Corn Pone Opinions Essay

In Mark Twain’s essay â€Å"Corn ­Pone Opinions† he uses different strategies to express his position on how people’s actions and thoughts are excessively influenced by others. He changes the pronoun â€Å"I† to â€Å"we†. Twain does this by first explaining his own opinion then addresses everyone else as a collaborative group in order to support his point. He basically states that people follow trends whether they like them or not. He gives a few examples to support his point. The anecdote that Twain uses of a young slave named Jerry that had such a talent for preaching helps introduce his argument in an interesting way. Twain carries the idea that men are made up of society’s thoughts and opinions. Twain feels that everyone will accept the public’s opinions only for the satisfaction of one’s â€Å"self ­approval.† Twain expresses to the reader that we all in a sense sacrifice our own uniqueness to be accepted by society. Corn Pone Opinions are the group of belief with which we each join as an impulsive mode to fit in, as Twain says, â€Å"the instinct that moves to conformity did the work. It is our nature to conformÍ ¾ it is a force which not many can successfully resistÍ ¾ what is it’s seat, the inborn requirement of self ­approval.†

Two Hotels

What Is the overlap between operations, marketing and product/service development at Acme Whistles? The simple answer to this question Is, There Is a very significant overlap between these functions'. The underlying question is Why? Partly, the reason is size. As Simon Ottoman says in the example, small companies cannot afford specialist functions so at a managerial level everyone does everything to some extent. This becomes especially true when the boss of the company Is also the owner, It Is literally his own money that Is being spent when creating any new managerial oleos.Partly also the tradition and competitive stance of the company has an influence. This is a company that competes on quality and innovation. Both these things rely on informal communications within the organization and a fast moving, agile ability to checkout and Implement new Ideas. Oxford 1 What are the main issues facing Sofa's operations managers? Broadly, Oxford will have the same issues as any other operati on. They must define their strategic objectives, design appropriate processes that deliver appropriate services, plan and intro those processes, and continually adapt and improve how they deliver their services.But they also have some particularly difficult challenges because of their status as an emergency and caring organization. They must provide a global service. By deflation, Sofa's scope of operations Is global. Anywhere a disaster Is likely to strike could receive the attention of the charity. However, much of Sofa's work Is not concerned with the high profile disaster relief side of its business, but rather the ongoing community development projects it undertakes. Most of these projects will e in the poorer, less developed parts of the world.The Implication of this is that, from an operations point of view, services must be delivered without an assumed level of infrastructural support. The ability to adapt development methodologies to such circumstances would be a key operat ions task. Another aspect of globalization for Oxford concerns the coordination of expertise. Experts, either in development or disaster relief, may be located anywhere In the world. The task of understanding and coordinating this pool of potential help must be a major operations task. It will rely on maintaining a database of expertise and on the ability to deploy it, sometimes at short notice.They must be environmentally ethical. To Oxford, the concept of environmental management must be tackled at two levels. The most obvious one Is that environmental awareness is an ‘output' from the charity operations. In other words, environmental management, to some extent, is one of the operation's products'. It will engage in lobbying governments and non-governmental agencies to achieve Its alms of greater environmental sustainability. However, there Is also another related Issue. Sofa's operations themselves must also be environmentally sound.Agricultural projects, for example, must be managed to ensure that there is 1 OFF local pressures to do so. They must be socially responsible. Again, this is one of those issues, which is both an output from the operation and an objective for the way it runs its own operations. A key issue here must be the way in which the ‘on the ground' managers of development projects tackle some of the particularly sensitive cultural issues. For example, ‘gender issues' are one of Sofa's campaigning points; forever, appropriate gender roles are seen in very different ways in different parts of the world.Pursuing its own ends in terms of, say girls' education, must be balanced against traditional ideas of women's role. Whereas this difficulty may be relatively straightforward to reconcile at a strategic level back in the charity Oxford headquarters, its success depends on how local operations managers deal with the issue at a day-to-day level. Prt A Manger What are the advantages and disadvantages of Prt A Manger organizing itself so that the individual shops make the sandwiches that they sell? There are a number of advantages in this type of organization. The load on the staff in the shop is equalized throughout the day.The demand from customers for purchasing the sandwiches occurs mainly in the middle of the day. If the staff only sold sandwiches, they would be busy in the middle part of the day and unoccupied at other times. The way Prt a Manger organize their processes, the staff can occupy themselves making sandwiches in the early part of the day, then, as the day progresses, staff will progressively move from making to selling. As demand then reduces towards the end f the day, staff will move onto general cleaning and tidying activities as well as making ready for the same cycle of activities to repeat itself the next day.There is clear and direct responsibility for quality, customer service and cost. If there are any problems with quality and availability of sandwiches, it is the same staff who caused the problems who receive customer complaints (In fact, Prt a Manger get very few complaints). Similarly, the effectiveness of cost control can be clearly associated with the staff in the shop. It is a more interesting Job that has a number of different activities (making, selling, cleaning, etc. ) than one where an individual will specialize in Just one of these tasks.It is easier to engender a sense of pride in the high quality and wholesome nature of the products when they are made on the premises. It should be pointed out that there also disadvantages. The main one is that the cost of making sandwiches in a sandwich factory (the way the vast majority of sandwiches are made) is very significantly cheaper because of the higher volume. How can effective operations management at Prt A Manger contribute significantly to its success? And what would the consequences of poor operations management be in this kind of organization?By developing a culture within each store that takes pride in the products themselves, the way they are made and the way customers are served. By listening to customers so that customers' reactions and comments can inform the design of new products. By not wasting materials through poor control, which would increase the cost of running the operation. By developing a sense of fun as well as a sense of commitment in the staff so that customers sense a friendly and laced atmosphere. Two very different hotels in delivering an appropriate level of service?For Formula 1, technology is harnessed in the manufacture of the self-contained bedroom units in the factory prior to assembly on the site. Because of the standardization, conventional factory automation can be used to some extent. More obviously, during the running of normal operations at the hotel, technology, in the form of the automatic ‘booking in' machine at the door, allows the hotel to remain ‘open' even while it is unstained for much of the day. This saves labor. Simi larly, labor is saved by the use of automatic cleaning in the washrooms.This also ensures that high standards of cleanliness are maintained throughout the day, even when the hotel is not staffed. Although not mentioned in the text, Formula 1 hotels also have automatic drinks and snack dispensers, which would allow guests to stave off hunger and thirst even though the hotel does not provide food in a conventional restaurant setting. At the Magus Safari Lodge, very little technology is used. The attraction of the hotel lies in its location and in how their staff treat the guests.Staff must not only be informative and courteous, they will also need to protect and reassure those guests who are anxious in their surroundings and create a sense of adventure (but not too much adventure). 2 What are the main differences in the operations management challenges facing the two hotels? The main difference is the degree of standardization in the operation's processes. For Formula 1, the main use of standardization is in the manufacture of the individual room units. All room units are exactly the same size. Because they all have the same fitting, these fittings can be artsy installed at the factory.This allows the company to buy furniture, curtains, and carpets in high volumes, keeping costs down. The standardized nature of the units also allows the hotel to be constructed quickly (which itself saves costs) using standardized methods of construction that are cheaper than building entirely different hotels at each site. Standardization of rooms also allows a standardized procedure to be adopted for cleaning and maintenance, so staff can be easily trained using a standardized training package. Finally, standardization of the room units, radically, allows all Formula 1 hotels to adapt to the geography of the site.By putting the standard units together, like children's building blocks, they can use unusually shaped pieces of land, which tend to be cheaper than regularly shaped s ites. By contrast, the Magus Safari Lodge provides experiences ‘customized for every visitor's requirements and abilities'. Also, the Magus Safari Lodge must be able to cope with fluctuations in demand through the year. However, Formula 1 try to choose locations that capture the business traveler market during the week and leisure travelers at the weekend.

Hollywood Constructions of Gender Essay

Hollywood had portrayed a variety of different categories of heroes in its cinematic history. None has been more important to film than the superhero and the Western. Both superheroes and Western heroes are considered tough and ready to conquer the evils of the world. Any actor playing Superman is able to portray the â€Å"Man of Steel† simply by putting on the red cape while John Wayne and Clint Eastwood embody the characteristics of true Western heroes. Male superheroes and Western heroes have dominated the big screen for many decades however; there are contradictory mythologies that these heroes also embody. These are discussed as they relate to superheroes and Western heroes. The role women play in establishing traits of these heroes is also analyzed. There hasn’t been another actor who has so captivated audiences with his portrayal of Superman as Christopher Reeve did in Superman in 1978. In this movie, Superman is really an alien from Krypton who has been sent to Earth before his home planet explodes. On Earth he is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent who raise them as their own son, Clark. Clark works at a newspaper and embodies a certain gentle persona (Donner, 1978; Engle, 744). The contradictory mythology surrounding Superman is that he is a mild mannered man in the form of Clark Kent but is a â€Å"man of steel† with superhuman powers when he takes on the characteristics of Superman (Engle, 744). Superman has dominated Hollywood since Christopher Reeve played him in 1978 because of his undying efforts to save the world from the clutches of evil (Engle, 744). In Superman, Christopher Reeve must save the world from the evil plots devised by Lex Luthor to launch missiles in order to make a fortune in real estate (Donner, 1978). The audience is counting on Superman to save the day and this is what makes Superman a true superhero. The American people know that they can count of Superman to rid the world of evil and this why Superman has continued to dominate the big screen in several remakes since the 1978 classic. Throughout Superman, Christopher Reeve is pursuing Lois Lane who is pursuing Superman (Donner, 1978). The superhero pursuing a beautiful female gives some human characteristics to hero status. Clark Kent was unable to persuade Lois Lane to go out with him but had she known that he was really Superman she would have loved nothing less. The beautiful female pursuing the hero gives credibility to his hero status (Seger, 317). Women have allowed male heroes to dominate the big screen because they have secret fantasies of a superhero swooping in and saving them from their troubles. Therefore, superheroes provide something for everyone. Small boys embody hero characteristics through play, men enjoy hero movies because of the action and the overcoming of evil and women enjoy these movies because of the desire to have a big, strong superhero risk life and limb to save them. Western heroes have also dominated the big screen for decades. The Wild West caused great fear in many civilized people from the East (Engle, 747). The Western hero was able to portray attempts to tame the Wild West through â€Å"independence, self-reliance, personal honor, sympathy with nature, and ethical uses of violence† (Engle, 747). John Wayne was one such actor who truly embodied the characteristics of a Western hero. In The Searchers, John Wayne plays a Civil War veteran who is searching for his abducted niece. It takes place during a time when the west was still considered wild. Wayne internalizes the Western hero characteristic of independence because the movie opens and no one knows where he has been for the past three years (Ford, 1956). In this way he is also showing his own self-reliance. He is a typical Western hero because he is a loner and takes care of himself without needing anyone else along for the ride. Wayne decides to search for his niece but doesn’t call in many people to help in his search (Ford, 1956). Similarly, Wayne was able to show personal honor through his personal quest to find his abducted niece. Finally, John Wayne is typically associated with cowboy hats and guns blazing in to save the day. He uses violence in an ethical manner in The Searchers because he feels it is his personal duty to track down his niece and he is willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to do so (Ford, 1956). Since characters like John Wayne stood for what good American boys should want to be (Engle, 747) there was no shortage of female pursuers. The contradictory mythology surrounding Western heroes is that they appear rough and tough on the outside but have a gentle nature that isn’t revealed to just anyone (Engle 747). This is opposite of the superhero characteristics that show an everyday normal person morphing into a rough and tough hero sent to save the day. Western heroes are considered brave men as compared to the more civilized men of the East. Men who were brave enough to saddle up and head West were considered heroes because of their lack of fear of the â€Å"wild† west (Engle, 747). Therefore, women longed to attract the attentions of a Western hero because they would feel safe and protected with such a brave, strong man around. Villains help mold a superhero or Western hero into an American icon. Superheroes avoid their arch enemy because the enemy has discovered their weakness and tries to use to defeat the superhero. Villains in Western films are usually the outlaws or Indians that must be defeated in order to preserve a peaceful and safe place to live. The villain in hero movies represents some sort of adversity that must be overcome (Seger, 317). In the case of Lex Luthor, Superman must overcome the greed that he portrayed in order to save the world and keep it a safe and prosperous place (Donner, 1978). In the case of John Wayne, the villains he had to defeat were the ones who stood in the way of finding his niece (Ford, 1956). The villains force the heroes to go to whatever length is necessary in order to reach their goal. Superman had to overcome the evil Lex Luthor in order to save Lois Lane and John Wayne had to overcome his adversaries in order to save his abducted niece. Therefore, villains push heroes to change and grow in order to remain true heroes. Superheroes and Western heroes are both considered hyper masculine. They are what embody the true definition of a hero. They are willing to put their own lives on the line to save the lives of others. Hero stories are myths simply because one person is not capable of ridding the world of evil and saving everyone in trouble. Myths help humans create a vision of where they would like to go and what they would like to do. Myths take the injustices of the world and give humans hope for change (Seger, 317). What makes heroes so heroic is that they live rather simple lives until the call to action is sent out. Superman is really Clark Kent who is a newspaper reporter. John Wayne is a Civil War veteran just like so many other men during the time of the Wild West. The difference between normal humans and heroes is that heroes take it upon themselves to make the world a better place (Seger, 317). This is why myths are so contradictory. The heroes take on human characteristics but underneath they possess superhuman abilities to fight evil. â€Å"Myths bring depth to the hero story† (Seger, 326). Hero myths have the power to dominate the big screen because they allow humans to imagine the contradictory aspects of heroes being incorporated into their own lives. Small children will play hero games endlessly as they dream of growing up and saving the day. However, this desire to rid the world of evil doesn’t go away as a child gets older. Instead, it grows stronger as adults realize that mythological heroes are unlikely to exist. However, humans return again and again to theaters to see hero movies because they provide hope for the future. They allow humans the ability to hold onto childhood dreams that they can be heroes and superheroes and Western heroes embody those desirable characteristics: bravery and strength.

Human Resource Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Planning - Essay Example This paper illustrates a comprehensive definition of Human Resource Planning provided on investopedia.com explains that it as â€Å"The ongoing process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset - its human resources†. Human Resource Planning is a very important function of an organization, as it helps in developing a relationship between the employees of an organization and their tasks such that each employee contributes optimally to the organization without being either over-burdened or under challenged. Based on the needs of the employees and the organization, a Human Resource Manager may be required to develop one or more of a number of different types on Human resources plans. Common ones include Succession plans that help evaluate the manner in which individuals will be employed to positions that open up at higher levels in the hierarchy and the requirements for promotions. Another important and common plan is developing indivi dual employee’s Career plans, particularly at the managerial level. These plans help in identifying the skills and abilities of individuals; and involve providing them with the assistance that they require to find a better fit with the organization’s culture and climate so that they can play more valuable and demanding roles within the organization. Contingency plans are made when future requirements seem unclear; but indicative of changes; so that the human resources of an organization may need an overhaul either through development, recruitment or downsizing. (Tapomoy, 2009). Competency plans on the other hand, are similar to career plans; but with a focus on skill development as compared to hierarchical growth. Purpose of HRP Human Resource Planning serves a number of purposes. It helps in anticipating the changes in the staffing needs of an organization. Thus, it becomes possible for the organization to anticipate and respond to surplus staff or shortage of staff i n a way that ensures that at no point in time are the staff over burdened by the tasks that need to complete and thus at risk for reduced quality of functioning. At the same time, it ensures that each staff member is adequately challenged so that there is no underutilization of the existing resources (Rees & Porter, 2008). This ensures optimal expenditure on personnel; and helps in the development of a business plan with less wastage. Human Resource Planning is also concerned with the development of individual employees so that they continue to grow and contribute to the organization in multiple ways (Reilly, 1996). Thus, it involves the training and development of employees so that the employees gain more and improved skill sets and the organization grows as these skills are used by the employees (Reilly, 1996). Another important activity that does into Human Resource Planning is the investigation of the effect of policy changes on the functioning and productivity of staff as well as on staff morale (Bohlander &Snell 2009). When a manager attempts to develop a human resources plan, it is important to consider three components of this plan with equal vigor. Forecasting labor demand: It is important that the Human Resource Manager is able to predict with some accuracy the staffing requirements that will be required at new and existing locations at different points in the future (Mathis & Jackson, 2008) so that recruitment and downsizing plans can be developed to respond to these needs well in advance(Rees & Porter, 2008). This is particularly important for downsizing, as providing downsized staff with adequate time and options to cope with the changes is important from a humanistic perspective (Reilly, 1996). Analyzing present labor supply: Not only is it important to evaluate future needs, but also to evaluate the value of present staff (Mathis & Jackson, 2008). A Human Resource Manager needs to ensure that all staff is functioning optimally; and that these in dividuals are helped to

Differences To Division Of The US Nation Research Paper

Differences To Division Of The US Nation - Research Paper Example The compromise of 1850 was mainly introduced by Senator H. Clay of Kentucky who proposed it in many resolutions during January of 1850 and delivered a speech in defense of his proposal in which he said that slavery was not introduced by law and every state had the right to do whatever was considered right by them. In order to maintain the balance and to please both kinds of states California was introduced into the union as a free state, an act setting the boundary dispute between Texas and Mexico was passed which established a territorial government in Mexico, a territorial government was created in Utah and in these states the question of slavery was left open. This compromise settled many disputes for the time being and secession of South was delayed for a decade but later many disputes were created and the compromise did not work anymore and war broke out which finally led to division of the nation into two. The Fugitive Slaves Act was proposed as a part of the Compromise of 1850 and its main purpose was to track the slaves who had runaway to North or the Free states, to capture them and to return them to their respective southern owners. Highly trained government officials were given duty to issue warrants against the runaway slaves and to return them to the south, these officials not only tracked down many slaves but also beaten brutally and whipped. Many slaves who were tracked down and claimed to be free were not given a chance of fair trial by the jury. Many of these slaves moved out of the country and still thousands were captured again. The strict enforcement of this law proved to a major flaw in the history of America as it was highly opposed by many states in the North. These states reacted against the law in order to protect the black citizens of America and to protect the fugitive slaves from brutal and harsh treatment by the government officials. They authorized it for themselves to protect these slaves and forced the government officials by per sonal liberty law that they should have an authentic proof that the person they track down as a slave is actually a slave and in case of denial by the person he should be given right to make an appeal in front of the jury. This made the identification of slaves easy in many states that the person identified and proved to be a slave was sent to his or her respective state but it caused more trouble and disagreements in other states. These conflicts continued to mount for a decade and finally resulted in out-break of the war

Australia's Apparel Industry Analysis Research Paper

Australia's Apparel Industry Analysis - Research Paper Example The Australian apparel industry can be classified into menswear and womenswear market. In the menswear segment the total revenues in 2008 was $3524.4 million. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) during the period 2004-2008 was 3.9%. The total revenue generated by the apparel retail industry of Australia in 2008 was $12.8 billion with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% during the period 2004 to 2008 (researchandmarkets, n.d.). The total number of apparel retailers in 2001 was 10,673 and they were distributed across Australia unequally depending on population density. The apparel retailers were mainly located in key cities like Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne. Victoria and New South Wales account for more than 80% turnover in in the textile, clothing and footwear segment (Ahern, 2004). Designer Wears: Australian designers are very well updated of the latest fashion trends in Europe, US and the local trends in Australia. They produce quality fashion products at competitive prices and some of them are also able to compete with international players. Designer wear particularly from Italy are highly respected and accepted by the Australians. Products from Italy usually cater to the premium segment since they are priced high and mainly include high end leather wears. The Australian apparel market like other western markets is highly fragmented or segmented. The segmentation is not only based on income but also on gender, body type, age and aesthetic preference. This result in the market being broken up into small national markets based on lifestyle. Moreover compared to other western countries Australians spend less on apparel because of the moderate climate and their casual lifestyle. Australians spend a large portion of their income on housing, communication equipment and transportation. The price reductions prompted by trade liberalization has reduced the share of apparels in household expenditure considerably in the past ten

Homeland Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Homeland Security - Essay Example Precisely thirty days after the attack, a legislation was introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter and Sen. Joe Lieberman to form the Department Of Homeland Security (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2011).. The suggestion was, however, rejected by the Bush administration. Despite this rejection, members of the Senate went on pressing it. Fortunately, after a period of about nine months, President Bush considered reversing his stand (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2011). This occurred in June 2002. The homeland security act was passed, advocated for pulling together different federal agencies as well as offices to establish the current newly formed Department Of Homeland Security. This department is led by Tom Ridge, its first secretary (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2011). This body has significantly focused on federal measures to manage terrorism while striving to deal with other duties like border security, emergency and customs management. The Department Of Homeland Security has several agencies that serve different purposes all aimed at ensuring safety and security in the United States. The first agency is the United States Customs and Border Protection. This organization is concerned with preventing counterfeit and foreign pirated goods from being imported into the U.S (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2011). Once any company has registered its copyright or trademark, it is required to record the registration with the Customs and Border Protection. The agency also prevents terrorist weapons from entering the nation (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2011). It also serves to ensure security of United States at the ports of entry and America’s borders. The agency strives to maintain this defense even as it permit legitimate travel as well as trade that is pertinent to the nation’s economy. Particularly, the Customs and Border Protection agency is responsible for arresting individuals who attempt illegally to enter the United

The Notions of 'Immortality' and 'Resurrection' in the Wisdom of Essay

The Notions of 'Immortality' and 'Resurrection' in the Wisdom of Solomon - Essay Example Moreover, the rift between the ‘righteous’ and the ‘wicked’ is a pervasive theme in the book which I would like to examine in detail here so as to understand the story line which leads to the phenomena of ‘immortality’ and ‘resurrection’. Therefore, to achieve this, the wider context in which the book was realized will also be analyzed. The final section will deal with the analysis of these concepts in the light of the Wisdom of Solomon and a conclusion is drawn thereof. ‘Immortality’ and ‘Resurrection’: A Conceptual Analysis There can be different interpretations of the word ‘immortality’ as put forth by Wright – â€Å"(a) ongoing physical life without any form of death ever occurring; (b) the innate possession of an immortal part of one’s being, e.g. the soul (which is itself in need of further multiple definitions), which will survive bodily death; (c) the gift from elsewhere, e.g. from Israel’s God to certain human beings, of an ongoing life, not itself innate in the human form, which could then provide continuity of mortal life, across an interim period, between the present bodily life and future resurrection; (d) a way of describing resurrection itself†.2 ‘Immortality’ and ‘resurrection’ are not to be seen as two opposing concepts.3The word ‘immortality’ can refer to ‘a state in which death is not possible’. Unless one is totally held by the Platonic notion of ‘immortality’ (as in point (b) above);4 ‘resurrection’ can also be seen as a variant of immortality, a form in which it is manifested. This point becomes clear when Paul discusses both resurrection and immortality in his first letter to Corinthians – â€Å"For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishab ility, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’†(1 Cor 15: 53-54). Here for Paul ‘resurrection’ is a new form of bodily life which is immortal and imperishable, that is there can be no more death. Hence he presents ‘resurrection’ within the purview of ‘immortality’. This point is stressed by Wright in the fourth meaning of immortality above i.e it being a way of describing resurrection itself. It was widely held by many Jews who believed in resurrection that there existed an ‘intermediate state’ between death and ‘bodily resurrection’. Many of them believed that the body did not go for a resurrection immediately after death. This state can be regarded as a state of immortality when one regards the ‘close ally’ nature of ‘immortality’ and ‘bodily resurrection’5 This state assumes that there is still a continuing state of existence with a unique personal identity until the physical embodiment is attained in ‘bodily resurrection’ which happens at a point of time in future. Many scholars believe that the way ‘Wisdom of Solomon’ teaches clearly about the immortality of the soul, it cannot do the same for the idea of resurrection. Boismard points out that in the Platonic idea there is no scope for resurrection and hence the idea is to be disregarded in the ‘Wisdom of Solomon

Chapter 4 results and discussion Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Chapter 4 results and discussion - Dissertation Example The study was two-fold. One aspect looked at the differences in the frequency with which low proficiency language learners’ use various types of metacognitive, cognitive and socio-affective strategies as well as the overall frequency level for each category in general. The other aspect of the study looked at differences in the frequency with which the female and male gender used the same set of strategies. The overall results indicate a medium level of frequency in the utilisation of listening strategies for each major category of strategies for both high proficiency and low proficiency language learners. A similar result was obtained for the frequency with which males and females used these strategies. There were some differences within each category with the cognitive strategies category and the socio-affective strategies category showing wider variations in the level of frequency used by both low proficiency and high proficiency language learners as well as between the stra tegies. There was also some variation within each category in terms of the frequency with which males and females used each strategy with the cognitive strategies category showing a wider level of variation in terms of the different levels of frequencies between the strategies and between males and females. ... However, the high proficiency group used metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies at a higher level of frequency based on the mean frequency scores, than the low proficiency group. In the case of socio-affective strategies, the low proficiency group used these strategies at a higher level of frequency than the high proficiency group. Table 4.1 provides a statistical description of the three main categories of listening strategies used by high proficiency and low proficiency groups. 4.1.1 Differences in the three main categories The results indicate that there were no major differences in terms of the frequency with which each category of strategies were used. Each of the strategies was used with medium frequency. Table 4.1 shows the three main categories of listening strategies used; the groups – high and low proficiency; the number of participants in each group; the mean scores of each group (M); the standard deviation (SD); and the frequency with which each category of strategies was used. Table 4.1 – Statistical Description of the 3 Main Categories of Listening Strategy Used by High and Low Proficiency Groups Category of strategies Group N M SD Frequency Metacognitive strategies High 10 3.24 0.78 Medium Low 10 3.15 0.62 Medium Cognitive strategies High 10 3.18 0.72 Medium Low 10 3.03 0.42 Medium Socio-affective strategies High 10 2.75 0.78 Medium Low 10 2.84 0.55 Medium Total strategies High 10 3.12 0.78 Medium Low 10 3.04 0.57 Medium N: participant's number M: mean SD: Standard Deviation Frequency: how frequently strategies were used Table 4.1 indicates the frequency with which the ten participants in the high and low proficiency groups used each of three listening strategies. Using a frequency of high, medium and low which is

Theory of utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

Theory of utilitarianism Essay The Philosophy of Utilitarianism may have a positive outcome, but it can be flawed at times as well. The Utilitarian theory states â€Å" The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people†. Some say this approach is flawed due to it lacking reason and consequence, I believe this depends on specific circumstances. Abortion is a big issue now a days and I feel that the utilitarian theory would be a reasonable outlook on this particular situation. To apply the Utilitarian theory to abortion, first we must relinquish right and wrong and the innate morals that follow, and focus on whether the end result compliments the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. An example of such would be, Lets say a lady gets raped and becomes impregnated by the rapist, first and foremost one would gather that this woman would not want to bare her rapist child, being that the pregnancy will remind her everyday of this horrendous event, causing her constant displeasure and despair emotionally, physically, and mentally. An opposing party would say that adoption would be an alternative, and yes it would be, but this means that she would have to carry this child to term, go through the pain of childbirth and the legality of the adoption process. Everything stated causes this woman displeasure. If she does go this route there still is an issue, the child itself. Secrets always come out, one day this child will find out his/her father is a rapist and that will have a detrimental negative affect on this child. Also, what if he/she wants to meet the biological mother and she protests, yet again more displeasure. What if he/she is persistant on meeting the biological mother and a meeting does take place, the woman is faced with numerous discontentment, she would have to relive and face the events that she tried so hard to bury away in her mind. The utilitarian theory would state that having this child will cause nothing but pain for everyone in the situation including the unborn fetus. If abortion did take place the outcome would be in favor of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Another example would be a young teenager experimenting in the sexual field, she can have a boyfriend or perhaps she has a one night stand and become pregnant. We will evaluate the situation from an utilitarian point of view, she is young, in school, single, lives at home with her parents and does not have an income. Again, adoption is an alternative, but she would still have to tell her parents, and be forced to grow up to early and miss out on her youth. Also, the pregnancy will become a burden on the teenagers parents, mentally, emotionally and financially, the outcome is unhappiness for all parties involved. Now what if a young couple gets pregnant, they would both have to drop out of school, the boyfriend who is a teenager has to become a man overnight and find a way to financially support the baby, a household and the mother. The couples parents would have to get involved and be burdened as well because of course they will try to help the young couple. A pregnancy is a blessing but it can also be a burden. An unplanned pregnancy puts stress and burdens on individuals and on couples and it is extremely hard to get through. Yet again adoption is relavant to all of these situations, but it still causes everyone involved displeasure including the baby. In all example the baby would suffer and be deprived in one way or another, whether it is proper schooling, being fed and clothed everyday and on an emotional level as well. The rapists child would one day find out the truth of how he/she was conceived. The single teenager and teenage couple would not be able to properly provide for the child, resulting in needing some sort of government assistance such as medical insurance and welfare where responsible adults pay their hard earned tax dollars. The overall outcome in all situation would not coinside with the utilitarian theory. An unexpected pregnancy is a difficult situation for any woman or couple to be in, regardless of financial stability or age. I am pro choice and believe in women having the right to choose. I also think that a woman in this situation should view it from an utilitarian’s point of view being that this theory takes the outcome of overall happiness to all people in this situation under strong consideration. If we considered this theory on the topic of abortion. I feel that the philosophy of utilitarianism would be an adequate choice.

Building Materials Market in Vietnam

Building Materials Market in Vietnam This part of the research provides a deeper view on Vietnam building materials industry with concentration on the recent business situation of construction and building materials market. Information about building materials firms is also provided. 1.1 Construction and real estate Vietnam’s economy has gone through a struggling period of insubstantial credit expansion, because of the decelerated development in the banking system characterized by non-performing loans (NPLs) and a property market slump. The property market in Vietnam is currently disheartened, disputing with market conditions including a lack of capital resources have resulted in construction companies being unable to complete projects, while purchasers are finding it challenging to afford property because of a lack of access to loans. As a result, many construction projects, housing, apartments, etc. are being unfinished .There are also signs of distressed property assets in the country. Therefore the construction industry’s growth rate declined from 19.7% in 2011 to 6.5% in 2012, although the industry reached a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19% from 2008 to 2012 (Timetric, 2013). The construction market in Vietnam is expected to be higher than average growth rates until the end of the decade (CB Richard Ellis Group, 2008 2013). Construction spending was approximately US$18.6 billion in 2012, which accounted for slightly under 20% of the country’s GDP. This spending is estimated to grow by nearly 7% per annual over the next five years (Savills, 2013). In Vietnam construction market, the residential sector made up the largest proportion of more than half of total construction spending in 2012, followed by the infrastructure sector. The non-residential market constituted just about 10% of total construction spending in 2012. (IHS Inc., 2012) Currently, a mismatch between supply and demand in the Vietnamese property market has happened. Demand perseveres for affordable housing, office but construction developers of mid to high end assets are in difficulty to attract buyers or rental consumers. This table showed the existing and the new supply for office market in Vietnam. Chart 10: Existing and new office supply. Unit: sqm (000s) (Savills, 2013) In Cushman Wakefield Market outlook 2013, it stated that current average rents for Grade A in Vietnam have decreased by 46% and 41% in HCMC and Hanoi respectively, compares to 2008. Meanwhile the total value of inventory in housing projects was estimated at more than VND125 trillion (US$6 billion) in 55 cities and provinces in May 2013. High real estate prices and over-supply, which have rocketed due to speculative activities at the peak of the market, are serious problems. They resulted in rental rates declined during the recent years with average rents throughout all grades falling by approximately 2% quarter-on-quarter (DTZ Vietnam, 2012). Contractors are holding on a lot of purchased real estate products at relatively high prices and are unwilling to sell at a loss price throughout the current downward trend. In many reports were submitted to construction firms and Vietnamese government, they all advised to address the over-supply issue, adjustments to the apartment size and lev el of development are necessary. In Asia Construction Outlook by AECOM in 2013, they forecasted that all major sectors in Vietnam would grow over the next five years at similar rates. Specifically, total construction output of Vietnam would be at around $18.5 billion till 2018, with the growth rate of about 6.7%. Infrastructure investment, such as highways, rail and ports, will be a main growth area until the end of the decade. However, the government is likely to have limited capacity for funding much of this because it is likely to be constrained by public debt levels. As a result Vietnam is set to offer significant opportunities through privately financed infrastructure projects, with the funding likely to take the form of foreign direct investment or PPP joint ventures. Geographically, the large amount of the investment will be focused on Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and the North-South corridor in between. 1.2 Building materials market 1.2.1 Characteristics The companies In Vietnam building materials industry, almost top manufacturers are state-owned. See the table 3 and 4 below for the top building materials firm in Vietnam according to VNR500: Table 3: Top 12 biggest building materials firms in Vietnam Rank Company Type Products 1 Ha Tien Cement JSC State-owned Cement 2 Viglacera Corporation State-owned Tiles, Building Glass, Sanitary wares, AAC, bricks 3 Cement Holcim Vietnam Joint Venture Cement 4 Nghi Son Cement Joint Venture Cement 5 Chinfon Cement Corporation Joint Venture Cement 6 Vincem Hoang Thach Co. Ltd State-owned Cement 7 Vincem Bim Son JSC State-owned Cement 8 Vissai Group Private Cement 9 Phuc Son Cement JSC Joint Venture Cement 10 FICO JSC State-owned Cement 11 Phu Tai JSC Private Stone, Tiles, Wood 12 Vincem Hoang Mai JSC State-owned Cement Note that the joint venture companies above are among state-owned companies and foreign investors. Table 4: Top 12 biggest private building materials companies in Vietnam Rank Company Products Note 1 Vissai Group Cement 2 Phu Tai JSC Stone, Tiles, Wood 3 Quangninh construction and cement JSC Cement Sub-company of SOE 4 Prime Vinh Phuc Company Tiles 5 Vinh Tuong Industrial Corporation Ceiling, drywall grid 6 Song Gianh Cement Co. Ltd. Cement Sub-company of SOE 7 Viglacera Ha Long JSC Terracotta tiles Sub-company of SOE 8 DIC Intraco JSC Steels, AAC, Wood, Roof tiles, Klinkers Sub-company of SOE 9 Le Phan Construction Co Ltd Concrete 10 Vicostone Stone 11 Prime Dai Viet JSC Tiles 12 Tay Do Cement JSC Cement Sub-company of SOE As you can see from the above tables, the state-owned building materials companies account for large proportion in the industry. They also are the dominating factor in private sector, it has created bad business environment in Vietnam due to incentives that SOEs have received. Therefore, they do not have very active domestic rivals who put pressure on them to innovate. Regarding to types of products, it is seen that cement is the top priority in the industry. 10 out of 12 biggest manufacturers are producing cement and cement related products. This sector has contributed a large ratio in export activities of Vietnam (see table 9). However, nowadays, tiles sector attracts more attention of government because of this sector’s importance on the global market. Vietnam ceramic tiles sector was ranked in the top ten countries of manufacturing and exporting tiles (Stock, 2010). 1.2.2 Domestic performance As stated in above part, all 3 main sectors of construction and real estate (residential, infrastructure and non-residential) has been struggling in the ability to complete their projects. Not only that, the economic crisis led to high inflation, tightened credit expansion, and lower spending of people. It made people less likely to buy, or rent a new house or even fix or upgrade their house. Therefore, the building materials market of Vietnam has also suffered a serious downward trend in development. Regarding ceramic market, according to reports and articles from Vietnam building ceramic association (VBCA) in 2013, the amount of manufactured tiles was slightly under 70% of total capacity, estimated around 289.8 million square meter. This number is much lower than 375 million square meter in 2010 when Vietnam was ranked the 5th on top manufacturing countries over the world with 3.9% on the world production (Stock, 2010). Stock of tiles that was difficult to clear, was approximately 50 days of production, about 40 million square meter or 112.800.000 USD. On the other hand, sanitary ware products were produced nearly 70% of total capacity, assessed at 9 million units, and number of units in inventory hit an average of 50-60 days of production, about 1.2 million units or approximately 28.200.000 USD. Table 5: Total consumption for tiles and sanitary ware of Vietnamese manufacturers. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total domestic consumption volume Tiles (million sqm) 150 203.65 297.5 290 272 246,9 Sanitary ware (million unit) 7.5 7.8 9.0 9.7 9.3 8.5 (Vietnam Ceramic Business Association, 2013) As we can see from Table 5, the volume of domestic consumption for tiles and sanitary ware started to decrease significantly from 2011, since Vietnam stand in its own recession. Before this year, the world economic crisis obviously had no negative effects on the local market because the amount kept raising until 2010. Table 6: Total tiles (ceramic and porcelain) in stock of some Vietnamese manufacturers No. Company Max Capacity (million sqm/ year) Actual Capacity (million sqm) In Stock (million sqm) 1 Mikado 1.5 1.07 0.1 2 Viet Y 1.8 1.30 0.25 3 Granite Trung Do 3.5 2.43 0.4 4 Prime 99 74 5.5 5 Catalan 15 10.5 1.3 6 CMC 5 4 0.3 7 Vinh Thang 9 6.5 0.6 8 Vitaly 4.5 2 0.3 9 Thach Ban 2 1.2 0.2 10 Toko 15 10.5 2 11 Viglacera 25 20 2 (Vietnam Ministry of Construction, 2013) From Table 6, it is clearly seen that those 11 manufacturer of tiles in Vietnam did not reach the maximum target capacity of them, and also had a large quantity of tiles in stock which is very difficult to clear. Regard to building glass products, Vietnam has 7 companies producing over-size building glass with maximum capacity is over 150 million square meter. However, in 2012, the goods in stock was approximately more than 60 million square meter of standard glass. It slightly equaled 4 month capacity of all manufacturers. Moreover, in that 60 million, there was 57 million meter of float glass, respectively 5 month production output. Besides that, imported glass from China and ASEAN countries with lower price also impacted on Vietnamese firm’s consumption. Therefore, some factories had to temporary stop producing for a while, for instance, Viglacera Dap Cau glass factory was closed from middle 2012 to September 2013 due to oversupply. In 2013, consumption of bricks and roofing tiles experienced a 70% of overall capacity. The actual produced quantity of brick was estimated of 17 billion units, but the purchased quantity just reached 14 billion bricks, about 80%. Table 7: Bricks manufacturing capacity and consumption in 2012. Product Maximum Capacity Actual output Consumption Factory standard brick 14 billion 12 billion 10 billion Manual brick 6 billion 5 billion 4 billion Total 20 billion 17 billion 14 billion Unit: brick. (Vietnam Ministry of Construction, 2013) A new kind of brick (or block that is non-fired) which was started to produce in Vietnam not long ago, is Autoclave Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks. It also has been struggling with output clearance because of low demand in construction, especially no new projects tend to implement this kind of brick. Beside the unstable quality, lack of synchronous building solution also one of the stand-out issues. Therefore, there was not many construction contractors in Vietnam using this building material. As a result, consumption of AAC is limited, it reached just around 60-80% of total capacity and some fresh-built factories are facing perfunctory production or threat of bankruptcy. However, according to non-fired products development program of the government, the prime minister signed the decision that AAC will replace 30-40% traditional bricks, and it is mandatory for building higher than 8 floors. So, with this policy the future of AAC in Vietnam is valuated as brightest among other material s. Table 8: Vietnam AAC Factories production and consumption in 2012. No. Company Location in Vietnam Capacity (m3/year) Actual Consumption (m3) Total 9 factories 1.500.000 1 Viglacera AAC Bac Ninh 200.000 150.000 2 Vinema Ha Nam 100.000 60.000 3 Song Da Cao Cuong Hai Duong 200.000 100.000 4 Phuc Son Hoa Binh 150.000 90.000 5 An Thai Phu Tho 300.000 240.000 6 Truong Hai Hai Duong 200.000 110.000 7 Vinh Duc Lam Dong 100.000 50.000 8 Vuong Hai Dong Nai 100.000 60.000 9 Ky Nguyen E-block Long An 150.000 70.000 (Vietnam Ministry of Construction, 2013) Concerning cement market in Vietnam, it has been even worse than other materials. Due to government policy on lowering inflation, stabilizing market price and macroeconomic, from 2008 to present, cement price just increased about 30% while input materials, coal price raised 4 times. In addition, electricity, fuel price also rocketed continuously. Moreover, from 2010, the exchange rate between VND-USD rose and the access to banking credit was difficult, so cost over cement price jumped up 20-30%. According to Vietnam Cement Association, total cost of manufacturing is 60% of selling price, exchange rate increased, loan interest is about 20%/year, almost all cement companies in 2011, 2012, 2013 suffered losses. For example, Cam Pha and Ha Long cement factory had accumulated debt of 1200 billion VND (about 56 million USD) and 1090 billion VND (51 million USD) respectively. Reports of Vietnam Cement Association said 48 million tons of cement was manufactured in 2012, the number decreased 5% compared to that of 2011. Domestic consumption recorded a figure of 40 million tons, around 18% of decline. The designed capacity is approximately 70 million tons, but the actual production just hit 52 million tons (72% of capacity). Vietnam steel and metal industry has stayed in the same situation. However, the troubles are not only oversupply caused by frozen construction sector, but also the limited capital, numerous debt from loans, raw input ingredients relied on importing sources, out-of-date production technology. All of those reasons led to weak competitive strength on its own home-market. According to Vietnam steel association’s 2013 report, about 30% of Vietnam steel manufacturers were using old technology, more than 40% with average technology, and just less than 30% of steel firms had new technology for production and management. Moreover, 2013 growth rate was 7%; total capacity reached 10 million tons, 8.5% y-o-y growth but the actual domestic consumption poorly hit 1/3 of capacity. In summary, Vietnamese building materials companies have been endeavoring to find solutions to overcome domestic crash since crisis happened. Although the government provided some supporting actions for the sector since 2011 and then ratified $3.3 billion economic package in early 2014 (Dieu Tu Uyen, 2014), the building materials industry seems to be difficult to recover. In 2013, there were 10077 construction and real estate companies went bankruptcy, while other firms were struggling in tackling the oversupply issue. 1.2.3 Export international business situation Due to the difficulties of local market, many companies have tried to enhance exporting activity. However, the majority of products is still mainly used for consuming inside the country and export’s profits could not cover the losses of domestic sale. It happened to all kind of building materials. In general, export turnover of building materials in 2011 hit slightly over 766 million USD, that was an 86.45% increase compare to 2010. See the table below: Table 9: Export turnover of building materials in 2011 and percentage of increase. No Type of building material Turnover (thousand USD) Percentage of increase (%) 2010 2011 1 Building Stone 105.646 131.715 24.67 2 Tiles 109.656 185.144 68.84 3 Sanitary ware 46.481 64.343 38.42 4 Glass 40.135 49.027 22.15 5 Clinker and cement 96.887 319.101 229.35 6 Raw materials 12.027 16.682 38.70 Total 410.832 766.012 86.45 Regarding building stones, top ten companies accounted for more than 66% of total exporting revenue of stone. The top consuming markets of Vietnam stone are Belgium (29.21%), Australia (13.38%) and United States (9%). Referring to ceramic products, just about 15% of total manufactured goods was exported. Top ten companies constituted 56% of total revenue, and the biggest markets are Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. Besides that, tiles and sanitary ware have been imported with lower price than Vietnamese firms, most of them come from China. It has pushed domestic manufacturers to face high pressures and challenges in selling products in the country market. Table 10: Import and Export situation of tiles and sanitary of Vietnam. Consumption 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Export (million USD) Tiles 77.16 80.88 69.57 109.66 185.14 190 Sanitary ware 35.7 41.3 37.4 46.5 64.3 65 Import (million USD) Tiles 33.65 22.4 70.16 95.5 46.4 46 Sanitary ware 4.2 6.8 6.7 8.07 12.54 12 (Vietnam Ceramic Business Association, 2013) According to top exporting countries of ceramic tiles, Vietnam was ranked the 12th with 28 million square meter exported in 2010, that accounted for 0.3% and 1.5% on the world consumption and the world export respectively (Stock, 2010). However, in terms of money, the total value of exported tiles of Vietnam is much lower than Thailand and Malaysia (not mentioned China here). The Vietnam Association for Building materials A said that the reason is because the competitive strength of Vietnamese firms is lower than Thailand, Malaysia, and China. Regarding to glass, total value of glass and glass related products was $0.54 billion in 2012. It was a 46.7% rise compare to 2011. However, because of the domestic downturn, this increase could not cover the loss in glass sector. For example, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan said in the interview that Viglacera Corporation still had to close their glass factory in the north for more than 12 months in spite of having foreign customers. About cement sector, in the last 10 years, Vietnam cement generally had the lower selling price than other countries in ASEAN. It stayed at around $50/ton, while the ASEAN average cement price fluctuated from $65 to $75/ton (Vietnam National Cement Association, 2013). In 2012, exporting volume levelled up to 1.7 million tons of cement and 7.3 million tons of clinker. After that, in 2013, total cement and clinker exported increased to nearly 14 million tons. This was a big leap in Vietnam cement industry on international business. It is clearly seen that building materials products such as tiles, sanitary ware, glass, cement, or steel have had a stable increase in export. However, these improvements could not help to overcome the downward trend in domestic market. According to building materials business community, the ASEAN market is considered as similarities and has strong points for Vietnamese companies to expand businesses. So, most of building materials manufacturers in Vietnam has focused mostly on this areas. The imposed tax for goods from Vietnam is 0%, but the technical barrier and quality is highly required. Especially, ASEAN countries also strictly control and apply the anti-dumping policies. Together with the competition with China, it makes the profits of exports stay relatively small. However, if Vietnam succeeds in signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, Vietnamese firms will have greater chances to expand their business into different nations outside ASEAN. Currently, Vietnam companies are paying import tax for members of TPP such as Mexico 25%, Chile 6%, Peru 5%, etc. Therefore, when Vietnam joins TPP, import tax equals 0%, companies will have more incentives to exploit these potential markets. This also true for other trade agreements Vietnam is negotiating. 1.3 Conclusion The financial crisis did have an extremely negative impact on construction and building materials industry. Factories had to cut down their capacity around 30% in general. The goods in stock increased and was difficult to sell, especially for tiles sector. Many companies went bankrupt, some have to close their factories, and many of them suffered losses. The export volume and value of building materials products have kept rising recent years. However it can not cover the huge losses in domestic market. On the other hand, the state-owned enterprises have dominated the sector over the private companies.