Democratizing American Education Essay

For years, the American education system has been plagued with criticism. In 1983, for instance, a report entitled â€Å"A Nation At Risk† from the National Commission on Excellence in Education warned that â€Å"the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. † (p. 4) Two decades later, America’s public schools have barely made progress in addressing the problems posed by the NCEP report. This is evidenced by the continued inability of most schools to produce students who are mathematically and linguistically competitive enough for the demands of the American labor market. (Du Pont, 2003) Likewise, the rapid increase in immigrant population has brought the problems of the American educational system to the fore by heightening the impact of the socio-economic divide on individuals’ access to quality education. In â€Å"Lives on the Boundary,† author and educator Mike Rose (2008) describes how the changing landscape of America is pushing the need for reforms in the educational system in order to adapt to the diverse realities of a multi-cultural American background. However, Rose also contends that some proposals being advanced supposedly to democratize education, may actually increase rather than narrow down the gap between the rich and the poor, and further exclude the people who have been historically marginalized both literally and figuratively from the sphere of learning and education. (as cited in Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, 2008, p. 99) One finds it difficult to disagree with Rose’ doubts about the ability of the proposal to return to what he calls the canonical tradition in the university and in American education in general, to turn the quality of American education around. Rose shows the problems of the proposal to return to what he calls the canonical tradition of teaching by presenting the realities of three immigrant students and an African-American student, individuals with vastly differing cultural backgrounds from the predominantly white, middle-class America. In this situation, it is doubtful that canonical teaching would be able to address the increasing need for student learning that is based not only on literacy but also the unique needs of the students for social inclusion and empowerment. Rose argues, for instance, that the obsession among influential educators and policymakers to â€Å"define achievement and excellence in terms of the acquisition of a historically validated body of knowledge† (as cited in Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, 2008, p. 98) tend to push the marginalized more deeply into the margins rather than brings them into the social fabrics of American society. Indeed, despite the democratic trapping that has been thrown over efforts to establish uniform standards and benchmarks of learning, at the heart of the canonical tradition is the tendency to homogenize student thinking and learning. The superficial commitment to democratizing education is illustrated in the way that America’s education leaders pay lip service to democratic ideals while continuing to deny the rich cultural diversity and the individuality of each student in terms of his or her learning needs. One of the educators that Rose mentions is Paulo Freire, who acknowledged that real education must be relevant to the lives of the masses if is to have any meaning at all. In this sense, a return to an education that is based on the â€Å"Great Books† or â€Å"the canons† would be tantamount to regression. Such proposals also inevitably dilute public debate and understanding of the structural flaws of the American education system through its naive and myopic assumption that the failures of American education are caused by a failure in instructional methods alone. However, scholars have pointed out that the deterioration of the American educational system is pedagogical in nature. Smith, et. al. (2004) contend, for instance, that the decay in American education arises from the â€Å"increased influence of corporations† (p. 193) on educational policy. Consequently, the leaders of the American educational system suffer from a simplistic view of education in which it is seen as a nothing more than a means of training the next generation of workers, cogs in the great American industrial empire, in order to sustain America’s supremacy over the world. The United States’ alarm at the increasing â€Å"mediocrity† of American schools was rooted more in its economic concerns as the world’s economic giant rather than concerns for cultivating a better American society based on American values and ideals. Clearly, the continuing failure of the current system of education points only to its inability to provide students with the best learning opportunities; and the best learning opportunities are necessarily the ones in which they feel have connection to their realities, which have relevance in their lives and in their struggles for a sense of identity and belonging. In this aspect, the very benchmark used to measure student learning in American schools must be questioned and examined based on how these are used to tailor students based on the mold of the ideal worker and punish students who cannot cope with such corporatist educational standards because they learn differently or they have trouble understanding the new culture they are in. Even the word â€Å"mediocrity† or the label â€Å"inferior† carries with it the bias of class, race, and gender. Clearly, these labels are usually attached to individuals or groups who are impoverished and who cannot conform to the ideal of white supremacy and strength. Thus, meaningful education must â€Å"consider the context in which it occurs,† (Rose, as cited in Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, 2008, p. 101) More importantly, appreciating the nature of literacy necessitates an understanding of how it can be used as a tool for empowering the marginalized, the uprooted, and the disenfranchised on the basis of social inclusion and identity formation. In this sense, standardized tests and benchmarks can never really measure what students learn. Instead, educators should create and utilize learning benchmarks that are based on the concrete learning needs and interests of students. Thus, Rose’ discussion of the continuing marginalization of the immigrant and â€Å"cultural minorities† in the field of education reflects the social inequities which underlie the problem of American education. Further, the author’s criticism of the additional threats posed by moves for canonical-oriented reforms shows how the educational problem lies in the general philosophical problem of the meaning and relevance of education for every citizen. In the efforts to institute reforms that would democratize and enhance access to American education, there is nothing more defeating than the assumption that a single American experience exists to which the entire American society can relate to. Another faulty assumption is that every single American student can be taught to behave and to think based on the ideal male, white, and middle-class American. It is this multi-dimensional nature of America that the leaders of the American educational system have time and again failed to acknowledge. It is this failure by American leaders to come to grips with the diverse nature of American reality that is the real cause of the growing mediocrity in American schools. Works Cited: Du Pont, P. (2003). Two decades of mediocrity. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 30, 2008 from http://www. opinionjournal. com/columnists/pdupont/? id=110003445 National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A nation at risk: imperatives for educational reform. Retrieved July 30, 2008 from http://www. ed. gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk. html Rose, M. (2008). Lives on the Boundary. In Lunsford, A. and Ruszkiewicz, J. (Eds. ) The presence of others: Voices that call for response, (p. 90-103). New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Smith, M. L. , Fey, P. , Miller-Kahn, L. , Heinecke, W. , & P. F. Jarvis (2004). Political Spectacle and the Fate of American Schools. United States: Routledge.

Personal Computer and Dell Essay

Synopsis: In 1984 Dell Inc. was founded by University of Texas freshmen, Michael Dell. Dell would buy computers from the excess inventory of local retailers and revamp them to sell out of his trunk. Dell was able to sell his computers at 10%-15% below retail price. After Dell’s freshmen year he dropped out to run his business full time. By 1995 Dell had sales of nearly $3. 5 billion and was one of the top five PC vendors in the world. Dell focused on customer support and service and became the master of process engineering and supply chain management. Dell has faced many challenges including distribution through US retail stores, management changes, and keeping up with its competitors. Since consumers aren’t willing to pay huge amounts of money for computers unless they were unique, Dell is at a crossroads. Which road Dell chooses to follow will determine its future. Resources: Dell Inc. ’s most valuable resource has been Michael Dell and its ability to sell computers at 10-15% below market value. Another huge resource is the executive team that Dell formed for guidance. Capabilities: Dell’s capability at producing products at a lower cost to its consumers is key. By adding services such as laptops, software/peripherals, servers/networking, services, and storage Dell expanded its capabilities. With the added services Dell can keep pace with its competitors. Core Competencies: Dell’s core competencies are the ability to offer quality products at cheaper prices, personalized orders, and the ability to keep their inventory relatively low. These competencies have helped Dell become a leader in the computer industry. Finding of Fact: Dell is currently at a crossroads; the company’s margins aren’t in a favorable position for the company. In 2010 yes their net income rose, but was still only 2. 91% of net revenue. Dell’s consumers are no longer willing to pay top dollar for a computer, unless it was unique. Competitors are selling laptops for around $300. Tablets have pushed Dell’s laptop sales down as well. Many more competitors have stepped into the industry since Dell first was founded. Dell also spends about 1% of its sales on research and development, while other companies spend about 5%. Justified Recommendation: Dell should invest more of its money into research and development for its products. Technology is constantly changing and for Dell to stay ahead or at least at the same pace, research and development is a must. I’m not saying Dell needs to go out and hire some new employees for this team. Dell could use members from each of its sections to help brainstorm and come up with new and innovative ideas. Innovative employees are invaluable to a company. Dell’s management should perform environmental scanning both internally and externally to find Dells SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Once SWOT is determined management could strategically figure out how to move forward. Environmental scanning shouldn’t be done just when a company finds it has â€Å"hit a bump in the road†, but periodically to keep the company innovative and make sure it is on the correct path. Dell should also perform an industry analysis. This analysis will review potential entrants, buyers, substitutes, suppliers, other stakeholders, and competitors. By completing the analysis a company can determine the high and low forces against the company. The low forces could be turned into a possible opportunity or based on the analysis results, the company could switch strategies.

Christ above Elijah and Moses Essay

The relation between Jesus and Elijah or between the book of Kings and the New Testament is one of the most controversial issues in modern theology. As a matter of fact this is also one of the crucial issues regarding the divinity of Jesus. It is also one of the main issues that divide Christianity and Judaism. The main problem arises from the actual term Messiah which in literal translation means the â€Å"anointed† one. Therefore many that claim that Jesus was only a human Messiah and not the son of god, put Jesus and Elijah on the same level together with Moses. Even though the transfiguration of Christ in the second Epistle of Peter supposedly puts Christ above Elijah and Moses, the text does not give such clear evidence about Jesus actually being above them or being the son of god. Coming back to the term messiah or the anointed we should remember that in Jewish terminology Messiah could be any prophet including Moses, Elijah or even David. As a matter of fact in first century Judaism it was more likely for the Jews to expect two messiahs; a political and a spiritual one. Therefore it was widely speculated that there is a possibility that Barabbas might actually have been the other Messiah and that the account of that was lost during the years while Christianity was an underground religion. The second biggest problem regarding the identity of Jesus and his relations with other prophets is the metamorphosis (or transfiguration) of both testaments by the Nicaene Creed, it is where Jesus was adapted to become the new god of the Roman Empire as it is said: â€Å"the time when Constantine the Great tricked the Messianic Jews into worshiping the Roman Emperor in disguise. † It is actually by comparing Elijah’s and Jesus’ Messianic deeds that we can see the similarity between the two of them. As a matter of fact if one compares 2 Kings 4:1-44 with the Gospels of the New Testament like Mark 6:30-44, Mark 8:1-9, and John 6:1-13 one can notice striking similarities that are too similar to simply be coincidence. (1) In other words they pretty much perform the same miraculous deeds and seem to act and speak in quite a similar way. Is this the way the 1st century Jews expected their Messiah to act and behave. Both Jesus and Elijah raised people from the dead as well as they provided for the needy on several occasions. (2) (2 Kings 4: 1-44) On the other hand Elijah and Jesus are different to Moses for having gone to heaven while being alive while Moses died as a mortal never rising people from the dead , but the fact that Jesus and Elijah are so similar shows us a precedent in the Old Testament, of a prophet that is so similar to Jesus that it is logical to assume that Jesus is finally only one of the prophets that was god-sent to help his flock in turbulent times and leave a legacy of how one should live her or his life. (3) If one assumes the original Jesus was a Jewish prophet that was not the incarnation of god himself but a very mighty mortal that finally resurrected from the dead and went to heaven then there is no difference between him and Elijah except the resurrection part, which could be explained by a different will of god or by historic misinterpretation. Nevertheless the main differences between Jesus and Elijah are actually some additions to the personality and life of Jesus that were included to the scriptures to satisfy the pagan populations of Constantine’s Rome. Like the Virgin birth (proper of Sun Gods like Horus and Mithras) birth on December 24th (4) (proper of Sun Gods like Horus and Mithras), and the resurrection also proper of Sun Gods like Horus and Mithras. Footnotes: 1. 2 Kings 4: 42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. â€Å"Give it to the people to eat,† Elisha said. 43 â€Å"How can I set this before a hundred men? † his servant asked. But Elisha answered, â€Å"Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over. ‘ † 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD. John 6: 10Jesus said, â€Å"Have the people sit down. † There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, â€Å"Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. † 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. Mark 6: 38He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 39And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. 42And they did all eat, and were filled. 2. 2 Kings 4: 32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said â€Å"Call the Shunammite. † And he did. When she came, he said, â€Å"Take your son. † 37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out. 3. One of the main points of those who argue the humanity of Jesus is that he is no god incarnate and a direct path to heaven that came to reaffirm the rule of the church. Quite the contrary, his teachings concentrate more on one’s inner struggles in very logical ways rather then the controversial dogma imposed later by the Roman Church. 4. Constantine had to combine the Jewish faith and rituals with Roman sun god faith and rituals in order to make the new religion more understandable to the pagan population of the empire. Therefore the modern Jesus is a mixture of Roman sun God and historic, Jewish Jesus. The Jewish Jesus can raise people from the dead, just like Elijah and can feed many with little food, just like Elijah and finally ascends to heaven alive just like Elijah. On the other hand Jesus is born of a virgin, unlike Elijah but very much like many Sun Gods, he is born on December 24th like many Sun Gods, he dies and is resurrected like all the Sun Gods, finally, modern Christians do not celebrate the Sabbath like Jesus did but Celebrate the Calends (Sunday) as the Romans did when worshiping their Sun God. Works cited: Bible Gateway, KJV, Books of: 2 Kings, Mark, John. Retrieved on March, 3rd 2009, from: http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? search Davies, Steven L. New Testament Fundamentals, Santa Rosa, Polebridge Press, 1994.

Apple Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple Inc - Case Study Example It is especially true considering the fact that Apple keeps its technologies totally secret. Though Apple has competitors in its markets, the innovations of Apple Inc. lower the intensity of competitive rivalry. However, the rivals are starting to offer a number of substitute products and services. At the same time, Apple has the advantage of relatively high bargaining power of both customers and suppliers. So, the greatest strength of Apple Inc. is the innovations they introduce into the market. However, as Marino et al (2008) outline, the success of the company is very dependent on its management. While Apple is still having the advantage of being innovative, its competitors are also working on developing and launching similar or even more innovative products. The revenue of the company cannot be said to be lowering. Nevertheless, the gross margin for the third quarter of 2008, as well as stock price, decreased. Still, Apple continues to invest great sums into research and development in order to be able to continuously offer its customers new and innovative products and services. The latest information shows that after 2008 Apple Inc. has become even more successful. Their products are being waited for and purchased. For instance, almost 21 million iPhones were sold in 2009 only, and the sales increased 100% in the first quarter of 2010 (iSellMac.com, 2010). Therefore, though the company does have certain weakness and experiences technical problems from time to time, their strategy of innovation is still effective and successful.

Please see order description Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Please see order description - Essay Example Many states are withdrawing funding for women’s abortion and women’s health clinics. 2. Health professionals attempt to create language that is more inclusive of experiences with different bodies, sexualities, genders and families, but they also still use the language of shame and disorder. Medical articles focus on people who are diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia or Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser Syndrome and who need immediate medical attention to fix the problem, such as surgery or hormonal treatment. However psychological interventions are mostly excluded from the research. 3. Sexual differentiation is a critical developmental process, and causes structural and functional differences between sexes. The Y chromosome affects an undifferentiated gonad so that it develops into testis and the lack of Y gene causes an undifferentiated gonad to develop into an ovary. During puberty, the testis secretes testosterone, and the ovary secretes estrogen and progesterone. Sex steroids find receptors in the brain to trigger sexually dimorphic behaviors. Sexually dimorphic patterns can be explained by different expression of genes, GIF268 and ERK2. 4. As women in our evolutionary past risked enormous investment as a consequence of having sex, evolution favored women who were highly selective about their mates. The selective cues are components of desire, economic capacity, social status, age, ambition, industriousness, dependability, stability, intelligence, compatibility, size, strength, good health, love and commitment. These qualities provide important information about the benefits a potential partner can bestow, such as the acquisition and steadiness of resources, and solutions to the problem of protection. In the modern world, successful women place an even greater value than less successful women on mates who have professional degrees, high social status and greater intelligence, an

The war on drugs - argumentative research paper

The war on drugs - argumentative - Research Paper Example Drug wars seek to alleviate the problem, and offer a lasting solution towards drug users through elimination of the sources of drugs throughout the globe. Drug use was prominent in years prior to institution of measures that were assumed to regulate utilization of drugs among the American populace. In earlier years, drugs found numerous applications in production of foods and drinks around America. For instance, Coca-Cola utilized cocaine in drink manufacture until some period in 1903, while opium was utilized for infants with colic and was considered an OTC drug (Toll 427). The other drug that was utilized during this epoch was heroin and found greater appliance as cough depressant. Although people developed dependence on these drugs, alcohol remained the biggest setback yet it has not been contemplated as harmful with respect to other drugs. Various legislative acts were utilized in phasing off drug exploitation within the society, thus indicating commencement of war on drugs. The period when drugs were never regulated showed little discrepancies with regard to utilization of drugs, despite the actuality that drugs are currently regulated. Restrictions on drug use never commenced until the closing stages of 19th century, which led to prologue of various enactment at all levels of government. However, drug trade got these restrictions on racial grounds, since certain races were involved in drug trades around America. The preliminary enactment transpired in 1906, which aimed at directing the cataloging of medications and at the same time, prevent production or delivery of adulterated commodities in trade among states (Toll 427). The enactments progressed throughout the years, since the initial enactment leading to the current struggles towards the alleviation of drug utilization within the societal context. Prologue of Harrison Act served to prohibit drug sales to

Phase 2 Discussion Board Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Phase 2 Discussion Board - Assignment Example Those that deal with the maintenance of motor engines such as retail shops cannot be considered part of the automotive industry. Since the development and upgrade of motor engines started from as long as 1890s, significant development and changes in the past years. For instance, the production of motor engines for use has greatly increased since today, the world population has grown and there is the growing need by consumers to have vehicles. With the upgrade of vehicles, there have been developments that have been mainly concentrated on the safety side of the vehicles (Weygandt, Kieso & Kimmel, 2010).   They have been ranked stricter on follow-ups than ever before, ranging from weight to security and to resilience, when it comes to today’s vehicles. This has come with the cost of new materials that have brought out new and advanced techniques for the construction and designing of vehicles. Before there was the knowledge that plastic could make vehicles, the sole material us ed at the time was metal. With the introduction of plastics, there has been advancement in the technology used for making newer vehicles. With the new technologies, manufactures have been able to answer to rising demands for advancements. Plastics have the ability to make vehicles to appear wonderful and attracting. Again with the introduction of plastic in vehicles, it has been known that they use current technology to make enhance vehicles. Another new development has been the introduction of new spark plugs that have been noted to endure more miles than those currently present. With the introduction of the new spark plugs, there have been concerns on the usage and cost of the spark plugs. From the design, development, manufacture, marketing and selling of the plug, there are concerns about how to design a more reliable method of choosing between the Job Order Cost System and the ‘Process Costing System’ (Crosson & Needles, 2011).   Compare and contrast between the Job Order Cost System and the Process Costing System. The Job Order Cost System is a system that is used when products are made with the basis on specific customer orders. With this system, every product that is manufactured is considered as a job, thus costs are made depending on the number of jobs done. With the production of these products, another thing that is considered is the services. Services rendered are also considered as a job and count in the overall costs. The system is designed to take into account and track by job the costs which are incurred while producing each job (Warren, Reeve & Duchac, 2012).  This includes materials used, labor, and overhead that are present in the environment where the manufacture is taking place. When it comes to the process of ‘job order costing system’, ‘the record keeping’ and ‘cost assignment problems’ are complex in the system particularly when a company sells many different products and services compared to when it only has a single product or service. With the different products, the costs become different. Again, cost records must be maintained for each specific product or job. In order to track data for the jobs produced, there are certain documents that are used namely; 1. Job cost sheet: This is a document that is applied to track the total job cost summary detailing from the job number, job and client data and cost that involves materials,

Report on the legal framework for chosen restaurant (after takover) Essay

Report on the legal framework for chosen restaurant (after takover) - Essay Example The report will also summarize the implications of the identified legislations to the college restaurant. In this regard, the report will highlight how each of the legislations affecting the restaurant industry and in particular, the college restaurant affects it, the customers, and the staffs who are students at the college. Secondly, it will highlight on the rights and responsibilities of the stakeholders as required by the legislation or how their roles are affected by the legislations. Thirdly, the report will also state the penalties that the college restaurant or members of staff may face if they fail to abide by the legislations. Among the laws that will be reviewed by the report which affect the restaurant industry include laws pertaining to licensing, food hygiene, health and safety laws for workplaces, and fire safety laws. 1.0 Introduction With reference to the writings by Pannett (1992), he wrote that in general the constitution is a tool that stipulates what is legally a nd morally correct in most issues such as politics and even business issues. The constitution further spells out legislations pertaining to specific industries, and these legislations are mainly used as guidelines to ensure that industry players engage in fair practices without compromising the quality of their product and/ or service, and that they engage in health competition which will not undermine the spirit of fair business participation. Pannett (1992) further added that some industries are less regulated while others are heavily regulated but this is mainly determined by the nature of the business involved in the industry, the sensitivity of the products and/ or services, the category of consumers served by the industry players, and overall government and public interest on the industry. For example, the entertainment industry is less regulated or has few related legislations because the products and services that it offers to revelers are not highly sensitive, more over for entertainment to be real and enjoyable it is not supposed to be heavily regulated. However, the restaurant industry is highly regulated because of the sensitivity of the products and services that it offers to its customers. In this regard, Barth et al. (2007) noted that food largely determines that health of a person and therefore, the health of a nation can be influenced by the restaurant industry, which specializes in food and beverage. For this reason, it has to be heavily regulated to ensure that the health of customers as well as the staffs is not endangered. Barth et al. (2007) stated that the most common and universal legislation in the restaurant industry is the legislations that addresses hygiene of the restaurants and in particular, where and how food is prepared. This legislation is commonly applied to ensure that restaurants prepare their dishes in a health and clean manner that cannot in anyway endanger the health or life of the customers. The report will focus on the restaurant industry and it will further highlight on the other legislations that

Social Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Issue - Essay Example This may not seem like a huge number but it is several millions of the reported cases. Majority of the cases go unreported because of shame (especially violence against the man) or threats from the violent spouse. The impact of this increasing domestic violence include: negative effects on the children, can result to homelessness, psychological issues in future, physical health problems, economic impact and in some extreme cases even murder. Majority of the domestically violent relationships have children in the center of them. Children are usually at the receiving end of such issues and it leads to them having trust issues in the future. These children are the future of our country and if they develop trust issues, are in the middle of nasty divorce cases and souse separation, get to see the abuse unfolding in their eyes, they will be destroyed. Some of the children will most likely develop the abuse tendencies in the future starting another round of domestic abuse again, they are also likely to treat the opposite sex in a non-respecting manner as that is the example that was set for them when young as well as fail to lead effectively as they trust nobody. The should aim at door to door campaigns making people open up about their domestic violence as early in the relationship as possible and not fail to due to shame, stigmatization or fear. More is needed in terms of helping the children of such violent relationships as early as possible before the effects mentioned above manifests in them in their future. There should be more stringent actions taken against perpetrators of the violence other than what the law proposes now to discourage such acts in the future (Fall and Howard,

United States after World War II Essay Example for Free

United States after World War II Essay The influence of the United States over political and economic affairs worldwide sharply decreased after World War II. US officials found this psychologically difficult to accept, given their country’s key role in the war. Jeffery E. Garten further elaborated on this sentiment: â€Å"Part of America’s outdated self-image is still related to the memory of the Pax Americana, the era of omnipotence for the twenty years following World War II†¦These were very special years in the American experience, to be fondly remembered, even cherished. But they were, looking back, a transition period†¦We need to find a way to put these years and what they represent behind us† (Paarlberg, 1995). As far as Garten knew, the US clearly had difficulty in coming to terms with its changing position in the world. As a result, outward-looking internationalism dominated US policymaking after World War II. This trend was most visible in the post-World War II history of US relations with other countries. After World War II, US foreign policy broke away from its historical tradition of avoiding permanent diplomatic alliances. This departure had a strong impact on American politics and economy (Paarlberg, 1995). The US Economy after World War II US foreign policy conventionally espoused inward-looking diplomatic neutrality beyond the Western Hemisphere and parts of the Pacific. In the 1930s, the US Congress passed three separate neutrality acts, which legally prohibited the US from taking sides in the military or diplomatic disputes of Europe or Asia. It was not until the Great Depression that protectionism was discredited through the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. However, this law faced strong opposition from industrialists and political partisans. These parties believed that the domestic market was large enough to accommodate certain amounts of trade protection and corporate parochialism (Paarlberg, 1995). Unusual Economic Supremacy Right after World War II, a period when rival economies in Europe were exhausted and destroyed, the US was enjoying a strong economy and was even strengthening its technological superiority. High production demands during the war increased the country’s Gross National Product (GNP) by 50% in real terms. By 1950, the US economy was 5 times larger than that of the Soviet Union and 10 times than that of Japan. In sharp contrast, World War II reduced Western European economies by 25% (Paarlberg, 1995). The US economic boom continued after the war through unilateral military and economic policy initiatives, such as the Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947) and the Marshall Plan (July 12, 1947). These strategies allowed the US to dominate political reconstruction in both West Germany and Japan, as well as the establishment of American naval and air forces across the Atlantic and the Pacific. Allies and defeated adversaries alike were offered economic advantages such as grants, technical assistance, credits and market access – without immediate repayment or demands for perfect reciprocity. The US dollar replaced gold as an international key currency, allowing the US to dominate international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund – World Bank (IMF-WB) (Paarlberg, 1995). The Ideology of the Cold War The US did not carry out these measures without any underlying economic or security motives. Perceived threats of Stalinism (and later Maoism) prompted the American government to secure its political, economic and military influence overseas. The relative power of the US Congress was weakened in order to give the US President unprecedented peacetime authority over the deployment and use of both conventional and nuclear weapons, as well as unsupervised clout over the clandestine operations abroad of the then-newly-established Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Nations who were previously wartime allies suddenly found themselves fighting one another simply because they were at the opposite ends of the Cold War ideological fence (Paarlberg, 1995). Communism versus Capitalism: The Consolidation of Power At the height of the Cold War, both the US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) scrambled to find foreign allies that will espouse their respective ideologies. Countries that were allied either with the US or the Soviet Union received generous political, economic and military aid. There were even leaders from these nations that rose to power through US or Soviet backing. The Cold War was not just an â€Å"arms race† but an ideological struggle as well. The Soviet Union. Beginning in 1945, governments across Eastern Europe were characterized with â€Å"people’s democracies† or Soviet-type regimes that had a Communist form of domestic administration and whose foreign policies were dictated by the USSR. These â€Å"people’s democracies† isolated and destroyed opposing political factions, expropriated large land holdings, instituted collective farming (except in Poland) and nationalized almost all industries. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania and East Germany were eventually included into the Soviet Union. With the cooperation of these countries, the USSR founded the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform). However, Yugoslavia was expelled from the Cominform in 1948 due to Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito’s resistance against Soviet interference in his country’s affairs (MSN Encarta, 2008). The US The US countered by establishing right-wing monarchial and military dictatorships in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America starting from the 1960s. In Africa, it backed the oppressive regimes of Idi Amin in Uganda (1971), King Hassan II in Morocco (1961) and Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire (1965). In Asia, US-engineered dictatorships included those of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam (1955), Park Chung Hee in South Korea (1961) and Pol Pot in Cambodia (1975). In Latin America, Augusto Pinochet of Chile (1973), Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier of Haiti (1957 and 1971, respectively) and Nicaragua’s Anastacio Somoza Garcia (1937) and Anastacio Somoza Debayle (1956). In Europe, the US sponsored the governments of Spain’s Francisco Franco (1939) and Greece’s George Papadopoulos (1967) (Bernstein and Sydell, 1995). American Policies and Practices in International Relations (Late 1940s – Mid-1950s) The US radically increased its defense spending from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s due to the Cold War and the spread of Communism in Korea, Eastern Europe and China during the said period. Companies, particularly those related with the defense industry, saw this as an opportunity for immense profits. However, over-reliance of American enterprises on defense contracts resulted in the emergence of the military-industrial complex (MIC). The MIC, in turn, heavily influenced US foreign policy from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s (Schultz, 1999). The Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) The increase in the federal government’s military spending prompted enterprises to do business with the US Department of Defense. There were at least 40,000 defense contractors working for the federal government by the mid-1950s, providing services such as the manufacturing of uniforms, weapons and ammunition. Universities and technology-related firms were used as research and development departments, wherein new weapons and fighting strategies were created. By the 1970s, the US Department of Defense had surpassed the 75 largest corporations in America in terms of economic assets. This led to criticisms that the US was building a permanent â€Å"war economy† (Schultz, 1999). In order to sustain this â€Å"war economy,† the US government had no choice but keep on waging wars with other countries. When the US economy underwent a recession in 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower responded by boosting the defense budget (Schultz, 1999). He likewise staged a number of armed conflicts with other nations. Hence, Eisenhower’s administration was known for disputes such as clashes with Red China over Taiwan (1955) and the Berlin Crisis (1959) (MSN Encarta, 2008). Conclusion The US is still living under the illusion of Pax Americana – a new world order wherein every nation on earth is subservient to American interests. As a result, it used Pax Americana to get away with imperialism and violating the rights of other nations to self-determination. The US must realize that if it is entitled to liberty and justice, the same holds true for other countries. Real freedom and prosperity can never be attained through political and economic interference, as well as through military aggression. References Bernstein, D. Sydell, L. Third World Traveler. (1995). Friendly Dictators. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from http://www. thirdworldtraveler. com/Dictators/Friendly_Dictators. html MSN Encarta. (2008). Dwight D. Eisenhower. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761554032/Eisenhower. html#s1 MSN Encarta. (2008). Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761553017/ Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics. html Paarlberg, R. (1995). Leadership Abroad Begins at Home: US Foreign Economic Policy After the Cold War. Washington, D. C. : Brooklings Institution Press. Schultz, S. K. University of Wisconsin System. (1999). The 1950s: The Cold War and the Affluent Society. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from http://us. history. wisc. edu/hist102/lectures/lecture24. html

Impact of Significant Life Events

Impact of Significant Life Events The transitions imply all of us. The layer of rain of the amendment suppose a question of low level survival for millennia . Then the people evolved an exclusive methods for they get accustomed to changes and surprise . The normal changes can conquered by the education. The considerable change can prove our individuality and mesh left they go of completely supported values, hops. Sometime transition are showed under the diagram. after events of life keys show up to 10-20 period in our spam of life. The transition can be widely divided in two types. These types are, Awaited Transition An awaited transition can be defined as an expectation that the people who waits for the changes. Then they knew the changes that go to past as the childs, marriage or birthing etc Can be Unexpected ( transition ) it will happen with a knowledge. This one, humans dont know the changes that are going to happen. for example : Dismissal, death etc. There are some variables that the following of style of adaptation of the influence is: Culture Religion Social Fund Attitude Individual Behavior the transition more significant than different also, some changes or this Transition are acknowledgeable like at the Awaited if persons are extraordinary a little also the Unexpected Transition persons unconscious turning capably of facing the change. then a transition is more significant. Different responses made to significant life event and transition by individuals Answer 1.2 that the stages of life are the different step along which an individual should happen during all his process of life (more Difficult states 2009) it includes this one: the development or infancy the discovery or years adolescents the establishment or juvenile adulthood the continuation or average adulthood to push back or major Nevertheless, normally aptitude for an individual to cope with the events of life in truth related to the stages of the life of the person. Our individuality presents the approach in another direction. You look at latest most of the time as pessimistic or optimistic, dependent or independent, careful or adventurous, impassive or emotional, passive or aggressive, adept or lead agency; generally, these are the character of cholera congenital, Nevertheless other attribute example the emotion that one or low other / authority becomes visible to the study and in particular to challenge basis different and respect we enter to grow. According Erickson, culture has a tremendous influence in human behavior, it has developed and placed more accents in the outside world that wars and depression 1. Infancy (of the birth to 18 months) Result of development of ego: suspicion against confidence Principal force: wait and I walk 2. The early infancy (it begins Eighteen months to Three years) Effect of development of ego: shame against autonomy Principal force: it goes to, the courage and car control 3. The age of game (from three to five years) Result of development of ego: he blames against initiative Central force: target 1. The school age (from 6 to 12 years) Result of development of ego: inferiority against industry Principal forces: competition and method 2. The adolescence (from 12 to 18 years) Result of development of ego: confusion of role against identity Fundamental forces: loyalty and allegiance 3. The young adulthood (from 18 to 35 years) Result of development of ego: isolation, solidarity and intimacy Principal forces: love and affiliation 4. average adulthood: (from 35 to 65 years) Result of development of ego: me absorption or stagnation against generativamente Critical forces: it worry and production 5. Late adulthood: (from 65 years to death) Result of development of ego: desperation against integrity Essential forces: Knowledge The direction of a particularly difficult depends event the stages of our life. And when we have seen with the various stages of life Erickson, we can or to cope with an important event that the death of a member of our family that he will be joined for our standard of living which can be adapted or insufficient to help us to confront this dramatic event in the Pacific. The young man of 10 is lit more challenge to conquer the death of his father that they are compared by the adult of 57 which has a number of life experiences. Personality is organized and dynamic thu characteristics owned by an individual who determines only that it or its cognitions, the behaviors and the motivations in various situations. I. The Ego More difficult (2009) states that This is the structure of the personality that it treats with the demands of veracity or reality; it is called the executive power of the personality because a use of reasoning makes to take decisions . The II.st The superego It is the judge or the moral branch of the personality that it identifies or door to the spirit if something goes wrong or is correct, it is considered as our conscience. Personality changes of an individual to other because, in a sense, each person is not only and the personality that only simply means that people have different reactions, approaches when they meet the challenges in his life. Group responds to significant life events Williams (1999) explain this the change they are the ordinary series for which each one reacts to startle and to adapt, and to have to go during several stage to get accustomed completely to events keys in our work and person life, loss, damage, divorce or loss of work and new matters, the employment or the substitution radically change our life. The excellent events as well as the scare can destabilize our minds, need that we change drastically ours thoughtfully the world, This one takes more time that most of persons understands, often with a stage of the interior bottomless disaster approximately six months later, until we could stop they go of the past and settle completely to our new reality. These procedures influence every person, most of cultures, after principal events of life. These ten happen to twenty times in the life of the people of the majority. Of being understood and I support these events they can be decisive points and opportunity. Or they can go forward to the severe error of judgment, sadness, breakdown, broken matters, career and sometimes suicide. When we have an individual disaster, or we see others in one, in general we contemplate the immediate situation. If there is exterior sensitive factor these can begin a transition. And the additional enthusiasm, the incredulity, the denial, the suspense, the losing confidence, the confusion and the depression are the primary responses to the transition. The social support is A network of members of the family and friends who gives positive reactions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Persons that give emotional support. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Honest clashes when you establish a style of life of the resumption. The framework consists of gifts of its success, the reminders you dedicate when and understanding when you are discouraged and injury. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The citizens of his life not that does not accept no excuse of you, but contributes to keep its foot and dedication to progress. . The importance of social support is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ applauded up to continue to sacrifice and the power to create the change. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Motivate to persist jobs in the change. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Support and estimated nostalgia when you are the experience a plateau that they imply the small visible change. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Believe that the difficulties on you and the hard work that you create. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ This will be chase costs means in which you can change its style of life à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ more difficult and longer Work in his work or efforts to be improved. Them  · they turn in more affected and interested into his progress and development. Them  · they become more careful in his efforts to change. More sensitive fact on the time and effort had to do the essential change of his life. Answer 14 Mckibbin and (2008) the state tension, such as the response of entrant to a human being has by force shall exercise, in extreme or the other type of require placed on them. Many things in the work can lead to the tension, and the individual will find some things more stressful that different. The Walsh (2005) stipulates that the concept of the tension popularly has to do with the feeling  » under the pressure , unable to cope with the requirements of the situation. Financial commitments and problems Poor-quality living condition Personal relationship Health problems Excessive work roles/long hours Lack of sleep Lack of rest and relaxation Sources of Stress Prejudice, discrimination and hostility from others The Asbridge and To (2008) it describes that small quantity of the tension can be well for us, but tension of some times increases and get in the way with our health. When someone under tension bodies produces a hormone called the adrenaline. The sudden liberation of the adrenaline in the bloodstream causes several effects in the short term, even a beat of rapid, more rapid heart respiration, dry mouth, wide open eyes, sweaty hands, the need to go to the services and a pale face. These signs of the tension do not last a lot of time when they need the energy. If a stressful situation does not improve, then the person can fall ill. The tension impact in each one especially worries the following of workpeople the potential impact is in workpeople of care Denial Rage Social Retreat Anxiety Depression Insomnia Irritability Depletion Lack of concentration Problems of Health To reduce the tension it is necessary to conquer the things that caused the tension, which is not always easy. Below they are some ways of relieving the tension:  · Change the situation to remove the thing this causing the tension. formation of direction of Time might help to avoid the tension caused by the lack of the time. Emotional expression speaks of or notes down feelings, putting the positive aspect in a list and denials. Assertive formation can go to the source of the problem. skills of Relaxation as therapy of watering, massage, hipnoterapia. Exercise. Medicines prescribidas for GP Therapy to help to organize thoughts to look at a situation differently. game of Role they calculate strategies of adapting themselves practising them first. Others social networks may provide support to individuals experiencing Answer 2.2 According Kubler (1969) there are five fundamental stages in cases of death are denial, anger, the negotiation, depression and finally acceptance. Diagram below describe the time Source: http://www.armchairadvice.co.uk/bereavement/emotional/responses.asp Denial Kubler (1969) states that Denial is a aware or unaware rejection to agree to evidence, truth, and many more, relate to the scenario concerned, Its a resistance mechanism and completely usual, Some people can become locked in this period when dealing with a shocking change that can be ignored, Death of course is not particularly easy to avoid or avoid indefinitely. Anger He further describes that Anger can manifest in different ways People dealing with emotional upset can be angry with themselves, and/or with others, particularly those close to them, knowing this helps keep detached and non-judgemental when experiencing the anger of someone who is very upset. Negotiation Kubler (1969), provides that the tradition of stage negotiator for the people face death can lead to the try to negotiate with any God in whom the individual believes, people turn a volume of the serious minor trauma that it can negotiate or look to place a negotiation, the negotiation rarely that it provides a sustainable exit, mainly if it is a matter of life or death. Depression It is mentioned as preparatory affliction. In a sense it is the process of clothing or the formation led to the consequence although this stage means different things according to which this implies, is a kind of acceptance of the touch accessory. It is usual to feel the sorrow and sadness, fear, suspense, etc. : This shows that the person began to accept at least the reality. Acceptance Kubler (1969) define this stage truly they change according to the state of the person, although largely this is a sign that there is some touching separation and objectivity, the agonizing People can enter this stage a lot of time before the people that they stop, the one who must happen essentially for her own individual stage of deals with the sorrow . The loss is the Unexpected transition normally like a human being for which each one spends this one she organizes the time it will change to the person to the person that one day confronting the loss they need the social support of that time they can come to the normal life. Answer 2.3 External sources of support General Practitioner The people faced the transition some time that he is depressed in this case, they can go to its GP and go to them on the problem you face and GP prescribe anti depressants. The doctor is its first person to consult. The adviser is Adviser the person when you go and to go to someone who has been formed to be a good auditor and help to the conversation of the population on his problem. The adviser can be capable to help him to understand his feelings and thoughts better. Me they help groups where a group of people that they have all transferred to a transition or depression is together to speak and to support another. This can help to feel less when you find another people which has the same classes of feelings as you and also it can show him the means that they have adapted itself. The discovery that you can help and support can help another people to feel better. Psychiatric Disorders specialist that it is the person who deals with serious depressed that he continues during many time. Then it will listen to his problem and will the treatment. Psychiatric Nurse he / she is the people who is his house regularly and conversation with you on the progress and registers all. Answers 3.1 It is the aim of the company to ensure that no present or future employee or applicant for employment receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex,marital status ,disability ,races colour, nationality (including citizenship ) or ethnic be shown to be justifiable. the elimination of any discrimination in employment the promotion of equality of opportunity an also guidance on the steps that need to be taken to ensure that employment practice remain within the law The policy will be implemented ti accordance with appropriate statuary requirement of The equal pay Act 1970 The equal (Amendment) Regulations 1983 The sex discrimination Act 1974 The race relations Act 1976 Recommendation for improving the support available in the organisation for individuals and their social networks significant life event Answer 03, 3 Communication is about the way people reach out to one another. It is an essential part of all relationships, and the ability to communication well with service users, colleagues and other is to basic requirement for doing your job. An also its not just talking-we uses touch, facial experience and body movements when we ploughs communicating with people personally, and there plough many means of written and electronic communication in todays society. It is important that we reads to communicate well even where there plough differences in individuals abilities and methods of communication; you will also need to be able to communication effectively on complex and sensitive issues. Recording information is important and serves much valuable purpose. Record We need to understand the significant of what our and how it is record. Ex-, 1 How to identify the support individuals need 2 Overcoming difficulties in communication 3 How to find out about likely communication problems 4 Communication differences 5 Listening effectively You differ from communication and Actions for this (efficacy of contribution of personnel with experience) 01) Different language 1 Smile 2 they have a friendly expression 3 gestures of Use 4 pictures of Use 5 heat of spectacle and stimulus repeat his words with a smile to verify the understanding 02) Hearing of damage 1) To speak clearly, listen carefully, and answer to what is said to him 2) To remove any distraction and other noises 3) To make sure that any resource to the hearing works 4) Mail of use where assigned 5) Singing of use where assigned. 03) For contribution of Personnel of physical disability 1 They make sure that the surroundings are adapted and accessible 2 they bear in different mind with the production of voice if it is necessary 3 they do not frequent 4 they remember that any corporal language cannot be appropriate 04) For contribution of Personnel Learning disability 1) to judge the appropriate level of the understanding 2) our to answer in the right level 3) To remain patient and to be ready to keep on covering the same ground 4) To be ready to wait and to listen carefully to the response 05) Visual damage 1) to use the touch of being assigned to communicate the worry, the compassion and the interest 2) to use the tone of voice rather that expressions to communicate the humor and the response 3) The contract of an insurance that all the visual communication is transferred in something that can be heard, tape or someone reading

Diversification Is One Of The Growth Strategies Companies Marketing Essay

Diversification Is One Of The Growth Strategies Companies Marketing Essay Diversification strategy involves expanding organizations operations by adding markets, services or product to the existing business. The main aim of diversification is to allow the firm to enter lines of business that are different from existing line of business. If the new venture is related to the existing lines of business, then it is called concentric diversification. On the other hand conglomerate diversification takes place when there is no common line of strategic relationship between the fresh and old lines of business. (Thomas n.d.) Concentric diversification occurs when a company adds related products or markets. The objective of concentric diversification is to obtain strategic fit. Strategic relationship allows a firm to achieve synergy. Synergy is combining two or more parts of an organization to achieve greater total effectiveness together than would be experienced if the efforts of the independent parts were summed. Synergy might be obtained by combining companies with complementary marketing, financial, operating, and management efforts. Financial synergy can be obtained by combining a firm with sound financial resources but giving less growth opportunities with a firm having great market prospective but weak financial possessions. Companies try to stabilize income by diversifying into businesses with diverse cyclical sales patterns. Strategic relationship in operations will result in synergy by the balanced mix of operating units to increase overall efficiency. Overall efficiency can be improved by combining two or more units so that research and development or duplicate equipment is eliminated. Another way to obtain operating synergy is possible by Quantity discounts through combined ordering. Yet another way to increase efficiency is to spread into an area that can use by-products from existing operations. Management synergy can be obtained if administration expertise and experience is applied to different types of situations. The experience gained by a manager in working with unions in one firm might be applied to labour management problems in another company. Situations that appear similar may actually require significantly dissimilar management strategies. Personality clashes and other situational differences may make management synergy difficult to attain. Even though managerial understanding and skills can be transferred, individual executives cannot transfer effectively. CONGLOMERATE DIVERSIFICATION This is second form of diversification strategy. Conglomerate diversification occurs when an organization diversifies into areas that are not related to its current line of business. Synergy may be a consequence of financial resources or the appliance of management expertise; however the main purpose of this type of diversification is improved effectiveness of the acquiring firm. Little concern is given to obtain marketing or production synergy with conglomerate diversification. The main reason for adopting a conglomerate growth strategy is that prospects in an organizations current line of business are not that attractive. Finding an attractive investment opportunity requires the organization to consider options in other types of business. Companies also adopt conglomerate diversification approach as a means of increasing the growth rate of the companies. Sales growth may make the company more lucrative to investors. Growth will result in increase of the control and respect of the firms top executives. If the new area has development opportunities greater than the current line of business then conglomerate growth will be effective. But the biggest backdrop about conglomerate diversification strategy is the escalating in administrative related problems associated with operating unrelated line of businesses. Managers from different departments may have different backgrounds and may be hesitant to work together and bring out group efforts. Competition between different strategic business units for resources may include allocating appropriate resources from one division to another. These decisions may create enmity and administrative problems between the units. Carefulness must also be exercised in entering industry with apparently bright prospects, in particular if the management team lacks ability or experience in the new line of business. Without some understanding of the new industry, a company may be unable to accurately estimate the industrys capacity to perform. Even if the newly started business is initially successful, it will eventually face obstacles. Executives from the conglomerate will have to involve themselves in the strategies of the new venture at some point. Without sufficient skills or experience, the new business may face dead ends and threats of failure. Without some form of strategic fit, the joint performance of the individual units will not surpass the performance of the units functioning independently. In actuality, combined performance will come down because of controls positioned on the individual units by the parent corporation. Decision-making may turn out to be slower due to longer review periods and complex reporting systems. DIVERSIFICATION: GROW OR BUY? Efforts to diversify may be either internal or external. Internal diversification happens as a firm enters a different, but typically related, line of business but by developing a new line of business for itself. Internal diversification in a company generally involves growing a firms product or market base. External diversification may accomplish the same result; however, the company ventures into a new area of trade by purchasing another corporation or business unit. Mergers and acquisitions are common examples of external diversification. INTERNAL DIVERSIFICATION One way of internal diversification is to sell existing products in new markets. An organization may elect to widen its geographic base to cover new clients, either within its home country or in global markets. A business might also practise an internal diversification strategy by discovering new users for its current product. Finally, companies may try to change markets by escalating or declining the price of products to create them more appeal to customers of different earnings levels. Another way of internal diversification is to promote new products in existing markets. Normally this kind of strategy includes using existing channels of distribution to promote new products. Retailers frequently change product lines to take in new items that come into sight to have good market prospective. Johnson Johnson included a new line of baby toys to its existing line of things for infants. Packaged-food companies have furthered salt-free or low-fat options to existing product lines. Conglomerate growth through internal diversification is also a possibility. This strategy would involve promotion new and not related products to new marketplaces. This strategy is the slightest used one amongst the internal diversification strategies, as it is the most risky. It requires the company to enter a new marketplace where it is not established and the company develops and launches a new product. Research and development expenses, as well as advertising expenses, will likely be higher than if existing products were promoted. In effect, the investment and the possibility of failure are much greater when both the market and product are new. EXTERNAL DIVERSIFICATION External diversification takes place when a company looks external of its current operations and buys access to new marketplaces or products. Mergers are one general way of external diversification. Mergers take place when two or more firms merge operations to form one company, perhaps with a new name. These companies are usually of comparable size. The objective of a merger is to accomplish management synergy by building a stronger management team. This can be obtained in a merger by combining the management groups from the merged firms. Acquisitions, next form of external growth, happen when the purchased company loses its identity. The acquiring firm absorbs it. The acquired company and its property may be absorbed into an active business unit or remain together as an independent ancillary within the parent company. Acquisitions typically take place when a big firm purchases a smaller firm. Acquisitions are called pleasant if the firm being purchased is friendly to the acquisition. Unfriendly mergers happen when the administration of the company targeted for acquisition resists being purchased. (Thomas n.d.) Advantages and Disadvantages of Related Diversification: The advantage of related strategy is that expansion is easier because you already be on familiar terms with the industry you run in and you can leverage that knowledge. The drawback of this strategy is that if there is a cyclical downturn in the industry, company will feel the downturn in both the dealership and the detailing business. The blow will be severe. There may also be issues with incorporating two businesses, and with over-estimating the financial earnings. Advantages and Disadvantages of Unrelated Diversification: The benefit of buying an unrelated corporation is that companies decrease the risk of placing all your eggs in one basket and if the trade, or the industry, is hit hard by the market, or contest, or other success factors, then possessing an unrelated business may also help to offset the slump Why to invest in unrelated diversification? Companies may be able to invest in a new market or new product that has peaks when your business has valleys. Several businesses have seasonality highs and lows; if you can buy a business that has a high when your business has a tiny, you can compensate the low periods. (Advantages and disadvantages of Diversification n.d.) To diversify or not to diversify with respect to online companies To diversify or not to diversify is one of the trickier questions in front of Internet companies because the blockade to entry is so low for a lot of online business models.  The basic difference when it comes to online businesses is that the expenditure of moving into adjacent areas may be appreciably lower than in the physical world. Given the elasticity of the online environment, the tough question for companies is- What kinds of development are synergistic with the central part of business, and which are tangential?  It is ambiguous where Google, Amazon and Yahoo will end up with their diversification strategies. Amazon has been leasing out the infrastructure it has used to develop into an e-commerce giant. The company has chiefly two services, EC2, or Elastic Compute Cloud, and S3, or Simple Storage Service, that offer on-demand computing power and online storage, respectively. The services are sold as a usefulness where customers can purchase only the computing power or dat a storage they utilize. The pricing method at Amazon is fifteen cents per gigabyte per month for its storage service along with twenty cents per gigabyte for data transferred in and out of Amazons computing centres. Google has announced Google Docs and Spreadsheets, an online software suite that would compete with Microsofts Office. During the same time Yahoo has get hold of a series of firms such as Flickr, a photo sharing website, and del.icio.us, a website for systematizing and sharing web bookmarks, among others. However after this Yahoo senior vice president Brad Garlinghouse expressed grief that the company lacks a focused, unified vision. Due to a bevy of acquisitions, Yahoo might be challenging with itself in many areas such as photo-sharing and online video. Any acquisition needs to have some kind of profound business logic behind it. Amazon moved from books to electronics to apparel and now to data storage. Now the problem is whats their core competency? Is it Book sales o r e-commerce? If its e-commerce, maybe computing power is just an addition of its existing line of trade. The biggest downside for Amazon is that consumers will come to depend on the companys infrastructure. Tomorrow if Amazon wants to modify its systems, it cant since it will have consumers locked into its services. There is a vast downside risk here. Coming to Google it looks like Microsoft, a company that generates just about all of its earnings from one or two businesses. The online companies should think ahead before diversifying in to other businesses. At the same its not so advisable to stand still in internet business because competition is high and replication of business model is easier than physical world. But companies should keep certain things in mind before expanding their business like finding natural synergies that can lead to growth. (werbach 2006) CONCLUSION Diversification strategies help companies expand their operations in to different business markets. Companies also adopt diversification strategy to reduce the risk by moving in to several business areas. Concentric diversification occurs when a company adds related products or markets. Conglomerate diversification occurs when an organization diversifies into areas that are unrelated to its current line of business. The main aim of diversification is to allow the firm to go into lines of business that are dissimilar from current operations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank our professor Mr. DM Sezhiyan, Department Of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Trichy for his encouragement and support throughout this work. He not only guided me but also helped me with the topic to understand, and communicate it to this paper. I would also thank Dr. M. PUNNIYAMOORTHY (Head of the Department), National Institute of Technology, Trichy who has been a constant source of motivation and support all through the work. Finally I would like to thank my family and well wishers for their boundless love and constant encouragement.

Church History :: essays research papers fc

Christianity Begins On a late afternoon, in about the year AD 33, two men were walking from Jerusalem to the nearby village of Emmaus. Their conversation centered on events that had occurred the previous week. As they journeyed, a stranger who seemed ignorant of these events joined them. Surprised, they asked him: "Are you the only person staying in Jerusalem not to know what has happened there in the last few days?" So they explained to him about a certain Jesus of Nazareth, "a prophet powerful in speech and action before God and the whole people. Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to the Roman authorities to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we were hoping that he was the man to liberate Israel." Even more amazing, they went on to say, were reports from some women who visited his tomb that he was alive again, raised from the dead. Suddenly the stranger spoke: "How dull-witted you two are! And how slow to believe all that the prophets said. Was not th e messiah bound to suffer thus before entering upon his glory?" Then he went on to clarify from the Hebrew scriptures all the passages that referred to himself. For the stranger was Jesus of Nazareth, of whom the two had been speaking. Based on the life, death and coming to life again of Jesus Christ there has developed the world's largest religion, Christianity. Expectation and Reality The two men on the road to Emmaus were not simple common folk. They were a selected group of twelve followers, called disciples or learners, of Jesus who had known him for at least three years. During this period they had listened to all he said and had witnessed his amazing actions, such as healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and even bringing people back to life. They had become convinced that he was the Messiah who was to redeem Israel. Israel wanted and expected redemption. This small Jewish nation, located in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, had for centuries looked forward to a time when their God would, through some decisive action, free them from outside oppression and establish Israel as the preeminent nation in the world. The word messiah means "the lord's anointed," someone God has set aside for a specific task. Christians believe that Jesus, from the small town of Nazareth in Galilee, was that Messiah.

Miscegination Is Genetic Suicide:- A Critical Look At Race-m :: essays research papers

Every species on earth has it's variants. For example, the differences between Wood Ducks and Mallards have evolved for specific reasons - namely, those which best ensure the survival of the Duck species in different environments. The same applies to humans. The Negro race has evolved under a certain set of conditions and those conditions differed vastly from those under which the Nordic Aryan race evolved. Whereas the Nordic Aryan needed warmth and shelter in the cold climates of Europe and consequently developed a more hairy body, light skin, and a narrow shaped nose among other things, the Negro, lavishing in the hot climate of Africa, needed cooling and therefore devoloped a flatter nose, a body with minimal hair, and a flatter, broader nose. This type of genetic diversity which has evolved over many thousands of years in order to better adapt us for our respective environments is being destroyed with miscegination - that is - "race-mixing". As every species in the world developed, it's sub-species and it's further strains and breeds under those have evolved for a very specific reason - the preservation of the species, and ultimately, life itself. Each species is like a tree, with hundreds of branches, each leading to thousands of other branches. Each branch of the tree is slightly different from the one beside it, due to living in a different environment it has had to adapt and the resulting differences are due to the combination - the formula - of genes, which has survived the best in whatever environment it has encountered. Because of this branching of the species, whenever a particular disease, a natural phenomenon, or a new predator has arrived on the scene, the species has always been diverse enough to continue, as there will be one branch of the tree which has the immunity, adapted over time, in order to defend itself or escape from the catastrophe. This method, special branching, has ensured the survival of vario us species for thousands of years, and is in fact the reason for the existance of different species. Since the beginning billions of years ago when God reached down and fused the base elements of life into a single-cell organism, that's how long this process has been taking place. As the amoeba of life spread to different parts of a world that was just beginning to take shape, it encountered different challenges for survival, the cells that couldn't survive died and the one or two mutated cells that could survive continued, multiplying and dominating each particular environment.

Implementing Vygotsky’s Model of Child Development

Implementing Vygotsky's  Social  Learning Theory  in the Classroom Jodi Zeman Growing and Learning Theories VTE-ED 571 October 25, 2010 Sheryl Bunn 2 Implementing Vygotsky’s Social Learning Theory in the Classroom Contrary to Sigmund Freud's theory,  Lev  Vygotsky's concept is anchored in the idea that a child learns new complex tasks from a more advanced adult or sibling helping him or her through these new situations. His  cognitive-developmental approach based on an idea Jerome Bruner later labeled â€Å"scaffolding† (Wood, Bruner, ; Ross, 1976).This person leads the child through tasks that might otherwise be too advanced for a developing child  alone,  but with the guidance and help from the leader these are attainable. This gives the child a guide as he or she progresses and eventually begins to conquer problems or new tasks independently. A large part of the  success of the child has to do with the structure  or â€Å"scaffolding† the c hild has in place  to help him or her along the  journey thus making social interaction a vital part of his  theory. This concept applies directly to the high school physical education â€Å"classroom†.There are unique challenges that a teacher comes across when trying to use traditional instructional methods in an atypical classroom. The learning environment is not always conducive to the educator communicating important points with visual, audio and tactile cues to help. There is no â€Å"note taking† or list of terms on the whiteboard used to offer reinforcement. Instead  of an  educator lecturing  the theories and fundamental rules involved in an activity, the teacher must take an active role to  engage with the students.Vygotsky's approach is very hands-on, in that there is  no formal distance between the teacher and the 3 students in  instruction. The teacher interacts with the students and helps them to complete tasks that might otherwise be mo re advanced than they  would be able to handle on their own. An example of this in the area of physical education would be illustrated in  an introduction to volleyball. We would start by reviewing techniques used to do basic fundamental skills needed for volleyball while introducing the terms and names for these techniques.The teacher would then demonstrate these techniques for the students to use as a visual guide for what the skill set might look like, and also go over common pitfalls students might face in the  physical activity to alleviate pressures  some of the students might have before attempting the exercise. We would start with basic technical skills and give each student a chance to participate in the exercise. Once all the students demonstrate the basic skill discussed, we would introduce a slightly more challenging version of the first drill.For instance, initially the teacher or a partner would toss a ball up in the air to the person demonstrating â€Å"the p ass† and the participant would then try to  pass the volleyball back to the tosser. The other students would watch and support the students when they were successful. The nature of a physical education class does lend itself to Vygotsky's  cooperative ideas and team learning style. The students can break up into groups and work together to improve the skills set forth for the class.A modification of this exercise to make it more challenging would be to pair the students up and instead of tossing the ball back to each other they would try to pass the ball back and forth in a controlled manner to the other partner. They would try to  keep the passes going in a controlled manner back and forth to each other. I would then 4 observe and let the students try to explore the task with a partner. If there were people who struggled with the initial drill I would pair them  up with a classmate who successfully completed the task.Once we complete the initial introduction to the ba sic skill of passing we would then introduce the class to the actual playing area. This would serve both the struggling student and the one acting as a peer tutor to understand the skill further. The nature of Vygotsky's theory is grounded in the concept that the environment we are in will have a direct and powerful role in how we might learn and grow. This is why it is so incredibly important for students to receive positive praise for their efforts.Anytime the students complete a requested task there should be a lifting up of that student and recognition that the goal was met. Physical education can be a bit tricky because you have so many students with different athletic levels and backgrounds. The students also may have self-esteem issues which are often put into the forefront when having to demonstrate skills in front of others. This leaves the student open to the possibility of failure of the task and consequently, ridicule. That is why in P. E. the instructor has to emphasize the importance of effort more than execution.A positive attitude and a effort-filled attempt is a praise-worthy demonstration of an exercise. Mastery will only come if the student feels comfortable enough to put himself or herself out there to try it.References Bee, H. , ; Boyd, D. (2004). The Developing Child. Retrieved from the University of Phoenix e-Book     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Collection database. Barbara Blake and Tambra Pope (2008). Developmental Psychology: Incorporating Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories in Classrooms. Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Education Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 2008) 59 – 67.

Black & Decker Case Study

Black & Decker Case Questions Address the following questions with regard to the Black & Decker case study in up to two pages (one-sided) or two sides of one page. Do not use a font smaller than 12 or margins less than 1 inch. Please consider the writing rubric as you begin (available on Angel). Also, do not hesitate to use bullet points when listing items. 1. Briefly, what is the nature and background of the company? Black & Decker Corporation is an organization located in Towson, Maryland. They blueprint and trade in power tools and accessories, hardware and home improvement products, and technology based fastening systems (Wikipedia, 2011). For a long time, B&D brands magnetize great strength from the consumers and the Professional Industrial segments while its Professional-Tradesmen segment has been sour. This case analyzes different alternatives on how to gain profitable market share in the Professional-Tradesmen segment. 2. Do a SWOT Analysis for Black & Decker. Use bullet points. And feel free to use boxes here and elsewhere. E. g. , Strengths * High brand awareness * High service rating and high quality tools done in field test * Small market share for Professional Tradesmen which makes it easy in the event they want make changes in their products line in this market segment. | Weaknesses * Small market share in the Professional Tradesmen market segment. * B&D brands are more focused on household products * Professional Tradesmen do not associate quality with B&D products. Opportunities * Fast growth opportunity for professional-Tradesmen (9%) * Yellow color unused by other brands. Yellow represents safety. * Makita does not have retailers’ channels to distribute their products, and B&D develop businesses with retail stores. | Threats * Yellow color is subjective; it can be interpreted otherwise rather than safety. * No retail channels where Makita dominates. * Other segments can be impacted if the new strategy planning for Professional Tradesmen does not work. | 3. In a sentence or two, what is the issue being faced here? The issue faced here is the decline of the market share of the Professional Tradesmen segment and how to overcome that decline and gain larger market share in this segment of the market. 4. Briefly present the plusses and minuses of each of the three proposed options. Option 1: The Professional Tradesmen segment focus is to be profitable at the expense of other segments market shares. This cannibalization method can only be successful for the short run. However, in the long run, competitors may take over the other two segments market shares. Option 2: Sub-branding B&D name. This option can only work for products that are already sub-branded; however if this strategy fails, the parents brand may suffer. Moreover, Professional Tradesmen can lose loyalty to B&D brand if their sub-brand is too much differentiated. Option 3: Drop the Black & Decker name. The percentage of purchase interest, which reflects consumers behavior toward the new brand, is higher when DeWalt brand is included in the survey (63%) compared to B&D (44%). On the same token, one should consider that DeWalt brand may be an interest to consumers, but in fact not be a product that consumers may actually buy. 5. Indicate which alternative you would choose and explain why. Knowing that brand awareness has a big influence on an organization success or failure, let's first determine Professional Tradesman needs or want: – Quality and durability issues rose from the fact that Tradesmen were using consumer quality power tools in their job sites; making those house products unsustainable. Lack of differentiation in B;D products design did not give them a competitive advantage in the Tradesmen market segment. To resolve the aforementioned issues, I strongly recommend B;D to create a new brand without B;D name attached to it that specifically targets Professional Tradesmen. From that new brand, B;D can build up a new different portrait representing durability, quality and any other features that competitors do not offer or provide. Moreover , the product differentiation can easily be distinguished by Tradesmen at their work place, especially if they differentiate by color, size and shape. . What further steps would you take to help assure that your chosen course of action succeeds? [This is important. Don’t skimp here. ] – Closely work with tradesman to insure their needs are being met. – Do some marketing campaign and ads targeting Tradesmen market segment. – Implement competitive pricing. – Develop retail distribution channel with Lowes, Home Depot since these stores sell for most part heavy duties and superior quality tools made for heavy duty jobs. This can give a competitive edge to B;D.

Brave New World & human story

The book â€Å"Brave New World† by Aldous Huxley begins describing the tour of the Conditioning Centre and the Central London Hatchery. Huxley writes that in the year of Our Ford 632 rational systems of society organizing were very popular. The birth process seemed to be mechanized and, moreover, strict societal hierarchy dominated, and the different societal casts were condition from the very start of their lives to accept their destiny of either rich or poor. Repression and persecution weren’t observed as all people followed the laws and orders set by governmental apparatus of security state.Huxley assumes that population was biologically bent and chemically conditioned from the birth. The first two chapters of the book are devoted to walkthrough of this human factory. The author is willing to make people understand better the technical foundation of society and to provide the background for drama to happen in the future. Huxley assumes that people freely rejected the ir history, maturity and autonomy in order to become oppressed by technologies which were gradually destroying their capacities to think. The third chapter continues setting the stage for drama and provides overview of different viewpoints.This chapter is important as the author introduces the main characters. The book is a human story centered on the destiny of Bernard Marx. Marx is shown as a person who isn’t suited restricted and fully controlled pacified world. Marx has other ideas about societal order and he doesn’t want to be similar to others. Despite the fact that Bernard is Alpha meaning he belongs to the highest hierarchical level, he doesn’t seem to be content with the order. Marx decided to take Lenina for vacation at a Reservation in New-Mexico. Lenina is a woman with strong belief of status quo.Lenina and Marx get acquainted with a young man named Savage. Savage return to polite society with Marx and Lenin and the rest of the book is devoted to ill ustrating how Savage is trying to encounter with civilization. The author often refers to satirical devices to increase the intensity with the story progression. Moreover, metaphors in the book seem to be extreme: for example, the author describes that people have to make the sign â€Å"T† and to refer to their deity as â€Å"Our Ford†. Further, we see that Huxley describes Savage as sympathetic character.For example, his mother is extremely unhappy and dies when returning to civilization and we will sorry seeing Savage’s despair. With book progression the author links Bernard Marx with the corrosive forces of civilization. For example, Marx displays his true essence when he decided to bow to the World Controller’s will. Nevertheless, Marx is the only character in the book who seems to be pitied, even though his choices are always shaped by society. Lenina is the pawn of Fordian society, and he relations with Savage seem to have no perspective because soc iety assembled its own perspective for her future.One more interesting character in the book is Mustapha Mond who is the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. Mond is educated as Savage and likes reading Shakespeare. Mond often exhort Savage arguing: â€Å"You can't play Electro-Magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy†. (p. 194) In such a way the author manages to present unique character to eradicate fully the sense of happiness. Huxley worries about human state of mind and decided to put the sense of happiness into materialistic paradigm.Sense of happiness is a method of control aimed at justifying as what population wants. Huxley clearly shows that technologies would change and destroy everything humane. Huxley underlines that there is no way out of existing system which will distort human characters. The book is very interesting, sharp and unrelenting in its satirical depictions. The book has endured because the author depicted in details the order in totalitarian state and showed that technologies would yield full control of biology. References Huxley, Aldous. (2001). Brave New World. New York: Voyager Classics.

Agriculture of Pakistan Essay

Agriculture is a vital sector of Pakistan’s economy and accounted for 25. 9 percent of GDP in 1999-2000, according to government estimates. The sector directly supports three-quarters of the country’s population, employs half the labor force , and contributes a large share of foreign exchange earnings. The main agricultural products are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, in addition to milk, beef, mutton, and eggs. Pakistan depends on one of the world’s largest irrigation systems to support production. There are 2 principal seasons. Cotton, rice, and sugarcane are produced during the kharif season, which lasts from May to November. Wheat is the major rabi crop, which extends from November to April. The key to a much-needed improvement of productivity lies in a more efficient use of resources, principally land and water. However, change is dependent on the large landowners who own 40 percent of the arable land and control most of the irrigation system, which makes widespread reform difficult. Assessments by independent agencies, including the World Bank, show these large landholdings to be very unproductive. Pakistan is a net importer of agricultural commodities. Annual imports total about US$2 billion and include wheat, edible oils, pulses, and consumer foods. Pakistan is one of the world’s largest producers of raw cotton. The size of the annual cotton crop—the bulk of it grown in Punjab province—is a crucial barometer of the health of the overall economy, as it determines the availability and cost of the main raw material for the yarn-spinning industry, much of which is concentrated around the southern port city of Karachi. Official estimates put the 1999-2000 harvest at some 11. 2 million 170-kilogram bales, compared with the 1998-99 outturn of 8. 8 million bales and the record 12. 8 million bales achieved in 1991-92. The government recently actively intervened in the market to boost prices and to encourage production. A major problem is that the cotton crop is highly susceptible to adverse weather and pest damage, which is reflected in crop figures. After peaking at 2. 18 million tons in 1991-92, the lint harvest has since fluctuated considerably, ranging from a low of 1. 37 million tons in 1993-94 to a high of 1. 9 million tons in 1999-2000. The 2000-01 wheat crop was forecast at a record 19. 3 million tons, compared to 17. 8 million tons produced during the previous year. This increase is due largely to favorable weather and a 25-percent increase in the procurement price to about US$135 per ton. About 85 percent of the crop is irrigated. Despite the record production, Pakistan will continue to be a major wheat importer. The government has imported an average of US$2. 4 million annually over the past 5 years. The United States and Australia are the major suppliers. Demand for wheat is increasing from Pakistan’s rapidly growing population as well as from cross-border trade with Afghanistan. Pakistan is a major rice exporter and annually exports about 2 million tons, or about 10 percent of world trade. About 25 percent of exports is Pakistan’s famous fragrant Basmati rice. Rice is Pakistan’s second leading source of export earnings. Private traders handle all exports. Pakistan’s main competitors in rice trade are Thailand, Vietnam, and India. Tobacco is grown mainly in the North-West Frontier Province and Punjab and is an important cash crop . Yields in Pakistan are about twice those for neighboring countries largely due to the extension services provided by the industry. Quality, however, is improving only slowly due to problems related to climate and soil. Farmers have started inter-cropping tobacco with vegetables and sugarcane to increase returns. About half of the total production is used for cigarette manufacturing and the remainder used in traditional ways of smoking (in hand-rolled cigarettes called birris, in water pipes, and as snuff). The share of imported tobacco is increasing gradually in response to an increased demand for high-quality cigarettes. Minor crops account for only 5 percent of total cultivated area; these include oilseeds (sunflower, soybean), chilies, potatoes, and onions. Domestic oilseed production accounts only for about 25 percent of Pakistan total edible oil needs. As a result, Pakistan spends more than US$1 billion annually in scarce foreign exchange to import edible oils, while its oilseed processing industry operates at less than 25 percent of capacity due to an inadequate supply of oilseeds. For 2000-01 total oilseed production was forecast to decrease 10 percent to 3. 6 million tons. The government has highlighted development of the oilseed sector as a priority. Pakistan’s fishing industry is relatively modest, but has shown strong growth in recent years. The domestic market is quite small, with per capita annual consumption of approximately 2 kilograms. About 80 percent of production comes from marine fisheries from 2 main areas, the Sindh coast east from Karachi to the Indian border, and the Makran coast of Baluchistan. Ninety percent of the total marine catch is fish; the shrimp which constitute the remainder are prized because of their greater relative value and demand in foreign markets. During 1999-00, total fish production was 620,000 tons, of which 440,000 tons consisted of sea fish and the remainder were fresh-water species. About one-third of the catch is consumed fresh, 9 percent is frozen, 8 percent canned, and about 43 percent used as fish meal for animal food. Livestock accounts for 40 percent of the agricultural sector and 9 percent of the total GDP. Principal products are milk, beef, mutton, poultry, and wool. During 1999, the livestock population increased to 120 million head. That same year Pakistan generated 970,000 tons of beef, 640,000 tons of mutton, and 190,000 tons of poultry. In an effort to enhance milk and meat production, the government recently launched a comprehensive livestock development project with Asian Development Bank assistance. Poultry production provides an increasingly popular low-cost source of protein. Modern poultry production is constrained by high mortality, high incidence of disease, poor quality chicks, and poor quality feed, combined with an inadequate marketing system. Frozen poultry have only recently been introduced. Forests cover an area of 4. 2 million hectares or about 5 percent of the total area of Pakistan. The principal forest products are timber, principally for house construction, furniture, and firewood. Many of the country’s wooded areas are severely depleted as a result of over-exploitation. The government has restricted cutting to protect remaining resources—though corruption often jeopardizes environmental efforts—and has lowered duties to encourage imports. Forestry production has since declined from 1. 07 million cubic meters in 1990-91 to 475,000 cubic meters in 1998-99. Pakistan imports an estimated US$150 million of wood products annually to meet the requirements of a growing population and rising demand by a wealthy elite.