The National Plan of Action for the Garment Industry of Bangladesh Essay - 145

The National Plan of Action for the Garment Industry of Bangladesh - Essay Example The two incidences triggered protest that facilitated the implementation of the Multi-stakeholder Accord on Fire and Building to boost the corporate environment and offered new dimensions in the occupational safety, health, and environmental reporting of the firms in Bangladesh. Besides, the disasters enabled the adoption of the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA) at the local, regional, and international platforms (Khan and Wichterich 11). The Accord and NTPA offered the platform for collaboration of the stakeholders towards enhancing the safety of the workers. It is in this regards that Khan and Wichterich aimed to assess the level of implementation, achievements, and possible hindrances towards the realization of the objectives. Immediately, the NTPA and the Accord attracted public admiration, and the implementers strived to attain the goals. Some of the primary initiatives comprised corrective action plans, capacity building, and inspection of the facilities. Despite the advantages of the strategies and great anticipation, the strategies have no noticeable impacts. The findings indicate the presence of the gendered prejudice and the associated mishandling of the workers according to their genders. It also shows that the labor power and collective bargain is in the preliminary phase. However, the findings evidence significant progress to advance the occupational health and safety. Predominantly, the findings indicate a clash of power negotiations in the global apparel chains with a particular focus on the RMG accumulation (Khan and Wichterich 36). Given the magnitude of the responsibility and public expectations, the study realized minimal advancement that raises issues about the seriousness of the target ag ency and stakeholders. The responsible institutions and stakeholders lost focus and the associated power structures hinder the realization of the goals.

Searching for Something and Obtaining Nothing Essay Example for Free

Searching for Something and Obtaining Nothing Essay In â€Å"Seeking†, Emily Yoffe shares with us her thoughts of what she believes is taking over our original basic desires and being replaced with an obsession for a constant need to gather or receive information with disregard to everything else. I can relate to what she is stating because I see it happening everyday around me; people walking around with their faces looking down into their smart phones. Almost everyone I come in contact with has a laptop, Ipad or tablet carrying around with them. You see them in the parks, malls, bookstore tech-ed out and they are all searching forever searching forever seeking and waiting for the next text, the Yahoo you got mail or that Tweet alerting them that someone cared enough or too little by sending them a message by such an impersonal means of communication. Yoffe speaks about a friend who has an insatiable need to view random facts about famous people when dining out with her boyfriend. So caught up is Nina that she ignores her boyfriend who is sitting right across the table from her. This is what Yoffe means when she states, â€Å"chasing after flickering bits of information.† By analyzing her article, I hope to further persuade techno junkies of the negative effects that Yoffe seems to imply but not directly stating it. Yoffe uses creditable sources to give us reasons on why we should put the machines down. The book titled, Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin, Yoffe talks of two cats who were being driven crazy from chasing a laser pointer even though they could never catch it. Think of Kim Kardashian who is always driven to read each blog, on-line trash mag, like TMZ to see what is being posted about her. If you have ever watched Keeping up with the Kardashians you see her literally tearing herself apart searching for this information and crying because of the hurtful things people have said about her. That to me is form of torture for Kim Kardashian , but at the same time it’s fueling a physical need of hers, that has her searching for information of herself. Thus providing some sort of feel good moment that though what she is reading might be awful, she makes her feel adored by the public. If it was you, would you sit all day or part of the day looking for negative information of yourself? Yoffe this point is using logical reasons that could be used to get a techno junkie up off their butts to actually pursue real live activities. The research information by noted neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp who has spent years researching and mapping people’s brains and proving that like real physical items that we obtain, the act of seeking and finding gives euphoria by releasing a chemical substance called dopamine. Yoffe also points out that this feels so good we constantly are doing things to reach this state to make us feel good; to me that sound like a person who uses drugs to keep getting a high or a fix. All things which are not healthy for you when overindulging. Even before reading this article I was already aware of the dangers or risk to my health and how addictive this has become. I enjoy modern conveniences as much as the next person. I enjoy being able to sit at home and do my banking and ooVoo with my children who live in Connecticut. I remember when this was part of a sci-fi movie, camera phones. I have learnt from YouTube how to expertly apply my makeup and even gotten better advice on how to take care of my hair! However, I began to notice a few years that cell phones used to be a luxury item, has now become standard issue and almost an extension of our body. People have such a hard time putting down their cells no matter where they maybe. I see them in church while the pastor is preaching, they are texting or on Facebook. Is it really that serious, can it not wait until after service? I can remember being upstairs in my bedroom and texting my children to bring me a cup of water. Back in the day I would have gotten up and got it myself or called out to them. I’m not saying the modern technology is bad; it has its good points. For instance, when I had a car accident I was able to immediately call for help and get it sooner than having to hope and pray someone would call when they reached the nearest phone. It allows me to be able to work from home, like when I first moved to Kentucky and the company I was working for contracted my services for a few months until they could hire a replacement. I don’t think Yoffe is trying to scare you off of technology, just advise you that we are moving from a culture that once were out in the world searching for new and exciting things we could touch and feel to sitting at home and searching for stuff we can’t feel. So put down the devices and get out and smell the roses. References Yoffe, E. (2011). Seeking, In X. J. Kennedy, D.M. Kennedy M.F. Muth (Eds.) The Bedford guide For college writers (9th ed.) (pp. 599-601). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s

Jack London :: essays papers

Jack London A Study of Jack London’s Belief in Darwinism Jack London has a strong belief in Darwinism, survival of the fittest, during the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, when he wrote. Throughout his writings, many characters display London’s belief in Darwinism. In the novel, The Call of the Wild, Jack London’s belief in social darwinism is portrayed by animals interacting with humans, each other, and the environment. This can be shown through Buck, a house dog turned sled dog, interacting with his masters, other dogs, and the Yukon wilderness. As Buck travels from master to master throughout the course of the novel he learns, through trial and error, what behavior brings rewards, and that which brings punishment. [Buck] had never been struck by a club in his life, and did not understand. ...he was [now] aware that it was a club, but his madness knew no caution. A dozen times he charged, and as often the club broke the charge and smashed him down (London 18). Buck â€Å"...had learned the lesson, and in all his after life he never forgot it. That club was a revelation. ...the lesson was driven home to Buck: a man with a club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed...† (London 20). Buck learned to do as his masters say. â€Å"...he grew honestly to respect them. He speedily learned that Perrault and Francois were fair men...† (London 21). Buck also learned when and how to defend himself against man. London’s depiction of Buck’s struggle to learn how to survive in an unfamiliar environment has been compared to western society’s struggle with encroaching communism. â€Å"The study of Jack London’s work became a mirror of the turbulent McCarthy era...† (Veggian 2). Through these struggles, Buck was able to adapt and survive in a world controlled by man. Buck also had to learn when and how to fight other dogs. Eventually Buck Fought and killed Spitz to become lead dog. â€Å"Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good† (London 42). London often witnessed these dog fights and this influenced his writing. â€Å"...he found the first successful theme for his writing in a last frontier splurge...† (Walker 12). Although Buck had troubles with his new peers, he also had a great conflict with his new home.

Christian Unity and Ecumenism Essay -- Ecumenicalism, Ecumenical Movem

The ideal of unity seems to be of great importance in the religious world, but rarely is it ever achieved among professed Christians. However, it is vitally important to comprehend unity in its Biblical light. Jesus prayed in John 17:21, â€Å"That they all may be one, as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.† By definition, unity is the state of being one. In order to have a unified church every member must be one one with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, to achieve such an oneness, each member must be perfectly holy, because God is holy. Unfortunately, this is where a clear contrast is made between the saints and mere religious professors. Religious professors practice ecumenism at the cost of disregarding God's word. Religion will sacrifice the doctrine of Christ in order to achieve an outward union. Religion will make allowances for sin, worldliness, heresies, and other spirits of ungodliness in order to gain a universal, all inclusive church. Ecumenism is the spirit of the age and its origins can be traced to the pits of hell, the promoter of Babylon. Ecumenical spirits influence various religions to lay aside theological differences, and accept and tolerate diverse beliefs coming together and forming ecclesiastical bonds. Historically, Catholics and Protestants fought each other, and not only through verbal exchange, but through physical means as well. World and religious leaders today advocate accepting all faiths and tolerance of differing viewpoints. For the most part they reflect the ideals of the general consensus. Popular opinion suggests that there are various paths to God, and it is narrow minded to believe there is only on... ...ls short of it will be eternally lost. The message of the Church of God is â€Å"come out of her my people and be not a partaker of her (Babylon) sins.† Come out of all false religion, even if it be under the guise Church of God. Renounce sects, denominations, and systems of men! Forsake ecumenism for it is the promotion of Satan and is available at a bargain rate at almost every religious grocer's market, but at the price of eternal damnation. It costs nothing to obtain the approval of religious establishments, but will cost man his soul because it does not obtain the approval of God. Ecumenism is of the flesh and has deceived and will continue to deceive multitudes. There is only one kind of unity that meets the approval of heaven and the criteria of God's word, and it is the unity of the spirit. May fellowship first begin with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better

Maureen BernerAs a public administrator, you need to be able to analyze and evaluate policies, and understand analysis and evaluations done by others. This means having a solid working knowledge of how to apply statistics to the types of data used in local government so that you make good decisions. Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better Decision Making, a completely updated edition of Statistics Unraveled, focuses on demonstrating how statistics can help you do your job better, rather than on a mastery of statistics.The goal of this book is to make you, as a public administrator, an educated consumer of statistical information—and an effective translator of statistical information. You get the tools you need to design an analysis, gather, analyze and interpret data, present results, and make recommendations. This book is a hands-on, practical, and easy-to-understand introduction to the basic concepts and methods used to analyze data in local governmen t. Vignettes at the beginning and end of each chapter illustrate the concepts through the dialogue of fictional local government employees as they attempt to identify and solve problems. Packed with tables, charts, figures, and review questions to reinforce the concepts, the author’s conversational tone and casual style will set you at ease and make you forget any math phobia you might have! With this book, you’ll be able to understand the general approaches and problems with public sector research and data measurement, conduct basic statistical analysis of raw data using a variety of methods, and evaluate the validity of statistical research performed by others. No other publication is aimed at explaining statistics specifically to the local government audience. There are other books with the purpose of simplifying statistics for a broad audience, but Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better Decision Making, uses specific government examples and problems to make the concepts in the book both concrete and applied for local government readers. You get a solid understanding of how data and data analysis can make you more effective in your role in local government. And you’ll see how the sometimes theoretical sounding concepts in analysis can be used to create concrete solutions to everyday problems. About the Author Maureen Berner first joined the School of Government in 1998, teaching program evaluation, statistics, and budgeting. Between 2003 and 2005 she directed efforts to provide new outreach activities for local governments based on the UNC model at the University of Northern Iowa. In 2005 she returned to teaching and writing for MPA students and public officials at the School of Government. Berner has been active in research and teaching in both academia and in government, and her publications include a variety of books, textbooks, and journal articles. She worked for four years with the Budget Issues Group at the U. S. General Accounting Office, including a rotation to the U. S. House of Representatives Budget Committee while serving as a Presidential Management Intern. Berner received an MPP from Georgetown University and PhD in public policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.

Essay Sample on Antiviral Drug Production

Essay Sample on Antiviral Drug Production The most profitable pharmaceutical production technologies lie locked up inside the biggest pharmaceutical companies labs.  Evaluation of those procedures may be understandable the best during outbreaks of viral diseases. Discovery of antiviral drugs was the biggest health treatment breakthrough (3). However, those drugs production needs investing great amount of money as to allow use of combinational chemistry aided with computer designs, molecular biology (3) and other high specific technologies. But thanks to them we can receive drugs saving our lives. Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi are very well treatable those days. The ones caused by viruses are only under development. The company which invents or buys technology processes for antiviral drug production should not manage to add up their profits in the near future, as millions of people die from HIV, flu and other viral diseases. The most fortunate companies as Swiss Roche are well prepared for the battle. Roche launches more than 100 new products every year. Focuses on molecular biology, genomics and genotherapy (5). Previously it invested in new technology platforms (4) labs, scientists, equipment, now they can count their gains. Of course helped them the dread of the global bird flu pandemy. They are the main owner of the patent for Tamiflu production and Tamiflu is generally, apart from Relenza, the only drug for curing bird flu infection (2). All money, those from production and those from issuing patent sublicences, come simply to Roche pocket. When we consider that during 2 years (2004, 2005) Tamiflu production has raised eightfould (2), one can have no doubt why Roche in 2005 didnt want to share its patent (2). But governments and international bodies pressure resulted in directing the sublicences one to a company in China and the second in India for producing generic version of the drug, creating coo peration with 15 companies who produce some materials used in Tamiflu, and placing end-to-end production systems in USA and in Europe (1). Annual production of Tamiflu in 2006 was estimated by Roche as 400 mln treatment courses (1). The government orders mede it possible. More then 65 countries ordered Tamiflu to stockpile last year (1). All those mean that antiviral drug production is on the way. Who will be the next winner? If you need custom essays, research papers, thesis, dissertations, term papers on Technology, Medicine, Health or other discipline feel free to contact our professional custom writing service.

The Runner (Influential characters in the novel) essays

The Runner (Influential characters in the novel) essays In The Runner, the characters Mr. Tillerman (Bullets father) and Patrice (Bullets employer) both influence Bullet in the way as to which his behavior is constantly altered throughout the novel. Both Mr. Tillerman along with Patrice compared very much to each other in that they influenced Bullets behavior in many ways the same. Contrary to both their influential comparison, they also influenced Bullet in very contrasting ways from each other. Mr. Tillerman tended to influence Bullet negatively for the most part, and Patrice positively; yet in a way their, what seems to be consistent, influences on Bullet also took opposite affects than what they were intended. Mr. Tillerman, Bullets father, and perhaps Bullets worst enemy, had a great affect on his sons life. In retrospect to the beginning of the novel, and also throughout it, Bullet would often seem to be angered by his fathers actions and words. It was things like his fathers demands for Bullet to get a haircut, the reason being that he looked like a girl that really drove Bullet to make the decisions he made in life. Bullet took these negative comments and demands and turned them into somewhat his fuel for running. Through his anger towards his father, Bullet used that as his motive to excel in his seemingly only pastime: running. Likewise, in a positive way, to how Bullets father influenced him, Patrice also had the same affect, although Patrice was most subtle in doing so. It was just the way that Patrice responded to Bullet purposely trying and trying to anger the man by throwing a really large crab overboard that was a really good catch. His response was simply no re sponse, which oddly enough said a lot. Patrice seemed to keep an open mind about things in which eventually rubbed off on Bullet, influencing Bullets decisions in a positive way as well. From a long-term point of view, Mr. Tillerman and Pat...

8 Benefits of Time Management in College

8 Benefits of Time Management in College Yes, there are benefits to learning how to manage your time everyone seems to know that. But what exactly do the benefits of time management look like to college students in particular? Is good time management really worth all of the time and effort? 8 Benefits of Good Time Management in College You wont miss important life deadlines. Life deadlines and projects are those things that keep your life on track. It may include turning in your FAFSA on time, getting your form in early so you have guaranteed on-campus housing next year, remembering to get your moms birthday present in the mail so it arrives on time. When your time management is bad, life can get ugly in an instant.You wont miss important academic deadlines. Paper coming up? Lab report due? Group assignment on the horizon? Missing academic deadlines means you may miss out on being able to stay in school. Having good time management, on the other hand, means you get your assignments in on time and get a little sleep the night before theyre due.You have more time to sleep well, eat right, and exercise regularly. Good time management means you have more time in general. And the better you treat your body, the better it treats you. Putting a little energy into time management now means youll have more energy to get th rough your days (and workload) later. Youll have less stress. Good time management means that horrible paper you have to write gets done in a reasonable amount of time with relatively little stress. Its a much better approach than facing a panic attack the night before a deadline.Youll have more time to just relax and enjoy your time in school. Lets be honest: Even if you do decide to throw caution to the wind and just hang out with some friends in the quad, that research paper youre avoiding is still fluttering around in the back of your brain. When youre good at managing your time, you can really let yourself relax, knowing that the time youll need to rock that paper has already been allocated in your schedule.Youll have more flexibility and spontaneity. When youre always behind and late on projects, you dont have the time or mental ability to just relax and enjoy, say, the spontaneous gathering in your residence hall or your roommates surprise birthday party.Things will be easier for your friends and family. You kno w what its like to have a friend who is always late: things can become trying after a while. Finally getting on top of your time management and turning into an independent adult who can run his or her own life will make things incredibly easier on your friends and family (not to mention yourself). Good time management skills will help you in your post-college life. Think your always-late, always-behind pattern is going to change once you graduate? Think again. Taking the time to learn and make permanent strong time management skills will serve you well in your life after college. After all, how can you go out and change the world if youre always running behind and late?

Germans & germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Germans & germany - Essay Example It is also a responsibility to protect the minority groups in the country from brutal treatment. It is an expression of humanity to the survivors and a show of responsibility to prevent crimes in the society (Cottrell 1). The memorial is a dedication to the Jews victims of the wars after the war in Germany. It does not technically keep out concentration camps Jews who suffered the fate of death at old age or from diseases. The title is appropriate, and no better title would fit the memorial than its apparent title. The Washington museum is a remembrance of the criminal activities that occurred during the killing of the Jews. It has a comprehensive history of the holocaust through artifacts and eyewitness testimonials, in the form of movies and films. It also has artifacts as well as photographs of the occurrences. However, there is no national monument on the victims of crime. This is because the slavery and genocide did not occur in the country. It would only be advisable to build the monument at the spot of the crime rather than in Washington. The tale of Emmaly Reed’s is a moving account, touching and reveals the reality of the brutality that the Nazis victims experienced. Her imprisonment for twelve years shows the extent of suffering that the victims underwent. She exposes the hangings that imprisoned victims underwent during the slavery and genocide that occurred. Cottrell, Chris. Memorial to Roma Holocaust Victims Opens in Berlin. The New York Times. October 24, 2012. Web. May 5, 2013. Retrieved from:

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Research - Essay Example In case of not completing specific developmental tasks, there are negative consequences for people. The lifespan can be divided into ‘infancy’, ‘early childhood’, ‘school age’, ‘adolescence’, ‘early adulthood’, ‘young adulthood’, ‘mid life’, ‘later maturity’, and ‘old age’. From prenatal age, human beings start undergoing stressful situations due to which, their cortisol levels get elevated resulting in death of certain brain cells. This death of cells brings disadvantageous results for the individual as he develops certain cognitive and mental disabilities. Later on, children start being defensive against stress by learning to cope up with stressful situations (Chen & Kottler, 2012). Different stages of lifespan offer different kinds of stressors for people with whom they fight in order to make themselves safe. In coping up with different kinds of stress during the li fetime, children gaining maturity by entering adolescence try to cope up with stress through the usage of drugs and alcoholism that is again damaging for their health. It is impossible for a human being to get never stressed or face different stressors. We have to undergo stressing situations on daily basis even before our birth. Some amount of stress is essential for our life continuity as it enables children to develop the capabilities to accept new and possible risky situations and to cope up with them throughout their lives. Children require assistance of parents and elders in order to handle stress physically as well as emotionally (Middlebrooks & Audage, 2008). However, when stress becomes severe or insidious, the advantageousness of acceptable amount of stress gets lost. Prolonged and chronic stress has short term as well as long term health hazards. The growth of brain, nervous system and the immunity system, all get dysfunctional because stress throughout the lifespan. The stress that

EU Structural Funds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EU Structural Funds - Essay Example Indeed, this approach towards collective growth broadly forms the guideline for the distribution of the Funds; especially during the current budgetary cycle (DNSRF 2006, p. 7, 9). The Structural Funds are split into the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) (DNSRF 2006, p. 7, 10), based on the kind of activities they foster - while they are distributed based on 'Objectives'. Objectives are the eligibility criteria drafted by the EU which determine the volume of investment aid that can be assigned to a region. The areas that are eligible for investment aid are identified by the Member States based on the EU's Regional State Aid Guidelines (DNSRF 2006, p. 6, 7). The 2000-2006 programme had three Objectives, namely, Objective 1, Objective 2 and Objective 3, and also a few Community Initiatives like 'Interreg'. The 2007-2013 perspective has three Objectives again, but has the following changes: the Convergence Objective (which replaces Objective 1), to develop those regions with a GDP per Capita below seventy-five percent of the EU average; the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective (which replaces Objectives 2 and 3), to support the more prosperous regions; and the Cooperation Objective (which replaces 'Interreg'), to foster cross-border and trans-national cooperation (DNSRF 2006, p. 7, 11). ... DF activities include developing infrastructure and environmental sustainability, improving accessibility and connectivity, promoting community regeneration and rural development, promoting and encouraging enterprise, increasing investment in research and development and improving favourable business environment. ESF activities include increasing - and tackling barriers to - employment, improving skills levels of the local workforce, progressing people into sustained employment and progressing people to better-quality and better-paid jobs (DNSRF 2006, pp. 35-36, 44-48). National Strategic Reference Framework Each Member State is required to draw up an Assisted Areas Map based on the EU's Regional State Aid Guidelines which establishes the areas that are eligible for investment aid. These areas are provided aid either by the Member State or through the Structural Funds (DNSRF 2006, p. 6, 7). The EU does not fund all the projects of its Member States. It requires them to draw up a National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) which not only acts as a reference instrument for the provision of Structural Funds but also ensures that the "Structural Funds spending is consistent with the Community Strategic Guidelines and the Member State's National Reform Programme (NRP) for delivering the Lisbon Agenda." (DNSRF 2006, p. 9, 18). The NSRF includes an "analysis of the Member State's economic strengths and weaknesses and [specifies] the strategy chosen for the [three Objectives] (DNSRF 2006, p. 9, 19). The NSRF thus becomes a key instrument upon which the EU depends, for the distribution of its funds - specifically the Structural Funds. As it needs to illustrate a Member State's strengths and weaknesses, the NSRF contains data from the previous perspectives, thus leading

HansonSymphony NO 2Romantic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HansonSymphony NO 2Romantic - Assignment Example The true romantic melody introduced later on by the mellow strings in the theme symbolizes the melody style of the 1930s The symphony used here consist of an English horn, two bassoons, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, contrabassoon, 2 oboes, 4 horn in F, 3 trombones, 3 trumpets in C, tuba, snare drum, harps, cymbals and strings (Simmons, 2004). The noble, warm and soothing sounds of horns provides the color signature and signify thematic leadership in this symphony and epitomizes the 19th century Romantic sound from Mendelssohn to Tchaikovsky. The onset of the major movement begins by a dark three-note with an ascending motive being heard from the winds forms the introduction to the traditional sonata-form movement. Acceleration of the tempo forms the introductory part of the descending theme Holds the whole piece together and throughout the three movement actions of the composition, it returns severally – both as section tutties and solos. In a sense, it functions as sort of a â€Å"thematic glue† that binds the entire piece of music together The horns are launched in the culmination with a vibrant whoop of ballyhoos derived from the slogan theme, and later on expanded into an exhilarating horn-led brass opening at the midpoint of the movement midpoint (Cohen, 2006, p.

Court History and Purpose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court History and Purpose - Essay Example The state and federal courts have different laws but certainly share some of them. Some acts such as selling of drugs are both crimes in the two of them, which means the accused can be tried in the two of them (Siegel, 2011). Some of the criminal codes applied in the criminal court system, in America, are traceable back to some of the early legal codes used in different places, in the world, especially in the past centuries. Such codes include the Babylonian code of Hammurabi (2000 n.c.e) of lex talionis (an eye for an eye) that still guides proportionality in punishments. The Ten Commandments prohibition against theft, violence, and perjury still holds. The American criminal court system has adopted some of these codes, improved them and instituted certain laws according to the crimes committed (Siegel, 2011). Common law, which originated from England, is based on the customs and traditions that evolved over the centuries as interpreted by judicial tribunals. The American legal system is such a case, which adapted the rule from the English hence called the Anglo-American law except in Louisiana State that adapted French civil law. This is where a central government was formed, and it set its own rules and regulations and uses it to administer local courts. The adaption of this way of the court system is clearly brought out by the formation of a central government in America with a constitution, the U.S constitution. This guides the government decisions. All states have their own constitutions, with different laws. Use of precedent, often referred to as stare decisis, is common in America. American judges make judgments from earlier similar cases to pass judgment on new cases that are similar. When such cases come up, judges look at earlier rulings to derive principles that apply to the case they are deciding, and this helps them to pass judgments. As new situations arose overtime, judges created new legal principles to

HansonSymphony NO 2Romantic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HansonSymphony NO 2Romantic - Assignment Example The true romantic melody introduced later on by the mellow strings in the theme symbolizes the melody style of the 1930s The symphony used here consist of an English horn, two bassoons, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, contrabassoon, 2 oboes, 4 horn in F, 3 trombones, 3 trumpets in C, tuba, snare drum, harps, cymbals and strings (Simmons, 2004). The noble, warm and soothing sounds of horns provides the color signature and signify thematic leadership in this symphony and epitomizes the 19th century Romantic sound from Mendelssohn to Tchaikovsky. The onset of the major movement begins by a dark three-note with an ascending motive being heard from the winds forms the introduction to the traditional sonata-form movement. Acceleration of the tempo forms the introductory part of the descending theme Holds the whole piece together and throughout the three movement actions of the composition, it returns severally – both as section tutties and solos. In a sense, it functions as sort of a â€Å"thematic glue† that binds the entire piece of music together The horns are launched in the culmination with a vibrant whoop of ballyhoos derived from the slogan theme, and later on expanded into an exhilarating horn-led brass opening at the midpoint of the movement midpoint (Cohen, 2006, p.

Discuss and evaluate the various methods available for long term Essay

Discuss and evaluate the various methods available for long term investment appraisal - Essay Example 33). It is essential to conduct any investment proposal (long-term or short-term) appraisal in order to ensure funds invested would accrue maximum gains in future. Since financial resources tend to be limited (in majority of the cases), a business firm, instead of choosing several proposals, must evaluate and select only the ones that are most appropriate for investing purposes (Sullivan and Steven, 2003). Therefore, it can be assumed that there would be certain techniques followed specifically for appraising proposals for investment. In this context, the paper will now examine various methods available for long-term investment appraisal (capital budgeting). Investment appraisal comprises of analysing a firm’s financial plans, its investments, as well as predicting the firm’s expenditure in a certain proposed project (Levy, 2002). Long-term investment appraisal in small firms often takes into account the possibility of future growth, new enterprises, and a future move into a completely new arena (ibid). Factors for long-term investment appraisal are chosen keeping the requirements of company policymakers and stakeholders in mind, and focus on long-term and sustainable growth of the firm (as opposed to short-term profits). Various methods are used for long-term investment appraisal of a firm. These are: Net present value (NPV): This appraisal method calculates the cash flows (deficit or excess), once the customary obligations are completed (Khan, 1993). All forms of long-term or short-term investment appraisals aim at deriving a positive figure for the firm’s NPV. The process calculates the total cash flow of a firm (incoming and outgoing) at a certain specific time (t), at a discount rate (i) at that particular time, which translates to: t-funds invested initially, making NPV inversely proportional to discount rates (Pike and Neale, 2008, p. 123-124). Therefore, NPVs are reduced with rise in discount values (i), while high interest rates

Carol Ann Duffys anthology Mean Time Essay Example for Free

Carol Ann Duffys anthology Mean Time Essay Carol Ann Duffys anthology Mean Time is littered with references to the past. With the title Mean Time in its self referring to time in an ambiguous ways, like Greenwhich mean time, or time associated with angry emotions. The most common interpretation being that the characters represented in many of Mean Times poems as in between two states, past and present. The characters are trapped, escaping, or reminiscing about past times retrospectively from a present time. Much of there past is what is now influencing there present situation or state of mind and Duffy accentuates this factor by being explicit and drawing attention to language that would draw a conclusion to that notion. The Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team is a 1960s quiz show between competing teams of school children who, representing their school and in school uniform, would answer general knowledge questions in front of an audience of school children. The individually competitive suggestion of the name of the show individual competition was emphasized in the education system of the 50s and 60s (it would not be unusual for a class to be sat in their rank order according to the last set of exams) and it precedes the change to a comprehensive system. This competitive tone, the sense of a hierarchy, is an important element in the poem. This poem questions the romantic view of the past forming a persona to there present as he characterises his children as his thick kids and his wife as stale. He ambiguously illustrates his past in that he want it back, The Captain. The captain is a symbol of his youth and past in that he wants it back but its so isolated and remote that he cant obtain it and only exists as memories in his mind. The comparison between the first six stanzass representing the past and the last stanza representing the present exhibits a barrier between the two. The constant music references mentioned within the poem to past artists and songs reflects the rich memories that are illustrated to the reader, by appealing to more senses, the eyes and hears. Duffys purpose for inclusion of these songs is not only that they are connected to the time period and create a richer spectacle but they clearly reveal the more desired time period of the character, showing him to feel nostalgia. We see the nostalgia form as he describes his family and current situation in the last stanza previously discussed. Carol Ann Duffys dramatic monologue The Suicide provides an intriguing insight into the forces of the past having an effect on a situation in the present. This poem establishes how the past and present are interconnectivly dependant on each other. This is explained as, without a past of experience and events that shape u as a person there can be no present effects. This notion is also reversed in that without a present the past would never be expressed fully either emotionally or physically with no results or effects seen from past causes. The poem title explicitly provides the reader with exactly what the context of the poem is. The reasons for this is possibly to engage the reader into how is Duffy going to describe the feelings of suicide appealing to our macabre sides of personality. It is commonly thought that language fails to describe many feelings especially that of suicide. The poem analyses the nature of suicidal impulse, by letting a would-be suicide talk to us in the moments before her death. It compares with The Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team (The captain), as it is also a dramatic monologue but fails in comparison similarities to that poem. It does refer to the past like The Captain does, however not as explicitly. In The Suicide the reference to the past is, Kisses on a collar. Lies. Blood. The above is a strong reference to a past event of what implicitly seems to be infidelity by the partner. This is followed by short sharp sentences of Lies and Blood. These single emphasised words almost tell a complete story; the history of a relationship, written in lies. Lies that lead to blood (perhaps the blood of the suicide). There is a sense that the whole story is told in these few words. But this whole event can not be ignoring the fact that it was all triggered by a past event that is now influencing if not directly causing the present situation of suicide. The Good Teachers is one of Duffys explicit references to the past but written in present tense which instantly makes the reader form the opinion of reminiscence and living in the past letting past events form the future. We believe to be a male because of the hints to passion for female teachers, as he reveals that you love Miss Pirie. It describes his memories of his life in school as a child but most significantly how he retrospectively looks back and regrets the tom foolery that took place then and how he wasted his time in school. This forms similar themes to End of innocence about regret of the past and wants to escape it. The short sentences in the last stanza can be symbolic of time and how it speedily passed by to leave him where he is now which we never quite find out. Again a barrier is formed between the past and the present by the line But theres the wall you climb. The wall denoting the barrier between past and present and shows how the two are separate. The context before the wall line is about the past, the context of the poem after the wall line is about the present. This structure reinforces the separation of the past and present. Also this show how the past forms a barrier that forms the future and weather or not you accomplish successfully by getting over or around the barrier will have an impact on your life to come. The Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team, The Suicide and The Good Teachers all portray the past, but in separate ways. In The Captain the past is seen as a rich rejoicing memory, with dignity and pride at the forefront of it where the past was contrasted to the future to reinforce how commendable the past was. The nostalgia was accentuated by the language and references to his current situation of him having a stale wife and thick kids. The suicide depicts the past consuming the character and a direct cause for her present situation. The language illustrates a dyer situation and forms the opinion that suicide is not chosen, it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain. It fails to by the inadequacy of language and context fully describe the emotion and direct feeling of suicide caused from the past events. It only refers to four words to describe the past, kisses on a collar. This is a classic example of the notion that the past is represented as irretrievable and irreplaceable. Also that not being able to alter the mistakes made in life will undoubtedly form the situation of present and which is suicide in this case but also that those events will characterise you for the future. The Good Teachers forms a view of the past being one of regret and wanting to escape from it. This also, like The Captain and The Suicide, forms a barrier separating the past and present by language and contrasting stanzas.

Life Of Pi Essay English Literature Essay

Life Of Pi Essay English Literature Essay Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is an adventure Novel about a 16 year-old boy called Pi who , along with his family, gets shipwrecked. The theme is about struggling to survive against all odds. Only Pi and some animals survive. The book is divided into three parts: After the authors note, part 1 tells about Pis young life and his love of animals and religion. Part 2 is the main part of the book which describes the sinking of the ship which is carrying Pi, his family, the crew and some zoo animals. Pis family perish and Pi is left alone to survive with some animals. Eventually he manages to reach land. In part 3 he tells the story of his adventures but is not believed and he retells the story using humans instead of animals. The reader is left to make his own mind up regarding which is the more credible story. In Yann Martels Life of Pi, symbolism plays an important part. Throughout the story, the color orange appears many times. The color orange symbolizes survival and hope. Pi himself keeps hope when he is all alone on his lifeboat. He wants to survive no matter what happens. When the ship (Tsimtsum) sinks the Chinese crewman help him by giving Pi a lifejacket with an orange whistle; the lifeboat which was essential for his survival was also orange. In a flash forward at the end of part one before the ships sinks the narrator describes visiting adult Pi and his family at Pis home in Canada. Shes holding an orange cat in her arms. Two front legs sticking straight up and deeply sunk head are all that is visible of it above her crossed arms The rest of the cat is hanging all the way down to the floor. The animal seems quite relaxed about being stretched on the rack in this manner.(page 89) Usha (Pis daughter) holds an orange cat. This gives the reader a confirmation that Pi will survive the catastrophe. The orange cat symbolizes Richard Parker the Bengal tiger, who helps Pi to survive during his 227days at sea. The tiger, the lifeboat and the whistle (all orange) all contribute to the survival of Pi and give support during emotional difficult times. Pi explains how closely religion and zoology are aligned and he uses zoos as a symbol for religion. I know zoos are no longer in peoples good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.(page 29) Some people consider themselves to be free from any belief or religious system, just like others misunderstand that the wild is not free for an animal. Zoos are often critized because they take wild, noble animals from their natural habitat and put them into boring domesticated cages. Pi vehemently disagrees; he finds that animals are creatures of habit and will adjust to their new caged environment. In the zoo they have all their needs compressed into a safe environment. This is, according to Pi, heaven for animals. In the same way religion offers people boundaries within which they feel secure and safe. When Pi was desperate on his lifeboat he turned to religion. He had in fact three, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Pi explains: I practiced religious rituals that I adapted to the circumstances- solitary Masses without priests or consecrated Communion hosts, darshans without murtis, and pujas with turtle meat for Prasad, acts of devotion to Allah not knowing where Mecca was and getting my Arabic wrong. They brought me comfort. (page 187) When you believe in God or have faith in something you are certain of yourself. Unlike atheists who do not believe in anything which makes them uncertain, Pi embraces religion to gain certainty The quote above bears this out. Another symbol in the book is Pi which is the main character Piscines nickname. Pis full name is Piscine Molitor Patel. When he was still in primary school kids sometimes used to tease him by calling him Pissing instead of Piscine. Pi got his name from the swimming pool of Paris, Piscine des Tourelles and therefore children found Piscine hard to pronounce. My name is Piscine Molitor Patel Known to all as -I double underlined the first two letters of my given name- Pi Patel For good measure I added (Page 31) When Pi started going to secondary school he decided that to prevent people from calling him Pissing he decided to call himself Pi (see quote). The name Pi is a very unusual name and it also brings a great deal of symbolism with it. Pi is the Greek number for sixteen and Pi was sixteen when he got shipwrecked. The number Pi is used to determine the circumference of a circle with the formula: . There is also symbolism behind this because the correlation between the linear journey to Canada and the cycles of doubt and faith are experienced by Pi. The number Pi is a very complex number. In fact, it has so many decimal places that it is too difficult for human minds to accurately comprehend it, just as it says in the book that some realities/situations are just too difficult to face. Pis experiences are explained rationally by Pi. Pi uses pi () to figure out the circumference of the algae island. In brief it can be said that symbolism plays a big role in the story Life of Pi. The symbols help us to truly understand Pis fight for survival. The color orange, the animals, religion and pi are just a few examples of how symbolism is used in the story. Even though Pi changes his account of the sinking of the ship and his survival, (by substituting people for animals) the events remain consistent with his original story. Storytelling (with symbolism incorporated) helps Pi to rationalize his dramatic experience and overcome despair.

Hamlet - A Eulogy Essay -- essays research papers

Dearest friends, family and the people of Denmark. We gather here today to mourn the loss of the noble prince, loyal son and true friend, Prince Hamlet. But we are not here only to mourn, but to reminisce the times we have spent with him, both the good and the bad and to remember him as the person he was. Prince Hamlet did not live a very fortunate, on the contrary his final weeks were filled with a tragedy none of us should have to bear, but he lived his life to the full and I am sure that he has, in some way touched the lives of all of us here today. Hamlet passed away young, a mere 30 years of age, and I sincerely regret that I will never be able to see such a fine young man take command of the throne and restore nobility to the state of Denmark. He was the son of the great King Hamlet, one of the best kings this country has ever seen, and Queen Gertrude, our countries finest lady who has also now sadly passed away. I am sure that all of you here today looked up to Hamlet as a fine young prince, but I knew him as much more than that. To me he was the best friend a man could have, loyal, witty, and extremely trustworthy. I remember the days back when we studied together in Wittenberg, we spent a lot of time together and he was always there to support and help me. He was always cheerful but quiet and had a quick wit, which fascinated me. Hamlet delighted in â€Å"flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table in a roar.† His ability to read my mind always astounded me, al...

Malevicth red square :: Essays Papers

Malevicth red square The painting Red Square by Russian painter Kasimir Malevich is a particularly interesting piece. It is simple red square on a white background representing a peasant woman. It is an example of the Malevich's unique style of suprematism, which focuses on motion and feeling. The painting was done near the beginning of the twentieth century when science was developing at a rapid rate. Einstein's Theory of Relativity was gaining ground at the time. Malevich's painting seemed to borrow from this theory that attempted to explain relative motion. His suprematism style attempted to capture a neo-realism in painting portraying pure feeling and perception. This new style was communicated by the discarding of natural references. Malevich grew tired of painting in the traditional style with everything looking and feeling the way they are in life. His new style tried to free viewer from their traditional a priori views concerning shape and colors imposed on them by their senses. Suprematist style focuses was on depictions of movement and dynamism. Flight and anti-gravity fascinated Malevich. Much of his paintings were a top down view of the subjects arranged on a white background. The white background represents infinite space, while the subjects were reduced to g eometric blocks. The message of the paintings comes out in the relative position of the blocks to the background. The infinite background of the paintings is to divorce the paintings from the finite earth. Malevich himself said that his paintings "do not belong to the earth exclusively." The paintings sought to transcend to a different level. Malevich's suprematist style sought to take people to the fourth dimension, which was pure sensation. This fourth dimension effect was reached by stripping away the distractions. Malevich's art was made to be felt and he broke down complex characters into the simplest of geometric shapes. The colors that he chose for his subjects were not the ones that were true to life. He did this by choice to get past the human biased way of seeing an object. He was trying to transmit pure sensation. The actual subject is irrelevant; the feelings of it are the main focus. With Malevich's Red Square a peasant woman is depicted. Here Malevich is not trying to depict a pretty picture of a woman. Instead, he reduces the woman to a simple square and transmits her essence. The color red perhaps could represent anger and the slightly unsymmetrical lines of the square could represent unbalance.

Haitian Vodou Essay

Vodou, A Haitian religion deeply rooted in colonialism stems from several African sources, which have constructed and maintained a hybrid Africana and European diaspora in the Caribbean. In an effort to preserve African tradition and spiritual belief, slaves in Haiti prior to the Haitian Revolution of 1791, established and developed the heterogeneous religion known as Vodou. As Vodou became a more prominent aspect of slave culture in Haiti the hybridization between traditional Africana religion and European religion fashioned a new system of belief. The fusion of Catholicism from Europe and African religions make up one of the most influential religions in Haiti today, in fact Vodou plays an imperative role in Haitian life. In addition to having a tremendous effect on Haitian religious practices, Vodou also plays a fundamentally important role in driving Haitian politics, economics, community, and social relations. From a student and non-Haitian perspective I seek to obtain knowledge on how Vodou has and continues to play a detrimental role in every aspect of Haitian life. Through analyzing and cross-examination of several texts it appears that without boundaries Vodou is important. Before delving into how Vodou effects nearly every aspect of Haitian culture I would like to first analyze the importance of understanding the roots and origin of a belief and practice that has become such a prominent aspect of Haitian life. In the eighteenth century the slave trade in Haiti ushered in a number of African slaves from various groups. These groups of African people brought with them to Haiti their traditions, beliefs, and lifestyles. In â€Å"Haitian Vodou† of Creole Religions of the Caribbean, the authors state that the slave trade was in fact the European way of â€Å"destroying all cultural connections† to the homelands of the slaves (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 101). European slave owners and slave traders thought it necessary to force European ideals and beliefs onto their slaves, ridding and dismantling the beliefs and tradition of their native land. In this respect the slave trade played a significant role in the creation of Vodou, catalyzing Afro-European syncretism into a new belief system. Vodou began as a way for slaves to hold on to their cultural beliefs, and helped refute the impositions of Catholic religion that the French attempted to employ, as they saw it necessary to condition African slaves to their lifestyle (102). In my opinion Afro-European syncretism is one of the more complex and intriguing religious developments as it pertains to Vodou. In Voodoo Africa’s Secret Power author Gert Chesi describes the fusion of African and European culture stating that slaves brought with them the gods of Africa to the Caribbean where they then blended with the Saints and other Catholic and Christian symbols (Chesi 231). The imposition of Catholic and Christian beliefs by Europeans onto African slaves made it nearly impossible for African slaves to remain entirely devoted to their home land beliefs and traditions. African slaves in Haiti adopted Vodou as a means of maintaining their traditional beliefs, however, Christian and Catholic ideals were still important influential factors in the establishment of Vodou. The spirits often associated with Vodou known, as Lwa are similar to Saints in the Catholic Church. Slaves in Haiti dealt with the pressures of forcibly having to adapt to European religion by integrating their belief system with that of the European belief system. I think that Slaves in Haiti used Vodou as a stabilizing factor in Haitian culture. The ritual and practice that developed through the integration of European tradition with African tradition ensures that African tradition will remain considerably important regardless of the fact that Europeans once tried to dismantle African tradition and impose Western tradition on those slaves living in Haiti. Vodou serves as a mechanism for passing on tradition from generation to generation. In Voodoo: Truth and Fantasy the author states that Vodou has emerged as a vibrant cultural force in twenty-first century Haiti (Hurbon 126). This statement supports the idea that Vodou has and continues to have a role in Haitian life and Haitian culture. Vodou has undoubtedly helped restore an almost lost identity to African slaves in Haiti, and has allowed generation after generation to know and understand the beliefs of the homeland from which their ancestors originated. The foundation of many Haitian affairs may not be solely rooted in Vodou, however, the religion holds weight in many political spheres throughout Haiti. Starting from the moment of its development, Vodou has been politically important to Haiti. In fact, its very creation resulted from various political, cultural, and religious â€Å"struggles for freedom† (33). After analyzing the roots of Vodou it has become quite apparent that Vodou played an important role during Haiti’s revolutionary period. During and before the Haitain revolution Vodou was used as a means of protecting and politicizing the interest of Haitian slaves. From that time forward Haitian people have continued to use Vodou as a political tool to protect their interests and assets. Vodou has indeed been subjected to â€Å"persecution at the hands of both Church and state† leaving many non-believers and outsiders to attribute negative connotations to Vodou as a whole (117). In 1835 Vodou began to publically suffer from political ostracizing under president Jean-Pierre Boyer who passed a penal code that called for the imprisonment of six months to two years for followers of Vodou practicing superstitious act (118). It seems to me that the reason behind the ban on Vodou practices not only stemmed from political issues occurring at the time, but also from past political experiences in Haiti. Hurbon does not mention Boyer’s reasoning behind implementing a penal code, therefore allowing one to speculate whether or not Boyer, although Haitian had ties to France. The reason I bring this point to light is because for one, Jean-Pierre Boyer sounds relatively French and secondly Boyer implemented a code that put restrictions on a religion that has roots deep within African culture. In addition to dealing with the idea of possible imprisonment, if caught practicing Vodou, Haitians also faced the possibility of abandoning and giving up the African culture and belief that was associated with Vodou. In response to government restrictions some Haitians created secret societies in order to keep the bonds of Vodou ritual and ties to kinship in motion. In 1957 President Francois Duvalier also known as â€Å"Papa Doc† started a political rehabilitation for Vodou (118). Duvalier’s involvement in Vodou was for the soul purpose of engaging the Lwa through ceremonies in order to gain the Lwas’ good will and also to spark enthusiasm in those who practice Vodou. Papa Doc’s presidency marked a period characterized by dark magic and sorcery. This period in Haitian history displays the negative aspects often associated with Vodou. In my opinion President Francois Duvalier’s understanding of Vodou curtails from misinterpretation and misuse. Duvalier did not seem to grasp the reasoning behind certain Vodou rituals and ceremonies, using them only as a way to advance himself politically. During Duvalier’s reign Haiti saw tremendous political change resulting from the misunderstanding or misuse of Vodou. On one hand Jean-Pierre Boyer refused to let any one in Haiti practice Vodou because of the negative connotations surrounding the religion. On the other hand Francois Duvalier used Vodou to bolster his political appeal, which dismantled the meaning and reasoning behind the ceremonies and rituals performed by those who practiced and truly understood and appreciated the meaning that those Vodou acts carry. In Creole Religions of the Caribbean, the authors mention that within Vodou practices the chief communicators that draw â€Å"konesans† or connaissance/knowledge are the Oungand and the Manbo (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 107). The Oungand and the Manbo are believed to receive knowledge passed down from the Lwa. The Oungand and the Manbo act as political leaders and have rural political power within their own community because the ability to communicate with the Lwa is looked up to. In Michel Laguerre’s book Voodoo and Politics the author states that Francois Duvalier used the political power of the Oungand and the Manbo to establish legitimacy among those who practiced Vodou (Laguerre 87). Today Vodou can be represented in popular culture as dark, sadistic, and involving many acts of superstition, denying it a position central to Haitian culture. However, despite the misconceptions surrounding Vodou today many religious works are carried out by Haitian elites. This goes to show yet another transformation in Haitian politics, and Vodou’s role in shaping a new system of life. From my examination of the texts that emphasized Vodou’s relationship to Haitian politics I have concluded that Vodou does in fact affect politics in Haitian communities and Haiti as a whole. The relationship between Vodou and Haitian economics is a long-standing phenomenon that has existed prior to the Haitian revolution in 1791 and continues to exist today. The slave trades influence on the creation of Vodou links the existence of the religion and also the economics involved between masters and sellers of slaves. During this time the Haitian economy was being stimulated by the slave trade. As the slaves grew weary, a number of rebellions occurred and Vodou greatly affected the plantation economy that the Haitian people originally were forced into. According to Omos and Gerbert, the economy in Haiti shifted from one of plantation to that of a â€Å"rural economy† of â€Å"subsistent farmers† working their own lands (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 103). Vodou practices and rituals play an important role in shaping and maintaing Haitian economics. The initiation and sacrificial rituals performed by many Vodou sects involve a great amount of â€Å"financial sacrifice† (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 117). From my examination of several texts, including that of Olmos and Gerbet I have concluded that preparation for the many Vodou festivals, initiations, and temple gatherings are intensive and call for many financial sacrifices from those who may already be financially unstable. Animal sacrifice plays an important role in the finances of Haitian people. In Voodoo Africa’s Secret Power the author, Gert Chesi, included various photographs of Haitian Vodou sacrifices and rituals. Many of the photographs throughout Chesi’s book showed the sacrificing of cattle, sheep, and chicken. The cross-examination of various texts did not leave me with much information on the Haitian economy as it related to Vodou, however, I was able to infer that the economic sacrifices made by Haitian people were performed in order to obtain personal advancements or for the betterment of the community as a whole. Some sacrifices were performed to win the protection and trust of the Lwa spirits, and some sacrifices were performed in hopes that the Lwa would shed some rain to strengthen planation production. I think that the Haitian economy and the Vodou religion are dependent on each other. The dependency I see in the relationship stems from the fact that without an economy like the one in Haiti, Vodou would not be as prominent or even meaningful to the Haitian people. The economy as it is creates a buffer for Vodou as a religion. The economy allows for Haitians to use their beliefs and connections with the spirits to envoke hope, or optimism that the plantation life in Haiti will somehow flourish. This claim can be supported through the existence of rituals performed for protection, knowledge, and even rainfall. In Hurbon’s, Olmos’ and Gebert’s, Chesi’s, Laguerre and Michel’s and Smith’s descriptions of Vodou in Haitian culture one thing is for certain, Vodou has and continues to influence communities through and through. In Chesi’s pictorial account of Vodou in Haiti one can see pictures of various ways that the religion is linked to community. In one picture, Chesi captured a ritual being performed near a beach where one individual was having a ritual performed on him (ritual not clear from picture) while dozens of his Vodou community member looked on and supported him. What puzzles me the most is how instinctual and ritualized Vodou actually is. Chesi’s pictures show dozens and dozens of Haitian people flocking to support another Vodou practice, but for what reason? Why do these members feel so indebted to one another? From my observation the answer to this question comes from the simple fact that Vodou needs a sense of community mong its members to remain relevant. It was from the simple yearning to keep tradition relevant that Vodou stemmed, so it appears to me that the idea of community or family has been long standing, even deep within Vodou’s African roots. Hurbon’s choice of words within Voodoo: Truth and Fantasy shed’s lite on the communal aspect of Vodou a little differently. Like Chesi, Hurbon acknowledges the importance of community, even stating that Vodou â€Å"bring families together in large gatherings, a festive way of ensuring that religious traditions will endure† (Hurbon 14). In Hurbon’s text it appears that the family and passing of tradition from generation to generation is in fact important to the survival of Vodou. In my examination of Hurbon’s text it seemed as though Hurbon was promoting a balance of kinship and communal ties. Hurbon states that it is important to have family agreement in order to have a positive communal bond. One aspect of Hurbon’s text was that Vodou was often referred to as â€Å"a cult dedicated to spirits. † Hurbon did not let the wording of her description interfere with the way information was conveyed, however, I found it quiet bias that she would call Vodou a cult. Personally I associate the word cult with negative connotations. It is unclear whether Hurbon planned on conveying Vodou in a negative light, but one thing is for certain a cult describes a group of people or the communal bond that Vodou encourages. In Michel’s and Smith’s book, Voodou in Haitian Life and Culture: Invisible Powers, The authors proceed to explain how the â€Å"magical† or â€Å"superstitious† aspect of Vodou conveys a sense of community among its supporters. The authors show that not only is Vodou practice a family effort, but a community effort as well. Smith and Michel both depict a type of Vodou were literally everyone in a community is involved. From small children to the eldest members of a community, all play an important role in carrying on and performing the tradition of Vodou culture. The elaborate rituals and preparation described by the authors is only made possible through communal efforts. From my understanding of the community in Vodou culture, it appears that only through community and unity can tradition be kept alive. Despite any negative connotations Vodou may have, each author showed how important Vodou is in respects to several aspects of Haitian culture. Vodou is not only a religious matter, but also a political, economic, and social one as well. On May 14, 2013 guest lecturer Carnie Fabious stated, â€Å"Vodou is a way of life. † This statement alone sums up what Vodou was, and what Vodou continues to be in regards to Haitian culture. Fabious’ words show the importance that Vodou plays in all aspects of Haitian life, and demonstrates how relative the religion is to such a vast group of people.

Message to Garcia Essay

In the short writing, Message to Garcia, the author Elbert Hubbard writes of a man named Rowen, who is tasked with delivering a letter to the leader of the Cuban resistance forces, General Garcia. But the story is not about his trials, or his mishaps. It’s not about his journey nor his thoughts about the situation at all. The story actually mentions Rowan only a few times throughout. The author instead focuses on the qualities of Rowan, not on what he says, but, rather on what he didn’t. The narrator of the story, who is never actually named but whom can be assumed to be in close conjunction with those who were tasked with reaching Garcia, speaking of Rowans undeniable loyalty to the cause. The situation was seemingly impossible. Trying to reach Garcia who was actively trying to stay hid to deliver a message asking for his cooperation. With no questions asked Rowan sats out on his three week journey to deliver the message. The connection between Rowans silence on the details of the mission, and his loyalty to the task and the ones giving it to him are explained further in the story. In fact later on, it becomes less of a story and more of a guidance manual to the readers. It explains that how many times nowadays, or perhaps most times, success is gained through back ended means. People in general sense do not possess the mindset to focus on a task, nor have the willingness to gain that mindset. When told to accomplish a task, they wither go do it halfheartedly is at all, or simply shift it to the side, or the gutter as the author put it. The main connection that the author made was that Rowan did not ask where General Garcia was. Not because he already knew, but that he knew enough about the situation that he had already made the determination that he was tasked with the mission because nobody else knew either. To put it simple, it did not matter whether he asked or not. His success of the mission relied purely on his skills and accomplishing the task. Asking questions like who  and how ere of little consequence. He had to do it and he would do it. As I said before, the author was not concerned with the journey, but his willingness and loyalty to mission accomplishment to begin the impossible journey at all. The author also goes into details about another man, to describe the polar opposite of Rowan. He describes the man as impervious to reason, unable to take orders, nor give them. Basically describing a large portion of todays society. The people with a society of people such as that is that progress is halted, not because the means aren’t there, but that there is not initiative to find the means and put them into effect to get things done. To a logical thinking person, the conclusion is this, that Rowans qualities of dedication to the mission, and his comrades that would more the likely be benefited by his actions, even if he could not immediately see it, are qualities that we should all strive to possess. To better ourselves and those around us is a mission in itself, one that we should all be loyal too, not just for us, but for everyone, For is everyone shared this sentiment, perhaps the need to send a letter to General Garcia would not have existed at all. The need for us to observe situations, or missions, if you will, from a third person point of view, rather than looking just at how they will benefit us, or take us out of our comfort zones, becomes more necessary as we receive more responsibility to get the mission accomplished.

School Workload and Sleep Deprivation in Adolescent Tardiness Research Paper - 3

School Workload and Sleep Deprivation in Adolescent Tardiness - Research Paper Example this study are the dependency at participants’ honesty, inability to directly manipulate the participants’ daily workload and sleep time, inability to manipulate â€Å"time of school† as sub-variable of school workload, and the inconclusiveness on the effects of increasing school workload to adolescent tardiness. Further larger-scale researches on school workload and sleep deprivation in committing tardiness is being aimed by this study. No experimental research so far was conducted on the effects of school workload and sleep deprivation in tardiness. However, two experimental literatures, plus three supporting non-experimental studies, will be used by this study to serve as guides in formulating the design of this study to be conducted for the first time. The experimental study Sustaining Female Helicopter Pilot Performance with Dexedrine during Sleep Deprivation (Caldwell, Caldwell & Crowley, 1997) investigated the effects of a stimulant drug dextroamphetamine on the flight stimulator performance of sleep-deprived female aviators. The sample participants were exposed to 40-hour sleep deprivation, but the experimental group received the drug while the control received a placebo. The independent variable is the drug administration while the dependent variables are the performance, level of alertness and mood of the participants. They found out that the experimental group is able to sustain performance, alertness and mood than the control group. This study provides a good background information on the effects of sleep deprivation that the drug is hypothesized to eliminate: poor performance, lower level of alertness and lower mood. This study provides a hypothesis that sleep deprivation affects student’s performance, which includ es tendencies of being tardy. Another experimental study, The impact of Cross-Training and Workload on Team Functioning: A Replication and Extension of Initial Findings (Cannon-Bowers et al, 1998). Other than cross-training, they

Academic Writing and Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Academic Writing and Presentation - Essay Example These people also have different needs in their lives which impact on the performance of the organization in different ways. Whilst there are certain challenges that are likely to be encountered when four generations work in one organization, it can be noted that there are also opportunities for this scenario. The findings of the article include the following: employers must make an effort to identify the characteristics of each generation of employees working in the organization since this can impact on their performance. The employers must also be in a position to build an environment that promotes productivity among all generations since they may have different perceptions towards their work. The managers should also promote mentor programs in the organization that are meant to promote learning and knowledge sharing among generational diversity in the company. It is also important for the managers to create an environment that promotes mutual understanding among the employees belonging to different generations. This helps to prevent conflicts which are often viewed as counterproductive in the operations of the organization. The main purpose of the paper was to illustrate that employees in various companies belong to different generations. There are four generations identified in the study and they try to divide different generations into clusters of individuals with the same age. The behaviour of these people is shaped by their age in particular and the experiences they encountered as they were growing up. These generations have different perceptions towards various aspects of life. Even at workplace, it can be seen that people belong to different generations have different perceptions towards their work. The traditionalists in particular are content with the traditional way of doing things while the Generation X and millennial are interested in achieving good things that

Explain and critically discuss the pros and cons for a firm in Essay

Explain and critically discuss the pros and cons for a firm in adoption an emergent rather that a deliberate, planning approach to strategy development - Essay Example Unexpected marketing benefits may result from an emergent strategy. A company can design emergent strategy to corporate a business opportunity or something else that competitors have not identified. For example, a firm may set deliberate strategies to become the best supplier of a particular primary product or service in the next five years in a particular city. However, along the way, it may discover that a minor product or service is selling more than the targeted one. The business may decide to set up an emergent strategy to increase the sale of the minor product in order to realize more profits. In essence, emergent strategy helps a business to offer what the market demands rather than what the company believes or thinks the customers want. An emergent business strategy also enhances the advancement of technology and thus development of the product being provided in the market. Emergent strategies mostly spark from individuals in a business reacting directly to shifts in the mark etplace factors and forces. Their decisions thus reflect order sizes, consumer tastes, and practices of competitors. When two or more organizations provide the same products that have almost similar features and technologies, clients will be unable to distinguish one from another. Hence, the firm will begin to refine and develop its product to add new features to survive in the marketplace and stand out. The business will attempt to engage emergent strategy to include the new product developments that could propel it to emerge as a technological leader in the marketplace. However, an emergent strategy plan can go off course and result in completely new and unexpected problems if an organization continually uses it to attempt to capture an attractive idea. Organizations constantly put out fires by dealing with unexpected issues that can cause it problems. Although keeping an eye on emergent strategies is helpful in doing so, the businesses

Risk aversion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk aversion - Essay Example ptimally increasing expected net gains does not take into consideration risk attitudes or an individual’s attitude to carrying the risk of uncertainty, it is risk neutral. On the other hand, the individual’s attitude to risk bearing is taken into account if expected utility rather than expected gain is to be maximised. Risk premium, equity premium or market premium refers to the additional allowance for risk which results in high rates of interest in the private sector. â€Å"The market risk premium is the expected rate of return in the aggregate stock market in excess of the risk-free interest rate† (Fernandez 2002, p.201). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to compare the State Preference and Machina triangle diagrams, explain an Edgeworth Box diagram, and discuss the factors that determine the efficient allocation of risk. An individual is risk averse if for any probability distribution the expected value of the distribution is preferred to the distribution itself. An individual who prefers a certain income rather than an uncertain one is said to be risk averse. â€Å"In contrast, a risk-neutral person is one who is indifferent to all alternatives with the same expected value† (Katz and Rosen 1998, p.168). For the consumer, uncertainty in the economic market could relate to a combination of or any one of the following factors: income, product price, product quality, and product availability, besides future income, interest rates and inflation rates (McKenna 1986). According to Eeckhoudt and Gollier (1995), the inverse relationship between marginal utility and wealth in the context of expected utility, explains why the largest loss should be covered first through insurance. The State Preference and the Machina Triangle diagrams can be compared and contrasted, as indifference maps for risk averse expected utility maximisers. The expected utility model as an approach to the theory of individual behaviour towards risk is distinctive due to the

Strategic Analysis of Amazon.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Analysis of Amazon.com - Essay Example Amazon.com is an on-line retail company established in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and based in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. The company, ranked 273 last year amongst Fortune 500 companies in America, began as a seller of books through the Internet but has grown into what is essentially a technology and logistics business enterprise, selling services such as Web hosting and supply chain management, and brand new and used products purchased from distributors, manufacturers, and publishers. The company operates seven retail Web sites, two search and navigation sites, and a movie database site (Amazon.com, 2006a). As of December 13, 2006 the company had annual revenues of $9.7 billion, EBITDA of $567 million, net income of $292 million, and some 12,000 employees worldwide. Table 1 shows a summary of how NASDAQ-listed Amazon.com compares with its competitors in the Internet Software and Services such as e-Bay and Barnes and Noble (Yahoo.com, 2006). Amongst the various manners of conducting a strategic analysis, this paper will focus on popular techniques such as SWOT (Ansoff, 1965; Chandler, 1962), PESTEL (Andrews, 1987), and Porter’s Five Forces model and Generic Strategies (Porter, 1980 and 1985). SWOT-PESTEL For this first part, we combine the SWOT-PESTEL approach. The SWOT analysis is so-called because of the acronym of four factors required for assessing the organisation’s internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) environments. The PESTEL analysis considers six environmental factors that affect the enterprise and its business: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal. The strengths of Amazon.com are its customer-centred focus, the quality of its technology infrastructure, supply chain management experience, its brand name, and its huge database of global customers. Amongst its major weaknesses are product innovation (it sells for others), technology infrastructure utilisation, and a sagging stock price (down 22.3% in the last year) that opens it to takeover risk from other Internet (e-Bay and Google) or software (Microsoft) giants. The more important opportunities are the growth of on-line shopping and the need to innovate products and services to continue growing sales to generating higher margins and profits. These would address the threat from an increasing number of competitors that are eating into the business activity (on-line shopping) it used to dominate. The following PESTEL factors affect the industry and Amazon.com: Political: American legislation on taxation of on-line transactions threatens to reduce usage and margins. Economic: Slowdown in consumer spending in countries with high Internet penetration would drag down profits and margins. Retail giants (Wal-Mart and Tesco) would compete with Internet service providers. Social: Potential backlash from Internet users and competing brick-and-mortar retail shops that discover the anti-social effects of on-line transactions. Technological: Web 2.0 Internet technology is deemed to have a different set of users and protocols that may attract new upstart dotcoms as competitors. The fast obsolescence of the company's technology needs to be utilised and depreciated quickly. Security concerns of on-line transactions remain. Environmental: Server farms are ugly and consume huge amounts of energy. Legal: The risk of identity theft opens Internet companies to

The field of Image Processing refers Essay Example for Free

The field of Image Processing refers Essay The field of Image Processing refers to processing digital images by means of digital computer. One of the main application areas in Digital Image Processing methods is to improve the pictorial information for human interpretation. Most of the digital images contain noise. This can be removed by many enhancement techniques. Filtering is one of the enhancement techniques which is used to remove unwanted information (noise) from the image. It is also used for image sharpening and smoothening. Some neighborhood operations work with the values of the image pixels in the neighborhood and the corresponding values of a sub image that has the same dimensions as the neighborhood. The sub image is called a â€Å"filter†. The aim of this project is to demonstrate the filtering techniques by performing different operations such as smoothening, sharpening, removing the noise etc. This project has been developed using Java language because of its universal acceptance and easy understandability. The Image Processing is based on client-server model. A client sends a request with image that is to be processed to the server computer. The server computer receives the image and process it according to client request and sends the result back to the client machine. Keywords— Image Processing, Human Interpretation, Filtering, Smoothening \ INTRODUCTION Interest in digital image processing methods stems from two principal application areas: improvement of pictorial information for human interpretation; and processing of image data for storage, transformation, and representation for autonomous machine perception. An image may be defined as a two-dimensional function, f(x , y), where x and y are spatial coordinates, and the amplitude of f at any pair of coordinates (x , y) is called the intensity or gray level of the image at the point. When x, y, and the amplitude values of f are all finite, discrete quantities, we call the image a digital image. The field of digital image processing refers to processing digital images by means of digital computer. Digital image is composed of finite number of elements, each of which has a particular location and value. These elements are referred to as picture elements, image elements, pels, and pixels. Pixel is the term most widely used to denote the elements of a digital image. Sometimes a distinction is made by defining image processing as a discipline in which both the input and output of a process are images. Filters are one of digital image enhancement technique used to sharp the image and to reduce the noise in the image. There are two types of enhancement techniques called Spatial domain and Frequency domain techniques which are categorized again for smoothing and sharpening the images. LITERATURE SURVEY AND OUTCOME The Enhancement Techniques make information more visible. The various types of image processing techniques are as follows. A. Histogram equalization- Redistributes the intensities of the image of the entire range of possible intensities (usually 256 gray-scale levels). Unsharp masking-Subtracts smoothed image from the original image to emphasize intensity changes. B. Convolution- It is a technique in which 3-by-3 masks operating on pixel neighborhoods. Highpass filter-Emphasizes regions with rapid intensity changes. Lowpass filter-Smoothes images, blurs regions with rapid changes. C. Math processes- In this technique, It performs a variety of functions. Add images-Adds two images together, pixel-by-pixel. Subtract images-Subtracts second image from first image, pixel by pixel. Exponential or logarithm-Raises e to power of pixel intensity or takes log of pixel intensity. Nonlinearly accentuates or diminishes intensity variation over the image. Scaler add, subtract, multiply, or divide-Applies the same constant values as specified by the user to all pixels, one at a time. Scales pixel intensities uniformly or non-uniformly Dilation-Morphological operation expanding bright regions of image. Erosion-Morphological operation shrinking bright regions of image. D. Noise filtering- It decreases noise by diminishing statistical deviations. Adaptive smoothing filter-Sets pixel intensity to a value somewhere between original value and mean value corrected by degree of noisiness. Good for decreasing statistical, especially single-dependent noise. Median filter-Sets pixel intensity equal to median intensity of pixels in neighborhood. An excellent filter for eliminating intensity spikes. Sigma filter-Sets pixel intensity equal to mean of intensities in neighborhood within two of the mean. Good filter for signal-independent noise. PROBLEM FORMULATION AND METHODOLOGY The System Model We consider a cloud computing model for image processing system. The system will be designed in such a way that the processing of image is performed on server machine rather than client machine. In this, client sends the image with its required request of processing to server machine to process it accordingly. The server machine receives the request and process it and finally send back the result to client machine. Existing System: In the Existing System, A number of image processing techniques, in addition to enhancement techniques, can be applied to improve the data usefulness. Techniques include convolution edge detection, mathematics, filters, trend removal, and image analysis. The Image processing is performed to client computer itself so the overhead to client computer increases due to processing of Image. Proposed System: The proposed system can be summarized as the following three aspects: Most of the digital images contains noise. This can be removed by many enhancement techniques. Filtering is one of the enhancement techniques which is used to remove unwanted information (noise) from the image. It is also used for image sharpening and smoothening.. The Image Processing is based on client-server model. A client sends a request with image that is to be processed to the server computer. The server computer receives the image and process it according to client request and sends the result back to the client machine. The image processing is performed on server computer so there is much less overhead on client computer to process an image. Work done In Image processing methodology, we study the different types of enhancement techniques like noise filtering, image sharpening, image smoothening etc. with the help of different references. Now finally we concluded how to complete this project and we prepared some modules that will be present in our project. And to complete this project we require minimum system requirement and project specification as follows: SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT: Operating system: windows 98/XP or later versions Tool: Java Frames HARDWARE ENVIRONMENT: Processor : Pentium III RAM : 64 MB Harddisk : 2. 1GB Processor speed : 512 MHZ Modules: User/client: In this module user selects an image through GUI. Request: It is a module that belongs to client side that generate request message for server. Process: It’s the module lying on server side that processes the image sent by the client. Reply: It is also a server site module that forward the result after processing of element to client machine. Server: In this module, server machine receives the request from client process it and reply back the result to client. CONCLUSIONS The objective of the project is to smooth and sharp the images by using various Filtering techniques. Where Filtering techniques are one of the enhancement techniques in the Digital image processing. Here in the project I had implemented few spatial domain filters and frequency domain filters. Where spatial domain filters removes the noise and blurs the image. And frequency domain filters are used to sharpen the inside details of an image. The Image Processing is based on client-server model. A client sends a request with image that is to be processed to the server computer. The server computer receives the image and process it according to client request and sends the result back to the client machine. Filters are useful in many application areas as medical diagnosis, Army and Industrial areas. REFERENCES Gonzalez, Rafael; Steve Eddins (2008). 4. Digital Image Processing (2nd ed. ). Mc Graw Hill. p. 163. Tinku Acharya and Ajoy K. Ray (2006). Image Processing Principles and Applications. Wiley InterScience. Wilhelm Burger and Mark J. Burge (2007). Digital Image Processing: An Algorithmic Approach Using Java. Springer. ISBN 1-84628-379-5. R. Fisher, K (2002). Digital Image Processing. Springer. ISBN 3-540-67754-2. Milan Sonka, Vaclav Hlavac and Roger Boyle (1999). Image Processing, Analysis, and Machine Vision. PWS Publishing. Tim Morris (2004). Computer Vision and Image Processing. Palgrave Macmillan.

An Examination of SMEs in Vietnam

An Examination of SMEs in Vietnam Definition of SME Nowadays in Vietnam, developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is highly concerned by the government because a country prosperity depends lots on the health of the economy and enterprises. At the beginning of developing a market-oriented economy especially, SMEs play a key role because they take up most of enterprises in the economy, let alone creating the most of the labor force. However, up until now, there not yet exists a widely-used, complete definition on SMEs. The definition of SME is going through a process of dynamic change in parallel with the transformation from the centrally planned to market economy. Many of the definitions contained in the previous UNECE document OPA/AC.12/1 are no longer valid. The associated central and eastern European countries are gradually adapting their definitions the recommendation of the EU. The SME definition that is currently in use in the EU, is based on the Commission Recommendation 96/280/EC. Normally, to precisely define which compo nents make up a SME, we need to focus on the following criteria. In terms of qualitative measurement, there are quite a few criteria to define an SME, such as: low level of specialization, decentralization, simple administration requirements†¦ These criteria correctly reflect the nature of SME but simultaneously hard to reconcile. That is why these criteria has referential value only and rarely used in practice. In terms of quantitative measurement, the criteria are more specific and applicable. The most commonly used one is the number of people employed by the business. The second common criterion deals with finance – either the turnover or income, or asset value of the business. The third criterion relates to the independency of the SME from other business entity. This thesis will mainly deal with SME definition quantitatively since it shows clear advantage over the other, which are easy to measure and clear in scope. Since there is not yet a specific and widely-used definition for SME, it is important to take a look at different points of view and decide an overall acceptable concept in this thesis. It affects the analyses in different parts of this thesis. According to EU Commission, the main factors to determine whether an entity is a SME are labor force and either turnover or balance sheet total. Based on the commission staff working document by EU Commission, 2009 edition, the specific benchmark is as follow These ceilings apply for individual firms only. A firm which is a part of larger grouping may need to include related information from that grouping too. This definition use various sources to measure, hence, it covers most of the SME situation. Moreover, these three factors are clear in nature and easy to apply, which helps the firms as well as the government to follow and concept and apply relevant measurements. In 2010, enterprises with less than 250 employees are estimated to have accounted for 99.8% of the total number of enterprises across Europe, 66.9% of employment, 57% of turnover and 58% of value-added. Obviously, without such a clear definition, it would be so hard to statistically compute those figures and the government may neglect the mass number of SMEs in their countries. However, there still exists drawbacks concerning this concept, the most important of which is that it is not suitable for a developing country like Vietnam. For a micro enterprise in Vietnam, for example, it is almost impossible for it to own turnover or balance sheet total of 45 billion VND. Therefore, although EU has developed some reasonable criteria that we can learn to establish our own definition, it is essential for developing countries like ours to come up with one of our own. For Korea, the subject of this thesis, the government has issued legislation regarding SMEs, in which criteria are clearly stated in able to assist policy makers to identify SMEs. These criteria are divided upon specific fields. For example, in construction business, an SME entity has to have fewer than 300 frequent labors and have total investment capital of less than USD 600.000. In trading area, enterprises with less than 20 frequent labor and revenue less than USD 500.000 per year (retailers) or less than USD 250.000 per year (wholesalers) are considered SMEs. In this pool, small enterprises are those that have less than 5 frequent employees. These criteria are established in the 70s, up until now, the number of employees has increased 2 to 3 times and capital has been raised more than 10 times. This definition seems to fit more with Vietnam’s situation as Korea is also an Asia country and has similar economic background to us. It also uses the two most common indicators as labor force and capital to determine an SME. However, this definition is already outdated and adjusted to suit the current situation more. This practice makes the concept no longer appropriate to Vietnam as the economic situation between the two countries now differs quite a lot, which urges the need to develop a concept of our own, depending on the knowledge learned from other countries in the world. In our country, although there are not yet any fixed criteria to clearly define an SME, some organizations have developed their own concept to further support their activities. According to Doc 681/CP – KNT, enterprises with less than VND 5 billion in charter capital and average labor of less than 200 people per year are considered SMEs. Below are some organizations and their own definition Source: Ministry of Planning Investment However, these figures are temporarily just administration-oriented criteria to create supporting policies for SMEs. The fact that non -governmental organizations or governmental organizations develop their own concept is acceptable because they have different objectives and practices. On the other hand, such various opinions on SMEs are only referential in quality because they not yet come to a sufficient conclusion on whether an entity is or is not an SME. Therefore, the majority of intellectuals on this issue has raised to make clear this definition as an entity which has investment certificate, regardless of business type, and has capital as well as labor size that can satisfy government regulations on specific fields or through different times. From this standpoint, our government has finally come up with an official document on this matter. The Vietnamese government, defines SMEs by Decree 56/2009/ ND – CP as follow: â€Å"Small and medium-sized enterprises are business establishments that have registered their business according to law and are divided into three levels: very small, small and medium according to the sizes of their total capital (equivalent to the total assets identified in an enterprise’s accounting balance sheet) or the average annual number of laborers (total capital is the priority criterion), concretely as follows†: Table: by Business-in-Asia.com This definition sticks to criteria that have been used by EU and Korea, but tailored to fit with our economic situation. Furthermore, it divides the economy into different business sectors because of their distinctive characteristics. This definition is established using multiple statistical methods and surveys. Therefore, it is prestigious and practical enough to be used throughout this thesis Roles of SMEs Despite some disadvantages as being an SME, it still bring clear benefits and economic-social impacts due to its distinctive features SMEs considerably contribute to the government budget The contribution of SMEs into both government and local budget is considerable and on the increasing trend. The corporate survey report in 2011 showed that SMEs accounted for more than 97.6% the total number of enterprises in Vietnam, which made it the major tool to create jobs and generate income for the government budget. Income from corporate tax made 103.6% target and increased by 13% compared to the previous year in 2002. In 2003, income from SMEs took up around 15% total income, increasing 29.5% compared to the same quarters of the previous years. In 2004, income from private sector was 13.100 billion VND, occupying 7.8% budget. However, compared to government budget, the contribution of SMEs to local budget is much higher. For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, the private sector accounts for approximately 15%, 24% in Kien Giang, 16% in Dong Thap, 22% in Gia Lai, 19% in Ninh Binh, 16% in Yen Bai, 17% in Thai Nguyen, 22% in Quang Nam, 33% in Binh Dinh†¦ SMEs generate jobs and income for the labor force Due to estimation from some prestigious authorization, SMEs create 49% of non-agriculture jobs in the rural areas, which is about 25-26% of the overall labor force in Vietnam. For business sector, because of the increasing number of SMEs every year, they attracts around 45 million employees with the average income of 1.5 million VND per month. This fact means a lot in the fight to prevent unemployment and stabilize the society nowadays. The average proportion for a corporation to invest in a job vacancy is 70 to 100 million VND; meanwhile, for an SME, the number is only 210 to 280 million VND (around 3 times higher). Due to such a high level of investment, private sector is the main area attracting new employees ever year and redundant employees resulting from administration re-allocation or substantive change in the economic structure. This practice has helped stabilize and enhance the lives of the labor force. To date, more than 7 million people are now working in the private sector. This is such a positive contribution to social-economic stabilization, poverty reduction and awareness improvement. SMEs greatly contribute into the exporting activities In recent years, in line with our government policies about expanding and encouraging international trade, as well as creating the environment for all business sectors to participate in import and export activities, SMEs, especially the crafts, agriculture, aquatic industry have implemented dynamic investment into potential businesses. In specific, they actively seek for and exploit international markets, which helps a great deal in pushing export and tracking down foreign currency for the country. Up until 31/10/2014, the number of SMEs participating in exporting and importing activities takes up 80.6% and 84.2% respectively. The total exporting volume of SMEs in 2012 reached 4.108 million USD, accounting for 24.6%. For importing volume, the number was 4.789 million USD, accounting for 23.3% compared to the total export – import volume of the economy as a whole. The most remarkable thing is that SMEs in private sector has thrived to become the leading sector in exporting marine products, at around 740 million USD, accounting for 39% the total volume of this business sector. The story goes the same for almonds, at 141 million USD, taking up 42% of the total volume. With this increasing trend as these figures, SMEs will soon become the leading sector in obtaining foreign currency for the country. SMEs participate in the process of creating connection with big corporations SMEs, in the recent years, have strong connection with big corporations in supplying raw materials, implementing contracts, gradually generating supporting industries network and products distribution network especially. This is a two-way relationship, which both sides tie and support each other. The big corporations ensure markets, finance, technology and administration experience for SMEs. On the other hand, SMEs support big corporations in supporting industries and products distribution network. SMEs nurture startup spirit With relatively low investment cost, as well as limited size and business environment, individuals have room to experience and nurture ideas. The increasing number of SMEs both create fairly competitive environment and prevent monopoly in business, which brings clear advantages for new ideas. That is why SMEs are places for startups. SMEs are also the perfect places to train inexperienced staff and future leaders to prepare themselves for larger competitive markets. The great success always start from small steps, so SMEs are considered the stepping stones for a successful career. In reality, in many countries, many well-known multi-national corporations with hundreds of employees used to start as startups or small enterprises, with a few people with the same determination and business idea. Many SMEs all over the world were born in tough and flexible business environment. Later, they thrived and rapidly launched their idea into the commercial world. Many economists compare SMEs as a new breeze into the economy, bringing new business value, even in the biggest economy in the world – USA, especially in technology, communication, finance and banking. Starting with a simple idea and a small business size does not mean you stay there forever. Thriving to a successful and stable stage is always what SMEs aim for. SMEs contribute greatly in stabilization and economic restructuring by territory Normally, big corporations are often located in big cities, which exude developed infrastructure. This fact can lead to serious imbalance in economic, cultural and social development level between rural and urban areas. SMEs can greatly contribute to distribute industrial zone to different places, so the development gap among those areas can be narrowed down. The expansion of SMEs has been an essential part in creating the balance among the areas, helping them to identify potential and strength. The results are bright as those provinces can develop their own products and services, which creates industrialized and modernized economic restructuring. It can be stated that the existence of SMEs is the factor that brightens the economic picture of local areas. SMEs are the perfect complementary for the corporations network of the country, as well as those who utilize slight opportunities that big corporations often overlook. That is why SMEs are considered a vital policy tool to achieve development targets, in which is developing rural and remote areas.