Gandhi’s Contribution to World War I Essay

Why? 1)He had begun to approve of the idea of home rule, but he had no interest in exchanging government by British elite for rule by an Anglicized Indian elite. If swaraj was to come to India, he argued, it must come as part of a wholesale social transformation that stripped away the old burdens of caste and crippling poverty. 2)Gandhi had said – â€Å"I felt then that it was more the fault of individual officials than of the British system, and that we could convert them by love. If we would improve our status through the help and cooperation of the British, it was our duty to win their help by standing by them in their hour of need.† 3)He had been almost alone among Indian leaders who had argued for unconditional support to Britain in her hour of need in the hope of a worthy gesture at the end of the war. 4)The issue in Champaran involved European traders forcing illegal dues and payments upon the peasants; Ahmedabad’s problem was centred on the unfair treatment of industrial workers; and the predicament in Kheda was caused by the government ignoring the farmers’ appeals for the remission of land revenue. Gandhi solved each dilemma using unique, yet effective methods which gained him the respect and commitment of many political workers. These events depict the growing unrest in India very clearly. India was itching to fight for independence, which would be a very bloody battle indeed. Gandhi, therefore, decided to support the British Empire in the war, hoping that in return, India would gain independence. What? 1)In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi. Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort.[43] In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet entitled â€Å"Appeal for Enlistment†, Gandhi wrote â€Å"To bring about such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them†¦If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible dispatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army.† 2)Early in 1918, the war seemed to be going badly for the Allies; a German thrust was expected on the western front, and the Viceroy summoned prominent leaders of Indian opinion to a War Conference in Delhi. Gandhi supported the resolution on recruitment with a single sentence in Hindi: â€Å"With a full sense of my responsibility, I beg to support the resolution.† 3)When World War I broke out, Gandhi was on the high seas, he was homeward bound, though he hoped to spend a few weeks in England. On August 6, 1914, he landed on English soil and lost no time in calling a meeting of his Indian friends to raise an ambulance unit Public opinion 1)Gandhi did not favour a bargain with the government by offering cooperation at a price and said: â€Å"That we have been loyal at a time of stress is no test of fitness for swaraj (self-government). Loyalty is no merit. It is a necessity of citizenship all the world over.† 2)During the years 1916-18, Gandhi did not take active part in politics. The Moderates did not like his extra-constitutional methods of Satyagraha, the Extremists did not like his studied tenderness to the British Government during the war Consequence And having fought a war whose supposed purpose was to protect the rights of small states and independent peoples from tyranny, the rhetoric of British rule in India had begun to ring hollow 1)In this atmosphere, the harried British government made a frightful mistake. They elected to follow the recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee, which advocated the retention of wartime restrictions in India–including curfews and the suppression of free speech. Gandhi, reading the soon-to-be-passed Rowlatt Act in his sickbed, was too weak to mount a protest, but his loyalty to the Empire, which he had long viewed as the guarantor of Indian liberties, suffered a major blow. 2)Gandhi learned through the Sedition Committee Report that the government of India was going to introduce legislation to curb civil liberties. All of the Indian soldiers lost their lives in vain because the British Empire had absolutely no plans to give India its freedom. 3)Heartbroken, India grew more and more restless. When General Dryer heartlessly slaughtered 379 people at Jallianwala Bagh, the country could take no more. Awhile later, Gandhi launched a nation-wide struggle. And finally, on August 15th, 1947, India finally won its independence. 1)Charlie Andrews confirms, â€Å"Personally I have never been able to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the points where I have found myself in painful disagreement.†[46] Gandhi’s private secretary also had acknowledged that â€Å"The question of the consistency between his creed of ‘Ahimsa’` (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since. 2)They wondered, could the apostle of peace ask them to take up arms in defense of the Raj? About 1.3 million Indian soldiers fought in the war. 47, 746 soldiers died and 65, 126 were wounded from the Indian army. This doesn’t seem like something Gandhi would want, right? Many people wonder why Gandhi wanted Indians to fight, since he always strictly adhered to non-violence. His support for India’s involvement in World War One causes us to question his consistency and perhaps even his belief in ahimsa. 3)He did, however, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy’s private secretary that he â€Å"personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe

Report on Surajkund Essay

The Surajkund Crafts Mela is organized each year by the Tourism Department in Haryana in February. This is a very colorful and exotic handicrafts and handloom fair that is planned each year to popularize the traditional handicrafts in India made by the rural folks in Surajkund. This was first organized in the year 1981 and it continues to be a major platform for Indian artisans to showcase the skills in the art work and crafts. This is a weeklong fair, which is celebrated annually. Scores of skilled artisans from all over India come here to participate and promote their crafts. Some of the work that is displayed here is age old and has been passed down since ages. Surajkund mela provides its visitors the skilful and exquisite textiles, paintings, ivory work, wood stock, terracotta, pottery, lac work, grass work and stone work. The visitors can also shop here extensively for some of the world’s treasured wares. This fair is not just limited to artworks and exhibitions but also showcases a visual delight to the visitors in the form of performances from the special Natyashala folk dances and music filled evenings at an open air theatre present in the venue. A diverse range of delicious savories, which is prepared by exponents, is also offered to the visitors. The cuisine is generally rural, which is kept so to match the theme of the festival. Each year the Surajkund crafts festival has a theme, inspired by the artworks from a particular Indian state and the entire ambience of the fair is designed accordingly. Many states showcase their finest handlooms, delicious rural cuisines and handicrafts in this fair. Some of the most deligtful crafts collections of the Mela arrive from practically all over the country. In wood and cane come inlay work, rose wood carving, sandal wood from Punjab and South India. Chiki wood craft of Kashmir and some very fine cane craft come from West Bengal and North Eastern States. Delcate sholapith and shital patti work come from Assam and West Bengal. The phulkari of Punjab, the Banjara and Banni embroidery of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Kantha traditions from West Bengal and Tripura, lace and crochet from Goa, the Suzni of Kashmir and Mirror encasing work along with the traditional chikan work of Lucknow delight. Oxidized jewellery, sea shell decorations and agate stone work delight as also do delicate gold work and chunky silver jewellery. Toys in wood and cane, ply and mud make the young thrill with joy. Some of the fine phad paintings of Rajasthan, the kalamkari of Andhra and Karnataka, temple paintings of Orissa, madhubani of Bihar, fascinate. In the metal section tribal dhora work, classical south Indian metal work, glittering brass ware, bell metal and iron craft delight collectors. In the field of woven textiles some of the finest silk work of Orissa, Patola, Bandhini of Gujarat and Rajasthan, Ikat, Kanjeevaram, Dharmavaram and temple silks of South India vie for attention with the most simple cottons of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and tribal textiles of North East India as also do the handloom of Haryana. The Various Crafts participated in the Mela every year. Themes for the fair in some of the fairs were Madhya Pradesh in 2009, Paschim Banga in 2008, Andhra Pradesh in 2001, Maharashtra in 2006 and the state of Chattisgarh in the year 2005. Surajkund is a major place located at a distance or 8 km of South Delhi in the city of Faridabad. This place is very easily accessible by road from Delhi. The Haryana Tourist Bureau arranges special tours from 36 Janpath Road in New Delhi. The nearest airport is located in Delhi. The site where this fair is organized is at a distance of 25 km from Palam Airport. Thus, visiting this fair atleast once is highly recommended as the rich culture and true colours and creativity of our country can be observed giving one of the most beautiful experiences.

Define and Discuss ‘Retail Experience’ Essay

Define and discuss ‘retail experience’. Use a case study example to demonstrate its application. How does the retailer create and enhance value? Define and discuss ‘retail experience’. Use a case study example to demonstrate its application. How does the retailer create and enhance value? David Olu RETAIL MANAGEMENT Define and discuss ‘retail experience’. Use a case study example to demonstrate its application. How does the retailer create and enhance value? When people go shopping they want to encounter an enjoyable experience which will satisfy their needs so in recent years retailers have tried to take the shopping experience to another level in order to encourage consumers to build a relationship with the brand. The purpose of this essay will be to outline what is meant by the term â€Å"retail experience†. The main focus will be on a particular case study involving Apple in order to explain how the retailer goes on to enhance value. Retail experience can be seen as a process in which a retailer packages an experience together with products. (Berman B & Evans J 2010) highlight that â€Å"A Retailers image depends heavily on its â€Å"atmosphere†. When looking at atmosphere it is the psychological feeling a customer gets when visiting the retailer.’’ It is noted that atmosphere can influence hedonic value this is an important aspect of the experience, because this is what plays a vital role in gaining a customer’s interest and it can help in leading the customer into the buying process. All of the major retailers will aim to provide a relaxing environment for their consumers because shopping is considered as fun and pleasurable (Jones, 1999). There are some key factors that contribute to this, first we look at music because it provides entertainment for shoppers Turley and Chebat (2002). Followed by lighting the appropriate use of it,  such as product spotlighting and dim ambient lighting, and thirdly the use of bright and vibrant colours. Swinyard (1993) reiterated this by pointing out that â€Å"Mood states are present in virtually every shopping encounter, and could have a significant effect on shopping behaviour†. And In Relation to this (Kemp and Kopp 2011) also put forward that Emotions shape our everyday existence, including our consumption and purchase behaviour. So this could mean that a consumer in a bad mood may tend to view shopping activities differently from one in a good mood. When a customer enters the store atmosphere they are not able to experience the music in seclusion or smell the scent without seeing the colours as well they do not walk on the floor-covering without feeling the ambient temperature. The typical customer experiences amounts of all these and other incentives as an on-going, collective experience. So it can be argued that most buying environments are purposefully designed to produce specific emotional effects in shoppers. Berman & Evans J (2010) argued that â€Å"The presentation merchandise and the displays that bring shoppers into the store are very important in creating a retail image. So other factors which have to be considered when looking at retail experience is the layout of the shop itself because if the shop is nicely laid out it will encourage customers to spend more time in the shop than originally planned. So retailers have to consider the layout of the products and how they can appeal to customers and also clearly labelled displays if they have any in order to make the customers indentify what is on sell clearly. So it is always essential for a business to ensure that the shop is properly organised. A store exterior provides a powerful impact on a business’s image this should be planned effectively a store exterior consists of the total physical exterior of the store itself, with a storefront most retailers can present a traditional, trendy, upscale environment, in relation to retail experience customers who happen to pass a shop they usually judge a store by its exterior so this can be used to draw in customers with things like display windows showing products will be able to catch a customer’s attention  straight away most retailers make use of mannequins in order to grab people’s attention. Customers always want to feel valued and welcomed when they visit a shop so when they enter the shop they expect a good customer service from the members of staff this is crucially essential for an organisation to manage. Because not only will shoppers appreciate the store due to the products offered, or atmospherics’ but they will have more of a strong interest due to the kindness of the salesperson (Lombart and Jeandrain, 2003). If the members of staff are always available and helpful it will create a customer satisfaction and this can be considered as a key determining factor with benefits of repeat shopping and buying behaviour if managed effectively so with this it means that customers will always have a good experience, when they encounter polite and helpful members of staff and this will also create a positive image for the business. Promotion is another tool in which retailers will aim to provide satisfaction to their customers so in order for them to do this they implement special offers as a strategy to achieve this, if an organisation regularly provides promotion as part of its experience it will find that they will attract more customers. So for example retailers like Tesco or Asda regularly offer promotion and they go head to head on offers in order to gain draw in more people. Not only will offering promotions attract repeat custom it will also allow the organisation to generate profit. All different kind of Retailers will try to use different ways in order to bring that retail experience that their consumers desire so retailers who connect with customers through experiences which are personally relevant , memorable, interactive and also emotional are more likely to increase sales and brand loyalty and this is why experience stores such as Apple have emerged, reason being that they want customers to bond with the brand, at first hand , a â€Å"try before you buy† approach . Apple is one of the biggest leading technology companies in the world apple provides customers with an attractive and relaxed environment where they can  handle. â€Å"Apple has been developing its experience stores since 2001 and by the end of 2008 the company had opened some 250 increasingly sophisticated stores† (Jones, & Comfort, 2010). Benghazi (2012) States that entertaining browsing experiences might help a browser to learn more about the offers and characteristics. Customers will be able to use knowledge in order to make a decision on whether they should purchase the product or not so in regards to this Apple provide their consumers with a live interaction of their products for example the Apple store in London’s regent street lets customers get involved in â€Å"Getting started workshops† this includes showing customers how to set up a new Mac, connecting to the internet and sending emails. This goes to show that Apple are trying to involve their customers with a firsthand experience of the brand and the products they offer, the experience goes beyond the store itself the company provides summer camps for children and youth workshops. Children aged 8-12 years get what is known as a â€Å"hands-on Mac experience, during a 3 hour workshop 8-13years olds can compose a song â€Å"in a garage band†, construct a photo album and create key note presentations. This illustrates on how Apple are trying to expand retail experience to their customers by going beyond the in store experience this will in return generate a positive outcome for Apple. Within regards to the designs of the stores, the interior represents three values, which are transparency, community and service. There is the open spacious interior containing the computers, IPods and IPhones which are neatly placed on tables this portrays transparency. Community is encouraged by the store through its theatre and its lounging areas and then the commitment into services is branded into customers minds as they are able to visit the genius bar, each store is looked at as a place where people can feel comfortable and are not intimidated by technology. Apple stores may be designed to sell but also at the same time they are designed to teach, customers who walk into an apple store just for a casual play of the products can find that the experience can quickly turn into some serious learning. When we look at a typical apple store it has three  spaces the first one is usually for play and for purchasing, and the other one is for learning a customer would typically come across these areas in that order. The shop is laid out in a simple manner enabling the customers to move around freely to admire the products within the store. Like any other store, apple stores consist of members of staff who wear a blue t-shirt with the apple logo in the middle making them easily recognisable to the public as the staff with a casual look. There always there to help customers with their knowledge on how to use the products. The members of staff always ensure to ask customers if they need help if the customer looks lost, this type of retail setting allows customers and members of staff to interact as the members of staff are always asked questions in regards to the products, and the questions that the customers ask the staff guide the learning and they reveal what has been learned and what else is there left to be learned. So in a sense Apple have able to take the relationship between the customers, staff members and the store to a different level of retailing and learning. The Apple store has built relevance into every section of the shop, the members of staff are aware that they have to start with the customer and with whatever knowledge the customer knows and then progress on from there. Despite the technology the apple store experience is more focused on forming a relationship with the products rather than just focusing on products. An Apples store experience generally provides a powerful image about the brand Apple is able to combine products together with service effectively in order to reward their customers with a unique experience in which customers are able to feel like learners who are able to develop valuable skills. The Apple store learning experience is greatly adapted and focused on the interests and the needs of the individual customer. Conclusion Retail experience is vital for all of the retailers to establish in order to looking at Apple they have successfully established an environment where customers would want to come back again and again so in conclusion Apple has shown that they value their customers by ensuring that their customers experience the products at first hand and by also taking that experience out  of the store by providing their customers with things like summer camps. It is vital that Apple continue to bring this experience to their customers because it will mean that they will generate repeat custom and also they will be able to attract new customers. Bibliography Books Berman, B. and Evans, J. (2010) Retail management a strategic approach. 11th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson education Inc, p.508, 509,510,512. Internet Sonera, T. (2006). Apple case study. Available: www.buyukdemirci.com/Apple/Apple_case_.pdf. Last accessed 18th November 2012. Journals Ballantine, P. et al. (2010) Atmospheric cues and their effect on the hedonic retail. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38 (8), p.1, 2. Burns, D. and Neisner, L. (2006) Customer satisfaction in a retail setting: The contribution of emotion. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 34 (1), p.50, 51. Jones, P. et al. (2010) Retail experience stores: experiencing the brand at first. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28 (3), p.243. KEMP, E. and KOPP, S. (2011) Emotion in consumption. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 10: p.1. Kronrod, A. et al. (2012) Hedonic Consumption and compliance with assertive messages. Journal of Consumer Research, Inc., 39 (1), p.52. Nsairi, Z. (2012) Managing browsing experience in retail stores through. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 40 (9), p.678. Swinyard, W. (199300) The Effects of Mood, Involvement, and Quality of Store Experience on Shopping Intentions. Journal of consumer research, 20p.271. Washor, E. et al. (2009) At the Core of the Apple Store: Images of Next Generation Learning. The Phi Delta Kappan, 91 (2), p.61, 62, 63

Earlier 19th century fashion styles and their cultural and historical Essay

Earlier 19th century fashion styles and their cultural and historical significance at the time - Essay Example As Lynch and Strauss point out, it becomes evident from history that the concept of beauty is not set by women but by the mainstream society and also that the mainstream society redefines the same from time to time. In other words, it can be said that the evolution in society and social thought is well expressed in fashion too (12). To begin with, in the ancient times, the most important factor of consideration while selecting a partner was health. While men had to engage in hunting in order to support their families, women had to be able to meet birth needs. That means, in the ancient times when survival was of utmost concern and the sick had little chance of survival, large muscles made a man beautiful and wide hips and large breasts made a woman attractive. As Hyland states, until the social economic development of Greece during the fifth century B.C, there was no clear concept of beauty. However, as painting and sculpture developed, beauty was attributed to certain essential features (45). To illustrate, Plato considered beauty as a result of symmetry and harmony which creates a golden proportion. The ideal face had to have a width which is two-thirds of its length. In addition to this attraction towards symmetry, in the Greek and Roman culture, one can see an affinity towards blond hair. However, one can see that during the Middle Ages, woman had to face a lot of hardships in the name of fashion. To illustrate, in Europe, the period saw woman as predators who posed a carnal challenge, and this situation was created mainly by religion. So, women were restrained from even wearing jewelry, and this restraint almost solely came from clerics. As a result, married women had to conceal their hair in order to avoid arousing desires in others; though virgins were allowed to expose their hair. However, blond hair was something to be frightened as it directly meant an invitation to

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Strategic Management - Essay Example These automobile producers include Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen BMW and several others which rely on the quality products produced by Magna. With the help of its technologies Magna is able to develop a variety of products including exterior, interior, metal body, front models, rear models, lighting components and several others. Magna is also known for its assembling of these products together to produce an automobile which can meet the requirements of the modern day society. Although the company went through an era of considerable losses in 2008, it still was able to grasp a profit of nearly $51 million by the end of September 2008. This clearly shows that the company is growing more and more day by day generating more profits so as to fulfill its aim of achieving the right profitability rate. Unlike other companies, Magna International Inc. does not follow a mission statement with inflexible approaches. It, as a substitute, uses its ‘corporate constitution’ and its ‘ Employees’ Charter’ as its responsibilities and line of action. The corporate constitution of Magna International included the rights and responsibilities of its workers, declaration of management’s involvement in profits and development of the business, and description of disciplines on management. Their culture and responsibility, hence, is to keep a balanced behavior with management, workers and investors. The operating philosophy and culture of Magna International is based on the fairness of treatment, equality of opportunities to all employees and a collaborative approach to work for the good of the organization. It gives ample space to the employees in order to increase its efficiency and provides a flexible approach to the wants of employees, shareholders and management. The aim of Magna is to become a leading supplier of automobile parts but keeping the integrity and fairness in the treatment of its organizational workers and other stakeholders. The comp any has expanded throughout these years and has now been able to develop 242 manufacturing operations all over the world. Magna International in order to achieve its aim has to operate in a proper international, regional and industrial environment. The industrial environment of the company includes the working level of the employees and the potential to which they can work at. The industrial environment of Magna International is modified in such a way so that their employees are able to work at their maximum potential. The industrial environment of Magna includes its fair working policies and other programs which tend to encourage employee participation. Moreover an Employee Charter which was introduced in 1988 helps them to achieve this target of fairness and balanced industrial environment. As the company has expanded all over the world it applies to all the principles and laws of different nations. To do so the company makes sure that it is competitive enough to launch its manufa cturing plants in certain countries and that its routine activities in that particular area are successful enough. The company has developed such policies which help them to further expand in these countries and cope up on the level of international scenario. The company strictly follows the laws and economic policies of the country in which it develops its plants. Similarly it also adheres to the factor of language as per the country

Ethical Decision Making Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethical Decision Making Process - Essay Example On one hand, she could choose to pay the customs agent $500 and have the customs process expedited faster. Secondly, Jane could choose to be honest and politely request for her case to be handled on first. The third option would involve being fair to everyone and standing in the queue to wait for her turn. A careful evaluation of each option gives a clear picture of the consequences. In the first option, if Jane chooses to pay the customs agent, she would be committing an irregularity in light of the organizational rules and policies. Such a decision would raise economic, legal and ethical issues that may malign the name of the employer. From an economic standpoint, Jane would be able to earn $1 million to the firm and individual bonuses. Legally, corruption is illegal and punishable under the law and such an action would be illegal. The ethical issues related to corruption are unacceptable. The decision would be immoral. If Jane chooses to be honest and politely request for her case to be handled first, there are no legal issues. Kindly asking people to allow her move faster in the line makes no harm. From an ethical perspective, kindness and honesty are virtues commonly associated with good behavior. The second choice is ethical acceptable. If her request is accepted, the economic benefits described in the first choice will be realized. Thirdly, if Jane chooses to stand in the queue and wait for her turn, the economic benefits described for the first and second options would be lost. The employer would lose $1 million and Jane would not qualify for the bonus payments. The third option has no legal issues and is ethically sound. The action creates no harm to others and is consistent with company policy of ‘being fair to others’. The best alternative would be for Jane to politely and kindly request for her case to be handled first. The ethical intensity of the action prescribed for Jane takes into consideration factors such as the magnitude of

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Essay - 13

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the evaluation of strategic management frameworks and the identification of guidelines to highlight the degree of a firm’s strategic competitiveness have emerged as critical factors in assessing the future of the business with regards to the development of its corporate objectives and functioning in the long run. In a highly competitive business environment which is characterized by the growing influence of technology and a rise in globalization, value creation is a major consideration for firms which aim to transcend the influence of competitive forces. Considering this factor, the concept of strategic competitiveness can be applied to explore the issue as it focuses on the implementation of strategies for aiding the creation of value. The implications of strategic decision making are far-reaching such that the senior management must be able to demonstrate skills in prioritizing strategy and accordingly applying it to a given s cenario. By applying the example of Wal-Mart Stores, which is one of the leading retailers and public companies across the globe, this discussion focuses on understanding the impact of strategic guidelines on a business of such scale. The influence of globalization as identified within the context of a large-scale firm such as Wal-Mart is essentially linked with the understanding of how the application of the concept impacts the decision that a firm takes. Accordingly, the exploration of this concept involves examining the decision making and objectives of the company. As highlighted in the research conducted by Lavallee and Boyer, the influence and power of globalization with respect to Wal-Mart possesses the ability to shape external forces and define their impact on subsequent decisions.

Legal Perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Perspectives - Essay Example Under the doctrine, original owners retain ownership interest, although the salvage is entitled to a very liberal salvage award. However, when property is abandoned, the way the plane was in this situation, the owner gives up the reasonable expectation of privacy concerning it. The finder of abandoned property is entitled to keep it, and a police officer may take possession of abandoned property as evidence without violating the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As deciding factor Federal law may have been given the monopoly on a subject preempting the state laws, when the federal court must try the case, it will apply the laws of the state where the controversy happened. Do you think that Mr. Champlin should have consulted with the Navy before spending his time and money on this project Should he (or the general public for that matter) have known about this special rule regarding federal property Consider whether there should be a time limit or statute of limitations regarding the forfeiture or non-forfeiture of title. Also, consider whether property should be considered lost or abandoned by the failure to protect or attempt recovery of the property. Mr. Champlin should have consulted with the Navy first. If he had taken the proper steps in notifying the Navy of what he was doing, he might have had more rights to fight the Navy. If the Government would ensure the public knew about the rules of federal property, perhaps this might not have even been a case. A time statute should be in effect. If you look at the Estray Statues it says many states have enacted estray statues that give a finder of mislaid of lost property clear title to the property if certain requirements are met. The requirements are 1. Reporting the find to an appropriate government agency 2. Advertising the lost property 3. The owner not claiming the property within a stated time (e.g., one year). The finder acquires title to the property and is thereafter not required to return the property if the rightful owner appears to claim it (Cheeseman, 2003 pg 918). Since there are special rules that apply to federal property maybe this statues wouldn't have helped him. However, if he and the public were aware of the special rules he might have reconsidered doing the project in the first place. I think there should be a time limit regarding forfeiture or non-forfeiture of title. If the owner doesn't claim the property in a certain amount of time th

Leasing assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leasing - Assignment Example To this regard, it is evident that United Parcel Service (UPS) is a company that incorporates both the capital or financial lease and the operating lease. The company has an aircraft that is as a result of a capital lease and since it is a long term lease the payment of the principal amount will be paid after 12 years (2009-2021) but some commitments associated with the lease of the aircraft has been legally defeased. Therefore, IAS 17 provides that United Parcel Service recognize the aircraft as both asset and liability at a value that is equal to the lower Present Value and the present value of MLP discounted at the leasers other use incremental borrowing rate (Oppermann 107). Additionally, the asset must be depreciated and with lease rentals paid, the organization must apportion between finance cost and a reduction in liability. The transaction is recorded as follows; The operating lease for UPS is considered to be the rental contract which is short term in nature. The leased asset and the liability associated with the asset are not included in the lessee balance sheet but the lessee may hold the same rights that the lessor holds (Oppermann 110). To determine whether the United Parcel Service have an operating and financial lease, various factors are taken into consideration such as the tax incentives and the non-tax incentives generated by the company under study. In the case of tax incentives if the company has a lower tax rate then the incentives will be classified as operating lease whereas if the tax rate is higher, then it is classified as a capital or financial lease. Another determinant factor of whether the company has both operating lease and capital lease is by the fact that it meets all the prerequisites associated with the operating and the capital lease. For UPS this fact is evidenced by the availability of the

The Concept of e-Healthcare Information Security and Issues in Essay

The Concept of e-Healthcare Information Security and Issues in e-Healthcare Information Security - Essay Example The problem with electronic based healthcare information is that efforts need to be made to stop people who are not authorized to access the information from accessing it. It is essential to ensure that people are not only physically, but even virtually stopped from accessing this information if that are not authorized to do so. There are several issues linked with the security of electronic healthcare information such as the inconsistency between the laws that govern healthcare and the policies of different healthcare institutes (Shoniregun 23). Another issue is that just because of politics and lack of proper culture different healthcare systems such as the e-healthcare information systems and the physical employees are obstructed from successful implementation of the system. Same issue is experienced when the healthcare system tried to integrate different electronic healthcare systems such as guidelines for practicing as a clinical and the decision support system (Shoniregun 24). The information of electronic healthcare is derived from a diverse range of sources which makes the information monitoring analysis and security quite difficult. Other than that the internet and other technologies have further added to the challenges of securing and managing healthcare information that is electronic in

Theory to Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theory to Practice - Essay Example In the case of UCC, a contract between merchants is valid as long as it contains the quantity of the goods, the signature of the party who provides the enforcement as well as a language that would indicate that the words and meaning binds two or more parties in a reasonable contract. The UCC aims at helping the non-breaching parties in case of a breach of contract. It therefore offers the sellers a number of remedies. Basing on UCC, a contract between merchants relies on communication between the two parties, the culture of the industry in addition to the past commercial conduct between the merchants. This indicates that the past dealing between Armstrong’s manager and Bentley of GCI surely affects the analysis on their case. In their past commercial conduct, the merchants made use of the pre printed forms for the acceptance of addition terms. In their first interaction, Armstrong’s manager signed the pre printed form stating that they will take responsibility of damage before delivery and the transaction was successful at the end. Additional information in the pre printed form become part of the enforceable contract. In the case of the second encounter between Bentley and Armstrong’s manager, Armstrong’s manager signed a destination contract since it had worked effectively previously. According to UCC, under a destination contract, the buyer is liable for any damage or loss of goods until after delivery. Therefore, the analysis of the case between Armstrong and GCI will indicate that Armstrong’s company is liable since the destination contract was signed but the delivery of goods was not as expected. According to UCC, Armstrong had to complete the delivery procedure as outlin ed in the contract without any additional charges. In such a case, Armstrong Company would have breached the contract and will have to pay for the damages. This is because the manager had made a promise to GCI’s manager acknowledging the destination contract. He had promised

Bad Effects of Smoking Essay Example for Free

Bad Effects of Smoking Essay Cigarette smoking is usually associated with breathing trouble and lung cancer. But smokers are at a high risk of developing several chronic disorders. Along with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes, smoking is a major independent risk factor for a coronary heart disease or kidney failure. It causes damage by decreasing the oxygen flow to the heart. It increases the blood pressure and heart rate, both of which are fatal for the heart. A cigarette has many types of poisons, including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, tar and most of all, nicotine. Apart from that, there are many other poisonous ingredients of varying toxicity. Nicotine is addictive and affects the arteries in a negative manner. Heartbeat increases, hypertension occurs and arteries get constricted due to nicotine. Oxygen supply to the heart is stopped due to carbon monoxide. Blood clotting and clogging gets increased. In the case of coronary artery, the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart gets decreased due to narrowing of the arteries. This strain leads to a chest pain or angina pectoris. Apart from the long-term bad effects, cigarette smoking affects the body right at the moment of smoking due to the presence of so many poisonous substances. Arsenic is a rat poison, methane is a rocket fuel, ammonia is used in floor cleaning, cadmium is used in batteries, carbon monoxide is part of car exhaust and hydrogen cyanide is a poison used in gas chambers. Every time one inhales smoke from a cigarette, all these poisonous chemicals enter into the blood through the lungs in small amounts. Even small amounts of such deadly poisons can harm the body. Smoking makes one smell bad, stains the teeth, causes the skin to wrinkle and gives bad breath. Cavities are found three times more in smokers than non-smokers. Hormone levels get lower due to smoking. Smokers cough for a long time. They are more prone to bronchitis and pneumonia. Smokers fall sick more often. Every time one inhales smoke from a cigarette, some of the air sacks in the lungs get killed. This way, parts of the lungs gradually get destroyed. This hampers activities like sports or singing where proper breathing is necessary. Smoking paralyzes the hair-like structures called cilia lining the lungs. They become incapable of sweeping out dust particles, smoke and pollens from the lungs. As a result these particles stay permanently in the lungs and form tar. Cigarettes are as bad as cocaine or heroin. The poisonous addictive in nicotine makes people feel good while smoking. This increases the chances of lung cancer or emphysema. One ends up being sick for a long, long time. Smoke from a cigarette increases fatty deposits in the blood and strains the heart. The risk of a heart disease and atherosclerosis gets aggravated due to this. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fatty substances like cholesterol, cellular waste, calcium etc are deposited along the lining of arteries in a human body. LDL cholesterol increases and HDL cholesterol decreases due to smoking. Triglycerides increases and affects the cholesterol levels negatively.

The Historical Portrayal in Forrest Gump

The Historical Portrayal in Forrest Gump Forrest Gump is a famous 1994 American comedy-drama film based on the novel written by Winston Groom; directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story depicts the life of a simple Alabama man Forest Gump who travels around the world, meets historical figures and influences and participates in important historical events of the second half of the 20th century. The film Forrest Gump is about a simple mans journey through complicated times. Exciting, deep and kind film narrates from the behalf of the protagonist Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a harmless imbecile man (his level of IQ is 75) with a noble and an open heart, the story of his extraordinary life. The plot begins with the childhood of the hero and ends up as he sends his own son to school. During the life, Forrest overcomes many difficulties, and always sees only positive side of events. During the film he takes part in major events of American history of the second half of 20th century, and unconsciously influences on popular culture of the United States. From an ordinary man he turns into a well-known tennis player, war hero, a successful businessman. He becomes a billionaire, but remains as unsophisticated, weak-minded and kind. Forrest reaches success in everything, and he loves the girl, who was his friend in childhood, but reciprocity comes too late. The main character, a native of the southern state (and as it is understood a patriarchal and conservative) of Alabama, actually travels across America in the 50s and 80s, turning out one way or another, becomes a witness of historic events in the life of the nation, almost climbing into the frames of newsreels that depict well-known political figures from the era of John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan and popular singers from Elvis Presley to John Lennon. The film Forrest Gump is not historical film, its more drama and melodrama, but it shows the close connection of Forrest with real historical characters and his participation in historical events. The film shows all the significant events of the period between the 1950s and the 1980s and introduces them to the main character. The film does not distort the real events, but contributes to the public understanding of the issues it presents. This feature film helps viewers learn more about the historical events of the second half of the 20th century, so it is difficult to overestimate its value. Forrest Gump is a look at the past approximately thirty years of U.S. history. The fact that the problems of America 1960 1980, including, for example, drug abuse and the war in Vietnam, are shown through the eyes of simple-minded Forrest, exculpates American society for this it is said by the magazine columnist of Time, Richard Corliss, Julie Grace and Marta Smildzhis in their joint review of the film (Corliss 1994). Nevertheless, Forrest stands out as a character in a highly sentimental Hollywood cinema, where the most important historical and social problems are often presented as elements of fairy tales with a happy end (Corliss 1994). According to Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, in the image of Forrest there are gathered the best national character features of Americans honesty, courage and fidelity (Travers 2000). The Russian critic Andrei Shemyakin considers film to be a parable about the American national character on the fracture of his fate (Gordinier 1995), and Rita Kempley from Washington Post believes that in Forrest Gump there is shown a destruction of the national character (Kempley 1994). It is easy to notice that Forrests life is very conservative, while his girlfriend Jenny embodies the counterculture she is involved in anti-war marches, uses drugs, and is sexually promiscuous. Jenny is a shadow of Forrest (Guthmann 1995). According to Roger Ebert, her reunion with Forrest Gump at the end of the film represents the dream of American society uniting (Ebert 1994). At the same time Gumps coproducer Steven Tisch mentioned: I dont think the film was a catalyst for a trend of any kind. I dont think this film is about conservative or liberal values, or even American values. The film is about human values (Gordinier 1995). Forrest Gump is a wonderful person, honest and brave, but with one peculiarity he is moronic. And the combination of an outstanding personality with a limited imagination allows him to enjoy life, not to justify himself. This opened an enormous sense for many of his followers. Being completely devoid of egoism, Forrest receives of a lot of luck in return from the life. His girlfriend Jenny, by contrast, lives in constant issueless search. The main stereotype that was changed in the film is that it is possible to live the whole life full of difficulties, reach success and remain open and kind. Forrest Gump simply goes his own way. He saves his fellow soldiers, and becomes a hero of Vietnam; he is the best player and national champion in a game of table tennis in Japan. He changes the lives of several people and creates a multi-million dollar business; he keeps his word given to the deceased friend. He even teaches Elvis Presley to dance. And thus, he remains a simple and open person. His phrase: My momma always said, Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what youre gonna get became very famous (Forest Gump 1994). The film addresses different social issues of American life. It mostly represents the middle class and life of ordinary people; it depicts the race problems, showing how black people fought for their rights. It also touches gender issues, showing that Jenny lived in the hostel for girls and Forest couldnt visit her. Politics is also one of the topics that were briefly covered in the film while showing real episodes of lives of such people as John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Richard Milhous Nixon. There are shown such popular singers as Elvis Presley and John Lennon. The issues of nationality, cultural norms, people on the margins of society and other are also mentioned in the film. Forrest Gump is considered to be one of the kindest and touching films of world cinema, even though it is drama. The director Robert Zemeckis demonstrated in this film the entirely new approach to presenting the material, driving the narrative on behalf of a mentally retarded man, and showing life through his eyes. Surprisingly, but life through the eyes of Forrest Gump is not terrible and hopeless, as we used to think it is. The life of Forrest Gump suddenly becomes very simple, understandable, but at the same time, deep in meaning and rich with interesting events. It is the simplicity of Forrest Gumps vital principles and his immediate perception of complex life events that causes the effect of stunning ease the perception of this film. The film is not historical, but it shows the connection of the protagonist with real historical characters and his participation in historical events. The film contributes to the public understanding of the issues it presents, and makes a great impa ct on its intended audience. Film realistically, without distorting shows the problems of America 1960 1980, and therefore it is very valuable and is still considered one of the best films of American cinema.

Politics Essays Making Democracy Work

Politics Essays Making Democracy Work Making Democracy Work A Review of Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work Introduction: Since its publication in 1993, Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy has been hailed for changing the way academics and policy-makers approach the relationship between politics and society. Putnam accomplishes this feat not so much with his compelling arguments, but with the innovative methodology he employs. Much attention has already been given to the way Putnam combines quantitative and qualitative data in his research; he amalgamates numerical data on Italian institutional performance and civic culture, with the path-dependent historical legacy that predates it. Similarly, much attention has also been focused on the introduction of social capital as a new variable worthy of social scientists’ consideration. Since these topics have already been exhausted in reviews as well as other literature connected to Putnam’s book, this essay will attempt to go a different route. This essay will primarily argue that Putnam has successfully managed to combine both a structure and agency-centered approach into a cohesive research design project. Firstly, the structural approach is inherent in Putnam’s study due to the fact that he is attempting to analyze why Italian regions with the same political structure perform differently. Secondly, using network analysis, Putnam’s social capital and civic culture variables will be understood as being related to agency and of affecting institutional performance. Finally, the overall strengths and weakness that arise from combining the two approaches in a research design project will be highlighted. Overall, despite several unavoidable limitations, in Making Democracy Work Putnam shows that using a combined structuration approach is capable of harvesting a fuller understanding of a particular issue in this case, Italian institutional performance. The Study and the Setting: In 1970 the highly centralized Italian government set-up identical regional governmental institutions in each of the country’s twenty regions. The experiment offered Robert Putnam and his colleagues a unique opportunity to analyze institutional performance over time, and what precisely makes government work in a setting where national factors and institutional design are held constant. Despite the fact that all the Italian regions got identical institutions, the performance of these institutions varied widely across Italy. The discrepancy between the regions particularly between the North and the South led Putnam to believe that â€Å"social context and history profoundly condition the effectiveness of institutions† (Putnam, 182). Therefore, in the causal argument that Putnam puts forth in order to explain what affects institutional performance, institutions are framed as both an independent and dependent variable. So to speak, even though institutions do shape politics, institutions themselves are shaped by social context and history. For this reason, Putnam considers yet another independent variable in his complex causal relationship civic culture. Putnam’s Methodology: Before analyzing how structure and agency unite, and the way in which civic culture is measured in Making Democracy Work, it is worthwhile to take a look at the broader and overarching methodological backdrop on the grounds of which Robert Putnam’s study takes root. The setting for the study, as alluded to above, offered Robert Putnam and his colleagues the opportunity to embark on a twenty year voyage of inquiry; their choice of vessel, a sub-national comparison. Certainly with the case of Italian institutional performance a sub-national paired comparison is sure to prove more illuminating than a cross-national comparison because one can hold-constant for national context. That being said, it is necessary to note that often when one considers cultural, historical, economic and/or socioeconomic conditions, there will invariably be cases where greater variation exists within countries than does between them (Snyder, 96). The experience of Italy provides a unique backdrop for Putnam to study institutional performance because many factors are held constant, relatively speaking. Aside from holding institutional design constant, Italy is a far less diverse country than say India or even Russia with regards to language, religion, ethnicity, class and caste. Though it might prove hard for Putnam’s methods to travel beyond a Western context and be directly applied, it should not be held against him or discredit his book by any means. Just because the arguments might have difficulty traveling (and we should note that Putnam’s arguments in Making Democracy Work are the underpinnings of his second book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community) does not mean that they should be judged negatively. After all, this is the precise purpose of a sub-national paired comparison to develop theories or generalizations that one is unable to make through cross-national paired comparisons due to all the intervening variables that cannot be held constant. Furthermore, Making Democracy Work does not qualify merely as a sub-national paired comparison. Putnam really tests his arguments against a broad spectrum. In so doing, he avoids the common problem of selection bias, and derivatively of false dichotomies. Putnam does not pick and choose the regions he incorporates in his study. Making Democracy Work is extensive in that it includes and considers all of the regions in Italy equally, and weighs them up against the same credo (where information permits). In each region Putnam interprets quantitative data on institutional performance and then analyzes it alongside quantitative data regarding its civic culture. He then pushes the envelope by reaching far-beyond direct causal inference and into history. The historical qualitative data that Putnam accumulates, allows him, ostensibly, to isolate the main factor that leads to variance in institutional performance in Northern and Southern Italy social capital. Making Democracy Work benefits from diverse measurements the indicators used are wide-ranging, innovative, impressive, and provide for a superior demonstration of Putnam’s arguments. In fact, it is the combination of both the quantitative and qualitative data that earn Robert Putnam and Making Democracy Work the recognition of being simultaneously both a large-N and small-N sub-national comparison. Structural Forces: Having laid out the methodological framework that Putnam has developed it is now possible to focus on the structuration approach that he incorporates. The explanation of institutional performance the dependent variable is contingent to a certain degree on a structural analysis. While all the regions in Italy are constrained by the same national structural force the highly centralized government, the regions are also constrained by their own historical legacies and the structures that have emerged from the past. In this sense, according to Putnam, the history of the North has cultivated an arena/structure much more conducive to proper institutional performance than has the South. Putnam chooses twelve indicators as evidence of institutional performance, or â€Å"good government†. These indicators include: Cabinet stability, budget promptness, statistical and information services, reform legislation, legislative innovation, day care centers, family clinics, industrial policy instruments, agricultural spending capacity, local health unit expenditures, housing and urban development and bureaucratic responsiveness. Far from agency-centered, the conditions of these indicators are all determined by the structure in which they are situated. Essentially, the greater the influence of the structure, the more predictable the political behaviour is likely to be. Following Putnam’s path-dependent argument that historical legacies shape the structural forces (which come to light from such indicators), it is important to then consider the nature of the historical legacies themselves. In Putnam’s view the historical legacies worth exploring are those of civic culture. Analyzing the Affects Agency: The affects of agency on Italian institutional performance is not analyzed explicitly in Making Democracy Work. Putnam does not look at individual leaders, regional representatives, or even influential citizens in any of Italy’s diverse regions contemporarily nor historically. However, implicit in his definition of civic culture, as the â€Å"norms of reciprocity and networks of civic engagement† (Putnam, 167) is an understanding of agency nonetheless. If agency is based on the actions and decisions of a single person, it must also be based on the interactions and collective wills of many people. A horizontal-network analysis is an ideal approach to take when trying to understand the affects of agency in regional patterns of behavior. From a nominalist point of view the researcher must use a conceptual framework to define the boundaries of the network or who/what is and is not included in the research agenda. For his part, Putnam proposes four indicators in which one can find evidence of a civic culture; these indicators include participation in voluntary associations, newspaper readership, referenda turnout, and personalized preference voting (or lack thereof). Even though groups like football clubs are internally heterogeneous and diverse, network analysis helps Putnam to disentangle the inherent complexity and to highlight the important aspects of functioning as a group. To the point of emphasis, the fact that Putnam also correlates these â€Å"objective† measures with more opinion-based survey indicators of civic culture goes to show that Putnam is committed to incorporating the role of agency in his research design. Essentially, he moves from a nominalist to a more realist network analysis by focusing on the individuals. More specifically, Putnam shows that network boundaries are established based on the subjective perspectives of the network actors themselves. For this reason, the data in his research is based to large degree on surveys, questionnaires and interviews. The difference between the North and the South of Italy therefore, can be expressed in the different types of networks they produce. Putnam considers all of the following: the different types of networks that exist, the organization of the networks, and the individuals within the networks. Relating to the different types of networks, Putnam notices that the density of networks in the North is much greater than in the South. Not only do more social groups exist in the North, but membership in them is greater and the pattern of ties between the members is stronger. With regards to the networks’ organization, in the North there is a higher frequency of interaction, and a larger amount of emotional investment within the network. Lastly, as far as individuals are concerned, Putnam looks at subjective measures like trust, solidarity, personal closeness and ideological proximity to ultimately discern that in Northern Italy individuals are more likely to enter horizontal-networks and develop a more cohesive civic culture that fosters responsive government and higher institutional performance. Strengths and Weakness of Structuration: In a sense, Putnam has combined a structural and agency approach into a single research design. The structuration approach has several strength and weaknesses worth highlighting, particularly with reference to Making Democracy Work. Perhaps the major benefit of combining the analysis of structure and agency in the case of Italian institutional performance is that Putnam is able to recognize and demonstrate the interplay between the two. Putnam shows how structures and agents are co-determining and mutually implicating. When assessing the causal relationship between civic culture and Italian institutional performance the case is made that the two entities are defined by their internal relationship, such that the two entities derive their meaning by their relationship and have no meaning or basis without the other. People produce the structure, and the structure in turn reproduces the people. So to speak, agents and structures are ontologically equal in Making Democracy Work. Inherit in this methodological approach’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. One of the major problems with operationalizing the structuration approach is that it is often difficult to design a research strategy that can draw valid causal inferences. As with the case of Making Democracy Work, the difficulty in making inferences is determining whether something is a cause or an effect there has to be a starting point for an analysis. One inevitably has to choose a bottom-up or top-down approach treating either agent or structure as ontologically primitive. Robert Putnam, by discerning them ontologically equal has failed to choose a starting point for analysis. Instead of a parsimonious and simple linear causal relationship, Putnam points to vicious and virtuous circles that have led to contrasting, path dependent social equlibria (Putnam, 180). Good or bad institutional performance will further continue a history of good or bad civic culture. More so, the correlation between civic associations and social capital that Putnam professes is also circular: While to think purely in terms of linear causation is to do injustice to the overall interconnectedness of the variables, the danger of thinking in terms of equilibria is that you develop a ‘chicken or egg’ scenario. One begins to beg the question of where in history it is right to draw the line when studying Italian civic culture? Indeed, Putnam’s historical record has become the focus of considerable criticism from scholars. Sidney Tarrow, in â€Å"Making Social Science Work across Time and Space†, contends that social scientists go to history with a theory to prove, and do not objectively derive viable generalizations from history. History requires picking and choosing; one must even choose where in history to draw the line before beginning a study. However, if a line can always be drawn back farther one must ask whether cases can really be isolable and independent at all. For example, can the case not be made that because the North of Italy colonized the South, that the problems of the South are really the problems of the North? Some critics say that it is unfair for Putnam to displace the problem of poor institutional performance on the South and not to consider the possibility of contamination. However, Putnam can hardly be criticized for this everything can be understood as ex post facto something else. Irrespective of whether Putnam is right or wrong on where in history he draws his line, Making Democracy Work should be hailed for its attempt to regardless of its actual success at combining quantitative and qualitative data, and structure and agency, in creating a complex causal relationship. Conclusion: In Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Robert Putnam has successfully managed to unite both a large-N and small-N sub-national comparison into a single model of inquiry. Equally as impressive, he has successfully managed to combine both a structure and agency-centered approach into a cohesive research design project. Putnam uses a structural approach to analyze his dependent variable political institutions, and an agency-centered approach to analyze an independent variable that has an affect on the development of political institutions and their efficacy civic culture. In so doing, Putnam manages to turn political institutions into an independent variable too, highlighting the interconnectedness of the two variables. Due to this interconnected circular nature of Putnam’s argument, Putnam’s study of Italian institutional performance, though both descriptive and predictive, lacks convincing prescriptive capabilities. Nevertheless, despite its prescriptive shortcomings, Putnam shows that using a combined structuration approach is capable of harvesting a fuller understanding of a particular issue in this case, Italian institutional performance. Works Cited Putnam, Robert D. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). Snyder, Richard. â€Å"Scaling Down: The Subnational Comparative Method,† Studies in Comparative International Development 26:1 (Spring 2001), pp. 93-110. Works Consulted Dwainpayan, Bhattacharyya, et al. (eds.) Interrogating Social Capital: The Indian Experience. (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2004). Furlong, Paul. â€Å"Review of: Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy,† International Affairs 70 (January 1994), pp. 172. Kwon, Hyeong-Ki. â€Å"Associations, Civic Norms, and Democracy: Revisiting the Italian Case,† Theory and Society 33 (2004), pp. 135-166. Levi, Margaret. â€Å"Social and Unsocial Capital: A Review Essay of Robert Putnams Making Democracy Work,† Politics and Society24 (March 1996), pp. 45-55. Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000). Sabetti, Filippo. â€Å"Path Dependency and Civic Culture: Some Lessons from Italy About Interpreting Social Experiments,† Politics and Society 24 (March 1996), pp. 19-44. Tarrow, Sidney. â€Å"Making Social Science Work Across Space and Time: A Critical Reflection on Robert Putnams Making Democracy Work,† American Political Science Review 90 (June 1996), pp. 389-397.

The State of Nature and its Implications for Civilization in Hobbes and

The State of Nature and its Implications for Civilization in Hobbes and Rousseau In his Leviathan Thomas Hobbes expresses a philosophy of civilization which is both practical and just and stems from a clear moral imperative. He begins with the assertion that in the state of nature man is condemned to live a life â€Å"solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.† It is in the interest of every man to rise above this â€Å"state of nature† and to give up certain rights so that the violent nature of the human animal can be subdued. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s vision of the state of nature parallels that of Hobbes but for its more optimistic tone: â€Å"I assume that men reach a point where the obstacles to their preservation in a state of nature prove greater than the strength that each man has to preserve himself in that state.† In general, Rousseau’s words prove reasonably less severe than Hobbes’s. According to Hobbes the bestial rights that a man is forced to give up must also be given up by every other man if civilization is to quell the state of nature. This surrendering of rights then forms covenant of peace which mankind has agreed upon collectively to rise above the state of nature. Hobbes argues that it is human reason that has necessarily led men to embrace this covenant: â€Å"And Reason suggesteth convenient Articles of Peace, upon which men may be drawn to agreement . . . .† These Articles of Peace Hobbes calls â€Å"Laws of Nature† and argues that while they do not exist in a state of nature they are nonetheless natural laws which potentially exist there. â€Å"A Law of Nature (Lex Naturalis,) is a Precept, or generall Rule, found out by Reason, by which a man is forbidden to do, that, which is destructive of his life, or taketh away the means of preserving the same; and to omit, that, by which he thinketh it may be best preserved.† That is, a n atural law is a result of a reasoning which commands that each man protect his own life. With the state of nature as terrible as Hobbes describes it, it is reasonable for a man to wish to put an end to it, as he then has a greater chance of protecting his own life. Without certain agreements between individuals they interact in a manner in which they are all a constant threat to one another. Therefore Hobbes arrives at the first fundamental law of nature: â€Å"That every man, ought to endeavour Peace, as farre as he has hope of obtain... ...iety, both agree that their contemporary world is not a world of the human animal. Changes have occurred not only in the way humans are ordered, but in humans themselves as well. Their theories differ in their beliefs about these changes. Hobbes is able to recognize the current state of man as having transcended its most basic nature. Rousseau agrees with Hobbes but assumes even more of man. He believes that it is possible not only for humans to be at peace but also to be free. Just how far society has transcended the state of nature in today’s world is debatable, but one gets the feeling in reading these two authors that Hobbes underestimates human nature and Rousseau overestimates it. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle, for many societies today are barely able to achieve peace within their borders, while a handful can truly be said to have a liberated populace. It is certainly no coincidence, however, that Rousseau’s vision of society heralds liberty a s its highest ideal and that the most progressive states of today do likewise. Mankind’s ever evolving flight from the state of nature moves people to continually expect more from their society – as well as themselves.

Ecstasy: Greater Affects on Women? :: science

Ecstasy: Greater Affects on Women? Ecstasy: Are Women More Susceptible To Brain Damage? The rave scene. It’s becoming a popular way to ‘kick-back’ for high school and college kids. â€Å"Everyone† is doing it at parties. Unfortunately, this party isn’t all fun and games. Drugs are prevalent at raves. Ecstasy, one of the most popular drugs abused there is like the tiny insects that aren‘t widely feared, but can be deadly. It looks small and innocent, but its more harmful than you may think. Ecstasy is actually C11H15NO2, which means. New studies show women may be at an even greater risk to prolonged effects of the drug ecstasy- 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. It is commonly known that ecstasy produces great levels of serotonin. These chemicals are released in the brain, generating a false sense of happiness, self-esteem, and increase sexual drive. Prolonged exposure to the drug can result in a lack of serotonin altogether, leading to depression and many other mental illnesses. Ecstasy is commonly classified as a stimulant. Ecstasy is most often found in pill form, although it is also sold as a powder. Imprints on the pill classify them into ‘brand names’. Frequent users are known to buy from the same ‘brand’ just like most all consumers prefer one brand of milk or orange juice. The drug is easy to find and can range in prices from $20 - $50 per tablet. Since demand at the club scene is so high, buyers are sometimes sold imitation ‘X’, a drug that could contain any number of substances. Any other variant of Ecstasy could also be found with a mixture of drugs. Ecstasy is called: MAMA, X, XTC, Adam, The love drug, and many other names still being created. (www.ecstasy.org) Dutch studies grouped participants into three categories of users: moderate, heavy, and ex-users. Moderate use is classified as less than 50 tablets; heavy is more than 50 tablets; and ex-users were reportedly off ecstasy for at least one-year before the study. Users had to abstain from all drug use for 3 weeks before the study was conducted. The three groups were also categorized by gender and age. The study revealed that MAMA use might result in lowered levels in the density of serotonin transporters in the brain. It also suggests that the degree of those levels was partially dependent on sex. Moderate users of both male and female participants did not seem to lead to a large reduction in the production of serotonin.

Evaluation of Soil Management Strategies

Evaluation of the soil management strategies in the India The more time goes past, the more man starts realising how the management and the way we threat soils is important to insure its preservation and conservation. Nowadays, around 9. 4 million hectares of soil, which represent the 0. 5% of the land present on our planet, is irreparably damaged and has no longer any biological function. In other words, it can no longer be used in any useful way to provide food or other elements to the earth’s tenants.There are though, two factors that influence soil degradation; the human factor and the natural one. The most impactful one is the human one, as we tend to create disequilibrium in the rate at which soil forms and at which it is eroded or degraded. This is due to the fact that farmers work the soil too frequently or misunderstand and mismanage their lands. On the other hand, erosion and degradation, which embody the natural factors, are part of nature’s cycle and over ti me, they do not create imbalances.In poorer countries, farmers use subsistence farming and they are in a way constricted to do so, as they not only lack of economical resources to buy machinery and conditioners, but also because the quality of the soil often doesn’t give them the opportunity to be able to work the land more intensively. In the regions of West Bengal located in the northwest of India to take an example, the density of the population is so high that farmers only can use their little land holding to produce enough in order to feed themselves and their families.This way of managing the soil is called subsistence farming and is also used in the entire southeast of India, where the soil is so degraded that the population has no other choice but to use this agricultural strategy named sedentary farming. It involves farming always at the same place, living there and getting crops relying uniquely on labour and not on any capital investments. In India we can find a ve ry large division, varying from economical to socio-political, and even agricultural.Up in the Northwest of India, within the hills of Jaipur in Rajasthan, intensive commercial farmers are predominant as the country represents the fourth biggest agricultural power of the world. The practices and components involved in intensive farming are harmful to the soil because farmers take advantage of the resources that are available and often abuse their terrain in such way that it harms it, leading to an increase of the rate at which the land is deteriorated.But not all methods are harmful to Nature; the method used in the forests of north India by the poorer citizens has a much better environmental impact than the industrial one used by richer farmers. As equally common, this method is called shifting farming which consists in burning a piece of land so that the ashes fertilise the soil. Then the famer grows its crops for around 2 to 5 years, until the soil’s fertility starts to de crease so he moves to another place repeating the same process.After a break more or less long 10 years, the farmer can go back to the first place as the terrain supposedly had time to regain its fertility and he can so for cultivate his crops again. In fact, the material and gears used, plus the methods are much different one from another. Within the subsistence one, natural fertilizers will be more likely to be used while on the intensive one, chemicals and heavy machinery often take the lead. These different strategies used to manage the soil comprise advantages and disadvantages, to both the farmers and the land.The sustainable farming strategy is on the short term less beneficial to the farmer as it will limit his production. But this technique won’t make any harm to the soil because the method used is less intensive, and natural fertilisers such as animal rejections and organic wastes replace chemicals and fertilizers used in the intensive method. But as stated above, I ndia is the fourth largest agricultural force on this planet and that’s when the management of the soil starts becoming problematic in accordance to its sustainability and the preservation of its quality.The choice of a farmer to opt for a specific technique rather than another relies on the income on a short period of time. Even though in India this choice mainly depends on the financial resources available, the farmers using subsistence farming will be able to use their land for a much longer period of time than those who use intensive farming. It’s also in the farmer’s benefit to use its field in a sustainable way; for environmental ssues as well as for its personal profit as on the longer term, a farmer who farms on its land in a sustainable way will be able to get an equal amount of crops over a larger period of time. To conclude, if we keep abusing the soil as they still do in certain parts of the world, by 2050 we will severely lack of available healthy s oil to satisfy our needs as a result of the population’s growth rate. And even though the governments and citizens didn’t realise that before severe issues and frightening statistical data came out from the topic.We know how to prevent soil erosion from natural factors by simply planting grass or other clumping vegetation; building shelter belts and hedgerows are other examples. We can also improve the methods of cultivation, using the techniques of terracing and contour ploughing. But to prevent the abusing human activity like deforestation, I believe that the only answer is the willing and devotion of individuals of using proper pesticides and fertilizers. References: http://www. rajasthantour4u. com/business/agriculture. html 02. 02. 3/8:15 http://www. isric. org/ ISRIC website (World Soil Statistical data and Information collectors) 31. 01. 13/17:25 http://agriinfo. in/default. aspx? page=topic&superid=1&topicid=643 29. 01. 13/17:06 http://www. indiastudychannel. c om/resources/154743-Types-farming-India. aspx 29. 01. 13/17:03 http://vro. dpi. vic. gov. au/dpi/vro/vrosite. nsf/pages/soil_mgmt 31. 01. 13/16:18 http://www. ehow. com/about_6367388_human-impact-soils. html 28. 01. 13/16:30 http://www. mapsofindia. com/indiaagriculture/ 01. 2. 13/16:29

Tech Cert Bus Admin Principles Unit

These may lead to increased sales of products or services or to n increase in the red tape which can add to the administrative burden on the organization Other changes will be decided on by the senior management of the organization. These may include: L] Merging the organization with another, buying new companies or changing the ownership of the organization. This will usually lead to major changes at the highest level in the short term which will, inevitably, lead to changes throughout the organization over a period of time CLC Relocation or the introduction of new strategies to increase sales or reduce costs in order to increase profitsSome changes are introduced as a reaction to: CLC The introduction of new products and services. This may be in terms of products and services which your organization is able to provide, increasing sales or which they can use to reduce costs CLC Loss Of revenue. This may result from a reduction in volume of sales or a reduction in the selling price C ] A review of the organization's sales. This may be in response to the loss of revenue CLC Rising costs. These may be outside of the organization's control such as rent or taxes or controllable such as staff costs or travel expenses -3-Many of the above will lead to changes in procedures and systems and a review of working methods. The introduction of new technology may also have a major effect on the organization. Organizations may need to review the products or choices they supply in order to increase profitability or to continually improve their offer. Products and services may also change in response to: The introduction of new technology Customer feed back The arrival of new competitors Changing markets Changing legislation Economic factors Loss of sales It is important that people involved in the changes are motivated and purported during the early stages.Making sure everybody is involved and given the opportunity to contribute to changes, where possible, will help them to tak e ownership of the change. Whether individuals can contribute or not, it is essential to communicate information about the change effectively and obtain feedback as soon as information is available in order to prevent gossip and misinformation spreading. Where individuals may incur financial loss, such as by needing to relocate, information on how the organization will deal with this needs to be passed on.Where changes will affect individuals' roles, the new roles and objectives need to be identified and the reasons for the change explained and agreed. If there are changes to the systems and procedures they carry out, a training needs analysis should be completed; again, this should be done as soon as information is available in order to reassure staff that their employment is secure. New systems will need a mixture of skills and experience which will require individuals to work with others that they may not previously have worked with.This will lead to the bringing forward of more ideas and may require the introduction Of new talent to the team. When the change is in place, it is important to recognize individuals' success in dealing with or implementing the change. People will need reassurance that they can cope with the new procedures or structure as well as they coped with the old. Encouraging staff to support their colleagues or team members through the change is also important.People who see change as positive can be used to encourage others, while those who insist on seeing only the negative side can be offered stress management. Responding positively to change reduces workplace stress and can lead to opportunities to gain new skills, the possibility of promotion and encourages the facing of new challenges which will help to build self-confidence. Positive behavior in the face of change involves: Contributing ideas. You can influence changes and reduce their impact on your own situation by putting forward suggestions of your own D Communicating problems .If you identify that the proposed change will present problems which you believe have not been taken into account, let the appropriate person know as soon as possible as this may prevent problems occurring later C] Supporting decisions for improvement. If you can see the benefits of the change, make it known that you are in favor and why C] Supporting others and requesting support when you need it Seeing the change through will be much easier if everybody is committed to helping each other C] Seeing change as new challenges and embracing new opportunities.

The structure and development of curriculum

The construction and development of course of study involves many characteristics, including how it is organised, the ends to be achieved in instruction, procedures of instruction, larning and appraisal, and eventually how it the course of study will provide for the hereafter scholars. We will detect how the course of study model is broken into these classs to organize the construction and development. Department of Education and Training ( 2008 ) Queensland course of study criterion demands province â€Å" All schools are required to develop and keep up-to-date course of study programs in audience with the school community. This planning ensures that appraisal, instruction and coverage match the intended course of study. † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) Curriculum planning is divided into three degrees in schools, whole-school course of study, plan the sequence of larning across all twelvemonth degrees, program each twelvemonth degree, term and unit. The cours e of study procedure is to educate scholars, develop accomplishments and cognition so they will be able to lend within society. To specify course of study in footings of a papers which includes inside informations about ends or aims, content, learning techniques, rating and appraisal is the cardinal values that represent educating. The Department of Education and preparation of Queensland ( 2008 ) states the course of study is â€Å" all the planned acquisition that is offered and enacted by a school. † The model of Queensland course of study includes a acquisition environment, resources, learning attacks and schemes, appraisal and plans methods, values relationships, and behaviors between equals and instructors. All these elements are linked and supply the experiences that contribute to scholars larning. â€Å" A good course of study has each of these elements aligned so that intended acquisition is what is assessed and what pupils achieve. † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) .Therefore, this papers attempts to widen the focal point on specifying a specific position on what a scholar can carry through under the counsel of school acquisition. Curriculum is organised through range and sequencing. Scope refers to the degree and the agreement of the course of study elements that occur across topics, while, sequence refers to the interrupting the content and acquisition experiences into manageable stairss to ease acquisition over a period of clip. Example of range and sequence used in schools is the grammar range and sequence which each twelvemonth degree will cover a selected component of grammar. Year two ( 2 ) instructors teach larning elements of nouns, by placing appellative words, word edifice with nouns, and twelvemonth six ( 6 ) will utilize the elements of complex genitive nouns, introduce abstract and common nouns. The range considers the procedures or accomplishments that occur in topics. Scoping is structured how topics are taught through activities or incorporating units. Scope and Sequence provides information for instructors about the literacy genres, numeracy chances and demands, and possibilities for utilizing ICT in the acquisition plan for each of the Key Learning Areas in each twelvemonth. By utilizing the range and sequence administration it allows instructors to concentrate chiefly on the intended course of study, supplying support for instructors on what to learn, how to learn it and how to measure it. Therefore, leting instructors to do the most of larning in their category. â€Å" The sequences for each Key Learning Area outline nine old ages of schooling. In peculiar, the learning descriptions sketching what is indispensable for pupils to cognize, understand and be able to make by the terminal of Old ages 3, 5, 7, and 9 are critical for future acquisition and progress.. † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) Within each of the eight Key larning Areas: English, Health and Physical Education, Languages other than English ( LOTE ) , Mathematics, Science, Studies of Society and Environment, Technology and The Arts there is a sequence, statements depicting what indispensable acquisition is to be addressed within the Queensland Curriculum. Using the range and sequence acquisition depict what the scholar does as a consequence of the acquisition chances and environment hence provides a consequence, or result of the learning procedure: The construction of the Queensland course of study relates to several theoretical accounts of course of study, the process-based theoretical account affecting consecutive stages of course of study design and development relates to Tyler ‘s theoretical account of course of study, which includes aims followed by content or acquisition experiences, so utilizing a method or organizing larning experiences such as range and sequencing, and eventually rating or appraisal. But, the Queensland model of course of study besides relates to Skilbeck ‘s theoretical account because â€Å" A course of study that maximises the acquisition of all pupils is one that recognises and celebrates diverseness and engages all pupils in intellectually disputing larning experiences. It provides pupils with clear guidelines on what they are larning and how they will be assessed. It involves a scope of learning schemes to run into different larning demands and explicit learning to scaffold pupils â⠂¬Ëœ larning so that they develop and consolidate the needed cognition and accomplishments to run into the awaited hereafter demands of work and citizenship. † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) Skilbeck ‘s Situation theoretical account examines the chief context and needs that continues throughout the procedure of development and execution of plans hebdomadal or day-to-day instruction. The consideration of these factors stairss in the course of study procedure of state of affairs analysis, end preparation. plan edifice, reading and execution and feedback, appraisal & A ; Reconstruction. Skilbeck ‘s theoretical account, to the full considers the ‘situation ‘ or context of the course of study holding external factors and internal factors. The external factors includeCultural and societal alterations outlooks and alterationsRelationships between grownups and kids, community premises and valuesEducational system demands e.g. policy statements, appraisal processsChanging nature of capable affairSupport systemsExpected flow of resourcesInternal FactorsStudents pupil: aptitudes, abilities and educational demandsTeachers values, attitudes, accomplishments, cognition, experience, particular strengths and failings, functionsSchool ethos and constructions and decision-making construction, power sharingResourcesProblems and defects in the bing course of studySchool communityThe intent or end of instruction is to advance instruction and acquisition construction within a schoolroom and or school environment, is to do the most of a scholars ‘ acquisition and support scholars to accomplish their full potency. That larning experiences connect with bing cognition and accomplishments, pupils educational learning encourage a deeper apprehension and that scholars can link purposeful. The rules found in the Model policy provinces â€Å" Quality course of study maximizes each pupil ‘s educational potency All instruction and acquisition should be founded in the belief that, with good instruction, the right support and sufficient clip, every pupil can develop cognition, accomplishments and understanding to accomplish at higher degrees. Teachers need to believe in their pupils as scholars, have high outlooks, and see themselves as responsible for bettering the learning accomplishment of their pupils. † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) The development of the course of study involves a course of study for all learning facets of the indispensable ways of working and knowledge guaranting that scholars are engaged with acquisition and develop their cognition and apprehension. â€Å" This includes advancing excellence through a course of study that supports all pupils to develop a deep apprehension of of import capable affair and the rational tools and schemes to believe for themselves and to pull off their ain acquisition † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) . Curriculum engages scholars with schemes to develop sound apprehension. Teachers using these larning activities will steer scholars, to work towards constructing on their cognition, by using, explicating, interpretation, and processing. Guaranting that a scholar will accomplish and take part within their acquisition is an intended portion of the course of study. Teaching and larning patterns within a school environment promote the pupil to maximize their educational potency. Through good instruction, back uping scholars, it will help with the developing their cognition and apprehension. .Therefore, scholars are prosecuting with support and scaffolding between each other to derive farther apprehension, guaranting that the cirrculum provides pupils the key tools and schemes to believe for themselves and larn how to pull off their acquisition. The quality appraisal of pupil acquisition is an go oning class of action of roll uping relevant informations to find what a scholar knows, understands and reflect on country of the course of study that need support. The rules of appraisal require appraisal be applicable, and should supply dependable information on the scholars accomplishments. Students should cognize what they have to larn and what the standard or criterion will be set for assessment undertakings. Learners showing their high order of thought, they can use their new accomplishment to other contents. By supplying feedback, it will supply scholars to reflect on their acquisition and place different stairss to better. Assessment is to reflect on the apprehension of their acquisition. â€Å" Achievement of the intended course of study including the quality or criterion of accomplishment, assessment patterns should besides play an educative function for pupils, enabling them to reflect on their acquisition -particularly misconceptions and spreads in their cognition – and take some duty for their ain ongoing acquisition † . ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) . This new coevals has wholly different larning manners these demands should be considered in schoolroom instruction ; engineering plays an built-in portion within today ‘s society. Learners are prosecuting larning to suit with new engineerings. â€Å" The course of study should reflect and construct on the digital literacy ‘s that pupils already have. † ( Department of Education and Training, 2008 ) Therefore, in decision, schools course of studies make the critical part to the pupil ‘s hereafter, wellbeing, prosperity, and societal society accomplishments. The course of study needs to work towards developing capablenesss, every bit good as accomplishing outcome ends in the gaining of specific cognition. The course of study must travel beyond merely schooling foundation of instruction ; these accomplishments are farther required in the workplace, community and recreational milieus. The course of study is one manner to anchor the construct of life-long acquisition in a cognition society. Quality instruction and acquisition patterns within a school environment promote the pupil to maximize their educational potency. Through good instruction, back uping scholars, it will help with the developing their cognition and apprehension. .MentionsBrady L: Kenndy, K. ( 2007 ) . Cirriculum Construction ( 3rd ed. ) . Pearson Education Australia.Department of Education and Training. ( 200 8 ) . Department of Education and Training. Retrieved March 10, 2010, from P-12 Curriculum Framework: hypertext transfer protocol: //education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/framework/p-12/index.htmlMarsh, C. ( 2003 ) . Cardinal Concepts for understanding cirriculum. New York: RoutledgeFalner.Nicholls, A.. Nicholls, H.. ( 1978 ) . Developing a cirriculum. London: Biling & A ; Sons Ltd.Queensland Studies Authority. ( 2010 ) . Queensland Studies Authority. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.qsa.qld.edu.au/

Faculty of Economics and Business Science Essay

Introduction – How the American Low-Cost Airline Industry Looks Like? In the post World War II the federal government heavily regulated period, commercial air travels in the US. As a result, the nation was reliant on a few leading airline companies. Competition was permitted only within individual states. California and Texas were the only two states that had both the geographical and demographic advantage to make air travel attractive. Since 1938, the U.S. Congress formally regulated air transportation through the Civil Aeronautics Act. This Act created a board to control the entry and exit of air carriers, to regulate fares, and to control mergers. These new findings led to the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978. Deregulation was premised on the idea that an unregulated market would approximate a perfectly competitive industry, one that had numerous carriers, no significant economies of scale, and no significant barriers to entry. As a result, many new entrants tried to establish on the airline market, although most of them get bankrupt due to the fierce competition on prices which made a profit margin too low to stay in the game. Besides, financial crises in 1983 and 1990 made many low-cost airlines leave the market. As an example, over 200 airlines stopped operating from 1983 to 1988. However, few significant airlines were born at that time: Spirit Airlines (1964) and Southwest Airlines (1967), Sun Country Airlines (1982). The relatively new low-cost carriers include Allegiant Air (1997), Frontier Airlines (1994), JetBlue (1999) and Virgin America (2004). In 2006 the low cost carriers have a market share of 30% in the Unites States, compared to 7% in 1990. One of the reasons for such an escalating increase could be a raising traveling demand in the US: total number of passengers in 2012 reached 800 million! We assume that such a significant market share should be understood as a separate industry. We would like to analyze the environment of the US low-cost airline industry by applying following tools: PESTEL analysis, Porter’s five forces framework and Strategic Groups  analysis. The Macro-Environment We will start with the analysis of the largest layer of the business environment. In order to investigate the macro-environment we will apply PESTEL analysis to understand to which extent the following six main factors have an impact on the whole industry. Political Factor Thread of terrorism: The airline industry has never really recovered from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. This situation leads to more invasive security procedures at the airports and customers dissatisfaction even before taking a flight. September 11, 2001 has put a long-term shadow on the whole airline industry leading to significantly higher operating costs. The airline industry is highly regulated by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, primarily in areas of flight operations, maintenance and other safety and technical matters. Stricter regulations on aircraft safety maintenance, for instance, are placing new burdens on operators of older aircraft. Average aircraft operating age in the industry is 11 years. The 1978 Airline Deregulation Act partially shifted control over air travel from the political to the market sphere. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which had previously controlled entry, exit, and the pricing of airline services, mergers, and consumer issues, was phased out under the CAB Sunset Act and expired officially on December 31, 1984. The economic liberalization of air travel was part of a series of â€Å"deregulation† moves based on the growing realization that a politically controlled economy served no continuing public interest. U.S. deregulation has been part of a greater global airline liberalization trend. Economic Factor This economic part of the airlines industry has already struggling the airlines to contend with declining passenger traffic, competition from low cost carriers, high aviation fuel prices, labor demands, and soaring maintenance and operating costs. All these factors have made the airlines to get in bankruptcies because they can no longer afford to run their operations profitably. Fuel is the airline industry’s second largest  expense, exceeded only by labor. The major U.S. airlines spend more than $10 billion a year on fuel, which is approximately 10 percent of total operating expenses. As a result, increased fuel efficiency has been a top industry priority for many years. Significant changes appeared in the US economy between 1983 and 1988; the airline industry experienced a massive wave of bankruptcies, mergers, and acquisitions. Over 200 carriers left the market, leaving nine airlines (United, American, Continental, TWA, US Air, Pan Am, Delta, Northwest, and Eastern) to share 92 percent of domestic revenue. Contrary to initial expectations, deregulation actually led to a decrease in competition. Airlines’ profitability is closely tied to economic growth and trade. During the first half of the 1990s, the industry suffered not only from world recession but the Gulf War further depressed travel. In 1991 the number of international passengers dropped for the first time. The financial difficulties were exacerbated by airlines over-ordering aircraft in the boom years of the late 1980s, leading too significant excess capacity in the market. Mergers and acquisitions are seen to be one of the most important trends in the low-cost airline industry. Many carriers make efforts to purchase small regional aircraft operating companies or even fuel suppliers of the local level. This leads to lower operating costs and will result even into higher ticket prices in the future. The expectation for the US economy for the next years is that the growth rate will increase for 1.6% to 2.4%. Growing economy means an increase in buying power of the customers. For this reason, the traveling demand is expected to increase in the future as well. Social Factor The profile of the passengers has changed with more economically passengers and less business class passengers. Now with more information and social media the customers have high expectations in the low price sector of the tickets because the expected standards of the services have increased. Even for a low price passengers expect to have clean seats, smiling crew, no delays etc. Moreover, customers are ready to complain if the service does not meet their expectations. Technological Factor Though it is a fact that the airline industry uses technology extensively in its operations, they are limited to the aircraft and the operations of the  airlines excluding the ticketing and the distribution aspects. This has prompted many experts to call on the airlines to make use of the advances in technology for the front office and the customer facing functions as well. In other words, the technological changes have to be adapted to include mobile technologies as far as ticketing, distribution, and customer service. Technology media now is necessary, for their promotion and for the customers that can buy their tickets in a safe and a quicly way. An example is that Southwest Airlines uses the technology extensively and it is a fact that the 75% of its profits the company gains due to the online sales. Such technologies as mobile phone applications, homepages, online reservations and others are not necessary just to be successful in the market – they are an absolutely a  ¨must have ¨ for the airline to even start to make sales. Environmental Factor The social responsibility initiatives are becoming more pronounced in the airilines industry. As consumers and activists turn a critical eye towards the airlines and their corporate social responsibility. Many people do not associate noise with pollution. But in the last decades the noise produced by jets has become one of the airlines biggest environmental challenges, the one the companies have spent billions of dollars to address. Key to their noise reduction efforts has been the development and introduction of new technology over the years. The airlines have implemented a recycling program to reduce the amount of solid waste they send to landfills. These are the most commons: aluminum can recycling by flight, greater use of metal utensils and ceramic dishes, paper recycling of airline offices. Legal Factor The number of lawsuits against airlines from both customers as well as workers has gone up. In other words, the regulators are being stricter with the airlines, which mean that they are now increasingly their strategies, and actualizing their strategies only after they are convinced that they are not violating any laws. For the airlines industry the customers are the priority beacuase they know thath having an airplane accident will have legal issues and can destroy a whole airiline. The legal system became intolerant of delays, safety issues, and other aspects has only served to increase the fears among the airlines as each and every move of theirs is being checked. In the restrictions on mergers the U.S. Department of Justice approves a certain number of airline mergers, but also blocks a number of them because they fear a trend towards monopolization which would mean less competition and could lead to higher ticket prices. Airlines then sometimes file in lawsuits to defend their proposed merger and tend to succeed. Open Skies Agreement was signed in 2008, the intention of this U.S. and EU aviation pact was to allow greater access to U.S. markets by non-U.S. carriers. This means a greater competitive pressure for U.S. airlines. Conclusion from the PESTEL analysis: Key drivers from the macro-environment include political, economic and legal factors. In order to analyze the next layer of the environment – industries and sectors – we will use Porter’s five forces framework. This tool was developed to estimate the industry’s attractiveness. Another purpose of our analyze is to recognize dynamics of the US low-cost airline industry. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The suppliers of airline companies are fuel supplier, foods supplier, aircraft supplier and airport facilities. It should be mentioned that the US supplier market for the airlines is quite limited. There exist only two possible suppliers for the airplanes – Boeing and Airbus. There is a large investment required to purchase the airplanes. Thus, it makes it very difficult to switch between these two suppliers (for instance, to switch from Boeing vehicles to Airbus) as the switching costs will be unavoidably high. Another issue which is worth mentioning – in the case of switching to another supplier all mechanics and pilots should be retrained according to the standards of a new supplier. In the past, low-cost carriers tended to operate older aircraft purchased second-hand. Since 2000, however, fleets generally consist of newer, more fuel efficient aircraft. These are extremely efficient aircraft in terms of fuel, training, maintenance and  crew costs per passenger. Airlines are also highly dependent on Boeing’s and Airbus’s innovation strategy – especially low-cost carriers have little bargaining power to negotiate with the suppliers and order special custom-made vehicles (for example, airlines cannot make an order to Boeing/Airbus to produce special airplanes with more seats/less fuel costs in order to maximize airline’s profits). Thus, the power of the suppliers makes the airlines to adopt their strategies to a new fleet and the other way round! Fuel market is quite monopolized as well (PDVSA, Venezuela; Petrobras, Brazil). Moreover, price of aviation fuel is directly related to the cost of oil. It implies difficulties to the airlines as oil market is very unpredictable and tend to increase. For this reason airlines prefer to sign long-term contracts with the fuel suppliers in order to negotiate fuel prices for the future as well. Foods suppliers do not cause any specific difficulties for the low-cost airlines due to two main points. Firstly, many low-cost carriers do not serve a warm/cooked food for the passengers. Secondly, foods suppliers have little bargaining power as their market is highly competitive as well. This makes it very easy for the airline to switch to another foods supplier. Large airports charge very high prices for renting or buying the gates. Thus, they are seen as a big challenge for the airlines. On the other hand, regional airports have little bargaining power as they are heavily dependent to make their profits from a regionally dominant airline. It is worth mentioning that it is very important for the low-cost airlines to dominate on the regional level. But in this case, low-cost carriers do not challenge fees of regional airports – they rather compete with other low-cost airlines to get the airport gates. Conclusion: In general, bargaining power of suppliers in US low-cost airline industry is very high, although there can be some differences between the national and regional level of operating. Regional low-cost airlines are not so much dependent on airports’ bargaining power, but even this issue does not affect the whole picture of the industry. Bargaining Power of Customers Customers seem to be very price sensitive. According to the survey conducted in 2010, 36 percent of travelers ranked price as their top consideration while choosing a airline. The second most valued factor, with 32 percent respectively, is particular schedules and routes the airline can offer to a  passenger. Surprisingly, on-time performance and star rating all gathered seven percent or less. Thus, customers’ behavior towards prices makes low-cost carriers participate in a fierce competition on low prices for the flights and invite special sales offers and promotions to gather new customers. The next problem which low-cost companies face is low switching costs for the passengers. The opportunity to compare prices from different airlines online allows the customers to make a best-choice decision. According to the survey mentioned above, only less than two percent of travelers mentioned brand loyalty to be a crucial factor of choosing an airline to fly with. Increase in customers’ awareness about building the prices also puts some limits on the airlines’ strategies: modern travelers know exactly how much their flight tickets should cost! They are aware that most low-cost carriers try to promote online sales in order to shorten their costs by not renting offices and not establishing call centers with call agents. Today’s customers also understand that online check-in allows the airline to cut its costs for renting check-in desks at the airports etc. As a result of this awareness, customers become more suspicious about the price and have higher expectations for the services. Conclusion: Price became for the customers the most crucial factor to decide what airline they want to use. No switching costs and customers’ awareness define as well that customers possess a huge bargaining power towards low-cost carriers in the US. Threat of New Entrants Deregulation law of 1978 had a great impact on the whole US airline industry. The idea of deregulation changed the airline business into a perfectly competitive industry with numerous carriers, no significant economies of scale, and no significant barriers to entry. After plenty of mergers and acquisitions in the airline industry in the 1980s were executed, over 200 carriers left the market. Thus, US deregulation created a more concentrated airline market with no specific barriers for the new entrants on the other hand. Historically, it has been seen very prestige to owe an airline – for this reason a lot of investors tried to enter the industry despite of its low attractiveness. Most of them, however, left the market as the airlines declared themselves being bankrupt. In general, airline industry has one of the highest turnover rates – over 60% of all new entrants leave the market  in the first five operating years. There is a high capital investment required to ente r the industry. Moreover, investors cannot change the existing prices in the industry. Most costs for the airline are built from its fixed costs (renting or purchasing fleet, renting airport gates, fuel costs, salary paid to the personnel, trainings). This makes it very difficult to reduce the costs when needed – fixed costs cannot be reduced in the emergency case. Restricted slot availability makes it even more difficult for the new entrants to find suitable airports. Especially in the low-cost sector of the US airline industry it causes extremely high challenges for the new entrants to have enough basis to set low fares for the flight tickets. By setting very low and competitive ticket prices a new entrant should take a risk to stay unprofitable for the first operating years as a new company has a lot of debts from the investment and no customer base to make enough profits. On the other hand, as we analyzed before no close customer relationship is possible within a low-cost airline industry. Hence, if a new entrant is able to catch customers’ attention by setting low fares this airline can expect the profits in a short time. Conclusion: Although the new entrants will face a fierce price war immediately after entering the market, there are some key factors (low prices, different routes) that can save the company from going bankrupt. Nevertheless, the thread of new entrants in the industry tends to be low. Competitive Rivalry As mentioned before, the low-cost carrier market in the USA is highly competitive due to heavy pressure on prices, margins, and hence on profitability. Besides, the industry is characterized by the following specifics: Most cost advantages can be copied immediately. Low chances to participate in the competition for the national market as the two major low-cost airlines (Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines) have avoided direct head to head competition by choosing different routes to serve. Existing rivalry is competing on the regional and local level. Not much differentiation between services. Price is the main differentiating factor. The pricing policy of the low cost carriers is usually very dynamic, with discounts and tickets in promotion. A new tendency towards prices: the  prices steadily rise thereafter to a point where they can be comparable or more expensive than a flight on a full-service carrier. Conclusion: highly competitive environment. Threat of Substitutes Historically, airlines have satisfied the demand for a speedier travel experience with faster aircraft. Travelers choose air for a variety of reasons; chief among them are costs and time. But in the future airlines can be on the edge of losing this advantage if high-speed rail will be improved. In this case more travelers will re-evaluate this alternative, and many will quit flying because of the reasons they dislike air travel: check-in/security hassles, lost productive time, lower-than expected reliability on in-time departure and arrival, and negative environmental impact. Rail is not a complete substitute for air travel in all markets because longer distances magnify the effects of slower travel speeds. But for travel distances of less than 1,200 kilometers, high-speed rail can be seen as a viable choice. It is worth saying that after the Deregulation law in 1978 the American railway was quite â€Å"abandoned† as most travelers switched to the air travel due to the low fares offered for the tickets. Thus, American railway has hardly introduced new rail destinations and can be barely seen to be a substation for the air travel today. Nevertheless, the situation can change if investment in the improvement of American rail destinations will be made. Buses are not a substition for the US low-cost carriers as their prices (even for the regional destination) are comparable to the prices for the flight tickets. Conclusion: Low-cost carriers are not threatened by the substition by railway/buses. The summary of the Porter’s five forces analysis can be represented by the following graph: Conclusion from the Porter’s five forces framework: The U.S. low-cost airline industry is not an attractive industry to enter because of the heavy competition, large turnover rates and high fixed costs which results in one of the lowest profitability of all industries. Now we came to the most immediate layer by which the companies are surrounded – layer of competitors and markets. We will conduct the analysis of this layer by dividing the airline industry into particular Strategic Groups. We decided to define Strategic Groups by following terms: by geographic coverage (national, regional, international) and by customer satisfaction (measured in the airline industry by a scale from 1-1000 points). Conclusion to the Strategic Groups: The most direct competitors of low cost-carriers are very often other low-cost carriers. There is a strong competitive rivalry both within the strategic group of low cost carriers like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue, but also there exists a competition between strategic groups. For instance, a big low cost-carrier Southwest also competes with Delta Air Lines who is the largest legacy/major U.S.airline who operates in both a domestic and an international network. According to our research, critical success factors for the low-cost airline industry include: ticket fares, waiting times for flights, safety measure, customer-oriented service and comfort, special sales offers (for example, frequent-flyers programs), airport fees, number of destinations, costs of airplaines, fuel price conditions, online ticket booking, high-frequency flights.