The Effects Of Video Games On Teenagers - 1923 Words

Studies show that teens play video games a lot; â€Å"The National Institute on Media argues that almost half of heavy video game players are aged to 17. In its 200 report on video game usage, it finds that 42 percent of children play video games for at least one hour per day.† (Nakaya) It is commonly believed that children play video games too much, and that this has a negative effect on the mental status of teens. This statistic proves that this is untrue, as an hour a day is very reasonable time frame, and allows time for studies and other priorities to be completed prior to gaming. These sentiments have been found since the dawn of video games. But in recent years, video games have become much more than simple simulations of a fictional or real world situation. As computing power and storage capacity increase, games become more realistic and in-depth. This growth in realistic games has adults more worried than ever about what their children are playing. The effect of video games on teenagers is overwhelmingly positive, allowing for friendships that would not otherwise be possible, opening possibilities for careers and sources of income, as well as sharpening the mental and physical skills of the player. Video games can foster important relationships between people who may not have even met otherwise. The online capabilities of current gaming consoles allow for teens to directly interact in-game from anywhere in the world. Even if a game has limited or even entirelyShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Video Games On Teenagers909 Words   |  4 PagesEffects of Video Games Video games are good tools to relax after hours of working and studying. In moderate doses, video games can keep teenagers’ lives balanced between academics and entertainment. If they are in stressful states or worried about their assignments, a few hours of playing video games can help to dispel all of these unnecessary thoughts. However, many teenagers nowadays consume hours a day only for playing video games. Consequently, they fall into the virtual fantasy worlds of videoRead MoreVideo Games Effects On Teenagers1716 Words   |  7 Pagesform, and video gaming is a huge part of our culture. You can ignore or embrace video games and imbue them with the best artistic quality. People are enthralled with video games in the same way as other people love the cinema or theatre† (Serkis, n.d.). Video games have shot onto the scene within the past 50 years. With technology advancing as fast as it has today, video games are becoming more and more realistic, as well as inheren tly more violent. The pressing question of today’s video games is, areRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Teenagers1776 Words   |  8 PagesNegative Effects of Video Games on Teenagers I. Introduction a. Hook: Video games have developed with electronic technologies in this century and have been welcomed by the general public including children and teenagers. Today 97 percent of teenagers in the United States play video games every day as they want to relax and sales of games are growing. b. Thesis: Although video games are used for entertainment purposes, they have had many negative effects on health, behavior, and study of teenagers. IIRead MoreNegative Effects Of Video Games On Teenagers895 Words   |  4 PagesNegative Effects Of Video Games On Teenagers Do you think video games are good for teenagers? Video games are one of the fastest growing entertainment. And 97% of American teens play the video games. And young people aged 8 to 18 play the video games for about 13.2 hours a week. Do you think it is too much or normal? There are a lot of negative effects on teenagers for 13.2 hours playing games. For example, video games are experiencing emotional angst among teens, and many teens are sufferingRead MoreEffect of Violent Video Games on Teenagers1070 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Violent video games are special games, which negatively influences to the attitude and behavior. These video games are popular between children and teenagers. Since 1980-s years violent games are in political discussion. Because when teenagers usually play violent video games, they are becoming aggressive and then they face with psychological problems. For this, some people claim that violent games are harmful for society and they affect to behavior and health. It was interested inRead MoreEffects of Video Games on Children and Teenagers Essay1251 Words   |  6 PagesEffects of Video Games on Children and Teenagers In recent years, technology has developed very rapidly. This has led to many arguably both positive and negative changes in our everyday lives. One such change was the increased accessibility of personal computers and gaming consoles as well as the introduction of numerous video games. Due to their entertainment value, these games gained popularity among children and teenagers. Although many concerns have been voiced related to playing video gamesRead More Negative Effects of Violent Video Games on Teenagers Essay1280 Words   |  6 Pages Video games have been available to consumers for the last 30 years. They are a unique form of entertainment, because they encourage players to become a part of the games script. Todays sophisticated video games require players to pay constant attention to the game, rather than passively watching a movie. My working thesis is â€Å" Although there are other factors that can lead to violent behaviors such as inner stress, playing violent video game s are one of the main factors that can lead to violentRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Young Children And Growing Teenagers1610 Words   |  7 PagesInfluence of Gaming Controversy about video games continue to escalate between parents and gamers, regarding the psychological effect of simulated, realistic, and 3D violence on the minds of young children and growing teenagers. Yet, research shows that video games contribute very little to today’s everyday violence, despite complaints and concerns that games influence a child’s normal behavior. Technology is a way of life in today’s world, computers are used by toddlers, adolescents, andRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Video Games794 Words   |  4 Pagesimproved, video games have been enhanced together with the latest technology. Now, video games have become one of the most iconic hobbies and free time activities for teenagers from simple smartphone games to high-graphic console or pc games. However, some people tend to claim that video games are harmful to teenagers and cause them behave violent and aggressive. Also, some opinionated radicals state that video games are related to youth violence. While some people think that video games have negativeRead MoreEffects of Video Games on Teenage Life1442 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Video games are part of the lives of almost all teens in America, (Lenhart, Kahne, Middaugh, Macgill, Evans and Vitak). Therefore, it is important to understand what, if any, effects video games are having on teenage life. Because many video games contain violent content, imagery, and gameplay, much research on video games has focused on whether playing violent video games leads to violent or aggressive behavior in youth. There is a lot of conflicting evidence about the relationship between video

Laughter and Laugh Charlie Chaplin Free Essays

â€Å"Now is the Time to Laugh† Charlie Chaplin once said â€Å"laughter is the tonic, the surcease for pain. † It is also often that you hear the saying â€Å"laughter is the best medicine,† which is not just an opinion, but has been proven to be true. In this paper I will prove to you that laughter is the best medicine and that one should not suppress their laughter to seem professional or respectful. We will write a custom essay sample on Laughter and Laugh Charlie Chaplin or any similar topic only for you Order Now No matter what the situation, laughter should be welcomed as a natural and enjoyable action that should not and cannot be controlled. The purpose of my paper is not only to prove my point but also to help everyone to appreciate and respect the natural, wonderful experience of one’s laughter and the laughter of others. Norman Cousins said that â€Å"laughter is inner jogging,† which is a good way to put the fact that laughter is actually beneficial for one’s health. Dr. William Fry of Stanford University Medical School compared laughing to inner exercise, he showed that laughing lowers your blood pressure and heart rate, improves lung capacity, massages internal organs, increases memory and alertness, reduces pain, improves digestion, and lowers stress hormones. It also exercises the muscles involved such as your chest and abdominals. A recent study at the University of Maryland Medical Center showed that laughing more and having a strong sense of humor can decrease your risk for heart attack and heart disease. The benefits also include psychological health. It lowers stress and eases anxiety and fear. It also strengthens relationships by bringing you closer to people, helping defuse a conflict, and promoting group bonding. It also helps you think more clearly. Laughter in a relationship is important because it helps you open up more to the person and it brings you closer to them. It can ease the tension during an argument and make one feel more relaxed and comfortable in any situation. Many studies have shown that children laugh around 400 times a day while adults only laugh around 15 times a day. Many professional adults look at laughter as inappropriate and disrespectful. They reduce their laughing while at work and suppress it so they look more professional and sophisticated. School children are forced to be quite and not to laugh ecause their teachers see it as disrespectful and foolish. Lord Chesterfield said that â€Å"frequent and loud laughter is the characteristic of folly and ill manners,† but how can people believe that such a natural, wonderful feeling can be such a terrible thing. There are no reasonable explanations as to why laughter is considered disrespectful. Sure if you are laughing at someone as a way of making f un of them, then that is hurtful and disrespectful, but when people cannot control their laughter, it should not be considered a horrible thing. People don’t find other natural things like sneezing or coughing to be offensive, so why should they find laughter disrespectful. Many people say that this is not the time to laugh, especially at places like funerals, church or a business meeting, but would the person that passed away want you to never laugh in their presence? And would God give you a sense of humor if He didn’t want you to use it? And would anyone want to work with someone who had no sense of humor? Of course not! If anyone ever said they didn’t want to be acquainted with anyone who had a sense of humor and knew how to have fun than they must be lying. God made us the way we are and He made us with a sense of humor for a reason. Sure there are certain times where you should control your laughter but it is more often that you absolutely should not try to control your laughter because it should be completely acceptable in almost any situation. Laughter, love and happiness are by far the best feelings anyone could have and everyone should be able to experience. You wouldn’t say that someone didn’t deserve love or happiness, so why would you say that someone doesn’t deserve to laugh? I personally love to laugh. Who doesn’t? I love laughing with my friends and family and I love to make other people laugh. I believe that a good sense of humor is one of the best qualities you can find in a friend. Everyone deserves happiness and to be truly happy you must be able to laugh in any situation. Most of my close friends are my friends because they know how to make me laugh and I love to laugh with them. As soon as I meet someone who is funny and laughs whenever they want to, I am immediately attracted to them. The number one quality I look for in a friend or boyfriend is an amazing sense of humor and the ability to make me laugh and laugh with me. Everyone knows that no one likes a â€Å"Debby downer† and I think that everyone should be as happy as they can and laugh as much as they can. I believe that true happiness comes from love, and laughter. People should see laughter as one of the best feelings and should welcome it in any situation when it is truly natural. Every day an average person should laugh for at least 15 minutes collectively. As Charlie Chaplin said â€Å"a day without laughter is a day wasted. † How to cite Laughter and Laugh Charlie Chaplin, Papers

Classical Music The Mozart Effect Essay Example For Students

Classical Music: The Mozart Effect Essay The Mozart effect is a phenomena whereby listening to ten minutes of Mozart’s music, a person’s spatial IQ is boosted by 8-9 points (on the Stanford-Binet IQ Scale), in comparison to listening to ten minutes of a relaxation tape or silence (Rauscher, Shaw and Ky, 1993). This literature review critically assesses the key works and concepts concerning the Mozart effect, specifically its methodologies, its limits, and finally, alternative theories. While some academics argue that ‘listening to Mozart makes babies smarter’ is a valid claim (___,__;____,__), others denounce it (___,__;___,__). While the Mozart effect does show temporarily increased spatial IQ, it does not support the claim that ‘listening to Mozart makes babies smarter’. When the term ‘smarter’ is used throughout this literature review, it refers to the overall cognitive function of the person, not just a specific domain (such as spatial reasoning). Similarly, when the term ‘babies’ is used, it refers to infants in the early developmental stages. A wide range of sources, such as journal articles, research papers, and a meta-analysis, will be critically reviewed to provide support for the claim that listening to Mozart does not make babies smarter. Only Tested on Babies The majority of researchers and theorists that have published work regarding the Mozart effect hold one of two views: that it increases spatial IQ, or that it doesn’t. There are copious amounts of arguments as to why or why not Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky’s original 1993 study showed that listening to Mozart makes babies smarter, but the research claim falls down in several areas. Foremost, the studies that have been conducted over the years have been tested on a range of age groups: adults (Daniels, Henley, and Markley, 2007), college students (Rauscher et al. 1993), and high school students (McKelvie and Low, 2002). However, there is one age group missing from this list: children, and specifically, babies. The research claim explicitly refers to making babies smarter, even though the original study, and all subsequent studies, have not been performed on babies. As seen in ‘Mozart effect-Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis’ by Pietschnig, Voracek and Formann (2010 ), nearly 40 studies (including over 3000 subjects) have been conducted to determine whether the Mozart effect really does boost spatial IQ. Although the original study found that listening to ten minutes of Mozart boosted spatial IQ by up to 9 points (in comparison to listening to silence or a relaxation tape), this study was conducted on college students, who are at a different developmental stage than infants (Rauscher et al. 1993). Therefore, the results of this study cannot be generalised to members of the population that are in a different age group. The apparent lack of testing the Mozart effect on babies indicates that perhaps there is no plausible way to test on such young children, as they are incapable of completing spatial reasoning tasks, such as cutting and folding paper. As there have been no studies that have tested on babies, results showing improved cognitive ability in babies after listening to Mozart simply do not exist, which is a major flaw of the research claim that ‘listening to Mozart makes babies smarter. The studies conducted since the original in 1993 have been indicative of some validity of the Mozart effect, in the form of a slightly higher spatial IQ score (Jones and Estell, 2007). Only Spatial IQ and Only Temporary These results, however, do not show that listening to Mozart permanently boosts the overall cognitive function of adults, let alone babies. The original study by Raushcer et al. in 1993 showed that the enhancing effects of listening to Mozart for ten minutes were temporary, lasting only ten to fifteen minutes (Raushcer et al. 1993). Similarly, Jones and Zigler (2002) describe these temporal results as ‘quick fix’ solutions to a more complicated issue. Their 2002 article critiques reports on the impact of early experience on the brain in early developmental stages and proposed policies and interventions for young children. The fact that the performance enhancing effects of the Mozart effect only last ten to fifteen minutes is a significant detriment to the claim that ‘listening to Mozart makes babies smarter’. The wording of this claim implies that listening to Mozart will give permanent results with only some exposure to the music condition. However, numerou s studies have indicated that this is not the case, and that the results are only temporary (McKelvie and Low, 2002; Daniels et al. 2007; Rauscher et al. 1993; Pietschnig et al. 2010). As well as only temporal results, studies are indicative of the Mozart effect only effecting spatial IQ: only one domain of the brain, rather than overall cognitive function as the research claim suggests. The original study (Rauscher et al. 1993) involved participants performing spatial reasoning tasks to determine whether their IQ would be affected by the music condition. The results indicated a boost in spatial IQ by eight to nine points on the Stanford-Binet IQ scale. Spatial IQ, however, is only one domain of the brain. Therefore, these results do not support the claim that listening to Mozart makes babies smarter, as smarter refers to the overall cognitive function, not just one specific domain. Furthermore, other studies (McKelvie and Low, 2002; Pietschnig et al. 2010) failed to replicate the same results found in 1993, despite using multiple designs of the experiment. Not only did these studies fail to replicate results, they were unsuccessful in producing any significant results at all (McKelvie and Low, 2002). It can therefore be deduced that the claim listening to Mozart makes babies smarter is inherently false, even though some studies suggest partial support with alternati ve theories. Teenagers and Social Networking EssayWorks Cited Hollander, R. D., Steneck, N. H. (1990). Science and engineering related ethics and values studies: Characteristics of an emerging field of research. Science, Technology Human Values, 15(1), 84-104. 1. Dowd, Will. (2008). The Myth of the Mozart Effect. Skeptic, 13(4), 21-23. 2. Jones, S. M., Zigler, E. (2002). The Mozart effect: Not learning from history. Applied Developmental Psychology, 23(1), 355-372. 3. McKelvie, P., Low, J. (2002). Listening to Mozart does not make babies smarter: Final curtains for the Mozart effect. Developmental Psychology, 20(1), 241-258. 4. Rauscher, F.H., Shaw, G.L., Ky, K.N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365(1), 611. 5. Pietsching, J., Voracek, M., Formann, A.K. (2010). Mozart effect-Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis. Intelligence, 38(1), 314-323. 6. Leech, C. Musical Opinion. 2006. 130(1): 20. ‘The Mozart effect: Who needs it?’ 7. Thompson, W.F., Schellenberg, G.E., Husain G. (2001), Arousal, mood, and the Mozart effect. Psychological Science, 12(3), 248-251. 8. Hui, K. (2006). Mozart effect in preschool children? Early Childhood Development and Care, 176(3-4), 411-419. 9. Noonan, P. (2007). Tempo, arousal and the underlying mechanisms of the Mozart effect. (Masters Dissertation). Available from Proquest Dissertations and Theses database. http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/881641564 10. Nantais, K. M. Schellenberg, E. G. (1999). The Mozart Effect: An artefact of preference. Psychological Science, 10(4), 370-373.

Modern Literature Existentialism Essays - Philosophy Of Life

Modern Literature: Existentialism EXISTENTIALISM Existentialism is a philosophical movement that developed in continental Europe during the 1800's and 1900's. Most of the members are interested in the nature of existence or being, by which they usually mean human existence. Although the philosophers generally considered to be existentialists often disagree with each other and sometimes even resent being classified together, they have been grouped together because they share many problems, interests, and ideas. The most prominent existentialist thinkers of the 1900's include the French writers Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sarte, and Gabriel Marcel and German philosophers Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger. The Russian religious and political thinker Nicolas Berdyaev and the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber were also famous existentialists. Existentialism is largely a revolt against traditional European philosophy which reached its climax during the late 1700's and early 1800's. Principles of knowledge that would be objective, universally true, and certain were produced. Existentialists rejected the methods and ideals of science as being improper for philosophy. They investigated what it is like to be an individual human being living in the world instead of making the traditional attempt to grasp the ultimate nature of the world and abstract systems of thought. They stress the fact that every individual is only a limited human being. Each must face important and difficult decisions with only limited knowledge and time in which to make these decisions. Human life is seen as a series of decisions that must be made without knowing what the correct choice is. They must decide what standards to except and which ones to reject. Individuals must make their own choices without help from external standards. Humans are free and completely responsible for their choices. Their freedom and responsibility is thrust upon them and they are ?condemned to be free?. Their responsibility for actions, decisions and beliefs cause anxiety. They try to escape by ignoring or denying their responsibility. To have a meaningful life one must become fully aware of the true character of the situation and bravely accept it. Existentialists believe that people learn about themselves best by examining the most extreme forms of human experience. They write about such topics as death and extreme situations. This concentration upon the most extreme and emotional aspects of experience contrasts sharply with the main emphasis of contemporary philosophy in England and the United States. This philosophy focuses upon more common place situation and upon the nature of language rather than experience. JEAN-PAUL SARTRE Jean-Paul Sarte was born in Paris in 1905, and died in 1980. In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. However he refused to accept the reward. Sarte was a French existentialist philosopher who expressed his ideas in novels, plays, and short stories, as well as theoretical works. The mere existence of things, especially his own existence, fascinated and horrified him. To Sarte there seemed no reason why anything exists. He stated that only human existence is conscious of itself and of other things. He argued that non-living objects simply are what they are and people are whatever they choose to be. People exist as beings who must choose their own character. He agreed with the existentialists philosophy that people are completely free. Sarte said, ?People are afraid to recognize this freedom and to accept full responsibility for their behavior.? Throughout his philosophical and literary works, he examined and analyzed the varied and subtle forms of self-deception. In Sarte's chief philosophical work, Being and Nothingness, he investigated the nature and forms of existence or being. In his essay, Existentialism and Humanism, he defined existentialism as the doctrine that, for humankind, ?existence precedes essence?. In the Critique of Dialectical Reason, Sarte presented his political and sociological theories. THEATER OF THE ABSURD MOVEMENT The theater of the absurd refers to tendencies in dramatic literature that emerged in Paris during the late 1940's's and early 1950's. It's roots can be found in the allegorical morality plays of the middle ages and the allegorical religious dramas. The term theater of the absurd derives from the philosophical use of the word absurd by such existentialists thinkers as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sarte. A fully satisfying rational explanation of the universe was beyond its reach and the world must be seen as absurd. The images of the

Music In Education Essays - Human Communication, Linguistics

Music In Education Essays - Human Communication, Linguistics Music In Education Music in education is essential to our children because it increases their listening skills and is a common method of communication for cultures worldwide. Music is Education There are schools attempting to eliminate teaching musical arts to our children. The board of education claims they must provide education by concentrating on the basic academic courses, but what they don't realize is that music is a major part of basic education. We must not allow them to pull the teaching of music out of our school curriculums because music is an essential form of communication. Our children do not have to be fluent in the arts to receive the value of broad exposure to the different musical dialogues. Deprivation of a very valuable part of education occurs if we do not teach them to appreciate a wide variety of music. Metaphorically speaking, we often associate the terms language and grammar with the term music. This association leads us to believe that music is a form of language, possibly because no symbol system other than language has the same potential as music of infinite productivity and precision. It takes a multitude of directions and phonetic-type symbolism to produce a pleasant sounding musical composition. This relates very closely to the requirements of everyday language. The primary objective of any spoken language is to convey a person's thoughts in a comprehensible fashion, but we must remember that everyone thinks and comprehends everything differently. Musical language contains vast quantities of words to help people understand how original composers intended to play a specific piece. Musical language also has directions that allow and encourage some scope of original interpretation and minor departures from the written score, resulting in no two performances sounding exactly alike. The English language, as we know it, carries a very strong parallel to these same interpretable words. Dialect and slang are just two of the many connotative forms to speak different languages. All languages contain these variations and reinforce the need for striving toward understanding a basically generic language. It would be very difficult to speak to a non-English speaking person and clearly convey a message unless both persons were familiar with basic terminology. It would be just as unlikely to communicate a musical message to someone not educated or interested in musical interpretation. The term music in itself has many different connotations. One in the United States may not have the same perceptions as one whose origin is France or Australia, or elsewhere in the world. In my travels through Europe and South America I had a hard time finding any truly original, locally produced music. The majority of the music I searched through were also popular in the United States. It was very easy to find foreigners singing an American song using their interpretation of our language. The entire world seems to be able to communicate with music and seems to understand it enough to share their own musical interpretation. Music is a language of it's own and depending on how we speak it, it too can accomplish a multitude of results. People are no more able to understand a foreign language without education than they are to understand the unspoken language of music without proper musical education. A single score of music interpreted with a few of many available musical directions can tell as many stories as there are variations. For example, playing Cristofori's Dream by David Lanz entirely lento-pianisimo (slow and very soft), creates a very peaceful and tranquil mood. Played again allegro-forte (lively, brisk, and loud), emits an uplifting feeling. Yet, by using both interpretations progressively and regressively within this identical musical score, one could feel depleted and elated in the same timeframe. This is perhaps the most ascribable reason to pursue a knowledge of musical semantics. Within music one expresses many emotions, speaks many languages, conveys complex messages, and ! tells many stories. Music can be a selfish form of conversation and it is not always necessary to have a recipient to convey a message. One has only to listen while playing music to communicate with themselves, yet most would suspect the stability of a person who attempted this scenario by simply talking and responding while alone. Music merges the physical aspects of harmony with a sublime and metaphysical effect creating an inner peace. Seldom will words alone be capable of accomplishing what just one musical composition can communicate when we teach our children to appreciate music. With all available forms of communication, one should never forget that

The 50 Most Commonly Used Words in the English Language

The 50 Most Commonly Used Words in the English Language If youre an English learner, knowing which words are most commonly used in the language can help you to improve your vocabulary skills and gain confidence in  casual conversations.   Dont  count on these words to help you become fluent in English, but do use them as a resource to help you build your skills as you grow more  comfortable with the English language. Top Vocabulary Words All Everyone in a group.All the children did their homework. And A conjunction that joins parts of speech together in a sentence.She jumped, jogged, and danced in gym class.   Boy A male child.The little boy asked his mother if she would buy him candy. Book A long text of words that people read.The college student had to read a 500-page book for English class. Call To yell out or speak loudly; to contact someone by phone.  The girl called out to her brother so he would wait for her. Car A four-wheeled vehicle that transports people from one place to another.He drove the car from school to work. Chair A piece of furniture that can hold one person.My mother is the only one allowed to sit in the big chair in the living room.   Children Young people who have not yet reached adulthood.The children didnt listen to what their parents told them. City A place where many people live.New York is the biggest city in the United States. Dog   An animal that many people have as a household pet.My dog likes to play with bones. Door A passageway from which you can enter or exit a room or a building.  The students rushed through the classroom door just before the bell rang.   Enemy   The opposite of a friend. A competitor or rival.  The hero of the story killed his enemy with a sword. End To finish something or come to a conclusion.The end of the book was a happy one. Enough To have more than one needs of something.  Most Americans have enough food to eat, but thats not true in other countries.   Eat To consume food.  The children liked to eat apples and bananas after school.   Friend The opposite of an enemy. Someone on your side and with whom you enjoy spending time.The girl played with her friend in the yard until her mother told her to come inside. Father A male parent.The father picked up his child when she started crying. Go To travel to and from a location.  We go to school every day. Good To behave well or in a kind manner.My mother said that if Im good and dont hit my brother, she will take me to the movies. Girl A female child.  The girl dropped her schoolbooks on the ground.   Food An edible substance that people, animals, and plants eat to live.Starving people do not have enough food to eat and may die. Hear To listen to something.  I could hear my brother and sister arguing from the other room. House A place where people, often families, live.My friend lives in the biggest house on the street. Inside The internal part of something or to be located within something.  The inside of the house was warm and cozy.   Laugh To express that you find something amusing.  The children laughed after the clown made a joke. Listen To hear something.  We listen to music because we like to dance.   Man An adult male.The man was much taller than his son.   Name The title of a place, book, person, etc.  I never liked my name growing up.   Never Not ever.I am never getting back together with my boyfriend. Next The thing that happens after something else in a sequence; to be situated by something else.  Lets go to the next question. New Something just created or unused or unopened.My mother bought me a new doll for Christmas. It was still in the package. Noise Loud sounds, especially made by music or a group of people.  There was so much noise at the party, the neighbors called the police.   Often To happen frequently.  My teacher gets mad because I often forget my homework.   Pair Two things that go together.  I like the new pair of shoes my sister bought me for my birthday. Pick To choose or select.  I picked the cupcake with vanilla frosting.   Play To have fun with someone or engage in an activity or sport.  I like to play football with my brother.   Room A part of a home, building, office or another structure.  The room at the end of the hall is the coldest in the building.   See To watch or observe something.  I see clouds in the sky, which must mean it will rain soon. Sell To offer a service or a good for a price.I am going to sell my surfboard for $50 because its time for a new one.   Sit To rest on a floor, chair, or another surface.  The teacher told the children to sit on the carpet.   Speak To say something.I speak too loudly sometimes.   Smile To grin or show pleasure.I smile when my brother tells jokes. Sister The opposite of brother. The female child in relation to other children of the same parents.My parents took my sister and me to the circus. Think To contemplate something or have an idea or belief.  I think all pets should have a home.   Then Something that comes after an event in a sequence.  I opened the refrigerator. Then, I ate some food.   Walk To travel on foot.  I walk home from school every day. Water A substance plants, people, animals, and the earth need to survive.If animals dont have enough water to drink, they will die.   Work To make a living, engage in an activity for pay, or to reach a goal.  I work as a teacher because I like children.   Write To put something on paper with a pen or pencil. To use a computer to type text.I have to write three essays in English class this semester.   Woman A female adult.That woman was our new school principal.   Yes To answer affirmatively or respond to ones name being called.  Yes, Im here, the student said when the teacher called her name.

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

Lean Manufacturing - Essay Example A number of companies around the world use this technique. The main purpose for implementing this technique is to bring efficiency in the production process. This technique is often called as the production process of the twenty-first century. Today, almost every size of business makes use of lean manufacturing because of the fact that many large size businesses have achieved success by integrating this technique. In addition to this, many large sized organizations hire lean manufacturing experts in their organizations. Many companies begin the process of lean manufacturing through value stream analysis. It is an analysis in which each step involved in the production process is closely monitored and examined. After that, an analysis is made about the value of each step. Value stream analysis helps the companies in identifying those steps which needs improvement or which has no worth in the production process (Feld, pg 55). According to lean manufacturing, seven different types of wastes results in the inefficient production. These types of wastes include over-production, waiting, over-processing, inventory, defects, transportation, and moving. Among these, over-production, transportation, and inventory are related to the scarcity in the flow of material. All of these types of wastes are a source of increasing cost without creating any value for the final consumer. Some companies start their lean manufacturing process with the facility analysis in which determines opportunity areas in different sections such as service, production, shipping, sales, production, administration, engineering, quality, and maintenance. Besides this, there is sometimes a need of Six Sigma tools in the lean manufacturing process. In order to gain efficiency, lean team should be trained properly so that they can develop an understanding about when to use the lean tools and when to implement improvement (Davis, pg 23-44). It is essential that companies follow the road map

Casa de Diseo Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Casa de Diseo - Case Study Example riod by offering credit terms of 3/10 net 60, what additional savings in resource investment costs will result for the shortened cash conversion cycle, assuming that the level of sales remains constant? If the firm’s variable cost of $40,000,000 in sales is 80%, determine the reduction in average investment in accounts receivable and the annual savings that will result from this reduced investment, assuming that sales remain constant. Teresa Leal should continue focusing on how the company can reduce the accounts receivable (money customers owe the company), a move that will automatically reduce the bad debt expense. The company should continue with its new strategy of offering cash discounts since the analysis has confirmed that it is a wise idea. However, the company’s management should also focus on how it can reduce the cost of offering cash discounts since it appears as if it is still relatively high (Fernandes,

Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Essay Example for Free

Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Essay Consider this, Is what we believe to be real and true real and true? In the movie The Matrix, Neo is a computer programer by day and hacker by night. He senses that something is wrong with the world but insists what he know he feels. When he dreams, he isn’t sure if it was real or just a dream just as Descartes believes he cannot trust his senses to tell him whether or not he is still dreaming. Neo meets with Morpheus and Morpheus gives Neo the option of knowing the truth. According to Morpheus the world isn’t real, it is an illusion and offers Neo a life altering choice. To take a pill that will give him the truth. The truth Morpheus refers to is that the world Neo believes in is just an illusion. What Neo perceives as real by his senses is nothing more than a computer generating ideas in his head without any real experiences. Morpheus gives Neo the option of continuing to live his life in the shadows and the way he perceives it or to see the light and the truth. This closely resembles the allegory of the cave by Pluto. Plato invites us to imagine humans being held prisoners, with no freedom to move or see except what is directly in front of them in the form of shadows. This is the prisoners reality. This is what they come to believe is real. When in-fact there is another world just beyond their reality. It is only after one prisoner escapes the shackles and chains and finds that the actual world is not just shadows but a world with the light of the sun. The prisoner has difficulty adjusting his eyes to the brightness, but eventually does. This experience parallels to what Neo experiences. Descartes poses the questions in his work Meditations of First Philosophy, 1961, of how we cannot for certain that the world he experiences isn’t not the product of an illusion forced upon him by an evil demon. He questions what he believes is real because of what he sees and feels while dreaming and therefore can’t trust his senses to tell him if 2he is still dreaming. When Neo accepts the â€Å"red pill† and his perception of his life slips away when he realizes that the human race is held in containers, unconscious, with a computer generating their thoughts and experiences. Humans invented Artificial Intelligence and in turn the AI took over mankind and enslaved them using them for the energy they required to stay ‘alive’. Neo realizes what Descartes proposed, that Neo’s life was just controlled by an evil demon, the Matrix. But Descartes went on to argue the existence of God, saying a Good God would not let an evil demon control us. Neo struggles with this new truth because he didn’t believe in fate because he didn’t like the idea he wasn’t in control of life. Neo life as he knew it is gone, and he is faced with the new reality and he struggles with the different emotions first of shock, fear and disbelief and then acceptance. He joins the group of dissidents to help others see the truth and reality of life. Knowing the truth doesn’t necessarily ‘set you free’ as we find out. A fellow dissident Cypher discovers the truth is hard and decides that ‘ignorance is bliss’. He negotiates a deal to deliver Morpheus in turn for his previous ‘life’. For Cypher, the truth was too much to handle, he liked the illusion of his previous life. Once Neo gains knowledge of he Matrix, he is able to discern between the truth and illusion and ascends to a higher level of understanding. He realizes that he can no longer blindly accept information received through his senses, but must requires answers to his questions. He like Descartes comes to the conclusion â€Å"I think, therefore I am†. The difference between the Matrix and Plato and Descartes is the movie gives Neo a way back to the physical real world whereas Plato and Descartes only suggest there is another reality and we are dreaming but doesn’t give us a way back. None of the notables address God within the realm of truth. God states he is the way of the light and the truth. We are challenged in our daily lives to live a real life.

Londons Tree Nursery- QM problem :: essays research papers

LONDON’S TREE NURSERY Model Problem Solving   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London’s Nursery is a business that grows and sells evergreen trees. Here lately London’s has been looking into purchasing some new land in order to be able to grow some additional trees. This new land purchase will just be intended for the production of Colorado Blue Spruce trees and Concolor Fir trees. The London’s are looking at a section of land that is ten acres big. Before London’s decides to buy this land they want to know the amount of profits that they will be able to make off the land with the two different types of trees. They also want to know how many of each type of tree they will be able to plant on this section of land.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The model that will be used to determine the best option for London’s will be an Integer Programming Model and this model will be a total integer model. The reason why I selected to use a total integer model is because of the fact that you can not technically grow or sell only part of a tree. The issue of the amount of land can be divided out into fractions of land, but when objects such as these are being dealt with, fractions are not going to be able to properly give you a precise answer. When you use a total integer model, all of the decisions variables are required to have integer solution values. So, instead of coming up with an answer that might say you should produce 125.4 Colorado trees and 136.8 Concolor trees, your answer will not require any guessing or rounding down to try to determine the results. With a total integer model, your answer will be exact and it won’t require taking any chances. The new trees that London’s plan on growing on their new land have different requirements. The Colorado Blue Spruce requires about five square feet of room, and the Concolor Fir tree normally needs around seven square feet of room to properly grow and be maintained. The two trees also require different amounts of labor time in maintaining them. During the time that the nursery will have the trees a Colorado tree needs 1.5 hours of labor, but since the Concolor tree is more of an easy adapting tree they only need 1 hour(s) of labor a week. The London’s Tree Nursery has an extra 300 hours that they plan on using for these trees.

Play Station 3 Essay

Play Station 3 is the best multimedia console out so far. Such multimedia contents include a Blu- ray player, a HD DVD/ DVD player, a CD, and a Super Audio Cd Player. Some models of the PS3 Have something in them called the EMOTION CHIP, which is a fancy term for being able to play PS2 games, but all models have the ability to play PS1 games. As far as Graphics go the PS3 has the ability to display up to and over 550 MHz. You might be wondering what the hell is MHz( MEGA Hertz), well MEGA Hertz is Graphics card in the hardware of the PS3. MEGA Hertz or ant type of Hertz is a type of processor that gives the system the ability to display hundreds, thousands, or even millions or billions of pixels per second. capable of displaying over 65 HD frames per second. All of this graphics can’t be displayed on even the most recent computers, this is the most MHz’s out in any gaming console EVER!. The Connectivity of this console is outstanding, stellar, excellent! This awesome console can have a blue tooth headset, Six axis controller, and a Dual Shock 3 controller connected to the system wirelessly. Up to 4 Six axis, or Dual Shock 3 controllers connected to the system simultaneously, but that is the hardware speaking: more connectivity includes Cables such as the HDMI cable. Now the HDMI cable is for the best sound, picture, and quality when hooked up to an HD Tv, now if you don’t have an HD Tv but you have a Tv with 480i, or 720, and or 1080p, not 1080i, you can just go to Game stop to purchase a audio/video out with a high quality switch. A regular A/V cable for NSTC Tv s   comes with the product. The PS3’s hardware is very complex with a lot of the newest hardware used in most recent Computers, Hardware include a slot-loading 2x speed Blu- ray Disc drive for Games, DVD, BD DVD, CD’s, PS2/PS1 format games and Super audio CD’s. Plus a new IBM-designed CELL Microprocessor as its CPU. Graphics in hardware handled by the NVIDIA RSX ‘Reality Synthesizer’, which is used to support High Definition. Build in memory: 256 MB of XDR and 256 of GDDR3 video memory for the RSX. The system also has Bluetooth 2.0, Ethernet connectivity port, USB 2.0 and HDMI 1.3a. The PS3’s system hardware has been used for Super computer for High-Performance Computing, and WI-FI networking. PS3 owner will be able to use other operating systems besides XMB because Linux is pre-installed.   And thats why I think the PS3 is much much better than the XBOX 360!

The Great Trade Collapse: What Caused It and What Does It Mean

The great trade collapse: What caused it and what does it mean? Richard Baldwin 27 November 2009 World trade experienced a sudden, severe, and synchronised collapse in late 2008 – the sharpest in recorded history and deepest since WWII. This ebook – written for the world's trade ministers gathering for the WTO's Trade Ministerial in Geneva – presents the economics profession's received wisdom on the collapse. Two dozen chapters, written by leading economists from across the globe, summarise the latest research on the causes of the collapse as well as its consequences and the prospects for recovery.According to the emerging consensus, the collapse was caused by the sudden, severe and globally synchronised postponement of purchases, especially of durable consumer and investment goods (and their parts and components). The impact was amplified by â€Å"compositional† and â€Å"synchronicity† effects in which international supply chains played a central role. The â€Å"great trade collapse† occurred between the third quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009. Signs are that it has ended and recovery has begun, but it was huge – the steepest fall of world trade in recorded history and the deepest fall since the Great Depression.The drop was sudden, severe, and synchronised. A few facts justify the label: The Great Trade Collapse. It was severe and sudden Global trade has dropped before – three times since WWII – but this is by far the largest. As Figure 1 shows, global trade fell for at least three quarters during three of the worldwide recessions that have occurred since 1965 – the oil-shock recession of 1974-75, the inflation-defeating recession of 1982-83, and the Tech-Wreck recession of 2001-02.Specifically: †¢The 1982 and 2001 drops were comparatively mild, with growth from the previous year’s quarter reaching -5% at the most. †¢The 1970s event was twice that size, with g rowth stumbling to -11%. †¢Today collapse is much worse; for two quarters in a row, world trade flows have been 15% below their previous year levels. The OECD has monthly data on its members’ real trade for the past 533 months; the 7 biggest month-on-month drops among the 533 all occurred since November 2008 (see the chapter by Sonia Araujo and Joaquim Oliveira).Figure 1 The great trade collapses in historical perspective, 1965 – 2009 Source: OECD Quarterly real trade data. The great trade collapse is not as large as that of the Great Depression, but it is much steeper. It took 24 months in the Great Depression for world trade to fall as far as it fell in the 9 months from November 2008 (Figure 2). The latest data in the figure (still somewhat preliminary) suggests a recovery is underway. Figure 2 The great trade collapses vs. the Great Depression Source: Eichengreen and O’Rourke (2009), based on CPB online data for latest.It was synchronised †¢All 104 nations on which the WTO reports data experienced a drop in both imports and exports during the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009. †¢Figure 3 shows how imports and exports collapsed for the EU27 and 10 other nations that together account for three-quarters of world trade; each of these trade flows dropped by more than 20% from 2008Q2 to 2009Q2; many fell 30% or more. Figure 3 The great trade collapse, 2008 Q2 to 2009 Q2 Sources: WTO online database.Figure 4 shows that world trade in almost all product categories were positive in 2008Q2, almost all were negative in 2008Q4, and all where negative in 2009Q1. The categories most marked by international supply chains (Mechanical and electrical machinery, Precision instruments, and Vehicles) saw some of the biggest drops, and detailed empirics in the chapter by Bems, Johnson and Yi finds that supply chains were hit harder controlling for other factors. The chart, however, shows that the falls were by no means extraordin ary large in these sectors.Figure 4 All types of goods trade collapsed simultaneously Source: Comtrade database. Manufactures and commodities Trade collapsed across the board, but it is important to distinguish between commodities and manufactures. The collapse in minerals and oil trade started from a boom time and fell faster than total trade (Figure 5). The reason was prices. Food, materials and especially oil experienced a steep run up in price in early 2008; the boom ended in mid 2008 – well before the September 2008 Lehman’s debacle. The price of manufactures, by contrast, was rather steady in this period (Figure 6).Figure 5 The great trade collapse and values: Food, oil, and manufactures Source: ITC online database. Since food, fuels, and raw materials make up about a quarter of global trade, these price movements had a big impact on aggregate trade figures. Countries dependent on commodity exports, in particular oil exporters, were among those that experienced t he greatest drop in exports (see the chapters Africa by Peter Draper and Gilberto Biacuana, and by Leonce Ndikumana and Tonia Kandiero, and on India by Rajiv Kumar and Dony Alex).The drop in manufactures trade was also massive, but it involved mostly quantity reductions. Exporters specialising in durable goods manufactures saw a particularly sharp decline in their exports (see chapters on Japan by Ruyhei Wakasugi and by Kiyoyasu Tanaka). Mexico, which is both an oil exporter and a participant in the US’s manufacturing supply chain, experienced one of the world’s most severe trade slumps (see chapter by Ray Robertson). Figure 6 The great trade collapse and prices: Commodity vs. manufactures Source: CPB online database. CausesThe great trade collapse was triggered by – and helped spread – the global economic slump that has come to be called â€Å"The Great Recession. 1 As the left panel of Figure 7 shows, the OECD nations slipped into recession in this per iod, with the largest importing markets – the US, EU and Japan (the G3) – seeing their GDP growth plummet more or less in synch. The US and Europe saw negative GDP growth rates of 3 to 4%; Japan was hit far worse. Figure 7 The current recession, OECD nations and G3, 2007Q1 – 2009Q2 Note: G3 is US, EU and Japan. Source: OECD online data base.Why did trade fall so much more than GDP? Given the global recession, a drop in global trade is unsurprising. The question is: Why was it so big? The chapter by Caroline Freund shows that during the four large, postwar recessions (1975, 1982, 1991, and 2001) world trade dropped 4. 8 times more than GDP (also see Freund 2009). This time the drop was far, far larger. From a historical perspective (Figure 8), the drop is astonishing. The figure shows the trade-to-GDP ratio rising steeply in the late 1990s, before stagnating in the new century right up to the great trade collapse in 2008.The rise in the 1990s is explained by a nu mber of factors including trade liberalisation. A key driver, however, was the establishment of international supply chains (manufacturing was geographically unbundled with various slices of the value-added process being placed in nearby nations). This unbundling meant that the same value-added crossed borders several times. In a simple international supply chain, imported parts would be transformed into exported components which were in turn assembled into final goods and exported again, so the trade figures counted the final value added several times.As we shall see, the presences of these highly integrated and tightly synchronised production networks plays an important role in the nature of the great trade collapse (see chapters by Rudolfs Bems, Robert Johnson, and Kei-Mu Yi, and by Andrei Levchenko, Logan Lewis, and Linda Tesar). Figure 8 World trade to world GDP ratio, 1980Q1 to 2009Q2 Source: World imports from OECD online data base; World GDP based on IMF data. Emerging conse nsus on the causes Economists around the world have been working hard to understand the causes of this unusually large and abrupt shut down of international trade.The dozen chapters in Part II of this book summarise all the key research – most of it done by the authors themselves. They do not all agree on all points, but a consensus is emerging. When sales drop sharply – and the great trade collapse was a gigantic drop in international sales – economists look for demand shocks and/or supply shocks. The emerging consensus is that the great trade collapse was mostly a demand shock – although supply side factors played some role. The demand shock operated through two distinct but mutually reinforcing channels: †¢Commodity prices – which tumbled when the rice bubble burst in mid 2008 – continued to follow world demand in its downward spiral. The price movements and diminished demand sent the value and volume of commodities trade diving. â⠂¬ ¢The production and exports of manufacturing collapsed as the Lehman’s-induced shock-and-awe caused consumers and firms to wait and see; private demand for all manner of ‘postpone-able’ consumption crashed. This second point was greatly amplified by the very particular nature of the demand shock that hit the world’s economy in September 2008. Why so big? This consensus view, however, is incomplete.It raises the question: If the trade drop was demand driven, why was the trade drop so much larger than the GDP drop? The answer provided by the emerging consensus is that the nature of the demand shock interacted with â€Å"compositional† and â€Å"synchronicity† effects to greatly exaggerate the movement of the trade-to-GDP ratio. Compositional effect The compositional effect turns on the peculiar nature of the demand shock. The demand shock was very large, but also focused on a narrow range of domestic value-added activities – the produ ction of â€Å"postponeable† goods, consumer durables and investment goods.This demand drop immediately, reducing demand for all related intermediate inputs (parts and components, chemicals, steel, etc). The compositional-effect argument is founded on the fact that postponeables make up a narrow slice of world GDP, but a very large slice of the world trade (Figure 9). In a nutshell, the common cause of the GDP and trade collapse – a sudden drop in the demand for postponeables – operated with full force on trade but diminished force on GDP due to the compositional difference.The large demand shock applied to the near-totality of trade while only applying to a thin portion of GDP. Here is a simple example. 2 Suppose exports consisted of 90% â€Å"postponeable† (consumer and investment electronics, transport equipment, machinery and their parts and components). GDP, however, consists most of non-tradeables (services, etc). Taking postponeables’ share in US GDP to be 20%, the pre-crisis situation is: When the sales of postponeables slumps by, say, half, the numerator falls much more than the denominator.Assuming that †other† continues growth in trade and GDP by 2%, the post-crisis trade to GDP ratio is Exports have fallen 44. 8% in this example, while GDP has fallen only 8. 4%. In short, the different composition of trade and GDP, taken together with the specific nature of the demand shock, has resulted in trade falling more than 5 times as fast as GDP. See the chapter by Andrei Levchenko, Logan Lewis, and Linda Tesar for a careful investigation of this logic using detailed US production and trade data; they find that the compositional effect accounts for most of the US trade drop.The chapter by Joseph Francois and Julia Woerz uses US and Chinese data to argue that the compositional effect is key to understanding the trade collapse. 3 Figure 9 Composition of world goods trade Source: WTO online database for 2007. Sync hronicity effect The synchronicity effect helps explain why the great trade collapse was so great in an even more direct manner; almost every nation’s imports and exports fell at the same time. There was none of the averaging out that occurred in the three other postwar trade drops. But why was it so synchronised?There are two leading explanations for the remarkable synchronicity. The first concerns international supply chains, the second concerns the ultimate cause of the Great Recession. The profound internationalisation of the supply chain that has occurred since the 1980s – specifically, the just-in-time nature of these vertically integrated production networks – served to coordinate, i. e. rapidly transmit, demand shocks. Even a decade ago, a drop in consumer sales in the US or Europe took months to be transmitted back to the factories and even longer to reach the suppliers of those factories.Today, Factory Asia is online. Hesitation by US and European cons umers is transmitted almost instantly to the entire supply chain, which reacts almost instantly by producing and buying less; trade drops in synch, both imports and exports. For example, during the 2001 trade collapse, monthly data for 52 nations shows that 39% of the month-nation pairs had negative growth for both imports and exports. In the 2008 crisis the figure is 83%. For details on this point, see Di Giovanni, Julian and Andrei Levchenko (2009), Yi (2009), and the chapters by Rudolfs Bems, Robert Johnson, and Kei-Mu Yi, and by Kiyoyasu Tanaka.The second explanation requires a bit of background and a bit of conjecture (macroeconomists have not arrived at a consensus on the causes of the Great Recession). To understand the global shock to the demand for traded goods, we need a thumbnail sketch of the global crisis. How the subprime crisis became the global crisis The â€Å"Subprime Crisis† broke out in August 2007. For 13 months, the world viewed this as a financial crisi s that was mainly restricted to the G7 nations who had mismanaged their monetary and regulatory policy – especially the US and the UK.Figure 3 shows that world trade continued growing apace in 2007 and early 2008. The crisis metastasised from the â€Å"Subprime Crisis† to the global crisis in September 2008. The defining moment came when the US Treasury allowed the investment bank Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt. This shocked the global financial community since they had assumed no major financial institution would be allowed to go under. Many of the remaining financial institutions were essentially bankrupt in an accounting sense, so no one knew who might be next. Bankers stopped lending to each other and credit markets froze.The Lehman bankruptcy, however, was just one of a half dozen â€Å"impossible events† that occurred at this time. Here is a short list of others:4 †¢All big investment banks disappeared. †¢The US Fed lent $85 billion to an insuran ce company (AIG), borrowing money from the US Treasury to cover the loan. †¢A US money market fund lost so much that it could not repay its depositors capital. †¢US Treasury Secretary Paulson asked the US Congress for three-quarters of a trillion dollars based on a 3-page proposal; he had difficulties in answering direct questions about how the money would fix the problem. The hereto laissez-faire US Securities and Exchange Commission banned short selling of bank stocks to slow the drop in financial institutions stock prices. It didn’t work. †¢Daniel Gros and Stephano Micossi (2009) pointed out that European banks were too big to fail and too big to save (their assets were often multiples of the their home nations’ GDPs); †¢Congress said â€Å"no† to Paulson’s ill-explained plan, promising its own version. As people around the world watched this unsteady and ill-explained behaviour of the US government, a massive feeling of insecurity formed.Extensive research in behavioural economics shows that people tend to act in extremely risk averse ways when gripped by fears of the unknown (as opposed to when they are faced with risk, as in a game of cards, where all outcomes can be enumerated and assigned a probability). Fall 2008 was a time when people really had no idea what might happen. This is Ricardo Caballero’s hypothesis of â€Å"Knightian Uncertainty† (i. e. the fear of the unknown) which has been endorsed by the IMF’s chief economist Olivier Blanchard. Consumers, firms, and investors around the world decided to â€Å"wait and see† – to hold off on postponeable purchases and investments until they could determine how bad things would get. The delaying of purchases and investments, the redressing of balance sheets and the switching of wealth to the safest assets caused what Caballero has called â€Å"sudden financial arrest† (a conscious reference to the usually fatal medi cal condition â€Å"sudden cardiac arrest†). The â€Å"fear factor† spread across the globe at internet speed. Consumers, firms and investors all feared that they’d find out what capitalism without the capital would be like.They independently, but simultaneously decided to shelf plans for buying durable consumer and investment goods and indeed anything that could be postponed, including expensive holidays and leisure travel. In previous episodes of declining world trade, there was no Lehman-like event to synchronise the wait-and-see stance on a global scale. The key points as concerns the trade and GDP collapse: †¢As the fear factor was propagating via the electronic press; the transmission was global and instantaneous. †¢The demand shock to GDP and the demand shock to trade occurred simultaneously. â€Å"Postponeable† sector production and trade were hit first and hardest. There are a number of indications that this is the right story. First, g lobal trade in services did not, in general, collapse (see the chapter by Aditya Mattoo and Ingo Borchert). Interestingly, one of the few categories of services trade that did collapse was tourism – the ultimate postponeable. Second, macroeconomists’ investigations into the transmission mechanisms operating in this crisis show that none of the usual transmission vectors – trade in goods, international capital flows, and financial crisis contagion – were esponsible for the synchronisation of the global income drop (Rose and Spiegel 2009). Supply-side effects The Lehman-link â€Å"sudden financial arrest† froze global credit markets and spilled over on the specialized financial instruments that help grease the gears of international trade – letters of credit and the like. From the earliest days of the great trade collapse, analysts suspected that a lack of trade-credit financing was a contributing factor (Auboin 2009). As the chapter by Jesse Mora and William Powers argues, such supply-side shocks have been important in the past.Careful research on the 1997 Asian crisis (Amiti and Weinstein 2009) and historical bank crises (see the chapter by Leonardo Iacovone and Veronika Zavacka) provide convincing evidence that credit conditions can affect trade flows. The Mora and Powers chapter, however, finds that declines in global trade finance have not had a major impact on trade flows. While global credit markets in general did freeze up, trade finance declined only moderately in most cases. If anything, US cross-border bank financing bounced back earlier than bank financing from other sources.In short, trade financing had at most a moderate role in reducing global trade. Internationalised supply chains are a second potential source of supply shocks. One could imagine that a big drop in demand combined with deteriorating credit conditions might produce widespread bankruptcies among trading firms. Since the supply chain is a cha in, bankruptcy of even a few links could suppress trade along the whole chain. The chapters by Peter Schott (on US data), by Lionel Fontagne and Guillaume Gaulier (on French data), and by Ruyhei Wakasugi (on Japanese data) present evidence that such disruptions did not occur this time.They do this by looking at very disaggregated data (firm-level data in the Fontagne-Gaulier chapter) and distinguishing between the so-called â€Å"intensive† and â€Å"extensive† margins of trade. These margins decompose changes in trade flows into changes in sales across existing trade relations (intensive) and changes in the number of such relations (extensive). If the supply-chain-disruption story were an important part of the great trade collapse, these authors should have found that the extensive margin was important.The authors, however, find that the great trade collapse has been primarily driven by the intensive margin – by changes in pre-existing trade relationships. Trad e fell because firms sold less of products that they were already selling; there was very little destruction of trade relationships as would be the case if the extensive margin had been found to be important. This findings may be due to the notion of †hysteresis in trade† (Baldwin 1988), namely, that large and sunk market-entry costs imply that firms are reluctant to exit markets in the face of temporary shocks.Instead of exiting, they merely scale back their operations, waiting for better times. Protectionism is the final supply shock commonly broached as a cause of the great trade collapse. The chapter by Simon Evenett documents the rise in crisis-linked protectionist measures. While many measures have been put in place – on average, one G20 government has broken its no-protection pledge every other day since November 2008 – they do not yet cover a substantial fraction of world trade. Protection, in short, has not been a major cause of the trade collapse so far.Prospects The suddenness of the 2008 trade drop holds out the hope of an equally sudden recovery. If the fear-factor-demand-drop was the driver of the great trade collapse, a confidence-factor-demand-revival could equally drive a rapid restoration of trade to robust growth. If it was all a demand problem, after all, little long-lasting damage will have been done. See the chapter by Ruyhei Wakasugi on this. There are clear signs that trade is recovering, and it is absolutely clear that the drop has halted. Will the trade revival continue?No one can know the future path of global economic recovery – and this is the key to the trade recovery. It is useful nonetheless to think of the global economic crisis as consisting of two very different crises: a banking-and-balance-sheet crisis in the over-indebted advanced nations (especially the US and UK), on one hand, and an expectations-crisis in most of the rest of the world on the other hand. In the US, UK and some other G7 na tions, the damage done by the bursting subprime bubble is still being felt.Their financial systems are still under severe strain. Bank lending is sluggish and corporate-debt issuances are problematic. Extraordinary direct interventions by central banks in the capital markets are underpinning the economic recovery. For these nations, the crisis – specifically the Subprime Crisis – has caused lasting damage. Banks, firms and individuals who over-leveraged during what they thought was the †great moderation† are now holding back on consumption and investment in an attempt to redress their balance sheets (Bean 2009).This could play itself out like the lost decade Japan experienced in the 1990s (Leijonhufvud 2009, Kobayashi 2008); also see the chapter by Michael Ferrantino and Aimee Larsen. For most nations in the world, however, this is not a financial crisis – it is a trade crisis. Many have reacted by instituting fiscal stimuli of historic proportions, but their banks and consumers are in relatively good shape, having avoided the overleveraging in the post tech-wreck period (2001-2007) that afflicted many of the G7 economies.The critical question is whether the damage to the G7’s financial systems will prevent a rapid recovery of demand and a restoration of confidence that will re-start the investment engine. In absence of a crystal ball, the chapter by Baldwin and Taglioni undertakes simple simulations that assume trade this time recovers at the pace it did in the past three global trade contractions (1974, 1982 and 2001). In those episodes, trade recovered to its pre-crisis path 2 to 4 quarters after the nadir.Assuming that 2009Q2 was the bottom of the great trade collapse – again an assumption that would require a crystal ball to confirm – this means trade would be back on track by mid 2010. Forecasts are never better than the assumptions on which they are built, so such calculations must be viewed as what- if scenarios rather than serious forecasts. Implications What does the great trade collapse mean for the world economy? The authors of this Ebook present a remarkable consensus on this.Three points are repeatedly stressed: †¢Global trade imbalances are a problem that needs to be tackled. One group of authors (see the chapters by Fred Bergsten, by Anne Krueger, and by Jeff Frieden) sees them as one the root causes of the Subprime Crisis. They worry that allowing them to continue is setting up the world for another global economic crisis. Fred Bergsten in particular argues that the US must get its federal budget deficit in order to avoid laying the carpet for the next crisis.Another group points to the combination of Asian trade surpluses and persistent high unemployment in the US and Europe as a source of protectionist pressures (see the chapters by Caroline Freund, by Simon Evenett, and by Richard Baldwin and Daria Taglioni). The chapter by O’Rourke notes that avoiding a protectionist backlash will require that the slump ends soon, and that severe exchange rate misalignments at a time of rising unemployment are avoided. †¢Governments should guard against compliancy in their vigil against protectionism.Most authors mention the point that while new protectionism to date has had a modest trade effect, things need not stay that way. The chapter by Simon Evenett is particularly clear on this point. There is much work to be done before economists fully understand the great trade collapse, but the chapters in this Ebook constitute a first draft of the consensus that will undoubtedly emerge from the pages of scientific journals in two or three years’ time. Footnotes 1 See Di Giovanni and Levchenko (2009) for evidence on how the shock was transmitted via international production networks. This is drawn from Baldwin and Taglioni (2009). 3 Jon Eaton, Sam Kortum, Brent Neiman and John Romalis make similar arguments with data from many nations in an unpublished manuscript dated October 2009. 4 See the excellent timeline of the crisis by the New York Fed. 5 Caballero (2009a, b) and Blanchard (2009). References Auboin, Marc (2009). â€Å"The challenges of trade financing†, VoxEU. org, 28 January 2009. Baldwin, Richard (1988). â€Å"Hysteresis in Import Prices: The Beachhead Effect†, American Economic Review, 78, 4, pp 773-785, 1988.Baldwin, Richard and Daria Taglioni (2009). â€Å"The illusion of improving global imbalances†, VoxEU. org, 14 November 2009. Bean, Charles (2009). â€Å"The Great Moderation, the Great Panic and the Great Contraction†, Schumpeter Lecture, European Economic Association, Barcelona, 25 August 2009. Blanchard, Olivier (2009). â€Å"(Nearly) nothing to fear but fear itself†, Economics Focus column, The Economist print edition, 29 January 2009. Caballero, Ricardo (2009a). â€Å"A global perspective on the great financial insurance run: Causes, consequences, and solutions (Part 2)†, VoxEU. rg, 23 January 2009. Caballero, Ricardo (2009b). â€Å"Sudden financial arrest†, VoxEU. org, 17 November 2009. Di Giovanni, Julian and Andrei Levchenko (2009). †International trade, vertical production linkages, and the transmission of shocks†, VoxEU. org, 11 November 2009.Freund, Caroline (2009a). â€Å"The Trade Response to Global Crises: Historical Evidence†, World Bank working paper. Gros, Daniel and Stefano Micossi (2009). â€Å"The beginning of the end game†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , VoxEU. org, 20 September 2008. Kobayashi, Keiichiro (2008). Financial crisis management: Lessons from Japan’s failure†, VoxEU. org, 27 October 2008. Leijonhufvud, Axel (2009). â€Å"No ordinary recession†, VoxEU. org, 13 February 2009. Rose, Andrew and Mark Spiegel (2009). â€Å"Searching for international contagion in the 2008 financial crisis†, VoxEU. org, 3 October 2009. Yi, Kei-Mu (2009), â€Å"The collapse of global trade: Th e role of vertical specialisation†, in Baldwin and Evenett (eds), The collapse of global trade, murky protectionism, and the crisis: Recommendations for the G20, a VoxEU publication.

Jake Gittes Character Analysis Essays

Jake Gittes Character Analysis Essays Jake Gittes Character Analysis Paper Jake Gittes Character Analysis Paper Essay Topic: Chinatown Nicole Lopez ENCI 101 In the movie China Town Jake Gittes depicts some of the traits of your typical indifferent private investigator dealing with his clients marital issues including recording their adulterous acts. Jake was never fazed by anything and was a big advocate of provocative humor, even when he seemed to always find a dead end when he has a strong hunch about something. Jake seemed to be sort of a underdog of the film even from his grungy brown worn out Jacket that made him seem classified as lower class in contrast to his associates wardrobes. Also the fact that hroughout the whole film he was mocked by his passed various times. Gittes always frosted things up with some racy humor, with that being said it makes sense why his current Job is a pun to him due to the fact that he had worked in Chinatown before as a police officer where the case he took on was awfully deceptive which led to a woman getting hurt. The film did not give detail on the events that took place at that time but it was so devastating to Gittes that he quit the force. As we all know the case that Gittes takes on takes him symbolically back to Chinatown. It is believed that we as humans involuntarily pursue people, situations, nd events that recreate traumatic events in order to overcome the events that left an intangible mark on us. As shown in the film Jake is relentless when it comes to the cases isnt fazed by threats or by failures he kept himself going, throughout the movie he uses physical force against men and woman. Gittes never once was an armed man which is pretty ironic. Even though he has robust characteristics and shows no vulnerability to physical threats he is prone to them. He wears a a band aid throughout most of the film. Unlike most protagonist when he would overlook an imperative piece of information and putting hints inaccurately. In the film Jake struggles to grasp the bigger picture, which is one of the main foundations that build his character throughout the film. Jake Gittes always seemed to be passionate about being a detective; we see that when he crosses paths with Lt. Escobar you can tell that he carries a passion for police work and uncovering mysteries. He actually advised Mrs. Mulray from the beginning of the investigation that he wants to help her husband and then eventually help her and her sister/daughter. This shows that his true aspirations are using his investigating talent to help people triumph their evils. Although at the end f the film when tragedy struck again in Chinatown he mumbled the words as little as possible which is the thematic words of gittes whole character he has yet again was the bystander of a malevolent event failing another woman right in Chinatown. This final resolution leads to the realization that evil wasnt inherited in Chinatown just like Noah Cross didnt attain his evil there or Mrs. Mulrays inevitable involvement. Chinatown is Just a peculiar representation of the rest of the world. Instead of Jake redeeming himself from his past it Just destroy him further he ends up being a tragic figure versus being a hero.

A Comparison of The Poplar Field by William Cowper and Binsey Poplars Felled 1879 by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Comparison of William Cooper and Bentley's Poplar Fields In 1879 Gerard Manley Hopkins was first defeated in that the two poems were about the riverside tree collection. Another thing in common with these poems is that they were cut afterwards, so the writers are now deprived of their pleasure in cold through colored. However, there are many differences between verses. Initially, we noticed that Hopkins used a more complex prosodic system to capture readers. Choose two verses given in the lecture. Let's compare and contrast these two poems (Binsey Poplars by Gerard Manley Hopkins and The Trees by Phillip Larkin). In a recent article by The Guardian, Billy Mills wrote that Trees have been rooted in poetry for centuries. - These two poems have many similarities in their contents. They all have a poetry relationship. The author wrote that his son is his father. My father thought that he was committing a crime, but this is a crime that God does not like. These two poems are related to th e life of the author. After Hopkins leaves his hometown and replaced his position in the world, the competition and cooperation between the father and his son lasted for a long time. For example, in 1879, Gerald Manley Hopkins wrote a letter to the bridge. I included some of my father's lines in Well Walk (Jots and other funny things.) Two months later, Hopkins created Bingxi Poplar Tree to celebrate the cutting of forest near Oxford Did. Clearly, competition with father is an important creative stimulus. Binsey Poplars is a religious poem, Hopkins has no personality. Everywhere in Binsey Poplars, the tone of poetry is sadness, appealing, anger, determination, and religion. This poem is written in spring rhythm which is an innovative metric format developed by Hopkins. In the spring rhythm, the number of accent in a line is calculated, but the number of syllables is not calculated. How to rhyme is different in each section. Since Binsey Poplars has only two sections, the system of v erse is AB, AC, BA, CC. This is also irregular. The position of the line of Binsey Poplars indicates that it is effective to run that line. This poem compares the line of a tree with the rank of a soldier. A military image means that the development of industry in rural areas is equivalent to war 'Binsey Poplars' was published in 1918. This is elegy of the scenery Hopkins knows intimately during Oxford. It has many atmospheric and landscape words like jumping sun - which means that the sun seems to interact with the environment. On the third line of the first quarter, he used felling three times. He did this to convey the sound of an ax hitting a tree. Hopkins believes that natural objects are like expressions created by God and that they use self to capture it. This poem is about Hopkins' love for Him and tells more about poplar logging.

Case study Rosenfeld and the Chocolate Factory Essay

Case study Rosenfeld and the Chocolate Factory - Essay Example The deal was realized immediately after Lord Mandelson had a meeting with the chief executive of Kraft, Irene Rosenfeld, to discuss job losses in the UK. The job loss discussion resulted due to the protest by Cadbury staffs, outside Parliament. Cadbury employment values favored job security. The company had permanent and pensionable employment terms for their employees. Cadbury had a pension scheme that adequately remunerated employee on reaching retirement period or during voluntary retirement. The company invested a lot of resources towards a long term employment relationship with the employees. The human resource investment areas includes; succession planning, training, staff development, and staff motivation programs. Cadbury had adequate training programs to improve the competency of the employees, so as to effectively achieve both short term and long term goals. Training was provided in various areas of company operations. Marketing training entailed giving the marketing staffs adequate skills to determine the needs of customers. The production team was trained on innovation of more superior and efficient production processes. The management of the company favored employee motivation. This is through adopting process es that ensure competitive staff remuneration, and enhance employee retention. The management of Cadbury valued succession planning, so as to ensure competent replacement of management staffs. This ensured effective future management of the company (Sennette 2006). Kraft on the contrary does not take employment security, and employee motivation, seriously. During the takeover negotiations, Kraft illustrated the desire to declare redundant 200 jobs. In 2010, the company implemented the redundancy plans, immediately after the controversial bailout of Cadbury. The redundancy plans by Kraft shows that the management of the company does not favor employment security of the staffs. The concession

The Patriot Act and Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Patriot Act and Outsourcing - Essay Example First, the U.S. Patriot Act is unconstitutional because it intrudes upon the privacy of American citizens by violating their First and Fourth Amendment rights. Here the author makes it clear that the nature of the U.S. Patriot Act is an issue that still remains a mystery as Congress quickly passed the bill without much debate. The author insists that citizens are guaranteed their First Amendment’s guarantee of rights of freedom of speech along with freedom to assemble are rights that most Americans hold dear, but now actions such as civil disobedience, and protests, are being defined as â€Å"domestic terrorism† under this legislation. The author engages the reader about a specific clause known as Section 215 under this legislation terrorizes Americans because it breaks the 4th and 5th Amendment, which ensures the privacy of individuals. Moreover, law officials are permitted to seek the browsing history of Internet users from e-mail services. In addition, the government can conduct â€Å"sneak-and-peek† searches, and the â€Å"victim† would have no clue his house is getting searched. Moreover, law officials are permitted to seek the browsing history of Internet users from e-mail services .Furthermore, any evidence that is obtained illegally can be used in the court. Groups such as National Reform Association, and NACOC were furious at the government who could use wiretaps for forty-eight hours without obtaining a search warrant. Peter Swire, a professor at Ohio University, reports that FBI officials have been putting pressure on telecommunication companies to turn over calling records of citizens (Chang 49). Already concerns have been raised by the public whether sharing the information with federal agencies and local police is legal. The author clearly is insisting on the fact that the Patriot Act is already having a chilling effect, even in the areas where it does not apply† What was a law

Change and leadership management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Change and leadership management - Essay Example However, it might be possible only if the leader may act tactfully and motivate the employees towards working in order to improve the productivity and image of the organization in the entire market, in-spite of varied types of changes. Only then, the image and profit margin of the organization might get enhanced in the market among other rival players. Moreover, if the changes might be handled in an effective way then the popularity and equity of the organization may be enhanced thereby amplifying its competitiveness in the market to a certain extent in long run among others. This essay is divided into five phases that highlight the significance of leadership within an organization. Along with this, it also highlights the role of leadership within a change management situation with the help of models like Kotters 8 steps, Lewin’s change management model. The paper seeks to facilitate an understanding that there is a need to select an individual with good leadership skills who has the perfect kind of drive needed to increase the profits and the sustainability of the organization to stay competitive above its peers. To get a superior understanding of the sort of effective leadership and management, the paper will incorporate the description of modes of operation of the company Biogen Idec Incorporated. The company deals with biotechnology products that may include drugs for autoimmune disorders, neurological disorders and cancer. The company experiences direct competition from similar biotechnological companies such as Serono, Novartis and Teva. Thi s makes it necessary that leadership strategies are placed to guarantee they stay above these competing companies in the same platform. For the purpose of surviving in this competitive era, leadership is the most essential requirement. As it acts as a weapon not only stimulate the profit margin and productivity of an organization but also to mitigate varied

Background Of Nike Inc Commerce Essay

Background Of Nike Inc Commerce Essay This report is to identify and analyze as well evaluate Business ethics of Nike, Inc. Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Due to the volume and the market expanded for the products, Nike need to source for multiple manufacturers in different country in order to support its production. Herein, we will analyze ethical issues and dilemmas that Nikes International business operation had faced while manufacturing its goods in foreign lands. There are three ethical dilemmas been criticized towards Nike: sweatshop issue, child labour issue and discrimination issue. Besides that, we also will evaluate the ways Nike has dealt with those dilemmas. Nike had made six promises or initiatives to deal with their sweatshop and child labour issue, whereas compensation is used to solve the employees discrimination issue. This report as well covers the ethical best practices and values of Nike Inc. Nikes corporate social responsibilities and corporate governance will be discussed in details in order to evaluate the best practices and values that Nike had practiced. 1.1 Background of Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. is a worldwide American corporation, which focus in design, development, worldwide marketing and selling sports product. It was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports, and officially known as Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1978. Nike is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area, United States. As of year 2012, Nike employed more than 44,000 people worldwide with an excess of US$24.1 billion in its fiscal year 2012 (ending May 31, 2012). Nikes brand alone is valued at US$10.7 billion making it the most valuable brand among other sports businesses (http://nikeinc.com/pages/history-heritage). 2.0 Nikes Ethical Dilemmas Nike has been accused for several ethical issues in developing and under developed economies, at sweatshops, hired child labour, and discrimination, which impacted their stakeholders. According to Freeman (1984), stakeholder is referring to any group or individual that can affect or is affected by how organisations carry its objectives (Crane and Matten, 2007). In order to reduce the impact to the stakeholders, Nike had tried to course correction and public relations as a measure to salvage the bad image generated by the accusation. According to Crane and Matten (2007), ethic is defined as pertaining or dealing with the study of morality and the reason that apply to elucidate specific rules and principles that determine the rightness and wrongness for certain action and the goodness and the badness of the motives for that situation or action. In this reports, three major ethical dilemmas will be analyze, child labour, sweatshops issue, discrimination issues. 2.1 Sweatshop / Poor Conditions of Working Environment Sweatshop also been known as sweat factory is refer to any working environment that is considered and negatively involved in poor, unacceptably difficult or dangerous situation that can harm the employees. Sweatshop workers worked for long hours and sometimes exceeding 14 hours daily with a pay below living wage. Nike were attacked for unethically took advantage of these labour markets. However, Nike has denied this claim many times, and expressed that they did not have any control over the factories. Nike factories in Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and china been criticized due to the negative press are exposed to the public which been revealed from the interviews of factory workers interview, site visits and the protest by activist which showed is Nikes fault for allowing poor condition of working conditions are persist in these factories. According to ABC News, April 2010 in Vietnam, thousands of Nike factory workers went on strike due to poor working conditions and low wages. Beside that, workers were unable to leave the plant if they did not meet the quota or target before attempting to go home. All these showed Nike seriously committed to the violation of human rights. Thuyen Nguyen part of the Vietnam Labour Watch wrote one extreme situation documented in 1996, when 100 workers were forced kneel in the sun for an hour because one of the workers had spilled fruit on the alter. According to Vietnam Nike Fact Sheet (1996), 15 Vietnamese women workers told CBS News that they were hit over the head by their supervisor due to poor sewing. Two workers were sent to the hospital after the incident. Nikes CEO Phil Knight respond to above two incidents by minimized the first incident, stating incorrectly there were only one worker was truck on the arm. Besides that, fact sheet as well stated there were 45 women workers were forced by the Nike supervisors to kneel down with their hands up in the air for 25 minutes. Apart from that, Vietnam fact sheet as well stat ed that, Women workers form Nike factory told CBS News that they are forced to work overtime to meet a daily target which is set unrealistically high. Most workers at Vietnam Nike plants are forced to work exceeded 600 hours of overtime per year, and according to Vietnam Labour Law Article 69, the labour user and labourer are allow to work overtime, but it is limit to not more than four hours a day and not more than 200 hours per year. Nike factories in Vietnam are clear violation of this Article. In Vietnam case, workers are treated slavery, there are only 24 hours in a day but they have to spend 16 hours or more at work in order to keep a job, it is a complete denial of a right to life, or in other words is a human rights violation. Another case happened in International Womens Day of 1997, 56 women failed to wear the proper shoes into the Nike factory. In order to let they learn from their mistake through punishment, they were forced outside in the heat to run around the building . As a result of the punishment, many women fainted due to dehydration and spent the day in the hospital. This entire incident stated above was the physical abuse towards the workers. It is an embarrassment for Nike to have its image associated with sweatshops in Asia, the revelations is threatened to the sales of Nikes products. Sales were declining and Nike was being claimed by the media as a company who was willing to exploit workers and deprive them of the basic wage needed to sustain them in an effort in order to expand profits. 2.2 Child Labour Issue Another ethical major issue is child labour. Nike was labelled as forced children as slavery in hazardous working conditions for below-subsistence wages (Hill, 2009). According to Hill (2009), Nike was found for producing the popular Air Jordan sneakers using 11-year olds in Indonesia making 14 cents per hour. According to Hill (2009), a Nike factory which owed by Korean Subcontractor, hired children as young as 13 years old as workers for earning less than 10 cents per hour were required to work up to 17 hours a day without talking. Child labour is scattered all over Pakistan, but the greatest impact was on a north-western province called Sialkot. Sialkot is an important centre for the production of goods for export, especially sporting goods. Child labour exists in both the export and domestic sectors of the economy in Sialkot. In Pakistan, livelihood is difficult and many families had to push their children to employment. In year 1996, Life Magazine reported an article regarding the child labour in Nike Pakistan, this is when Nike was found hired children as their labour. The article included a photograph showed twelve years old boy, called Tariq was surrounded by the Nike soccer ball, which he spent most of a day to stitching together for the pay of 60 cents. When this photograph was exposed, activists all across Canada and United States were standing in front of Nike shop by holding up Tariqs photograph to pressure Nike to solve the problem. This had caused Nike faced ethical issue about its labour practice abroad, and as well faced to public relations impact which adversely affect their reputation and image. (http://www1.american.edu/ted/nike.htm). Nike factory in Pakistan, child labours were using in the production of soccer balls, more than 200 children some of which are as young as 4 or 5, involved in the process (Sengel, 2005). Children stitch soccer ball for only 60 cents an hour. According to 1.american.edu, Nikes entered in to the Pakistan markets was part of its long term strategic planning. Nike went into Pakistan, with having full knowledge of the favourable conditions prevailing in terms of child labour and has taken no precautions to prevent the use of child labour in the production of its soccer balls. Instead Nike has made a profit from their Pakistans contractor who has used bonded child labour in the production process. According to a Foulball campaign report, Nike has refused twice to have a check in their Saga-managed centre in Pakistan while conversely Nikes rival Reebok readily granted access to its Moltex-managed centre in Pakistan (http://www1.american.edu/ted/nike.htm). Several rumours come out regarding this matter, it let government have no choice to pressure Nike to look into and solve this problem. According to Teds case studies (1999), in Indonesian a 12 years old girl was working 70 hours a week, in an unhealthy environment plant making shoes for Nike. Nike is profiting from the cheap labour cost of production, due to the contracted factory is employing children to make the product. Nike ignored the laws that protecting the workers in prefer of cutting costs and lowering health standards. According to Cà ©sar Rodrà ­guez (2005), political leaders were bribed by factory supervisors in order to limit governmental interference. The leaders passed the messages to military and police units to overlook the conditions in factories so that the illegal environment could remain open and functioning. Leaders also were warned to watch for the signs of labour activists near the factories to prevent workers from aligning with activists for better conditions. 2.3 Discrimination Issue There was a court case on Nike discrimination issue in 2003 in Chicago. According to Barbara Rose the reporter to Chicago Tribune, 2003, this dilemma happened obviously, Nike Chicago was not complying with their matter of respect policy under the Nike code of ethics. Nike prohibited discrimination and harassment to happen, in order to prevent these situation happens, Nike provides employees with an effective complaint process. But, this court case has clearly showed that, there are not all the Nikes store is complying with their Code of Ethics. The plaintiffs of the case stated that African-American employees claimed that they are being segregated for poor treatment. The employees were alleged that Chicagos Nike had involved in discrimination issue that Nike segregated African-Americans into lower paying jobs such as stockroom or cashier positions. Besides that, African-Americans as well do not have opportunity to get promotion to sales position by failing to post job openings. Nike s store supervisor are only hired African-American into part-time rather than the full-time positions that can received better benefits, for example: health insurance and paid vacation, this condition of employment is vary than Caucasian staff. Caucasian staff was hired as full time staff which means they can get all the benefits of the company. Apart from this, African-American employees are subjected to searches when leaving the store, while Caucasian employees were free from such searches. According to the suit, work rules and regulations reg arding attendance, sick leave and employee discounts also were unequally applied. The area of the complaint is clear stated that this discrimination is the caused a hostile work environment. Nike Chicagos supervisor was not complying with the Nike code of ethics, under matter of respect policy. This dilemma leads to racial discrimination, which pressure the employee to sound out their rights by putting court case against Nike. Due to this is a sensitive issue, Nike was under the government pressure to settle this court case as fast as they could. 3.0 Action Taken By Nike to Deal with Ethical Dilemmas Ethical dilemmas faced by Nike is adversely impact their reputation and image. When reputation drop, sales as well will drop, due to customer will no longer confidence to Nikes products, and this will lead to financial impact to Nike. In order to overcome and solve to the ethical dilemmas that Nike had committed, Nike has come out the action to deal with the ethical dilemmas. 3.1 Ways Deal With Sweatshop According to the analysis in 2.1, Nike overseas contracted their works to foreign companies and therefore not under their direct supervision. However, when news about the harsh conditions was being revealed, actions were taken against Nike. According Global Exchange (2001), six promises were made by Nikes President, Phil Knight and Nike factories throughout the world were required to obey the rules (http://www.squidoo.com/nike-sweatshop-allegations). The first initiative is stop using the harmful chemical adhesive called toluene. Nike found toluene caused harmful effects to workers who are not properly guarded by wearing masks or gloves to prevent the poison and the fumes that it emits. To respond to this critic, Nike was able to create water-based adhesive athletic shoes, which has no such side effects. By this creation, Nike managed to establish a positive air quality control model for their competitors. Phil Knight also assured that Nike would continue with its research and ensure all Nike factories met United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards in indoor air quality. In order to assure this requirement, Nike stated that indoor air testing of all footwear factories and follow-up testing were required to conduct when necessary. These tests would be a climax in the final report that made by independent non-government organization (NGO). Nike were given three months of improvement or correction on the air quality levels from the date of the final report were made. Nike responded to the child labour ethical dilemma by practising the second initiative. Nike raised the minimum age of all footwear factories to 18 years old and raised the minimum age of apparel and equipment factories to 16 years old. Phil Knight reported that Nike has zero tolerance for underage labour, and there has never been a time in Nikes history where child labour has been a problem, as well that it really hasnt been a problem in the shoe industry as a whole (http://www.stanford.edu). In the third initiative, Nike is recognized the need for the independent monitoring of the manufacturing facilities. The monitoring system is a very important initiative; in the meantime it established a means of public accountability. By referring to immediately launching a structured monitoring system, Nike was implying that their current working conditions are sufficient. This initiative was improving and avoids the sweatshop condition which occurred in Nikes factories. By implemented this monitoring system, any of poor condition of working environment detected efficiently and the period take to solve the problem is shortened. Referring to 2.1 sweatshop issue which happened in Vietnam , 2003, this initiative practised by Nike factory and solve the sweatshop issue by paying the average wage of $54 a month; it is a three times the minimum for a state-owned enterprise. Nike job provide the benefit with a regular wage, with free or subsidized meals, free medical services and training as well as education. Better working conditions and higher pay lead the economic productivity been improved. According to Jakarta post (2011), Nike as well developing programs to train factorys manager cultural sensitivity as well as their leadership skills. To avoid any abusive treatment cases happen again, Nikes headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon has invested heavily in training managers and more closely monitoring their activities in the Nikes factories (Wright.S, 2011). The fourth and fifth initiatives are to improve and making positive contribution or offering benefits to employees. These initiatives are improving the Nike poor working conditions and child labour issue. Nike offered an educational program in the factories; including middle and high school equivalency course accessibility, as well as free class during non-working hours for all workers in Nike footwear factories. In these Initiatives, Nikes factories are encouraged to raise the pay of employees who complete the programme. Besides that, in Nikes fifth initiative, small business loan program provide funds to support thousand families each in the nations of Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Thailand. This program provides loans to women who wish to create small businesses and as well support those unemployed women who can run small businesses that increase their familys economic well-being as well as subsidize to the societys overall development are the effort of this program. When the economics of families is increased, children will not need to work to earn living wage, therefore they can have better education. Finally, the sixth initiative is to support the independent research by sponsoring the university research or open forums to explore issues related to global manufacturing and reasonable business practices (Tim.c, 2001). Sponsorship made by Nike could increase their reputation and good image; it can be a method to release positive press which can please the public and stakeholders, so that the negative issue will be forgotten. By introducing and applying the six initiatives, Nike is practising descriptive stakeholder theory in their action taken. Descriptive stakeholder theory is defined as a company is trying to find out whether and how company actually do take into account stakeholder interest (Crane and Matten, 2007). From the six initiatives applied, Nike attempting to please their stakeholder by applying these initiatives, and it as well as guidelines to their management. Improvement can be seen, criticisms from the public is successful responded by these initiatives. Poor condition of working environment is closely monitored, low wages been raised, child labours been solved by providing benefits to employees, when a family income increased, children are not needed to work in order to earn living wage. Nike is aware to the ethical dilemmas they faced, and certainly precaution is developed to avoid such criticisms occur again. 3.2 Compensation The decision by paying compensation to the workers is one of the actions taken by Nike to solve their bad image that created to the public, they hope that by this case been settled, and the reputation of Nike could be increase. Nike has denied the accusation of discrimination issue in court. However, Nike settled the lawsuit by paying compensation amounted US $7.6 million. In addition, the settlement called to appoint a diversity consultant to ensure Nike Chicago complied with the consent decree. (David.S, 2007). Nike agreed in the settlement to improve their work force more tolerant and more diversity. For example: Nikes store in Chicago would need to have diversity consultant and all their supervisors and managers are required to train in diversity (Sachdev.A, 2007). By the agreement which Nike promised in the settlement, the discrimination issue and their business ethics been closely monitored. As a result, Nike can practised business ethically and convinced publics to trust their products again. 4.0 Nike Best Practices and Values Even though Nike have ethical dilemmas issue, but they all the while have practice their best practices and values in order to keep their corporate operating in good faith and as well provide positive contribution to the stakeholders and society. It is a duty for a corporation to contribute to society, best practices can in the form of charity, donation, sponsorship, and so on. With best practices, values can be added into the corporations reputation and image; it can increase the confidence and maintain the loyalty of the stakeholders toward the corporation. 4.1 Corporate Social Responsibilities Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are the policy of the company itself to conduct social activities, such as donation, charity, sponsorship, community involvement, and protect of environment, to benefits their stakeholders. It is a process that a company makes positive contribution and impacts to the society to form a long term investment in a safer, better educated, more fairness community, which can create beneficial and stable circumstances to do business for the corporation (Crane and Matten, 2007). According to Nike annual report 2009, Nike is committed to CSR, they are driven to do not only is required by the law, but also what is expected of a leader. Donation is one of the Nikes compassion toward the society. Nike donated USD $1 million to the Lance Armstrong Foudation (LAF) on May 17, 2004. LAF and Nike were together launched the campaign of Wear Yellow Live Strong, to raise fund for LAFs backup support, education, public health and also their research Programs. Nike donations had led LAFs fund raised to additional millions of dollars through the sale of yellow wristbands. As of October 28, 2004, there are more than 20 million of wristbands being sold, this efforts benefits the LAF programs to help the people who living with cancer. Nike continued this contribution by carried out by selling the LIVESTRONG wristband in all the Nike stores and outlets. According to Crane and Matten, 2007, corporate social responsibility is differentiated into four aspects: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. Nike is apply to philanthropic responsibilities by improving the education programs for the society community who with low income families. In April 2004, Nike is committed to Head Start, a National School Readiness Program that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition and the services of parent involvement to the low income children and families. The contribution of USD $ 5.2 million from Nike has help Head Start Programs to provide a total of 2102 computers to reach thousands of kids and their families. Besides that, on Dec 14, 2004, Nike launched NikeGO Afterschool program associated with SPARK (Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids), this programs brings physical activity which including training and education plan. Nike as well donated the Nike products of equipment kits and other facilities to chi ldren age five to fourteen of the program. In order to expand the benefit to more community, Nike also launch the programs in a total of 42 sites in United States (http://www.knowmore.org). From Nike Sustainability report, Nike is trying to do their best in practice in how to doing the right thing and just and fair to all. When natural disaster happened, Nike expressed their sympathy by the helping communities who are affected by disaster with funding and product donations, in order to immediately replace what had been lost. However, Nike found that by donation, they did not always meet the needs of those affected at the right time or in the right ways. Nike had refine their approach, and they found that by supporting NGO partners, such as Mercy Corps and CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere), during the immediately consequences of a disaster through donation and supporting by Nikes employees who wanted to contribute to help the disaster victims. Nike as well concentrate in using the power of sport to assist young people who affected by natural disasters to overcome with the trauma of losing loved ones, their homes, their properties and sometimes even their communities. Moving Forward Program is created By Nike and NGO partners to overcome and help communities rebuild after the natural disaster. This program provided tools to teachers, trainers and parent to assist youth post-disaster through well-designed sports activities and counselling courses. This program as well has been implemented in many communities around the world, such as: Japan, China, Peru and Haiti. Nike is so passionate about the impact of the program and its adaptability that Nike has made it available online for any community or organization to practice. Besides that, Nikes employees who volunteer to involve in assisting to rebuild schools and community centres. For example, the earthquake happened in Haiti, January 2010, there are more than 1600 of Nike employees had made personal donations which totalled more than USD $170,000, after combined with Nike donation, the total of Haiti disaster relief was USD $450,000. Beside of this case, for Japan Tsunami in 201 1, Nike had contributed USD$1 million in cash and product in value of USD $250,000 to relief and rebuilding efforts to the disaster victims. From the CSR had done by Nike, Nike is applied to the Ethics of Duties. Ethics of Duties is defined as values judge by the morality issue no matter who is involved or profits and who is harmed by the principles (Crane and Matten, 2007). It is concerned with what people do, but not based on the consequences of their actions. Nike practiced CSR in their corporation is because there are doing the right thing, and also because its the right thing to do. Nike justify that CSR is an action by showing that it produced good consequences. 4.1 Corporate Governance Nike has made a commitment to improving business ethics by adhering to a Code of Ethics, which is a set of guidelines for worker health and safety, environmental responsibility, fair employment, and non-discrimination. Nike code of ethics for employees is called Inside the Lines; it is about the standards of conduct that Nike expect of all their employees. Nikes employees are required to verify that they have read and understand Inside the Lines annually (www.nikeresponsibility.com, 2011). Nike had set a global toll- free Alert Line for employees to report any suspected violations of the law or their code of ethics, all the details of the employees are confidential, this as well called as Whistle Blowing Act. Reported are not limited to any of the concerns around accounting, auditing or internal control are communicated to the Boards audit committee, which appropriate action is determined. This act is encouraged employee to be responsible to the company, by concern and aware what is actually happening in the company, and spelt out to the alert line in order to points out the violations, so that company will grow better and practised business ethics. Nike required the work-related activities of every employee must reflect the standards of honesty, loyalty, trustworthiness, fairness, and concern for others and responsibility. Nike expected employees to be sensitive to any situations that can badly impact Nikes reputation and are expected to use wise judgment and rational e in the way conduct business. This Code of Ethics applies to Nike itself and its worldwide subsidiaries (Nike Code of Ethics, 2011). In Nike code of ethics, they are committed to socially responsible practices; they are driven to do not only what is required by law, but also what is expected of a leader. Same expectations are applied towards all their business partners. Nike code of ethics covers contractors who manufacture Nike product. This code requires Nike partners management practices to respect the labour and employment rights of all employees, to minimize the impact on the environment, provide a safe and healthy work place, and promote the health and benefits of all employees. It is a responsibility for Nike team member to compliance with the Nike code of ethics (Nike Code of Ethics, 2011). From the code of export and import laws, Nikes policy is to comply with United States Anti-boycott laws. This law is intended to avoid Nike from participate in any action to support of a boycott imposed by one country upon a country that is friendly to U.S. This is strictly prohibited in Nike, Inc (Nike Code of Ethics, 2011). In the code of conflict of interest, Nike stated bribery and corruption is prohibited. A conflict of interest will rise when Nikes employee using Nikes reputation or name to gain personal interest from or to the companies that is doing business with Nike, this will results bribery or corruption. Employee not allows taking the opportunities to benefits themselves or others, and as well employees are never should compete with Nike. This code is protecting Nike to involve in bribery and corruption case which can adversely impact Nikes reputation and image. This code as well shown Nike make business decision with honesty and integrity, and they are considering their corporate objectives by right things and fairness is practiced by Nike to run their business (Nike Code of Ethics, 2011). In order to practice right and justice in Nike business, Nike set policy to compete fairly and must comply with antitrust and competition laws in everywhere they do business. All product development must meet business ethical standards (Nike Code of Ethics, 2011). Nike will not tolerate retaliation against to the employees who failure to comply with the Nike code of ethics. Any employees who been reported for suspected in violation of law or policy, investigation will be conducted. Appropriate action will be taken by Nike after the investigation to prevent future violations. Besides that, refer to local law or violation of the code of ethics, action taken might lead to termination of employment. Waiver of provision of the Nike code of ethics can only be made by the Board of Directors. It is only will be promptly disclosed to shareholders when required (Nike Code of Ethics, 2011). From the above code of ethics that Nike implemented, Nike obviously is practicing the ethics of right and justice. Ethics right and Justice is define as the natural rights, such as human rights, company rights, property rights and etc, that should be respected and protected in every single action (Crane Matten, 2007). By adhering code of ethics, Nike is practiced rights and justice for human rights (employee) and as well company rights (Nike itself). By conducting the code of ethics, Nike not only protects their rights as a corporation, but as well they respected the human rights of their employees. Nike treats all the employees and contractor as a whole, no one have extra benefits or extra authority, no matter who commit violations, action will be taken by Nike against the violations. 5.0 Conclusion Business ethics is very important to a corporation. By conducting ethical business, Nike will have avoided the ethical dilemmas which adversely impact to their image and reputation. When there is no ethical dilemma, then there will no compensation to be made, which will impact the Nikes financial performance. It is essential for Nike to practice business ethics; it let Nike to know what right thing to do and what the wrong thing not to do, such as: violation of human rights or laws. Business ethics can assure the corporation to survive; due to no criticism will lead to good reputation and good profitability.