Titanic Tragedy free essay sample

Who was responsible for the loss of life with the sinking of the Titanic? By Rebecca Gutteridge Year 9 RMS Titanic, so called the ‘unsinkable ship’, became the largest maritime disaster in history when she hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage through the North Atlantic. Much indecision surrounds the blame circle of the sinking of the largest vessel ever built and there are many theories which divide experts even today. However many believe it is an accident which could have been averted. I believe that a combination of factors are at fault. Harland and Wolff Harland and Wolff had difficulty finding enough  workers, and in an effort to save money employed poor riveters from small forges; the work needed was very skilled and each rivet was hand crafted. In the British inquiry Harland and Wolff were accused of importing less rivets than were needed and sub- ­? standard iron to save money. We will write a custom essay sample on Titanic Tragedy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The rivets used for the majority of the ship were only crafted from iron which is weaker than steel – considered state of the art at the time. Only the central hull used steel rivets as wrought iron was easier to work by hand. The iceberg ripped along the hull which pinpoints that even the strongest rivets were not a match against  the force of the collision. Recent scientific analysis of rivets found in the wreckage showed that the iron rivets contained large amounts of molten slag, which would have made them weak and brittle causing the heads to crack on impact; therefore weakening Titanic’s resistance against the iceberg. However the velocity of the impact was predicted at 1 million tonnes per second which although cannot be proven I think would have fatally damaged even a modern ship as the recent sinking of the Costa Concordia shows. So I think this is not the cause of the ships sinking. Environmental factors The shipping lane Titanic  took on the night crossed the Labrador Current: a very cold band of water which carried icebergs from Greenland along the North Atlantic. Between November 1911 and Titanic’s sinking 20 boats had sunk across the shores of Newfoundland. In 1912 it had been exceptionally mild and roughly 1000 entered the shipping lanes when the average was 500. This should have been taken into account and the captain should have prepared for this. Also in testimonies given during the inquiry passengers and crew commented on how â€Å"unnaturally cold† the night had been and that the sea had been so calm it was â€Å"hard to distinguish

Definition and Examples of Attain and Obtain

Definition and Examples of Attain and Obtain The verb attain means to achieve, accomplish, or succeed in reaching a goal (usually through some effort). The verb obtain means to acquire or get possession of something. As an intransitive verb, obtain means to be prevalent or established. Examples As you begin your college career, you should also be aware of the difference between learning things for a test or to attain a high grade versus mastering content and skills that are essential for you to succeed in life.(Jeffrey Kottler, Excelling in College. Wadsworth, 2012)The most important function of a bibliographic entry is to help the reader obtain a copy of the cited work.(Daniel J. Bernstein)Both his philosophy and his techniques of leadership were products of a different world, of relationships which no longer obtain and expectations which are no longer valid.(David Garrow, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. HarperCollins, 1986)There can be no assurance that the Company will attain its expected results, successfully integrate and achieve anticipated synergies from any of its acquisitions, obtain acceptable financing, or attain its published guidance metrics . . ..(Press release, DFC Global Corp. Announces Launch of $650 Million Senior Note Private Offering. The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2013) Usage Notes These two- both formal words- are sometimes confused. . . .Occasionally- as a malapropism- obtain is used to attain. E.g.: The same exception . . . applies if U.S. residency or citizenship is renounced before obtaining [read attaining] age 18.(Bryan A. Garner, Garners Modern American Usage, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2009)Attain involves the idea of considerable effort, while obtain does not necessarily imply effort at all.(The Century Dictionary) Practice Exercise (a) She selected a pair of patterned silk stockings, which she did not needat least not for their usual purpose. Still hoping to _____ whatever information she could from the peddler, she sought to buy his goodwill along with the stockings.(Carrie Bebris, The Intrigue at Highbury, 2010)(b) The amount of money you think it might take to _____ your goals can be much more than your goal actually requires.(Jack Cummings, Real Estate Finance and Investment Manual, 2010) Answers to Practice Exercise (a) She selected a pair of patterned silk stockings, which she did not needat least not for their usual purpose. Still hoping to  obtain  whatever information she could from the peddler, she sought to buy his goodwill along with the stockings.(Carrie Bebris,  The Intrigue at Highbury, 2010)(b) The amount of money you think it might take to  attain  your goals can be much more than your goal actually requires.(Jack Cummings,  Real Estate Finance and Investment Manual, 2010)

Plagiarizing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Plagiarizing - Essay Example I agree that plagiarism should be removed from student’s consciousness that they should always practice academic honesty. That is, they should always cite their sources and as much as possible, they should paraphrase the sources. Plagiarism , or â€Å"the purloining of ideas or language from another source† is considered as literary theft (Silverman 152) and therefore a serious academic offense. But to end a student’s schooling for a single offense I believe is just too much and a little extreme. For all we know, the plagiarism may have been accidental or unintentional and this is not a remote possibility especially on topics that are considered as common knowledge. There is a chance that a point of view may have been already written by someone else and that may be construed as plagiarism albeit unintentional. And considering the University of Virginia’s Code of Honor , that is punishable by expulsion. Also, the plagiarism may have been just a case of a si mple overlook. Writing long paper with a lot of sources has a danger of overlooking some sources and that simple overlook does not deserve to be punished by expulsion. Even if the student deliberately plagiarized, expulsion is still too much as a punishment. The appropriate response for plagiarism is to fail the student for that subject plus a stern warning. If it happens again whether intentional or deliberate, the student will be suspended. On the third time, that is the only time that the student will have to be expelled. Giving a warning and graduated punishment to the student eliminates the possibility that the student may be punished for something that is accidental. Failing a student for the subject that he or she plagiarized is already a heavy punishment. But it is an appropriate punishment. Expelling a student is excessive expulsion is tantamount to failing the student in all subjects including those that he or she did well. Worst, forfeiting would also mean forfeiting the

Macro.analysis Coca-Cola Spain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Macro.analysis Coca-Cola Spain - Essay Example Spain has been a member of NATO since 1982 and also the European Union since 1986. This EU membership represents a very significant part of its foreign policy and supports the efforts of European political mechanisms. Therefore, a stable political situation and diplomatic relations assure development opportunities for organizations that are doing business in Spain, and lessens any risk of possible conflicts and disagreements. ((Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ; 2001; n.p). The Spanish food and beverage sector is a challenging market because of the changing climatic and soil conditions. This results in unpredictable domestic agricultural production. However, the structural reforms implemented in Spain over the last decade imply that Spain will continue to offer a competitive, more secure, stable and reliable environment to conduct business for coke ( Dibbs S Simkin L; 2002 ; np) (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; 2001; np). A lot of investment in research needs to be done in order to introduce products or packaging that complies to the social and cultural norms of a country. Talking about the trend in Spanish consumer habits we see a moderate growth the consumption of food and beverages. Households do most of this spending as compared to hotels, restaurants and institutions. After the process of modernization that Spain has gone through, its famous street life has been inhibited. Although, specially during the summer season, people still live on the streets and cafe terraces are found full of people. Therefore, the summer season could be a good time for the beverage companies generating relatively higher profits for coke as well (Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong ;2006; np) Spanish production of technology specially aimed for the food and beverage industry is among the most competitive in the EU. The reason behind this technological advancement has been the country’s

Martha McCakey Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Martha McCakey - Case Study Example Moreover one of her old classmates working for the same company also encouraged her to join that company and finally she decided to join Praxis Associates. (Kyurinyan, 2006) Martha McCaskey was a hard working young woman who believed in good ethical standards at the work place. She never believed in short cuts to achieve targets. She has completed many successful projects at a fast pace and soon became a valuable member of the company. As a business tactics, Praxis Associates often hired ex employees of their competitors to obtain valuable information regarding the functioning of the competitors. They have divided the division into two sub groups; old guards and new guards. Old The attitude of the top management of Praxis associates was motivated only by the profit. They were ready to engage in any sort of activities to capture business and also they never believed in business ethics. For them, Business is a competitive world where only the smarter ones will succeed and the others will fail. In order to achieve targets anything can be done as per their moral standards. Moreover they forced the employees to go up to the maximum extent to achieve the targets. They never bothered about retaining the employees. It is under this circumstances Martha McCaskey asked to complete a project. It was a crucial time period of her career. The successful completion of that project will ensure her higher bonuses and promotion. But she found no way to complete the project without compromising her ethical standards. She was forced to decide whether she wanted to maintain her integrity and high standards or to compromise with all such things. Morality and ethical standards are vanishing gradually from the modern world. Globalization and liberalization policies made the competition immense in the business world. It is extremely hard to survive in a highly competitive business world by keeping all the ethical standards. Business is a smart game where most of the moves

Indian calling to far away towns

Indian calling to far away towns 1 Introduction With the development of economy, call centres have played an important role in the companies operation (Patel Broughton, 2002). However, in recent years, the economic challenges have made the increasing number of corporations which from developed countries moved their call centers to developing countries (Keith, 2001). This paper will evaluate the journal article of Taylor and Bains â€Å"India calling to the far away towns: the call centre labour process and globalization† critically. This paper is organized as follows: firstly, it will have a comprehensive understanding of the authors aim, and evaluate in terms of the research methods briefly. Secondly, it will use a series of research method literatures to find the drawbacks or limitations of the journals research design and approach. Furthermore, a number of studies in the literature of call centre will be presented to strengthen the authors claims. The essay will conclude by giving some suggestions about any other alternative research methods that can prove the authors ideas. 2 Research design and methods used Taylor and Bain (2005)s article argues that the increasing number of prominent UK-based companies have migrated operations to India. Scotland and India both were main call centres in the world, but now â€Å"there would not be a call centres in Scotland in five years† (Donoghue, 2003).The authors attempt to though an investigation of the Indian call centre labour process to prove the assumption that the offshoring of call centre is unproblematic. Furthermore, the authors provide a range of adequate academic literatures for the proposed research, and reveal a clear framework though the study of Indian development (Taylor Bain, 2005). Several issues that authors reported in the research had been raised in the critical review. The central one is tensions of operators that because of the Indian context, all employees from call centre must be both customers-oriented and cost-efficient. As Korczynski (2002) says customers-oriented and cost-efficient are two main logics that should be infused by operators. Another issue is comparing with British, Indian has different culture and working style, whether can Indian operators accept the routinized workflow has become a question. In order to solve those questions, the authors use a series of research methods to explore that situation about offsourcing practices, including: case study, semi-structured interview, formal and informal interview, sectoral audit conducted by questionnaires analysis (Taylor Bain, 2005). Basing on collecting the quantitative data, the authors mainly use the qualitative methods to tackle the issues. Qualitative research methods are valued in concept understanding (Hodges et al, 2007), and combining the quantitative research methods, the research study will be more convictive (Saunder et al, 2009: 151). The authors access seven call centres in Indian by virtue of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). Nasscom presents that as third-party operations, call centres have become various sectors of companies, and Nasscom also provides several useful materials about Indian call centre to authors. It cannot deny that using the secondary date which from other organization is really helpful, because of it is hard to search information of other countries. However, relying on Nasscom, the information that authors can select and evaluate is limited. Taylor and Bain (2005) get the detailed information such as recruitment, culture capability, and workflow about call centres by having semi-structured interviews with senior management. Semi-structured interview is one of the greatest methods to obtain specific qualitative information from a person, and gain insight into specific issues (Davis, 1990). And the interviews will be recorded by audio-recording (Saunder et al, 2009: 321) in order to provide convenience to further researchs. Additionally, the authors have formal interviews with Nasscom senior personnel, industry leaders and trade union officials. Authors also find opportunities to communicate with personnel from across the industry though participating in three industry conferences (Taylor Bain, 2005: 266). Researchers may gain unexpected achievement from informal interview. The authors also can learn more information that cannot be directly observed by using the interviews. Scotland provides useful materials for evaluating UK trends to complement the Indian data which extracting from questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed to 290 call centres, and conducted between February and July 2003. Finally, 250 full questionnaires were collected (Taylor Bain, 2005: 267). The questionnaire is one of the most widely used methods to collect data, and â€Å"it provide an efficient way of collecting responses from a large sample prior to quantitative analysis† (Saunder et al, 2009: 361). Saunder et al (2009) also says comparing with face to face interviews, questionnaires can give people deep impress. It is very useful in large sample size and wide areas data collection. Questionnaires are easy to analyze and easy to complete. It is familiar to most people. And the most important advantage is the respondents will not be influenced by the researchers ideas. 3 Literature review, discussion and findings Having a critical review of Taylor and Bains journal, it is can clearly find that Indian has advantaged factors to become a major region of call centres. The key advantage is India has cheap labour forces. In order to reduce cost, the increasing numbers of companies remove their call centres to India. A study by McKinsey, Indian can ahead of China, France in call centres rely on the labour pool, costs and skills. And Indian operators also have high-quality in professional knowledge. According to Keith (2001), Indian can catch the computer skills faster than any others because India has large resource of computer technologies. Indian can think independently and critically. Another similar study by O2I (2009) says that comparing with China, Philippines, Malaysia and other Asian countries, most of international companies choose India for their call centers, because of â€Å"Call centres in Indian offer cost-effective customer support services without compromising on quality† (O2I , 2009). With low-cost in labours, and high-quality call center outsourcing services, Indian call centres can save half cost that if performed in the US or UK. In addition, Taylor and Bain (2005: 268) say â€Å"Indian government commitment to economic reform and the tenets of the Washington consensus liberalization, privatization and globalization have facilitated migration†.The Indian government has raised some policies to support the offshoring, such as reducing the tax of companies. The Indian government also helps compaies to build facilities and infrastructure in order to make India become the worlds most preferred call center (O2I, 2009). Taylor and Bain (2005: 272) mention that comparing with UK counterparts, Indian operators work in more pressurized environment. And Indian workers cannot have normal sleep because of the time different. Furthermore, working in a narrow space and breathing foul air under a long time, Indian workers will have healthy problems. Other researchers have similar findings in this field. A research by Patel and Broughton (2002) presents that people work in call centres will has a risk of hearing damage, the noisy from headsets will higher than regular level. A survey by Boyce et al (2007) reveals that the operators who have worked in call centres for 8 months gain the same average weight for males and females at 5.1 kg. Obesity has become another healthy problem for call centres workers. Indian call centres also encounter such problems: denial of identity, working in tensions, and long commuting distance. Cornell (2009) mentions that distance and isolation between clients and workers is a main problem of call centres, so that operators must adapt the culture of west countries. Indian call centres provide a range of activities to avoid those problems, selecting workers in attitudinal characteristics: positive attitude, personal skills and the work efficiency under the high pressure. And providing training to operators to improve their skills and English pronunciation (Taylor Bain, 2005: 274). In order to avoid the risk of hearing damage, call centres hold trainings about using the headset and how to protect their ears regularly (O2I, 2009) 4 Limitations and drawbacks This research by Taylor and Bain achieves success. However, there still have some limitations and drawbacks. The information that authors gain from Nasscom may be limited and unuseful. Secondary data may not be accurate, and the data maybe out of date (Borders et al, 2000). The authors are hard to find valued information from the limited data. This research also has drawbacks in the interviews of Nasscom supervisor, industry leaders and trade union officials. The number of interviewees is unknown, and the detailed questions are not mentioned. In order to get the information the researchers want, interviewees will be asked some directedness questions (Wimmer and Dominick 1997:162). And validity and reliability of the interview data may also be influenced by interviewees consideration (Breakwell et al, cited in Oatey, 1999). Considering the relationship of other companies, the interviewees will give optimistic information rather than objective information. And it cannot reflect the information fully because of usually the sample size is small. The questionnaire is directed to different cases has different types, including self-administered questionnaires, interviewer-administered questionnaires, and telephone questionnaires (Saunder et al, 2009: 363). However, in Taylor and Bains essay, which type of the questionnaires is not mentioned. And the truth of the questionnaires might be doubted. In a similar survey (Boyce et al, 2007), the researchers distributed 1100 questionnaires to workers of the call centres, unfortunately, only 393 employees completed the questionnaires. The low response is in expectation, because employees had to find time during the work shift to complete the questionnaire. This research also not provides the detailed questions in the questionnaire. It has no strong data to persuade people to believe this analysis. 5 Conclusion In conclusion, Indian have become the major call centre in the world, more and more companies remove their call centres to India, because of the low-cost, customer-orientated, the government supporting and the high-quality of Indian operators. However, Indian call centres also encounter difficulties. Indian workers must to adapt the western customer and work in tensions. And healthy problems have become the main emergency of call centres. From taking a brief look at other researches, the qualitative research methods such as interview, case study are suitable methods in doing researches. Combining with qualitative and quantitative methods together is the best way to do researches. In most cases, researchers fall into researches because of only rely on one research method. Researchers like to use questionnaires but have not do a clear analysis, or only use qualitative methods. Most of readers are not experts, cannot understand the rationalistic analysis. Quantitative research methods are designed to ensure objectivity and reliability. The researcher uses this method to survey the external environment, and record the first data to further research. Qualitative research methods are designed to give the researcher with a clear view about the situation and result. Researchers also use this method to have a deep interaction with people who take part in this research. â€Å"Integrating quantitative and qualitative research m ethods lends depth and clarity to do researches† (Weinreich, 1996). This combination of approaches is necessary because of the range of data can help researchers have a deep impress of this situation. And then researchers should use qualitative methods to analyze the data in order to extract more useful information to support the arguments. In this journal, the authors use both quantitative and qualitative research methods to analyze the issues. Taylor and Bain gain the secondary date from Nasscom, and have interviews with supervisors, analyze the questionnaires of call centres. The achievements should be acknowledged, however, it cannot deny that this research has a lot of limitations. There are several suggestions that can improve further researches. Firstly, the secondary data should be checked, in the case study, authors did not mention that whether the data has selected. Because of some of the information from other organizations may not true. Secondly, authors should provide the data of how long the interviews lasted, and the details about the interviews. Thirdly, the researchers should give more data or tables of the research. With numerous data, the results of researches will more convincing. Furthermore, in the final of the research report, the authors should give more information about the difficulties they encountered when they did the researches, and how they overcame the difficulties. References Borders, T. F., Rohrer, J. E., Vaughn, T. E. (2000) ‘Limitations of secondary data for strategic marketing in rural areas, Health Services Management Research : an Official Journal of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration / HSMC, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 216-222. Boyce, R. W., Boone, E. L., Cioci B. W., Lee, A. H. (2007) ‘Physical activity, weight gain and occupational health among call centre employees, Occupational Medicine, pp. 238-244, retrieved December 13, 2007. Cornell, G. (2009) ‘Offshoring work is a quick fix laden with many pitfalls, NJBIZ Back Issues, 19 October, p. 2. Davis, D. (1990) The communitys toolbox: the idea, methods and tools for participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation in community forestry, Bangkok : Regional Wood Energy Development Programme in Asia. Hodges, S., Hernandez, M., Pinto, A., Uzzell, C. (2007) ‘The use of qualitative methods in systems of care research, The Journal of Behavioral Health ServicesResearch, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 361-368 Keith, F. (2001), India call center advantage: competitive options in a tough economy, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3995/is_200108/ai_n8983959/ Korczynski, M. (2002) Human resource management and service work, Basingstoke: Palgrave. Oatey, A. (1999) The strengths and limitations of interviews as a research technique for studying television viewers, Retrieved April 19, 1999, from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/aeo9702.html O2I (2009) Call centers in India, from http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/articles/call_centers_india.asp Patel, J. A. Broughton, K. (2002) ‘Assessment of the noise exposure of call centre operators, The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 653-661.Retrieved March 8, 2002, from Oxford Journal. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. Thornhill, A. (2009) Research methods for business students fifth edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Press, pp. 321, 361-363. Taylor, P Bain, P. (2005) ‘India calling to the far away towns: the call centre labour process and globalization, Work, Employment and Society, vol. 19, no. 2, Retrieved June, 2005. Weinreich, N. K. (1996) Integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in social marketing research, Retrieved Winter, 1996, from http://www.social-marketing.com/research.html Wimmer, R. D. Dominick, J. R. (1997): Mass media research: an introduction. Belmont, MA: Wadsworth.

Scrooge in A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens Essay example -- Charl

A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens Scrooge is represented from the beginning as a miserable old man being described as a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" I think this a perfect description of him in one sentence. People know Scrooge well and avoid him, this suites Scrooge because he does not like other people and not a big fan of being sociable. The name 'Scrooge' was created by Dickens and is now well known in the dictionary as someone that is mean, this is basically what Scrooge is in the novel, a symbol of meanness. It is described that the people know Scrooge well and avoid him as much as possible. Although this suites him well because he does not like other people, and is not sociable in any way. Dickens makes you dislike Scrooge from the very beginning by using a number of methods such as, the described setting and Scrooge, how he treats the poor, the language used etc. The setting he's in is just like him, cold, gloomy, small and cheap. His treatment to the poor is appalling as when he is asked to give a donation for them he replies, "Are there no prisons?" "And the Union Workhouses?" this is very harsh and selfish, because he is basically saying they should be put in prison instead of trying to get money off of him, this instantly creates bad impression on him. His counting house is described by Dickens to be like a "dismal little cell", this gives the impression that it is cheap, dark and cold because the fire he describes is so small its as if it only has one coal. Being so cheap and not wanting to spend anymore money than he has to he only employs one person Bob Cratchit (... ...ery clear that, is you are not kind to people then you will have something bad happen to you in your afterlife. This is proved clear when Marley's ghost appears, and explains to Scrooge that there is "'No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse'" as he when he was living acted just as Scrooge does. Dickens portrays Scrooge in many different but excellent ways and makes you feel a real sense of hatred for him by doing this. By setting the novel in the Victorian era it helps to create an image of the destitute poor and how badly people like Scrooge treat them. The actual setting he is in is similar to Scrooges personality and features, the use of similes and other descriptive language all add to Scrooges nasty nature. To sum up what the reader is encouraged to feel in the first chapter is basic hatred for Scrooge.

Gold Price Fluctuation Essay

The topic is selected for the project is the Gold price fluctuations and gold as a investment. I selected this topic because of the change in the price of gold and people’s interest in investing in gold as an investment. This topic is selected due to the fluctuating nature of gold and changing trend of gold price. Nowadays people tend to invest their money in gold so as they can increase their investment according to the price of gold at that particular period. Of all the precious metals gold is the metal where people invest more. gold is also at the mercy of stocks. When equities plummet, investors are often forced to sell gold for cash. But any significant dip can trigger a wave of buying an investors purchase gold at ‘discount’ prices resulting in a strong tug of war for prices. In this project I include the fundamental factors that contribute to gold’s strong price moves like price manipulations, supply and demand, safe haven and peer pressure buying, currency debasement, central bank buying. I also include the gold fluctuations and its impact on Indian economy. The importance of the project lies in the areas such as gold as one of the most valuable economic indicators, gold’s price elasticity is negative, rising gold price, gold as a safe investment, gold price determination move by landed costs and by the rupee-dollar exchange rate, factors affecting gold price fluctuation. It also deals with the fluctuation in the gold and its relation to oil markets. SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of the study is about the day by day changes in the price of gold and the reasons behind the change. It focuses more on the fluctuations and the interest of investors to invest in gold even though the price is getting higher. The study also focuses more on the fluctuation in the gold and its relation to oil markets. Oil and gold are the two main items in the economy now that tends to increase day by day. And a study related to those subjects seems important and reliable nowadays. The investment habit of people is changing day by day and my project deals with the people’s interest in investing in gold. And therefore the reasons for the fluctuations of gold price are necessary to be known. As we all know, of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment, investors generally buy gold as a hedge or harbor against economic, political, or social fiat currency crisis (including investment in market, declines burgeoning national debt, currency failure, inflation, war and social unrest. The gold market is subject to speculation as are other markets, especially through the use of future contracts and derivatives. The history of the gold standards, the role of gold reserves in central banking, gold’s low correlation with other commodity prices, and its pricing in relation to fiat currencies during the year 2007-2012 global financial crisis suggest that gold behave more like a currency than a commodity.

Free Essays on Late 19th Sentury Japan

In the late 19th century Japan was â€Å"opened† up by the west. The Japanese saw the advancements of the west and sought its own modern state. The process of this modernization came during the Meiji period, thus the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration completely altered the face of Japan, affecting societal, economic and political conditions. With the coming of the west and the eventual modernization of Japan, many social norms changed according to the west. In past times, formal and everyday dress was a kimono of varying niceness, depending on many variables. During the Meiji restoration, the dress changes to western formal dress, which is a suit and tie, or for the emperor and his court, Prussian military outfits. This change is in the forefront of Rough Living, Oshima’s eventual dream is to be a successful tailor with a â€Å"shop facing the main street in broad daylight† (Shusei, 138). Along with the new dress habits the structure of the army was changed as well. The new army was no longer to be dependant upon the daimyo and the samurai class, but instead the government setup a system of conscription, making it so anyone could be a warrior, which was a dramatic change from the way things had been. Without their warrior status, the samurai had no distinction nor income beyond what the government ga ve them, mostly in lump sums or bonds. This situation created much tension between the samurai and the government which eventually flowered into a rebellion, which the government was able to put down in less than a year. With the end of the feudal system and the dissolving of the Hans the central government once again placed itself in the center. Around this center huge cities grew, like Tokyo. While these cities grew with people seeking opportunities, the provinces suffered the loss of population and income, and were eventually relegated to and almost contemptible position. This is illustrated in Rough Living when Osh... Free Essays on Late 19th Sentury Japan Free Essays on Late 19th Sentury Japan In the late 19th century Japan was â€Å"opened† up by the west. The Japanese saw the advancements of the west and sought its own modern state. The process of this modernization came during the Meiji period, thus the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration completely altered the face of Japan, affecting societal, economic and political conditions. With the coming of the west and the eventual modernization of Japan, many social norms changed according to the west. In past times, formal and everyday dress was a kimono of varying niceness, depending on many variables. During the Meiji restoration, the dress changes to western formal dress, which is a suit and tie, or for the emperor and his court, Prussian military outfits. This change is in the forefront of Rough Living, Oshima’s eventual dream is to be a successful tailor with a â€Å"shop facing the main street in broad daylight† (Shusei, 138). Along with the new dress habits the structure of the army was changed as well. The new army was no longer to be dependant upon the daimyo and the samurai class, but instead the government setup a system of conscription, making it so anyone could be a warrior, which was a dramatic change from the way things had been. Without their warrior status, the samurai had no distinction nor income beyond what the government ga ve them, mostly in lump sums or bonds. This situation created much tension between the samurai and the government which eventually flowered into a rebellion, which the government was able to put down in less than a year. With the end of the feudal system and the dissolving of the Hans the central government once again placed itself in the center. Around this center huge cities grew, like Tokyo. While these cities grew with people seeking opportunities, the provinces suffered the loss of population and income, and were eventually relegated to and almost contemptible position. This is illustrated in Rough Living when Osh...

Free Essays on Getting Up Early for School

Getting Up Early In the early 1940’s the Long Branch School District voted to consolidate with the Carthage Independent School District. The Carthage school system has always provided bus tramsportation to the studnets in the rural areas of the county. One problem of this serivce was that the kids who lived a greater distance from the schools had to get up awfully early to catch the bus. Our school bus picked us up at 6:30 a.m. and we did not get to school until 8:00. We some of the first ones on and almost the last ones off the bus arriving back at the house at 4:15 p.m. We had to â€Å"ride the route† and that made for a lot of opportunities for us to misbehave. When we got home from school we were always starving. Mother usually had something leftover breakfast or dinner for us to eat. In the country, we ate breakfast, dinner and supper. I still have to think when someone invites to dinner. I lived in the country too long.... Free Essays on Getting Up Early for School Free Essays on Getting Up Early for School Getting Up Early In the early 1940’s the Long Branch School District voted to consolidate with the Carthage Independent School District. The Carthage school system has always provided bus tramsportation to the studnets in the rural areas of the county. One problem of this serivce was that the kids who lived a greater distance from the schools had to get up awfully early to catch the bus. Our school bus picked us up at 6:30 a.m. and we did not get to school until 8:00. We some of the first ones on and almost the last ones off the bus arriving back at the house at 4:15 p.m. We had to â€Å"ride the route† and that made for a lot of opportunities for us to misbehave. When we got home from school we were always starving. Mother usually had something leftover breakfast or dinner for us to eat. In the country, we ate breakfast, dinner and supper. I still have to think when someone invites to dinner. I lived in the country too long....

PetMeds Input Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PetMeds Input - Essay Example In the pet medication industry, the buying power of customer is high because of the presence of different competing products, other substitutes and less differentiated products (Porter, 1985). Suppliers are another critical input of the organization. PetMed is primarily a marketer of prescription and non-prescription pet medications, and other health products direct to consumers. It does not manufacture its own product. The company purchases its products from different sources such as manufacturers, domestic distributors and wholesalers. Its goal is to obtain the lowest cost of goods by having multiple suppliers for each product. The bargaining power of suppliers is low for the company because it can switch suppliers quickly at a lower cost (Porter, 1985). However, the threat of forward integration where manufacturers would sell their own products directly to consumers and compete with PetMed's products is high. This threat will not guarantee the supply of the company's products to meet customers' demands. Prescription pet medications are governed by state laws and state regulations. PetMed requires different licenses in different states in order to sell and deliver prescription medications. The company's failure in obtaining or renewing such licenses would hamper its sales and cease its distribution of pet medications. Reprimands, sanctions, probations, fines and suspensions from the regulatory bodies could have material adverse effect on the operations of the company and the reputation of its brands. (PetMed Express Inc, 2009) For most industries, the level of profitability is determined by competition between the firms in the industry (Sadler, 2003). Pet medications industry is competitive and highly fragmented. PetMed's industry rivals include veterinarians, traditional retailers, mail-order and online retailers of pet medications. Aggressive price competition occurs because of the diversity of competitors and largely undifferentiated products. The sales performance of the PetMed will be greatly affected the sales performance of their competition. Resources The resources are the individual assets of the firm which includes human resource, capital resource, technology, information and brand name(Sadler, 2003). PetMed offers its products through the Internet, contact center and direct mail-order catalogues. Customer care representatives and marketing employees are essential to the operations of the company in retaining and expanding the customer base. Effective training sessions of their representatives become a competitive advantage of the company against its rivals. The marketing activities are aimed at building brand recognition, increasing customer traffic and building strong customer loyalty (Best, 1997). As a marketer, PetMed exploits the different technologies available to promote their products. This includes television advertising, direct mail, email and online marketing. The brand is made available to Internet consumers by purchasing targeted keywords and optimizing search engine placement. As a distributor, the company has an in-house fulfillment and distribution system that manages the entire supply chain. As a retailer, it utilizes integrated technologies in call centers, e-commerce, order entry, and inventory control. The technology and information

No need to put the topic Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No need to put the topic - Article Example With the advent of globalization, the power phenomena to compete in resources along with imperialization was the focal point. The United States is a super power because of the fact that it imperialized and was able to control its colonies compared to its European predecessors. (Peter Stearns, â€Å"The 1850s as a Turning Point†) Stearn argues that globalization allowed a system of seamless integration in which trade was cultivated within countries. This is vital to understand as new Empires emerged and literally obtained new identities because of this emphasis of globalization. Stearn also reemphasizes the fact that United States was in the prime position to take advantage of globalization and has made itself a dominating superpower in the 20th century because of its focus to imperialize and control its territories. (Peter Stearns, â€Å"The 1850s as a Turning Point†) An interesting aspect, the â€Å"nation† refers to state, which means the people itself. Prior to this phenomena, the nation referred to the government not the people. In this particular case, there is a shift for individualism rather than the focus on the state itself. In essence, there is no logical connection between citizens and the land they occupy themsevles which leads to an identity of a ‘nation.’ The principle of nationality is crucial here to understand because it molds the structure of Europe at this point. Nationalism would not be appealing if the fact remained that nations realized that it is a self-serving ruling ideology. (Eric Hobsbawm, â€Å"Nation as Novelty†) The tension is the fact that for the first time there is a slight push towards assimilation of different groups- a bond for unity rather than classification of groups. The traditional role to be a conservative and traditionalist is slowly being deteriorated. Hobsbawm’s analysis indicated that this tension can be a destructive as race can be a