Growing National Concern in the United States - Income Inequality - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2149 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/07/01 Category Finance Essay Level High school Tags: Income Inequality Essay Did you like this example? My main focus in this paper will be to discuss income inequality as it is a growing national concern in the United States. When we think of income inequality, we usually determine it means unequal pay for a certain gender primarily women. This is not the case, however as more and more men also are generally affected by the economic gap caused by American politics which intentionally keeps the United States on the welfare system. In a perfect world, it would seem the U.S could indeed have a shared system of income distribution, though we are very far from that perfect world and across North America it is in fact economic inequality that is the biggest problem Americans deal with across the nation and as one of the global countries out in the world that other countries have come to respect. What makes income inequality a problem starts with the government placing restrictions on every individual’s right to access resources from having an adequate income to support your household. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Growing National Concern in the United States Income Inequality" essay for you Create order Income Inequality is the single biggest issue facing Americans today and a list of who will come close to being at risk is very alarming to say the least. The population groups appearing to be at high risk does include the homeless, women and men from all backgrounds, and illegal migrants. Homeless individuals are seen as high risk when it comes to economic inequality because there is little consideration for them to make it out of their poverty situation. Women and men from all backgrounds and walks of life face the possibility of becoming trapped at the poverty line making it difficult to escape poverty. The way that Economic Inequality affects illegal migrants is proven in the way they obtain a small portion of the distribution of wealth. The contributing factors leading to a great concern in Income Inequality are somewhat related. The following risk factors begins with the causes that income inequality has economically, then I will discuss the relation between Income Inequality and Demographic factors; followed by explaining why Political factors play such a big role in determining how income is spread around from the rich who control the country’s riches to the poor who want to stand up for themselves and be considered equal as fellow human beings and not be treated as less. A relation between income inequality and the cultural factors that is associated with it are one of the causes. Environmental factors have also been seen to contribute to this main issue of income inequality. Lastly, at the governmental level, there is a wider gap occurring among macroeconomic factors coming all the way down to the micro level to individuals and families. Economic factors include the country’s wealth (mostly measured as GDP per capita), the financial well-being of a nation, technological advancements and how well the nation’s economy progresses. The next contributing factors to the concerns over income inequality is a result of the demographic causes. These are for example, the overall mortality rate of a population, the make-up of households, a population’s educational level, education inequality, and money set aside for the educational sector in an economy. The first reason why political factors play such a huge role in income inequality is because a large proportion of the government’s share of wealth in the U.S economy is not at an even split since shares between the government and the private sector on things like pensions, subsidies, grants increases for one sector and decreases for the other sector. The second reason is still the fact that in the U.S., which is a more democratic country, there remain s the one main difference between access to resources for families rich and poor and that is how the poor people democratic views, political rights, and a promise to greater redistribution of wealth. An example of cultural factors affecting income inequality would be that of government corruption. The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Shapers Annual Survey 2017 of 25,000 young people from 186 countries including the U.S. asked young people to name the three most pressing issues of concern in the U.S, then they listed them. Here â€Å"Government accountability and transparency/corruption† comes out on top with 46.9%, followed by â€Å"Inequality† (38.1%) and Lack of opportunity/employment (30.5%). More cultural factors playing an important role in income inequality are the abundance of natural resources which does increase income inequality especially in the case of minerals and metals where production of these resources is solely dependent on making money rather than using people from a lower income group who will not increase production of natural resources. Shadow economy is probably one of the biggest problems and a contributing risk factor of income inequality because of the relationship among the two. Both shadow economy and income inequality were looked at closely in Rosser and Rosser’s (2001) abstract and were finding out that if corrupt governments took a large piece of the share for themselves, shadow economy will continue to move upward plus this will make such things like taxes and the redistribution of wealth to decrease over time. Income Inequality in North America is also caused by the influence of cultural variation when it comes down to cultural factors increasing income inequality. The final cultural factor that impacts income inequality is land concentration. Higher land concentration means an increased amount of income inequality. This does not always have to be true though, as the result of land concentration can become weaker over time. Because of the recent attention that income inequality has gotten over the last two decades, it is important to know how macroeconomic factors have shaped the national picture of income inequality. Inflation, unemployment, financial development, export, import, and foreign investments are all major problems of macroeconomic factors. Inflation is believed to affect poorer people by carrying out a careful means and calculating those individuals fixed incomes on certain things like their pensions and subsidies. This further raises the level of income inequality (Gustafson and Johansson, 1997; Parker 1999; Xu and Zou, 2000; Cornia and Kiiski, 2001). Unemployment is also a serious concern on the topic of income inequality. Yet, according to Gustafson and Johansson (1997), and Parker (1999), there are more ways than one to determine the inequality-increasing factor of losing one’s job than analysis showing the opposite. Although financial development might be thought to increase income inequality, the opposite is truer, there is a reduction, but it is the primary cause affecting economic inequality all the same. If a country like the U.S. is a financially secure developed nation, the government would have no trouble at all providing better access to loans, the probability of owning a home, and good quality education to poorer people, setting them up for the right to stand among the wealthy, thereby increasing their incomes by investing in education and opening businesses. Both importing and exporting of products coming from the developing countries into the United States, a developed country having more and more increases in their imported goods can lower wages in the competitive field of production of develop countries and because of this, the U.S is ranked amongst the top countries in the world on income inequality. Incoming foreign investments increase allowing income inequality to also do the sa me too. The U.S. is currently addressing this issue through congressional hearings, bill introductions, and laws. Political groups also spend money on public policy agendas which they feel would reduce the lack of income opportunity for the less privileged. This policy topic of a rising inequality between the wealthy and the poor has created a policy conflict which both groups disagree who should be favored more when it comes down to who has more political rights and which socioeconomic group will benefit from the US congressional agendas. Legislators have taken it upon themselves to rely entirely on rich donors and political action committees to deal with this growing inequality and the income gap that exists around the country. Outside of the United States, a country that has been successful in reducing inequality in terms of differences between the incomes of the wealthy and the poor is that of the Netherlands as compared to that of the U.S. In the Netherlands, there is a low level of pre-government property that is the amount of taxes and other monetary fees the government can claim from each individual making for the redistribution of wealth by the government in terms of reduction of pre-government poverty about as low as possible to equally share income evenly for all Dutch citizens. Pre-government income could include incomes the average household in the Netherlands would receive in the absence of public benefits. The Netherlands has a huge impact on its government to reduce poverty and those who might suffer from income inequality. As a socialist European country, there is a method used to calculate how much of the redistribution by the government is handed out. The procedure is simply to calculate th e poverty rate for pre-government incomes subtracted by the poverty rate for post-government incomes divided by pre-government property, then multiplied by 100%. Direct income inequality has the negative effect to impact society whether you are at the top or the bottom of the income distribution ladder. If those at the ninetieth percentile increase their share of resources at the expense of those at the eightieth percentile, direct social and economic impacts on both average health and health disparities will be relatively small leading to lowered costs in the long term. If those at the twentieth percentile increase their share of resources at the expense of those at the tenth percentile, the direct impact will be greater and this can have a greater burden financially on average health and health disparities. In the United States, one of the impactful factors creating this cycle of income inequality is a population’s education level as well as the access or inability to access education. The year 2000 saw the age-standardized mortality rate was 1,574 per 100,000 people for less educated white men compared with 774 per 100,000 people fo r college attendees. In the United States, disparities in life expectancy by both income and education increased sharply among both men and women from the 1980s to 2008 (the most recent year available). Society has dealt with the policy topic of income inequality in the past by focusing on studies comparing rich and poor countries and census tracts in the United States showing an increase in the frequently occurring mortality ratios in the late twentieth century. Because the U.S. has a high level of income inequality, the country often has a higher poverty rate or lower average income and this has been what has changed to make this national problem worse for all people especially poorer individuals. If this problem persists, the implications on future social work practice may affect the well-being of the United States as a whole and further discourage policy decisions about environmental regulation risk factors, cultural norms about risky behavior, and historical influences. Poverty is a serious problem, both in the United States and in the world today. It has implications for the stability of society and the health of democracy as well as safety in the world. From an individual perspective, being poor is costly in terms of both life chance and potential contributions. As this chapter has shown, industrial age poverty and income maintenance programs and policies are inadequate for protecting people in an information society. As the transition from an industrial economy to an information economy continues and the environment deteriorates, the nature of poverty will change and the actions that are necessary to deal with poverty will also evolve. This will provide interesting challenges for social workers, advocates, and policy makers. To conclude, it has become clear that in terms of income inequality, social welfare systems as that in place in the United States, as in other nations around the world measure how much government intervention people rely on to properly distribute income at all levels of society from the bottom poor to those working to provide adequate resources for their households. One lesson that this paper has proven is that income inequality is a very real national crisis and to fight to end the war on poverty among poorer income households will take a lot of public assistance from social service providers, social workers, legislators, a government that is not corrupt only allowing the wealthy individuals to take advantage of needed resources like education, affordable housing, job security, equal employment for the families who are poor just trying to survive daily on relying on government interference to make equality like it should be elsewhere around the world where inequality has not risen i n the past two perhaps five years putting into consideration the average term of a country’s economic development and to add to that a nation’s laws made up to reduce inequality.

Factors That Affect A Child s Development - 1563 Words

Development occurs within a child through psychological, biological, and emotional changes. It is a continuous process as each person progresses into their unique identity. Before a person can mature and assume their identity, they have to successfully complete the eight stages. According to Erikson, each stage is characterized by a â€Å"crisis† where psychological challenges would be resolved as the person move from each stage. Unfortunately, many factors can hinder a child’s development. This brings about the argument of all time, nature verses nurture. Nature where genetics is an important factor in influencing a child at an early age, and nurture where the environment plays a significant role in influencing a child. An innocent baby is†¦show more content†¦The success of each depends on the success of the other. The challenge commence with trust. Trust is an important quality that gives people confidence, certainty, and conviction. As an infant we learn t his tool through our parents. Infants depend on safe, nurturing environment - food, safe shelter, comfort, love, and care. These needs when met allows a child to develop trust towards others. As we age and progress through each stage, people acquire different, but essential tools. These crisis can either transform them to the best that they can be, or the worst that they can be. With each stage a child acquires the tools of independence, self-awareness, skills, talents, and competence. At this point, they must decide â€Å"who they are, what they are going to do, and what they hope to make of their lives† (Travis Wade, 2012, p. 98). Once the decision is made, they begin to experience intimacy with others and learn the value of generativity. Upon discovering their self through various influences and experiences, they have order and spiritual sense where they have gained the tool of ego integrity. Furthermore, these stages can negatively, or positively impact a child as they a ge depending on the type of parents this individual has. There are four types of parents- the authoritarian, the permissive, the authoritative, and the uninvolved. Controlling, strict, punitive, and cold are all the words utilized to describe an authoritarian parent. It is their way, or the

Screenshot Permission Letter Free Essays

Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 January 22, 2010 One Microsoft Way Redmond, Wa Subject: Permission to Use Screenshots To Whom this May Concern: Thank you for taking time out your very busy schedule to read this letter. I will cut right to the point so as to keep my intrusion to a minimum. I am an author of head start manuals written specifically for children. We will write a custom essay sample on Screenshot Permission Letter or any similar topic only for you Order Now My latest manual is aimed at providing core computing skills needed in today’s technological world, on training wheels of course. As you are well aware, today’s generation is vastly superior in receiving this vital message. It is my goal to provide an educational tool that is formulated using powerful visual imagery alongside an easy to understand explanation. To borrow the cliche’, â€Å"Pictures speak a thousand words†, I have found that children are highly receptive to imagery. Combining persuasive imagery with accurate documentation will prove to be very effective. I plan to produce several Computer based knowledge books specifically for children. This is going to be the 1st edition, so with this in mind I plan on starting from ground zero and working forward. I would like to include the following screen shots associated with Windows ® XP. This screen shot will provide an explanation for what each icon stands represents, the start button location, and where simple programs are located. [pic] I am a father myself, and I plan to include into the manual many of the exercises that I have implemented into my child’s education that have proven to be highly successful. Finally, I’m hoping to include in the manual the screen shot as shown below to provide simple user skills in Microsoft ® Paint. [pic] Once again I would like to thank you for taking some time out of your busy day to read this letter. Microsoft is a wonderful company that continues to provide the world with outstanding resources enabling prosperity on many levels. I hope to one day say that I played a very small part in this powerful commitment! Sincerely, How to cite Screenshot Permission Letter, Papers

Othello, by Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Othello, by Shakespeare Essay In the play, Othello, by Shakespeare, villainous character, Iago, schemes to bring Othello s happiness to an end. Iago conspires to have Othello turn against his comrade, Cassio, and try to kill him for his misdeeds against Desdamona. Iago arises Othello s feelings and emotions towards Desdamona by feeding on Othello s great pride in Desdamona s devotion to Othello. By doing this, Othello begins to doubt his point of view on what Desdamona is like and if she would really deceive Othello after all they have gone through in achieving acceptance in society as a married couple. I do not think but Desdamona s honest. (line 255, Act III, scene iii) Iago uses the honesty and trust Othello has towards him so he may manipulate Othello to believe in everything he says about the rotten affair. My lord, you know I love you. I think thou dost; and, for I know thou rt full of love and honesty, (line 133-135, Act III, scene iii) Othello trusts those around him and because of this, he will fall into Iago s plan of betrayal. Othello does not see the evil behind Iago s words and does not see the false accusations against his wife. Othello absorbs the words of Iago entirely and this causes Othello to no longer trust Desdamona. He thinks of her as the opposite of who she really is. To Othello, Desdamona is not innocent and not of honorable character. Since Othello is enraged by hearing that Cassio has taken Desdamona and stolen her love away from him, Othello seeks to kill Cassio. Iago uses Othello s weaknesses to turn Othello against Cassio. Othello s hubris pride and modesty in himself allows Iago to humiliate Othello. What sense had I of her stol n hours of lust? I saw t not, thought it not, it harm d not me. I slept the next night well, fed well, was free and merry; I found not Cassio s kisses on her lips. (line 378-380, Act III, Scene iii) Iago wants Othello to feel ashamed of Desdamona and that Desdamona is having a secret affair with one of his officers. Iago exaggerates the scene between Desdamona and Cassio so that Othello will hear the most convincing evidence. In sleep I heard him say, Sweet Desdamona, let us be wary, let us hide our love; and then, sir, would he grip and wring my hand, cry, O sweet creature! hen kiss me hard (lines 463-466, Act III, scene iii) He arises Othello s anger and jealousy through this cynical explanation. Iago is able to take away the invisible barrier before Othello s self-control and is able to manipulate Othello easily through taping into his irrational reasoning. Iago plays with Othello s reasoning to make Othello believe in false assumptions about Cassio s character to further rouse emotions. In the villainous plan to bring about Othello s downfall, Iago uses reverse psychology and flattery. Iago questions his evidence of the affair and rejects his assumptions of Cassio. Why, then, I think Cassio s an honest man (line 148, Act III, scene iii) Iago suddenly changes his views about Cassio to use reverse psychology on Othello. Iago s sinister character has shown that he is a smart man that uses manipulation to get what he wants. By saying positive characteristics about Cassio, Othello falls into Iago s trap and further turns against Cassio. Iago uses flattery to assure Othello of Iago s honesty and integrity that Othello looks for in every man. My lord, you know I love you. (line 133, Act III, scene iii) Also, Iago uses Othello s racial differences to rouse Othello s suspicions of Cassio. Iago brings up the issue of how a lady in that time period would prefer a man of her own age, race, and temperament. Othello s racial background is thought to be one of the reasons why Desdamona is in an affair with Cassio.

Risk Factors for Deliberate Self

Introduction Deliberate self-harm is one of the fields in research that have received little attention from scholars and academicians in general. This is despite the fact that this behavior is becoming more evident among youths and especially college going students.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Risk Factors for Deliberate Self-Harm among College Students: Article Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are several factors that have been identified by the few studies that have been conducted in this field as being the major causes of this kind of behavior. It is against this backdrop that three scholars from the University of Massachusetts at Boston carried out a self-report study that sought to identify and analyze the risk factors behind deliberate self-harm among college students in the United States of America. This is a review of the article that the three scholars (Gratz, Conrad Roemer, 2002) wrot e to report on the findings of their study. This review will specifically address three aspects of the article and the study that is reported therein. The first will be the construct of the investigation, where the operationalization of the construct will be addressed. The second will be the methods used in the study, with specific analysis of the research design, the independent and dependent variables. The last will be the results of the study, where an outline of the statistical methods that the three scholars used will be analyzed. Construct of the Investigation In a study, a construct can be viewed as the concept that the study revolves around, or the concept that is addressed by the study. The researcher conceptualizes the construct by refining it and rendering it a conceptual and theoretical definition (Atkinson, 2008). After conceptualization, the researcher then goes ahead and conducts operationalization of the construct. Here, the investigator makes the conceptual definiti on of the construct more specific by creating a link between it and an indicator (Atkinson, 2008).Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In Gratz, Conrad Roemer (2002), the construct of their study is â€Å"deliberate self-harm† among college students. This is the concept that is addressed by this study. They conceptualize this construct as the â€Å"deliberate, direct destruction or alteration of body tissue† (Gratz et al, 2002: p128) where the individual harbors no conscious intent to commit suicide. This action on the part of the individual leads to injuries that may be so severe as to cause tissue damage. Gratz et al (2002) operationalize their construct by linking it to several indicators that they refer to as the risk factors to deliberate self-harm. The investigators operationalize deliberate self-harm by making the assertion that it is the kind of outcome that is li kely to be brought about by four risk factors in the life of the individual. These are childhood separation and loss, physical and sexual abuse in childhood, quality of attachment to caregivers and dissociation (Gratz et al, 2002: p130). Methods used in the Study Gratz et al (2002) used a self-report design to carry out their study. This is whereby the respondents were given questionnaires to complete on their own. The questionnaires contained questions designed to make the respondents report on their opinions, views and status regarding several attributes that the researchers were interested in (Atkinson, 2008).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Risk Factors for Deliberate Self-Harm among College Students: Article Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As far as the research design of the study is concerned, the three scholars used a sample of 133 students drawn from undergraduate psychology courses in the univ ersity (Gratz et al, 2002). The participants were given a questionnaire with several measures to complete. These included the deliberate self-harm inventory measure, the abuse and perpetration inventory, the disruptions in attachment survey, the parental bonding index among others (Gratz et al, 2002). The study also had both independent and dependent variables. The independent variable in the study is â€Å"deliberate self-harm† among the respondents. The independent variable in this case is attribute in nature. This is given the fact that the researchers did not manipulate it during the study (Atkinson, 2008). The study has four dependent variables or criterion measures. These are the risk factors that the researchers identify as the ones leading to deliberate self-harm. These are childhood physical and sexual abuse, childhood separation and loss, perceived quality of attachment to caregivers and finally, dissociation (Gratz et al, 2002: p130). Results of the Study One of th e significant findings of this study is the prevalence of self-harm among the respondents. 38 percent of the students reported that they had a history of self-harm (Gratz et al, 2002: p132). Several statistical methods were used by the three investigators in this study. This included correlational analysis to determine the link between deliberate self-harm frequency and each of the four risk factors that had been identified. Most of the risk factors that had been identified were found to be significantly correlated with the frequency of deliberate self-harm (Gratz et al, 2002).Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The scholars also carried out a multiple regression analysis to determine the unique predictive value of each of the identified risk factors. Other variables within this model were controlled. The risk factors were found to be significantly related to deliberate self-harm among the respondents. Conclusion This review focused on the article reporting the findings of a self-report study carried out by three scholars from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. The scholars were interested in the analysis of risk factors for deliberate self-harm among college students in the United States of America, taking the university as their sample group. The scholars identified four risk factors and designed a study aimed at finding out the relationship between them and deliberate self-harm. These were childhood abuse, dissociation, childhood separation and loss, and attachment to caregivers such as parents. References Atkinson, R. L. (2008). Essentials of social research. 2nd ed. New York: F ree Press. Gratz, K. L., Conrad, S. D., Roemer, L. (2002). Risk factors for deliberate self-harm among college student. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72(1), 128-140. This report on Risk Factors for Deliberate Self-Harm among College Students: Article Review was written and submitted by user Scarlett N. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Essay on Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older People

Essay on Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older People Essay on Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older People Essay on Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older PeopleRelations between people in any society, in any time period and country are not easy, rather versatile and sophisticated process, unfortunately not deprived of different stereotypes and types of discrimination. In the year 1969 Robert Neil Butler used the term â€Å"ageism† in relation with discrimination against senior people. According to him ageism presented a combination of three constituent elements: â€Å"prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the aging process; discriminatory practices against older people; and institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about older people† (Iversen, Larsen and Solem 4). Further in this paper the notion of ageism will be discussed in detail, taking into consideration its concept, ageist attitudes and finally possible negative impacts, it might have upon elderly people.In order to have clearer understanding of the key concept, it is nece ssary to provide a concrete definition to the notion of ageism, thus commonly â€Å"ageism is defined as negative or positive stereotypes, prejudice and/or discrimination against (or to the advantage of) elderly people on the basis of their chronological age or on the basis of a perception of them as being old or elderly† (Iversen, Larsen and Solem 20). However there are cases, when this term is used in relation to younger children or adolescents, meaning, that their ideas are not rational because of their young age and their behavior is not correct, because they are too young.Such notion as ageist stereotyping is usually described as categorization into some groups and giving certain characteristics to these groups of people. Unfortunately most stereotypes are lacking evidences and are too generalized, like for example the statement, that all people, who are getting older, have poor health.   The prejudice, that older people are not able to take part in some activities or sports is closely related to the first example about bad health state.  Another example of stereotyping or ageist prejudices is the so –called benevolent prejudice, which means, that elderly people are seen as incompetent and constantly needing patronage. On the one hand, people try to be friendly towards aging people, on the other hand, they a kind of suppress them, but their constant, sometimes unnecessary help.Most employees are looking for experienced workers, not to teach them all the peculiarities of the work; at the same time, most of them want to have only young and energetic employees and thus often reject new workers, who are older, only based on the prejudice, that they would perform their worker slower and be less flexible.One of the worst prejudices is probably related to the health care sphere, as there are unfortunately a lot of examples, when physicians don’t pay proper attention to their patients, only based on their age.This is evident, that ageism has serious negative effects upon elderly people. Hearing all the above mentioned stereotypes every day, from most people around, unfortunately, older people really start to feel themselves not competent, not clearly thinking, depending, useful members of the society. â€Å"Studies have also specifically shown that when older and younger people hear these stereotypes about their supposed incompetence and uselessness, they perform worse on measures of competence and memory† (Nelson 13). Certainly some strong personalities are able to overcome those stereotypes and live the way they, want to and do the things, they like to do, without paying much attention to others’ opinions.Overall, we have studied the notion of ageism, its definition, ageism- related stereotypes and the negative impact, which these stereotypes and prejudices have upon elderly people in any society.

Animal Testing Research Paper

Abstract With animal testing, the killing and harming innocent animals, being around for centuries with little change, will exploiting the facts that the public does not know about, help put an end to all the product and medication testing on animals? Introduction Animal testing has been around for centuries, when it really should be one of those â€Å"cruel memories† of things we have done in the past, but will not let in happen again in the future. Rats, Mice, Rabbits, and a whole slew of other animals are forced to endure massive quantities of testing substances or endure pain by having harmful chemicals applied to their bodies, even though the testing may have nothing to do with anything relatable for human use. My purpose for this subject is to let people think twice about buying a product, or hopefully helping put this inhuman testing to an end. When did animal testing originate? The history of animal testing goes back to the writings of the Greeks in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Erasistratus (304-250 BC) were among the first group of people to perform experiments on living animals. A physician in 2nd-century Rome, dissected pigs and goats and is known as the â€Å"father of vivisection†, when his real name is Galen. Avenzoar, whom is also a physician but of Arabic, also practiced dissection in 12th-century Moorish Spain, and introduced animal testing as an acceptable experimental method of testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients. (Cohen Loew, 2013) What is animal testing? Animal testing, a phrase that most people unsure of exactly what is involved but have heard it before. There are many names, animal testing, animal experimentation or animal research, it all refers to the experimentation carried out on animals. Its main purpose in why it is used, is to assess the safety and effectiveness of everything from medication to cosmetics. We also use it to help find a better understanding of how the human body works. Supporters believe it is a necessary practice and obliteration to animals for our bettering and the deaths of the animals are well worth the cause. Then there are those opposed to animal testing because they believe it involves the torture and suffering of innocent animals (Ian Murnaghan BSc (hons), 2011) Who does animal testing affect? Animal testing affects everyone in the modern world today. It is primarily used to help save lives. The testing is performed so that there is a better understanding of what reactions drugs may have, so that we can figure out which drugs help which diseases, as well as observe how certain drugs affect conditions such as pregnancy and other side effects they may cause like cancer. Another part of animal testing is to help promote a product or to understand the effects of those products and the percentile of which those effects may cause. This might include testing makeup, lotions, or food products. Animal testing main support is from those people that believe the animals in our world today, are a close link to humans, and therefore allow them to be tested to see what effects drugs, products, or foods have on our society. A second opinion humans have, is that animal testing is a cruel and inhumane, torturous act, and should not be done to anyone or anything, no matter what the benefit might be to the human species (Contributor, 2012). Animal Testing Funds The United States government spends up to the sum of $14. 5 billion in a year in any research involving experimentation on animals. These experiments will often lead to death or unwarranted consequences for the animals involved. Some projects are funded for decades by the siphoning of the US taxpayers dollars and resulting in cruel treatment and deaths of an unfathomable number of animals. About 47% of research grants have an animal research-based component according to NIH, National Institutes of Health, and documents. The number has been very consistent over the last decade (Newcomer, 2013). Where do companies get money for testing? Many companies today get their funding for research from the NIH. Other companies also receiving money from the NIH are numerous colleges around the U. S. A. whom are primarily receiving grants to experiment on animals. The NIH is a biomedical research facility located in Bethesda, Maryland. They are part of the United States department of Health and Human Services. These agencies are primarily used to do biomedical and health-related research. NIH uses the Intramural Research Program to conducts scientific research through. 80% of the NIH funding, is used as research grants to outside researchers. They give approximately 500,000 grants to an approximate 325,000 researchers that consists of more than 3000 institutions. In 2010 alone, NIH spent around $10. 7 billion on just clinical research. On top of that, they also spent $7. 4 billion on genetics-related research, $6. 0 billion on prevention research, $5. 8 billion on cancer research, and $5. 7 billion on biotechnology research which almost all include the torture of other species on Earth (Health, 2013). How much does it cost? Each year in the United States, there are approximately 100 million animals that are tormented and killed in experiments conducted to better humans. Much of this cruelty is highly supported by the National Institutes of Health, and the United State government, since the NIH is a department of the government. The NIH allocates a minimum of 40% of its annual research budget just towards animal experimentation. Based on the NIH’s 2010 budget, this accounts for more the $16 billion in US taxpayer money alone (PETA, 2013). Substitutes for Animal Testing There are nearly 50 different alternative methods and testing strategies that have been developed, validated and/or accepted by international regulatory authorities. These non-animal methods usually take less time to complete then using the crude, archaic methods animal testing that they meant to replace. In addition, these methods cost only a fraction of what animal experiments burn through, cash wise, and are not affected by a species differences from humans that make applying test results to humans difficult or impossible (PETA, Alternatives to Animal Testin, 2013). Corrositex Testing Corrositex is a non-animal alternative toxicology test. Although this is not a classical â€Å"in vitro† style test, Corrositex uses a synthetic membrane-based detection system to determine the UN packing group classification of chemicals, consumer products, or other hazardous materials. The results, expressed as a break-through time, correlate well with rabbit dermal corrosively tests. In the Corrositex testing system, a glass vial filled with a chemical detection fluid and is capped by a proprietary bio-barrier membrane. This membrane is designed to mimic the effect of corrosives on living skin. Corrositex measures the time required for a test article to pass through a hydrated collagen matrix and supporting filter membrane (Corrositex, 2010). Technological Advancements The NIH has recognized that animal models do not always accurately predict a drug efficacy in people, and they are starting to support the generation of more reliable and predictive models. The use of different human cell types, in series of combinations, will help generate micro-sized physiological systems which can â€Å"talk to each other† and better address the biological complexities of whole living organisms. This â€Å"human body chip† technology would start to allow scientists to look for specific profiles in cells and would help identify human safe compounds to allow testing on people. This technology represents significant advantages over animal models because it relies on human cells which is more like what they are going to be applied to then the use of a completely different species, and is more likely to be predictive of what happens in people in the product or drugs current form (Society, n. d. ). What happens during testing? The government describes an animal experiment as a â€Å"procedure† that is ‘likely to cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. ’ Many experiments cause extreme suffering, often to the point of the animal’s death. Even when they are not being experimented on, animals suffer stress in laboratories where they are typically kept in barren containers or kennels, often in solitary confinement. After the animals have been used in experiments, they are usually killed to prevent being released and causing an evolutionary process in the wild that was created in the lab (Aid, 2013). Killings Injuries According the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in 2006 there were about 670,000 animals that were used in procedures which did not include more than a momentary pain or distress. About 420,000 were used in procedures in which pain or distress was relieved by anesthesia, while there were 84,000 which were used in studies that would cause pain or distress that would not be relieved. In the UK, research projects are classified as mild, moderate, and substantial which is measured in terms of the suffering that they, the researchers conducting the study, say they may cause. There is also a fourth category of â€Å"unclassified†, which means the animal was anesthetized and killed without recovering consciousness, according to researchers (Ryder, 2013). Subjected to horrible unsafe procedures Research reveals that only 5% to 25% of the animal tests and human results are agreeable! Most of the drugs passed by animal tests are discarded due to the fact that they are useless to humans. The conditions under which the animals are subjected to these human experimentations, have caused tumors in rodents, while the animal test results were declared to be of little relevance for humans! The only explanation being offered for this declaration, is the mere fact that there are anatomical and physiological differences between animals and humans. It is important to note that even though animals are almost always used in cancer research, they never get the human form of cancer which also affects membranes like the lungs. With all that research being done that only yield maybe 5% success, almost 9% of the anesthetized animals in the laboratory die. These animals have a better chance of dying then actually helping us develop something successful. Most medical experts agree that data from animal test cannot be extrapolated safely to human patients without any altercations to the drugs (Buzzle, 2013). Companies using and not using animal testing There are a lot of companies that test on animals that we buy from every day. Some of these companies are 3M, Air Wick, Almay, Band-Aid, Blue Buffalo, Febreze, and the list goes on. There are some companies though that do not test on animals such as Abercrombie Fitch, Absolute Green, Aloe Vera of America, and more. It seems like all the companies we know and buy from use some form of animal testing for their product, and yet there are others companies that we have not have hardly heard of, don’t test on animals. Companies use the warning labels saying â€Å"animal tested† Animal testing by manufacturers seeking to market new products may be used to establish product safety. In some cases, after considering available alternatives, companies determine that animal testing is necessary to assure the safety of their product or ingredient. FDA supports and adheres the provisions of applicable laws regulations, and policies the governing animal testing. FDA supports the developments and uses of alternatives to whole-animal testing, as well as adherence to the most humane methods available with the limits of scientific capabilities when animals are used for testing the safety of cosmetic products (FDA, 2006). Types of animals being tested on, and what is tested on them Researchers use many different types of animals, mice, rabbits, dogs, ferrets, and fish to name a few. The type of animal selected for study often depends solely depends on a combination of factors; previous research involving that animal type, scientific relevance, accessibility, and practical aspects of implementation of the product or item being tested. Government agencies also require that any drugs used in humans needs to be tested in at least two different types of animals, one of which is not able to be a rodent. The reason is that a drug can have very different effects on different species of animals (Nordin, 2009). All the animals used in testing/studies Right now, millions of mice, rats, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs, and other animals are locked inside cold, barren cages in an unfathomable number of laboratories across the country and even the world. Exact numbers are not available because mice, rats, birds, and cold-blooded animals- who make up over 95% of creatures used in experiments, are not covered by even the minimal protections of the Animal Welfare Act and therefore go uncounted (PETA, Animal Testing 101, 2013). Types of products used on animals during testing Mice and rats are forced to inhale toxic fumes, dogs are force-fed pesticides, and rabbits have corrosive chemicals rubbed onto their skin and eyes. Many of these tests are not even required by law, and have often produced inaccurate or misleading results that were pointless towards the end affect when the results had to be tossed and started over for being inaccurate towards the desired end result. Even if a product harms animals, it can still be marketed to consumers. Cruel and deadly toxicity tests are also conducted as a part of the massive regulatory testing programs that often funded by USA taxpayers’ money without them even knowing (PETA, Animal Testing 101, 2013). Conclusion Animal testing should not be something that is taken lightly, where as innocent animals are being tested with harmful products, and it is not fair to them. With our advancements in technologies every day, why are we still using innocent animals to test our products on which in turn may not even give us the results needed or give us false results which makes the tests of those animals useless and obsolete? With people knowing what many of these animals go through, would they sign their own pets up to go through that? Having a heart on this issue is what will end it, animals have lives, should be able to live it in their nature desired ways that is unaffected by humans.

Arabic learning tools. Kingdom of Education web based platform Essay

Arabic learning tools. Kingdom of Education web based platform development. Project evaluation - Essay Example Keeping in mind the increasing importance of the Internet for education I have decided to develop a web site which allows beginners to learn basic Arabic language skills. The name of this web site is â€Å"Kingdom of Education† that is aimed at â€Å"providing an easy way to learn Arabic language and for everyone around the entire world†. Thus, keeping this objective in my mind I have started working on the development of a new technology based solution to offer a great deal of support for learning basic Arabic language skills. In view of the fact that the Internet has expanded so much, and presently there exist a wide variety of similar services and applications on the Web. In addition, a wide variety of technology based solutions are presently operational and offering superior services in all areas of life. In this scenario, the idea of web based learning portal is not a new one. However, I have tried to bring some innovation to this idea. In this regard I have develo ped an online system that offers very quick, simple and excellent approach to learn Arabic. This online learning system will be very effective and useful for people all through the world. This new technology based system will offer a capability to learn and speak the Arabic language quickly. This report presents a detailed analysis of my project. In this report, I will discuss some of the important aspects that are associated with my project. This report will analyze the basic idea and need behind the development of this web site, its objectives, development, research methodology and application aspects. This report will deeply assess the major contributions that this web based platform has made to the Arabic language learning. Research In order to better determine the requirements... After this research and analysis I have analyzed the Arabic learning tools and methods. Presently we have a wide variety of tools and methods around the world that are more complex, paper based and hard to reach. Hence, this manual nature and process of learning Arabic has become very difficult to manage in new technology based age where people have less time to learn and listen. In this situation there is a need for some innovative solutions. For this purpose I have researched the web and found a large number of websites which provide services and support for online Arabic learning. However, these websites have rigid material and traditional ways of learning. By seeing all these situations I have developed an idea which requires building up an online platform that offers an excellent support for learning and teaching Arabic online. For this purpose I have decided to build up an online web based portal that can be easily accessed and managed. These all aspects lead us to offer a grea t deal of support and capability to enhance the overall performance of the system development and application. For the implementation of this online Arabic learning system I have researched for the learning material. Here we need some innovation for new learning material. For this purpose, I have tried to develop more interactive and superior learning material. For this sake I have concentrated on the more interactive books and notes.

Showing the customer who's Boss Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Showing the customer who's Boss - Case Study Example The launching of "Boss," which targeted young professionals with a full line of more casual clothes as well as sporting accessories, allowed the company access to a much wider range of clientele than it had previously enjoyed. It is this segmentation of the Hugo Boss brand helped the company immensely with its growth and profitablility. According to Diamond and Pintel (1980) "there is generally a limit to the amount of sales that a given article can produce, company growth may depend on the introduction of new products for an increase in sales" (p.166). Which is exactly the idea that Hugo Boss had as they expanded their product lines and thereby expanded their client base. The next foray into new territory brought them into the world of women's apparel. Since Hugo Boss was not well known in this market, they had to work hard to extend the popularity and the image of their brand. They already had a great advantage because their name has always been associated with quality clothing, this strong brand name and store image played a very important role in their new product lines. "Store image is a very important factor for effective retail marketing because it can exert a major influence on consumer patronage patterns" (Rosenbloom 1981 p. 127). A strong store image can help not only attain new patronage but also ensures retaining the clientele they already have. However, Hugo Boss needed to ensure that their popularity would be transferable to the women's market. Hugo Boss faced a challenge in marketing the women's line "unlike most types of goods, merchandise with fashion orientation requires anlysis that is often different" (Diamond and Pintel 1980 p.192). Hugo Boss needed to generate ideas quickly and analyse their information and designs in a different manner when dealing with women's fashions. "Fashion, with its rapid changes, dictates the need for the continuous introduction of new styles" (Diamond and Pintel 1980 p.192). Hugo Boss also employed various ways to communicate with their audience, such as media outlets, fashion shows, and major layouts within popular fashion magazines. Hugo Boss' goal was to have their popular brand name become associated with high quality women's clothing. The obstacles were difficult to overcome, the costs for advertising were high and fashion is risky, the clientele's needs and wants are in constant flux. According to Diamond and Pintel (1980) "an error would be enormously costly, since wrong styles have almost no value," (p.193) yet are still costly to produce and promote. Hugo Boss experienced difficulties with their new women's line early on, as is seen in the net losses they sustained when it was first launched. Extending an existing brand into a new, but related market, is challenging for several reasons. First, the audience needs to accept the change, and secondly, they need to believe that the brand will retain its integrity and quality when producing new products outside their original market. The danger is that the brand name will be diluted by being over eager and attempting to go into markets beyond their core competency. Yet, by 2002, Hugo Boss had figured out how to leverage their name across new markets and had finally become

Destin Brass Products Co. Essay Example for Free

Destin Brass Products Co. Essay The estimated costs calculated using the activity-based costing method is very different from the existing standard unit costs and the revised unit costs. Exhibit 3 uses the traditional cost allocation system, which allocates all costs based on measures of volume. In the standard unit costs, Destin Brass uses direct labor as the only cost driver, which rarely meets the cause-effect standard wanted in cost allocation. Exhibit 4 is similar to exhibit 3, but instead, 4 uses materials and machine hours as the cost driver instead of just direct labor. The new costs are calculated by using the ABC system, which allocates costs that are caused by non-volume-based cost drivers. After recognizing the overhead activities, costs of overhead resources used for the activities are allocated to the activities using cost drivers. Then pooled costs of each activity are allocated to products, using the cost drivers. It takes one large overhead cost pool and breaks it down into several pools, which for this company are: receiving and materials handling, machine usage and maintenance, packing and shipping, and engineering. These have a cause-effect relationship with activities and resources that are used. So unlike exhibit 3 and 4, the new system breaks down the overhead costs a lot more. The new estimated costs are more accurate because the amount allocated to each of the overhead activities for each product is more detailed. It shows the percentage of how much each activity is performed on each product. All 3 products unit costs in the new system are different from exhibit 3 and 4. Unit price for valves has a slight change compare to the standard unit price, but for pumps and flow controllers, there is a dramatic change. Destin Brass are well under their 35% gross margin goal for pumps, and wondering how other companies can sell their pumps for such a low price. They thought the unit costs for pumps is $63.12, when in fact, the more accurate system shows that its only $48.81, $14.31 less than the standard unit cost. This inaccuracy is the reason why Destin Brass is having trouble staying competitive with their price on pumps while other companies are able to sell it for a lower price. The flow controllers have never been a problem for Destin Brass. It seemed to them that they had no competition in that market. Even after raising the prices by 12.5%, demand did not decrease. This is because the more accurate unit cost for flow controllers is actually $100.48, and not $56.50, $43.98 more than what they thought. They have been selling their flow controller at $97.07 each, which is below the unit cost, and that is why no other companies are able to compete in that market. I think Destin Brass should definitely adjust their selling price for all 3 products. For valves, $58.16 should be their new target-selling price if they want to keep the 35% GM goal, but I think they should make the actual selling price to be a little lower than that. That way they can stay/be more competitive in the valves market while having a GM% that is slightly lower, but still close to the goal. Selling price for pumps will have to be lowered for them to become competitive in the pumps market, unlike before. $75.09 would be the price they want to sell it at if they want the 35% GM, but the selling could still be slightly lower then that, allowing them to be competitive while still very close to their goal. Flow controller prices will have to be higher if they want to make a profit from this product. Right now they are making a loss of 4% for each flow controller they sell. If they want to reach the 35% GM mark, they will have to up their cost from $97.07 to $154.58. Just like pumps and valves, price could be a little lower than that, and of course for the same reasons. Yes, this means they will go from having no competition to many competitions in the flow controller market now, but at least they wont be making a loss every time they sell a flow controller. In the following month, assuming quantities produced and sold, activities, and costs were all at standard, the profit reported under the new system would be $540,260.00, and under the present system would be $539,180.00. There is only a difference of $1,080. Destin Brass will not see any major difference in profit in the short run; in this case its over a period of one month. But in the long run, they will definitely see major changes in their profits.

Explore the theme of loneliness or loss and discuss how the writer has

Explore the theme of loneliness or loss and discuss how the writer has conveyed this to the reader through their use of language and style.The stories, The Orphaned Swimming Pool by John Updike, Stone Trees, and The First Adam by Jane Gardam, Short Story Anthology Choose three stories that you feel explore the theme of loneliness or loss and discuss how the writer has conveyed this to the reader through their use of language and style. The stories, The Orphaned Swimming Pool by John Updike, Stone Trees, and The First Adam by Jane Gardam, all explore the theme of loneliness through the authors' use of language and their style. Although all three stories explore the theme of loneliness or loss, all three stories have different kinds of loss or loneliness. In The Orphaned Swimming Pool, loneliness and loss both occur when the marriage of Ted and Linda breaks down and the pool is left in a neglected state. The First Adam shows the main character (Bull) feeling desperately lonely because his wife doesn't understand him. Loss is shown in Stone Trees because the narrator's husband has recently died and she is trying to come to terms with his death. In The First Adam, the character Bull is a contractor and is working abroad. He describes his work as "my mistress". This personification shows that he is deeply involved with his work and is perhaps using it as a substitute for the lack of a good relationship with his wife Moira. Gardam constantly juxtaposes Bulls situation in Drab with Moira back at home in England. She uses only cold and harsh words to describe Moira waking up in the morning, "Moira's is waking to a cold dawn on the winter side of our mattress. Alone". This choice of lexis shows the r... ...ir marriage. Linda eventually sells the house to get away from the pool "Thank God no one had drowned in it. Except her." due to the bad memories it stirred in her. All three stories use juxtaposition to a great effect to show how characters in the stories have experienced loss or loneliness. They also use an implied style of writing to convey the themes of loss and/or loneliness. The implicit styles encourage the reader to work out the story without things being explicitly stated. The two stories by Jane Gardam use first person narrative and the story by John Updike uses third person narrative. The different narrative positions allow the reader to see the stories differently. The first person narratives allow the reader to see the story from the narrator's point of view and the third person narrative allows the reader to see the story more objectively.

Frustration: Primary Education and Great Increase Essay

Frustration: it is a feeling of agitation and helplessness at not being able to do something. I felt frustrated once and it happened just not long ago†¦ Rising from primary to secondary school, it has been a big jump. I always thought that secondary school was no big deal and it would be easy. But I was wrong. In fact, for the first few months of my secondary school life, it was torturous and was equivalent to living in hell. When I first started secondary school, I did not get to know many people although there were ice-breaking activities as I was the shy and reserved type. But after a few days, I got to know this girl, Jane. Jane and I became really good friends and we shared almost everything together.But, Jane made friends with another girl, A, and A was friends with this girl, B. So, the 4 of us became inseparable and we formed a group. However, I realized that my quiet nature was no match for their â€Å"outgoingness† as they were too chatty. I was too shy to talk to them and was always excluded while they were talking. I felt left out so I left the group, alone and lonely. I was really upset and frustrated, and cried my tears out that night. I was unsure and afraid of making new friends and I was really sad. I became lonely and had no one to talk to. After a few days of loneliness, I finally plucked up my courage to make new friends. Friendship problems aside; another â€Å"factor† that has been making me agitated till now was–homework. When I first saw the timetable,I almost freaked out. There was a great increase in the number of subjects and subjects like geography and physics were totally stranger to me. Since there was a great increase in subjects, well, as a matter of fact, there would be a great increase in homework too. There was homework piling up day after day and I had difficulty catching up with several subjects. I was stressed out and almost wished that I had remained in primary school. After a few months, I managed to settle in and for subjects that I had difficulty catching u, I consulted my parents and teachers for help.Hopefully, the remaining years of my secondary school life would be easier and not that stressful. But, still, frustration is only for the time being. If you have the determination to overcome it, life would not be hell for you.

House and Apartment: Similarities and Differences Essay

A home is a place that makes us feel secure and comfortable. So, it should be a place that is the most suitable place for us to rest after did many activities at the day. However, as the time goes by, there has been built an apartment which is has the same function as a house, that is a place to live in. Unlike a house, an apartment usually located at the center of city which is give an extra benefit for business utility. â€Å"Your apartment is your home, and you should be able to enjoy it to the fullest† (Ron Leshnower, 2010). Nonetheless, some people think that living in house would give the maximum comfortibility. There are 2 similarities between a house and an apartment. First of all, both of them would make you spend the same living cost. When you decide to live with luxurious life style, wherever you live, you would stay to live with that kind of habit. Second of all, whether it is a house or an apartment, it has a big role as a place to live in. In the other hand, there are 3 differences between living in a house and apartment. Firstly, living in a house would spend more money rather than an apartment. If you think that someday you would buy a house, first thing that you need to purchase is a land. A land is primary requirement to build a house. Thus, it should be really expensive especially if it is close by the city. And next, you need to buy the raw materials and hire someone to build a house. However, if you decide to buy an apartment, all you need to do is be ready for the money. â€Å"It is cheaper then living in a traditional house and paying different kinds of fees I am not familiar with.† (IELTS Essay Task 2: Apartment Or House, paragraph 2, http://www.goodatesl.com/ielts/writing-ielts/ielts-writing-task-2/ielts-essay-task-2-apartment-or-house.html, 2010). Secondly, living in apartment would give you feel secure and that is real. â€Å"Most apartment buildings offer 24 hour security and security cameras throughout the facility to ensure that tenants do not have to worry about their persons or property being victims of terrorism or theft† (Apartment Living in Jakarta, paragraph 7, http://www.expat.or.id/info/apartmentlivinginjakarta.html). Compare with a house, you need to make sure you lock all doors and windows before you go to sleep and check everything before you go to somewhere. Thirdly, living in a house would never give you a full satisfaction. For example, if you want more, you need to spend more.

Free Essays on Managing Absenteeism At Work

Managing Absenteeism at Work With each new employee that is hired, they bring a totally new set of expectations, needs and problems. It takes more time and skill to manage today’s workforce. Bad managers are the biggest cause of high turnover, low attendance and low morale. Absenteeism and lateness are two of the most costly and disruptive employee problems faced daily by all business operations. Flexibility may be the best strategy. A better attendance strategy may simply include flexi-time for people who have children or parental responsibilities. Be aware that workers who have child care responsibilities find it difficult, if not impossible, to have a perfect attendance record. However, before we begin, a definition of "absence" must be established. For the purpose of this report, an absence refers to any time an employee is not on the job during scheduled working hours, except for granted leave of absence or holiday time. Scientifically speaking, absenteeism as a disease that appears whenever a company fails to inoculate itself with sound management practices. To cure excessive absenteeism, one has to know the exact causes and then examine the available, workable and proven solutions to apply against those causes. Remember that a window of opportunity won't open itself. Establishing The Facts To embark upon a successful reduction of absenteeism, you need to make sure you have some basic information and facts about absenteeism in your company. Consider the following questions, and as you begin to dig for the answers, you likely will become aware of many ways to address your problems. Getting to the Root of the Problem Your responses to the following questions should give you food for thought and direction for combating absenteeism. If you have not yet made it a policy to keep track of absenteeism, your first step now should be clearly mapped out for you. As a next step, consider the following four questions, which s... Free Essays on Managing Absenteeism At Work Free Essays on Managing Absenteeism At Work Managing Absenteeism at Work With each new employee that is hired, they bring a totally new set of expectations, needs and problems. It takes more time and skill to manage today’s workforce. Bad managers are the biggest cause of high turnover, low attendance and low morale. Absenteeism and lateness are two of the most costly and disruptive employee problems faced daily by all business operations. Flexibility may be the best strategy. A better attendance strategy may simply include flexi-time for people who have children or parental responsibilities. Be aware that workers who have child care responsibilities find it difficult, if not impossible, to have a perfect attendance record. However, before we begin, a definition of "absence" must be established. For the purpose of this report, an absence refers to any time an employee is not on the job during scheduled working hours, except for granted leave of absence or holiday time. Scientifically speaking, absenteeism as a disease that appears whenever a company fails to inoculate itself with sound management practices. To cure excessive absenteeism, one has to know the exact causes and then examine the available, workable and proven solutions to apply against those causes. Remember that a window of opportunity won't open itself. Establishing The Facts To embark upon a successful reduction of absenteeism, you need to make sure you have some basic information and facts about absenteeism in your company. Consider the following questions, and as you begin to dig for the answers, you likely will become aware of many ways to address your problems. Getting to the Root of the Problem Your responses to the following questions should give you food for thought and direction for combating absenteeism. If you have not yet made it a policy to keep track of absenteeism, your first step now should be clearly mapped out for you. As a next step, consider the following four questions, which s...

Who you are what defines who you are Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Who you are what defines who you are - Essay Example I was born and grown up in South Korea where I lived until I was 17 years old. I have come to the U.S to pursue my studies and higher goals in my life and to get more experience about the larger world. Currently, I’m planning to transfer to UCLA because my girlfriend is studying here. I’m a Christian in religion and an aspirant of economics in career (I did my Major in economics). Three essential factors that determine or define who I am today are money (I believe in the power of money in today’s world), my girlfriend (she has changed my life entirely), and my self-consciousness (I’ve always been self-conscious – so I bought an expensive car, fancy stuff, nice house, etc.). The most essential factor that defines who I am is money and I am very honest and frank in admitting that money is everything in my life. From my personal experience, I have realized that money is so powerful in contemporary world that it can resolve even the hard-hitting issues of daily life. Whenever I got into a trouble, money was powerful enough to solve it and get me relieved from the issue. Therefore, I believe in the power of money which can make real life for human beings. My education has been connected with my faith in the power of money and I have acquired my major in economics. All my education and career orientation have been directed towards the goal of achieving money in life. Economics can help me understand the various aspects of money and offer a means to earn the same. Secondly, I believe, it is the relationship with my girlfriend which has tremendously influenced my definition of what I am today. It is my girlfriend who has changed my life drastically and has influenced me in formulating my life. She has been the essential source of inspiration and courage in my life for the last several years. I am fortunate to enjoy her love and care all through the last several years and she has given me the real meaning of my life. Today, as I reflect on who I

Porters Five of ASDA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Porters Five of ASDA - Essay Example Nevertheless Porter claims that competitive rivalry is one of the most important issues, which should be considered by the businesses. In the face of the threat of new entrants, every company is subjected to the external risks. There is a need for huge financial investments to develop a successful chain store. There are many challenges in retail market and a new entrant demands something more, radically new which will attract the customers. Key retailers depend on their brand names and are highly concerned about their reputation. Very often retailers depend on the market shares and it is appropriate for them to decide whether they use appropriate measures or not. Morever, retailers are concerned about possible methods, such as litigation, for example. It is very important to compensate market share knowledge and very often foreign investors are a certain barrier to new entrants. It is impossible to substitute food and clothes. Therefore, the threat of substitutes is relatively low. It should be mentioned that the main threat should be expected from the main brand names of chain stores, Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrison. These chain stores provide less affordable alternatives and the threat of substitutes is relatively high. Tesco is the main rival to the company and Asda demands lower prices and intensifies price war. Asda demands lower prices and creates a certain trap for the suppliers thus triggering price war. The challenges of price competitors make suppliers decrease prices. Asda reduces prices and it attracts customers by affordable prices. More than 3000 products are very intriguing and appealing in the modern market. It is relevant of this chain stores to implement strategies of online advertising, products promotion, emails and letters. There are many customers which can communicate online with respect to some products.

Integrated marketing communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Integrated marketing communication - Essay Example The major strength of the company is its brand name. In the recent past the brand was declared as ‘the world’s favorite airline’. The company provides wide range of services to its customers such as food services, entertainment options including movies, TV games and music. The flight service being a global airline, offers year round low fare flights along with full services on a worldwide network (Kotipalli, â€Å"Strategic Management Report on British Airways†). British Airways affected employees’ strike that affected the successful operation of the company. The dispute involved the British Airways Management and the Unite Trade Union over various issues such as working conditions and pay. The effect of the crisis had been tremendous leading to long wait by the passengers at the airports. The airline had to retrain other airline employees in order to work as flight attendants and lease fleets from other airlines. During the strikes the analysts expected that those would cost the company about millions of pounds and it was further estimated that this would certainly hurt the airline brand as customers booked flights with the competitors. According to few economists, this strike would have a negative impact upon the world’s economy (Werdigier, â€Å"British Airways Strike Effect Disputed†). Being the marketing communication consultant the crisis management problem needs to be solved with the aim to repair the organizational reputation, sales performance and customs. Therefore, the appropriate strategy would be to use COSTAC framework in order to increase the efficiency and revamp the original position of the company. Before making an integrated marketing plan, it is essential to understand the context of the current situation. The context analysis helps to shape up certain things and explains the reason for such happenings. Here, five contexts namely internal, external, business, stakeholders and customers would be studied in detail in order to

The Political and Economical Differences Between the Spanish and English Colonies Essay Example for Free

The Political and Economical Differences Between the Spanish and English Colonies Essay The Spanish and English colonies both moved to North America seeking opportunities. The difference is that the Spaniards sought gold, while the English colonists sought freedom, religiously or otherwise. Therefore, the Spanish settlements in the Southwest and the English colonies in New England had very different approaches to both politics and economic development. The Spaniards had ventured to the United States region of America from their previous Latin America area. They expected to find the same success they did in South and Central America. However, they encountered a few problems that affected their type of political development. The main problem was that there was hardly any gold. The Spaniards had relied heavily on this income and that was mainly their point of being in the Southwest. Since they were mainly after gold and converting Native Americans to Catholicism, they brought over few women and had little to no permanent settlements. They were there to do their jobs, get rich with gold, and go home. Because of this, they had few issues with their government being autocratic. This means that the royal crown had overall control of all the colonial decisions. The crown kept tight control of the Spanish settlements because like I stated above, they were there to do their job, and therefore this form of political control worked for the Spanish. However, the autocratic type of government did not work for the English settlements. Many colonists came to America for religious freedom, and a new chance for a better life. They also brought over families. This allowed them to create permanent settlements with schools and churches and eventually new generations. The English settlers came primarily with joint stock companies and not sent by the crown, unlike the Spanish. Therefore, the English colonies had established a form of self-government and later had the early beginnings of a democracy with assemblies and several elected officials like governors in some select states. The Spanish had little economic development in their settlements. This was mainly because of their hunt for gold. That’s what they were spending all their time on so they couldn’t create a thriving trade and businesses started. That coupled with few natural resources led to this slow economic development that is vital to survival of colonies. In contrast to the Spanish, the English colonies created a flourishing trade and consequently had great economic development. Because families had moved and towns were set up, the colonies could establish complex businesses and figure out how best to use their land. The colonies used their resources to create a good lumbering, fur trade, and fishing industries, which again furthered their economic development. Simply put, the English colonies had greater economic development and the Spanish had a very different approach to their politics and governing. All of these differences stemmed from who travelled to the colonies and why.

Global Review Of Market Entry Strategies Economics Essay

Global Review Of Market Entry Strategies Economics Essay When a firm is going to explore a foreign market, the choice of the best mode of entry is decided by the firms expansion strategy. The main aim of every business organization is to establish itself in the global market. Thus, the process calls for developing an effective international marketing strategy in order to identify the international opportunities, explore resources and capabilities, and utilize core competencies in order to better implement the overall international strategies. The decision of how to enter a foreign market can have a significant impact on the results. Companies can expand into foreign markets via the following four mechanisms: exporting, licensing, joint venture and direct investment (Meyer, Estrin, Bhaumik, and Peng, 2008). All of them have their advantages for the firm to explore as well as disadvantages which must be considered by the firms top management. What entry mode that a multinational company chooses has implications for how much resources the company must commit to its foreign operations, the risk that the company must bear, and the degree of control that the company can exercise over the operations on the new market. (Zekiri and Angelova,2011, pp 576) 1.1.1 Global Review of Market Entry Strategies Taylor, Zou and Island (1998) conducted a study on a transaction cost perspective on foreign market entry strategies of USA and Japanese firms and concluded that several transactions costs affected the decision making of market entry mode for the US firms but did not affect the market entry mode for Japanese firms. Meyer, Estrin, Bhaumik, and Peng (2008) conducted a study on Institutions, Resources, and Entry Strategies in Emerging Economies to investigate the impact of market-supporting institutions on business strategies by analyzing the entry strategies of foreign investors entering emerging economies. The authors made three contributions, to enrich an institution-based view of business strategy (Oliver, 1997; Peng, 2003; Peng, Wang, and Jiang, 2008) by providing a more fine-grained conceptual analysis of the relationship between institutional frameworks and entry strategies. Secondly, they argued that institutions moderate resource-based considerations when crafting entry strategies and finally, by amassing a primary survey database from four diverse but relatively underexplored countries and combining such data with archival data, they extended the geographic reach of empirical research on emerging countries. Stiegert, Ardalan, and Marsh (1997) conducted a study on foreign market entry strategies in the European Union where the study utilized intra-firm, socio-cultural, geographical-proximity, and political-stability variables to explain bimodal foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns by agri-food and beverage multinational companies into and within the European Union. A logit framework incorporated a unique-count database of firm-level investment patterns from 1987-1998 and the results showed the 1992 structural changes under the Maastricht Treaty increased the probability of wholly owned FDI modes such as greenfields and buyouts, and also found that past modal strategies of firms, language barriers, and exchange-rate volatility all correctly explained modal investment patterns. The authors asserted that these results provide important contributions toward understanding modal investment strategies including the role of macroeconomic changes within a custom union. Czinkota Ronkainen (2003) carried out a study on the motivation factors for market entry and asserted that several factors results in firms taking measures in a given direction as in the case of internationalization. These are a variety of motivations both pushing and pulling companies to internationalize which are differentiated into proactive and reactive motivations. 1.1.2 Market entry strategies for Multinationals in Kenya Multinational corporations (MNCs) operate in a global environment unfamiliar in political, economic, social, cultural, technological and legal aspects. Increased competition among multinational corporations and the entry of other players in the Kenyan market necessitate the design of competitive strategies that guarantee performance. Creating strategies for coping with competition is the heart of strategic management which is critical for the long term survival of any organization. MNCs in Kenya have adopted a number of strategies including: better quality, excellent customer service, innovation, differentiation, diversification, cost cutting measures, strategic alliances, joint venture, mergers/acquisitions and not forgetting lower prices, to weather competitive challenges. Kinuthia (2010) suggests that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has risen in Kenya from the 1990s due to the liberalization of the economy. It is mainly concentrated in the manufacturing sector and is mainly Greenfield in nature. Most of FDI in Kenya is export oriented and market seeking. The most important FDI determinants are market size in Kenya as well as within the region, political and economic stability in both Kenya and its neighbours and bilateral trade agreements between Kenya and other countries. The most important FDI barriers in Kenya are political and economic instability in Kenya, crime and insecurity, institutional factors such as corruption, delayed licenses and work permits among other factors. According to the Financial Post (2010), well-established and hitherto dominant multinational companies in Kenya are suddenly finding themselves sailing in turbulent waters. The latest multinational to leave the scene with a bloodied nose is the 200-year-old Colgate Palmolive, a global business concern which begun in New York as a small soap and candle business. The list also includes, Johnson Johnson, Agip, Unilever, Procter Gamble, and recently, ExxonMobil, just to mention a few. The Financial Post (2010) suggests that majority of the multinationals who have so far relocated, shut down or downsized their operations consider Kenya as one of the least competitive investment destinations worldwide. Apart from the notoriously high cost of power in Kenya, difficulties in obtaining licenses and visas, inefficiencies at the Port of Mombasa and deteriorating infrastructure are among other non-tariff barriers to investment in this market. Financial Post (2010) notes that it is in the petro leum sector where the multinationals are finding it difficult to cope. A few years back, Agip shut down its pipes and sold out to BP Shell. BP sold it stake to Kenya Shell, a move that changed shareholding of BP Shell, which has been operating as a joint venture company. Recently, ExxonMobil sold its Kenya franchise to Tamoil, who will now take over the companys over 64 service stations countrywide. Ndegwa and Otieno (2008) conducted a study on market entry strategies for a transition country, Kenya, a case study that focused on mode of entry strategies that would be used by a Finnish firm, YIT Group to enter a developing country, Kenya. The focus was on motives to enter developing countries, the strategies used to enter developing countries, the factors influencing the decision of entry strategy, and finally problems facing companies entering developing markets experience. The study concluded that the most significant motive to enter developing countries is potential growth of the market, the most suitable entry mode strategy is joint venture, the most significant factor influencing the entry mode decision is the legal framework, and the largest problem experienced by companies investing in the country is bureaucracy. 1.1.3 Performance and non financial performance Performance Measures are quantitative or qualitative ways to characterize and define performance. They provide a tool for organizations to manage progress towards achieving predetermined goals, defining key indicators of organizational performance and Customer satisfaction. Performance Measurement is the process of assessing the progress made (actual) towards achieving the predetermined performance goals (baseline). Traditional, financially based performance measurement approaches have a number of serious drawbacks (Kaplan Norton, 1992). These include the element of outcome focus. Established financial indicators such as turnover and profit before tax are outcome indicators. Profitability measures the extent to which a business generates a profit from the factors of production: labour, management and capital. Profitability analysis focuses on the relationship between revenues and expenses and on the level of profits relative to the size of investment in the business (Gilbert and Whe elock, 2007). Four useful measures of firm profitability are the rate of return on firm assets (ROA), the rate of return on firm equity (ROE), operating profit margin and net firm income. The ROA measures the return to all firm assets and is often used as an overall index of profitability, and the higher the value, the more profitable the firm business. The ROE measures the rate of return on the owners equity employed in the firm business. It is useful to consider the ROE in relation to ROA to determine if the firm is making a profitable return on their borrowed money. The operating profit margin measures the returns to capital per dollar of gross firm revenue. Recall, the two ways a firm has of increasing profits is by increasing the profit per unit produced or by increasing the volume of production while maintaining the per unit profit. The operating profit margin focuses on the per unit produced component of earning profit and the asset turnover ratio (discussed below) focuses on the volume of production component of earning a profit (Crane, 2011). Net firm income comes directly off of the income statement and is calculated by matching firm revenues with the expenses incurred to create those revenues, plus the gain or loss on the sale of firm capital assets. Net firm income represents the return to the owner for unpaid operator and family labour, management and owners equity. Like working capital, net firm income is an absolute dollar amount and not a ratio, thus comparisons to other firms is difficult because of firm size differences (Gilbert and Wheelock, 2007). 1.1.4 Manufacturing Sector in Kenya Kenya has the biggest formal manufacturing sector in East Africa (UNIDO, 2008). This sector has grown over time both in terms of its contribution to the countrys GDP and employment. It is evident from these trends that the sector makes an important contribution to Kenyas economy (KAM, 2009). The average size of this sector for tropical Africa is 8 percent. Despite the importance and size of this sector in Kenya, it is still very small when compared to that of the industrialized nations (KIRDI, 2009). Awino (2007) and KObonyo (1999) argues that Kenyas manufacturing sector is going through a major transition period largely due to the structural reform process, which the Kenya government has been implementing since the mid-eighties with a view to improving the economic and social environment of the country. The manufacturing industry in Kenya can be classified under three main sectors, namely, the agro-based industrial sector, engineering and construction industrial sector and the chemical and mineral industrial sector (GOK Vision 2030). However, the three major classifications can still be categorized into two: (i) agro-based and non-agro-based (KObonyo, 1999). The agro-based industrial sector in Kenya consists of seven sub-sectors and provides the bulk (68 per cent) of value added from the manufacturing industry, (KAM, 2009). KObonyo (1999) argues that the agro-based industrial sector has developed on the basis of traditional domestic resource activities. The major challenges faced by this sector are related to the quantity, quality and price of raw materials mostly produced by small scale farmers. The seven sub-sectors that form the agro-based industrial sector are food processing, animal feeds, beverages and tobacco, miscellaneous food products, tannaries and leather products, woods and wood products and pulp and paper (Awino, 2007). 1.2 Problem Statement Mode of entry into an international market is the channel which organization that want to operate in international markets employ to gain entry to a new international market. The choice for a particular entry mode is a critical determinant in the successful running of a foreign operation. Therefore, decisions of how to enter a foreign market can have a significant impact on the results. However, it may seem that the use of particular strategies by international firms may yield higher growth and performance than others. There are several strategies that manufacturing firms can select from when they want to gain entry to a new international market such as exporting; licensing and franchising; strategic alliances; and wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. This study wants to investigate and indicate the particular modes of entry that manufacturing MNCs in Kenya use and of what value they are. Studies on the relationship between the choice of international market entry strategy and firm performance are abundant. These include Taylor and Zou (1999); Zekir and Angelova(2011) ; Chung and Enderwick (2001); Zand (2011); Sadaghiani, dehghan, and Zand (2011); and Mushuku(2006). There lacks conclusiveness on these studies about the choice of market entry strategy and firm performance. There exist glaring knowledge gaps as far as scarcity of local studies, context, conclusiveness and difference in opinions is concerned. This implies that there are scarce studies in developing economies such as Kenya. Studies on the choice of international market entry strategy and firm performance seem to concentrate on the developed and emerging countries which leave a knowledge gap for developing economies such as Kenya. There is a paucity/scarcity of studies on the marketing strategies techniques used by firms in Kenya and the researcher is not aware of any study that has been done on the influe nce of international market entry strategies on the performance of manufacturing multinationals in Kenya. This study therefore wishes to bridge this knowledge gap by assessing the influence of market entry strategies in manufacturing firms performance in Kenya. 1.3 Study Objectives The study attempts to achieve the following study objectives To identify the international market entry strategies by manufacturing multinationals in Kenya To establish the motive behind the choice of market entry strategies by manufacturing multinationals in Kenya To examine the influence of market entry strategies on the performance of manufacturing multinationals in Kenya 1.4 Significance of the study The study may be of use to management of manufacturing concerns in Kenya. This is because it will highlight the impact of choice of entry strategy to growth of a firm. Managers may therefore use these results to select the optimal strategies that would optimize growth of multinationals. The study will aid managers of prospective firms, and also those other people that want to go into other markets. The study will also provide ample information to those firms already in the market with strategies that are not working for them. The study results may be used by the implementation panel for vision 2030. Perhaps, they can craft a policy based on the study results that would increase the impact of entry strategies on growth of multinationals operating in Kenya. This would consequently lead to higher productivity and achievement of vision 2030 goal of annual economic growth of 10%. The study may also be a valuable addition to literature review and scholars of international business management, business strategy and growth. 1.4 Scope of the study There are several strategies that manufacturing firms can select from when they want to gain entry to a new international market such as exporting; licensing and franchising; strategic alliances; and wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. The study will restrict itself to market entry strategies and their influence on performance of multination manufacturing organizations. The scope of this study is the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing industry in Kenya can be classified under three main sectors, namely, the agro-based industrial sector, engineering and construction industrial sector and the chemical and mineral industrial sector (GOK Vision 2030). However, the three major classifications can still be categorized into two: (i) agro-based and non-agro-based (KObonyo, 1999). Kenyas main industries are food and beverages processing, manufacture of petroleum products, textiles and fibers, garments, tobacco, processed fruits, cement, paper, pyrethrum products, engineering, wood products, pharmaceuticals, basic chemicals, sugar, rubber, and plastics products. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter reviewed the various theoretical concepts that have been explored in the study. Specifically, the study reviewed the concept of multinationals, market entry strategies and organizational performance. The empirical review addressed the various studies that have been done on the area. 2.1 Theoretical Review This section elaborates on various concepts that are being used in the study. For instance definitions of multinationals, market entry strategies and performance were given. 2.1.1 Multinationals A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) is a corporation enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation. They play an important role in globalization (Pitelis, and Sugden, 2000). Various attempts have been made in literature to capture the true richness of MNCs with definitions and concepts. Perlmutter (1969) for instance, used a taxonomy which was based on management styles namely geo-, poly- and ethnocentric to measure a firms degree of multinationality. Porter (1986) distinguished between multidomestic and global firms based on the configuration and coordination of the firms value chain. The framework developed by Prahalad and Doz (1987) offers a rather context oriented classification based on the nature of business, differentiating between global, multi-focal and local firms. Probably Bartletts and Ghoshals (1989) four-fold typology of multinational, international, global and transnational companies has been the most influential and extensive one. The typology constructed, inter alia, included, environmental, corporate, subsidiary, control and human resource characteristics. Kinuthia (2010) suggests that Foreign firms in Kenya since the 1970s have invested in a wide range of sectors. Most notably they played a major role in floriculture and horticulture, with close to 90 percent of flowers being controlled by foreign affiliates. In the Manufacturing sector FDI has concentrated on the consumer goods sector, such as food and beverage industries. This has changed in the recent years with the growth of the garment sector because of African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). Of the 34 companies involved in AGOA 28 are foreign most of them concentrated in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs). FDI is also distributed to other sectors including services, telecommunication among others. 55 percent of the foreign firms are concentrated in Nairobi while Mombasa accounts for about 23 percent, thus Nairobi and Mombasa account for over 78 percent of FDI in Kenya. The main form of FDI establishment has been through the form of green fields establishments and Kenya has in total more than 200 multinational corporations. The main traditional sources of foreign investments are Britain, US and Germany, South Africa, Netherlands, Switzerland and of late China and India (UNCTAD, 2005). 2.1.2 Market Entry Strategies International market entry modes can be classified according to level of control, resource commitment, and risk involvement (Hill, Hwang and Kim, 1990). For example, in a study of the international operations of service firms in the United States, Erramilli and Rao (1993) classify market entry modes into two categories based on their level of control-full-control (i.e. wholly owned operation) and shared-control mode (i.e. contractual transfer or joint venture). The classification system adopted by Kim and Hwang (1992) is three fold: licensing, joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries. Kim and Hwang believe that these methods provide three distinctive levels of control and require different levels of resource commitment. Kwon and Konopa (1993) indicate that each foreign market entry mode is associated with advantages and disadvantages in terms of risk, cost, control, and return. Their study was designed to examine the impacts of a series of determinants on the choice of foreign production and exporting adopted by 228 U.S. manufacturing firms. Agarwal and Ramaswami (1992) suggest that the most commonly used entry modes are exporting, licensing, joint venture and sole venture. These methods involve varying levels of resource commitment. When multinational enterprises (MNE) plan to expand overseas, they face several entry modes. Root (1994) defines an international market entry mode as an institutional arrangement that makes possible the entry of a companys products, technology, human skills, management, or other resources into a foreign country. Entry modes can be classified into three categories: Export entry mode, contractual entry mode and investment entry mode (Root, 1994). Expansion into foreign markets can be achieved via the following mechanisms: Exporting, Licensing,â‚ ¬Ã‚   Franchising,â‚ ¬Ã‚   Joint Venture, Direct Investment (Kim and Hwang,1992; Agarwal and Ramaswami,1992; Root, 1994; Erramilli and Rao,1993). These are explained below; 2.1.1. Exporting Exporting is the marketing and direct sale of domestically-produced goods in another country. Exporting is a traditional and well-established method of reaching foreign markets. There is no need for the company to invest in a foreign country because exporting does not require that the goods be produced in the target country. Most of the costs associated with exporting take the form of marketing expenses. Therefore, exporting is appropriate when there is a low trade barrier, home location has an advantage on costs and when customization is not crucial (Kim and Hwang, 1992). 2.1.2. Licensing A license arrangement is a business arrangement where a licensor using its monopoly position and right such as a Patent, a Trade Mark, a design or a copyright that has exclusive right which prevents others from exploiting the idea, design, name or logo commercially. The licensee pays a fee in exchange for the rights to use the intangible property and possibly for technical assistance (Erramilli and Rao, 1993). 2.1.3. Franchising Franchising is a similar entry mode to licensing. By the payment of a royalty fee, the franchisee will obtain the major business know-how via an agreement with the franchiser. The know-how also includes such intangible properties as patents, trademarks and so on. The difference from the licensing mode of entry is that the franchisee must obey certain rules given by franchiser. Franchising is most commonly used in service industries, such as McDonalds, etc. (Hill, Hwang and Kim, 1990). 2.1.4. Joint Venture Joint ventures represent an agreement between two parties to work together on a certain project, Operate in a particular market, etc. Some of the main common objectives in a joint venture:â‚ ¬Ã‚  Market entry;â‚ ¬Ã‚  Risk and reward sharing;â‚ ¬Ã‚  Technology sharing and joint product development, etc. (Kwon and Konopa, 1993) 2.1.5. Foreign Direct Investment Foreign direct investment (FDI) is the direct ownership of facilities in the target country. It involves capital, technology, and personnel. FDI can be made through the acquisition of an existing entity or the establishment of a new enterprise. Direct ownership provides a high degree of control in the operations and the ability to better know the consumers and competitive environment, and the market in general. However, it requires a high level of resources and a high degree of commitment (Root, 1994). 2.1.6. Foreign Acquisition Acquisitions can be defined as a corporate action in which a company buys most, if not all, of the target companys ownership stakes in order to assume control of the target firm. Acquisitions are often made as part of a companys growth strategy whereby it is more beneficial to take over an existing firms operations and niche compared to expanding on its own. (Investopedia.com, 2011) 2.1.7. Green Field Entry Green field can be defined as a form of foreign direct investment where a parent company starts a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up. In addition to building new facilities, most parent companies also create new long-term jobs in the foreign country by hiring new employees (Investopedia.com, 2011). The main advantages of setting up a new company:â‚ ¬Ã‚  normally feasible, avoids risk of overpayment, â‚ ¬Ã‚  avoids problem of integration, Still retains full control. The main disadvantages of setting up a new company:â‚ ¬Ã‚  Slower startup, requires knowledge of foreign management, â‚ ¬Ã‚  high risk and high commitment We can conclude that acquisition is appropriate when the market is developed for corporate control, the acquirer has high absorptive capacity, and when there is high synergy, whereas Green field entry is appropriate when there is lack of proper acquisition target, in-house local expertise, and embedded competitive advantage (Agarwal and Ramaswami, 1992). 2.1.3 Organization Performance Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs (or goals and objectives). According to Richard et al. (2009) organizational performance encompasses three specific areas of firm outcomes: (a) financial performance (profits, return on assets, return on investment, etc.); (b) product market performance (sales, market share, etc.); and (c) shareholder return (total shareholder return, economic value added, etc.). Most organizations view their performance in terms of effectiveness in achieving their mission, purpose or goals. Most NGOs, for example, would tend to link the larger notion of organizational performance to the results of their particular programs to improve the lives of a target group (e.g. the poor). At the same time, a majority of organizations also see their performance in terms of their efficiency in deploying resources. This relates to the optimal use of resources to obtain the results desired. Finally, in order for an organization to remain viable over time, it must be both financially viable and relevant to its stakeholders and their changing needs. A fundamental debate in strategic management and international marketing research is questioning about the performance, especially when the companies involve in international performance (Florin and Agboei, 2004). An accurate understanding of the crucial link between international strategy and performance is especially important in the face of world markets that are increasingly global. Consequently, international marketing research has moved from being descriptive studying the differences between exporters and non-exporters to providing performance explanations (shoham and kropp, 1998). In todays complex business world, performance is an indispensable guide for any company analyzing its level of success, in both the domestic and international arenas. Assessing export performance is quite a complex task, as export performance can be conceptualized and operationalized in many ways. Broadly speaking, the literature considers three aspects of export performance: financial, strategic, and that of performance satisfaction (Lages and Montgomery, 2004). Although considerable progress has since been made, research remains underdeveloped. Defining and understanding performance is problematic, especially in terms of identifying uniform, reliable, and valid performance measures (Katsikeas, Leonidou and Morgan, 2000). Export performance is the dependent variable in the simplified model and is defined as the outcome of a firms activities in export markets. There are two principal ways of measuring export performance: economic (financial measures such as sales, profits, and market share) and noneconomic (nonfinancial measures relating to product, market, experience elements, etc.). Most background and intervening variables were associated with economic measures of performance, particularly export sales intensity (export-to-total sales ratio), export sales growth, and export profitability (Katsikeas, Leonidou and Morgan, 2000). Also, Export performance, a widely studied construct, refers to the outcomes of a firms export activities, althoug h conceptual and operational definitions vary in the literature (Calantone, 2005) 2.2 Empirical Literature 2.2.1 International Market Entry Strategies by Multinationals International market entry modes can be classified according to level of control, resource commitment, and risk involvement (Anderson and Gatignon, 1986; Erramilli and Rao, 1993; Hill, Hwang and Kim, 1990). For example, in a study of the international operations of service firms in the United States, Erramilli and Rao (1993) classify market entry modes into two categories based on their level of control-full-control (i.e. wholly owned operation) and shared-control mode (i.e. contractual transfer or joint venture). The classification system adopted by Hill, Kim and Hwang (1992) is three fold: licensing, joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries. Hill, Kim and Hwang (1992) believe that these methods provide three distinctive levels of control and require different levels of resource commitment. Kwon and Konopa (1993) indicate that each foreign market entry mode is associated with advantages and disadvantages in terms of risk, cost, control, and return. Their study was designed to examine the impacts of a series of determinants on the choice of foreign production and exporting adopted by 228 U.S. manufacturing firms. Agarwal and Ramaswami (1992) suggest that the most commonly used entry modes are exporting, licensing, joint venture and sole venture. These methods involve varying levels of resource commitment. Based on the location of products produced, Terpstra and Sarathy (2000) divide market entry methods into three major categories-indirect exporting, direct exporting and foreign manufacturing. Many forms of market entry strategy are available to firms to enter international markets. One classification first distinguishes between equity and non-equity modes. Equity modes involve firms taking some degree of ownership of the market organizations involved, including wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. Non equity modes do not involve ownership and include exporting or some form contractual agreements such as licensing or franchising (Wilkinson and Nguyen, 2003). Caves (1982) identified four basic ways to expand internationally, from the lowest to the highest risk: exporting; licensing and franchising; strategic alliances; and wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. Cateora and Graham (2002) stated there are six basic strategies for entering a new market: export/import, licensing and franchising, joint venturing, consortia, partially-owned subsidiaries, and wholly-owned subsidiaries.