. Don’t let your expenses become an excuse. These are your prime years; even putting away a little now can pay off a lot later.2. Get HelpCompanies advertise 401k plans in their employment benefits packages for a reason. This is part of your compensation- take advantage of it. Sign up and start using it. And bonus points if your employer has a matching program. Let them double your money for you!3. Go RothNo company sponsored retirement plan? Sign up for the next best option, a Roth IRA. You fund this with money from your paycheck after tax, but when you withdraw the funds later, unlike a 401k, you won’t be taxed. Put as much as you can into that fund. Yes, even now. Do you really need that pair of designer jeans? You can also try the MyRA, from the U.S. Treasury, which promises that the savings bond will never decline in value. Bonus: there are no low-balance fees.4. InvestIf investing is an option for you, do so. And do so shrewdly. Try to put a bit in stocks, not just safe bonds with a safe (and flat) return rate. Look for funds that are targeted for your age bracket to help g uide you. And find a manager you trust!5. Get SmartAn overwhelming number of people don’t have any actual financial literacy. Don’t be one of them. Take control of your future funds by making sure you understand how markets and investments and money work. If your company offers access to a financial advisor? Sit down with them ASAP.6. Stay Out of DebtStudent loans and mortgages are a necessary evil. But try to keep debt from piling up on your credit cards. You’ll pay more than double the original amount for your purchases if you let the interest charges get the better of you.7. Have a StashMake yourself a safety net so you never have to dip into the red. That way, if your car dies, you’re not saddled with a huge credit card bill that has the possibility of becoming a spiraling balance down the road.8. Get Those Tax BreaksFind out whether your tax bracket offers any breaks for contributing to a 401k or IRA. There’s also something called the â€Å"s aver’s credit† for individuals beneath a certain income threshold. See if you qualify.

The History and Process of Textile Production

The History and Process of Textile Production The creation of textiles, or cloth and fabric materials, is one of humanity’s oldest activities. Despite the great advances in production and manufacturing of clothing, the creation of natural textiles still to this day relies on the effective conversion of fiber into yarn and then yarn to fabric. As such, there are four primary steps in the manufacturing of textiles which have remained the same. The first is the harvest and cleaning of the fiber or wool. The second is carding and spinning into threads. The third is to weave the threads into cloth. Lastly, the fourth is to fashion and sew the cloth into clothes. Early Production Like food and shelter, clothing is a basic human requirement for survival. When settled Neolithic cultures discovered the advantages of woven fibers over animal hides, the making of cloth emerged as one of humankinds fundamental technologies drawing on existing basketry techniques. From the earliest hand-held spindle and distaff and basic hand loom to the highly automated spinning machines and power looms of today, the principles of turning vegetable fiber into cloth have remained constant: Plants are cultivated and the fiber harvested. The fibers are cleaned and aligned, then spun into yarn or thread. Finally, the yarns are interwoven to produce cloth. Today we also spin complex synthetic fibers, but they are still woven together using the same process as cotton and flax were millennia ago. The Process, Step-by-Step Picking: After the fiber of choice was harvested, picking was the process that followed. Picking removed foreign matter (dirt, insects, leaves, seeds) from the fiber. Early pickers beat the fibers to loosen them and removed debris by hand. Eventually, machines used rotating teeth to do the job, producing a thin lap ready for carding.Carding: Carding was the process by which the fibers were combed to align and join them into a loose rope called a sliver. Hand carders pulled the fibers between wire teeth set in boards. Machines would be developed to do the same thing with rotating cylinders. Slivers (rhymes with divers) were then combined, twisted, and drawn out into roving.Spinning. After carding created slivers and roving, spinning was that process that twisted and drew out the roving and wound the resulting yarn on a bobbin. A spinning wheel operator drew out the cotton by hand. A series of rollers accomplished this on machines called throstles and spinning mules.Warping: Warping ga thered yarns from a number of bobbins and wound them close together on a reel or spool. From there they were transferred to a warp beam, which was then mounted on a loom. Warp threads were those that ran lengthwise on the loom. Weaving: Weaving was the final stage in making textiles and cloth. Crosswise woof threads were interwoven with warp threads on a loom. A 19th-century power loom worked essentially like a hand loom, except that its actions were mechanized and therefore much faster.

Family Resilience Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Family Resilience Assessment - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that family resilience and the concept behind it range beyond our comprehension of healthy family functioning to circumstances of adversity.  The assumption, however, is that there is no universal model that adequately fits all families and their situations due to their unique nature. The fact that some situations strengthen some families and increase their resourcefulness, while others crumble under the stress and pressure associated with the crises, serves to prove that there is no universal reaction that is guaranteed when faced with adversity. A family is a structure where there are rules to adhere to and specified roles to play by each of the members of the unit. There is a certain expectation as regards how the members of the system respond to each other with respect to their roles and are defined by the agreements of their relationships. Within the confines of the system, the development of patterns is seen in scenarios where a par ticular family member causes predictable behavioral influences in other family members and is also influenced by the behavioral traits of the rest of the family. Continuing the same trend of behaviors within a system may bring about balance in the family system, but also there is the risk of growing dysfunctional. For instance, if a spouse is forced to assume the responsibilities of the other for one reason or the other, the shift in roles could have adverse effects on the family system brought about by the equilibrium shift as a result of overreaching roles. My current nuclear family is characterized by a system of genuine family support, and mutual responsibilities in our respective roles. My live-in girlfriend, who we have been together for three and a half years, has three kids whom I absolutely adore, despite the fact that am not their biological father. Thanks to her kids, I have received a new lease in life by becoming a grand daddy-by-girlfriend. This has given me the chance to see a child grow, and I am grateful for this especially since I miss out on raising my own daughter and see her grow up. My relationship with my ex-family is nothing to write home about as no special bond exists. The quality of life back when I was still married to Sonia was horrible. The infidelity by my wife, now my ex-wife, nearly drove me to ruins, and the fact that she abandoned me while bedridden in the hospital and took off with our daughter did not make this easier. It actually made things worse, and this experience coupled with the horrible and abu sive childhood I had, was a suicide in waiting. Growing up surrounded by a mother who hated men, and two sisters who had been taught to loathe men, my childhood was doomed from the start. The fact that I did not have any functional relationship with any of my relatives from either side of my parents families meant that I was stuck with the only family I knew. Describe and discuss the key processes of family resilience: Belief Systems, Organizational Patterns, Communication Processes as they apply to yourself and your family. Belief Systems The members of a family are able to derive some meaning from circumstances of crisis, and therefore foster a positive and a hopeful outlook. This is, however, dependent on the family’s attitude towards the suffering, crises and the options available to them. In my case, making the best out of hard situations was not easy, not that it was expected anyway. It took me a while before I could see clearly that I had to change my attitude towards living a better quality life. Initially, before I got my act together, I dwelled on the issues that faced me instead of trying to find a way to stop myself from suffocating. Once I understood that the only way to move on was to accept my

How to Develop An Assessment Tool To Facilitate The Organizations Essay

How to Develop An Assessment Tool To Facilitate The Organizations Hiring Process - Essay Example To increase the percentage of hiring the right person for the job, it is necessary to consider the following set of criteria: 1. Verify job application before setting an interview. Job application will enable the HR manager to have a good insight as to whether or not the job applicant is loyal to his/her employer. Through the one-on-one interview with the job applicant, HR manager could somehow determine the type of personality and previous work exposure the applicant has. 2. Skills evaluation and job analysis. It is not enough to read through the resume regarding the applicant’s claimed skills. It is best to give the applicant an actual test to allow the HR manager evaluate the applicant’s potential work performance. A job analysis is an essential part of job recruitment processes. Through job analysis, HR managers can define a particular job responsibility and identify the a potential employee’s work abilities, skills, educational background and experiences necessary to allow the person to perform a given job position (Stone 2005, p. 10). 3. Based on the applicant’s rating and employment verification result, HR manager should be ready to create the applicant’s skills profile. This profile will be useful in narrowing the criteria used in making the final decision. According to Hacker (1997), â€Å"a poor recruitment decision can cost a company the amount equal to 30% of the company’s First-year earnings† due to the possibility that the company will lose some of its loyal customers, the high cost associated with the provision of training programs, advertising costs, recruitment fees, and lower productivity level (Bach 2005, p. 115). Based on the background information gathered from each of the five companies, it is safe to conclude that a successful hiring process tool is composed of a set of criteria that can be useful

The Handmaid's tale is a story about power structures existing in life Essay

The Handmaid's tale is a story about power structures existing in life and relationships. Discuss - Essay Example The story was written in the 1980s in the wake of revived conservatism and religious awakening that superseded the turbulent 60s and 70s when the battle of the sexes was at its peak. The feminist movement had enabled women to take control of their lives and there was a shift in the balance of power between the sexes. Consequently there was concern about declining morality, sexual freedom and its implications and the plummeting birth-rate due to increased birth control, infertility due to pollution and other factors and the legalization of abortion. Religious conservatives raised their voices in protest and lots of people where brought under their sway. The Handmaid’s Tale was written by Atwood in order to explore the consequences of fanatical commitment to the intolerant principles espoused by religious extremists. The story is set in the future, where the United States is overrun by extremist Christian revolutionaries. What follows is a reign of terror, narrated by Offred, a lowly handmaid in the newly developed power structure. Handmaids exist for breeding purposes and their worth is measured by the viability of their ovaries. They are assigned to elite couples, in the upper echelons of power, who have been unable to conceive. Their menstrual cycles are closely monitored and at the right time, the handmaids must have sex, in a bizarre ritual where they lie between the legs of the wives’ who clasp their hands, while their husbands do what is necessary in order to procreate, in keeping with biblical precedent. Women have absolutely no freedom in the Republic of Gilead and lead severely restricted lives. In the course of her chilling narrative, Offred deviates from the present in order to talk about the past and in doing so helps the reader reconstruct the events that led up to the present state of affairs. She talks about her love affair with Luke and their marriage which was nullified by the new regime as it does not condone

Has building a fence along the US Mexico border help fight illegal Term Paper

Has building a fence along the US Mexico border help fight illegal immigration - Term Paper Example Since centuries, immigration has remained one of the most important issues legally, as well as politically due to the division of globe into developed and developing countries that inclines huge waves of people to emigrate from one place to another for their brighter future. However, in this process, it has been an observation that besides emigrating legally, documented evidence has indicated numerous occasions when huge number of people has crossed borders illegally due to various reasons, which has resulted in the notion of illegal immigration. In particular, every country confronts the issue of illegal immigration; however, statistics have indicated that USA-Mexico border is the platform that witnesses highest number of illegal crossings of the border in comparison to other parts of the globe, which results in various adverse outcomes. For instance, experts have indicated that illegal immigration causes many unfavorable effects on USA, and although many individuals and families cr oss US-Mexico border with no intention of carrying out criminal activities and purely for their brighter future, still, their illegal crossing causes impact on economy and social order of the USA . Since many years, USA has been putting efforts to reduce and eliminate activities of the illegal immigration on the US-Mexico border, and that has been putting a huge burden on the US government’s spending, still, thousands of people cross this border annually.In the result, US Congress and immigration experts came up with the idea of building a high-tech fence along the US-Mexico border, which has already resulted in huge debate and the idea has received mixed responses. The basic plan is to build â€Å"a 2,000-mile fence along the US-Mexico border and this has been the proposal of Duncan Hunter, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee†3. In order to understand whether this fence will be helpful in fighting illegal immigration, it is very imperative to understand what it will look like. In this regard, reports have indicated that it will be a combination of â€Å"barbed wire, powerful wire fences, high-technological sensors, and a path for border patrol veh icles, CCTV cameras, and movement detectors†4. As of the year 2010, the US government was successful in building approximately 640 miles of this 2,000-miles fence, and the construction is still in process. Building of such a high-tech complicated wall/fence seems very effective in curbing illegal immigration; however, this is not as simple as it looks, and various factors play a crucial role that will allow us to understand the different effects of US-Mexico border fence. In brief, analysis has shown that construction of this fence has resulted in significant reduction in the rate of illegal immigrants. For instance, San Diego was first location for construction of pilot project of this fence, and it was a 14-mile fence in the California district5. Reports indicate that the project showed successful results as the number of illegal immigrants dropped from â€Å"202,000 in the year 1992 to only nine thousand in the year 2004†6 that indicates the effective outcomes of thi s fence. On the other hand, experts have indicated that although location of the fences has reduced the activities of illegal immigration; however, locations at the end of fence has become a platform for individuals and cartels to carry out the activities of illegal immigration in more organized manner that has been a new problem due to this fence. Furthermore, in order to respond to this construction of fence, there seem two major arguments. Firstly, it has been an understanding that although the fences have been successful in restricting the illegal immigrants; however, the construction of fence has caused uneasiness and apprehension on both sides of

Country Risk Analysis of Italy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Country Risk Analysis of Italy - Research Paper Example The strong export potential, relative underdevelopment of the southern region and the markets of north Africa and east European countries are the favorable endowments. Keywords: Economy, politics, geography, industry, immigration, drugs, EEC, disparities, factor productivity. Country Analysis of Italy Introduction It is important to evaluate conditions that support or hinder the prospects for a business in a particular location while undertaking new start ups, expansion, acquisition and/or other forms of investment. Political, economic, and geographic factors are taken into consideration for evaluation and decision making. Implicit within these broad categories are the demographic and legal factors. A range of reputed published resources like the country reports of the London based Economic Intelligence Unit, the CIA World Fact Books, the World Bank, IMF and European Commission reports can provide the necessary data for analysis for all major countries. The present paper deals with c ountry analysis of Italy, an EU member country that is in the thick of a political and economic crisis in the recent past. Italy became a republic in 1946 after the World War II and is a member of NATO and European Economic Community (EEC) in the euro zone. This country of about 60 million people with practically 100% literacy rate and dominated by the Roman Catholic faith followers, is a developed economy and has been a strong supporter of the political and monetary integration of the EU Zone countries (Anon, n.d., geography.about.com). Italy is a republic, headed by a President as the constitutional head, while the executive authority vests with the Prime Minister (also called the president of the council of ministers) (CIA, 2011). It follows the constitutional form of democratically elected government with two houses of legislature (Senate and Chamber of Deputies), the judiciary and the executive wings having respective roles. Although Italy is not a signatory to the Internationa l Court of Justice jurisdiction, it respects international legal responsibilities like most democratic nations (CIA, 2011). The country is divided into twenty administrative regions of which five regions enjoy a higher degree of autonomy. Regions are further divided into provinces, numbering about 100 at present. Each province is under the watchful eyes of a representative of the federal government. Separatist tendencies, left-wing extremism, and remnants of fascist elements have been sources of political challenges that Italy faced since inception. These risks continue even today, although they have been substantially controlled. Political parties of different hues like left-of-centre or right-of-centre and others form coalitions among themselves and with other parties to govern the country. Italy has largely overcome the period of extremist left-wing terrorism between 1970s and 90s (Dugdale-Pointon, 2007). Widespread corruption has been the bane of Italian politics and economy, an d this has led to short-lived spans of governments, policies and programs. Investigations into corruption scandals have caught up with many politicians, resulting in introduction of political and electoral reforms. Scandals involving the personal life of the immediate past Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the deep economic

Has building a fence along the US Mexico border help fight illegal Term Paper

Has building a fence along the US Mexico border help fight illegal immigration - Term Paper Example Since centuries, immigration has remained one of the most important issues legally, as well as politically due to the division of globe into developed and developing countries that inclines huge waves of people to emigrate from one place to another for their brighter future. However, in this process, it has been an observation that besides emigrating legally, documented evidence has indicated numerous occasions when huge number of people has crossed borders illegally due to various reasons, which has resulted in the notion of illegal immigration. In particular, every country confronts the issue of illegal immigration; however, statistics have indicated that USA-Mexico border is the platform that witnesses highest number of illegal crossings of the border in comparison to other parts of the globe, which results in various adverse outcomes. For instance, experts have indicated that illegal immigration causes many unfavorable effects on USA, and although many individuals and families cr oss US-Mexico border with no intention of carrying out criminal activities and purely for their brighter future, still, their illegal crossing causes impact on economy and social order of the USA . Since many years, USA has been putting efforts to reduce and eliminate activities of the illegal immigration on the US-Mexico border, and that has been putting a huge burden on the US government’s spending, still, thousands of people cross this border annually.In the result, US Congress and immigration experts came up with the idea of building a high-tech fence along the US-Mexico border, which has already resulted in huge debate and the idea has received mixed responses. The basic plan is to build â€Å"a 2,000-mile fence along the US-Mexico border and this has been the proposal of Duncan Hunter, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee†3. In order to understand whether this fence will be helpful in fighting illegal immigration, it is very imperative to understand what it will look like. In this regard, reports have indicated that it will be a combination of â€Å"barbed wire, powerful wire fences, high-technological sensors, and a path for border patrol veh icles, CCTV cameras, and movement detectors†4. As of the year 2010, the US government was successful in building approximately 640 miles of this 2,000-miles fence, and the construction is still in process. Building of such a high-tech complicated wall/fence seems very effective in curbing illegal immigration; however, this is not as simple as it looks, and various factors play a crucial role that will allow us to understand the different effects of US-Mexico border fence. In brief, analysis has shown that construction of this fence has resulted in significant reduction in the rate of illegal immigrants. For instance, San Diego was first location for construction of pilot project of this fence, and it was a 14-mile fence in the California district5. Reports indicate that the project showed successful results as the number of illegal immigrants dropped from â€Å"202,000 in the year 1992 to only nine thousand in the year 2004†6 that indicates the effective outcomes of thi s fence. On the other hand, experts have indicated that although location of the fences has reduced the activities of illegal immigration; however, locations at the end of fence has become a platform for individuals and cartels to carry out the activities of illegal immigration in more organized manner that has been a new problem due to this fence. Furthermore, in order to respond to this construction of fence, there seem two major arguments. Firstly, it has been an understanding that although the fences have been successful in restricting the illegal immigrants; however, the construction of fence has caused uneasiness and apprehension on both sides of

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Education - Essay Example This means that students relying on these programs lag behind in terms of technological proficiency and are not able to compete for jobs with their counterparts from other schools (Ross, 2006). Another concern rises from the curriculum’s dependence on theoretical approaches to concepts taught in science classes. Currently, practical examinations contribute very little to the final grades of students. This has made most students to concentrate more on their theoretical studies at the expense of practical studies. There is also need for inclusion of critical co-curricular activities to ensure that students develop to their full potential. While there is need to emphasize on academic success, this should not be achieved at the expense of co-curricular activities such as music and drama (Stark & Lattuca, 2013). Having raised these concerns, I believe the following changes can be important in improving the curriculum. One of the changes relates with aligning the curriculum to ensure that it emphasizes more on analytical thinking skills required at workplace. Science courses at the school should emphasize on science practices. This can be achieved through increasing the percentage contribution of practical examinations to the final grades of students while increasing practical classes (Stark & Lattuca, 2013). There is also need to increase the minimum requirement for entry into mathematics courses in the school to ensure that students who enroll in these courses are able to complete them. This will not only reduce the number of dropouts but also ensure that students graduating from the school have the required standards of mathematical knowledge. The curriculum should further be adjusted such that more emphasis is put on applications of mathematical concepts rather than just learning the concepts in class. Technology programs should also be reviewed to ensure that they equip students with the

Smart Guys In the Room Complete Essay Example for Free

Smart Guys In the Room Complete Essay The documentary film, the Smartest Guys In the Room was written and produced by Alex Gibney, who is also the writer and producer of Eugene Jareckis â€Å"The Trials of Henry Kissinger†. This documentary is mainly and exanimation of the way a corporate giant rose and fell due to financial and accounting malpractices by the executives of the company, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. This film documentary is based on a book written by the Fortune Magazine reporters namely Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. It starts in the scene whereby Enron executive Cliff Baxter is re-enacted after which the films takes the viewer through a flashback whereby the chairman of Enron, Mr. Kenneth Lay is described as a person from a humble background with his father being a preacher hence the reference of him, as a son of a preacher. The film also depicts the life of Mr. Kenneth and how he managed to rise up in his career in the corporate world, the development of various business strategies which he applied in the natural gas business and also the kind of relationship which he had with the family of the then president Bush. From the film, one is able to observe that the financial and the accounting malpractices started long time as early as the year 1987. During this period, various outrageous and risky practices and profit skimming were encouraged by Lay of two traders involved in oil trading in Enron’s office at Valhalla. This was due to the reason these traders used to bring a lot of money to the company through the oil trade with the company. The arrival of the CEO Jeff Skilling brought extensive and aggressive form of accounting philosophy which became part of the practices of the company. From this documentary, The Smartest Guys In the Room, it can also be observed that the company went to great lengths through various malpractices so that it could appear to profitable yet it was not. The true financial situation and position of the company was worse although the investors were made to believe that the company was performing well. The executives applied crude ways of ensuring that they win at any costs. The executives of the company bare portray as ones who are more concerned with creating an image for the company and do not care whether the practices which they apply are acceptable and beneficial to the shareholders and even other stakeholders such as the employees of the company. The executives employed illegal ways of doing business which included offering huge contracts for their financial analysts so that they could not portray the true picture of the firm. Furthermore, the executives as observed in the documentary decided that the company could loan money to itself hence hiding the huge debts of the company, giving the wrong impression to investors and other stakeholders of the company. It is also observed that the company made use of the deregulation of the state of California to control and manipulate the market for electricity therefore affecting the supply of electricity. The use of characters such as Mr. Kenneth who was known as a son of a preacher brings contradiction to the film, since a preacher’s son is never expected to involve in wrong practices but that is not the case. This shows the viewer that the face value of something may never always be the exact value of that particular item hence there is need for extensive and further investi8gation. In the film, the executives are also shown as greedy since they manage to keep for themselves riches at the expenses of everyone else who were involved with the company. The employees lost their jobs as a result of the actions and the malpractices of the executives in addition to the investors who lost their money in the company. The general depiction of the film is about capitalism which is demonstrated through the actions of the executives of Enron. The film, Smart Guys in the Room is a demonstration that financial and accounting practices should be regulated and closely mo0nitored to avoid adverse effects on the economy. Giving a free hand to a company and allowing a lot of freedom for the executives of a company may lead to practices which cause the failure and even death of a company. Capitalism has had great negative impacts on the economy of the United States since the companies were allowed to run as they please and not stringent measures and financial reporting and regulations were put in place. The documentary, Smart Guys in The Room, clearly brings out the importance of the various accounting and financial reporting standards which have been set for companies to follow. The executives of any given company must be held accountable for their actions and must always know that their priority goal is to provide true financial position of the company they manage. It is the duty of the investors also to take control and monitor the practices within the companies they invest in to avoid issues such as that if Enron. References Enron-The Smart Guys In the Room, (2005), viewed from www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxzLX_C9Z74 on 28th June 2014. Source document

Aravind Eye Hospital, India: Mission and Vision

Aravind Eye Hospital, India: Mission and Vision Aravind Eye Hospital:Â  Improving Lives One Eye at a Time A Brief Introduction Imagine having the world as you know it cease to exist, the things you once saw be erased, and having no hope to gain control of your life. This is how life for many people in India once was, and how it still is for some even today. A cataract, a curable infliction of the eye, has attacked men and women of every age, sparing no one, not even a child. They build up in size over time, and leave many blind. Once struck, the individual in question can no longer work, and has no way to take care of themselves, making them entirely dependent on their family for support. Living in an already impoverished area, blindness has dire consequences, resulting in many cases of premature death. There is a simple procedure that can reverse the effects of cataracts and return sight to the user. However, this surgery is too costly for some to afford. In India, a country with an extremely high poverty rate, cataracts had become a major problem for the inhabitants. Cataracts have left millions to suffer with an unnecessary disability, but one man came about to challenge its hold on the people of India. Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy revolutionized the medical field of eye care, and built a health institution that would allow everyone afflicted to get the help they needed, despite their ability to pay. This case analysis examines that institution, how it came into existence, how it operates, its creator, and the general background of the country of origination. Poverty and Healthcare in India Poverty is one of the biggest social issues in India. According to the Indian government, of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are below the poverty line. More than 75% of these poor people reside in impoverished villages (Azad, 2008). The causes of rural poverty include inadequate and ineffective implementation of anti-poverty programs, and the unavailability of irrigational facilities. The poor irrigation systems result in crop-failure and low agricultural productivity, forcing farmers into a debt-trap. Economic development since independence has been lopsided. There has been an increase in unemployment rates that have forced many people into a state of poverty, and the population continues to grow at an alarming rate (Economy, 2009). Overpopulation of an already scarce job field has kept many individuals trapped by poverty. India has a Universal Health Care System operated by the government, like many other industrialized countries. The governmental hospitals offer health care to the masses at the tax-payers expense. The Indian government set up the health care system to help people who are below the poverty line, but many people have problems using the hospitals. One reason for this is the fact that there are an extremely low number of medical practitioners available for the people. Another reason is that most public hospitals are inefficient, and provide poor quality medical services to their patients. Quality could be better, but public hospitals generally only provide basic treatment, and have lower quality equipment to perform with. Inefficiency in the system is caused by the imbalance between medical providers and the needy population. For example, although India requires more than 74,000 hospitals to satisfy demand, it just has about 37,000 health care centers (Liberty, 2009). Due to the impoverished peoples lack of resources, they cannot afford to go to a private eye hospital to get their cataracts removed. And because of the limited availability and help from government hospitals, and their inability to perform eye surgery, most individuals are left with no choice but to remain blind. This in turn adds to the increasing rate of unemployment, as it is difficult for a blind person to get or maintain a job. And that leads to having even more people below the poverty line, as it is not only the individual in question, but their entire family as well. If there was a place they could go to be treated, it would help stop the cycle of poverty, and give them a fighting chance to live. Enter the Vision, Aravind Eye Hospital Aravind Eye Hospital has risen from its humble beginnings to promote eye health not only in India, but also throughout the world. Doctor Govindappa Venkataswamy, along with his sister and brother-in-law, started Aravind in 1976 (Maurice, 2001). This eye hospital was first opened in a rented house that contained only ten beds. The three founders were the only doctors at Aravind when it first opened. Since then it has grown little by little each year. This hospital has grown into a five-story building that is located in Madurai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This particular hospital now contains 1,900 beds. As of 2001, approximately 1.5 million blind people have left this one hospital with their sight completely restored. In addition to this, Aravind Eye Hospital has now expanded into a total of five hospitals throughout India (Maurice, 2001). The Aravind franchise includes a hospital created specifically to help restore sight to children (Maurice, 2001). The Internationa l Institute for Community Ophthalmology, which is a part of Aravind Eye Hospital, trains eye care workers from low-income countries. There is a medical research foundation as well as an eye bank that handles about 900 corneas a year that are associated with Aravind. Aurolab is a manufacturing facility that makes lenses, pharmaceuticals, and surgery supplies for Aravind (Maurice, 2001). Aravind Eye Hospital later branched out and opened Aurolab, despite disagreements from the Indian government, because imported intraocular lenses, IOLs, were too expensive for low-income patients to afford (Shah, 2004). Aurolab makes approximately 700,000 IOLs each year (Maurice, 2001). These IOLs are then sold, not only to Aravind but to eye care facilities in over eighty countries, for a price that is ten times less expensive than the same quality of IOLs used in western countries (Maurice, 2001). Aurolab also manufactures spectacles, sutures, and medications along with the IOLs, to sell to the hosp itals for reduced costs (Chang, 2004). The Aravind group worked with approximately 1.3 million patients in 2000 (Maurice, 2001). This is about 85-90% more than most other hospitals in India. Also, Aravind holds mobile eye camps throughout the year to raise eye care awareness in India (Maurice, 2001). These eye camps screen villagers on a Sunday, then bus the patients into Aravind in the evening (Chang, 2004). The surgeries are then performed on Monday. There are usually 300-400 cases on Mondays, with the record being 500 cases (Chang, 2004). Most eye surgeons in the world perform less than 350 surgeries each year. At Aravind, the average number of surgeries per doctor is 2000 per year. Aravind looks to multiply its benefits by hiring and training local doctors and surgeons. Even though Aravind pays slightly more than the government hospitals, seven to ten doctors leave each year. The reason is, since Aravind is nonprofit organization, it is unable to compete pay wise with private practice institutions (Maurice, 2001). The Path to Aravind As previously mentioned, Aravind was founded by Govindappa Venkataswamy, who is commonly known as Dr. V (Maurice, 2001). Dr. V does not view his job as work, but rather as something that he is excited to be able to do. According to Dr. V, if there is something you can do, you should do it. Dr. V was born in 1918 and died at the age of 87 on July 7, 2006 (Govindappa, 2009). He received a Bachelors of Arts in chemistry from American College in Madurai in 1938. Then, in 1944, he received a doctor of medicine from Stanley Medical College in Madras. Finally in his education he received a doctor of ophthalmology from the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras in 1951. From 1976 until his death in 2006, Dr. V was the chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital. In 1956 he was named the head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Government Madurai Medical College. At the same time, he was an eye surgeon at the Government Erksine Hospital. He held both of these positions for twenty years until his forced retirement from the government hospital in 1976 (Govindappa, 2009). Dr. V was partly influenced in the creation of Aravind by his mentor, the philosopher and mystic Sri Aurobindo, whom Dr. V was a disciple of for fifty years (Maurice, 2001). When Dr. V was asked about the influence of his mentor into Aravind, he made the following statement: You do your best in your job and higher ideas come to you, and then you try to realize those ideas too (Maurice, 2001). Dr. V was also motivated from his work at the government hospital (Shah, 2004). The government asked him to have four camps a year while he still worked with the government hospital in 1961. This also proved to be a part of his opportunity identification. He saw the number of patients attending rise each time the camp was held (Shah, 2004). The fact that eighteen million people are blind by curable cataracts worldwide is another part of Dr. Vs opportunity identification (Chang, 2004). This number is growing at an alarmi ng, nearly epidemic rate. Blindness causes reduced life expectancy, and productivity is lost for both for the blind as well as for those that care for them (Chang, 2004). Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy: A True Social Entrepreneur Dr. V had entrepreneurial quality, which is one of the four categories used to evaluate Ashoka nominees (Bornstein, 2004). People with entrepreneurial quality seek to change an entire field, not just get something done locally. People with this trait not only want to express their ideas, but they want to go out and be a part of solving the problems by executing their ideas (Bornstein, 2004). Dr. V has shown entrepreneurial quality through his work at standardizing the procedures for cataract surgery because this allowed the change to spread throughout the field, not just at his hospitals in India. Another way he has shown entrepreneurial quality is through the training that Aravind does for doctors in other countries. Finally, the fact that Dr. V did over 100,000 eye surgeries successfully himself shows that he was willing to be a part in executing his idea (Govindappa, 2009). The Six Qualities of Social Entrepreneurship Dr. V has also demonstrated the six qualities of a successful social entrepreneur as laid out by David Bornstein (2004). These six qualities are as follows: the willingness to self-correct, the willingness to share credit, the willingness to break free from established structures, the willingness to cross disciplinary boundaries, the willingness to work quietly, and a strong ethical impetus (Bornstein, 2004). Dr. V asked for help from business schools to on how to keep doctors from falling back into complacency at their own hospitals after completing training with Aravind (Shah, 2004). This shows his willingness to share credit because he publicly sought their help. It also shows his willingness to self-correct because when he saw the problem of doctors becoming complacent, even after receiving Aravinds training, he took active measures to fix the problem. He also shared credit with the other doctors that work with him, acknowledging the fact that Aravind could never have become such a success without the hard work put forth by everyone involved. And as mentioned earlier, the government was against the creation of Aurolab (Shah, 2004). By creating the facility anyway, Dr. V demonstrated his willingness to break free from established structures. Dr. V was able to cross disciplinary fields from medical and into manufacturing when he opened Aurolab. Also, by working privately at creating Aurolab and making it affordable, Dr. V demonstrated his ability to work quietly (Shah, 2004). Dr. V has repeatedly demonstrated his strong ethical impetus. During an interview Dr. V said that the focus of Aravind was on honesty and respecting the patients (Shah, 2004). Also, he said he tries to choose compassion over cost. This is exemplified when they spend more than the fixed charge for a patient because they do not charge the extra cost to the patient. R.D. Thularsiraj, the executive director of Aravind, says that Dr. V instituted a system of values into the hospital that has the effect of guiding their work to wanting to help others and away from focusing too much on money (Maurice, 2001). Finally, Dr. V has capacity building programs that basically work to instill integrity and quality into new hospitals (Shah, 2004). Structuring Sustainability, the Core of Aravind Dr. V wanted to reach those who had not been reached before, and help the poverty stricken individuals, who without his help, would not be able to see. He removed barriers, promoted community involvement, and had a growing market model for healthcare. Even after his death, his dream is still living on. Aravind continues to explore new approaches to the primary eye care market, and continuously seeks new innovations to help the population. When opening the first hospital in Madurai, in Tamil Nadu, his sister and her husband, both eye surgeons, joined Dr. V in his efforts. To cut costs, all three doctors took significant pay cuts since bankers would not finance a clinic that, regardless of ability to pay, gives eye care to the rich and poor. Dr. V even mortgaged his house to get the necessary finances to start the hospital. Within a year, all the efforts paid off and the hospital quadrupled in size. There are now five Aravind Eye Hospitals, and all are self sustaining, thanks to a blueprint copying system that has allowed for easier knowledge transfusion throughout the hospital chain. Dr. V took the unusual step of asking even poor patients to pay whenever they could, believing that the volume of paying business, which amounts to approximately 30% of clients, would sustain the rest (Aravind, 2007). Two thirds of patients receive the free outpatient services, while paying patients receiving additional amenities, such as private rooms for extended recovery, and hot meals. The profit made from every one paying customer covers the costs of two patients that cannot pay. Aravind is famous for its fee structure. The consultations are free for poor patients while others pay 50 Rs (their currency, approximately $1 US). Impoverished patients can be expected to pay as little as nothing, or up to 250 Rs, which is as much as they can spare. A subsidized rate is 750 Rs (approximately $15 US). The regular patient fee, which is aimed for middle income patients, is 3,500-6,000 Rs. For a Phaco surgery, the rate is 6,500-12,000 Rs (Saravana,2002). This is a need based transparent financial system, and it is this kind of trust and care Aravind has built that attracts paying patients. The lower than market cost for even the paying patients, at least 25% lower, attracts them also. The Business Model of Aravind Aravind Eye Hospital operates with a business model unlike that of any other business in the health care industry, bearing striking similarities to the fast food industry instead. Dr. V. was impressed with how a chain like McDonalds could offer the same quality product no matter where you went, and still get it to you quickly (Health, 2007). He became adamant about the fact that a hospital could be run under the same principle, and trained his employees to treat large amounts of people without sacrificing quality. Today, Aravinds network of hospitals has the distinction of being the most productive eye care organization in the world in terms of surgical volume and the number of patients treated. The success of Aravinds business model is dependent on numbers, as it is the high-volume of low cost procedures that offsets the costs associated with delivering such a high quality service. In order to reach more patients, Aravind Eye Hospital advertises its services heavily, and is benefite d by the positive word of mouth that has quickly spread about them. They have also implemented technology that allows his staff to serve people that are not able to come to the hospital; they do this by video conferencing, instant messaging, online patient questionnaires, and through the use of web cams. One example of how they have used technology to help their business can be seen through the internet kiosks the place in remote villages. Here, they have women trained to take pictures of the patients eyes using a webcam, then they send the images to the Doctor along with the filled out patient questionnaire. The doctor then receives the file via e-mail almost instantaneously, and is able to interact with the patient through an online chat program. This is made possible because of collaboration with the University of Berkeley Information Technology center, with a low cost Wi-Fi connection. This provides access to the patient, and a remarkable cost reduction. This also allows the sta ff to provide consultations with people who would otherwise not be able to make it to the hospital, and makes it easier for the team to transfer information between each other (Aravind, 2007). What Makes Aravind Different A core part of Aravinds model is to never turn away a patient due to economic reasons. In fact, it has even been recorded that Dr. V once accepted a chicken as payment for surgery. The goal of Aravind is to help as many people as they can, not to make a profit. Their business model is formatted in a way that provides a level of self-sustainability that allows them to use all income towards expanding their processes, improving their work, and keeping services free to those who need them. Dr. V set up this model believing that people will pay when they can, even if its months after their surgery. Aravinds business model originally focused on just eye surgery and care, but after time it expanded into manufacturing in order to create low cost lenses. This change in the model was necessary because importing the lenses from the West was too expensive, and in order to comply with their vision of providing eye care to the disadvantaged, they needed to come up with a way to lower costs. Anoth er way they have put into their system to help them reach more clients is by using a two tiered pricing structure. Wealthy people are expected to contribute more, and for every one paid surgery, Aravind can afford to do many free surgeries. And because Aravind is the best eye hospital in the region, wealthy people choose to go there. In order to maintain maximum levels of efficiency and resource usage, the hospital staff performs just their specific specialization, and the surgery procedures themselves are standardized. And to make sure that all who want to go to Aravind are able to, the clinic provides buses that pick people up in the morning, and then drive them back to their communities after the day is over (Shah, 2009). Before the patients are brought to the hospital, they must go through an eye screening at their local community, using one of the internet kiosks as mentioned earlier. They are then evaluated, and transported to the hospital if it appears that surgery or a live consultation will be necessary. This process is promoted, organized, and financially backed by local business leaders. In keeping staffing cost low, Aravind recruits locally. The majority of the staff is from local villages. Being trained and having grown up in the same community as they will be working, they share the dream of the hospital. And since local wages expectations and cost of living are low, the hospital can pay these individuals less than individuals coming from out of the country. The medical staff is also trained, not only for a job, but a prestigious life long career. For each surgeon, the hospital has four highly trained paramedics for support. Aravind Eye Hospitals ophthalmologists are linked with video conferencing with their Vision Centers technicians for each patient. Expanding their business model, Aravind ventured into lens production. They now have a factory that can produce parts at low-cost prices. Compared to the $200 for imported lenses, they produce these for about $5 at their home factory (Dan, 2008). Now, because of outside funding they export their products to over 80 countries. Their method to production lens was branched out to produce other products such as blades, instruments, sutures, and pharmaceuticals. They can produce these products for fractions of what the western world can, and make a handsome profit. This also cuts costs on buying them from somewhere else. The income gained from the paying patients contributes to approximately 20% of the budget. The other income comes from the production of manufactured products and the provision of training and consultations. In order to retain a sustainable operation Aravind is constantly looking to improve. Since they adopted many technologies earlier than other hospitals they are remain ing high in breakthrough technology. They utilize their technology to communicate easier with fellow staff members, patients, partners, and other hospitals across the globe. Aravind has regular reviews of their system, and follows up on executive decisions to ensure they stick to their intended model. But they are always looking for new ways to better themselves, and to grow. Scalability of the Aravind Model The Aravind System has a great approach to overcoming obstacles in the cataract surgery industry. The main characteristic of the Aravind model is that they provide quality care at prices that everyone can afford. They are self sustaining, yet still able to provide their services to the poor and rich alike. Their business model stresses a maximum use of all resources. This is all achieved by their high volume quality, and a well structured system. The Aravind model can be replicated in countries with inexpensive labor. For example, the model would work well in Asia or underprivileged areas in Africa. Their model will work well if you have a large population with a social need, and if you can find doctors who are willing to operate many times daily. Also, to be financially stable there must be enough revenue to cover the free services from the paying ones. The cost of the service cannot be too high. In order for the need-based service to work, there must be incentives to paying. The people at Aravind pay because they want to have a bed in a private room with air conditioning, or the other amenities that they offer. Aravind eliminated non-beneficial activities and wait time. By having standardized protocols of clinical procedures, activities, and administrative measures, it cuts down on the error count and makes procedures more efficient. The surgeons do not do tasks such as preparing patients, taking measurements, or diagnostic s testing, this is all done by trained assistants. Letting the surgeons focus on just the surgical procedure itself. It cuts down on transition time between surgeries. The state of the art technology requires surgeons to exhibit less energy, and allows them to operate more times per day. Since surgeons average 1700 more surgeries than the national average, there are many benefits to being an Aravind surgeon. Surgeons here do not only want to make a difference in the lives of the people, but by performing many more surgeries than they would otherwise, they are also bettering themselves. Aravind has reached over 200 hospitals through their consultancy process, and they hope to reach many more in the near future. The Aravind model makes scalability in developing nations limitless through their fee system, management techniques, high aspirations, and quality of care. From the David Bornsteins book example of blueprint copying, Aravind wants to be used as an example. They want their techniques, management protocols, and philosophies to be copied by others, as well as they have in making their hospitals across India. Just as the Grameen Banks idea of Micro-credit has spread to numerous lending programs, Aravinds basic model, a 250-bed hospital was adopted in Mumbai, Kolkata and Nepal hospitals. Also, the Indian government is adopting Aravinds medical protocol doctrine for their training centers around the country. Aravinds goal is to be an example of efficient management and inexpensive care to patients, since any ophthalmologist can provide eye care, but can only sustai n affordability to the masses as long as it is managed properly. This is their new focus called Managed Eye Hospitals. In the long term, according to their website, they want to affect a larger population, by exceeding 100 eye care hospitals spreading to other parts of the world. They want to be an example for other health care hospitals to become more efficient, and to grow and thrive. Aravinds ultimate goal is to join together with others to help eliminate treatable blindness entirely by the year 2020 (Aravind, 2009). A Bittersweet Critique It is hard to critique a social business, as we try to negate or justify the flaws in the system by contrasting it with the good it does for the public. However, a company, no matter how well intentioned, cannot grow to its full potential if not given the criticism necessary to improve their system. In this section, we will first explain the flaws we found within Aravind and how we believe they might negatively affect the company in the future. Then we will explain some of the great benefits or pros of Aravind, and how we believe they will perform in the future. The Bad The business model of Aravind, although scalable, is very reliant upon having a strong client base. In particular, it needs a constant influx of paying customers to negate the costs incurred by offering their services for free or for extremely reduced prices. The location of new ventures is also a factor of success for the model to work, as their structure involves hiring local residents to work in the hospitals. If the quality of workers is diminished in the area attempted, then the Aravind system will not run as efficiently or effectively as intended. Also, it would cost them more to bring in employees from outside the area, which would raise the overall cost level, and reduce their ability to offer their services to the impoverished people of the area. Another flaw in the Aravind system is the high turnover rate they must deal with. Doctors come from all over the globe to train in these hospitals, as they perform more surgeries in a day than they would otherwise perform in a few m onths time. But since Aravind is trying to operate on as small a cost budget as possible, they cannot afford to pay their staff rates that are high enough to compete with private practice firms. One final flaw we saw when examining Aravind, was the fact that they make staff members work even when they are sick. Although this is done to keep production up, it also makes room for errors, and contagion. The dedication seen by the employees is admirable, but when sick, you should not be performing any service in the medical field. The Good Aravind has greatly enlarged the social impact they have on society by not only providing a necessary service to meet one of their healthcare needs, but also by creating jobs and hiring locally. This is seen both with Aravind hospitals and with their manufacturing plant, Aurolab. Aravind could easily outsource to get employees and resources, but instead they choose to continue helping the social sector in their respective areas. And even though Aravind Eye Hospitals treat more patients than any other eye care facility in the world, they continue to advertise their service across the country in order to find and serve more individuals. They are actively seeking out their target market instead of waiting for them to come to them. Eye camps, kiosks, and bus runs have been created by the Aravind system to get them closer to their market, and physically bring their clients in. Their use of technology allows them to consult and share their practices with hospitals worldwide, and increases productivity among staff members, and allows them to reach the population that cannot make it into the hospitals. Aravind Eye Hospitals have created an efficient and effective service that best serves the social sector, and provides much needed help to the economically disadvantaged and blind population. And because Aravind is renowned worldwide for its innovation in the field, technical excellence, and operational efficiency, it attracts new ophthalmologists to the system. Once these new surgeons get trained in the Aravind way, it betters the surgeon himself because of the massive amount of surgeries he will complete, and it also extends the Aravind practice into even more hospitals across the globe. We believe that Aravind is doing an excellent job so far, and has a very sustainable model. They have been critical in their decision making thus far, and we feel confident that they will only become stronger as time goes by. This will hit a cap at some point though, as Aravind gets closer to reaching its vision of curing all the worlds treatable blindness, their market will start to decline. Once demand sinks low enough, the current model used by Aravind will become useless, and they will need to undergo some major revisions to their model. Overall though, it really is an excellent business model, and is doing a great deal of good for the people of India. Work Citations Azad India Foundation: http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/poverty-in-india.html Economy Watch: http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/poverty-in-india.html Reason For Liberty: http://www.reasonforliberty.com/current-affairs/indian-health-care-an-overview.html Bornstein, David. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004. Print. Chang, David F. Three programs offer hope. (Cover story). Ophthalmology Times 34.9 (2009): 1-43. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. Govindappa Venkataswamy, MD (deceased). ASCRS: The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. 2009. ASCRS. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. Maurice, J. Restoring sight to the millionsthe Aravind way. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 79.3 (2001): 270. CINAHL. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. Shah, Janat, and L. S. Murty. Compassionate, High Quality Health Care at Low Cost: The Aravind Model. IIMB Management Review 16.3 (2004): 31-43. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009. Aravind Eye Hospitals: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:-V-GZ0L9JZMJ:www.aravind.org/tribute/A%2520Man%2520Who%2520Saved%25202.4%2520Million%2520Eyes.pdf+aravind+eye+hospital+business+modelcd=7hl=enct=clnkgl=us Health Scribe Media: http://health.scribemedia.org/2007/01/03/aravind-eye-clinic/ Saravanan, S., Organisational Capacity Builting- A Model Developed by Aravind Eye Care System http://laico.org, retrieved on 11-29-2009, http://laico.org/v2020resource/files/capacity_build.pdf. Dan, Sorin A.,ARAVIND EYE HOSPITAL:Assignment Public Managementhttp://www.people.umass.edu, retrieved on 11-27-2009. http://www.people.umass.edu/sdan/projectspapers/Aravind.pdf. Last opened 11/29/2009.