America and Child Labor essays

America and Child Labor essays The industrial revolution was one of the hardest times in American history. With these hard times brought pollution, poverty, and prejudice. Along with these corruptions brought one of the darkest sides of the industrial revolution and Americas past, child labor. The industrial revolution brought many social evils. One of possibly the most worse of the social issues happens to be the unfair treatment of children in labor. Child Labor was a scandal of the nineteenth century. Child Labor is the employment of children working under the age of physical maturity (Hine, index). Children would start work in mills, coal mines, and factories as young as 5 years old, to 18 years of age. An average child would work 18 hour days. Work days typically ran from dawn to sunset, and winter usually brought longer hours, from 68 to 72 hours per week. The average pay for a child in labor was around $ 3.25 a week (Green, p 13). After the Civil War, the industrial revolution took off. Businesses soared. Along with new businesses, labor was needed. As the number of factories started to grow in the United States, so did the number of people required to tend them. Immigrants came to the U.S. to make a better living for themselves and their families. Immigrants came to America with little to no money to survive. In order to avoid starvation, the families children were often forced into child labor. Because of laissez faire, which means that government would not get involved with business and the economy, businesses were aloud to pay extremely low wages and to allow children to work in horrible, hazardous working conditions. This is why children were often forced into labor, to help their families bring in more money. Surprisingly, with the amount of immigrants coming to America, there were labor shortages. Children were often taken from workhouses by employers. These children were transported in crowds from hu ndreds of miles away, to work all ...

Free Essays on Conflict Is Inevitable

Conflict is inevitable. While it is easy for many individuals to feel that conflict is a destructive event, it may not always have to be viewed as that. Conflict that is not identified, understood and managed effectively can lead to inefficient use of organizational property, tension on the conflicting parties, disagreements within the organization, and misdirection of those affected by the conflict situation. On the other hand, conflict that is effectively managed can result in increased creativity, reorganizing of goals and practices, and a better informed and cohesive work group. Throughout the many views on conflict, one thing remains the same. The conflict management styles are precisely defined into exact categories and each and every one of us fit into one or more of them. Conflict management styles have a significant role to play in management. After taking a fifteen-question survey, a score is determined as to which style (competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding or accommodating) best suits a person. From my survey, I scored the highest or equal with competing, collaborating, and avoiding and had the lowest score in compromising. In knowing this, it may assist me in handling disagreements constructively, which is an essential leadership skill, as well as an integral component of personal and organizational effectiveness. We were then asked to analyze how this relates to our very own organization. Instead of outlining how my organization, Tucson Orthopaedic Institute, manages conflict, I took a different approach and decided to outline the very styles and their advantages and disadvantages. I was at a loss being that I have only been with the organization for precisely three (3) weeks now and I am very unclear as to how things are actually run. People differ in the management of conflict situations. In a given team, extremes may exist where one member is very aggressive, causing small disagreements to escal... Free Essays on Conflict Is Inevitable Free Essays on Conflict Is Inevitable Conflict is inevitable. While it is easy for many individuals to feel that conflict is a destructive event, it may not always have to be viewed as that. Conflict that is not identified, understood and managed effectively can lead to inefficient use of organizational property, tension on the conflicting parties, disagreements within the organization, and misdirection of those affected by the conflict situation. On the other hand, conflict that is effectively managed can result in increased creativity, reorganizing of goals and practices, and a better informed and cohesive work group. Throughout the many views on conflict, one thing remains the same. The conflict management styles are precisely defined into exact categories and each and every one of us fit into one or more of them. Conflict management styles have a significant role to play in management. After taking a fifteen-question survey, a score is determined as to which style (competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding or accommodating) best suits a person. From my survey, I scored the highest or equal with competing, collaborating, and avoiding and had the lowest score in compromising. In knowing this, it may assist me in handling disagreements constructively, which is an essential leadership skill, as well as an integral component of personal and organizational effectiveness. We were then asked to analyze how this relates to our very own organization. Instead of outlining how my organization, Tucson Orthopaedic Institute, manages conflict, I took a different approach and decided to outline the very styles and their advantages and disadvantages. I was at a loss being that I have only been with the organization for precisely three (3) weeks now and I am very unclear as to how things are actually run. People differ in the management of conflict situations. In a given team, extremes may exist where one member is very aggressive, causing small disagreements to escal...

Time for analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Time for analysis - Essay Example Rolex may have used the woman in the ad as an implication that the watch is as attractive as the woman. The watch is likely to appeal to the buyers when such a beautiful woman is used in the ad. The use of a fallen tree as a bridge is the only solution the woman in a jungle has to use in order to overcome some of the challenges such as crossing the bridge. Many people face challenges of time constraint which they must overcome in order to achieve their goals. However, without a watch it may be difficult for them to overcome those challenges. Therefore, everybody needs watch in order to manage their time and carry out all of their activities effectively (Pricken 124). The woman in the ad seems relaxed and not in any hurry as she begins to cross the bridge. The fallen tree she is using as the bridge has a broad base, and that could be the reason the lady seems relaxed and without any worries. However, as she gets to the middle of the tree, it becomes thinner and more dangerous to cross while the river becomes deeper at that point. This implies that at the beginning of the day people seem relaxed because they think they have plenty of time. However, as time goes by, and the sunset approaches they come to a realization of inadequacy of time yet they have not achieved the day’s target. Additionally, the rays of the sun are illuminating the area of the bridge in front of the lady thus making it appear as if it is early. Looking at the watch it shows the time is fifteen-minutes-to-two. Therefore, this could imply that witch is an essential tool for guiding people in planning their day-to-day activities and avoid being caught up the time by surpr ise (Pricken 139). The picture shows a waterfall that is permanent, and it shows the challenges in the jungle are permanent. It is upon the lady to find whatever means they can afford in order to overcome the challenges. The waterfall may symbolize the durability of the watch. Also, the

Childhood Obesity in African American Children Research Paper

Childhood Obesity in African American Children - Research Paper Example -2004) found out that 21 percent of African Americans, 23 per cent of Mexican Americans and 14 per cent of non-Hispanic white adolescents aged 12-19 are likely to be overweight. Among children aged 6-11 years, 22 percent of Mexican Americans, 20 percent of African Americans and 14 percent of non-Hispanic white children were found to be obese (Centre for Disease Control, 2000). The main negative effects of the condition include medical, psychosocial and economic problems. Medical impacts include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The condition causes significant economic costs. The 2003 national rate of related expenses on obesity reached 75 billion dollars in the US, with most of the funds being generated towards social programs such as medical care. Hudson (2008) asserts that the related hospital expenses for obesity related diseases among children under the age of 17 years increased from 35 million to 127 million dollars over a period of twenty years. Overweight teens, especially girls; perceive their body size as unfashionable as they cannot conform to the recent changes in lifestyles. Most of the overweight children experience social discrimination and low self-esteem because of the teasing and neglect portrayed by their colleagues. This causes stress that increases the prevalence of th e condition. Obese teenagers significantly exhibit irregular school attendance. According to Geier, Foster and Womble et al. (2007) obese children missed an average of 12.2 days while those with an average weight missed an average of 10.1 days annually. This affects their performance as well as reduces their parents’ work output. According to USA Today (2011), most parents divert most of their attention in taking care of the obese children. The school systems also experience financial losses from taking care of overweight children. The risk factors associated with childhood obesity include genetics,

Oil price Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oil price - Essay Example Since this rising prices is inevitable, the major countries will need to find alternative sources of energy to protect themselves from the impending doom of disaster. Oil is the ingredient that drives the planet; it is as essential as air and a key source for almost every product from construction material to transportation to clothing. But the hard fact is that the supply of oil is finite and eventually it will be depleted and demand will outstrip production capacity. Increasing demand along with diminishing supply has already begun to drive price upwards. As prices are rising, new supplies are emerging in an effort to reduce consumption. "The rate at which consumption levels are rising, it is predicted that the world's oil supply will be exhausted within the next 40 years". (Guinness Atkinson Funds, "Future of Energy"). As can be seen by the above graph, demand and supply both have been rising over the years, but the growth in supply has not been able to keep pace with the demand growth and hence an increase in prices. On the supply side, there are three factors that are responsible for the current situation. "Firstly, non-OPEC production capacity has been growing over the years. In recent years, the former Soviet Union supply has been growing annually at a rate of about 0.5 million barrels per day. However, this growth had mainly come from repairing tired infrastructure rather than new exploration and this sort of growth rate is and will be hard to sustain. In addition to that, West Africa, Canada and Brazil have seen another 0.5 million barrels per day annual growth in production capacity. But like the former Soviet Union, the future looks bleak regarding the maintenance of this growth. The output from the U.S. and North Sea is also shrinking. Secondly, the growth potential in OPEC production cap acity is becoming smaller. Currently, most of OPEC, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, is operating at near capacity. Thirdly, since 1998, OPEC has been quite effective in keeping supply and demand matched, in addition to keeping the world oil supply a little tight. It is this combination of strong demand, slow non-OPEC production growth and effective OPEC supply management that has been the major driver of recent increases in world oil prices. On the demand side, the surge in global economic activity has led to an explosion in demand for oil and hence the world is facing an oil demand growth shock"(Guinness Atkinson Funds, "Future of Energy"). The major demand is coming from the developed world particularly the US, China and other economies in Asia. "China is in a phase of rapid energy-intensive industrialization and will continue to be one of the key consumers of oil in the coming years"(Oil Market Report, International Energy Agency). Behavior of Oil prices: The Asian Financial Crisis hit the world in mid-1997 and had a devastating effect on the major economies of the world. Even in the face of this crisis,

Real Estate Bubble and Financial Crisis

Real Estate Bubble and Financial Crisis Introduction The most significant economic event in 1990s was the Financial Crisis in East Asian, which also affected the world economy in the next few decades. People probably question the specificity of the East Asian Crisis. Radelet and Sachs (1998.p.1) gave a response to this question: The East Asian financial crisis is remarkable in several ways. The crisis has hit the most rapidly growing economies in the world. It has prompted the largest financial bailouts in history. It is the sharpest financial crisis to hit the developing world since the 1982 debt crisis. It is the least anticipated financial crisis in years. In my view, Asian financial crisis is triggered by real estate bubbles. This paper is organized around the topic the collapse of real estate bubble causes Financial Crisis as below. Section 1 introduces what is real estate bubble; what are the factors inducing the occurrence of a real estate bubble; and by what measurements to identify this phenomenon. Then, Section 2 discusses the effects of real estate bubble in Financial Crisis reflect in different approaches: theoretical economic approach statistical data and historical facts. In conclusion, besides summarize the main idea of the overall contents, the exposure of the limitation of the theoretical economic approach will be mentioned. Real estate bubble The real estate bubble, also known as property or housing bubble is considered as an economic bubble, which is also a cyclical phenomenon occurs in the local or worldwide real estate market. Its prime feature is that the valuation of housing is growing swiftly, however, once the peoples financial situation and economic indicators unable to sustain such upward trend of price that follows the collapse of housing pricing. That implies a negative equity in investment for the proprietors. (Investor Dictionary. Com) There are several factors that induce the burst of the real estate bubble in Asia from 1997 to 1998. The following focuses on several main reasons: An excessive support of bank lending The developers are unable to cope with the investment of the real estate based on their own capital due to the function of this industry-capital-intensive. Thus, bank lending becomes a major source of funds. Before the mid-90s, the Asian real estate is fairly booming. However, because of the lack of a formal system of banking supervision, banks competed for developers by lowering interest rate. (Koh, Mariano, Pavlov, Phang, Tan and Wachter, 2004) Governments improper macro-guidance and control Government intervention influences the real estate bubble in two perspectives: On the one hand, the land market and economic system is not mature or perfect enough. On the other hand, it is the limitation of the land resources and the market mechanism. Therefore, inappropriate regulation contributes to the growing of the real estate bubble. (An International Comparison of the Real Estate Bubble, 2009) Some other reasons For example, the relaxed financial environment; excess international capital flows (An International Comparison of the Real Estate Bubble, 2009); excessive amount of house ownership; speculate in purchasing; and bad lending practice ( Merriam, 2009) When economists acknowledge the reasons of bubble burst, they strive to distinguish the breading real estate bubble by the measurements of financial ratios and economic indicators. That aims to prevent the bubble burst. Housing affordability index Monthly housing affordability index (HAI) is a method to identify whether housing is becoming more or less affordable for the typical household. The HAI incorporated changes in key variables affecting affordability: housing prices, interest rates, and income. The formula is: HAI= (Median Family Income/Qualifying Income)*100% HAI ratio denotes the level of affordability. When HAI ratio is high, more people are able to buy a house. (Dr. Econ, 2003) This index facilitates banks to adjust fiscal policy. Assumed that the HAI is high, banks probably adopt liberal policies to extend loans, such as decrease the lending rates. Price to earnings ratio The real estate price to earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is the basic measurement to evaluate the comparatively assessment of the equities. This ratio is determined by three factors: The price of purchasing a house; the price of renting a house; and the spending on renting a house. The formula is: Real Estate P/E Ratio: House price/ (RentExpenses) This ratio provides an intuitive analysis that how purchasing houses restricts other family expenses. (The Real Estate Bubble in the 2000s-Housing Market Indicators, n.d.) Give an example of Washington DC House P/E ratio, which provides an integrated thinking about how purchase interacts with rent. The graph below states a rapidly grow in the ratios, which implies that the speed of raising purchasing price is extremely faster than that of renting price. It seems that such increasing trend will lead to real estate bubble, if none approaches is using to control it. (Eric, 2006) Some other financial ratios or economic indicators: Such as real estate price to rent ratio; gross rental yield; ownership ratio; housing debt to income ratio; housing debt to equity ratio; or deposit to income ratio. (The Real Estate Bubble in the 2000s-Housing Market Indicators, n.d.) Real estate bubble cause Asian Financial Crisis The growing booming economy of Southeast Asia is known as the the tiger economies between the late 90s and early 20s. Counties in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Hong Kong (China) were regarded as the states with the most remarkable economic growth worldwide. According to the Gross Domestic Product, it seems that economies of these states increased by 6% to 9% annually. However, good times do not last long, from June 1997 to January 1998, the burst of financial crisis this Asian miracle was dashed to the ground. In the end of 1997, collapses of the stock and currency markets in these state occurred frequently, then, at the beginning of 1998, the stock market lost more than 70% of their profits. (Hill, n.d.) In the economy system, real estate, compare with other sectors, it is the most highly leverage sector that cause a financial crisis of the utmost probability. The increasingly compound of issues or difficulties lead to the real estate deviates from the normal development. That not only generates a breeding ground of the real estate bubble, but also potential risks for financial crisis. Because of the rapidly decrease of real estate price, there was a disastrous loss of bank lending in some Asian countries, which also affects the current monetary assets. (Lanka Rating Agency Limited, n.d.) There is a theoretical economic approach (Koh, Mariano, Pavlov, Phang, Tan, and Wachter, 2006) that analysis the correlation between the return of real estate and the fluctuation in the spreading of bank loans. If the numerical value of the correlation is below zero, which indicates a phenomenon of under pricing, which prick up the exacerbation of financial crisis. This assumption could be explained though a formula, that calculates the housing price for trade: P=V () M (, s ()) +B Here are the meanings that each symbol denotes: V denotes the basic valuation of a house; M denotes the valuation of bank lending for having a mortgage on a house and the par valuation of bank lending for having a mortgage on a house with certain deposit rate; denotes the intending fluctuating level of a house; s denotes spreading of the bank loan according to certain deposit rate. Assumed that set an accurate price for mortgage, a houses marketable valuation is equivalent to par valuation, in addition, price for trade is equivalent to the basic valuation of a house. Suppose that is an independent variable, while s is a dependent variable, thus: 0 = 0 is equivalent to zero, as the spreading of the bank loan modulates according to recoup the bank for the transformations in the value as a result of the put option is included in the mortgage lending. When is equivalent to zero, it means the transformations in the growing fluctuating level of a house ( is completely spread round. However, when is below zero, it means the intending fluctuating level of a house ( has an impact on the covariance of the house return with the market. When the house price changes in response to the spreading: = 0 ; = 0 ; 0 Thus, if the growing fluctuating level of a house ( is completely spread round, then the correlation between the house price for trade and the spreading of bank loan is equivalent to zero. Furthermore, if this correlation influences the covariance between the house and the whole market is influences, it on the verge of zero. From another point of view, assumed that the spreading of the bank loan transforms according to under price rather than the intending fluctuating level of a house (, the house price changes in response to the spreading is completely distinctive: = 0; = 0; and 0 Therefore, correlation between the house price for trade and the spreading of bank loan is below zero, as following equations: = ) ) 0 These two distinctive house prices which are influenced by default spreading generate an appropriate effect of under price: Under pricing of the default risk in non-recourse lending produces a negative correlation between asset returns and changes in the default spread. Correctly pricing the default risk in non-recourse lending produces no correlation between asset returns and changes in the default spread. Countries that experience under pricing, experience larger market crashes following negative demand shocks. On the base of this theoretical economic approach, we could analyze the practical cases, in 1997 Asian Financial crisis, to support the idea that the collapse of real estate bubble causes Financial Crisis The financial crisis was began from Thailand and then extended over the whole Asian even the whole world. During that period, the characteristic of its economy is overheating with a deficit of 8% in 1997. The valuation of housing increased swiftly and collapsed swiftly. The main element that generated difficulties for financial institutions was the loans to real estate. (Hunter, Kaufman, and Krueger, 1999) According to the data from the Investment Property Databank , (Koh, Mariano, Pavlov, Phang, Tan, and Wachter, 2006) the figure below is obtained. Based on the theoretical economic approach, the numerical value of correlation below zero will lead to a result of under pricing. Such under price may cause a great amount loss of funds, which will finally deteriorate into a financial crisis. From the above figure, Thailand is the typical example that explains the real estate bubble causes financial crisis. At the beginning of the 1990s, a massive amount of foreign funds continued to flow in the Asia market until the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis started. During that period, the lower deposit interest rate in the country encouraged people to seek investment channels with higher return. Meanwhile, foreign funds benefited the growing of the real estate industry. Additionally, because bank expanded the total amount of lending though decreasing the lending rate, under pricing became uncontrollable. (Koh, Mariano, Pavlov, Phang, Tan, and Wachter, 2006) In the In 1996, Thailand loaned to the real estate sector US $160 billion, which accounted for 30% to 40% of the total lending. (Mera and Renaud, 2000) The figure below illustrates the amount of funds finance companies lend to industries related to the real estate and manufacturing from 1987 to 1996 in Thailand. It is obviously that the loans to real estate sector rapidly grew between 1989 and 1990, after that the percentage of real estate loan to the total loan maintained at a relative high level, which was between 20% and 30%. (Source: Bank of Thailand) Another support case is Malaysia. Between 1992 and 1996, over 70% of the bank lending was invested in real estate sector and stock market. (Mera and Renaud, 2000) The massive amount of funds injected into the real estate industries lead to a rapidly increase in GDP in that period. It is the fact that GDP increased by 40%, 62% 115% and 70% in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand respectively, that was much greater than that in Germany (19%), United Kingdom(16%) and United States (21.5%). However, this accelerated the formation of the Asian real estate bubble. (Koh, Mariano, Pavlov, Phang, Tan, and Wachter, 2006) It shown in the below figure that Malaysia, Philippine, and Singapore also generated an negative correlation before the occurrence of financial crisis Conclusion To summarize this paper, at the beginning a briefly introduction of the real state bubble is given. In this part it includes the definition, the reasons for breeding real state bubble, for example banks compete by lower lending interest rates to excessive support the real estate industry, and governments improper macro-guidance and control. Follow that are the measurements of financial ratios and economic indicators, such as housing affordability index and price to earnings ratio, which benefit to identify the signal of bubble burst. The most important part in the paper is to analyze the relationship between the real estate bubble and the financial crisis to produce a result that the real estate bubble is a factor that triggers the start of the Asian financial crisis. A theoretical economic approach is given with some statistical data, figure and real facts of Asian financial crisis. However, there some limitations in this theoretical economic approach, that do not agree with the reality. In the above figure, Hongkong and Japan generate positive correlation, according to theory this do not according with under pricing lead to financial crisis. The fact is that Japan is a typical example to illustrate that governmental action has negative impacts on the real estate industries. The Nikkei 225 index increased rapidly from 10000 to 38916 (peak value) between 1985 and 1989. Facing this, the manager of the Bank of Japan focused on dealing with the inflation rather than shrinking monetary policy, which reflected a decrease trend in housing price. The real estate bubble burst. (Frankel and Tschoegl, 1993) This is one of the limitations of the economic approach, which need further improve.

Le Petit Chef Case

Le Petit Chef Case 1) What should Gagne do? Specifically, which projects should she fund and why? How should she handle the executive meeting? A fair assessment of the situation at Le Petit Chef is that there are far too many projects on the table. This overflow has led to missed deadlines and therefore missed profit. The gap between LPC and other microwave manufacturers is closing fast and action is required. Essentially, Le Petit Chef needs a cornerstone development.There are five proposed projects: A new intelligent (fuzzy logic) line of microwaves, a low-cost version of an existing microwave line, an entirely new low-cost line, a quick heating model, and a larger cavity Liberte. When choosing which projects to fund, Gagne must evaluate them on three basic criteria: will this project differentiate one product from the next? Will this project spread the r&d team too thin? , and will this project provide a competitive advantage? For the short term, LPC should not attempt to enter th e low-cost microwave market.Le Petit Chef is correlated with high end, high performance appliances and trying to tackle a low cost market that is dominated by large companies such as Samsung and GE would not be appropriate. Because of this, both projects associated with a low end line should be crossed off Gagne’s list. However, perhaps in the future when the company is on more solid footing a low-end line can be attempted. Adding a larger cavity to the Liberte should also be cut because this just adds another component into the mix.Too many components that don’t overlap from one product to the next increases total cost and adaptability. Another reason to cut the larger cavity is because it really does nothing major to differentiate the product. Next, LPC should fund the implementation of a Fuzzy Logic microwave line. This would differentiate the product among high-end competitors, not put too much strain on r&d according to a senior design engineer, and promote the hi gh-class label associated with Le Petit Chef. This project is absolutely necessary to undertake.Another project that should be funded is the development of a â€Å"Liberte-express† with a more powerful magnetron. This adds another vital differentiating feature, will be easy to develop, and be finished relatively quickly (6 months). At the meeting, Gagne simply needs to list the facts to the executives since there shouldn’t be too much convincing to do. She needs to present her product choices listed above rationally and stress the need for the company to stay true to its reputation by focusing on high-end appliances.She needs to alert the execs about how thin r&d is spread and she should probably prepare a list of projects that could be easily axed. She needs to stress the importance of allowing r&d to focus on less projects. The primary theme of her presentation should be realigning Le Petit Chef as the frontrunner in the microwave business. She also needs to outline the current financial issues and how the proposed projects will affect them. 2) What factors explain Le Petit Chef’s poor performance? What actions would you recommend to remedy the situation?Le Petit Chef’s poor performance can be largely attributed to the recent influx of competition from abroad. Essentially, the Asian manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp infiltrated the low-end market which in turn forced European microwave companies to move into the previously Le Petit Chef dominated high end market. One statistic that basically tells the entire story is that the price of the microwave oven had dropped by 10% each year from 1996 to 2000. In an attempt to ward off competition, LPC spent hefty sums in advertising. This was overkill and caused financial issues.Another key factor was the r&d team being spread so thinly across so many products. Exhibit 9 highlights this by showing the products branching out in an almost ridiculous manner. Quite frankly, LPC needs to reduce its projects. In order to remedy the situation, LPC needs to do a handful of things. First, they need to realize that they cannot compete with the large foreign companies. Therefore, any thoughts of entering the low-cost market should be heavily discouraged. LPC has a niche in the high end market and they need to stick to their guns.By focusing on the high end marked, R&D is also not as overextended. Next, LPC needs to differentiate their products from the competition. They need to give the buyer some incentive to fork over more cash for their expensive microwaves. Another thing that LPC should try to do is to make more components that are interchangeable between models in order to lower costs. LPC should also focus on the appearance of their microwaves, because to sell a high-end product it has to appear that way. Essentially, the appearance is the ultimate differentiating factor.

Restrictive health, safety and technical standards Essay

Technical Standards: Standards and standards-related technical regulations are pervasive features of global commerce, affecting an estimated 80 percent of world commodity trade. These technical specifications make up much of the vocabulary in the exacting language of industry, consumer protection, and government regulation. As such, foreign standards and methods used to assess conformity to standards can either facilitate efficient international trade and its resultant benefits, or they can impede access to export markets. Divergent standards peculiar to a nation or region, redundant testing and compliance procedures, unilateral and non-transparent standard setting exercises, and a confusing thicket of other standards-related problems are now recognized as major impediments to free trade. For example: Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology publishes a list of imports and exports requiring mandatory quality inspection. Importers and exporters of the products on the list must subject their products to inspection and obtain a permit from the relevant government agencies (such as the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Fishery, and the Ministry of Science and Technology) at the time they go through customs. In the inspection, some products are subject to national standards, some are subject to regulations of the functional agencies, and some are subject to both. China is very concerned with the transparency of Vietnam’s mandatory quality inspection system. Language Barrier: Communication is the key to building successful business relationships. However, communication becomes complex when more than one language is involved. Interpreters and translators can play a critical role assisting exporters with the delivery of key information to prospective customers and clients. Interpreters and translators fulfill different roles in different cultures. For example, an interpreter in North America or Europe is expected to relay an unbiased account of the information to the audience. In Japan, however, an interpreter will translate the language and quite likely interpret gestures, context and meanings for those in attendance. Exporters should enlist the services of an experienced, fluent translator or interpreter who is also immersed in the culture of the target market. Working as a team, the exporter and the interpreter can review the text, presentation or other materials together to ensure that there will be no difficulties with background information, technical terms or potentially ambiguous messages. Non-tariff Barriers. Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) refer to the wide range of policy interventions other than border tariffs that affect trade of goods, services, and factors of production. Most taxonomies of NTBs include market-specific trade and domestic policies affecting trade in that market. Extended taxonomies include macro-economic policies affecting trade. NTBs have gained importance as tariff levels have been reduced worldwide. Common measures of NTBs include tariff-equivalents of the NTB policy or policies and count and frequency measures of NTBs. These NTB measures are subsequently used in various trade models, including gravity equations, to assess trade and/or welfare effects of the measured NTBs. Conclusion The world has a long history of international trade. In fact, trading among nations can be traced back to the earliest civilizations. Trading activities are directly related to an improved quality of life for the citizens of nations involved in international trade. It is safe to say that nearly every person on earth has benefited from international trading activities. This may be a good time to reinforce the idea that trade barriers are designed to protect some industries but, in fact they may hurt other industries or even consumers. Economists have found that sanctions don’t often reach their political objectives and they come with high costs. A good example is the steel tariff imposed by the Bush administration, on foreign-made steel. President Bush imposed the tariffs, ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent, on some kinds of foreign steel in March 2002, in order to help the U. S. steel industry compete with foreign steel producers. Many U. S. manufacturing companies that use steel, including manufacturers of auto parts and appliances, say that the steel tariffs have raised costs for manufacturers and caused thousands of manufacturing losses. Also, people who buy cars or appliances may have to pay higher prices because of the steel tariffs. The U. S. International Trade Commission recently concluded that the tariffs have caused a $30 million net loss to the U. S. economy. In addition, the European Union is considering retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. TBR (Trade Barrier Regulation) is Europe’s way of removing obstacles to trade, ensuring that countries abide by the rules of international trade, and providing procedures for resolving international trade disputes. Through the European Commission, its procedures interface directly with WTO dispute resolution procedures, affecting all countries subject to WTO rules and agreements notably the United States and Japan and whose industries have been the subject of recent international decisions. Free trade is usually most strongly supported by the most economically powerful nations in the world, though they often engage in selective protectionism for those industries which are politically important domestically, such as the protective tariffs applied to agriculture and textiles by the United States and Europe. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom were both strong advocates of free trade when they were economically dominant, today the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan are its greatest proponents. However, many other countries (such as India, China and Russia) are increasingly becoming advocates of free trade as they become more economically powerful themselves. As tariff levels fall there is also an increasing willingness to negotiate non tariff measures, including foreign direct investment, procurement and trade facilitation. The latter looks at the transaction cost associated with meeting trade and customs procedures. Traditionally agricultural interests are usually in favour of free trade while manufacturing sectors often support protectionism. This has changed somewhat in recent years, however. In fact, agricultural lobbies, particularly in the United States, Europe and Japan, are chiefly responsible for particular rules in the major international trade treaties which allow for more protectionist measures in agriculture than for most other goods and services. During recessions there is often strong domestic pressure to increase tariffs to protect domestic industries. This occurred around the world during the Great Depression leading to a collapse in world trade that many believe seriously deepened the depression. The regulation of international trade is done through the World Trade Organization at the global level, and through several other regional arrangements such as MERCOSUR in South America, NAFTA between the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the European Union between 27 independent states. The 2005 Buenos Aires talks on the planned establishment of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) failed largely due to opposition from the populations of Latin American nations. Similar agreements such as the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment) have also failed in recent years. Bibliography 1. Barriers to entry: Coping with protectionism. UK Investment. 18 April 2007 2. Boone, L. , and Kurtz, D. Contemporary Marketing. New York: Dryden Press. 2003 3. Brue, S. , and McConnell, C. Economics. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2003 4. Churchill, G. , and Peter, P. Marketing: Creating Value for Customers. Austen Press. 2004 5. Czinkota, M. R. , and Ronkainen, I. A. International Marketing. New York: Dryden Press. 2005 6. Competition and Market Power. Econoclass – Sources for Economics Teachers. 18 April 2007 7. Deardorff, Alan V. , and Robert M. Stern. Measurement of Nontariff Barriers: Studies in International Economics. 2005 8. Debra Ann Skaradzinski. Testing chaotic dynamics via Lyapunov exponents. Journal of Applied Econometrics 20:7, (2003): 911. 9. Fisher, Ronald, and Pablo Serra. â€Å"Standards and Protection. † Journal of International Economics 52 (2004): 377-400. 10. Farese, L. , Kimbrell, G. , and Woloszyk, C. Marketing Essentials. Mission Hills, CA: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. 2003 11. Henson, Spencer, and John S. Wilson, eds. The WTO and Technical Barriers toTrade, in the Critical Perspectives on the Global Trading System and the WTO series, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. 2005 12. Impact of Standards and Technical Regulations on Trade. Press Release from Commerce Ministry (2003). 18 April 2007 13. Journal of Behavioral Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, (2003): Pages 65-70 14. Kee, Hiau Looi, Alessandro Nicita, and Marcelo Olarreaga. Estimating Trade Restrictiveness Indices, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper # 3840.2006 15. Kotler, P. , and Armstrong, G. Marketing: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 2004 16. â€Å"Methodologies, Classifications, Quantification and Development Impacts of Non-Tariff Barriers: Note by the UNCTAD Secretariat,† Document TD/B/COM. 1/EM. 27/2. (2004). 18 April 2007 17. Non-tariff Barriers Centre for Rural & Agricultural Development (2003). 18 April 2007 18. RSIE Working Papers. University of Michigan.(2005). 18 April 2007 < http://www. fordschool. umich. edu/rsie/workingpapers/wp. html> 19. The Impact of Regulations on Agricultural Trade. Working Paper, Centre d’Etudes Prospectives et d’Informations Internationales, Paris. (2003). 18 April 2007 20. Trade, Environment and Development. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). (2005). 18 April 2007 21. Vousden, Neil. The Economics of Trade Protection. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2005.

Essay Lab Assignment 1

Essay Lab Assignment 1 Essay Lab Assignment 1 Maria Ramos Professor C. L. Zembower English 1301 14 June 2015 Cities of Dreams and Nightmares The documental China Rises: City of Dreams is part of a four-part television series co-produced by New York Times, Discovery Times, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ZDF, France 5 and S4C that centers in the dramatic change that Shanghai’s society is going through and how do its citizens deal with the rhythm of a city that less than thirty years ago was a still under a strict communist regime; as whereas today can be compared to cities such as New York and Toronto. China Rises: City of Dreams depicts an issue of society: Do people need to adapt to new times? Can they? And what would happen if they do not? Societies always change and by a range of different reasons; it might be war or the invention of some gadget, but the short-term result is always the same: there are some people who adapt, and some that don’t. Experiences show us that the ones who adapt forget about those who didn’t, and the result is exactly what is currently happening in Shanghai. Describ ing the situation, photographer Hu Yang1 said â€Å"The gap between rich and poor is huge, Shanghai’s society looks like a weightlifter’s bar, you have the rich and the poor like the large weights and a narrow middle class like a bar in between them† The documental follows the stories of people who are successful today and people that did not adapt to new Shanghai. The ones that are showed as successful are part an incipient middle and high class. They are happy because they feel they have the freedom of doing and thinking whatever they want. Which is not exactly true. Government still controls the flow of information on the internet2 and there is no such thing as political democracy; the communist party has been in control of China ever since 1949; however, these people feel free because they now get to decide what to wear, where to eat and what to study. As they are being constantly entertained with these important but superficial aspects of life, they gradually disconnect with what happens around them. Without information, this generation is condemned to have little or no interest in the issues of their country and society. Sadly, what this city most needs nowadays is compromise, responsible citizens who are aware that the big bucket of wealth has not been pour into all Shanghai’s residents. The old neighborhoods, which are currently being sublet by the government to build skyscrapers and big malls3, are still home for a large number of people that refuse to leave because the compensation offered to them was less than 1/3 of the real value of their properties. These people live in construction sites, most of the time without light or running water, waiting for the same government that promised them a wonderful life 50 years ago, to come and negotiate with them a more reasonable compensation; but as it appears, this won’t happen any time soon. The range of action people in this situation can take is limited; they do not have money to pay for lawyers, and they don’t have the skills to get a new job. In that sense,

Interview a supervisor Example

Interview a supervisor Example Interview a supervisor – Essay Example Interview summary One piece of advice that the interviewee wanted to give to a new supervisor was to understand the culture of the organization firstbefore taking over the charge fully. Most of the times, supervisors tend to use the same skills that they have demonstrated in the previous settings and expect the subordinates to submit to them the same way that they did in those previous settings. In reality, the attitude of the subordinates differs from one organization to another and the fundamental element driving their behavior is the organizational culture. In order to be effective and influential in a new setting, it is imperative that a new supervisor first understands the organization’s history and studies its norms, values, principles, codes, and culture, and then use his/her learning gained from past experiences to supervise the subordinates in context of the new setting. Without a firm understanding of the culture of the new organization, a supervisor may not be able to achieve his/her goals. The interviewee’s favorite part of being a supervisor was the respect he gained from the subordinates. Since he is the supervisor, it automatically occurs to the subordinates that they have to respect him, consider him superior, and give importance to his views and opinions since that is the requirement of the job. The interviewee likes the fact that he has the confidence and support of his subordinates and they tend to follow the rules established by him. They listen to him when he tells them to be disciplined. The interviewee is particularly fascinated by the fact that he is able to resolve the interpersonal issues of the subordinates; when they cannot settle the matters themselves, they approach him and then he decides it for them. He likes the fact that they accept his decisions, and this shows that they respect him. The interviewee said that a supervisor cannot gain respect by imposing just his/her own views and opinions upon the subordinates all the time; he/she should h ear their stance and then do as he/she deems is right. The interviewee’s least favorite part of being a supervisor is the difficulty he experiences in drawing a line between being a supervisor and a human. As a supervisor, he needs to be very strict in order to make sure that the subordinates do the work in a timely manner and follow the standard of quality. To achieve this, he cannot compromise upon the principles; the subordinates have to arrive on time, they have to wear the personal protective equipment, they have to finish the work on time, and they have to abide by all the rules. However, as a human being, he feels guilty sometimes when he has to impose fines upon a subordinate for arriving late as per the organization’s policy when he knows that the subordinate had been working till late in the night the previous day. As a supervisor, he also has certain responsibilities toward the owners of the organization. Drawing a balance between those responsibilities and his responsibilities toward the subordinates sometimes b ecomes challenging.

The function and mechanism of AlkB Research Paper

The function and mechanism of AlkB - Research Paper Example Iron is known to interfere in the assays due to instability of AlkB/Fe+2 complexes in aerobic conditions; a problem that is overcome by replacing iron with other metals or performing assays under anaerobic conditions. The presence of iron bound to 2-oxoglutarate in the core of the enzyme has been established through over expression and isolation of native protein. Like all other Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase superfamily enzymes AlkB too has a metal center exhibiting a UV-Vis band range of 52-580nm; that in absence of DNA is a five coordinate Fe2 center and changes to six coordinate center in presence of single stranded DNA. Like other members of the superfamily, AlkB too has a core jelly roll fold that is formed of 8 beta strands at the carboxy-terminus. The catalytic domain is contained within the carboxy-terminus; however additional features for substrate specificity lie outside the catalytic domain and the jelly roll fold. At the N-terminus additional beta strands an d alpha helices form a support scaffold for the catalytic domain and also the outer walls of Binding groove for DNA/RNA. In addition to these and many other structural similarities of AlkB to other members of Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase superfamily; certain characteristics unique to AlkB include nucleotide binding lid, flipping mechanism motif. A common double stranded beta helix (DSBH) fold comprising of a large and a small beta sheet with iron core in between has the enzymes’ conserved residues. The first of the two distinct regions of DSBH includes a highly conserved iron binding region H131XD133XH187, wherein iron is bound to the 2-oxoglutarate in a bidentate form. The DSBH present the substrate binding site interacting exclusively with the damaged DNA/RNA strand through 2 amino terminal alpha helices and beta sheet loops that form a secondary structure called ‘lid’ (nucleotide recognition lid) over the active site. The flexible conformation o f the lid allows it its amino acids (Thr51, Tyr76 and Arg161) to bind to varied alkyl groups on its nucleotide substrates through H-bonding to phosphate group in the nucleotide backbone. As a consequence of this interaction the catalytic core of the AlkB, the enzyme loses its flexibility; undergoes a conformational change that disallows oxygen to reach the active site thereby preventing the oxidation of iron. It can thus be proposed that DNA binding if occurring after iron would lead to access of oxygen to active site. DNA/RNA repair mechanism of AlkB involves oxidative demethylation of nucleotides at the site of lesion which is accomplished through hydroxylation of methylated bases through oxidative decarboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate in the enzyme core. The latter as result is converted to succinate and CO2, and methyl group is released as formaldehyde. Though the actual mechanism is yet to be established, on the basis of studies on another enzyme of the same superfamily, TauD; the probable mechanism involving an oxidative intermediate to Trp178 has been proposed. The mechanism also verified through in vitro assays on purified AlkB involves the binding of Fe2 and 2-oxoglutarate to the enzyme core followed by binding of methylated middle base to the ‘lid’. This allows oxygen to reach the iron and form nucleophillic superoxo anion (OÂ ­2-) –Fe3. This then forms a bridged peroxo-type intermediate along with 2-oxoglutarate, that through decarboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate and cleavage of O2 forms Fe4-oxygen intermediate. Coupled to oxygen cleavage is formation of succinate and CO2 from 2-oxoglutarate. The intermediate on the other hand hydoxylates the methyl group at the nucleotide forming

MBTI Preferences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MBTI Preferences - Essay Example While it was believed that the results would reflect the friendly and interactive nature, they pointed at a preference towards looking within and share significant events with a few close people rather than many acquaintances. The score on this variable is not very strong, and it could be situational factors that affected this factor. There are examples from the workplace as well as from personal experiences that underline the friendly nature and comfort in interacting with even unknown persons. The comfort in being in a position at work that involves interacting with people and keeping negotiations in good humour is itself an indicator of extraverted nature. Thus, it is difficult to accept the test’s result that claim Introversion over personal understanding and experiences that verify Extraversion. The second variable of Sensing – Intuition defines the primary means of conducting an analysis on information available. Both the test results and the hypothesized score fa ll in the same direction – i.e. – Sensing. Individuals high on Sensing will typically rely more on information that is gathered through senses than on inductive reasoning. They also process information deductively. There is a distinct inclination to base decisions and opinions on the basis of verifiable facts and not on assumptions.