The Value of Yield Curve to Predict Recessions Coursework

The Value of Yield Curve to Predict Recessions - Coursework Example The same can be affirmative for other measures which contribute to the difference between short and long term interest rates. The term spread is a significant part of various indices of prominent indicators, some of which are inclusive of the Conference Board and the leading index and recession index of Stock and Watson (1989, 1993). Since, the yield curve is cited as flat in current period, the issue is quite contemporary, as the yield curve as modestly inverted as well. Term spreads play a significant role as a leading indicator because under the expectations attribution, neglecting the term premiums primarily, they measure the difference between the current short-term interest rates and the average of the expected future short-term interest rates over a long and new field of vision. In other words, a term spread is the measure of the pose of the monetary policy in relation with the long-run expectations. With increment in the term spread, current monetary policy becomes even more restrictive, thereby, giving rise to a recession over the subsequent quarters. With such a rationale detesting the term premiums, it is not legible to necessarily capture all the information in the yield curve about the liability of a recession by the spread of short-term interest rates over the yield on a long-term bond. The rise in the gradation of current short-term interest rates has no reason for them having identical predictive content for the liabilities of a recession as degradation in the average anticipated future nominal interest rates over, such as for the upcoming decade. However, the usage of the term spread as an overall explanatory constraint has such a connotation. Furthermore, since, it is quite clear from the existence of term premiums, which are time-varying and contribute to typically incrementing in the bond maturity, thereby, complicating the interpretation of spreads between the short- and long-term Treasury yields, the detestation of term premiums seems to be inappropriate. World prominent scholars like Hamilton and Kim, and Ang, Piazze si and Wei, have made an argument regarding the term premium and anticipations hypothesis constituents of the term spread, as they possess contrasting statistical correlations with the future growth (2002, 2006). A decline in the term premium, derived extrinsically, is theoretically sensible to some extent, since it makes financial conditions more coordinative, thereby, stimulating growth while flattening the yield curve. A measure of the pose of monetary policy which is less intricate as a result of the effects of term premiums, is referred to as the federal funds rate. The shape of yield curve is inclusive of

Electric cars and bikes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Electric cars and bikes - Assignment Example Nevertheless, little success has been achieved because each state has some hidden interests on this issue. As a result, the world continues to suffer from increased temperature levels, desertification, and rising sea levels. Different countries such as China have been the most hit. In such areas, the governments have tried to come up with various measures that are aimed at regulating the levels of pollution and greenhouse gases being released in the atmosphere. For instance, Paris has set up policies that ensure that only cars with specific number plates are allowed in the city. Therefore, in order to reduce the level of pollution, the production of electric cars and bikes should be encouraged (Offer 2011). Fossil fuels from cars have been said to produce the highest amount of greenhouse gases to the environment. Electric cars and bikes use clean energy and do not contribute in polluting the environment. Therefore, as a way of protecting the public from adverse effects of pollution, the public should be enlightened on the benefits of using electric cars and bikes. Currently, the number of the middle class in the world is on the rise. This generation prefers the use of personal vehicles, an aspect that has increased the level of pollution in the atmosphere. In order to arrest this situation, automotive industry should be encouraged to produce more electric cars and bikes for the market (Schroede & Traber 2012). Electric cars and bikes are easy to maintain and dispose. With the increasing emphasis on renewable energy, the production of electric cars and bikes would be important in ensuring that a clean environment is achieved. In addition, the batteries used by electric cars and bikes are disposable and can be recycled (Michalek, 2011). This is important in ensuring that a clean environment is maintained. Currently, the economic conditions have been stiffened by high inflation. The

International and Domestic Human Resource Management

International and Domestic Human Resource Management INTRODUCTION Human resource management has become an important issue as more and more firms operating internationally are in need to develop an understanding on how to operate competitively in an international business environment (Dowling Welch, 2005). As the global playing field has become more competitive, international companies are forced to  adopt efficient HRM and give more focus to their international than their domestic operations. Due  to the sensitivity of the issue, the concerned HR must address the key issues such as the impact of  globalization, environmental influences, cultural differences, the domestic HRM policies in different  countries and the global workforce involved in the action (Armstrong, 2009). The aim of this essay is to provide a clear overview of the main differences and similarities between  International and Domestic Human resource management. The essay will to some extent discuss the  practice of Human resource management in a domestic and international level together with the  factors that affect this process. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn with an analysis of the research  findings. DEFINITIONS OF DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGMENT When we look at the historic development of Human resource management, we find that it  evolves from the term Personnel management. The gradual development of management  activity from administration of personnel to strategic planning of human resource, has given a  competitive advantage to international companies. Personnel management focused more on  administrative functions and how to control the employee rather than commit the employee to  the organization strategic planning process. But the present Human resource management  system is structured more on the commitment of the staff and involves the employee in the  strategic planning and development process of the organization. It also stress that organizations  should consider their employees as assets than variable costs (Armstrong, 2009, Torrington et al,  2005). It is not quite easy to provide a precise and exact definition of Human resource  management due to the varying and different activities it refers to. One attempt made by Storey  (1995) is HRM is a distinctive approach to employment and management which seeks to  achieve competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly committed and  capable workforce using an array of cultural, structural and personal techniques. On the other  hand, Human resource management is also defined as representing two activities. One is the  generic term concerned with the key objectives of human activity, which are the staffing,  performance, change management and administrative objectives, and the other activity is the  Human resource approach to carry out the activities stated under the generic term one  (Torrington et al, 2005). In order to clearly see the commonalities and differences shared by Domestic and International  human resource management, identifying the activities which change or evolve when HR goes  International is a vital point. To this effect, a module developed by Morgan (1986) is helpful. The  module presents three dimensions of International Human resource management with various  categories of HR activities, countries involved and employees in International activities. The first  dimension deals with the tasks of Human resource management; the procurement, allocation and  utilization of HR which goes further down to detailed activities mentioned earlier in this paper under  the generic term explanation for HRM. The second dimension deals with three country categories;  the host country where the subsidiary is located, home country of the companys headquarter, other  countries which are source of manpower, finance and other inputs. The third dimension is  concerned with three category of employees; Host-country nationals, Parent-country nationals and  Third-country nationals. Thence, according to Morgan, The interplay between these three  dimensions is what define international Human resource management (Dowling Welch, 2005). At this point, it shows that the elements or issues related to International HRM practice are complex,  higher in number and have broader scope than those found in Domestic HRM practice. In order to  cope up with these complex issues the management may need to choose a strategy-ethnocentric,  Polycentric, regiocentric or geocentric that best fits its business plan. In ethnocentric strategy, a  company uses identical Human resource strategy both at home and in its abroad business activity. The polycentric strategy, with embracing the idea that each country is different in every aspect,  gives foreign subsidiaries autonomy to employ host country nationals and exercises local  appropriate HR practices to the subsidiarys location. Regiocentric approach is when companies are  structured on a regional basis and best regional practices of HR are prescribed. Lastly, geocentric  strategy holds an open for all employment opportunity where, all nationals from the HQ, subsidiary  and third country may be employed. It upholds Best person for the job motto and promotes higher  company integrity with less room for nationality (Storey, 2007). In the next section, the paper will discuss if the HR practices at the domestic level can be  implemented at international level and would try to identify the factors that may facilitate or  hamper this process in general. THE PRACTICE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGMENT AT DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL The increasing business activity at international level has shown the importance of understanding  how Multinational companies can operate efficiently and effectively in the global dimension. In  general, International Human resource management involves the internationalizing company in  different practices such as diverse HR activities than found in the home country, greater involvement  in employees private lives, greater risk of exposure to the human and finance involved, more  external influence from the host country and greater complexity than found at Domestic HRM level  (Dowling Welch, 2005). An International HR manager also needs to address the challenges due to  cross cultural differences, global competition, language and political differences when posted at  international level. Apart from the different intensity level of HR activities and strategic coordination  of different business units, both Domestic and International HRM share same major activities of  HRM. In addition, an International Human resource manager also needs to understand the degree of  soft or hard HRM present in the home base and foreign subsidiaries. Companies with Hard HRM  policy are more business focused and apply cost minimization systems while companies that engage  the employee in participation have Soft HRM policy (Storey, 2007). Dowling Welch (2005) identified some factors that moderate the difference between International  and domestic Human resource management. According to Dowling, these variables are cultural  environment, the industry with which the Multinational is primarily involved, the extent of reliance  of the multinationals on its home country or domestic market and the attitudes of senior  management in international operation. Let us discuss to what extent these variables would act as  moderators between Domestic and International HRM practices. INDUSTRY TYPE One important variable that moderates International and Domestic Human resource management is  the type of industry an MNC is involved in and the international competition it faces. Putting the business playing field in one straight line, let us say we have at one end of the  continuum a multi-domestic industry and the other end a global industry. The multi-domestic end  designates an industry operating in various countries but the completion in that industry type is  specific to the country. While at the other end, the global industry group is about an industry that  operates in different countries but interlinked with other industries in the same group (Dowling   Welch, 2005). Industries that fall under the multi-domestic structure have a free reign and are not strictly  controlled by the Headquarter of the MNC. They exhibit a highly decentralized HR structure and play  a passive role in the transfer of HR practices outside their boarder. Examples for this category can be  distribution agents and insurance companies. The global industry represents a model whereby HR  management transfers management practices abroad and these practices are replicated and put in  use by the subsidiaries. Example for this group includes commercial aircraft companies and  computer manufacturing companies (Dowling Welch, 2004, Beardwell Claydon, 2010). CULTURE The other influential factor in the moderating International and domestic Human resource  management is culture. (Dowling Welch, 2004) Armstrong (2009) define organization culture as the patterns of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes  and assumption that may not have been articulated but shape the way in which the people in the  organization behave and get things done. (Armstrong, 2009, p384). Hofstede in his part put culture  as the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or  category of people from another (Hofstede, 2001, p9). Other authors also have tried to define culture in different ways but in general it is expressed as a  process present in a social environment which holds the rules and regulations and the accepted  norms on how people are expected to behave. According to Hofstede (2001) there are five  independent dimensions of culture that explain the major difference between national groups. The  first is power distance. It is the degree to which members of an organization below the leadership  rank accept and expect the unequal distribution of power. High power distance shows an autocratic  leadership while low power distance denotes a democratic practice. Uncertainty avoidance refers to  the degree in which the people in a society feel uncomfortable for lack of structure and avoid  ambiguity. High uncertainty avoidance exist in countries having a strong rules and job scrutiny as  they try to avoid uncertainties and low uncertainty avoidance is registered in countries promotingà ‚  more lax and flexible social rules and regulations. Hofstede third dimension is the individualism  versus collectivism point. This dimension is concerned with the tendency of peoples response to  identifying themselves either in larger groups or more to themselves. High individualism is scored in  countries like the USA where people mostly identify themselves in small family groups while in low  individualistic countries people prefer to co-habit together and form large social groups. Masculinity  or femininity is the fourth dimension which refers to emotional roles attributed to both genders. It  balances the tough masculine virtue of assertion and aggressiveness with the softer feminine  virtue of emotion and caring. Japan scores high on this regard while Norway is the lowest. The fifth  dimension is the long term versus short term orientation. This dimension deals with the recognition  of status in a society and perseverance. In general understanding the cult ural norms of a foreign country and adapting to the environment would benefit a company in an international level and  more importantly the HR policies of an organization are mostly influenced by the cultural practice  surrounding the organization. Human resource activities like hiring of staff, promoting, rewarding  and dismissal of employees are determined and affected by the cultural practice of the host country (Dowling Welch, 2005). There is a school of thought that stresses the concept of Etics and Emics as an important aspect to  understanding culture in different settings. The Etic concept refers to the culture-common aspect  while the Emic approach deals with culture-specific concepts of behaviour. Understanding the  difference between the two concepts is helpful in cross-cultural business communication. To this  effect identifying which Human resource activity falls under Etic and which falls under Emic is also  crucial as it have an effect on the performance of companies outside their home country (Dowling   Welch, 2005). As noted earlier Emic refers to practices specific to one culture and are not transferrable across  cultures and Etic refers to the common practices found in different cultures and are transferrable  across cultures. Other dimensions of culture that may affect Human resource practices are the  political condition of the country where MNC operate, its economic rank and development and its  legal position. The Multinational companies need to be careful in countries with strong religious  views as they may have both civil and religious laws in use (Dowling Welch, 2005). RELIANCE OF THE MNC ON ITS HOME COUNTRY DOMESTIC MARKET The status of the organizations home domestic market is another moderator differentiating  International Human resource management and Domestic Human resource management. One major factor pushing companies to go outside their home market is the small market demand in  their home country but also the international market may not be their target market for big  companies as they have high demand in their home country. Hence, when analysing company  performance, focusing only on the international market activity may not give the true stand or rank  of an international company. Some international companies originate from small countries with  small domestic demand or saturated domestic market and play a big role in the international  business activity. As an example ABB Company from Switzerland, INTERBREW from Belgium and we  can also mention PHILIPS Electronics originating from The Netherlands. United Nations Conference  on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) made an annual survey on foreign direct investment and with  some detailed analysis made, it published a list and it reveals that Coca cola and McDonalds are  ranked 27th and 39th res pectively. As stated earlier the main reason for this situation is, these big  Multinational companies have high domestic demand in their home country; the USA. This may influence to some extent on their international business practice as well as deprive their managers  an international management experience (Dowling Welch, 2004). MANAGEMENT ORIENTATION The last moderator presented by Dowling Welch, (2004) is the level of orientation of senior  management. Managers from different cultures have different perceptions towards the overall  management system of a company. Lack of knowledge of competitive management skill on an  international level would lead to failure as it may fail to identify and address the issue differently  from the domestic management issue. Beardwell and Claydon (2000) also observe the significance role Multinational companies play in the  world economy and with regard to the interrelation and restructuring of management issue at  international versus the national level wrote Management style, Strategies and policies are  shaped by home business system -the financial, institutional, legal and political framework in  which they developed as domestic firms. Thus there is a persistent country of origin effect in the  behaviour of MNCs whereby the country the MNC originates from, exerts a distinctive effect on the  management style, particularly the management of Human resource. (Beardwell and Claydon,  2010, p19)   On the other hand Taylor et al (1996) presents the exportive, adaptive and integrative models and  explain why the international companies adopt different form of Strategic International Human  resource management. The adoptive models reflect that Human resource policies are designed to  match the local environment of the subsidiary. There would be less transfer of Human resource  practices from the parent company and use differentiation as a priority point. In the exportive  orientation the subsidiary copies Human resource management policies from the parent company. This upholds the integration of global management system and is ethnocentric in nature. The  integrative orientation model is the selection of best HR practice across the world and is more  liberal and flexible in allowing the subsidiary adopts local HR practices (Beardwell and Claydon,  2010). But each orientation requires different consideration in line with the HR policies practiced by  the parent organization. BUSINESS INTEGRATION AND GLOBAL STRATEGY As the global commerce is increasing so has the activities of International Human resource  management becomes an important and more complex than Domestic Human resource  management. While we acknowledge the expanding business activity, there is a school of  thought that support and concur on the alignment of business practices on global scale. The idea  posits three major perspectives towards the practice of Human resource management,  Universalistic, Contingency and Configuration. The Universalistic perspective is about identifying the best standard of Human resource practice  through various and continuous Human resource activities while the Contingency or externally  fit perspective suggests the need for a mix of different policies and practices to get high results  or best HR performance. The Configuration perspective stand for the interaction of business  strategies and HRM practices used to determine business performance (Beardwell and Claydon,  2010). Another observation toward the HR practices in the international level says that, organizations  operating under same environment would be compelled towards a uniform management  practice. This Isomorphic pull as they refer to it or isomorphism has three forms. Management  practices under the Coercive form adopt foreign HR practices due to external pressure, such as  pressures or expectations from the state, Legal or cultural environment. The Mimetic form is  when companies copy HR models from other companies operating on the same line of business  and accept it as the standard form of practice against various uncertainties. The last model is the  Normative and it is a pull resulting from the professionalization functions or widely accepted HR  practices (Brewster et al, 2007). In the practical field most organizations have been confronted with the deregulation of the  market, free global trade and also slow business transactions. To this they have been forced to  apply uniform and cost minimization strategies and as these international companies apply the  prescribed strategies it indirectly put pressure on the host country management system to adopt  /copy same management practice (Bratton and Gold, 2003). EXPATRIATES One important point in International Human resource management is the movement of  employees across national boundaries to foreign country assignments. These employees are  termed as Expatriates while Employees transferred from subsidiary branch into Headquarters  are referred as Inpatriates (Dowling Welch, 2005). As the global business activity of  International companies increased, it demanded high controlling system and follow up of the  subsidiaries business performance. To this effect, MNC have chosen the use of Expatriates,  Parent company nationals, as a controlling mechanism by assigning them in key management  positions in the subsidiary branches of the parent company (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1989). The efficiency of the deployed expatriate may also depend on the adaptability the expatriate on  his/her foreign assignment. A study conducted by Mark Mendenhall and Gary Oddor in 1985  suggests that expatriate success and adjustment depend on several dimensions. The first is self-oriented dimension, which deals with the expat personal competence and adaptability to the  foreign environment. The second dimension is the others-oriented dimension, which consist of  relationship development and willingness to communicate in reference to the reluctance to  assimilate and learn the language of the foreign land. The Third dimension is the perceptual  dimension, which is concerned with the ability of expatriates to comprehend the behaviour of  foreign nationals and the fourth dimension is cultural toughness and this is to gauge how quickly  an expatriate adapts to a harsh environment (Brewster Harris1999). Apart from parent  country nationals, Nationals from host country and third country are also considered as  expatriates. But this paper will focus only on expatriates from parent country nationals to  discuss the main reasons as to why an MNC send an employee on a foreign assignment. Expatriates are assigned in a foreign country as, An agent of direct control- The assigned expatriate is used to control the activities of the subsidiary and ensure its compliance through supervision (Dowling Welch, 2005, Bartlett Ghoshal , 1989) An agent of socialization- The expatriate in question understands the companies values and beliefs and acts as a medium to transfer these qualities of the parent company to the subsidiaries (Dowling Welch, 2005) As network builder- An expatriate having a knowledge pertinent to his/her job qualification will in due course bond with people in different key positions and together build a network of interdependence (Dowling Welch, 2005) As boundary spanner- This refers to activities performed by the expatriate, such as gathering information that bridge internal and external organizational context. It would be the expatriates duty to promote the company profile as well as gather information that may be of use to the betterment of the company (Dowling Welch, 2005) As language nodes- Expatriates with foreign language background would eventually become an asset especially when they repatriate to their home country (Dowling Welch, 2005). The advantages of using expatriates are mainly to maintain organizational control, international  work experience and follow up the fulfilment of the companys objective by the subsidiary. Whereas the disadvantage points are the problem with the adaptability of expatriates to the  foreign environment and the high cost incurred by the parent company to the selection and  training of expatriates (Dowling Welch, 2005). The process of selecting the right person to the  right position is crucial to the success of the oversees mission and it is to noted that an  expatriates success in one environment does not imply that the same expatriate will fill gaps in  all circumstances (Brewster Harris, 1999). To this end, In order to select an expatriate for an international assignment, Dowling Welch  (2005) have set six basic factors which may assist managers in the process. As individual factors  they have set Technical ability, cross cultural suitability and family requirements are listed  essential while in as situational factors country or cultural requirements, language and MNE  requirements need to be analysed and considered in the selection process. In another  perspective Schneider and Barsoux (1997) list nine point they believe are important for the  selection process. They are interpersonal skill, linguistic ability, ability to tolerance and cope up  with uncertainty, motivation to work and live abroad, flexibility, patience and respect, cultural  empathy, strong sense of self and sense of humour. (Dowling Welch, 2005)   In general the extent of the selection criteria is wide and companies need to identify and consider the most important and pertinent points to the position to be filled. CONCLUSION There are various factors that differentiate International Human resource management from  Domestic human resource management. The Globalization of world economies has forced  international companies to adjust and continuously change their company strategy and Human  management systems in order to survive the competition. To this, the function of Human  resource management has become an important subject as it has proved to be a vital point to  the success of International as well as Domestic companies. In this paper various perspectives  towards International Human resource management are discussed briefly. Authors in the field  are also quoted on how the present and future shape of Human resource management is and  would be. In summary, the paper has tried to identify the main similarities and differences  between International and Domestic Human resource management. From the literature review  presented, different internal and external factors are discussed to the complexity of  International human resource management, presented the various interpretation of HRM and  have tried to show how management and the market would dictate the shape of Human  resource management in general.

Prejudice and Racial Discrimination in America Essay examples -- Socio

     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been over 500 years since Columbus sailed the ocean blue and yet the vast majority of that time has been filled with the woes, hatred and oppression of the American white man for his darker skinned brethren. If we take as our assumption that such racially motivated injustice can not be justified and should not persist then we must first understand how such an obvious imbalance came to be and what can and should be done to avert it in the future. Historically hatred was born out of fear and misunderstanding of cultural, religious and physical differences, and the economic necessities of the time. It persisted because of the even greater fear of admitting ones mistakes and the divestiture of power From African Americans when they most needed it. Even today it is diminished but not vanquished as linguistic and educational challenges combine with disagreements amongst those calling for integration to further stall our ability to achieve racial harmony . Hatred is an ancient evil that may yet be conquered through understanding. The place to begin is of course at the beginning, when first the white man came dominate and slander the African man. For our purposes this begins back in the colonial period of America when first the African people were brought across the ocean. Back then it is not unlikely that these people were treated much like any white compelled into indentured servitude (Takaki 53-4). However it seems clear to me that these black men most certainly would have been immediate outsiders, strangers from an "uncivilized" land lacking both English and Christian customs. These men were brought here expecting to be slaves or worse, and in all probability were not prepared for even the slim... ... Allen, Vicki. "Democrats Push Congress to Condemn Bob Jones Univ." Reuters. 29 Feb. 2000: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000229/pl/congress_bobjones_3.html. Asante, Molefi Kete. "Luncheon Keynote Address." Greenberg 17-21. Fafwuna, A. Babs. "Education in the Mother Tongue." Greenberg 22-29. Greenberg, James, ed. "International and Multicultural Perspectives". Beltsville, MD: BelJean Printing, 2000. Orlando Taylor Speech. Videotape. Dir. James Greenberg. Narr. Orlando Taylor. Greenberg Class Video Set, 1990. Steele, Shelby. "Beyond Ebonics." Greenberg 30-31. Sutter, Rita. "When Yesterday's Tradition's are Thankfully Past." Greenberg 38-39. Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror : A History of Multi-Cultural America. New York: Bay Back Books, 1993. Weil, Danny. "Towards a Critical Multicultural Literacy" Greenberg 1-9.

Negative Impacts of Internet

The advent of the Internet has been one of the most exciting major events in the second half of the 20thtcentury. The ancient dream of â€Å"a scholar knows all things happening in the world without venturing outdoors† has finally become a reality. Since 1993, the Internet started to take off. At present, the Internet has spread to more than 180 countries and regions, connecting more than 600,000 domestic networks of various types, hooking up more than 20 million computers available to 120 million users (2% of the entire global population). However, due to its innate transnational, decentralized, open and unregulated nature, the Internet as a free, open and anarchic device has brought various countries great risks First of all, the internet has negatively influenced the countries politics because the Internet explicitly propagates and implicitly spreads western democratic values. These views are mainly spread through some governmental organizations or government-sponsored groups in the West. They select some typical stories that reflect western democracy and wrapped them up in attractive packages. Then they put these stories in visual and/or audio format and give them to people with great appeal and attractiveness. Most of those who have visited these websites come off praising the beauty of western democracy. The Internet can be also used as a tool to harm national sovereignty and interfere with other countries’ internal affairs. In some websites, when agencies and organizations of some foreign governments publish data, they treat areas such as Taiwan and Tibet as independent countries. The website of the U. S. National Geographic Society once published a map of Asia, which flagrantly excludes the South China Sea and Taiwan from our territories. Another example is that some websites have published views supporting Taiwanese and Tibetan independence and providing some so-called â€Å"historical evidence. † This has clearly interfered with Chinese internal affairs. The politically intended websites all have certain level of deceptiveness, influencing people to accept their views subconsciously, albeit with some doubt at first, thus shaking people’s firm stance of ideological correctness. Secondly, the internet causes cultural degradation because the Internet advocates western life-styles. These websites display various aspects of western society and life, and the overwhelming majority of them have positive portrayals of the western life-style. It makes people believe that the West seems to be countries of absolute freedom and paradise for individual achievement where private life is without obstacles and external inferences. Partial information such as this is particularly appealing to our youths whose life philosophy and worldview have yet to mature. Many of these youths aspire with great diligence to go abroad just to â€Å"change a way of living. † The Internet also poses a potential threat to information warfare. Some countries have applied the Internet into military operations, have conducted mock attacks against other countries’ networks, or have fabricated deceptive information harmful to other countries’ military forces. At a time when the information networks have become an important infrastructure of the nation and the military, the information warfare will be a war without the explosives, a war with a high invisibility, low cost, international, and multi-area (political, military, economic, social and material resources etc. approach. The high-tech nature and the unpredictability of combat intelligence in information warfare have made it extremely difficult to organize an information defense. The U. S. Department of Defense has specifically established an â€Å"Executive Committee on Information Warfare,† which is devoted to studying national policy for information warfare, and conducting war games on some websites. According to a report by the Sunday Thames of England, on 29 June (1998), experts from Great Britain and the United States conducted a secret military exercise in the destructive attacks on computers, with the objective of preventing a blitzkrieg in an information war. The result of the exercise indicates that just a few hackers can paralyze the stock market, military systems and airports, making the superpower, the United States, unable to move around. In a future information war, national financial transaction centers, stocks exchange centers, air traffic control centers, telecommunications control centers, railway control headquarters and various military networks, will inevitably become the main targets of information warfare. In conclusion, the internet is detrimental to a country’s culture, politics and security. Since it’s impossible to close the networks we must control and do our best to destroy its negative impacts when we can. Adapted from: http://www.uscc.gov/researchpapers/2000_2003/pdfs/neg.pdf

Formal Education Tends to Restrain Our Minds and Spirits Rather Than Set Them Free Essay

The statement that formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free seems true to a very good extent. It is based on the assumption that too much of formal education tends to create a narrow line of thinking. Formal education dictates the path that a person is supposed to follow to reach his/her destination. It stresses on the need to learn from the mistakes of the unsuccessful people and adopt ways of the successful people. It discourages experimentation and out-of-the box approaches. However, ironically, some of the most successful people, both in the past and the present are those who had little formal education and who did not confirm to its structured and one-dimensional learning approach. Thomas Alva Edison, who has more than a hundred inventions to his credit, had dropped out of school in his early years. He did not certainly have a full fledged formal education but learnt a lot of things on his own through experimentation and by trying out things that might have seemed stupid to his formally educated peers. More modern examples could include the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, both of who were instrumental in the world switching to the Information Technology era, were both college drop outs. Having said this, it is also important to realize that education is important. Edison, Bill and Steve, all of them did learn a lot of things in their journey to becoming legends on their own. But they did that with little formal education but more of practical and creative learning.

The dramatic function of Ophelia in Shakespeares Hamlet. Essays

The dramatic function of Ophelia in Shakespeares Hamlet. Essays The dramatic function of Ophelia in Shakespeares Hamlet. Paper The dramatic function of Ophelia in Shakespeares Hamlet. Paper In William Shakespeares Hamlet the character Ophelia performs a very interesting and important role in the elaboration of the plot. Ophelia is a tragic victim, a common component of Shakespeares revenge tragedies and something that the audience would have come to expect. It is perhaps surprising that a vulnerable and frail character such as Ophelia could have the great impact on the play that she does. Understanding her reactions to the patriarchal society in which she lives through her relationships with the men in her life adds greater depth to the play. Her character is revealed through her interactions with Polonius, Laertes and Hamlet, and their characters in turn revealed through their relationships with her. Ophelia allows better understanding of Hamlets complex personality. Ophelia also highlights key themes of the play, including corruption, patriarchy and deception. Before her function can be analysed, Ophelias character must be understood. Shakespeare presents her as a character of weakness, one to respond to with pity and sympathy. She has been read in very different ways- as shown in the greatly varied portrayals of her in different films. The conventional view is that she is a pure and innocent victim, but another reading of her is that she is a clever, sexually experienced but somewhat confused and naive girl. I believe that Ophelia is the epitome of goodness, childlike and nai ve, and that it was Shakespeares intention to evoke sympathy for her. I think that she teeters upon the edge of adult knowledge, with those around her fighting to suppress her sexuality. She is not sexless and does demonstrate understanding of Hamlets bawdy language. Hamlet uses broad sexual innuendo, to which her response of you are naught, you are naught (III. ii. 148) reveals that she is offended by it, at once showing that she understands, but certainly disapproves of, his language. Her chaste nature is shown by Hamlet telling her to a nunnery go (III. i. 141) so that it can remain so. Throughout the play Shakespeares use of natural and floral imagery communicates her purity. On drowning, she is surrounded by a garland of flowers and at her funeral she is allowed her virgin crants (V. i. 233) and maiden strewments. Ophelia died while collecting flowers which are symbolic of innocence, fragility and purity. The hoar leaves which symbolise the silver-grey colour of age put emphasis on Ophelias youth and innocence. Long purples are given a grosser name by liberal shepards as the roots are phallic in appearance. Cold maids, innocent virgins, refer to them as dead mans fingers which has a phallic connection. This implies that Ophelia was a cold maid herself. Those who read Ophelia as disreputable point to Polonius disdain when she speaks like a green girl (I. iii. 101) which suggests that she is not entirely so. She understands the meaning of Hamlets lewd remarks regarding country matters. and a possible reading of Ophelias comments that Young men will dot / if they come tot, by Cock / they are to blame and before you tumbled me / you promised me to wed (IV. v. 59-62) is that there existed a sexual relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet. In her sexually explicit songs, the lyrics of which include let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more (IV. v. 52) the implication is that the girl in the song has lost her virginity. I do not think that in singing this Opelia refers to herself, but that her madness grants her freedom to express what she was unable to discuss before, her deep love and desire for Hamlet. I think there is a sexual aspect to the frustration which drives her insane. Hamlets harsh verbal abuse is almost entirely sexual, and her mad songs contain blatant sexual references. Ophelia suffers because of the avoidance of her own sexuality. It is suppressed only to emerge later in her mad ramblings. Ophelia is a submissive character whose personality can almost be summed up with her lines I shall obey, my Lord. and I do not know, my lord, what I should think. She is controlled by her father and brother and the audience is supposed to sympathise for her, as Polonius denies her independence of choice or action, telling her You do not understand yourself so clearly / as it behoves my daughter and your honour. Ophelias madness and its causes are key parts of the plot of the play. The murder of Polonius by Hamlet leads to Ophelias demise- she loses all of the men she loved and obeyed and her identity is dependent upon them to such an extent that in their absence she does not know how to live, and becomes insane. She has never been responsible for making decisions about how to live because her father and brother have always controlled her conduct. As Claudius acknowledges, her madness is the poison of deep grief / It springs all from her fathers death. (IV. v. 75) Hamlet has been responsible for her feelings- if he loves her, she is happy, and if he does not, she is not. It is through these relationships that she knows how to live, and in the absence of this direction she commits suicide. Shakespeare cleverly uses Ophelia to reveal aspects of other characters personalities which the audience may have otherwise not been appreciated. She affects the audiences response to the characters through language, interaction, comparison and contrast. One of the vital dramatic functions of Ophelia is to give insight into Hamlets character and situation. She gives Hamlets actions and thoughts greater significance. His personality is highly complex, but through Ophelia the audience are perhaps better equipped to begin understanding it. It is through her that the audience learn the depth of his sorrow, confusion, the extent of his sense of betrayal by Gertrude and his resulting distrust of women, and can better understand his tragic flaw. Her weakness and insanity provide contrast which illuminates his strength, nobility and sanity. Hamlets harsh treatment of Ophelia shows the extent to which his mothers betrayal has affected his attitude to women as well as the depth of his grief and confusion. Disgusted by Gertrude marrying Claudius so soon after his fathers death, Hamlet becomes distrustful of women, obsessed with the connection he believes exists between female sexuality and corruption. This is shown through Hamlets damaged relationship with Ophelia, whom, as a consequence of his mothers actions, he is incapable of trusting. He perceives Gertrudes sexual misconduct as moral pollution that destroyed his facility to love Ophelia, causing him to question are you honest? are you fair? (III. i. 103) He curses her for committing such an act / That blurs the grace and blush of modesty / Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose / From the fair forehead of an innocent love / And sets a blister there (III iv 42- 45) The juxtaposition of the beautiful fragility of a rose, (perhaps symbolic of Ophelia) and the blister emphasises the extent of Hamlets damage. His mother causes his cursing of all women, O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! and made marriage vows as false as dicers oaths causing him to tell Ophelia that they will have no more marriages. Ophelia represents the innocence and virtue of women, so Hamlets wrongful distrust of her is tragic and emphasises what Gertrude has inflicted upon him. Polonius daughter provides contrast with Hamlet, clarifying that he is sane. He fakes madness in order to achieve revenge and for Shakespeare to maintain the audiences support of Hamlet, he must have them aware that Hamlets madness is not true. An insane hero would not be a hero at all and his fate of little interest. Shakespeare presents pure madness in Ophelia with her behaviour in act four, scene five. In her madness, her language lacks the form that Hamlets never ceases to exhibit. The Gentlemans description of Ophelia as indeed distract and her speech nothing precedes the audience seeing the change in her behaviour for themselves. This intensifies the focus on her when she enters singing incomprehensible songs, and puts emphasis upon her mad state. Laertes mourns that a young maids wits / Should be as mortal as an old mans life (IV. v. 157-158) and calls her A document in madness (IV. v. 174) She is divided from herself and her fair judgement (IV v 83-84) and the dramatic function of this is to give the audience a bearing upon Hamlets madness, which is merely an antic disposition; he is not in madness, but mad in craft. Claudius notes that what he spake, though it lacked form was not like madness. Ophelia turns to favour and to prettiness, whilst the opposite is true of Hamlets mad behaviour. Shakespeares creation of Ophelia aids the audiences understanding of Hamlet because their stories parallel one another. Similar pressures bear down on both characters, but their reactions differ. Both suffer the murder of their fathers and betrayal by loved ones. Ophelias reaction is simple, and highlights the complexity of Hamlets reaction to his situation. She falls into madness and (arguably) takes her own life. In contrast miserable Hamlet only contemplates suicide. This shows his strength (meeting audience expectations, for he is the hero of the play) by highlighting the difficulty of rising above insanity and suicidal urges, making his success more impressive. He faces a constant struggle not to lose grip on his capability and godlike reason (IV. iv. 38), not to let his heart lose its nature. As the audience is shown Ophelias failure at this task, they appreciate Hamlets strength in succeeding. He ponders on to be or not to be, but does not take his own life. Hamlets story shows the danger of madness and the potentially all-consuming nature of grief. Whether it was intended or not, Ophelias story adds power to this message. Ophelias character evokes the audiences sympathy for Hamlet. When Ophelia goes insane, symbolic of the breakdown of innocence, it highlights the corrupt and rotten nature of Elsinore which enables the audience to understand Hamlets rejection of that world. He is right to be disgusted as he is; his difficulty in accepting the cruel, false environment is evidence of his noble nature. The audience are then more likely to understand why Hamlet seeks to reimpose moral values on Elsinore, and support him. Furthermore, Ophelia encourages sympathy by giving insight into how different Hamlets nature was, prior to his fathers death. In her sad reaction to Hamlets madness O what a noble mind is here oerthrown! we see Hamlet as observed by her before he changed. She tells that he possessed noble and most sovereign reason, emphasising the extent of change he seems to have undergone. Her saying that he was once an incomparable prince, the glass of fashion and the mould of form, (III. i. 156) and an unmatched form and feature of blown youth (III. i. 162) but has now been blasted with ecstasy, only serves to make Hamlet all the more tragic. Ophelias description cannot fail to evoke sympathy for him, be he truly mad or not. In addition, it is Ophelias dramatic function to elucidate Hamlets tragic flaw- his indecisiveness and inability to act. This leads to his downfall, and it is vital that the audience appreciate this. He speaks of some vicious mole of nature Shall in the general censure take corruption from that particular fault, to show that one character flaw can corrupt the entire person. Hamlets inconsistent behaviour towards Ophelia demonstrates his inability to make up his mind. This leads to his delay in dealing with Claudius and thus his demise. It is highlighted in conversation with Ophelia, when he states I did love you once (III. i. 115) then I loved you not. Only when she is buried can he conclude I loved Ophelia. Unless he has no time to reflect (for instance, when he kills Polonius), he appears incapable of deliberate action. Ophelia lends insight into Hamlets flaw by mirroring it. She is an entirely passive character; any action she takes is merely a response to others actions. Rather than actively jumping, she simply did not attempt to rescue herself when the branch holding her broke. This inaction is as characteristic of Ophelia as it is of Hamlet. The exchange between Ophelia and Hamlet increases dramatic tension in the play. The realisation of Ophelias deceitfulness causes the terrible outburst of abuse as, adding to pre-existing feelings of betrayal by Gertrude, the other woman he loves has also let him down. Gertrude chose a brother over Hamlets dead father and now Ophelia chooses a father over Hamlet. She also pushes the plot along because his violent rejection of her; I loved you not convinces Claudius that he is not really mad for her love and so immediately he determines to send Hamlet to England. I think that even in his cruel treatment of Ophelia, she makes him a more sympathetic character. He refuses to listen to her and his harsh words I loved you not. (III. i. 119) Get thee to a nunnery. And (III. i. 121) you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and nickname Gods creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance. Go to, Ill no more ont; (III. i. 146-48), far from being evidence of a spiteful nature, just confirms the depth of his sorrow and disturbance by recent events. As commented upon by critic A. W. Von Schlegel, Hamlet is too much overwhelmed with his own sorrow to have any compassion to spare for others. The fact he must forsake his love in order to appear insane and get his revenge is tragic. I think that Hamlet is truthful in later declaring I loved Ophelia but advises her to go to a nunnery to escape the torturous nature and corruptive power of love. He is being cruel to be kind, and his desire to protect her demonstrates his nobility. A nunnery would be a place where she could remain chaste and not be a breeder of sinners. Ophelia gives the personalities of other characters greater depth, and consequently improves the play. Her nature contrasts and therefore emphasises that of others. Claudius coldness is highlighted when she describes Hamlets madness using beautiful imagery, saying that it has sucked the honey of his music vows and as like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh. Hers is a pitying speech that contrasts greatly with Claudius abrupt and heartless reaction, which is emphasised when so easily compared to Ophelias. He simply dismisses the notion of love- his affections do not that way tend. (III. i. 165) There is a great contrast, too, between the characters of Polonius children. This serves to highlight the qualities of each; while Ophelia is connected to water and submissiveness, and told too much of water hast thou, Laertes is the opposite, with a bold nature likened to fire and blaze. Ophelia goes mad as the violence of grief is internalised and destroys her, but in contrast her brothers violence explodes outward- they enact the alternative responses to the power of grief. Ophelia reveals much about Polonius, whom it is important that the audience have an understanding of. She exposes his inconsiderate nature and disrespect for others, perhaps lessening the audiences readiness to sympathise with him upon his death. Ophelia is ruthlessly manipulated by her father. He extracts the details of Hamlets solicitings from her and proudly presents the love letter to Claudius. Hamlet beautifies Ophelia in it, yet Polonius calls it a vile phrase. He tells her he would not, in plain terms, from this time forth have you so slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. Look tots, I charge you. Come your ways. (I. iii. 132-35) this highlights his controlling, egotistic nature. Polonius refers to the relationship as being like one of enemies, Hamlet being someone who Ophelia must protect herself from. Polonius makes decisions for his daughter without consideration of her feelings for Hamlet. His doubting of Hamlets intentions is perhaps more telling of his own disposition than of Hamlets; I think he judges Hamlet by his own standards. Polonius contempt for Hamlet is shown through Ophelia. The general implication is that romantic love is of no importance to Polonius. He is happy to manipulate Ophelia to his advantage. At the closing of the conversation, he hardly notices her distress and when he asks how now, Ophelia? / You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said. / We heard it all (III. i. 178) it is clear that to him her consternation is inconsequential; what matters is the political implication of what he has witnessed.

Why Women Should Vote

Why Women Should Vote Free Online Research Papers For many generations the man has been the only one who had an opinion. Men were the only ones who made decisions and women were basically material things. They did not have a say in any part of the community; they were used to produce children and take care of those children. A woman had many jobs to do, but no matter how much she would do, she would not collect recognition because she was looked at as lower than a man. In the early 1900s women had many different areas of work. One of their major areas of work was to watch over and take care of the children (Addams 1). They were to feed them and clean them and take care of them when they were sick. This may not sound to challenging to mothers these days but back then the living conditions were much worse. For women who lived in the countryside it was not as hard because it was not as crowded as in the cities. Many children in the cities would get sick because of how crowded it was, but children in the country would be sick less frequently (Addams 1). Women also had to make sure that there was food for the family, but mostly for the children. In the cities much of the food was rotten (Addams 1). Most of the fruits and vegetables were decaying and they would be the only choice for mothers to buy (Addams 1). Women could not buy the meat because it was very disease-ridden (Addams 1). During most of the day women had to clean the house and make sure that all of the chores were done (Addams 1). The women that lived in the country were able to control the hygiene of their house because they could throw the garbage out and get rid of all the waste. For the women in the cities the situation was a lot worse because they cannot control where the waste went (Addams 1). The conditions were considerably less sanitary than what they were in the country. In the country, women were able to sweep their porches to wipe off the dust. However, in the city, the streets were filled with dirt and grime, which was right outside of the door, and no matter how much you swept, it would make no difference (Addams 1). There was never a guarantee that the garbage would be picked up. This would create an even bigger mess and would fill the air with terrible smells. It was almost impossible for the mothers to keep their houses clean because disease filled the air and there was sickness all around (Addams 2). It was also hard for them to do easy household tasks such as doing the laundry. For example, a lot of the immigrant women were used to doing their laundry at a river with a group of other women. Now that they lived in a crowded city there was no river to wash in, only a bucket; and they did it alone (Addams 2). Small things like this were extremely hard to adjust to. Another very large occupation of the women belonged to the schools. They were the biggest contributors to the children’s education. They had different groups such as the mothers’ school clubs and the mothers’ congresses (Addams 6). If women had the right to vote at this time there would have been many more kindergartens, domestic science courses, and school playgrounds (Addams 6). It was very important for the women to teach their daughters how to cook, sew and take care of younger children at very young ages. If the daughters did not learn how to do these things than the mothers would have been heavily burdened; they would not have been able to run an acceptable household (Addams 6). This was different however, in other countries, such as Italy or France, where these were taught in the public schools so the mothers did not have to go through the hassle. Women had to basically take care of all things home, while the husbands were out at work. This prevented the men from knowing how bad the conditions were for the women. If the women were able to vote they would have been able to try and change some of the terrible things that went on in the cities. With the ability to vote, the women would have been able to improve the conditions, such as getting a cover for the food stands in the city so the fruit and vegetables did not get covered in dirt and dust over the course of the day (Addams 3). This is the only way that a problem like this could have been fixed because the men, who were the only ones who had a say, were unaware so they didn’t know to bring these things up. They also thought that there were bigger things that had to be taken care of. The women would also have been able to bring up how badly the buildings needed to be changed. The basements were wet, the stairs were not fireproof, there were no windows for air or light , and the bathrooms did not have sanitary plumbing which could cause sickness throughout the house (Addams 1). These conditions were almost too bad to be lived in and they needed to be changed. Giving the women the right to vote was not entirely for the women. In fact, the women were not the main benefactor; the children were. Numerous things that would have been improved due to women gaining the right to vote were directly involved with the children. The condition of the house would have been more suitable to live in, which would have helped to prevent the young children from coming down with different sicknesses (Addams 2). It would also have made the living easier on the younger children because they would have been able to be more childish, by playing with a bunch of other children, and the mothers wouldn’t have to worry about their safety. Much of the food, which would be healthier, was meant for the children so that directly helps their bodies (Addams 6). This made a better life for the children because they were healthier as well. The women benefited as well though because many women gained new positions in the government. They got their input recognized and t hey changed the way that things were run. There were new laws passed and women would have easier lives because of them. Addams is very particular about this topic because she takes offence by the thought of a women not being able to speak her mind (Addams 12). She believes that a women plays too much of a role in society too not have their voices heard. She also says that both types of points of view have to be together for there to be a possibility for progress (Addams 12). She strongly believes that the only way for there to be a sane society is if women have the right to vote. The woman is the person who makes the living environment â€Å"clean and fair† (Addams 12). Without women a society would be unable to function, and the fact that women did not have a say in the society that they lived in was appalling to Addams. She put her heart and her soul into the paper that she wrote and she felt very deeply on the subject. This was no joking matter to her; it was close to her heart. Addams gives many good reasons on why women should have the right to vote. One of the most convincing arguments that she gives is when she mentions the women’s’ role in education. Without the women the children would not be as useful as they were. The children would not have as wide of an education either (Addams 2). One of the arguments that I did not feel convincing was that if the women got the right to vote than they would be able to fix the way the buildings were set up. This was a monetary concern, not due to the fact that the men were not aware of it. I don’t think that the conditions were made better because of the women’s newfound right, but just because of the progress that the future brought (Addams 1). With women gaining the right to vote our nation made a huge step in the right direction. This step was a big part of what makes our nation so great today. We must all remember that the world used to be much worse and it is thanks to people such as Jane Addams who made life better for everyone. Without people like this our lives would never have changed for the better and who knows how different things would be. Research Papers on Why Women Should Vote19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Fifth HorsemanInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeEffects of Television Violence on Children

DAECHER Surname Meaning and Family History

DAECHER Surname Meaning and Family History Occupational in origin, the Daecher surname most likely derived from the Old High German word decker, denoting one who covered roofs with tile, straw or slate. The meaning of the word expanded during the Middle Ages to encompass carpenters and other craftsman and was used to refer to one who built or laid the decks of vessels From the German Decher, meaning the quantity of ten; this may also have been a name given to the tenth child. Surname Origin: German Alternate Surname Spellings:  DEKER, DECKER, DECHER, DECKARD, DECHARD, DEKKER, DEKKES, DEKK, DECK, DECKERT, DEKKES, DECKARD, DEKK, DECK, DECKERT  Ã‚   Famous People with the DAECHER Surname Jessie James Decker -  American country pop singer-songwriter and reality T.V. personalityEric Decker - American National League Football wide receiverDesmond Dekker - Jamaican  singer-songwriter and musicianThomas Dekker -  English  dramatist and pamphlet writer Where is the DAECHER Surname Most Common? The Daecher surname, according to surname distribution information from Forebears, is primarily found in the United States- especially in the state of Pennsylvania, followed by California and New York. WorldNames PublicProfiler indicates the Daecher surname is most common, as might be expected, with people living in Germany, followed by those in the United States. Within Germany, the Daecher surname is found most frequently in Hessen, followed by Nordrhein-Westfalen and Thuringen. Within the United States, the majority of the individuals with the Daecher surname are living in Pennsylvania. Genealogy Resources for the Surname DAECHER Daecher Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Daecher family crest or coat of arms for the Daecher surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. DECKER DNA ProjectMore than 100 members have joined this project for the Decker surname (and variants such as Daecher) to  work together to find their common heritage through DNA testing and sharing of information. DECKER Family Genealogy ForumThis free message board is focused on descendants of Decker ancestors around the world. Search the forum for posts about your Decker ancestors, or join the forum and post your own queries.   FamilySearch - DAECHER GenealogyExplore over 1.3 million  results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Daecher surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. DECKER Surname Mailing ListFree mailing list for researchers of the Daecher surname and its variations includes subscription details and a searchable archives of past messages. GeneaNet - Daecher RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Daecher surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Daecher Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Daecher surname from the website of Genealogy Today. Ancestry.com: Daecher SurnameExplore over 2.6 million digitized records and database entries, including census records, passenger lists, military records, land deeds, probates, wills and other records for the Daecher surname on the subscription-based website, Ancestry.com - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to  Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Analyzing Global Products through the example of the H & M and Zara Essay

Analyzing Global Products through the example of the H & M and Zara industry - Essay Example This is done to avoid delays and over dependence on a particular country and less production within the system. The firm works with middlemen to offer the best to its consumers. The organization also considers the consumers using the product, and then it considers the middlemen who are the retailers and wholesalers that sell the products to consumers, and get feedback from the consumers. H&M level of product adaptation- packaging, pricing, promotion and ways of distribution Using the middlemen, the firm buys the right items from the suppliers and the right market. H & M has a creative experience in design and markets that considers fashion and textile. The company aims at working with the economical minds of its consumers. Distribution is the process of getting the organizations products to the consumers, and a channel of marketing that distributes the products around the market. The firm has a well distribution channel, and that it depends on the IT system to enable it work efficien tly in that it makes use internet strategies to improve on its production and development of garments. Lastly, the firm has a cooperate culture that works in harmony to make sure efficient sales of its products (Saminather, 2007). The firm distributes its products through direct sales that include those made to the beauty therapists, beauty pallor, supermarkets, and shops in town. Direct selling to the consumers allows the organization to be in charge of its prices, get responses from the clients, and take charge in the presentation of the products to the consumers. These direct sales make them sell their products to different consumers from different background. When the organization sells to retailers, they sell product directly to the retailers and the... The H & M industry is a Swedish industry that outsources the non core operations. The firm, a clothing industry, does not own any factory. The industry buys its products from a chain of suppliers that supply them with cloths. The Zara Company is the contradictory of H & M Company that also deals with cloths, and it is the first growing industry in Spain. The firm is owned by Spanish Inditex group. Zara has developed a unique business model and it has vertically merged the retailers; controls every step of the value chain, and it mainly outsources garments with a longer shelf/ fashion life. H&M business model focuses on outsourcing and Zara Company uses in-house model to increase its production. The business level entails the management directors, panel of directors, and business staff. The management function is to classify the delegation and goals of the business, establish what roles the company must be in charge of apportion of assets to the different enterprise areas of the company, and devise and execute strategies that extend over the businesses. The business level entails the leaders of the particularized business. Company leaders’ responsibility is to explain broad statements of intention at the business level into tangible strategies for particularized businesses. The two companies used the business level to implement their strategies that led to their success. The practical level consists of the business leaders of exact production operations. They build up practical strategies that aid the execution of the company and company -level strategic aims. They offer nearly all the new ideas that make it likely for the company and business -level wide-ranging managers to prepare strategies.

Regionality Writing Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Regionality Writing Portfolio - Essay Example Influence slave trade produced on the African continent is immense, for nearly 400 years of slave trade deprived Africa of around 12.5 million of labor force. Buying slaves – previously captured people of other ethnic groups and tribes – from coastal kingdoms, Americans and Europeans halted development of the entire West Africa through affecting local husbandry, agriculture and handicraft (Rowntree et al., 2014). Moreover, collaboration and grafting leaders of coastal kingdoms, the traders instigated conflict between different African nations and eventually caused wars. In the internal wars, Africa hardly had any wealth accumulation and lost around 100 million of labor force, for many able-bodied people died. At the same time, establishment and strengthening of economic and political entities was heavily impeded by the fact that many African communities had to hide from the slave traders through relocation of their settlements and thus were more interested in survival t han in development of countries or increase of economic might. In general, Atlantic slave trade that thrived until the 19th century facilitated the flow of labor force from Africa’s interior to the expanding territories of the New World, which were in need of more workers. As a result, many African regions were left underdeveloped and rather poor due to lack of labor force and – owing to efforts of their future colonizers – absence of efficient centralized states. This made Africa vulnerable to further colonization by European state.

Primark- Between Affordability and Ethics Essay

Primark- Between Affordability and Ethics - Essay Example Primark’s name has also come to be associated with the employment of child labour and illegal immigrants. The company has a good ethical record in the sphere of environment and animal rights. However, the corporate practices of Primark do leave scope for ethical scrutiny. The top management of the company does need to formally recognize these ethical lacunas and take immediate steps to arrest its dwindling ethical credentials. Executive Summary Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Discussion 4 2.1 Labour Practices 4 2.2 Environmental Concern 6 2.3 Ethical Corporate Practices 6 2.4 Animal Rights 6 3.0 Conclusion 6 4.0 Recommendations 7 Reference List 8 1.0 Introduction Primark is a clothing retailer of Irish origins that has its stores in United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Ireland. Primark primarily tends to sell clothing items that affiliate to the budget segment of the market. Thereby it has to face an immense competition from vari ed other budget segment clothing retailers. Ostensibly speaking Primark commits allegiance to a code of ethics and the company expects its suppliers to follow the principles inherent in this code of ethics and strictly requires the suppliers and factories dealing with Primark to make it certain that the products supplied to the Primark are made by workers employed in good working conditions, and that these workers are treated in a humane and decent manner and are paid fair and wages (Primark 2013). However, in the recent times Primark has been in the eye of the storm owing to a range of issues that happen to go starkly contrary to the company’s professed code of conduct. This report intends to analyze the fact as to how Primark lives up to its ethical claims by considering the performance of Primark over a range of ethical parameters like the international codes of labour practice, complying with environmental norms, affiliating to corporate ethics and animal testing of produ cts. The report in the light of the conclusions drawn from this analysis also intends to facilitate some recommendations. 2.0 Discussion A careful perusal of the official website of Primark testifies to the fact that formally speaking the company has a code of ethics in place that claims allegiance to a range of imperatives pertaining to labour practices, environment, animal rights and ethical corporate practices. However, an extensive research into the media reports tells a different story. In the light of the available facts, it will be utterly insightful to analyze the ethical claims of Primark over a range of parameters. 2.1 Labour Practices The official code of ethics promulgated by Primark expects its suppliers to assure that the products supplied to Primark are made in working conditions that are good, safe, hygienic and humane (Primark 2013). The company also expects the suppliers and factories manufacturing Primark products to make it certain that at no time and in no way t hey violate internationally recognized codes of labour practice and abstain from practices like child labour, forced labour, paying unfair wages, excessive working hours, and meting inhuman and illegal treatment to workers (Primark 2013). Moreover, Primark joined Ethical Trading Initiative in 2006, an organization that tends to solicit the support and cooperation of a range of stakeholders like Non-government Organizations, corporations and trade

Why We Crave Horror Movies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why We Crave Horror Movies - Essay Example This is because they contain vampires, serial killers, zombies as well as werewolves leading to a cinematic blood bath. In as much as people, justify reasons for the continuous taste of horror movies there various underlying concerns that drive people to watch horror movies. â€Å"To show that we can, that we are not afraid, that we cab ride this roller coaster.† This forms the first reason why most people engage in horror movies. From this perspective, the continuous appetite for horror movies gets attributed to the fact that people want to overcome their fears and prove their capacity to the whole society. For instance, according to Stephen king, â€Å"It is true that the mythic â€Å"fairy-tale† horror film intends to take away the shades of grey. In addition, horror movies provide psychic belief to people a factor that acts as, a key driver to watch more movies. Subsequently, horror movies, â€Å"may allow our emotions a free rein... Or no rein at all†. ... It is from this perspective that people continue to watch horror movies despite the fears they experience. For example, Dawn of the dead is a horrific movie, which a normal person cannot watch; however, it forms one of the movies people scramble to watch. â€Å"Horror movies offer their teenage male viewers an illicit opportunity to revel in their feminine side. Contesting the claim that horror encourages a sadistic male gaze† it is in this regards that horror movies get popularity by teenage population. The teens as they call themselves like competition and comparison for watching movies. In addition, they like living a life up-to-date with current events leading to events of life transforming behaviors. Based on this reason, an increasing population gets realized towards watching horror movies. As an evidence, to support the argument, teens dress according to horror superstars with the sole purpose of escaping the villain and fitting into the society of horror movie harlequi ns. Subsequently, â€Å"horror movies are due not to whatever psychic substratum the monster represents, but rather to the peculiar curiosity it inspires.† Suspense as literature professionals would call it, is an indispensable device used by movie directors, which keep viewers with curiosity and urge for more. Horror movies are quite threatening; however, viewers always have the quench to know what would happen after killing of a person or horrific animal. Considering the change in movie production, where movie directors produce series movies; suspense continues to appear among viewers. The camera trick in horror movies remains another reason why a glamorous number of people continue to appear in horror scenes. This is because the tricks make the

Information Technology in Transport and Logistics Essay

Information Technology in Transport and Logistics - Essay Example This essay focuses on discussing the application of IT solutions to transportation and logistics that can improve their efficiency and to bring about better management of highways, shipping, airfreight, railroad and public transportation systems. The researcher also analyzes that it can help ease traffic congestion, enhance the efficiency and productivity of transportation services and logistics, and more significantly reduce costs. As it's observed in the essay, sustainable transportation in an age today when energy prices are uncertain but broadly increasing requires that efforts be made to shift passenger and goods transport to cheaper means of transportation. The application of IT solutions to large-scale transportation and logistic systems has certainly produced increased efficiencies even today, particularly in order booking and tracking, vehicle navigation, route planning, and safety and control systems. However, the researcher states that there is still more room for making s uch applications wider across the globe in future in tune with the rapid strides in information and communication technologies and the Internet revolution. Information technologies also need to be capable of graceful scalability when applied to traffic control, logistic management or vehicle system. In addition, many logistics and transportation companies serve a large clientele, transparency of information about real-time operations can also make a difference to clients, particularly in scheduling and tracking shipments.

What benefits does a childrens hospice service provide Essay

What benefits does a childrens hospice service provide - Essay Example Parents' perception about the children's hospice services play crucial role in determining the qualities of such palliative care providers, since the number of families obtaining the services of hospice homes are increasing. Thus the benefits derived from children's hospice services are awaiting the feedback from parent consumers to continuously change the shape and identity of services. The medical prognosis may assess the nature of a terminal illness but cannot ascertain the actual time of end of a patient. This being the strength of medical science, the palliative care cannot be rejected outright as redundant. It is an opportunity to provide a very special care to the loved kids, who face death in the near future or at a distance, thereby implying the acceptance of a poor prognosis. The National Academies' Institute of Medicine, USA, has boldly suggested that all physicians in paediatric medicine should well be trained in the field of palliative, end-of-life and bereavement care to children. (National Academies Institute of Medicine, USA). There exists a hairline demarcation between hospice services and palliative care services. Hospice services are based on the philosophy of providing comfort and support to terminally ill patients and their families when the life expectancy of the patients is in months. Hospiceprovides support for the emotional, social and spiritual impact of the disease on the patient and family through a team-oriented approach of specially trained professionals. Most hospices have a set of defined services, team members, rules and regulations. Hospice programs generally offer counselling and bereavement services to patients and families both before and after a patient's death. Palliative care services are rendered on the same principles as hospice care for patients with life-threatening illness. Palliative care looks at the emotional and social issues that occur as a result of a serious illness and the effect on the family as well as the patient. Palliative care for patients and their families also involves the comprehensive management of physical, psychological, social, spiritual and existential needs. Palliative care ideally begins at the time of diagnosis of a life-threatening or debilitating condition and continues throughout the person's life. Although palliative care may be an appropriate part of treatment of any complex or serious illness or injury, it is vital in the care of life threatening and/or incurable, progressive conditions. Palliative care is also integral to all health care delivery system settings like hospital, emergency department, home care, outpatient and non-traditional environments such as schools. The interdisciplinary team collaborates with all caregivers in each of these settings, in order to ensure coordination, communication, and continuity of palliative care across institutional and home care settings. Palliative care services generally provide Access to an interdisciplinary team Strategies to optimise pain and symptom management Help with communication between family and the primary care team Enhancing quality of life with emphasis on meaningfulness Assistance with decision-making Coordination of inpatient, outpatient, and home care

Information Technology in Transport and Logistics Essay

Information Technology in Transport and Logistics - Essay Example This essay focuses on discussing the application of IT solutions to transportation and logistics that can improve their efficiency and to bring about better management of highways, shipping, airfreight, railroad and public transportation systems. The researcher also analyzes that it can help ease traffic congestion, enhance the efficiency and productivity of transportation services and logistics, and more significantly reduce costs. As it's observed in the essay, sustainable transportation in an age today when energy prices are uncertain but broadly increasing requires that efforts be made to shift passenger and goods transport to cheaper means of transportation. The application of IT solutions to large-scale transportation and logistic systems has certainly produced increased efficiencies even today, particularly in order booking and tracking, vehicle navigation, route planning, and safety and control systems. However, the researcher states that there is still more room for making s uch applications wider across the globe in future in tune with the rapid strides in information and communication technologies and the Internet revolution. Information technologies also need to be capable of graceful scalability when applied to traffic control, logistic management or vehicle system. In addition, many logistics and transportation companies serve a large clientele, transparency of information about real-time operations can also make a difference to clients, particularly in scheduling and tracking shipments.

Behavioural Finance Essay Example for Free

Behavioural Finance Essay Hypothesis and the extent to which they can be explained by behavioural finance theories Finance that is based on rational and logical theories, such as the  capital asset pricing model  (CAPM) and the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). These theories assume that people, for the most part, behave rationally and predictably. The Efficient market hypothesis assumes that financial markets incorporate all public information and assets that share prices reflect all relevant to the firm information (Fama, 1970). Relevant information includes past information, publicly available information and private information. Efficient market is divided into three categories. Weak form efficiency is when stock prices reflect only the past information, semi-strong form is when past information and all publicly available information is reflected and strong form is when all the past, publicly available and information only available to company insiders is reflected on the stock prices. However, there are some anomalies and behaviors that couldnt be explained by EMH. Market participants often behaved very unpredictably. However there is a new study called behavioral finance that is trying to explain all these anomalies. Behavioral finance studies the irrational behavior of the investors. Weber (1999) makes the following observation: ‘Behavioral Finance closely combines individual behavior and market phenomena and uses the knowledge taken from both the psychological field and financial theory’. Behavioral finance attempts to identify the behavioral biases commonly exhibited by investors and also provides strategies to overcome them. Some of the main problems with EMH may be cause by heuristic responses to new information, psychological anchors, overconfidence, social fads, framing and regret avoidance and herd behavior. Overconfidence: According to Nevins (2004), overconfidence suggests that investors overestimate their ability to predict market events, and because of their overconfidence they often take risks without receiving commensurate returns. Odean (1998) finds that investors tend to overestimate their ability, unrealistically optimistic about future events, too positive on self-evaluations, over-weight attention getting information that is consistent with their existing beliefs, and over-estimate the precision of their own private information. Overconfidence about private signals causes overreaction and hence phenomena like the book/market effect and long-run reversals whereas self-attribution maintains overconfidence and allows prices to continue to overreact, creating momentum. In the longer-run there is reversal as prices revert to fundamentals. Psychological Anchors, Overreaction: Good news should raise a business share price accordingly, and that gain in share price should not decline if no new information has been released since. Reality, however, tends to contradict this theory. Oftentimes, participants in the stock market predictably overreact to new information, creating a larger-than-appropriate effect on a securitys price. Furthermore, it also appears that this price surge is not a permanent trend although the price change is usually sudden and sizable, the surge erodes over time. Heuristic responses to new information: Availability heuristic is used to evaluate the frequency or likelihood of an event on the basis of how quickly instances or associations come to mind. When examples or associations are easily brought to mind, this fact leads to an overestimation of the frequency or likelihood of this event. Example: People are overestimating the divorce rate if they can quickly find examples of divorced friends. People tend to be biased by information that is easier to recall. They are swayed by information that is vivid, well-publicized, or recent. People also tend to be biased by examples that they can easily retrieve. ( Tversky and Kahneman, 1974) Confirmation bias  is a cognitive bias whereby one tends to notice and look for information that confirms ones existing beliefs, whilst ignoring anything that contradicts those beliefs. It is a type of selective thinking. The reason for overconfidence may also have to do with hindsight bias, a tendency to think that one would have known actual events were coming before they happened, had one been present then or had reason to pay attention. Hindsight bias encourages a view of the world as more predictable than it really is (Shiller, 2000). This is the characteristic of investors, when looking back, seeing events that took place in the past as having been more predictable than they seemed before they happened. Likewise, things that didn’t happen seem, with hindsight, much less likely to have happened than they did beforehand. Self-attribution bias occurs when people attribute successful outcomes to their own skill but blame unsuccessful outcomes on bad luck (Shefrin, 1999). Availability bias is the availability deviation is a general rule or a mental shortcut which lets people guess the probability of a result and to what percent it may appear in their daily life. Those who commit such a deviation consider the easily recalled events more probable than those they can hardly imagine or perceive. Availability bias declares the persons tendency toward deciding and judging based on available and easily accessible data (Tversky and Kahneman, 1982). Herd behavior which is the tendency for individuals to mimic the actions (rational or irrational) of a larger group. Blackmore (1991) states ‘Within an hour of birth , humans engage in imitation’. There are a couple of reasons why herd behavior happens. Its unlikely that a large group could be wrong. After all, even if you are convinced that a particular idea or course or action is irrational or incorrect, you might still follow the herd, believing they know something that you dont. Recency bias is the tendency for people to place greater importance on more recent data or experience. This is the problem of putting too much weight on current events or data and not enough weight on past, historic trends. Many investors expect the market to continue rising in a current bull market; likewise, these same investors often expect a current bear market to get worse. Recency is shown in momentum investing when investors buy â€Å"hot† stocks simply on the basis of their recent strong performance. Kahneman and Tversky (1973) find that people usually forecast future uncertain events by focusing on recent history and pay less attention to the possibility that such short history could be generated by chance. It is believed the net effect of the gains and losses involved with each choice are combined to present an overall evaluation of whether a choice is desirable. However, research has found that we dont actually process information in such a rational way. In 1979, Kahneman and Tversky presented an idea called  prospect theory, which contends that people value gains and losses differently, and, as such, will base decisions on perceived gains rather than perceived losses. Thus, if a person were given two equal choices, one expressed in terms of possible gains and the other in possible losses, people would choose the former even when they achieve the same economic end result. Regret avoidance is the tendency to avoid actions that could create discomfort over prior decisions, even though those actions may be in the individual’s best interest. Researchers have argued that one of the reasons that investors are reluctant to sell losing positions is because to do so is to admit a bad decision. This reluctance can be linked to both regret avoidance and belief perseverance. To avoid the stress associated with admitting a mistake, the investor holds onto the losing position and hopes for a recovery. According to prospect theory, losses have more emotional impact than an equivalent amount of gains. Prospect theory also explains the occurrence of the disposition effect, which is the tendency for investors to hold on to losing stocks for too long and sell winning stocks too soon. The most logical course of action would be to hold on to winning stocks in order to further gains and to sell losing stocks in order to prevent escalating losses. The flip side of the coin is investors that hold on to losing stocks for too long. Investors are willing to assume a higher level of risk in order to avoid the negative utility of a prospective loss. Unfortunately, many of the losing stocks never recover, and the losses incurred continued to mount, with often disastrous results. The January-Effect is where the average monthly return for small firms is consistently higher in January than any other month of the year; in the UK this is observed in April. This contradicts with EMH, as EMH predicts that stocks should move at a random walk. January returns are greatest due to yearend tax loss selling of shares disproportionally (Branch 1977). Another anomaly of this type is the Weekend-Effect, where Fama (1980) found that returns on Mondays tend to be negative if compared to any other week day, but this has disappeared in the UK by the 1990s. Some theories that explain the effect attribute the tendency for companies to release bad news on Friday after the markets close to depressed stock prices on Monday. Others state that the  weekend effect might be linked to short selling, which would affect stocks with high short interest positions. Alternatively, the effect could simply be a result of traders fading optimism between Friday and Monday. Index effect is a phenomenon where the addition to, or deletion from, a stock index causes a change in the price, trading volume, volatility or operating performance of the stock concerned. A stock entering an index will automatically receive increased demand from institutional investors principally index tracker funds and exchange trade funds (ETFs) while a deleted stock will experience reduced demand. The fact that a stock jumps in value upon inclusion is once again clear evidence of mispricing: the price of the share changes even though its fundamental value does not. Another anomaly is P/E effect from CAPM model; portfolios with low P/E ratios outperform those with high. The low price-earnings ratio effect occurs because stocks with low price-earnings ratios are often  undervalued and their prices eventually rise because investors become pessimistic about their returns after a bad series of earning or bad news. A company with high price to earning tends to overvalued (De Bondt and Thaler, 1985). Winner-Loser anomaly De Bondt and Thaler (1985) found that shares which initially earn extreme positive return (winners) or extreme negative returns (losers) experience extended reversals in their performance over long horizons. De Bondt and Thaler (1985) suggested the overreaction hypothesis as an explanation of their result. This hypothesis claims that the market overreacts to information. That is, the market overweights the most recent information and underweights earlier information. However, this phenomenon is reversed when it is recognized that the market’s expectations were indeed an overreaction to the information released. This hypothesis also offers an explanation of the P/E effect. Fama and French (1992) showed that a powerful predictor of returns across securities is the ratio of the book value of the firm’s equity to the market value of equity. After controlling for the size and book-to-market effects, beta seemed to have no power to explain average security returns. One explanation is that investors overreact to growth aspects for growth stocks, and value stocks are therefore undervalued. According to some academics, the ratio of market value to book value itself is a risk measure, and therefore the larger returns generated by low MV/BV stocks are simply a compensation for risk. Low MV/BV stocks are often those in some financial distress. All of these anomalies may be explained by behavioral finance. Behavioural finance is the study of the influence of psychology on the behavior of financial practitioners and the subsequent effect on markets. Behavioural finance is of interest because it helps explain why and how markets might be inefficient. There are series of  behavioural biases  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ strange twists in human nature that cause us to act irrationally and against our own interests. On the other hand all of these anomalies may instead be an artifact of data mining. After all, if one reruns the computer database of past returns over and over and examines stock returns along enough dimensions, simple chance will cause some criteria to appear to predict returns. May be this is why some anomalies appear to be lost at some point of time e. g. the weekend effect during the 90s.