Child beauty pageants Essay

One of the main issues people have with child beauty pageants is that the children’s childhood gets taken from them. Children shouldn’t be wearing fake tan, false eyelashes and make up. France is looking to ban beauty pageants for children under 16 and anyone who organises a pageant would face up to 2 years in jail and a fine of about â‚ ¬40,000. The senate in France states â€Å"If we stop child beauty pageants now, these little girls will grow up to have self-respect and respect for others too, all these pageants do is destroy their self-esteem.† People also argue that these little girls attend pageants because they enjoy it and it’s a hobby, nothing dangerous will come of it. But what harm will banning them do? Child beauty pageants should be banned because they cause little girls, to be artificial to boost their self-esteem. The parents of these children put so much stress and pressure onto these children to look and be a certain way. Beauty pageants make children believe they have to be fake to be beautiful. I feel it can completely lower a girl’s self-esteem if they don’t win. Children of such a young age shouldn’t have to be worrying about the way they look or being judged at all. When we think of beauty pageants we tend to think of the society’s idea of perfect little girls competing to see who the judges think is the most beautiful. Also, we think of crazy moms who push their children too hard and will do anything so that their child will win. All of this is true but there are more issues with beauty pageants, some that are more concerning. Beauty pageants are judged based on physical appearance, yet haven’t we always been told not to judge based on looks? They aren’t healthy for kids- they take away their childhood. Lastly, beauty pageants do not set a good example for kids; they do many things that we are told not to do. One of the largest issues that deals with Child hood beauty pageants is the problem of little children being forced to be dressed in sexualising costumes, that ruins their innocence and such. However i would like to point out that a childhood beauty pageant ranges til the age of 18 years old. A 18 year old girl is allowed to choose to do a beauty pageant and if she wishes to wear something revealing. By placing all the problems of childhood beauty pageants is seen in a brief window of a child’s younger years. What will we achieve by banning the pageants other than a huge amount of protest and disapproval? Just because showing off may not be the best thing in the world why should we ban it? It is wrong to ban something because people look up to it and think they are not as good. Most people are intelligent enough to not do crazy things when they see someone prettier than them. These shows are for entertainment anyway. It is crazy to get rid of things because some people dislike them. People that don’t like the pageants shouldn’t watch them and shouldn’t ruin the fun for others. If people want to show off and get money for it, why shouldn’t they? In the professional pageants showing off is another form of advertising anyway. We shouldn’t ban something while we still encourage other things such as the tour de France, boxing and some legal drugs. Many people enjoy watching and participating in beauty pageants. Just because some people dislike them doesn’t mean we should eradicate all pageants of all types forever. In fact lots of people like them and that is why we have them. The competitors have fun hearing the audience applaud, dressing up, showing off and hearing that they are one of the prettiest, most talented or best dressed competitors. Most of the prizes for beauty pageants are scholarships or savings for the future by banning the pageants we are depriving the talented winners of a decent prize. Beauty pageants do not involve illegal activities, unlike sports. In some sports athletes use illegal drugs to help them perform better and win. We do not ban the Tour de France even when certain people use illegal stimulants. Eddy Merks, a famous cyclist, who was a winner of the tour de France had been caught using illegal drugs 5 times, in fact huge amounts of competitors have been found doping! Do I have to even have to mention Lance Armstrong? So why should we ban beauty pageants if we don’t ban things such as the tour de France? Why should it be illegal to dress up and compete to see who looks better? It is not illegal to have or use makeup, lipstick, eyelash thickener, and fake tans.

Literary Criticism- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Essay

A Utopia is a world that is completely controlled by the government. The government controls every aspect of life in a utopia, and therefore everyone is always happy. In the novel â€Å"Brave New World† by Aldous Huxley the setting is a utopia. In this world people are constantly happy, babies are cloned, and, ‘everyone belongs to everyone else.’ The criticism which I chose was written by Margaret Cheney Dawson, on February 7th, 1932. The argument that Margaret makes is that Brave New World is a, â€Å"lugubrious and heavy-handed piece of propaganda.† The critic is saying that through the book Brave New World, Aldous Huxley is promoting, and trying to sell a utopian government. I agree with this statement because throughout the book there are examples that prove that Aldous Huxley thinks that a utopian world is a good idea, also through his writing Huxley is implying that a utopian world is the only way humanity can survive. The most obvious way that Huxley promotes a utopia in his novel, is through the words of a character. When the Savage, John, is talking to the World Controller, Mustapha Mond about the â€Å"brave new world† which they live in Mond says, â€Å"They like it.It’s light, it’s childishly simple. No strain on the mindor the muscles. Seven and a half hours of mild unexhaust-ing labor, and then the soma ration and games andunrestricted copulation and the feelies. What more can  they ask for?† (Huxley 204). I think that the words of this statement by Mond is a very big statement because Huxley is coming out and flatly saying that there is not one bad  thing about a utopian world. He says that it satisfies everyone’s needs, and that no one is ever unhappy because they do not have a reason to be unhappy. I also think that Huxley is trying to make the statement even stronger because the character who said it, Mustapha Mond, is the most important person in the utopian world. He is a ruler with much knowledge. The other proof that this book is propaganda is isolationism, not fitting in, and not being the same as everyone else. These are some of the problems that we experience and struggle with in our lives. Huxley sees this and tries to sell us the idea of a utopian world by showing that sameness is good, and difference is not good. In the book two characters feel isolated, and different then the rest, Bernard Marx, and John the Savage. Bernard’s isolationism is shown when Bernard does not experience â€Å"the coming† and the solidarity service while everyone else does. â€Å"He was miserably isolated now as he had been when the service began- more isolated by reason of his unreplenished emptiness, his dead satiety. Separate and unatoned, while the others were being fused into the Greater Being.† (Huxley 76-77). Through this I believe that Huxley is saying that being different, and feeling different is not a good thing. Although this is a very strong message that Huxley conveys, there is one that is much stronger. John’s struggles are much greater because he is much different from the rest of society. At the end of the novel john commits suicide by hanging himself, â€Å"Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west, then paused, and after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south, south-east, east†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Huxley 237). This quote is explaining how john is hanging, after he committed suicide. This form of propaganda is very strong because the reader starts to contemplate whether diversity and difference in the world really is such a good thing. Through these two quotes Huxley is also trying to prove to us that sameness is good because everyone is happy, this is why this book is propaganda. I do agree with the critics argument that Brave New World is a heavy handed piece of propaganda because we see examples throughout the book that Aldous Huxley thinks that a utopian government is the ideal way of living. Also  Huxley implies that sameness is desired rather then being unique and different. I think that Margaret Cheney Dawson hits the jackpot with her thesis which states that Brave New world is a heavy handed piece of propaganda. I totally agree with her, and through the examples my beliefs were only reinforced.

Business Intelligence Advantages and Disadvantages

Business Intelligence Advantages and Disadvantages Introduction The purpose of this report is to discuss the both the advantages and disadvantages of using Business Intelligence within a business. As well as to discuss the potential algorithms which could be used to achieve datamining which will allow for discovery of information who may be existing or potential future customers. By the end of this report I aim to make it clear the advantages of incorporating these tools and techniques within the business, and the benefits that will be seen. Business Intelligence Business Intelligence (Business Intelligence , 2007) is a collection various technologies and tools which are used for collecting, organizing and analysing data and information, and then providing the user with the information in a form which will help them with making business decisions. There are 3 major parts to business intelligence Reporting, Integration and Analysis. Reporting is essentially the creation and use of reports, while integration is about taking da ta from a source and being able to modify it to fit another purpose and data source. Finally, Analysis is the producing and organizing structures that have been filled with data taken from a separate source, commonly tools such as OLAP (OLAP, n.d.) (Online Analytical Processing) are used in order to achieve this. This process if often referred to as Data Mining. Using Business Intelligence has numerous advantages and is something that every company should consider using. One of its most obvious advantages is that it can help show trends and correlation in statistics (E.G user activity, sales, and complaints) and this can then be used by businesses in order to improve. Another considerable advantage of using Business Intelligence is also the reliability of the presented information and allows for relatively accurate prediction which greatly improves planning. Although it should be noted that there are some disadvantages to using Business Intelligence, this is that the historical data that is recorded needs to be stored somewhere, and this takes up more memory, which not only means more cost in storage, but also a speed reduction as there will be a huge amount data to be analysed. Another notable disadvantage is the potentially high initial cost, as well as maintenance cost, and although these costs should pay for themselves with improved decision making there is a possibility of the investment not paying off. There are not many disadvantages to using business intelligence, but they should still be taken into consideration. (Disadvantages of Business Intelligence, n.d.) A good example of business intelligence being used by other recognisable companies is that Netflix (Business Intelligence, 2015), the online media streaming service, using this system of business intelligence to work out which shows will be popular, and which of their categories may need a little reworking. This gives them the information they need to stay ahead of the curve and to make sur e the shows that remain on the site are popular. Datamining algorithms With computers being used more and more within businesses, the information that the business needs to function is also stored on these computers (E.G Sales records, customer information etc.) so the ability to scan and analyse these massive amounts of information is incredibly beneficial to not only making business based decisions, but to predict sales trends or areas in need of improvement. There are a wide range of different Data Mining algorithms available to use, the ones discussed here will be the Decision tree, Bayesian Classification as well as K-Means. I have chosen to discuss and compare these 3 as they are quite different in how they operate.    One of the most commonly used Data Mining algorithms is the Decision Tree (Decision Tree Algorithm, n.d.), at the top of the decision tree we have a Root, which is essentially a check on an attribute, and from there the answers to the check make the bran ches. The leaves of the tree are in fact formed from each class label. The advantages of using this algorithm compared to the others is that in order to function it requires to prior knowledge of the domain, the other huge advantage which makes an attractive solution is that it is also very easy to follow and understand compared to more complex algorithms. The complexity for this algorithm can be worked out by the number of leaves that the decision tree has. This algorithm is often called ‘Supervised Learning’, this basically means that the data is already labelled within classes. ( Image taken from ( http://www.saedsayad.com/decision_tree.htm (Decision Tree Algorithm, n.d.) ) The second mostly commonly used algorithm for Data Mining is known as Bayesian Classification (Bayesian Classifcation, n.d.), this algorithm effectively works via predicting the probability that a pattern or set of information belongs to a specific class. This algorithm is often favoured am ong the Data Mining techniques for its efficient results, although it needs to be taken into consideration that if the data is highly random then another algorithm would be preferred over the Bayesian Classification. It is also not recommended to use this algorithm with small data sets as this came mean a very low precision as well as recall. Although this algorithm might seem simple, it’s also highly accurate and is used often in filtering software (email spam, language filters). This algorithm is a supervised learning, as the user provides it with an already labelled dataset. The third algorithm which should be considered for the Crowd Funding System is ‘K-Means’ (k-means, n.d.). This algorithm works by creating groups based on the set of objects this results in the in the members of the group more similar, this algorithm is often referred to as ‘Cluster Analysis’. ‘Cluster Analysis’ is a collection of different algorithms which all follow the same pattern (Clusters, n.d.). The pattern being that they create groups (or clusters) in a way which means that the cluster members are much more similar as opposed to non-grouped members. This is not quite unsupervised nor supervised learning, this is because the user states the number of clusters needed, but it still features unsupervised learning as well as the algorithm learns where the cluster belongs without the user needing to provide it with any more information. I’ve compared 3 algorithms, a decision tree based one, a clustering based one and a naà ¯ve one. My recommendation for use with the Crowd Funding Software would be the Decision Tree, this is for a number of reasons, the first being that it’s extremely easy to follow, even by someone who has no prior knowledge to the algorithm. Also because it’s easy to follow and understand it’s also easy to maintain and tweak it depending on the circumstance. Another major reason that I wo uld chose decision tree is that they work quickly as well being non-parametric. Non-parametric means that the algorithm doesn’t need specific data distribution in order to function. Data-mining advantages and disadvantages The main advantage of using Data-Mining for the Crowd Funding System would be that it could use ‘Affinity Analysis’ (Affinity Analysis, n.d.), this is basically a scan off all the customers previous shopping history and then be able to advertise to them directly. This applies to the Crowd Funding System as we can use data mining to find out what projects a customer prefers and then advertise those projects directly to them. (E.G If a particular user often supports Gaming Software projects on the webpage, then we can use this information to have all Gaming Software projects as the top hit on their home page.) Affinity Analysis can often be used to detect fraud, which is useful for any company. Another advantage that this business can gain fr om Data Mining is Customer Segmentation, this is the process of breaking the customers down into smaller group based on say age, occupation or even gender. The advantage of doing this is that you can then target your advertisement to people who will be highly interested, and the more effective the advertising the more money people will donate to the projects. This applies directly to the Crowd Funding Systems first example, using this customer segmentation the film writer / director will be advertise her project to all her previous fans, or even people who are interested in that genre, this will mean she can reach a much more interested user base. The other huge advantage of Data Mining that can be applied to the CFS is that it can help to achieve Sales Forecasting, this is exactly what it sounds like, and it uses previous sales records to relatively accurately provide predictions for future sales. This can be used by the system for the second example the Kinect mobile phone battery , if they can predict how many donations the project is going to get they can either boost its advertisement, or perhaps communicate with the user that previous similar projects haven’t been able to reach their goal or at least direct them where they went wrong. One of the concerns the current business has is damage to its reputation, using data mining techniques they will be able to not only boost their donations and improve their advertisement, but also be able to learn more from the customers, and this can only be beneficial for the company. Donor exhaustion was also on the companies list of concerns, but data mining will be able to prevent this because it can be used to keep track of what advertisement has been sent to who, and what projects they are likely to bid on, so routinely changing the projects they are advertised will keep the users hopefully interested. CRM CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management (CRM, n.d.) And is used by businesses to keep their customers happy, it uses data mining techniques in order to get feedback and improve on their products constantly. The data mining algorithms discussed earlier are extremely useful for gathering and analysing information and data about customers and opinions on projects. We can then use this information to make improvements or changes where they are needed, and this will greatly increase customer satisfaction as customers will be able to see the changes they wanted. Although it is recommended to only try this with a vast amount of data, and huge amount of transactions. As smaller amounts of data can provide in accurate information. Using CRM will greatly improve the Crowd Funding Company’s reputation and mean they have a lot more satisfied donors. Conclusion In conclusion I strongly recommend that the crowd funding system decides to include data mining algorithms. It has a long list of advantages including sales prediction, improved advertisement, and mostly importantly i mproved customer satisfaction. I would also highly recommend the use of the decision tree algorithm as it’s easy to follow and can easily be modified depending on the information that needs to be collected. It should be noted that choice of data source is important, as some of them may provide useful information, but there are quite a few that should be ignored.   CRM should also be taken into consideration, as using this software has proven to greatly improve the publics opinion of a business. A modern business can’t afford not to use these data mining techniques, as failure to utilize these tools will mean a huge disadvantages against its competitors. The more information that can be collected from this companies customers, the more value the company can provide them, and the happier the customer the more donations that will be made. References Affinity Analysis . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_analysis Bayesian Classifcation . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.tutorialspoint.com/data_mining/dm_bayesian_classification.htm Business Intelligence . (2007, March 6). Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/2439504/business-intelligence/business-intelligence-business-intelligence-definition-and-solutions.html Business Intelligence . (2015, Febuary 26). Retrieved from http://businessintelligence.com/big-data-case-studies/data-driven-proof-netflix-needs-buy-blockbuster/ Clusters . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_analysis CRM . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/CRM Decision Tree Algorithm . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.saedsayad.com/decision_tree.htm Disadvantages of Business Intelligence . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://business.mapsofindia.com/business-intelligence/disadvantages.html k-means . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-means_clustering OLAP . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://olap.com/olap-definition/ S tar Schema Notes The use of BLOB is so that the users can store there video sales pitches within the database, after some research I realised there wasn’t a dedicated media storage format and instead have to suffice story it in binary.

The Objective of Good Social Work Practice is to Treat Everyone the Essay

The Objective of Good Social Work Practice is to Treat Everyone the Same - Essay Example As the report declares individuals regardless of their age are treated the same way without regard for the different needs that they may have. Such view of mental health, however neglects the fact that unlike adults, children have a three-fold interest in the outcomes that result from acquiring mental health care, particularly the interests of the current child to ensure welfare and the interests of the adult-to-be in order to live a productive life, in addition to the fact that children’s interests as patients should also be considered. By not recognizing the inherent differences between adults and children, the possibility of hurting a child’s development, especially in an age of immaturity, in favour of providing uniform mental health care becomes apparent. This discussion stresses that not all social workers are also created equal, such that as Tom Wilks argues, â€Å"[v]alues play an important role in the construction of social workers’ professional identities†. Thus, the manner social workers engage in with their clients and make assessments and decisions regarding them are guided by value statements that consequently affect their actions. Placed within the context of practice, these values play an integral role in the social worker’s ability to make sense of the situation surrounding a specific case. However, in the context of prescriptive policies that can be too restrictive on the actions social workers, their ability to make sense of a particular case and properly assess a client or patient can be endangered.

Film Report Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Film Report - Movie Review Example As the movie progresses, he encounters different people who will aid in uncovering the core theme of the movie that running is an act of courage and strength. The movie explains that the act of running away from something or someone cannot be totally attributed to cowardice. Often times, running, as depicted in the film, is a person’s ability to move towards the future and to his or her dreams and destiny. The theme was first seen when forest, with braces on his legs, was able to run away from the bullies. The theme was emphasized with the help of Gump’s leg braces that broke apart as he ran fast away from the bullies. 2) What were the choices made by the main characters and what were the consequences of those choices? Forrest Gump’s choice to sit beside Jenny on the first day of school is considered as the start of the whole story. After which, when Gump listened to Jenny when she told him to run away from the bullies was the first decision Gump made that allowe d the core theme of the story to unfold. Also, the time Gump befriended and believed on Jenny became his soul aspiration to learn his destiny. As Gump decided to go to the war in Vietnam, he also made a decision to save his fellow soldiers. This decision brought him to fame, but Lieutenant Dan hated him for saving his life. As the story unfolds, Gump and Lieutenant Dan became good friends and successfully established their shrimp business. Meanwhile, Jenny slowly ruined her life as she started to get on drugs and dated different men. Nonetheless, she decided to go home to Gump, and this had brought joy to Gump. However, Jenny left him again, which caused Gump to run across the country for three years. When Jenny heard of him, she decided to write him a letter, and the two got back together and married, along with their son Gump. 3) What three or four sequences are most important in the film? Why? The first important scene in the movie was when Forrest Gump sat beside Jenny on the sc hool bus on their first day to school. This scene is the outset of the story of the life of Gump. It is also considered as an important event because, after this event, Jenny will play the most important inspiration to the life of Forrest Gump. The second vital scene was when Gump decides to join the war in Vietnam where he becomes friends with Benjamin Buford â€Å"Bubba† Blue from whom he learns the shrimping business. This was also the time when he meets Lieutenant Dan and become business partners, and also whom he considers as his best friend. The third essential scene in the movie is the time Jenny comes home to Gump, and this will be the time when Jenny becomes impregnated by Gump, but she leaves him. Lastly, the most crucial part of the movie was when Jenny acknowledges that Gump is the father of his son and the two of them got married. 4) Did the ?lm surprise you with anything unusual in its story, style, technique, or implications? The thing that struck me the most w as the tolerance of Forrest Gump in waiting for Jenny to come home to him. He never looked at or wanted any other woman aside from Jenny, which is very much unusual in a typical movie. Also, the manner the story unfolds which is presented in a first person was a unique style and added more drama to the movie. It allows the movie to be more dramatic and realistic as Gump tells his story to other people while waiting for the bus. Also, along the narration of Gump, it is inevitable to acknowledge the presence of many

Remedies to Reduce Causes of Unproductive Conflict Essay

Remedies to Reduce Causes of Unproductive Conflict - Essay Example This essay stresses that  the manager of the store, Janice, never delegates responsibilities, and does not communicate policies from the corporate headquarters. There is also an unfair distribution of merit bonuses, which reflects discrimination at the workplace. This indicates poor communication, poor delegation of responsibilities, and unfairness at the workplace which cause high level of conflict at the workplace.  According to the report findings  to reduce the causes of conflict, it is important to delegate responsibilities effectively and given junior managers an opportunity to participate in decision making. This can be achieved by providing supportive infrastructure and power structure. In terms of supportive infrastructure, the company should encourage good budgeting approach, confidentiality, value alignment, top management support, and effective feedback mechanism. The power structure should also be improved to include delegated power, disbursed decision making, and collaborative task performance.  The problem experienced at Main Street Bakeries, store seventy-five is that the top management is not supportive. Janice fails to provide fair bonuses and support at the workplace. The changes made are not communicated, and employees fail to understand the need for such changes.  Supportive infrastructure should be developed to resolve this problem. The upper management should develop values and virtues that guide responsibilities in every organizational level.

Persuasion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Persuasion - Essay Example Under such circumstances, it is likely that the other person will be willing to reciprocate and do something in return. Hoy and Smith (2007) observe that people who are engaged in such a relationship usually use words such as, â€Å"oh yes! I am ready to assist. I know you will also assist when my time comes†. Such a person creates the sense of a future commitment for the person who has received the assistance. In other words, it can be inferred that a person who can not reciprocate immediately or in future may not be able to persuade others whenever he needs assistance. Under such perspective, people will say for example that â€Å"Assisting him is useless. He can not assist anyone in need†. This has helped in developing a sense of togetherness in the society today, since people are always ready to assist in order for them to be assisted in future. On the other hand, a person may ask for a favor in order to do something. Under such circumstances, the one who wants to influence the other is compelled to offer what has been requested in order to persuade the other to perform a particular task (Goldstein et al 2008). For example, a person may be requested to be sent for a far away mission to perform a particular task over several months in the place of work. The DIF persuasive strategy applies when the person asks for the first favor in order to give in to the request, such as, â€Å"Promise to take care of my kid for the months I will be away†. The management may not be willing to undertake this request due to the complexity involved, but it is not ridiculous. However, upon the first offer being declared impossible, the person may make a second request, such as, â€Å"then give me one week off duty to look for a person to care of the kid†. This offer is practicable for the management, and the person is allowed the short leave after which he promises to come back and undertake the responsibility as requested. The second

Physical and Psychological abuse on a child cause devasting and even Essay

Physical and Psychological abuse on a child cause devasting and even fatal consequences - Essay Example Abusers often raise abusers so it seldom stops in one generation. The goal would be to figure out what allows some abused children to grow up not being an abuser and use that to help others. Much more attention needs to be spent on child abuse. It needs the same attention as other public health issues, such as smoking and obesity. Only then can we find a cure for the problem that causes such pain for many. Children who have been abused may suffer long term effects. Those effects may be different for different children but the victimization creates symptoms ranging from self-doubt to self-loathing In some cases the effects of being a victim never go away while some with the correct support may turn this self-doubt or self-loathing into that of survival. Many studies have been done in an effort to predict what might be the effects for each child as they grow older This paper will discuss what child abuse actually is, how prevalent it is and what the long term effects are recent studies will be used to support information presented. Studies show that children who have been abused suffer long term affects, such as self doubt and self loathing as modes of survival. Child maltreatment or abuse is defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as the abuse of power that might harm the childs health, survival, dignity, or development. This is the basis for their definition of violence against children which broadens the scope from just violence to include social and environmental harm (Widom, et. al., 2008). This definition involves most kinds of violence against children as most of them are power issues. Putting a child in a position of having no power strongly affects tat childs self esteem causing him to b less assertive against the perpetrator. Philip Hyden (1999) describes the symptoms of abuse that might be seen in the emergency room. There are many possible approaches to reporting child abuse but unfortunately

The concept of net present values can be used in this situation to Essay

The concept of net present values can be used in this situation to advise Harriet on the most appropriate action to take - Essay Example The most suitable payment option of the two can be chosen with the help of present value concept. Harriet should choose the option which provides the lowest cost to be paid for the purchase of TV. The first option involving a complete payment of 899 today is to be compared with the second option suggesting payment of 50 in the beginning with 40 to be paid every month for the next 2 years. The present value of 899 to be paid today is simply 899. However, the present value of 50 today + 40 monthly for 24 months needs to be calculated. For this purpose the values of monthly payment needs to be discounted back at the rate of return Harriet expects to earn on an alternative investment. This would provide the present value of that series of payment that the purchase of TV requires. Because of the fact that there is equal monthly outflow, the NPV can be calculated with the help of the following formula: The above calculation suggest that Harriet will actually be paying 981 as the total cost of purchasing the TV if she decides to accept the second option i.e. 50 plus equal monthly payment for the next 2 years. However, if Harriet decides to pay the cost of TV today, she would only be paying 899. This illustrate that Harriet will have to pay 80 in excess of the cost of TV if she agrees to pay in future instalments. Hence, on the basis of the abov... Hence, on the basis of the above calculations, it is advised that Harriet should pay the cost of TV today i.e. 899 because of the fact that she will have to bear higher cost if she pays in instalments. Part 3: Limitations of NPV as a Method of Investment Appraisal Despite the fact that Net Present Value or NPV serves to be the most important of all the available investment appraisal techniques, there happen to be several limitations of this method. The first drawback of using NPV as investment appraisal is this method's reliance on discount rates which should represent the opportunity cost of capital. This opportunity cost of capital might be the cost of funds employed in the investment, rate of return on alternate investment and inflation etc. The determination of a correct discount rate is very important in the calculation of NPV as it is the rate which is used to discount back the value of future cash inflows to their present values. An inaccurate estimation of discount rate will lead to acceptance of a wrong project or rejection of a right one. Another important point to be considered in calculation of NPV is that the method does not consider risk involved in accepting a project. It just evaluates a project on the basis of time value of money. However, there are several risks that are involved in starting a new project other than the time value of money such as business risk, financial risk, market risk, industry risk etc. A high NPV project might be having huge risk as compared to a low NPV project. The decision criteria made solely on the basis of NPV with no consideration for project risk can be misleading. Even if a risk premium is added to the discount rate, NPV will assume that the risk rate

Is Interagency Working in England Beneficial to Childrens Learning and Essay

Is Interagency Working in England Beneficial to Childrens Learning and Development - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that interagency workings in England started long time ago around in the mid 19th century in the health and social care sectors. Nevertheless, the trend has being gaining popularity over the past few years especially since the death of Victoria Climbie on February 2000. This research paper is going to critically analyze whether interagency working in England are beneficial to children’s development and learning. Victoria Climbie decease prompted to a large and thorough research analysis of the United Kingdom child protection and development services. This led to publication of various studies highlighting the need for multiagency working and sharing of information with the main goal being to protect children, help them develop and facilitate their learning. Such studies have led to numerous reforms as it had been suggested by different publications among them being the ‘Green Pape:Every Child Matters’ which was made in 2003, a publicati on that prompted to a dramatic increase in the number of voluntary and non-voluntary organizations working together to help children lead a full life. According to the study agencies working alongside other agencies has proven to be an effective strategy of improving children’s outcomes of development because of the cross cutting themes that different organizations bring forth together. Coming together of different organizations and sharing information increases the probability of shielding children from any harm and most importantly promote their welfare in a way that only a few children if any have to face terrible situations like the ones Victoria Climbie faced. Publications like the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ year 2010 highlight the need for the collaboration of the general England society in promoting and safeguarding the welfare of young people and children.  

Domestic Terrorism In The United States Essay Example for Free

Domestic Terrorism In The United States Essay To varying degrees, domestic terrorism has survived and affected the social and political structure of the United States. As defined by the country’s Department of Justice, these words connote â€Å"the unlawful use of force or violence, committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals, against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives† (U. S. Department of Justice, 1994, p. 26). Though such characterization is considerably clear in its meaning, oftentimes a case-by-case interpretation is necessary to ascertain where extremism ends and terrorism begins. Terrorism vs. Extremism A more concise demarcation between extremism and terrorism is evident in the recognition that extremism is not unusual in any political environment, and is more often than not directed by societal pressures, civil discourse, education and the law. On the other hand, in terrorism, the violence is far beyond control by civil, educational or societal elements and must be tracked down, penalized and castigated by law enforcement agencies. The Dictionary of Political Thought defines extremism as â€Å"a vague term, that can mean a) the taking of a political idea to its limits, regardless of unfortunate repercussions, impracticalities, arguments and feelings to the contrary and with the intention not only to confront but also to eliminate opposition; b) intolerance towards all views other than one’s own; and c) the adoption of means to political ends which show disregard for the life, liberty and human rights of others† (Scronton, 1982). The complexity of separating terrorism and extremism is that in various situations, domestic groups which are seemingly law-abiding at present, may be contemplating of violent actions in the future. As it is, many violent groups started as non-violent discussion or protest movements with very lofty ideals; however, as time elapsed they evolved into something else. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, provides a suitable and a more fitting characterization of terrorism when he described it as â€Å"the deliberate and systematic murder, maiming and menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political ends. † USA Patriot Act Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act stretched the definition of terrorism to include domestic in contrast to international terrorism. An individual is said to be involved in domestic terrorism if he/she does an act that is dangerous to human life, that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, and if the act appears to be intended to a) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; b) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or c) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. Further, the acts have to take place chiefly within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and if they do not, then these acts can already be regarded as international terrorism. Clearly, Section 802 does not create a new crime of domestic terrorism. Nonetheless, it does extend the kinds or the nature of actions that the government can examine and probe into when it is investigating terrorism. The USA Patriot Act stretched out the powers of the government when they do their investigations and some of these powers are applicable to domestic terrorism. Such definition of domestic terrorism is expansive enough to cover the actions and activities of many known activist campaigns and organizations. Greenpeace, Operation Rescue, Vieques Island and WTO protesters and the Environmental Liberation Front have all recently engaged in activities that could make them subject to investigations as engaging in domestic terrorism. Contemporary Domestic Terrorism Though governments, private and public institutions have been beleaguered and weighed down by terrorism for hundreds of years in one form or another, the strategies and the application associated with it have changed and progressed as surely as the societies upon which it is imposed. Technological advances in the transportation, communication and in the area of weaponry have permitted the capacities of current domestic terrorist groups to get their message out and have enhanced their ability to take aggressive and sadistic action to achieve their objectives. President Clinton launched a counter-terrorism bill to the Senate and House of Representatives in February of 1995. One exceedingly contentious proposal in the bill is the assigning of the Department of Defense a dominant role in assisting the investigation of domestic terrorism incidents in which chemical and biological agents are utilized. Currently, the military can be used in cases of terrorist activities where there is an alleged employment of nuclear weapons or devices and much more if such allegation has been established (Hall, 1995, Sec A). Though the amplified role of the military would be limited, necessitating a further amendment to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, civil liberties experts cautioned that it would infringe the tenets of civil supremacy over the military and would only rekindle the hostilities and anti-government sentiments of the citizen-militias and conspiracy theorists (Landay, 1995). Furthermore, several Congressmen, law-enforcement officials and some military advisers concur that such employment of the military would be an exceedingly precarious approach in combating domestic terrorism. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat from New York, responded to questions as to whether the use of the military, in an expanded role, should be a part of the counterterrorism package, said, â€Å". . . the military defends the nation and does not involve itself in internal affairs† (Minzesheimer, 1995, Sec A). Incidents and Implications There has been an evident and persistent decline in the number of terrorist incidents in the United States during the past twenty years. To further delineate the trend of decline over time, a comparison of the average number of incidents per year during each of three, six-year periods would be useful. During the six year period from 1977 through 1982, there was an average of 59. 0 incidents/year; from 1983 through 1988 an average of 15. 7 incidents/year were recorded; this compared to an average of 5. 3 incidents/year investigated during the period from 1989 through 1994 (FBI, 1994). *** ACTIVE GROUPS OPERATING WITHIN THE UNITED STATES CLASSIFIED AS TERRORISTS African National Prison Organization (ANPO). An arm of the African Peoples Socialist Party. Animal Rights. Principally against use of animals for any purpose beyond their natural existence. Armed Resistance Group (ARG) aka Revolutionary Fighting Group, Red Guerrilla Faction. This group has been characterized in 1988 as tired and aging revolutionaries. Greenpeace Principally environmental-use extremists. Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Reorganized and relocated several arms of its group in 1989. Macheteros. Puerto Rican nationalists. Ohio Seven. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Very public-relations oriented. Radical Feminist Organizing Committee (RFOC). Driven-out of the feminist movement in 1989, operating independently. RAMBOC (Restore a More Benevolent Order Coalition). Targets and actively pursues the US assets and people of foreign groups with terrorist links, such as the PLO, SWAPO, ANC, etc Rolling Thunder aka American Foundation for Accountability; primary focus is to draw attention to the POW/MIA issue from Vietnam War. Satanic Cult. Associated with attempted bombing of churches and kidnapping, and animal sacrifices, tombstone vandalism, and miscellaneous actions. Skinheads (SKA). Groups consist of both racist and anti-racist factions. SS Action Group. Principally anti-Semitic. Apparent Motivation There are principally four classifications into which groups that are regarded as domestic terrorists can be distinguished currently existing in the United States. These groups can be generically delineated as being either motivated by religious convictions, racial prejudice and supremacist goals, anarchistic/anti-government/politically motivated, or in pursuit of unique special interests. These classifications have been extracted from a collection of the categorization and delineation of extremist and terrorist groups by two respected subject-authorities, Stephen Segaller and FBI’s Department of Justice. Segaller, in his book Invisible Armies, classified domestic terrorism in the United States into four groups as well, but lists them as being: a) Cuban infighting (political), b) â€Å"backwoods terrorism† (a combination of religious, racist and anarchistic), c) violent Puerto Rican independence groups (political), and d) a handful of domestic revolutionary Marxist groups (anarchistic/anti-government and racist) (Segaller, 1987, pp. 221-225). Theoretically speaking, the stimulus for the creation and sustained existence of extremist and terrorist groups can unequivocally be associated in many circumstances to ethnic, cultural, religious, and racial feelings of superiority. An accurate depiction of the continuum formed by these supremacist attitudes, and how they promote further tension is succinctly articulated by Frank G. McGuire, when he said that as long as Christians feel superior to Jews (or vice-versa) and Catholics feel superior to Protestants and Ashkenazic Jews feel superior to Sephardic Jews, men feel superior to women and whites feel superior to blacks/browns/yellows/reds and so on, such phenomenon will be with us (McGuire, 1990, p. 10). These cultural, racial, gender, and a myriad of other differences that are present among people in society, particularly one as diverse as the United States of America, must be acknowledged and respected, but shouldn’t be seen or considered as a encumbrance to peace and harmony within society. Nor should these diversities be seen as wholly benign in their impact on the functioning of society as a whole. Tibor Machan, a social and political commentator, showed a well-timed dissertation on the myths and erroneous beliefs associated with viewing multiculturalism as simply a difference in dress, music, dance, and customs. Dr. Machan asserted that cultural differences, whether a result of race, gender, religion, or whatever, impacts both negatively and positively on other cultures within the society (Machan, 1996, pp. 134-135) and further opined that attitudes of cultural-superiority and intolerance are directly related and incorporated into many of the extremist views and motivations that are plaguing America today. The period from 1982 through 1994 showed that the targets of domestic terrorism were predominately commercial establishments. The majority of incidents directed against commercial establishments were conducted by animal-rights and/or anti-abortion extremists, either attacking stores that sold fur, or clinics that performed abortions or provided abortion advice, respectively (FBI, 1994; McGuire, 1990). Religious Racial Supremacy/Intolerance Religious intolerance founded upon fundamentalist standpoints has been the stimulus for acts of terrorism all throughout history and such as involved Orthodox Jews, Moslems, Catholics, and Protestants. Perhaps, there is no issue or idea among human beings that is as provocative and as seditious as that of religious beliefs. Auspiciously, at least as far as the United States is concerned, terror stimulated by religious intolerance has not been as significant a threat as in other parts of the world like in Africa, the Middle East or Bosnia. â€Å"America is a unique nation in that it guarantees the freedom of religion with the First Amendment and the right to [keep and] bear arms with the Second Amendment. This means that people can believe whatever they want, and they can buy the guns to protect that belief† (LeBaron, n. d). The statement was made in direct reference to Mormon fundamentalism and summarizes the very ideology upon which this country was founded which also provides an insight into the potential dangers that exist with religious extremist groups. Recently however, there has been rhetoric and open threats of aggression from different extremist groups that describe themselves as being inspired by religion, nonetheless, have undisputedly displayed racial supremacist and hate-mongering views. The leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, advocates sundry rhetoric of black supremacist views and religious fervor. He professes to have the faith and devotion of some four million people (Fletcher, 1996). In addition, several white-supremacist clusters, including some of the many Christian militia splinter groups, advocate exceptionally caustic and hate-filled threats as well, apparently an endless, ages-old game of â€Å"I call you a name, you call me a name. † Oddly enough, two racial supremacist groups representing opposite extremes, the Nation of Islam and the Posse Comitatus, have concurred to an ultimate end-state segregation of the United States into regions of pure racial integrity. Another group operating within the United States that has historically merged a racist agenda with religious rhetoric, and was truly very sadistic in its actions and objectives, is the Ku Klux Klan. They have, however, considerably lessened in both their membership numbers and invisible power-base in recent years, and though there are still very strident individuals appearing from time to time, the danger posed by the Klan nowadays is essentially restricted to local regions, and their activities are in the form of parades and rallies. As the Klan has faded in its activities and numbers, it has been replaced by the tremendously vicious and rapidly growing racist movement known as the Aryan Nations, which is strongly associated with the Identity Church that proclaims Anglo-Saxons as Gods chosen people. The fundamentalist Mormons are another religiously-motivated cluster within the United States that are catching the attention and concern of law enforcement and other government officials. This group has been at odds, to a certain degree, with the government since its creation in the early 1800s. Many of these fundamentalist Mormons are well-armed conspiracy-minded survivalists, who have retreated to the mountains of central Utah to await Armageddon, which they believe will occur on April 6, 2000. Believing in their gifts of prophecy and revelation, and fired-up by heavenly visions and doctrines of blood atonement and oaths of vengeance, they have isolated themselves awaiting the end of the world and fearing that the government is about to take away their freedoms (LeBaron, n. d. ). A specifically insightful yet explosive issue to a huge section of the American people, despite individual beliefs, is the classification of particular abortion clinic-related hostility as domestic terrorism. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994 in concurrence with the Attorney General Guidelines (AGG) on General Crimes, Racketeering Enterprise and Domestic Security/Terrorism Investigations, instigated and directed the creation of the Department of Justice Task Force on Violence Against Abortion Providers to look into conspiratorial acts of violence against abortion clinics and personnel as domestic terrorism (FBI, 1994). Although personal opinions on the ethical aspects associated with abortion, whether for or against, are not wholly confined to religious beliefs, the most articulate, open and visible anti-abortion advocates are directly allied with religious organizations. As it is, abortion rights and issues persist to be one of the most contentious and conflict-ridden questions among Americans and motivate exceedingly passionate and rousing rhetoric and reactions from people from both sides of the matter. In the period between 1982 and the end of 1984, there were a total of 220 separate acts of violence, including 89 cases of bombing, arson and other serious incidents, conducted against clinics where abortions were performed or abortion-advice offered (Segaller, 1987, pp. 222-223). Ethnically and racially stimulated bias, extreme loathing and carnage are as much a part of human history as any other characteristics of mankind, and have at least to some extent have a bearing on the cultural and social identities of essentially all civilizations to date. From the subjugation of Hebrews by ancient Egyptians, to present-day current situation in the Balkans, racial and ethnic differences have triggered incalculable suffering and death. The history of racial and ethnic turmoil in the United States is no different, and is seemingly experiencing an increase in such activity recently. Racially-motivated extremist and terrorist groups in the United States, especially those of today, seem to employ religious rationalizations and teachings for their sadistic tendencies and aggressive actions, and all indications point to the fact that such trend will continue at an accelerating rate into the foreseeable future. Anarchistic/Anti-government /Political Terrorist clusters of today that are actually anarchist, anti-government or political in their motivations are mostly associated with the growing self-determination, radical citizen-militia movements, or have been around a relatively long time, such as the Puerto Rican freedom fighters. The former has drawn considerable attention, and extracted wary concern from law-enforcement and civil-rights groups due to the bombing in Oklahoma City, and their rapid and continuing growth in numbers and visibility. A few of the more extreme citizen-militia groups, often motivated by New World Order conspiracy theorists and anger over a belief that government has become too large and repressive in everyday life, are openly soliciting and calling for the overthrow of the United States government. These groups, when linked with the self-described â€Å"Constitutionalists,† are being considered as extremely dangerous by many law-enforcement and watchdog groups (Knickerbocker, 1995). The Puerto Rican terrorist groups have been almost exclusively limited in their actions to operating within Puerto Rico against local and federal targets of opportunity. Unique Special Interests Within this designation of domestic terrorist groups are those of relatively recent creation, or at least they have relatively recently gained high public visibility through their actions. Groups such as the extremist animal-rights groups, environmental extremist groups and homosexual-rights groups, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Earth Night Action Group, and Act Up, respectively, have emerged within the past two decades and have actively used violence, destruction and intimidation to gain recognition, and to further their respective political agendas. References *** McGuire, Frank. 1990. Security intelligence sourcebook: Whos Who in terrorism. Silver Spring, MD. : Interests, Ltd. U. S. Department of Justice. 1994. Terrorism in the United States, 1994. Washington, DC. : National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Terrorist Research and Analytical Center Scronton, R. 1982. Dictionary of Political Thought. New York: Hill and Wang Hall, M. 1995. â€Å"Clintons Military Police Plan Under Fire. † USA Today, 11 May Sec. 5A. Landay, J. S. 1995. â€Å"Tempering Terrorism. † The Christian Science Monitor, 8 May Sec. US. Minzesheimer, B. 1995. â€Å"Terrorism Bill Warning: Go Slow. † USA Today, 1 May Sec. 5A. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1994. Terrorism in the United States 1982 – 1992; Terrorism in the United States 1994. Segaller, S. 1987. Invisible armies, terrorism into the 1990s. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Machan, T. 1996. â€Å"Fallacies of Uncritical Multiculturalism. † The Freeman, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 134-135. LeBaron, G. Jr. â€Å"Mormon Fundamentalism and Violence: A Historical Analysis available at http://www. tcd. net/~garn/ polygamy. html. Fletcher, M. A. 1996. â€Å"Farrakhan Vows to Take Libyas Aid. † Washington Post, 26 February, Sec. A1. Knickerbocker, B. 1995. â€Å"US Militias: The Dark Side of Frontier Independence. † The Christian Science Monitor, 24 April, Sec. NATIONAL.

Diversity Issues Essay Example for Free

Diversity Issues Essay It does not create a mouth-opening effect on us when we get to know any issue related to sexual harassment that is happening somewhere in the country, whether it is any organization, community, educational institution, or village. It is because there is no such country in the world that has totally eliminated this issue, even if they have, then other diversity issues such as, discrimination, hatred, and glass-ceiling occur. The paper would discuss an article about sexual harassment, analyze the legal concerns, and highlight the thoughts regarding the issue. Introduction Sexual harassment is a term that is used to define any act of harassment where a person or employee â€Å"makes continued, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, to another employee, against his or her wishes† (Heathfield, 2010). Examples of Sexual Harassment There is not any specific way of harassing the opposite gender in the workplace; in fact, there are variety of ways that can be used depending on the circumstances. People pass on jokes, non-verbal gestures, or other offensive comments on the physique, dresses, or way of walking or talking of the other party. Touching and making some bodily connection also comes under sexual harassment, where patting someone’s back, holding him or her from waste, and scratching is done. Moreover, requests to the other party are made to have date even that party has refused before. And finally, sending emails or texts that contain some lewd text or pictures and playing sexy music are also part of sexual harassment. Legal Concerns Sexual harassment has increased to so much extent that now it is considered to be a common thing, which would not have any negative impact towards the organization or its performance. But in reality, it does have several legal concerns over the confidence and self-esteem of the harassed one, performance of the organization, violation of the ethical and moral principles, and also the corporate culture. Starting from the moral and ethical issues, one does not have any right to sexually harass anyone else in the workplace even if the other party does not entertain the offer or gets reluctant to it. It violates the ethical principles because one does not feel the sense of freedom where he or she is working, and since it is the workplace so protest or condemnation cannot be done openly. Second of all, it diverts the mind of both the harasser and harassee from their work since they continue to disturb and get disturbed from each other’s reactions. Therefore, the time is wasted and focus is not made on the everyday tasks, hence resulting in the decline in productivity of both parties. As far as the self-esteem and confidence of harassee is concerned, it gets hurt seriously because the harassee cannot openly raise voice in front of others to either protect him/her or complaint about the harasser. Moreover, there is a great chance of other people perceiving the harassing situation as the consensual relationship or flirting of both the parties, which might degrade one’s image. Not only this, once the rumors about sexual harassment being happening in an organization spread, it exacerbates company’s image and so many of the women or minorities would hesitate to join it in the future. Thoughts and Beliefs This growing issue in the workplaces have tarnished the image of many organizations and as well as the countries where minorities are harassed either sexually or for some other purpose. Although this is a silent issue that has not been considered to deal at the upper level either by the companies or governments; nevertheless, employees are the only one who can help themselves and get out if this nuisance. Sexual harassment can be prevented by the organizations if they develop and introduce certain stiff rules about the issue, which ensure that whoever is found to be harassing others would either be fired or suspended. Of course, the employer would not want this issue to prevail in the company so the harassee must complain secretly to the immediate boss or manager who could take the issue seriously in dealing with it. Also, harassee must have proper proofs and records of harassment been done by the harasser, so that he or she could take legal actions against the harasser and let him or her face the music (Heathfield, 2010). This would not be it; in fact the role of government and law-making bodies is very decisive here that can introduce certain laws especially for the workplaces where sexual harassment usually takes place. Once the rules are implemented, the issue would certainly take a rain check and minimize. Conclusion Therefore, there are many diversity issues prevailing in the organizations, one of them is sexual harassment that involves the passing of certain remarks, words, jokes, or some physical contact with the other party. Its outcomes are quite gloomy where the performance level of employees goes down, image is tarnished and corporate and ethical principles are violated. The issue can be managed by taking action on-the-spot by the harassee and the employer, and also by implementing stiff rules and regulations. References Heathfield. S. M. (2010). Address an Employee Sexual Harassment Complaint. Retrieved on August 4, 2010. From http://humanresources. about. com/cs/workrelationships/ht/sexualharass. htm Heathfield. S. M. (2010). Sexual Harassment. Retrieved on August 4, 2010. From http://humanresources. about. com/od/glossarys/a/sexualharassdef. htm

Assessing The American Fast Food Industry Business Essay

Assessing The American Fast Food Industry Business Essay The world has become a fast paced environment where people operate on tight schedules. This has reduced time to prepare home cooked meals and has made quick fast food meals very popular especially for adults who shuttle to and from work and the kids who see it as a treat. This trend has made it possible for the fast food industry to thrive. This very competitive industry has a large market made of all ages of the population. The restaurants now produce healthy innovative and nutritious food which surmounts the fears customers have about unhealthy diets. The industry has been highly successful in the United States and has gradually increased its reach to tap into the growing world market. This has made the fast food industry develop rapidly into an international industry. 1.2 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW   A fast food restaurant is synonymous with quick and freshly prepared food which is convenient to the buyers. The most common meals served are: hamburgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, chicken and pizza. The side dishes usually include: salads, fries, baked beans, baked potatoes, onion rings and a wide variety of desserts. Beverages like soft drinks, bottled water, hot chocolate, coffee, tea, milkshakes and juice are also offered alongside with the meals (Hovers, 2010). Fast food franchise chains such as Subway, Burger King,  McDonaldHYPERLINK http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mcdonalds/HYPERLINK http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mcdonalds/s, Prà ªt-a-Manger and Pizza Hut cater to demands for seafood, lean meat, special diet meal components, and other considerable regional variations (Buzzle, 2010). 1.3 ORIGIN OF FIRMS IN THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY The origins of fast food restaurants in the USA which is also known as fast food capital of the world can probably be traced to a specific date 7 July 1912 when a fast food restaurant was opened in New York City by Horn Hardart. The establishment offered its happy customers a selection of pre-prepared fast foods which were displayed behind small glass windows and coin-operated slots (Yusef, 2002). The development of fast food which is a big business as at today can be traced back to America which made great impact internationally (Yusef, 2002). Although there was undoubtedly fast food all over the world in some shape or form centuries ago, it really started to become a business enterprise when social, manufacturing and economic conditions made it cheaper to eat out (Rowlinson, 2002). 1.4 INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY The internationalization of the food service industry was pioneered by, and is still being dominated by, U.S. based quick-service restaurants (QSR), e.g. McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Pizza Hut. The decision by these companies to go international was associated with the great prospect of foreign food service markets and to service Americans travelling abroad. It is interesting to note that American fast food is embraced by young people in many foreign countries as fashion food, an element of the popular Western culture. This has contributed to the success of quick-service restaurant operations in many foreign countries. (Yu, 1999). According to the National Restaurant Association in the United States, there are approximately 160 U.S. owned food service companies operating internationally, this is illustrated in figure 1 Restaurants chain Total us units Total foreign units Mc Donalds 21,022 8,923 KFC 9,863 4,784 BURGER KING 8,874 1,817 SUB WAY 12,516 1,668 WENDY 4,933 564 Table 1: Total US units include both company-owned and franchise- owned units. Source: Personal communication, National Restaurant Association. (Washington, DC, 1997) The firms in the fast food industry (QSR) tend to internationalize fast by adopting franchising as a mode of entry (Yu 1999). Yu also identified that the fast food industry tends to follow lodging industry in internationalizing its operation. This is because of growth in population and economic development. The author identified six world regions these firms have internationalized as Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The internationalization history could be traced to the 1990s and has internationalized greatly spreading to different parts of this world .This could seen to concur with Uppsalas Model of internationalization where firms tend to gradually move to closer countries to reduce uncertainty i.e. psychic distance. Also, the model addresses the issue of objective knowledge which has contributed to their reasons for internationalizing as a result of easy transfer of knowledge. (Johanson and Wiedersheim, 1975). 2.1 POPULAR TARGET MARKET The industry generated its strongest growth outside the US, such that their target markets were in Europe, Asia/Pacific, Middle East-Africa (Apmea) operations. Europe region has been the most popular target market for firms in the industry because of its political and cultural stability (Yu, 1999) while other regions were based on factors like population. 2.2 GEOGRAPHICAL CLUSTER The main target market for the USA fast foods are Europe, Asia pacific, Middle East and Africa. In these countries they have some form of concentration of fast food restaurants in areas close to schools to characterize school neighborhood food environments, shopping malls and the airports. The geo-coded databases research shows that restaurants are strategically positioned at schools, shopping malls and airports which have been used to examine locational patterns of fast-food restaurants in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Chicago. The use of bivariate K function statistical method by most researchers to quantify the degree of clustering (spatial dependence) of fast food restaurants around school, shopping mall and airport locations. Fast-food restaurants are concentrated within a short walking distance from schools, and also close to shopping mall, airport which might expose children in school to poor-quality food environments in their school neighborhoods. This might help others such as the travelers and shopaholics (Austin et al, 2005). According to Austin from the Harvard School of Public Healths Prevention Research Center compiled a comprehensive list of 613 fast-food restaurants in the city of Europe, as well as a list of 1,292 public and private kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. Whereby each restaurant and school was assigned longitude and latitude coordinates and census tract identification codes. Using statistical methods, the researchers quantified the distances between schools and restaurants and calculated the degree of clustering. 3.0 FOREIGN MARKET ENTRY MODE Firms Number of foreign outlets Mc Donalds 8,923 KFC 4,984 Burger King 1,817 Sub way 1,668 Wendy 564 Taco Bell 348 Pizza Hut 482 Little Caesars 379 Table 2: Firms location in various continents Source: Personal communication, National Restaurant Association. (Washington, DC, 1997) and annual Report The table identified some countries the number of foreign outlet where the above US fast food firms operate. The major market entry modes employed by these firms in this industry is franchising. Franchising could be seen as one of the entry modes employed by organizations, which involves a contractual agreement between a company and an individual or another company where the franchisor gives the right to do business under a common trade name in a prescribed manner, over a specified period of time and place in exchange for royalties or the payment of other fees. The company offering the right is called the franchisor, the company/ individual who buys and maintains the right is the franchisee, and the right been bought is referred to as the franchise (Mendelsohn, 2004). 3.1 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE STRATEGY According to Alan et al (1999), the benefits that accrue to firm that engages in franchising as a mode of entry into foreign markets includes: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reduced cost and financial risk associated in entering a foreign market à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Serves as a good incentive to build profitable operation faster. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ It offers strategic alliance which aids the franchisee to benefit from economies of scale and allows the franchisor the regulatory flexibility of a smaller firm. Erramilli et al (1990), in his study identified that the service industry makes use of Franchising as a mode of entry. This is particularly so because Fast food firms offer soft service and his ideas about soft service firms are based on the fact that such firms cannot export their product because exporting necessarily require a separation of producer and consumer and therefore they have to rely on contractual method i.e. franchising/licensing in order to expand their market. Arnold (2003) identified that franchising is the most appropriate for duplication of a business model or format, such as a fast-food retail format and menu. He further identified that fast food is not culture bound in which marketing knowledge (i.e., the product- or service-specific knowledge involved in marketing this particular offering) is at least as important as local market knowledge (i.e., the knowledge required to operate successfully in a particular territory). It is also important to note that in such businesses, the local service personnel are a vital differentiating factor, and these will obviously still be local in orientation even if they operate within an internationally consistent business format.(Arnold 2003: 2) Another idea suggested by researchers is based on Governments in many developing countries are becoming aware of the economic benefits that franchising can bring, and are facilitating the entry of foreign franchisors in their markets (Pelton et al, 1997). Tayeb (2000), suggested that Franchising seems appropriate for firms who want to retain control which will be associated with reduced risk. Erramilli et al (1990) acknowledged that firms in this industry (shown in the table below) tend towards adopting franchising as a mode of entry, basically for market seeking. This can be identified to fit in well with the eclectic theory. This is based on the ownership factor where firms transfer their ownership specific assets to combine with the most favorable sets of traditionally fixed elements in the global economy. This is paramount in order to maintain control which indicates that Franchising is the appropriate strategy for firms in this industry. Table 3: Showing type of service offered by Fast food firms and motive of internationalization Source: Erramilli and Rao (1990:141) Despite the benefit that usually accrue to firms that use franchising as a mode of entry, (Hill, 2009) identified a disadvantage that is Peculiar to the Fast food industry. He was of the opinion that quality control always persists. This is because the geographical distance of the firm from its foreign franchisees can make poor quality difficult to detect. 4.0 THE STRUCTURE AND CONTROL OF FAST FOOD INDUSTRY. The fast food industry has about 200,000 restaurants in the United States and their annual revenue when combined is about $120billion (Hover, 2010). The highly fragmented industry has 25% of the industry market share controlled by top 50 companies (Hover, 2010). The production within the industry is split between a few of the different companies but there is no particular company that has a large enough market share to be able to influence the price levels (Global Edge, 2010). The fast food industry operates on product diversity, service differentiation and internationalization (Stuart, 1993). The fast food restaurants are involved in local market adaptation and adjust some parts of their menu based on the each countrys specific dietary preference. This is in line with Hill (2009), which states that despite the proliferation of standardized products, McDonalds had to find a way to customize its product offerings to suit the differences in taste and preference around the world. The co ntrol system that exists is the cultural control. According to Hill (2009), this control is achieved when staffs of the company take interest in the norm and value systems of the company. The employees can control their behavior which improves operations and management assistance when needed. The fast food industry operates on the transnational strategy. This strategy involves companies that try to realize location economies and experience effects, to leverage products internationally, transfer core competencies and skills and also give consideration to local responsiveness (Hill, 2009). Figure 1: Food service structure Source: Tourism: Goeldner et al, (2000:179) The fast food restaurants in this report fit under the chain broad menu structure. The restaurants have the same name, offer the same kind of service and have standardized menus in different locations. 5.0 EXPLANATION OF ABOVE POINTS The fast food industry tends to internationalize very fast. This imploding pattern of internationalization is prevalent because these various restaurants aim to increase their various outlets and hold a larger market share than that of their competitors. The restaurants are able to control the huge boost of business activities through the tight and stringent quality control measures over franchisees that run the businesses. The location choice for Europe as one of the major destination place for the fast food industry is because of the relative low political risk experienced in these countries compared to other continents. For example in 2001, when the Unites States invaded Afghanistan, McDonalds restaurants were vandalized in Pakistan and Indonesia and there was a call for boycott of US products (Rugman and Collinson, 2009). There is no threat in these European countries and these countries are developed nations which are highly globalized. This makes fast food popular in the counties. The franchising entry mode is prevalent in the fast food industry because it facilitates the low cost global expansion of the restaurants without great risk to the franchiser. The franchisee deals with the day to day running of the business operations and the franchiser controls the operations through rules o The prevalent local menu adaptation as opposed to standardization in the fast food industry is due to different taste and preferences of customers all over the world. For example, For example, in India McDonalds developed a menu which is entirely free of beef and pork to suit the vegetarian preference of the Indian population (Rugman and Collinson, 2009). 6.0 CRITICAL REVIEW OF DUNNINGS OLI PARADIGM This section will critically review how well international business theories best explain the internationalization process, the choice of foreign market entry mode within the Fast food industry. Based on the analysis of entry modes used by key industry players such as Mc Donalds, Burger King Etc the Dunnings OLI paradigm models best explain internationalization behavior within the industry. For this reason, this theory will be discussed in relation to the Fast Food industry. 6.1 DUNNINGS OLI PARADIGM Dunning theory suggest three essential factors are required to engage in FDI place. These factors include the O- ownership, L- location, I- internationalization. Majority of the fast food companies benefit and interact using the internationalization of the Dunnings OLI paradigm to determine the extent of foreign production and activities. The relationship between these factors and franchising as a mode of entry is beneficial and economical to franchisors by taking advantage of franchisees working capital and local knowledge (Teegen, 2000). Usually international franchisers of foreign ownership behaviours involve resource-seeking activities and asset exploitation which was analyzed by (Chung et al, 2004). Dunnings OLI paradigm, which embraces asset-augmenting foreign operations of multinational enterprise (MNE), examines foreign ownership choices of international franchisors which are directly related to their strategic intent. (Dunning, 2007).Considering the data from section 1, an analysis of Dunning theory will be done in the subsequent section. . 6.2 O-Advantages of the FAST FOOD (FF) O-advantages can be viewed from the owners assets of the international firm, making provision for ability and skill that are the due to strategic advantage. Owners assets can be in two dimension such as tangible and intangible. The intangible assets of the MNE include different types of tacit as well as experiential knowledge. In FF business, O-advantages reside mainly in intangible owner assets, which can be social capital and human capital. Such assets include specific managerial potential within the managers and their network, (Bian, 2002). The importance of relational O-advantages originated as a role in reducing inter-firm transaction costs, which can be explained in terms of preference interdependence among members of the same social group (Buckley and Casson, 2003). The main O-advantages of the FF with respect to section1includes: deal-making, relational contracting, operational control, risk management, and firm size. 6.3 L-Advantages of the fast FOOD (FF) Fast Food industries also seek advantages by considering its geographical location choices with its O-advantages. This indicates that firms would always want to create a blend between the O-advantages and the L-advantages of the host market. Most firms target locations that benefit them and also where there is a strategic fit between the capacity of the firm and it requirements and formulation of its operating environment. At this point the main O-advantage of the FF is its relational contracting ability; it must seek out locations where the environment for business is opaque rather than transparent, and relational contracting skills are crucial to successful performance (Yeung, 1999, pg. 120) Another impact of aligning L- and O-advantages is that FFs thrive in other locational environments that may be considered attractive by the Western MNE.i.e. there are specific locational advantages for the international FF to enter regions where it can utilize its ability carry out its operation effectively, economic environments where codified market-enhancing institutions are weak and / or where personal connections are required. A similar argument can be made with respect to industry preference. MNEs and FFs usually operate and succeed in different industries. There is strategic importance of the FFs superior relational contracting ability which is industry-dependent. FFs are found in a range of industries, usually including real estate property development, banking and finance, as well as certain kinds of manufacturing, such as garments and food processing. While individual companies typically engage in non-related diversification, the overall pattern of industry. Cultural familiarity and proximity are an important source of location advantage for firms that understand the culture of the local environments whose characteristics match the locational characteristics of the host country. Thereby with the alignment of the psychic distance, such advantages relate to specific cultural knowledge and skills. In the case of America, they may include familiaring the firm to the language of the host country. This therefore leads to a cluster of these firms in order to achieve this benefit. 6.4 I-Advantages of the FAST FOOD (FF) In MNE theory, I-advantages provide the benefit to undertake related international business activities within the firm, rather than contracting them out to other firms or exporting them. The I-advantages of the international FF center on its characteristic ability to quickly mobilize coordinated action and resources, thereby gaining advantages of timing and flexibility vis-à  -vis competitors (Yeung, 1999). The focus is positioned in the network structure, which enable it to gain assets and capabilities of others in the network. The tatics behind internalization can be explicit in terms of transaction costs. When inter-firm transaction costs exceed the cost of intra-firm transacting, efficiency is improved by internalizing market transactions within the firm. Conversely, when intra-firm transaction costs exceed the cost of inter-firm transacting, efficiency is improved by externalizing transactions to the market. The comparison cost of conducting inter-firm transactions among members of a network with the cost of intra-firm transactions within the internalized firm shows a grounded network can be the more efficient way to organize (Buckley and Casson, 2003). The Ownership assets that give the international FF its distinctive O advantages are on the basis that are highly intangible human capital assets involved in relational contracting capabilities and deal making skills (Hamilton, 1996). These are characteristics that cannot easily be sold in markets and must therefore be exploited internally, within the firm. The resulting timing advantages account for the prevalence of the FF in industries where windows of opportunity open and close faster. Conclusion Finally, since FFs are relatively big in comparison with Western MNEs, they are able to achieve a high degree of operating flexibility without sophisticated internal organizational processes and systems. However, it also leaves them unable to expand the size of their organizations when it would be strategically advantageous to do so. In such cases, the business network can allow the big firms to surmount some of the limitations of size (Child, 1973, 1984), including economic and geographic limitations (Hamilton, 1996) and transaction costs (Buckley and Casson, 1993). Hence this study concurs with the factors responsible for internationalization as stated by Dunning theory of internationalization

Bolivia †Privatization or Nationalization? Essay -- Economics Politi

Bolivia – Privatization or Nationalization? Bolivia was once a rich and prosperous country but is now one of the poorest nations in the world. The economy of Bolivia used to be rich in agriculture and mining but now searches to find something prosperous again. Privatization of certain companies has started in the country but was expelled when mass protests began. The companies’ prices are too high and the people used their culture and history to get rid of them. The Cochabamba protests of 2000 and the Bolivian gas referendum of 2004 are a couple of examples that show the power the people of Bolivia have over their own government. The History of Bolivia Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America. It borders many countries including Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. Bolivia is part of the Andean region and has been inhabited for almost 20,000 years. The Tiwanakan people inhabited the area until about 1200 A.D. In which the Incas to over and ruled the area until the Spanish conquest showed its power throughout all of South America. Both cultures have greatly influenced the life of a Bolivian citizen. The Spanish held their power of Bolivia until it claimed its independence in 1809. Bolivia went to war with Spain for many years and final won on August 6, 1825. Bolivia, although independent, could never regain its steps. The governments from here on out were all very weak and only hurt the country as a whole. Many countries saw this weakness including Chile who went to war with Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). Up until this point Chile had a coast but the loss of this war also was the loss of the coastl ine and Bolivia then became a landlocked country. After this Bolivia found its... ... government which intern will make the right decisions for the country of Bolivia. These will only be a stepping stone in helping Bolivia reform its economy and reinstate them as a wealthy nation. Works Cited 1. Answers.com. â€Å"Bolivian Gas War.† http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery? method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Bolivian+Gas+War&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1 2. Bolivia Web. â€Å"Cochabamba.† http://www.boliviaweb.com/cities/cbba.htm 3. Explainthatinfo.com. â€Å"Cochabamba protest of 2000.† http://www.explainthat.info/co/cochabamba-protests-of-2000.html 4. Infosearchpoint.com. â€Å"Privatization.† http://www.infosearchpoint.com/display/Privatization 5. Watkins, Thayer. â€Å"San Jose State University Economics Department.† http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/bolivia.htm 6. World66. â€Å"History.† http://www.world66.com/southamerica/bolivia/history

Essay --

This statement can be applied across the field of women’s psychology. Throughout history, the same stories that are being told over and over again have omitted specific parts for certain reasons. There is a pattern of omission and it’s usually the perspectives that are controversial. The significance of this is that in the psychology of women specifically, women’s perspectives have been omitted from certain struggles that they face throughout history. Their voices aren’t deliberately shut out, but erased by ignorance. The two areas I want to discuss about erasure are violence against women and mothering. Violence against women is a serious topic and physical or sexual abuse against a woman can be life threatening. There is controversy, and questions always arise, when there’s a case of a woman being assaulted by a man. Who is to blame and why did this happen? Mothering is another topic that is controversial in the homeless community. There are mixed feelings about what actions should be taken in regards to the placement of homeless children and the status of the mother. Women’s voices are often erased from the media in regards to sexual violence against them. In the article that Crenshaw wrote about inequalities between white and black women, she states that when black women of lower social economic status are raped, there is a higher chance that the incident will not be reported as opposed to a white woman being raped. Also, the recovery stages are biased between the two. White administrators don’t understand the needs of black women after they have been raped; therefore, they don’t receive proper counseling services and may suffer from psychological harm. In relation to the statement of erasure, these specific... ...the ignorance. People need to be educated on how the system works or in this case, doesn’t work. These homeless mothers need to be interviewed through an unfiltered process and embraced to share their side of the story. For change to happen, these tales of humiliation and embarrassment need to be uncovered. In conclusion, the statement paints a picture with holes in it; holes that only can be seen by those affected by them. Women are the centerpiece for these issues. Their voices are being silenced, and the truth being omitted and manipulated to fit the needs of others. Women have been silenced about rape whether it is in the courtrooms or in the color of their skin. Homeless mothers are ostracized for their unfortunate circumstances and have no representation. Women play a key role in society to continue the fluidity of life. Let their voice be heard.

The Devastation of Agent Orange Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research P

Abstract: This paper exposes the social injustices to Americans and to Vietnamese resulting from spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam Conflict. American Vietnam Veterans and many Vietnamese citizens have struggled with the United States Government for due reparations from the devastation of Agent Orange that has shattered their lives. Veterans have demanded compensation for this injustice through lawsuits and government allocations while the Vietnamese want the United States to clean up their dioxin-contaminated land and waterways. The United States has denied responsibility and the battle continues as veterans and the Vietnamese challenge the United States to accept its wrongdoing. This paper provides the evidence that the US government knowingly sprayed innocent people without warning. Based on the treatment of US military personnel, this paper argues that a major international effort will be required to force the US Government to assist in responding to the Vietnamese cr isis. Background During Operation Ranch Hand the US Air Force sprayed approximately 18 million gallons of the herbicide and defoliant, Agent Orange, over South Vietnam from 1965 - 1970 (Moore 2000). Both US military bases and Vietnamese cities were sprayed in order to decrease the amount of foliage to prevent surprise attacks as well as to deprive the enemy of food, since much of the spraying was over agricultural land. Agent Orange is composed of equal parts of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5- trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) (Moore 2000). Agent Orange was also contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (dioxin) which is a byproduct of the manufacturing of 2,4,5-T (Moore 2000). Dioxin has been described as the "... ... Constable, Muneaki Matsuda, Vu Duc Thao and Amanda L. Piskac. "Recent Dioxin Contamination from Agent Orange in Residents of a Southern Vietnam city". Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Volume 43, Number 5. May 2001. pp. 433-443. Schector, Arnold, Marian Pavuk, John D. Constable, Le Cao Dai, and Olaf Papke. "A Follow-Up: High Level of Dioxin Contamination in Vietnamese from Agent Orange, Three Decades after the end of spraying". Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Volume 44, Number 5. March 2002. pp.218-220. Wilcox, Fred. Waiting for an Army to die. Seven Locks Press: Cabin John, MD. 1989. Winerip, Michael. "US Judge clears way for trial on Agent Orange". New York Times. May 18, 1983. Young, A.L. and G.M. Reggiani. Agent Orange and its associated dioxin: assessment of a controversy. Elsevier: Amsterdam. 1988.

Midterm Essay on Truth

Eli Tanenbaum Ms. Anderson English 3H, Set 4 22 January 2013 Midterm Essay Sometimes the truth has the ability to imprison one’s self; other times it can set one free. Either way, the truth is something that can decide one’s fate. Society often decides what is true and what is false; however, sometimes these truths are indeed a lie. In order to come to the realization that what was once perceived true is actually a lie, one must embark on a trek to discover the genuine truth.As evidenced by Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, and Billy Collins’ poem â€Å"Introduction to Poetry†, it is one’s responsibility to seek his or her own truth and therefore control his or her own destiny. Guy Montag lives in a society where the majority accepts a lie as the truth. Montag and others are taught to believe that books cause harm and desolation to the people around them, and should therefore be banned from society. Afte r his wife Mildred’s attempted suicide, Montag realizes that although people in his society are alive, they are not truly living.He assumes that in the absence of books, his society has become completely absent of emotion and he yearns to discover why. Through this journey, Montag encounters an old English professor by the name of Faber who explains that it is not books that Montag desires, but the important qualities that they teach instead. He learns that books allow people to obtain information, express emotion, and think freely. After uncovering the truth, Montag then decides that it is his destiny to restore these necessary qualities, and bring life to a seemingly dead society.The idea of witchcraft has consumed the minds of the people in the town of Salem, and while some decide to fall victim to the mind control of society, others attempt to remain truthful to their moral beliefs. As the accusations of witchcraft escalate, some people in Salem fail to seek the courage t hat it takes to remain truthful. These people decide to lie and avoid being hanged or imprisoned while the others who decide to tell the truth and become victims of a corrupt society.John proctor refuses to compromise his moral values and decides to speak the truth and thus deny any witchcraft activity. This decision ultimately determines Proctor’s fate and allows him to die an honest man. Proctor’s discovery that confessing to a perceived truth is of greater consequence than telling the actual truth allows Proctor to die with dignity and honor. Poem’s are unique in the way that there is no one true answer because poems contain ambiguous text that allows different people to take away different meanings.The truth or the meaning of a poem lies behind one’s individual interpretation and therefore it is each reader’s responsibility to discover it on his or her own rather than simply being told it. Discovering the truth behind a poem can be a painstakin g task but it can also be enjoyable. No matter the difficulty of the process, discovering one’s own truth is necessary and fulfilling. By realizing the meaning of a poem, the reader has the ability to take this meaning and apply it to his or her own life and learn the true importance of poetry.In the end, John Proctor, Guy Montag and all readers of poetry discover that the truth is a valuable entity that requires great responsibility. The truth is something that cannot only benefit oneself, but also the society in which he or she lives in. The truth has the ability to shed knowledge and joy, and should therefore be discovered by everyone. As a result, one should always take part in his or her own journey to discover the truth about the society in which he or she lives in; otherwise, one never knows if they are living a life of lies in which society has proclaimed to be true.

Are leaders born or made ? Essay

There is no doubt that leaders develop their leadership skills through life learning experiences, training, coaching, mentoring and hardworking. Some people believe that leaders are born naturally intelligent, visionary, charismatic and able to articulate a plan and rally their teams around it. Yet there are others who says that leaders are both born and made naturally intelligent and extroverted people, enhanced with education, training and experience. We often hear the proverb â€Å"Born to lead†, but it does not mean that leaders are born only but not made, because to be a leader you must first be a follower, true leaders do not walk in the front, they simply follow the rest. Nature may have some influence on who a person becomes. It is the upbringing of a person which either makes him leader or a follower. I think leaders are born as well as are made, because one may have the ability to lead but not the experience and skills to be a leader and skills develop through the life learning experiences. We have many examples of born leaders as well as made leaders. Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Martin Luther King were few of the leaders who make their way to be a leader through their dedication, hard work, experience, intelligence, qualities and skills. Then, there are some born leaders like Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H), Jesus, and Prophet Noah are few chosen leaders who lead people of their generation as well as still leading the generations of today. I think it all depends how one perceive about a leader, for me it does not matter that leader are made or born, what matters the most is how leaders develop their skills through their experiences and leadership is a lifetime learning activity. You are never done because there is always more to learn. There are always skills you need to improve.