Irony Of What Is To Come Essays - The Story Of An Hour,

Irony of What is to Come In, The Story of an Hour, written by Kate Chopin, there are many hints of irony shown throughout the story which are finally revealed in the end. This short story reveals the allusion, the unexpected joy, and finally the reality of what has really happened to Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard is alluded and given the information that her husband is dead. From this allusion comes the unexpected joy. This unique situation was revealed to Mrs. Mallard, and the unexpected joy of not having anyone to control her is so overwhelming that she starts making plans for the future. When she finally realizes that the information given to her was incorrect, she is forced to face the harsh reality of not having all of her freedom. This topic shows the irony of not knowing the right information, and jumping the gun before this information is confirmed. The allusion that Mrs. Mallard comes to accept as reality is that her husband is dead, but she makes no effort to find out if this information is true With the allusion of Mr. Mallard's death, Mrs. Mallard starts making plans for the future. These are explained in great detail by Stephen R. Shuchter in the Dimensions of Grief Adjusting to the death of a Spouse. The allusion that Mr. Mallard is dead gives Mrs. Mallard an overwhelming sense of freedom, and throws out all rational thinking. When Mrs. Mallard is alluded and given the information that her husband is dead. "It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of killed. He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message"(Chopin 452). When Richards finds out this disturbing news of his friends death, he only reads the telegram and then goes and tells Mrs. Mallard. This news over her husbands death is quite inaccurate, when in fact he is very much alive but she is misinformed and is brought to think that he is dead . After being oppressed for so long Mrs. Mallard jumps right into making a new life for her self . "While the surviving spouse is learning new tasks and roles, he or she is simultaneously "trying on " new aspects of identity , new self-concept: as future "mother-father," "sole supporter," "boat operator," "single person," " autonomous functioner," "lonely widow," or "incapable and helpless victim"(Shuchter 114). This shows that Mrs. Mallard is living and accepting the fact that her husband is dead and is ready to move on with her life. She makes the transition of being married to being a widow rather quickly without much thought or asking any questions such as, what if he is really alive and not dead, which would be a perfectly natural response to the death of a spouse. "Her f ancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own" (Chopin 452). This further shows the transition made by Mrs. Mallard or making plans for the future and living in the allusion that her husband is dead. "The anticipation of this future reality allows the surviving spouse to experiment with such self-perceptions and work toward realizing those that make the most sense or are the most desirable. The still-living spouse can also contribute his or her version of the vision and reinforce the more positive views" (Shuchter 114-115). The fact that Mrs. Mallard keeps on living in the future and not facing reality is her biggest downfall. " She saw beyond the bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely" (Chopin 452). She is already on the last stage of accepting the death of a spouse. She is only setting herself up to be disappointed, and she will be let down when she sees M r. Mallard in the end. The unique situation which is revealed to Mrs. Mallard that gives her the unexpected joy of not having anyone to control her, this

Free Essays on Technonlgy Vs Evolution

, all of us have two agendas: one hidden in the recesses of our minds, and one that we sell to ourselves and others† (De Waal 662). What this is saying is that even if someone has no thought in their head that what they are about to do is unselfish; the... Free Essays on Technonlgy Vs Evolution Free Essays on Technonlgy Vs Evolution Technology Vs Evolution Until the recent discovery of cloning, no one thought that technology was in any way related to morality. In reality isn’t technology against the morals of the natural world to begin with? But is there even such a thing as a purely selfless act? Sure there are actions that seem selfless, but the reason for doing them is consciously or unconsciously selfish. Evolution is a natural occurrence that one would think is unselfish and completely moral, however in reality the process of evolution is very selfish. It is a species genes changing so that the species will ultimately survive, this is an act that only helps that species. Technology is created to conform to how far evolution has gone. Technology is the next step in the evolution process for humans, and it is making all humans a little more immoral. A tribal shaman â€Å"ensures that the relation between human society and the larger society of beings is balanced and reciprocal, and that the village never takes more form the living land than it returns to it – not just materially but with prayers, propitiations, and praise† (Abram 5). While this seems to be natural and morally thanking the earth for what is has given, the shaman are doing this because the â€Å"scale of a harvest or the size of a hunt are always negotiated between the tribal community and the natural world† (Abram 5). This seemingly selfless act is really only to help the amount of food they can grow or catch that season. This leads to the thought that there is no such thing as a purely moral person. â€Å"If people think they are at times unselfish, so the argument goes, they must be hiding the selfish motives from themselves. In other words, all of us have two agendas: one hidden in the recesses of our minds, and one that we sell to ourse lves and others† (De Waal 662). What this is saying is that even if someone has no thought in their head that what they are about to do is unselfish; the...

Criminal Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminal Law - Essay Example The main purposes of having criminal laws are just twofold: to state public morality and to set the boundaries within the society. In a society, there are various non-verbal practices that have been put to law, because the members of the society deem it as offending or inappropriate. So when an individual violates a rule which is establish by the society, or perhaps a public moral, then that individual would be punished for intentionally breaking the rule, because his action implies that he is intentionally causing disharmony to the society. Law, or criminal law in this case, seeks to have these individuals accountable for the criminal actions they have committed. This is done through having legal actions against them, like imprisonment or fines. Criminal law is based on many written sources, all of them from laws. These are constitutional, administrative, statutory, common and case laws. Constitutional law deals with the U.S. Constitution: how it has to be interpreted and implemente d. All the laws are subordinate of the constitution. If, say, a law is in conflict with the Constitution, the Supreme Court acts on it and deem it unconstitutional. Administrative laws are made by the government offices, agencies and commissions. They are semi-judicial or semi-legislative in character but they often have criminal penalties. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are examples of administrative agencies that make this kind of laws. They can also formulate rules and investigations and also impose sanctions. Statutory laws are those which are passed as statutes by the Congress and other state legislative bodies. The federal government has its own set of statutory laws as well as the state government. Federal law sometimes overlaps with the federal law. Common law is based on the universal practices and notions of the society. It is also known as judge-made law, where the judges created the common law by r uling that certain actions are deemed as crimes and they are punishable. The judges also defined that certain offenses like rape and murder are crimes against the state. This originated in England in the twelfth century. Case laws are laws that laws that have resulted from court decisions and interpretations of statutory law. This is often the result when certain court decisions have not yet been codified. One of the most common justification and excuse defense used is self-defense and insanity. A justification or excuse in jurisprudence is a defense against criminal charges and it’s commonly used as a means to grant exception for a person which may have criminal liabilities (excuse) or as a means to vindicate an act (justice). These defenses have similar but different functions. Justification was already seen in Early English law but they were for remission of the criminal’s punishments, which is basically just a dismissal of criminal charges. Justification also means that criminal charges be dismissed because an individual enforcement of the law or for the benefit of the public. Excuse began as a plea for mercy and often used psychology to support the acts of crime. Therefore, justification implies that it is for the common good, and for the uniformity of the people in the society while excuse is a highly individualized defense, depending on the accused psychological assessment. For example, self-defense is commonly used as

How does oil and gas market effect on world economic Coursework

How does oil and gas market effect on world economic - Coursework Example There is no contention or doubt that oil and gas are the major sources of energy in the world, despite the invention of other sources of energy like Nuclear and geothermal energy, oil and gas remain the most crucial and fundamental source of energy. The economy of most countries in the world is dependent upon oil and natural gas; this has been greatly evidenced by the effect of global oil and gas prices on the prices of other basic commodities and the cost of living. This vehemently indicates that the global economy is inextricably bound with the global oil and gas market. Political crisis and interrupting in major petroleum producing countries has often had tremendous effect on global prices of all other industrial commodities. This is because oil and gas energy is the backbone of industrial activities and development. . Other factors affecting the global oil market include technical factors, pricing and marketing, Environmental issues, national security, and public policy choices a nd debates in global oil markets. According to a report released by the International Energy Agency in the year 2011, the top ten oil producers accounted for 63% of the oil produced worldwide. These giant oil producers who have a large share of the Market greatly influence the international oil market. It is also projected that USA is going to overtake Russia as the largest oil producer by 2017. The greatest share of oil production is in the Middle East and political crisis in the last few years has seen a significant increase in global oil and gas prices. ... Market regionalisation would see very great oil price disparities which is mitigated by the oil controlling cartels like OPEC (Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries) OPEC has dominated the global oil market for a very long time and has somehow been effective in pushing the price of oil upwards in favour of oil producers. Due to the impact that the cartel has on the prices of oil and the market in general, there have been claims that the global oil market is not a fair market. This has seen petroleum producing countries realise a lot of wealth from the oil importing countries. The cartel has been effective in keeping the prices of oil higher than it would probably be if controlled by competition in a liberal market. However oil prices are at times greatly affected by world crisis or disasters and also speculation by the traders in this multi Trillion industry The petroleum producing countries greatly impact on the global oil prices by regulating production and supply, especia lly OPEC is very instrumental in regulating production by member states thus affecting supply and demand. The organisation is also involved in marketing of oil of the member states giving them a bigger bargaining power. If traders speculate a reduction in oil, prices they push the prices up, the availability of oil in strategic reserves also affect the global oil market. These include the oil stored in American reserves and refineries and also Saudi Arabia which has a very big reserve. If Saudi Arabia for instance allows release of oil from its strategic reserves, global oil prices tend to go down. Demand of oil and gas also greatly impact on the prevailing prices, this is especially during the

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Speech or Presentation

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah - Speech or Presentation Example Nonetheless, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is remembered today as being the thirteenth ruler of Kuwait, having ruled the country for close to thirty years. Therefore, he greatly influenced Kuwait, and contributed to the current state of the country. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is among the first Kuwaiti to attend the first school that was opened in the country. The Al-Mubarakiya School was the first school to be established in Kuwait, and this is where Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah schooled. This therefore, shows that this leader embraced education and applied his intelligence and educational knowledge in his leadership. Apart from academic schooling, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was also taught religion, although through a private tutor. He also learnt the English language through private tuition. In addition, he was taught the Arabic literature, as well as the basic scientific skills. This shows us that Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was a knowledgeable man. In add ition, his family, especially his father, knew how to invest in his son through an education. Religion was also core to Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Therefore, he was a leader that was developed in all aspects (‘AMEinfo.com’ WEB). The first leadership responsibility of Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was when he was 23 years-old. He was given responsibility in the region of Ahmadi, to be the director of public security. Later in the year 1962, Kuwait obtained its first Minister of finance and economy, and Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was named as the holder of this position. Therefore, it is clear that, before Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah came into power in the year 1977 as the ruler of Kuwait, he already had an experience in leadership (‘AMEinfo.com’ WEB). A variety of leadership positions continued to shape Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for the leadership task that lay ahead of him. In the year 1965, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah now w as given a greater position, moving from a finance minister to the prime minister of Kuwait. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was finally pronounced an apparent heir and a crown prince in the middle of 1966. Afterwards, when his father, the then ruler of Kuwait passed away, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was crowned as the 13th ruler of Kuwait. This was in December 31, 1977, as earlier mentioned. Therefore, from Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s childhood, it has become clear that his father was interested in him, and invested much in him, knowing that he would be the next ruler of Kuwait. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s rulership in Kuwait was not easy. He was faced with a myriad of challenges during his rulership. These emerged from both the internal and external forces, thus putting his leadership skills to test. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s rule occurred at a time when there was turbulence in the political and social environment of Kuwait as well as its neighbours, Iraqi, Iran, and Syria. Since Kuwait is one of the Arabic countries and a neighbour to other Arabic countries, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had to get involved in various political issues in which its neighbours were involved. With regard to relationship with foreign countries, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah prioritized peace. However, as a leader of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had to address the various threats that came from the external environment. This included the war between Iraq and Iran, which lasted for eight

Environmental Analysis At Tui

Environmental Analysis At Tui INTRODUCTION: The modern era of business is much complicated than the previous. Any organisation must seek to understand the nature of its competitive environment if it is to be successful in achieving its objectives and in establishing appropriate strategies. For this the organisation and those leading them need to improve their understanding of the nature of the organisational structure, the importance of technology and the role they play in the organisation for improving the performance. This report presents the overall analysis of the tourism industry, achieving, maintaining leadership and implications of the changing business environment with respect to TUI case study. TUI is one among the largest European tourist operator in the world which is the leading international leisure travel which operates approximately in 180 countries worldwide and serves more than 30 million customers in over 24 source markets. Starting its business as Preussag which was operating in smelting and mining industry, profitability was decreasing in that sector so it gave an exit to that sector and entered tourism industry, a radical decision to change. It started acquiring other tourist operators included its acquisition of major European tourist operators by late 1990s. In 2001, all the brands and firms were put under the World of TUI. Till 2005 and after that TUI has taken the first position in tourism industry and has worldwide operations. TUIs strategy was to have its label in almost all parts of the world. Their main objective is to have a strong brand portfolio in all parts of the world and constantly raising the performance of the international tourism industry. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AT TUI: Strategic management includes understanding the strategic position of an organisation, strategic choices for the future and managing strategy in action (Johnson et al, 2008). Strategic position identifies the impact of external environment, strategic capability, expectation and influence of stakeholders on strategy. The business environment can be divided into (refer appendix 11.2): Through the DEEPLIST (Demographic, Economic, Ecologic, Political, Legal, Informational, Social and Technologic) analysis, from a macro level, examining factors within the remote environment and show how they influence tourism industry. Moreover, Porters Five Forces, including the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, potential threats from domestic substitutes and overseas entrants, and the intensity of rivalry, will focus on the structural determinants of the intensity of competition that affect the tourism industry from a micro level (Stubbs, 2000). Business change due to technology is the transformation of business activities which is not regular and not done all the time. According to Anderson et al (2001) change is catalysed by number of forces that trigger it and these forces start off in the organisation or the marketplace. Change in business is required if core processes, organisation structures, rules and procedures are not efficient enough to achieve the desired goal. Following are the change drivers which triggers change in tourism industry. The Key drivers to be considered here are Political, Technology and Socio-culture/Demographics (refer appendix 11.2). PESTEL/DEEPLIST ANALYSIS Demographics: Social issues can create great problems to business and this can result in business change in the tourism industry. One aspect of social change consists of changes in peoples attitudes, values and beliefs when they visit different places. Other aspects of social change are in the field of culture, social structure and of the patterns of behaviour. Social problems can be anything affecting the nature, social institutions, and community of people or group of individuals. The business might be aiming at developmental change and benefit of the society but it can be taken in negative sense by some group of people who believe the business is eliminating the existing way of living. Thus this may affect the TUIs operations and market share as customers are the main asset for companys growth. Political Issues: In general form the case study, international tourist arrivals recorded across the world was more than 800 million which was due to the growing annual pace 10 years back in the tourism industry was quoted according to World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in which policy issues are accounted. Terrorism: We can know that there was 5.5 per cent growth rate and 10 per cent growth in 2004 seemed to be like the tourism industry had taken a boom indicated the rise which was followed by insecurity created after the various terrorist attacks in Newyork (2001), Djerba (2002), Bali (2003) and Madrid (2004) during 2001-2003. London bomb attacks in July 2005 really did not affect the arrivals in UK. In fact there was a 10 per cent increase on tourist arrivals in the Northern Europe and UK. Usually terrorist attacks at destinations have an adverse effect on tourism industry as people tend not to visit those places out of fear and insecurity. Security: In 2005 TUI was considered to be the biggest tour operator in Europe. The wholesaler tour offers packaged or all-inclusive prepaid and pre planned holidays to its customers which offered security and the value for the vacationer. Taxation: if any common Value added tax is introduced for every booking made through internet/mobile. Poor people will be affected greatly compared to rich in the society. This may reduce internet transactions. Social Issues: Traumatic effect on international travel from 2000 to 2004 is due to global economic downturn and the health crisis, such as the outbreak of SARS in 2003. We can also consider the Demography, social values which lead to social problems, cultural features wherein peoples attitude for the tour can change accordingly. Economic Issues: Financial: The WTO forecasted that the 1 billion arrivals spot would be passed in 2010 and by 2020 there would be 1.6 billion international tourist arrivals, which seems to be the expansion of tourism shaping the future of the world economy and activity. Exchange Rate: Typically, an income per capita of source countries and the relative price of exported tourist services as the main determinants of demand. Demand has generally been found to be highly income elastic, consistent with international tourism being a luxury good and highly responsive to changes in the relative price of tourist services when measured as the real exchange rate relative to the destination country. Competition: All the package tours offered through travel agents such as Thomas Cook, My Travel Group, Rewe Touristik and First Choice Holidays are the main competitors for TUI even though in 2005 it took a major market share in European tourism market. Lodging, food, beverage, leisure, tourist demand spending, channels of distribution leads to weakness and strengths of economic sectors. Tourism is the major trend in economy (Manuel et al, 1999). Ecological /Environmental Issues: Carbon is the main affluent which is taken into account when tourism industry is concerned about package tours offered to customers which is composed of air transportation. Even oxides of nitrogen due to the combustion of fuel, packing plastic bags for food preservation by travel industry are hazardous to environment. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges as a tourism sector. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, travel and tourism contributes around 5% of total global carbon emissions. Along with many other industries, the leisure travel sector is feeling the effects of climate change, and in the future we can see changes in the quality of tourist seasons, an increase in the intensity of tropical storms and rainfall, and more severe droughts (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Tourism is known as a thirsty industry, due to the amount of water required for tourism activities such as golf courses, swimming pools and washing of linen. Water scarcity is likely to be an issue for the business in the medium to long-term (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Climatic conditions may influence the decisions of customers effectively in tourism industry (Example change in season or heavy rain pour). However, tourism sector also has a significant positive impact on the people who live and work in the destinations. Tourism is one of the worlds largest industries, contributing around 11% to global GDP. It is particularly important for developing economies, and is a top five export in 80% of developing countries. 2.1.6 Technological Issues: In March 2005 TUI launched the virtual tour operator Touropa.com, in Germany, selling travel tours not only online, but also through travel agencies, television and call centres which bolstered TUIs place as the European head in the direct sale of travel products with a turnover of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2.6 billion in 2005. Online transactions and booking include broadband service and internet technology in tourism industry. 2.1.7 Legal Issues: Issue of online trademark protection, spawning, mouse-trapping spoofing, cyber-squatting, domain name fraud, as well as spyware. Internet Marketing in Hotel industry and Tourism lets us to know that loss of control of a companys trademark can occur (for example when a third party bids on a trademarked term on search engines), not only may lead to loss in revenues, but also brand confusion by the consumer. For Example: My Travel Group was under reorganization after several bad years, including 2005 when revenue decreased by 19 per cent, under claims of accounting and mis management. TUI is active in the shipping business which includes logistics and containers, during shipping legal factors are to be considered with many countrys legal scenarios which have to be met with high terms. Import and export duty are also considered. International trading is the other part of TUI wherein most of the activities were taken into account other than shipping where in legal terms will have a greater impact on the tourism industry. PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS: PORTERS five forces diagram explains how forces like buyer power and threat of new entry creates competitive rivalry and ultimately leads to business change for the current tourism industry based on the development in the market and detail analysis is carried out in the appendix 11.3 (Porter, 1985). INTERNAL ANALYSIS OF RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES AT TUI: Internal analysis is done to explore the contribution of resources in achieving profits and to analyse how the internal resources of an organization helps in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. The importance of internal resources in adding value to TUI can be analysed using two approaches- the value chains the value system (refer appendix 11.4). 3.2 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 3.2.1 Primary Activities Inbound Logistics Preussag, former TUI took more interest on acquisitions of many tour operators (Hapag-Llyod AG, TUI Deutschland, Thomas Cook etc) during early stages. This many acquisitions lead to the formation of TUI tour operator, which has become the first player in tourism industry in European market (refer appendix 11.4). Operations Quality and consistency are important attributes in travel and tourism industry for TUI. Thus retaining the brand, TUI transformed its operations by improving product quality and consistency for which people were ready to take the packages. It also enjoyed significant economies of scale. Outbound Logistics Setting up different travel agencies across many countries with major presence in Germany, UK and Netherlands and Belgium. By 2005 there were 3500 travel agencies in 17 countries. Acquiring these helped TUI in expanding its boundaries and reaching the world. This helped in building an image over time in international context. Service Tourism industries have to ensure that it provides good quality service to consumers because using poor quality raw materials may have major affect on the operator market share. Providing good quality service is a case of social responsibility. 3.2.2 Support Activities Procurement Acquiring raw materials locally and importing consisted of inputs in TUIs value chain. It also procured its inputs used in value chain from the resources it attained from acquisitions (refer appendix 11.4). Technology Development Technology includes the product and process development. It used its virtual tour operator Touraopa.com, where in travel tours are sold online and also through travel agents and call centres from Germany in tourism industry to dominate the market share of the world (Johnson et al, 2008). Human Resource Management TUI had 58,191 employees by the end of September 2005 across the group and has more than 180 destinations. It gives opportunity to develop, rewards and recognition, work experience and leadership ability within the group and of which some worked in logistics division, trading and sales operations as well. (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009) TUIs Infrastructure Preussag created TUI management structure was centralised in order to manage the airlines grouping the year 2002(www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Resources for managing operations in different countries have lead TUI to have a better infrastructure. 3.3 HUMAN RESOURCES: TUI deployed its workforce from the expert operational management skills from different operators which were acquired from the firm during mergers and acquisition. Also since its management structure was centralised during 2002; it has human resources from the international context who will be framing its strategy according to the requirements and it is said to have implement resource based view. PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGIES: The firms profitability is the primary determinant of the industry and its position within the industry is an important secondary determinant. Above average profitability is the fundamental basis for attaining sustainable competitive advantage. The basic types of competitive advantage are low cost or differentiation. Along with types of advantage and scope of activities for which firm needs to attain them lead to three generic strategies to pull off above average performance in an industry like tourism. COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY: TUIs ability to offer lower price to powerful buyers. This usually targets a broad market. Firm sells its products either at average industry price to achieve profits further than rivals or below the average industry prices to put on market share (refer appendix 11.6). Low cost firm like TUI finds and exploits all sources of cost advantage like efficient distribution channels involved in the process. TUI has attained overall cost leadership, as it can command prices or near industry average. Hence it is considered to be above average performer in its tourism industry (refer appendix 11.5). DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY: The value added by the exceptionality of the product may allow the firm to change the best price for it. Large buyers have less power to negotiate because of few close alternatives. Customers of TUI get attached to differentiating attributes, reducing threat of substitutes. Corporate reputation is for innovation and quality of service in the case of TUI (refer appendix 11.6). FOCUS STRATEGY: It basically aims at narrow competitive range within an industry. The focuser services only a segment or group. Two variants are considered in this: cost focus a firm seeks a cost advantage in its target segment, where as in differentiation focus a firm seeks differentiation in its target partition (refer appendix 11.5). The target segments must either have buyers with strange needs or else the production and delivery system that best serves the target segment must differ from that of other industry segments (refer appendix 11.6). STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AT TUI TUI is considered to be more bureaucratic, which is more rigid and it stabilises the decision making progression (Barron et al, 1994). An intrusive firm have more in force and inhibits the choice of more active strategies (Peters, 1992). Service revolution can happen when industry focuses on people, Optimize technology/processes and empower employees, making service transparent, by delivering invisible excellence, focus on elegant simplicity, adapt and evolve, requirement to achieve best of all which may include society, environment and economy(Silvester et al, 2008). Well defined centralised process development and structured innovations, framework, with number of fixed points which include high cost innovations whereas most of the functional departments are decentralised and customer feedback helps TUI to obtain competitive advantage(www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). Flexible process like running different service for their customer which is usually much diversified in its development of operational units. Whereas in distributed functional departments of TUI primarily were unstructured, emergent process focuses on continuous improvements. This budget may be often taken into operating expenses (Heracleous et al , 2005). SWOT ANALYSIS: TUI key issues in the business environment and its strategic capability can be analysed using a SWOT analysis. This will help in identifying the extent to which the current strength and weaknesses of TUI are relevant to and capable of dealing with the changes taking place in a business environment. The table in appendix 11.6 depicts a SWOT analysis of TUI. GROWTH SHARE OF TUI A BCG MATRIX ANALYSIS The BCG matrix analysis will be helpful in determining the relationship between the relative share of the product portfolio TUI and its market growth. The key constitute of TUIs product portfolio includes its tourism business and also its interests in hotels and shipping industry. Later TUI also expanded its portfolio by adding transportation between airport and hotel, provided local excursions, offered assistance for car rentals etc (www.tuitravelplc.com, 2009). In the tourism sector TUI has to choose whether to concentrate more on its mainstream or the international best segment. However the 2007 annual report of TUI showed that the worldwide trend towards the tourism industry is increasing. The appendix 11.7 depicts a BCG Matrix analysis wherein TUI is marked as Stars (High market share, High market growth). LIMITATIONS OF TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS: Limitations of PESTEL Analysis Some corporate strategists comment that since future is uncertain, there is no point in prediction. Therefore while applying PESTEL, factors like economical conditions, lifestyle of the people, etc. should be assumed as static. Also for analysing the strategic position of TUI, a company large by its size and operations and spread in different parts of the world, PESTEL alone cannot help because it only analyses the external environment where as analysing strategic position requires both external and internal environment analysis. Thus, it can be used only in support of other tools. Limitations of Porters Five Force Analysis Five Force Analysis demands that all other factors should be static whereas the competitive environment in practice is constantly changing. Also customers and the external environment are given same importance than any other aspect of environment in the analysis whereas customers should be the prime aspect of strategy development for companies like TUI who are selling their products to end customers (shipping, tourism and hotels). Also, a broad analysis of all the five forces makes it very difficult in compound industries with multiple interrelations, product groups, by-products and segments. Limitations of Market Segment Analysis Customer needs may vary than predicted about the particular market especially when the target market is large. Another major disadvantage of Market segment analysis is that changes in market conditions will lead to potential threats. Limitations of Value Chain Analysis The key actors in the value chain are sometimes affected by certain rules that are set by others like the government. So value chain analysis is influenced by information on these rules. It is difficult for companies like TUI whose business is diversified in different parts of the world for giving specific and meaningful information like fares, quotations, offers, quality standards and environmental standards imposed by tourism places. Sustainable Supply chain management (SSCM): the main challenge is to apply SSCM. Quality is the most important part of supplier selection by tour operations. Communication between relationship of quality and sustainability to increase market share awareness is the factor evaluating SSCM (Font et al, 2006). Limitations of Generic strategies: Risks in generic strategies, inclusion of low-cost strategy. For example if other firms (like My Travel) may also lower the costs due to advancement in technology. Thus, as a result narrow focus groups should be targeted to gain significant market share. Risks dealt with differentiation strategy are imitation of competitors and change in customers tastes. Specialized products and core competency protect against substitutes. Limitations of SWOT Analysis The output of SWOT analysis may contain a big list in which some may be more important and some may be less important. Also it is not suitable for more dynamic and insightful analysis. Limitations of BCG Matrix Analysis In BCG Matrix analysis it is very difficult to measure market growth rates and relative market shares. Also economical and political factors vary from country to country and BCG Matrix analysis doesnt take this into consideration. CONCLUSION The analysis reveals that TUI is in a very strong position in the tourism industry. TUIs current strategic position reveals that it has achieved long term growth from developing markets, acquisitions and resources from developed markets. Its expertise gained from many mergers and acquisition from different tourism groups and gradual development of technology in Europe. Years of experience are its greatest resource of sustainable competitive advantage by which it is able to tackle the fearlessness in a turbulent economy. However it also faces some issues like attitude of customers behaviour may change due to economic crisis or personal wish which impacts on its operational productivity as every industry faces in the competitive world. In short, TUI has made its strategic choices very efficiently leading to its success. The options are laid and needs to be decided upon which can help TUI in achieving a niche position in the tourism industry (refer appendix 11.1).

Rural American Family Farms :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oxfam America is a supporter of small family farm based business, according to Laura Rusu the US government spends up to 16 billion dollars a year on farm payments. Most of those funds from the US government go towards large commercial farms. Oxfam America is supporting the act called the Rural America Preservation Act, which will help smaller based farms with funding. Since there are so many loopholes in the current government system that are only helping the larger commercial based farms, this Act will help prevent these loopholes and help the smaller farms with more funding. There are many misleading ideas about the small scale farms, some of which are that small scale farms cannot support a family, that they need to grow into large scale farms to make money, and that small scale farming is usually just a hobby or for extra income. After researching the agribusiness, most of these accusations and most because small scale farms could be more successful if they w ere provided the support from state and federal governments like they should be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the statement of Barbara Fiorito (2005), the US government spends up to 16 billion dollars each year on farm payments, and 70 percent of the money goes to the farms that are already receiving government funding either through different federal grants or state funding. The article discuses how the large commercial farms also hurt smaller farms abroad. Since a large farm can mass produce a product they can sell their product at a much lower price because of the supply they have, verses the smaller farm that can not produce as much so it must then have higher prices. Even though this example that Oxfam give us is using farms from abroad it is the same kind of situations small American agribusinesses are facing. Andrea Perera of Oxfam said that the Rural America Preservation Act if passed will limit the subsidy payments to industrial farms and corporations and will help family farmers make a living. If passed, this Act will now have a cap on payments the farms will receive; the payments will be lowered by 30 percent from $360,000 to $250,000 said Perera in her article and most loopholes in the current government allow the largest farms to collect enormous subsidies, which can exceed $1 million will also be taken care of too.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In doing research it seems that most â€Å"common† people or people that grew up in larger cities have been mislead to what a small farm is.

Impact of Terrorism and Violence on Global Tourism

Introduction According to World Travel and Tourism Council 1997, â€Å"Tourism Industry is the world’s prominent industries contributing $3. 6 trillion to the global gross domestic product (GDP) and employing 255 million people†. (Apostolopoulos, Sonmez &Tarlow 1999). It is also considered one of the most exciting and progressive industries which has a big impact on all other industries. Although tourism industry has shown tremendous growth in recent years providing incredible experiences to its consumers yet it remains highly prone to natural (e. g. Tsunami, Hurricane & volcanic eruptions) and human caused calamities (e. g. war, crime & terrorism). This essay therefore discusses about terrorism in relation to tourism. It focuses on the impacts of terrorism on global tourism and provides an understanding of the relationship between political instability, terrorism and tourism. Tourism, Political Instability and Violence Definition of terrorism† : ?† The US Department of State defines terrorism as â€Å". . . premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against civilians and unarmed military personnel by sub national groups†¦ sually intended to influence an audience†Ã¢â‚¬  ? (Sihmez 1998)   Definition of political instability† : ?† Political instability describes the condition of a country where a government â€Å"has been toppled, or is controlled by factions following a coup, or where basic functional pre-requisites for social-order control and maintenance are unstable and periodica lly disrupted†Ã¢â‚¬  ? (Cook 1990, cited in Sihmez 1998). The study of D’Amore & Anuza 1986 states that, â€Å"Closer scrutiny of terrorism- for the purpose of understanding some of its underlying currents-begs a look at world conditions. As a new millennium is about to begin, nations wrestle with hunger, disease, and numerous other socioeconomic and environmental problems, which are further exacerbated by the alarming growth in the world’s population rate, the combination of which may nurture terrorism. It is suggested that terrorist organizations can easily recruit members by offering better conditions to people living in undesirable circumstances in undeveloped nations†. Therefore, in a situation where terrorism is on rise, safety and stability are the two factors that cannot be ignored while undertaking travel to other countries. Over the years, tourism industry has undergone tremendous changes wherein crime and violence have increased to a great extent. Such exertions have had a big impact on tourists altering their travel. Political instability can be categorised into various forms such as: international war, riots, social unrest, civil war, terrorism etc. â€Å"Most of the evidence on tourist motivations points to fear and insecurity as a major barrier to travel and thus a limitation on the growth of the industry. In addition to the openly stated fear there is often an expression of lack of interest in travel, which can mask an underlying fear. In these circumstances, the possibility of terrorism, however remote, will have an effect on the tourism demand of a large number of potential tourists. † (eds Mansfeld & Pizam1996) Political instability and tourism can be best explained with an example of crackdown by Chinese government on students who protested in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square In a volume edited by Mansfeld & Pizam (1996), â€Å"The sight of tanks rolling into the Square; the violent battles between students and troops; the steadfastly uncompromising attitude of Chinese authorities; it was all watched by the world on prime-time television. And most people living in free societies felt revulsion and anger; those planning holidays to China cancelled, while those with a vague notion of visiting the country put it on hold for the distant future- if ever† General impacts of terrorism and political disturbances upon the tourism industry Even its demonstrated economic success does not shield international tourism from the sinister power of terrorism† (Sonmez, Sevil F. , 1998). No country is safe from the threat of terrorism and research has shown that no part of the world has been spared by it. The fear of a totally unexpected terrorist attack grips the mind of today’s tourist, irrespective of region he is travelling to. Terrorism started to t ake its toll on tourism from mid 80’s, when international tourism was at its peak (Sonmez, Sevil F. 1998), and it became a major concern for many countries. Its impacts vary from direct to indirect and individual to global. Usually, after a terrorist attack or violence erupted due to political clashes, a destination recovers back to its normal inflow of tourists in about a quarter, but some major incidents can also affect tourist visitation for a longer period of time, the reason being over popularity by the media (Sihmez, 1998). For example, India was overexposed in the media after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 which has had a negative effect on inbound tourism to India during the first quarter of 2009 (Tourism Forecasting Committee, 2008). Political disturbance, on the other hand, has long-term and deeper effects on a destination as it threatens the economy, the law and the society as a whole, thus jeopardizing the potential of a country as a tourism destination (Sihmez 1998). Economic impacts Terrorism and political turmoil mainly affect the economy of a country or a region. Worst hit are the countries, which are majorly dependent on the tourism industry. A good example can be given from 1986, when 54% of Americans who planned to go to Europe, cancelled their bookings because of the risks implied by the rise of terrorist activities during that period (D’Amore and Anuza 1986, cited in Sihmez 1998). Furthermore, countries located nearby a politically agitated country may suffer from a perceived lack of safety by tourists who associate the neighbouring countries due to geographical proximity, although travelling in the former may be without any risk. Countries often have to bear the costs of terrorism, in terms of investments in security, terrorism risk insurance premium, airport screening opportunity costs and consumer welfare losses to ensure safety and security for their people (Keefer P. , 2008). Psychological impacts Impacts of terrorism on tourist behaviour and decision-making process (Sihmez, 1998 pg. 13) however, depend on the type of tourists: business travellers and leisure travellers will not react the same way in regards to risk, as they do not have the same motivations and needs for travel. Image deterioration / Negative images Natural events such as floods, tsunami or earthquakes do not have the same impact on a country’s image as a terrorist attack has. Natural calamities may draw sympathy, and may affect inflow of tourists for a short period, but people know that natural disasters are unavoidable, so the image they form of a destination is different. Fall in tourist arrivals in these destinations may recover earlier because these destinations are not perceived as ‘unsafe’, as in case of a destination, where terrorist activity is prominent. Politically unstable environment of a destination usually has a negative and a much stronger impact on people’s mind over a longer period of time because human action is deliberate and physical injury is most of the time the aim of these actions. Examples and focus on a particular region or destination There are a lot of tourist destinations which suffer from terrorist attacks. Egypt which had almost 4 billion dollars in tourist receipts in 1999 depended a lot on the tourism revenue. However, the revenue from this sector of economy decreased due to the terrorist attacks by al-Gama’a al-Islamiya. The first attack occurred on October 1, 1992. One British tourist was killed and two others were wounded. During the five year period about 100 tourists were killed in the attacks including the tourists from Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Japan and Great Britain. One year after the first attack tourism revenue in Egypt felt by 11 percent. However, it increased by four percent in 1994 and by 34 percent in 1995. Moreover, net increase in tourist receipts between 1993 and 1997 was 93 percent (Essner, 2003). The Egyptian government managed to sustain its tourism sector and contribute to the GSP by 5% (Weaver). The factors of this success are the huge historic and cultural heritage of Egypt that keeps drawing international visitors, but also incentive measures taken by the industry in order to sustain inbound tourism. For instance, the national airline, EgyptAir, cut its airfares by 50% after the 1997 Luxor massacre of 58 tourists (Weaver). â€Å"Event in New York City and Washington D. C. on September 11, 2001 was one of the most significant terrorism attacks which occurred recently. This event influenced the economies of states which depended on the tourism industry a lot. Furthermore, the whole economy of the USA was demolished which led to the global economic slump† (Pizam, 2002). Certain sectors of the tourism industry suffered from the terrorist attack. Hotel occupancy rates decreased dramatically. It â€Å"plummeted to 41. 8 percent the week following the attacks, a 52-percent decrease from the same period in 2000† (Stafford et al, 2002). In total, 3016 people died including passengers and crew on the planes, people within or beneath the Twin Towers and on the ground at the Pentagon. This attack has certain impacts on travel and tourism industry in the USA. Security measures at the places where large number of people including tourists are likely to gather were reconsidered. The number of US National guards in the airports increased and other security measures in the airports such as better screening and checking of passengers and baggage technologies were introduced. Security measures were improved in seaports, bus stations and train station as well. It included increasing of the surveillance cameras and checkpoints. The number of security guards in these places grew up as well. Moreover, the Federal Aviation Administration set up the program of increasing the number of bomb-sniffing dogs. The FAA trained 175 dogs for 39 airports (Goodrich, 2002). Many other countries which have high rates in tourism receipts also suffered from the terrorist attacks. Establishing of an Islamic Palestinian State in place of Israel resulted in the attacks initiated by both Israelis and Palestinians. This disturbance led to dramatic drop in 1996 in the number of tourists which grew steadily between 1970 and 1994 (Sihmez Sevil F. 1998). Another example of suffering from terrorism attack is Peru. Attacks by the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), a Maoist terrorist group caused the decrease in number of tourists from 350,000 in 1989 to 33,000 in 1991 (Sihmez Sevil F. 1998). Word of mouth and previous experience Media Reporting & Image making Intergovernmental relationsGovernment policies and interests Figure 1: Political instability, violence and the imaging process Hall &O’Sullivan study (cited in Mansfeld & Pizam 1996) The above figure is a model of various factors that lead to image creation of the political stability of the destination region. Three factors: word of mouth, media and the government lead to the images creation of destination, in the tourist generating regions. Domestic tourism is equally affected by the occurrence of any kind of violence or terrorist activity. Many factors such as: promotion, tourist attractions, development, new routes, travel prices contribute in to reasonable changes in domestic as well as international tourism. As per the study of Bar-on (cited in Mansfeld and Pizam 1996), act of violence can affect tourism in following ways: â€Å"Tourists may fear being killed or injured. † Security checks, especially at airports, may take a long time and even be unpleasant for some tourists. † â€Å"Tour operators, travel agents and airlines may not want to risk organizing trips to specific regions. † â€Å"Travel insurance of tourists and airlines may be difficult, limited or expensive. † â€Å"Friends or relatives at the destination may advice against the proposed trip. à ¢â‚¬  This is also supported by Hall and O’ Sullivan study (cited in Mansfeld & Pizam 1996) which states that, â€Å". . . tourism may decline precipitously when political conditions appear unsettled. Tourists simply choose alternative destinations. Unfortunately, many national leaders and planners either do not understand or will not accept the fact that political serenity, not scenic or cultural attractions, constitute the first and central requirement of tourism. † Although, political violence may not last for a longer period yet it has the tendency to leave a formidable impact on the tourism industry for many years which further can affect the confidence of the tourists and also the investors in tourism industry. Crisis management and recovery methods employed by the tourism industry Tourism has been a way for under-developed and developing countries to get more revenue. Therefore tourists are a potential target for terrorist groups looking to destabilise and undermine these countries by cutting the revenue they get from tourism activities. Recent events such as 9/11, the Southeast Asian tsunami and the Bali bombings have had devastating consequences upon the tourism industry and have shown crisis management and recovery measures have become critical in managing a destination (Robson 2008). According to Santana (cited in Weber 1998), crisis management comprehends five steps: signal detection, preparation/prevention, containment/damage limitation, recovery and learning. Planning and training before, during and after the crisis have also been highlighted (Santana, cited in Weber 1998). On the one hand, research has shown the tourism industry was able to fully recover from terrorist assaults in a period of six to twelve months, at the condition these events were not repeated in the future (Pizam and Fleischer, cited in Arana 2008). However, appropriate management methods must be employed and applied by destination managers in order to ensure image destination rehabilitation. To this end, the management and coordination of human and financial resources as well as public relations through the media for example are critical when it comes to managing terrorist events at a destination (Stafford et al 2002). For instance, a set of recommendations compiling crisis management, preventive management and recovery methods through marketing could be useful for the tourism industry to restore a destination’s image (Sonmez 1998) and prevent any negative publicity from spreading (Stafford et al 2002). Furthermore, collaboration between tourism industry actors and government organisations can often be preventive and mitigate the impacts of the crisis (Stafford et al. 2002). In terms of preventive and recovery methods, tourism destinations should promote the use of information for locals and visitors (Weber 1998) in order to ensure their own safety, for example by signalling any suspicious piece of luggage in a public space through the use of official signs posted in public areas such as airports, railway stations and stadiums. The role of advertising and education as recovery methods is also of importance. For example, the ‘Vigipirate Plan’ was put in place by the French government in 1991 after several terrorist attacks took place in Europe in the nineties. It is made up of 4 levels of emergency (yellow, orange, red and purple) and has been greatly promoted in France at the local administration levels as well as to the general public, especially after massive terrorist attacks such as the March 2004 Madrid attacks and the July 2005 London bombings. Furthermore, government initiatives such as the Australian travel advisory (smartraveller. gov. au) which issues travel recommendations to destinations presenting a certain degree of risk is a preventive way to avoid any accidental or dangerous event. For example, the Australian Government gives tips about Cyprus in terms of safety and security in both the Cypriot and Turkish part of the island, as well as details about local laws, entry and exit requirements and health issues (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2009). On the other hand, tourism may be a way to enhance peace, mitigate tensions between countries and recover from any negative effects of terrorism. An example of this is given by the situation between North and South Korea (Kim 2007). Research was conducted in order to evaluate the reactions of South Koreans after visiting a natural site, Mt Gumgang, an emerging tourist destination located in North Korea. The findings suggested that South Korean visitors to North Korea had a better image of the country and the people after their tourist trip, although both countries have technically been at war for decades (Kim 2007). To conclude, tourist destinations have the possibility to prevent terrorism actions from happening or mitigate their effects through combined policies of crisis management involving different participants such as governments and private/public tourism bodies. Nevertheless, although tourism is often a victim of terrorism and political disturbances, it can also be used as a tool to promote and enhance peace between countries affected by political tensions. References Adams, S. 2004, All the Troubles: Terrorism, War and the World after 9/11, Simon Adams, Australia Arana J. , 2008, The impact of terrorism on tourism demand, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 299–315. Apostolopolous Y. , Sonmez S. & Tarlow P. 1999, Tourism In Crisis: Managing the Effects of Tourism, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 38, No. 1, viewed 17 May, http://jtr. sagepub. com. ezproxy. lib. uts. edu. au/cgi/content/abstract/38/1/13 Bar-On R. , ‘Measuring the effects on tourism of violence and of promotion following violent acts’, in Mansfeld Y. & Pizam A (eds), Tourism, Crime and International Security Issues, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. , pp. 159-160 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2009, last viewed May 17th 2009, http://www. smartraveller. gov. au/ Essner J. 2003, Terrorism’s Impact on Tourism: What the Industry May Learn from Egypt’s Struggle with al-Gama’a al-Islamiya, viewed on May 15,2009, http://sand. miis. edu/research/student_research/Essner_Tourist%20Terrorism. pdf Hall C. & O’ Sullivan V. , ‘Tourism, political instability and violence’, in Mansfeld Y. & Pizam A (eds), Tourism, Crime and International Security Issues, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. , pp. 105-114 Kim S. , 2007, Using tourism to promote peace on the Korean peninsula, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 291–309. Mansfeld Y. & Pizam A. , ‘Conclusions and Recommendations’, Tourism, Crime and International Security Issues, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. , pp. 311-312 Mueller J. 2007, Reacting to Terrorism: Probabilities, Consequences and the persistence of Fear, Ohio State University, viewed 17 May, http://scholar. google. com. ezproxy. lib. uts. edu. au/scholar? hl=en&lr=&q=REACTING+TO+TERRORISM%3A+PROBABILITIES%2C+CONSEQUENCES%2C+AND+THE+PERSISTENCE+OF+FEAR&btnG=Search Pizam A. 2002, Tourism and Terrorism, Hospitality Management, Vol. 21, No 1–3 Robson, L. , 2008, Crisis Management in Tourism, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 600–601. Sihmez Sevil F. 1998, Tourism, Terrorism and Political Instability, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 25, No. 2. Sonmez, S. F. 1998, Tourism, Terrorism and Political Instability, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 25, No. 2. Stafford, G. Et al, 2002, Crisis Management and Recovery, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 27, Cornell University Tourism Forecasting Committee, 2008, Forecast 2008, Issue 2, Tourism Forecasting Committee, Canberra, pp 91-92 Weaver D. , Tourism Management, 2000 Weber, S. 1998, War, Terrorism and Tourism, Annals of Tourism Research, Volume 25, Issue 3, Pages 760-763 ———————– Tourists Destination Region Generating Region Media Government

Free Essays on Kachinas

Native Americans have inhabited this country for many generations. We see so many things that are influenced by the Native Americans and we find ourselves in awe of the independence of these peoples and the culture that they have come from. When we look at art through the eyes of the Native American we should see a functional and usable art. Art was not for aesthetic reasons; it had real purpose. The folk art that came from these cultures were for religious and moral reasons. Everything that these people had had a necessity in their group. The Kachina is one of these necessities. The Kachinas were and still are an important part of the religion of the Pueblo Indians, but I will focus on Hopi Indians. The Kachinas were friendly spirits much like our Christian Saints; however there were some evil Kachinas that punish those who disobey Hopi law. The Kachinas play an important role in the various religious ceremonies, many of which take the form of dances and chants. When a Hopi man dresses himself in the costume of a particular Kachina, he believes the spirit of that Kachina has replaced his personal identity. The ceremonies ask the Kachinas to bring plentiful crops, or give the people of the village good health and luck. Hopi children believe in Kachinas just as American children believe in Santa Clause. In the ceremonies, the children aren't supposed to recognize their fathers, uncles or friends who are taking the role of the Kachinas. And as Santa brings gifts to children, certain Kachinas bring Kachina dolls, fruits, sweets, and other surprises. Kachina dolls are given to the children not as toys, but as something to be treasured and studied so that they may become familiar with the various spirits that are an important part of their religion. The phenomena of Kachina are relatively new. The religion of the Hopi has not always been in place. As we know, religion is put into place to keep order with in a group o... Free Essays on Kachinas Free Essays on Kachinas Native Americans have inhabited this country for many generations. We see so many things that are influenced by the Native Americans and we find ourselves in awe of the independence of these peoples and the culture that they have come from. When we look at art through the eyes of the Native American we should see a functional and usable art. Art was not for aesthetic reasons; it had real purpose. The folk art that came from these cultures were for religious and moral reasons. Everything that these people had had a necessity in their group. The Kachina is one of these necessities. The Kachinas were and still are an important part of the religion of the Pueblo Indians, but I will focus on Hopi Indians. The Kachinas were friendly spirits much like our Christian Saints; however there were some evil Kachinas that punish those who disobey Hopi law. The Kachinas play an important role in the various religious ceremonies, many of which take the form of dances and chants. When a Hopi man dresses himself in the costume of a particular Kachina, he believes the spirit of that Kachina has replaced his personal identity. The ceremonies ask the Kachinas to bring plentiful crops, or give the people of the village good health and luck. Hopi children believe in Kachinas just as American children believe in Santa Clause. In the ceremonies, the children aren't supposed to recognize their fathers, uncles or friends who are taking the role of the Kachinas. And as Santa brings gifts to children, certain Kachinas bring Kachina dolls, fruits, sweets, and other surprises. Kachina dolls are given to the children not as toys, but as something to be treasured and studied so that they may become familiar with the various spirits that are an important part of their religion. The phenomena of Kachina are relatively new. The religion of the Hopi has not always been in place. As we know, religion is put into place to keep order with in a group o...

Where did English come from - Claire Bowern Essays - Language

Where did English come from - Claire Bowern Essays - Language When we talk about English, we often think of it as a single language but what do the dialects spoken in dozens of countries around the world have in common with each other, or with the writings of Chaucer? And how are any of them related to the strange words in Beowulf? The answer is that like most languages, English has evolved through generations of speakers, undergoing major changes over time. By undoing these changes, we can trace the language from the present day back to its ancient roots. While modern English shares many similar words with Latin-derived romance languages, like French and Spanish, most of those words were not originally part of it. Instead, they started coming into the language with the Norman invasion of England in 1066. When the French-speaking Normans conquered England and became its ruling class, they brought their speech with them, adding a massive amount of French and Latin vocabulary to the English language previously spoken there. Today, we call that language Old English. This is the language of Beowulf. It probably doesn't look very familiar, but it might be more recognizable if you know some German. That's because Old English belongs to the Germanic language family, first brought to the British Isles in the 5th and 6th centuries by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The Germanic dialects they spoke would become known as Anglo-Saxon. Viking invaders in the 8th to 11th centuries added more borrowings from Old Norse into the mix. It may be hard to see the roots of modern English underneath all the words borrowed from French, Latin, Old Norse and other languages. But comparative linguistics can help us by focusing on grammatical structure, patterns of sound changes, and certain core vocabulary. For example, after the 6th century, German words starting with "p," systematically shifted to a "pf" sound while their Old English counterparts kept the "p" unchanged. In another split, words that have "sk" sounds in Swedish developed an "sh" sound in English. There are still some English words with "sk," like "skirt," and "skull," but they're direct borrowings from Old Norse that came after the "sk" to "sh" shift. These examples show us that just as the various Romance languages descended from Latin, English, Swedish, German, and many other languages descended from their own common ancestor known as Proto-Germanic spoken around 500 B.C.E. Because this historical language was never written down, we can only reconstruct it by comparing its descendants, which is possible thanks to the consistency of the changes. We can even use the same process to go back one step further, and trace the origins of Proto-Germanic to a language called Proto-Indo-European, spoken about 6000 years ago on the Pontic steppe in modern day Ukraine and Russia. This is the reconstructed ancestor of the Indo-European family that includes nearly all languages historically spoken in Europe, as well as large parts of Southern and Western Asia. And though it requires a bit more work, we can find the same systematic similarities, or correspondences, between related words in different Indo-European branches. Comparing English with Latin, we see that English has "t" where Latin has "d", and "f" where latin has "p" at the start of words. Some of English's more distant relatives include Hindi, Persian and the Celtic languages it displaced in what is now Britain. Proto-Indo-European itself descended from an even more ancient language, but unfortunately, this is as far back as historical and archeological evidence will allow us to go. Many mysteries remain just out of reach, such as whether there might be a link between Indo-European and other major language families, and the nature of the languages spoken in Europe prior to its arrival. But the amazing fact remains that nearly 3 billion people around the world, many of whom cannot understand each other, are nevertheless speaking the same words shaped by 6000 years of history.

Living With a Cardiac Pacemaker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Living With a Cardiac Pacemaker - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that the device ensures that individuals have more energy. In addition, they experience less shortness of breath. The use of a pacemaker has many benefits: it normalizes the heart rhythm of the person and improves their quality of life, among other things. Physicians recommend demand pacemakers in a variety of cases based on the cardiac problems. As a result, the potential benefits may vary from one person to another. The device is usually implanted inside the upper chest. The primary objective of using the device is to monitor the heart rate. The device transmits an electrical signal when necessary in order to stabilize an irregular heartbeat. However, the device is not a cure. Instead, it merely serves to prolong the life of the patient.This study highlights that  Jim has a right to be concerned about the implications of using the device. He has to determine if the product will have a positive or negative impact on his health. As a truck driver, h e should be concerned about the impact of electric or gas powered appliances on his health. In addition, he cannot use some tools without undermining his health. The device should not be in close contact with magnetic or electromagnetic fields. However, the couple should not alter their travel plans. He can still engage in swimming and gardening. His participation in these physical activities should be closely monitored.

Exam answer3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Exam answer3 - Essay Example e the following: local resource munificence, current and future competition for scarce resources, sectoral trends, social, legal and political conditions. Government regulation and taxation, interest rates and exchange rates are also examples of external forces that influence the growth of the firm. The stage models of development provide the best theories explaining the growth of the business and perhaps that’s why it is preferred by most practitioners. However, the stage models have a number of limitations which at times make discourage its use. Firstly, the model is too general, making its applicability a challenge to firm owners. For instance, it is difficult to determine what, how and why states change from one to another. Further, it is difficult to determine how the answers to the above questions are modified by a range of contextual variables. Research on external factors like demand and competition is done during the first stage of development, which is the existence stage. It does not provide answers as to what can be done if for example consumers change taste. For this reason, I can recommend the industrial organization model, which uses the game theory extensively. In this case, the industrial organization model focuses on competition in the market and variou s ways of countering firms that pause completion. The other setback for developmental model is that it depicts a linear pathway and it doesn’t consider branching away from this pathway. This means that the firm may not make changes to the model in the process of its growth should there be changes both in the internal and external environment. The company may as well become extinct at a given stage of development. This is unlike the organizational ecology theory, which emphasizes on understanding the conditions under which a company emerges, grows and dies (Tushman and Romanelli 2008, p.174). The theory focuses on various factors that may lead to organizational mortality, and thus the