Introduction and Purpose Statement Essay

Introduction and Purpose Statement Defined In this week’s assigment, I am turning my attention to article B, to evaluate the introduction and purpose statement. The authors reporting on a qualitative study use the introduction to provide the audience with a narrative to introduce the topic, to identify that the topic is well-established, beginning with the general problem, then focusing on a specific problem and its consequences (Creswell, 2009; Harley, Buckworth, Katz, Willis, Odoms-Young & Heaney, 2007; Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). The authors additionally use the introduction to justify the importance of the problem associated with the topic, identify discrepancies in literature, and conclude with the purpose of the study. The introduction is an important aspect of a journal article, because it not only provides background information, and allows the authors to describe the problem by exploring a specific phenomenon or concept, but it also provides how the study will provide remedies or solutions, and adds to the existing knowledge base (Creswell, 2009; Laureate Education, Inc., 2009; Harley et al., 2007). The introduction concludes with the purpose statement, which establishes the direction of the research, orients readers to the main intent of the study, and what the researchers hope to accomplish (Creswell, 2009). Qualitative research uses the purpose statement to focus on and advance a single phenomenon by exploring relationships or by drawing comparisons among ideas using neutral language. In addition, it demonstrates inquiry strategies for data collection, analysis, and research processes, identifies the participants, and the site at which the research takes place (Creswell, 2009). In the following paragraphs, the introduction and purpose statement elements of the McGrath & Pistrang (2007) article are examined and evaluated, along with some of the nine purposes for research from as described by Newman, Ridenour, Newman & DeMarco (2003). Evaluation of the Introduction of Article B (McGrath & Pistrang (2007) McGrath & Pistrang (2007) begin to introduce the topic of interest in their abstract, by mentioning what the study examined, defining who the participants were, the location where the study took place, data collection methodology, three dimensions of qualitative data collection and analysis, and the issue involved in the topic. As described by Creswell (2009), Dr. Patton (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009), and Harley et al. (2007), the authors begin to justify the study in the first paragraph of the introduction by citing that the topic is a well-established concern, and mention a specific cultural and sub-cultural population, by mentioning that the study took place in the U. K, and involves youth and staff at homeless hostels. McGrath & Pistrang (2007) explore the past extent of the problem, along with how it has changed in recent times, giving statistics outlining the extent of the problem. The authors then identify past research that has identified youths at homeless hostels as being at greater risk for social, emotional, and physical problems to a much greater extent than other people in the same age group. The authors narrow the problem by asserting that homeless youth living in hostels lack of supportive social networks to help improve their experiences, and address the difficulties associated with defining whether their problems are causes or consequences of being homeless youths. McGrath & Pistrang (2007) maintain that previous authors recommended that hostels hire older staff to establish or offer youth surrogate parent relationships, and address a specific discrepancy as failure to expand on how the relationship would work, offering no theoretical model for programs to follow for working with homeless youth. Furthermore, they examine specific staff helper elements of warmth, empathy, and acceptance as important issues to address, which contribute to the quality of the relationship between hostel workers and homeless youth. The authors define the relationship between homeless youth and hostel workers as the broad investigation and aim of the study, the areas and aspects of the hostels, the range of time youth spend at hostels, and the types of support youth and staff required so that the programs are beneficial. They indicate that staff members often have little training or education regarding their role, or how to effectively work with, and support the needs of homeless youth. Their introduction concludes by describing the purpose statement and research methodology, described next. Research Purposes as Described by Newman et al. (2003) Newman et al. (2003) describe nine elements, which may be included in the purpose statement. Adding to the existing knowledge base, the impact on a personal, social, and organizational level, understanding complex phenomena, generating new ideas, informing constituencies, and examining the past all seem to be relatively important features in the McGrath & Pistrang (2007) article. The authors are attempting to add to the existing knowledge base by describing the aim of the study as examining the experiences and elements involved in the relationship between residents and hostel workers, based upon the perceptions of the residents. They provide the direction of the study, by indicating why it was qualitative, which justifies the research. McGrath & Pistrang (2007) mention using a phenomenological approach, which is used to enlighten the audience to the specific issue of the nature of the relationship between homeless youth and hostel workers. They identify the phenomena as having three helping or supportive elements of warmth, empathy, and acceptance on behalf of the staff, based upon the perceptions of the residents. Therefore, they are including the impact of these elements on the residents on a personal, social, and organizational level to explain the complexities involved in the phenomena, and to inform constituencies (Newman et al., 2003). McGrath & Pistrang (2007) examine the past in order to interpret and reinterpret findings, examine discrepancies and consistencies, and examine social and historical origins of the current social issue. The authors accomplish this by mentioning that there has been little research focusing on the psychological issues related to the experiences of homeless individuals, and the need to study the issue in a social context. Their phenomenological method of inquiry justifies the aim of the study, which was to obtain accounts of the experiences of the homeless youth, and the emotional, empathetic, and acceptance levels of staff to improve upon services, as to make programs more beneficial. The three dimensions of emotional, empathetic, and acceptance levels of hostel staff generate new ideas, helped the researchers form the hypothesis and theory, and to describe and define relationships, along with culture and sub-culture. For example, the authors define the relationship between residents and hostel workers on the three dimensions, and they describe the U. K. as a specific general culture, and the sub-cultures as the homeless youth and hostel workers as the participants of the study. The two sub-cultures exist within  the larger cultural population, as homeless youth living in two different types of hostels, and the work sub-culture described as the uneducated or undertrained staff members at the two types of hostels (McGrath & Pistrang, 2007). The general culture, along with the two sub-cultures are used in order to describe why the specific methodology of interviewing residents was utilized, further justifying why they conducted the research, the studies aim, and strategies for improving conditions. In conclusion, there is a great deal more to say about the McGrath & Pistrang (2007) article, but overall, I found many of the key elements included in the introduction, described by Dr. Patton (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009), Creswell (2009), and Harley et al. (2009). I was also able to identify several of the nine features of the purpose statement, as proposed by Newman et al. (2003), found in the way that McGrath & Pistrang (2007) addressed the purpose of the study. Examining and evaluating the writing of these authors gave me an opportunity to gain a much greater understanding of the key elements and concepts regarding the nature and importance of the introduction and purpose statements. References Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Harley, A. E., Buckworth, J., Katz, M. L., Willis, S. K., Odoms-Young, & Heaney, C. A. (2007). Developing long-term physical activity participation: A grounded theory study with African American women. Health Education & Behavior, doi:10.1177/1090198107306434 Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Purposes of Research. Baltimore: Author. McGrath, L., & Pistrang, N. (2007). Policeman or friend? Dilemmas in working with homeless young people in the United Kingdom. Journal of Social Issues, 63(3), 589-606. doi 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00525.x Newman, I., Ridenour, C. S., Newman, C., & DeMarco, G. M. P. (2003). A typology of research purposes and its relationship to mixed methods. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 167-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Imposing the Affirmative Action

â€Å"Affirmative action was originally designed to help minorities, but women-especially white women-have made the greatest gains as a result of these programs†(Gross, 1996). Affirmative action is a growing argument among our society. It is multifaceted and very often defined vaguely. Many people define affirmative action as the ability to strive for equality and inclusiveness. Others might see it as a quote-based system for different minority groups. I agree and support affirmative actions in that Individuals should be treated equally. I feel affirmative action, as an assurance that the best qualified person will receive the job. Is affirmative action fair? In 1974, a woman named Rose was turned down for a supervisory job in favor of a male. She was told that she was the most qualified person, but the position was going to be filled by a man, because he had a family to support. Five years before that, when Rose was about to fill an entry-level position in banking, a personnel officer outlined the woman†s pay scale, which was $25 to $50 month less than what men were being paid for the same position. Rose was furious because she felt This was discriminating to her. She confronted the personnel officer and he saw nothing wrong with it. Thanks to affirmative action today things like these situations are becoming more rare and/or corrected more quickly. Affirmative action has definitely helped women and minorities in their careers, but it has yet to succeed in the goal of equality to the fullest for the business world to women and minorities. Some observers argue that women have made huge strides! With the help of affirmative action. They now hold 40 percent of all corporate middle-management jobs, and the number of women-owned businesses has grown by 57 percent since 1982†³(Blackwood, 1995). â€Å"Affirmative action was designed to give qualified minorities a chance to compete on equal footing with Whites† (Chappell, 1995). Equal opportunities for the blacks, for the most part, have remained more wishful thinking than fact. Black students are continuing to struggle to seek an education, black business owners are still competing against their White counterparts, and black workers are experiencing an unemployment rate twice that of Whites and hold dead-end, labor-intensive, low-paying jobs. â€Å"Few can argue that racism is still rampant in awarding jobs and educational opportunities, even though it†s been proven beneficial to have people of different races with different ideas and different experiences working toward the same goal† (Chappell, 1995). The employment outlook for minorities is grim, but not hopeless. We definitely need affirmative action to overcome the disparities of employment that exist in his country. A recent Urban Benchmarks† study found that of 71 metro areas surveyed nationwide, Pittsburgh had the highest rate of employment-related problems among non-Hispanic whites between the ages of 25 and 54 and the sixth highest rate among African Americans in the same age group. We have a lot of problems with basic education here and if you don†t have basic education, you have no chance of getting a good job because competition is increasing for everyone. We must make sure that we educate our potential work force, including minorities, or our competitive edge, if we have one, will continue to decline in global markets. Many jobs today are in the technician and technologist area. â€Å"Jobs require more than a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree–such as an associate degree or certificate from a vocational or trade school† (Kovatch, 1996). As more and more women faced discrimination in large firms, more decided to strike out on their own. In conclusion, most Americans know that the deck is stacked against poor kids. They also realize that, because of past discrimination, an extraordinary number of those facing unequal opportunities are black. So, while 75 percent of Americans oppose racial preferences, according to a 1995 Washington Post/ABC poll, two-thirds with to â€Å"change† affirmative action programs rather than â€Å"do away with them entirely†. But the public also realized that, in real life, the legacy of discrimination is not always so neat. It is diffuse, and it requires a broader remedy. Imposing the Affirmative Action â€Å"Affirmative action was originally designed to help minorities, but women-especially white women-have made the greatest gains as a result of these programs†(Gross, 1996). Affirmative action is a growing argument among our society. It is multifaceted and very often defined vaguely. Many people define affirmative action as the ability to strive for equality and inclusiveness. Others might see it as a quote-based system for different minority groups. I agree and support affirmative actions in that Individuals should be treated equally. I feel affirmative action, as an assurance that the best qualified person will receive the job. Is affirmative action fair? In 1974, a woman named Rose was turned down for a supervisory job in favor of a male. She was told that she was the most qualified person, but the position was going to be filled by a man, because he had a family to support. Five years before that, when Rose was about to fill an entry-level position in banking, a personnel officer outlined the woman†s pay scale, which was $25 to $50 month less than what men were being paid for the same position. Rose was furious because she felt This was discriminating to her. She confronted the personnel officer and he saw nothing wrong with it. Thanks to affirmative action today things like these situations are becoming more rare and/or corrected more quickly. Affirmative action has definitely helped women and minorities in their careers, but it has yet to succeed in the goal of equality to the fullest for the business world to women and minorities. Some observers argue that women have made huge strides! With the help of affirmative action. They now hold 40 percent of all corporate middle-management jobs, and the number of women-owned businesses has grown by 57 percent since 1982†³(Blackwood, 1995). â€Å"Affirmative action was designed to give qualified minorities a chance to compete on equal footing with Whites† (Chappell, 1995). Equal opportunities for the blacks, for the most part, have remained more wishful thinking than fact. Black students are continuing to struggle to seek an education, black business owners are still competing against their White counterparts, and black workers are experiencing an unemployment rate twice that of Whites and hold dead-end, labor-intensive, low-paying jobs. â€Å"Few can argue that racism is still rampant in awarding jobs and educational opportunities, even though it†s been proven beneficial to have people of different races with different ideas and different experiences working toward the same goal† (Chappell, 1995). The employment outlook for minorities is grim, but not hopeless. We definitely need affirmative action to overcome the disparities of employment that exist in his country. A recent Urban Benchmarks† study found that of 71 metro areas surveyed nationwide, Pittsburgh had the highest rate of employment-related problems among non-Hispanic whites between the ages of 25 and 54 and the sixth highest rate among African Americans in the same age group. We have a lot of problems with basic education here and if you don†t have basic education, you have no chance of getting a good job because competition is increasing for everyone. We must make sure that we educate our potential work force, including minorities, or our competitive edge, if we have one, will continue to decline in global markets. Many jobs today are in the technician and technologist area. â€Å"Jobs require more than a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree–such as an associate degree or certificate from a vocational or trade school† (Kovatch, 1996). As more and more women faced discrimination in large firms, more decided to strike out on their own. In conclusion, most Americans know that the deck is stacked against poor kids. They also realize that, because of past discrimination, an extraordinary number of those facing unequal opportunities are black. So, while 75 percent of Americans oppose racial preferences, according to a 1995 Washington Post/ABC poll, two-thirds with to â€Å"change† affirmative action programs rather than â€Å"do away with them entirely†. But the public also realized that, in real life, the legacy of discrimination is not always so neat. It is diffuse, and it requires a broader remedy.

Farewell my concubine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Farewell my concubine - Essay Example The two boys Shitou and Douzi are handed over by their parents to live in a strict training school for the opera in Beijing. The regime there is very harsh, and the boys are trained to perform very stylized roles which require heavy makeup and rigid types of characterization. Douzi is chosen to perform female characters, which involves him training his voice to sound like a woman, and repeating a very significant line which states that he is a girl by nature and not a boy. He has difficulty getting the words out, and repeatedly stumbles over that line, saying that he is a boy and not a girl. He is beaten and punished for this mistake, and the violence of his teacher is a way of showing how forceful communism came to be. The repressive era of the Cultural Revolution in the period between 1966 and 1976 forced people to conform to a rigid moral and social code of behavior, and punished people who resisted by beating them or banishing them to distant places, or even prisons. The training of the boys and the effect it had upon them is a kind of metaphor for the way that China suffered under the Cultural Revolution. The film shows how the two boys grow up to identify with people who are outcasts and oppressed.

Analysis of a television, online or radio talk show argument Essay

Analysis of a television, online or radio talk show argument - Essay Example The main argument of the pro-group is that the issue of same sex marriage has been tarnished by lies and black propaganda. The opposite camp responds with a religious nuance—God only allowed a marital union between opposite sex, and it is a sin to do otherwise. There are three components of argumentation—the claim, the support, and the warrant. The claim is the argumentation’s component that responds to the issues. A claim can be categorized into three: claims of policy, claims of value, and claims of fact (Phillips & Bostian 239). The claim of policy is a form of claim that stresses the enforcement of a specific policy thinking that the specific policy will be able to resolve a specific issue. In this talk show, the claim of policy is a policy supporting same sex marriage, like that in California. According to the pro-camp, policies guaranteeing the rights of homosexuals are ought to be constitutionally justifiable for they safeguard human equality. On the other hand, the anti-camp believes that such policies will only further undermine the already threatened institution of marriage. The claim of fact is the form of claim that emphasizes that a particular situation has confirmed to have existed, remains existent, or will continue to exist. The claim of the pro-camp is that discrimination against gays and lesbians has existed, still existing, and will continue to exist if the right to marry is denied to them. On the other hand, the claim of value is the form of assertion that is regarded as an effort to show that a specific issue is less favorable or more favorable than the others. The anti-camp claims that it is immoral or a sin to allow same sex marriage. They refer to the Bible or religious teachings to support this claim. The support of both the pro- and anti-camp is strong. The pro-camp uses legal, scientific, and practical evidence, whereas the anti-camp uses religious, cultural, and societal values. Lastly, the warrant

Understanding Customers and Competitors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Understanding Customers and Competitors - Essay Example Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 along with economic slowdown, the Iraq war and SARS, the aviation industry has suffered a deep slump, particularly in flag airlines. Yet it raises opportunities for the low-fare carrier segment, such as Ryanair that is a rising star in the skies of Europe, having been performing well post 9/11. The aim of this report is to analyse the overall performance of Ryanair in the fast-changing environment, and then few recommendations will be provided. Conclusions will be drawn at the end of this report. Irish-owned Ryanair, founded in 1985, began to introduce a low cost operating model in the early 1990s. The company primarily serves short-haul, point-to-point routes that target business commuters and leisure travellers by offering low, multi-tier fare pricing and sngle-classs air transportation. Having overtaken EasyJet, Ryanair is now the largest low-cost carrier in Europe In January 2000. (Doganis, 2001) The company offers approximately 475 scheduled flights per day serving 84 locations in 14 EU countries. The worldwide commercial aviation has suffered from terrorist attacks of 9/11. The tragedy dramatically decreases the number of passengers and pushed Airline industry facing deterioration in their financial positions. Similarly, impact of SARS and Iraq War reduce willingness of people to travel outside their countries. (Graeme, 2005, Siobhan, 2004) Since 1997, the European market has been completely deregulated. For example, any airlines holding a valid Air Operators Certificate in the EU have right to operate on any route within the European Union, including flights wholly operating within another country. On May 1st 2004, ten new members joined the EU as part of EU enlargement. The era of single European sky related to Open-Sky Treaty, allowing point-to-point service between any EU countries is approaching and airline companies will benefit from consolidation; on the other hand, they

American History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

American History - Assignment Example The subsequent American Revolution saw the emergence of the new and proud country, confident of carving an area for themselves, which eventually resulted in the formation of the United States of America. This rightful fight against oppression and the subsequent and successful expansion across geographical areas in North America became ordained as a part of ‘manifest destiny’ was first coined by journalist John O’Sullivan in 1839. According to him, â€Å"It is so destined, because the principle upon which a nation is organized fixes its destiny, and that of equality is perfect, is universal. It presides in all the operations of the physical world, and it is also the conscious law of the soul -- the self-evident dictates of morality, which accurately defines the duty of man to man, and consequently mans rights as man† (O’Sullivan). Sullivan’s words actually provided a justification and even motivation for the expansion based on principles of â⠂¬Ëœduty of man to man’ that it sort of became a divine right to encroach upon and conquer areas that did not adhere to this principle. In the words, it formed the right to take control of any territory and allow people who believed in freedom to populace it. But, from the words of Owsley and Smith, this divine right had degraded to the extent of ‘might is right’ as seen in subsequent events. According to the authors, â€Å"the natural right of expansion, however, unquestionably lay in the power to conquer. What ultimately made expansion not only possible but apparently inevitable was not some transcendent destiny but rather the absence of a powerful neighbor to check its progress† (Owsley and Smith, 1997, p.10). It is true that the United States has become a powerful and unified entity as a nation due to this concept. The failure of Soviet Union as a unified nation, and the embracing by China, capitalistic principles, have proved that the policy of freedo m of individuals

Air Force Careers and Benefits in Military Aviation of Canada Essay

Air Force Careers and Benefits in Military Aviation of Canada - Essay Example The air force also supports the Canadian interests in the foreign lands outside North America. This includes providing support to the organizations like UN, NATO and also other contingency operations where air force involvement is necessary. The military organization also provides assistance on humanitarian gronds to the other countries. Now the basic research question that remains is whether the military aviation of Canada and America should operate together or not. In the national level the military organization (Air Force) assists other government bodies in enforcing the Canadian law and regulation and also provides a national level air search and most importantly plays a big part in the rescue operations. Being one of the major military unit in North America as it is, the air force of Canada influences the domestic and international operations of the government in a huge way. For that reason when an individual gets into the system he or she has to undergo rigorous training schedu le. The primary training is the trade and technical training where the individual is informed about the technical complexities of the operations and gradually they get well acquainted with the technical details.

Evaluating Fictive-Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluating Fictive-Narrative - Essay Example He effectively illustrated that the abstract understanding is enhanced when studying the physical object. John was greatly fascinated with nature and science from a very early age. His father was a scientist in the area of Surgery, thus he occasionally communicated with John on issues concerning general science. The literature explains that John used to observe the activities of small living organisms such as the insects that are commonly found on the tree barks. He developed curiosity on how the insects manage to hatch or come forth from the dung. During childhood, John developed keen interest in the bodies of dead animals like the pigs. He wanted to observe the pig more closely to satisfy his curiosity. They obtained the dead animals from the slaughterhouse, before they are taken by the butchers or meat suppliers. During analysis of the dead animals, he used several procedures and equipments. He used the knife to slice the carcass, and then remove the intriguing organs such as the liver, lungs and heart. He observed that the features and characteristics of the hearts varied, from one animal to another. His father taught him great lessons in natural science and surgery through practical procedures, more so the animal dissection techniques. The father explained that the surgical procedures conducted on animals, was very similar to procedures conducted on human beings. The father taught him the general functioning of the body organs. The esophagus is the channel that the food follows, so as to make blood. The food enters the stomach, then liver and also the heart. The heart pumps the blood to other body parts or organs through the phlebes. Aristotle was taught by his father that blood is the main source of nourishment to the body. Therefore, John illustrated adequate capabilities of being a natural scientist. John was effectively guided in his medical training by the medical school lecturers, instructors and

Controversy over space exploration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Controversy over space exploration - Essay Example The major question amongst others is; has space exploration done anything to enhance life, or is it just another dormant and potential investment, which will benefit the generations to come? It is easy for anyone to develop criticism of an issue that the person would not like to participate in, or which the person finds more demanding to warrant the effort. However, there is constructive criticism that emanates from genuine concerns, over some tangible analysis and considerations, which then sparks a controversial debate. Space exploration is one such subject, which has raised controversy as a result of the genuine concerns by individuals and organizations alike, as well as some government institutions, over its real value (Adhikari, n.p.). Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze different arguments that have been put forward in favor of, or against space exploration, with the aim of arriving at an informed conclusion, regarding whether space exploration is worth the resources de dicated to it, or such resources need to be channeled to other critical areas of social concern. According to The EUROCONSULT, "World government's space program expenditures was at a historical high, of more than $62 billion in 2008" (Kotyakov, n.p.). The share of the USA spending in this, which is of course the largest, amounts to $16 billion, and more is still being pumped into the space exploration projects. However, the major question that such enormous spending raises is, are there other critical social problems facing humanity that could have been solved using the same money? Should the answer to this question be affirmative, then another question that comes to the fore is; which issue, between space exploration and the critical social problems is dear to humanity? Considering that there are millions of people who die of hunger and starvation in different parts of the world, and considering that many other millions are succumbing to other terminal illnesses such as cancer and HIV, then we are left to ask ourselves, if the money spent on space exploration was spent in research to develop cure for such diseases, could the world have been a better place by now? (United States, Congress, 10). The answer to all these questions can be found in the arguments that have been put forwards either in support or against funding space exploration. While both sides of the arguments are weighty and worth considering, there must be one guiding principle; alleviation of human suffering, which then should override all the other considerations. Space exploration is a major source of inspiration for technology advancement (Launius, 58). Additionally, many children have drawn a lot of inspiration from the space exploration projects and the audacity of the space explorers, thus inspiring them to do even more greater things, that has resulted to numerous achievements and benefits to humanity. Space exploration agencies throughout the world, and especially in USA and Europe, for ms the cream of the elite in the society (Kotyakov, n.p.). Therefore, many children have been inspired by such agencies and those who work with them, to become different other things, through believing that anything can be achieved. There are some moments in the history of the world that will just

Problems and Prospects of Global Governance Regime in Migration Essay

Problems and Prospects of Global Governance Regime in Migration - Essay Example The paper tells that the usage of the term global governance is quite complex. In modern international relations, the policy as well as the academic origins of the term merged substantially. It has been noted that the definition of the term global governance, the degree of governance, what it controls and how, tend not to be explicit in the increasing literature on the subject. Global governance has been created in response to the evolution of trans-boundary issues. There are numerous issues which tend to be trans-boundary to an extent since the characteristic of the problem is one that goes beyond the borders and thus cannot be dealt with by a single state acting in remoteness. A few of the significant trans-boundary issues are climate alteration, transmissible diseases, international trade, terrorism and transitional crime. States have tried to create forms of institutionalised international cooperation in order to address the problems. Globalisation, because of rising trans-bounda ry interconnectivity, has developed a growing requirement for governance that goes beyond the nation-state. The requirement for global governance is related with globalisation and the need to state cross-border spill-overs as well as externalities. However, one of the modern expressions of globalisation has been international migration. By its definition, it is considered as a trans-boundary problem which is not possible for the states to address individually. It has not been successful at creating a rational, multilateral global governance framework. (Dito, 2000). Global migration governance is based upon variety of formal as well as informal institutions which operate at numerous levels of governance. It is worthy of noticing the fact that the institutions that control states’ responses to human trafficking as well as smuggling are not alike the states that tend to monitor responses to skilled labour migration. In each class of migration, there is multifaceted range of regi onal, inter-regional, and bilateral agreements with distinct level of governance possessing greater significance with regards to certain categories of migration in comparison to others (Dito, 2000). Migration Defined Internationally According to the United Nations’ (UN) suggestions in the data related to international migration, an international migrant is someone who alters his or her home country. When a person does this for at least one year, then such person is known as long-term migrant. On the other hand, a short-term migrant is someone who tends to alter his or her country and moves to another country for a time frame of as a minimum three months, however below a year, except in cases where the movement to that particular country is for recreation, business, visiting friends and relatives or religious pilgrimage. The characteristics of the duration measures the period of the

Historical Accuracy of Gone with the Wind Essay Example for Free

Historical Accuracy of Gone with the Wind Essay In the decades following the civil war, many factors altered the American city. As urbanization and industrialization developed simultaneously, cities were provided with supply of labor for factories and improved transportation. Commercial farming, followed by a shift in population of people relocating from rural areas to more modern cities greatly influenced the evolution of the America city. As well as a significant increase in immigration to the states, these are the most prominent factors influencing the development of the American city. A number of improvements in urbanization and industrialization made the growth of cities possible. Cities gave way to streetcar cities because people had little choice but to live in walking distances. By the 1890s, both horse-drawn cars and cable cars were being replaced by electric trolleys, elevated railroads and subways, which could transport people to urban residence. These improvements in urban transportation made it possible for more people to immigrate into the cities making it even bigger. As cities expanded outward, they also soared upward, since increasing land values in the central business district dictated the construction. Skyscrapers had replaced church spires as the dominant feature of American urban skylines and the buildings mostly had electric lights for commercial purposes. Urbanization and industrialization greatly changed the American city to what it is today. Commercial farming greatly impacted the development of the American city towards the end of the nineteenth century. The need for a massive number of farmhands diminished over time, and forced a majority of people living in rural areas of the states to more modern cities to seek work opportunities. This offered more jobs to be available for the newly arrivals, and in turn shaped how the cities operated. Commercial farmers also contained the ability to raise a single cash crop for the single purpose to make profit. This greatly improved the economy of cities across America. Commercial farming had a prominent change on the American city. As immigration to the states increased to the more modern cities, the cities changed significantly. New immigrants greatly increased the population of these cities, forcing them to expand. The growth of American metropolis was magnificent. In 1860, no city in the United States could boast one million inhabitants. But by 1900, New York held about 3.5 million citizens. A growing immigrant population to meet the increased need for workers led to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions within urban areas. Immigrants also developed ethnic neighborhoods that helped to change the character of the American city. Immigration played an important part into the change of the American city. Many key factors played roles into the evolution of the American cities across the nation. The most prominent of these were the era of urbanization and industrialization, commercial farmers bringing a rich economy to the city life, and newly arriving immigrants forcing the American cities to thrive. All of these factors shaped cities across the states to what they became today.

The Marginalisation of Women in Animation Roles

The Marginalisation of Women in Animation Roles The relationship between modes of production, and individual practice in women’s independent animation. Feminist film critics such as Laura Mulvey have suggested that classical film narration has always had a male perspective and positioned the viewer as male. Her 1975 essay â€Å"Cinema Visual Pleasure and Narrative, is a key work in feminist film theory and a turning point in the understanding of the representation of women in film and animation. She highlighted the lack of female filmmakers, writers and protagonists in Hollywood films. She contends that a female voice is sorely absent from mainstream cinema. Thus the depictions of women and the female identity in film are always a male interpretation. Further more she suggests that the language of film itself is masculine. The essay asserts claims that classical film narration assumes that the audience is male through objectifying female subjects within the frame. She contests that a position of power is almost always given to the male subject through a series of looks. The male characters are in possession of the ‘look,’ while the females are looked at. They are often objectified by focusing on specific parts of the anatomy. The woman is thereby idealised and sexualised into a male fantasy or marginalized into a stereotype or narrative function. This marginalisation of women is evident in Animation from the same period with figures such as Minnie Mouse, who dutifully played house wife to Mickey. The overtly sexual, (and disturbingly child-like,) Betty Boop. Or the extremely curvaceous Red Hot Riding Hood, who was a prototype for Jessica Rabbit. The identification of this imbalance provoked an immediate reaction to address it. â€Å"At this point the main demand was to replace on female role model by another, stronger and more independent. Or to find images of women that were realistic and relevant to women’s real life experience.† (Mulvey, 1978, p204) After WW2 16mm equipment that had been used to make newsreels, became available cheaply, and progress in sound technology in the sixties made synchronised sound recording much easier. The end result was to give people outside the commercial arena the ability to make films. This independent scene emerged at a highly politicised time and gave people the opportunity to make politicised films which addressed issues of the time such as the women’s movement. Not only feminist filmmakers emerged, but feminist readings of unconsciously feminist art. As Sharon Couzin’s definition demonstrates, the defining parameters are very broad. â€Å"Feminist art is which acknowledges that difference of being a women – i.e. what it is to be a woman – and then integrates that consciousness into the art.† (Law, 1997, p 67) Mulvey points to the avant-garde as genre through which feminist filmmakers and animators could express their concerns free from classical Hollywood representation. In her own words; â€Å"the avant-garde poses certain questions which consciously confront traditional practice, often with a political motivation, working on ways to alter modes of representation and expectations in consumption.† (Mulvey, 1978, p200) By breaking away from traditional and accepted systems of narration, the audience is forced to decipher the meaning of the films from the films aesthetics and semiotic signifiers, thus foregrounding the films intended message in the minds of the spectators. Animation has a lot in common with the avant-garde in as much as it is a largely abstract form of representation and expression. That is that unlike live action cinematography, which tends towards mimesis (the desire to accurately reproduce the ‘real’ world,) animation is usually concerned with the suggestion of concepts and the representation of ideas. The processes of animation allow Mulvey’s concerns to be addressed directly. The flexibility of the medium for using different drawing styles, colour schemes, animation techniques lend animation an immense imaginative potential that is only limited by the imaginations of the animators themselves. Animators can use these techniques to challenge dominant modes of narration and aesthetic expression. Secondly animation has been described as an auteurist medium. The vast degree of collaboration necessary to make a photographic film is greatly reduced in an animated medium. Indeed it is possible for animators to create completely individually and in doing so, create art with an entirely subjective perspective and articulate feminist concerns unfettered. A fine example of both these principles in action is Karen Watson’s Daddy’s Little Piece of Dresden China. In the film Watson marries scratch animation, line drawings, collage and puppetry to tell a deeply subjective story about domestic abuse. The different puppets are made from different materials to symbolise their characters. The father is metallic with a razor blade mouth and glass head. He is drunk, cold, dangerous and extremely harmful. The mother is made of a wooden spoon and dried flowers; this shows her domestic role and her bygone fertility. The daughter is bandaged and has a china head. She is damaged, though not yet broken but extremely delicate. The use of puppets removes the spectator from full identification with the characters, leaving them to quietly ruminate on the effects of domestic abuse on real people. Although the film is essentially one extremely powerful account of one woman’s own unspeakable domestic problems, the use of collage places the events in a wider social context and makes the spectator wonder about the greater extent of such problems. Alison de Vere’s film The Black Dog is devoid of any dialogue, and is entirely reliant on aesthetic symbolism and visual narration. The flexibility of the medium allows visual shifts in landscape which invite comparisons with stream-of-consciousness narration. The spectator is invited to come along with the protagonist’s through the wilderness on a journey of spiritual death and rebirth. Her walk through the desolate wilderness is apparently ended when an oasis appears in the form of the complex fata, a small complex comprising of boutique, a club and a restaurant. In the boutique she is dressed and adorned to make her ‘beautiful’ before going to the club. It is her where she becomes the object of desire for a room full of lecherous men. She catches sight of her self in a mirror, and decides to reject her designated engendered role, and false identity of seductress within the microcosm of the complex. At this point she finds that the price she pays for leaving of staying is her brain, her heart and her hands. The implication is that a woman must betray her own intelligence, desires and abilities to conform to the engendered roles that society expects of her. Death becomes a recurring motif of the complex such as the butchering of animals in the kitchens; the use of animal furs in the boutique; and drunken brawls that escalate into murder in the night club. All these images paint a portrait of a brutal and uncaring society and also serve as a visual motif that matches the protagonists fall from innocence and brief loss of individual identity. She flees the complex by diving into a river and being rescued by the eponymous Black Dog. The imagery here suggests a loss of innocence and an attempt of cleansing through water. The malleability of the medium is often explored through metamorphosis of characters of objects from one thing to another. In his book Understanding Animation (1998) Paul Wells argues that the use of metamorphosis is a ‘particular device which is unique to the animated form, and some would argue is the constituent core of animation itself.’ (Wells, 1998, p69) However computer animation techniques have been blended with ‘real’ footage to achieve the same effect in ‘live-action’ cinema, blurring the distinction between the two art forms. Meaning is derived from the fluid change of one form to another in the same way that Eisenstein creates meaning from editing one photographed image with another. ‘Metamorphosis also legitimizes the process of connecting apparently unrelated images, forging original relationships between lines, objects, and disrupting established notions of classical story-telling.’ (Wells, 1998, p69) It is a way of connecting abstract ideas into a narrative form. Joanna Quinn’s films Girls Night Out and Body Beautiful use metamorphosis to directly confront the issue of the sexualized female aesthetic, and reclaim the female form as something to be appreciated in all shapes and sizes. However it does so by using the method within the confines of a traditional narrative structure. The protagonist of both films is a large, working class woman called Beryl, who is completely at odds with the Betty Boop and Red Hot Riding Hood figures. Quinn uses line drawings with immense kinetic energy. The lines are dynamic allowing them to fluidly change shape. The fluid movement of the lines of Beryl’s body extenuates her generous curves, and the wobble of her breasts is particularly prominent as an expression of femininity. In this way her shape and size are celebrated through the animation process. In contrast her husband is completely static, bored, uninterested and uninteresting, a completely unsympathetic character. In Body Beautiful the dynamic lines are used to completely morph Beryl’s shape into symbolic expressions of her subjective experience. These metamorphoses are determined by her own perception of her self. When looking at the models in a fashion magazine she disappears into thin air, as a representation of her marginalization. She does not conform to societies given values of female beauty and as such feels negated. In a scene where Vince is commenting on her appearance she transforms into a pig. She is publicly humiliated and made to feel ashamed of herself, and as such reluctantly accepts the ‘fat pig’ mantle that is forced upon her. The film resolves itself with Beryl learning to appreciate her own figure on her own terms, during a rap song she lists a multitude of body types and transforms into them one by one. She rejects all of them and literally steps out of them as an affirmation of her own femininity. Beryl is representing all the women who do not have the perfect hour-glass figure and as such she is a figure to be identified with as opposed to one who is objectified. She is a celebration of the female body as opposed to a fetishist examination. She is desexualised as a male fantasy of female perfection, but re-sexualised in terms of her gender and defined by her feminine figure. In contrast to Joanna Quinn’s kinetic line, Candy Guard uses a simple, economical and direct aesthetic style in her animated films such as Wishful Thinking and What about me? In both these films two women ask each other questions about their, own appearance, but are never satisfied by the answers they are given and continue to worry and obsess over the matter, to the point of near torture. The figures themselves are comprised of a handful of black lines, they are largely shapeless and aesthetically at least, virtually androgynous. The characters are identified as female through voice and dialogue. In the mouth of Bernard manning jokes about women worrying about clothes or hair may come across as sexist, offensive and dismissive of women. But Guard is showing us how these women are torturing themselves in their attempts to conform to the modes of conduct and appearance that society enforces upon them. The women themselves are complicit in their own torture by their attempts to conform to preset notions of beauty. They never challenge the expectations put upon them and as such they are doomed to forever be enslaved by their own attempts to conform. Guard breaks from narrative tradition by having no resolution to her films. The women of the film will continue to worry about their appearance, just as the female spectators of the film have felt pressure to look their best. It is here where the realism lost aesthetically is regained, as the realism resonates emotionally. The uber-simplistic 2d line drawing style is also thematically fitting, by attempting to conform to societies given notions of female beauty the women are caricaturing themselves. The films discussed in detail here all offer different perspectives on issues of female identity, and engendered roles within society but they all â€Å"explore, through their use of imagery, the existence of the female form as something that is malleable and whose femaleness can be enhanced or reduced. They illustrate that femininity, as it is traditionally represented, something that can be put on and taken off at will.† (Furniss, 1978, p243) This demonstrates that despite differences in subjective experience all the animators discussed were expressing the need to break away from the rigid definitions enforced by classical film narration. We can see clearly that the various modes of practice available to animators have allowed female practitioners a platform on which to address feminist concerns of cinematic representation, as well as commenting upon the lager problems facing women within a modern patriarchal society. Paul Wells has neatly summarized the properties of Animation that have made it an ideal medium with which to redress the balance. â€Å"Animation has the capability of rendering the body in a way which blurs traditional notions of gender, species and indigenous identity further complicating debates concerning the primary political agendas of men and women, and enabling revisionist readings which use the ambivalence and ambiguity of the animated form to support the view that traditional orthodoxies in society itself must be necessarily challenged.† (Wells, 1998, p188) Of course an all encompassing feminist definition of ‘women’s experience’ or femininity is impossible and any attempt to do so is every bit as false as the fantasy representation offered by classical Hollywood. As Maureen Furniss explains in her own theories on representation. â€Å"One can argue that the media is dominated by images representing the priorities of a white male culture, but how does one go about depicting an alternative? How does one define ‘women’s experience’? And, even if it were possible to come up with a definition, could it encompass the realities of women across the world?† (Furniss, 1998 p 243) What these animators have been able to do is break the masculine bias of film narration and spectatorship, and contribute to the woman’s movement by creating a feminine aesthetic based upon individual subjective experience as opposed to tired patriarchal stereotypes. Bibliography Furniss, Maureen. Isuues of Representation(Chapter 12), in: Art in Motion. Animation Aesthetics. London: John Libbey, 1998, pgs.231-249 Law, Sandra. Putting Themselves in the Pictures. Images of Women in the Work of Joanna Quinn, Candy Guard and Alison De Vere, in: Pilling, Jayne(ed.) A Reader in Animation Studies. London: John Libbey, 1997, pgs. 49-70 Mulvey, Laura: â€Å"Cinema Visual Pleasure and Narrative† 1975 in Penley, C. Feminisim and film theory. London: BFI 1988, pgs, 57-68. Mulvey, Laura: Film, Feminism and the Avant-Garde, in OPray Michael. The British AvantGarde Film 1926-1995. Luton: Luton University John Libbey Press, pgs. 199-21 Wells, Paul. Understanding Animation. London: Routledge, 1998. Films Black Dog, The. (Alison de Vere, 1987) Body Beautiful. (Joanna Quinn, 1989) Daddy’s little bit of Dresden China (Karen Watson, 1987) Girls Night Out (Joanna Quinn, 1986) Red hot riding hood (Tex Avery, 1943) What about me? (Candy Guard) Whishful Thinking (Candy Guard) Who framed Roger Rabit? (Robert Zemeckis, 1989)

Western Style Fast Food In China

Western Style Fast Food In China In this section, we first apply Five Forces model to investigate all kinds of competition facing western fast food industry in China which contains competition between western fast food enterprises and Chinese fast food enterprises. The markets of tableware and beverage are both competitive, and the purchasing rate of raw materials is relatively low compared with other materials, therefore these suppliers are poor at capability of pricing. As for other raw materials like chicken and potatoes and so on, since that the prices of agricultural products have been rising in recent years, suppliers of these materials gain more power on pricing. (2)Competitors: the other western fast food brands in China are McDonalds and so on. All these brands enjoy their own reputation, and are operated in chain. The food and service they offer are of high quality. Particularly, they all expect huge potentials in fast food industry in China, so they are willing to invest larger amount money opening more restaurants in China. Therefore the competition between them tends to be more intensive in the future. (3)Consumers: at present, if one Chinese consumer is willing to buy western fast food it means that he (or she) has already accepted the price. Generally, the bargaining power of one single consumer in western fast food industry is weak. But it does not hold for those group consumers. For now, most western fast food enterprises focus on discrete consumer, and if they want to occupy a fraction of group consumers market, They should also apply flexible pricing strategies and enhance their bargaining power with consumers. (4)Substitution: in recent years, more and more Chinese begin to pay attention on diet health, which promotes the development of Chinese fast food. The reasonable price and rich varieties of Chinese fast food has press the expansion of western fast food in China. (5)Potential entrants: relatively speaking, the entry barriers of western fast food are high. Because these western fast food requires large funds input, great brands reputation, economies of scale and so on. But we should also predict that with capability of investing strengthened and management improved for Chinese enterprises, they probably enter western fast food market and enjoy great success in it. Through Five Forces mode we can find that western fast food industry in China is still of great profitable potential, and the competition between western fast food enterprises and Chinese fast food enterprises will intensify, which implies that both of western fast food enterprises and Chinese fast food enterprises should cultivate their own competitiveness 4.2Brief introduction about KFC in China As one of the most popular western style fast food brands, KFC(Kentucky Fried Chicken) belongs to the worlds largest food group -Yum food group . This largest food group includes about 30,000 KFC Dining-room, pizza hut and TacoBell restaurants which are distributed in more than 100 countries and regions of the world. On November12, 1987, KFC entered into Beijing, which is the capital city of China. After that, more KFC chain restaurants have been established in more cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen etc. And even people who live in those small towns can also have the access to western style fast food. Until now, there are about two thousand one hundred KFC chain stores distributed around almost hour hundred and fifty cities except Tibet. KFC has been the largest fast food chain restaurant in China at the greatest speed of expansion(www.kfc.com.cn). 4.3 Core competitiveness of KFC in China During over twenty years development in China, KFC has been always and constantly integrated and taken advantage of limited resources and capability in China, and have gradually cultivated its unique abilities during the business operation, which are not easily imitated by its rivals but also could bring it extra profits. Abilities like that are named core competitiveness of KFC by our researchers. This kind of competitiveness can make one or several business operations are of first rate in the world or of greater advantages over its competitors(Aaker,1989). (1) Standardization of management. The research by KFC on their standardization management is amazing. In order to ensure that people around the whole world can enjoy the food of exactly same taste, KFC investigated in detail into every single processing program to obtain corresponding quantitative standard. There is no doubt that standardization is KFCs core knowledge competitive ability(Stephen,1992). (2). Localization. KFCs franchise mode is quite special, with unique Chinese characteristics. Its not starting from zero joining way is acceptable by those Chinese investors. In addition, KFC applied material resources integration into its management. From the very day when it entered into China, KFC has been determined to provide food which is right for Chinese taste. For now, KFC purchase the raw material fully from local providers. (3). Great brand power. These days, the internet is highly developed and information is commonly shared by people around the world, which makes it a good way to publicize KFCs brand more easily and efficiently. Based on parent companys terrific and strong brand reputation, KFC in China are as well known by almost each household, even for those who have not been to KFC. (4). Reasonable Location of restaurant. Same as McDonalds location, every time, KFC restaurants location is successful. No wonder that these two famous and popular western style fast food restaurants are usually located besides each other. 4.4 Competitive strategy of KFC in China Enterprises usually choose those strategies which can bring them competitive advantages. According to Potter theory(Porte,1997), ones competitive advantage is either from less cost than competitors or from obvious differentiations from its rivals. So competitive strategies include the following three types: cost leadership strategy, the differentiation strategy and centralization strategy. If enterprises through their innovative design, technical potential ability or outstanding brand image and so on seek to provide different products, unique services, this strategy is called differentiation strategy which is based on a broader market comparing with centralization strategy (Prahalad, Hamel,1990). Here, we highlight the differentiation strategy as it is the major and most important strategy not only for KFC but also for other successful western style fast food restaurants such as McDonalds. By its definition, it means that according to their own product positioning, one develops its o wn new products and establishes its competitive strategies in terms of supplier management strategy, brand strategy, talent strategy and so on. (1) Product strategy: product localization. On KFCs menu, there are some main varieties which not only in China, and even around the world are standardized and unified. But, in aspect of product innovation and uniqueness, KFC spares no effort to meet the different needs of customers in China. Since the mid 1990s, it was determined to build KFC as an influent brand which fulfills Chinese demands. To ensure the execution of this thinking and working direction, In 2000, KFC sincerely invited 40 national food nutrition experts to establish the Chinese KFC health consulting committee(www.kfc.com.cn). In 2004, due to KFC products innovation and localization strategy, it broke the boundaries between the western style fast food and traditional Chinese fast food, resulting in more new consumer market. At present, of more than 30 new products in Chinas regional market launched by KFC, at least half of them are of the Chinese characteristic. Some varieties even hit the consumer market since they learned from eight famous Chinese cuisines . For those products aiming at Chinese people , such as fresh vegetarian soup, cold rice, corn salad, old Beijing chicken and etc enjoy a wide popularity among people for its deep Chinese flavor. On summer of 2004, Guangdong province, the traditional old cool tea named WangLaoji, which is a traditional drink brand originated from Guangdong province, formally appeared on KFCs counter. This is the first time for KFC to introduce completely and directly traditional Chinese product into its food menu rather than indirectly improve these traditional food. Besides the deepening of localization strategies, KFC is now studying on consumers preferences within a region, in order to promote the regional localization strategy in the future. It has been over 20 years since KFC entered China. Now, KFC ranks first in fast food industry in China, largely owing to its localization strategy. In the Chinese market, KFC launches 1.5 new products per month averagely, and the turnover from KFC in China a lready is the powerful and main support for the headquarters profits. (2)Target strategies: focusing on families For fast food industry, the most commonly used method for target market positioning is to divide the consumer market based on demographic factors. Other factors such as region factors, customer psychological factors and customer consumption behavior factors are less taken into account(Emerson,1990). Of demographic factors, western fast food industry mainly considers age as market positioning variables. KFCs target markets are families, which mainly include consumption of young people and young parents with their children(Gould,2002). Dining environment aims at providing family reunion, warm dinner atmosphere. And because of its product diversification and the localization of taste, KFC managed to attract more people of all ages, particularly, with elders included. A few years ago, KFC launched the family meal, which is quite enough for a whole family to eat. In addition, being different from McDonalds publicity and dynamic advertising, or inviting stars to join the advertisement, the feature of the image of KFC is its simplicity and implicative style, the warmth and love. (3)Brand image strategy: localization With more attention is paid to brand image individuation by the enterprises, KFC in China have paid more attention to Chinese consumers psychology. Not only the information into life they would like to spread, but also the concept change for China to make a new fast food. In each brand image details, KFC is characterized by obvious Chinese culture features. KFC restaurants in China use a new mark and adornment concept. Not only a very smart appearance, all visual elements like dining-room design, advertising, food packaging, staff uniforms, public goods have been armed with new visual marks. Even the KFC grandpa also changed into traditional Chinese costumes on Chinese traditional festivals. By doing this, KFC publicized its brand and marketing. Since people like to focus on changes or fresh things, while invariable things easily cause visual fatigue, failing stimulating people sensory and becoming the focusing centre naturally. Hence, from the strategic height, KFC sent signals of c hanging to the media as well as consumers. KFC successfully made itself the social attention centre by gathering the public attentions, eventually smoothly spread its brand strategy and tactics to the public. SuJingShi, China regional President of Yum KFC once said: Since the entry into China in 1987, KFC has always been able to insist on the concept of Chinese brand building, and devote every effort to make it. Under this localization concept, the distance between KFC and Chinese customers is continuously getting closer. Building Chinese brand means putting Chinese flavour into its brand building. In this way, it will definitely leave a more obvious trace of localization. (4)Talent strategy: localization. KFCs talent localization, not only embodies in grass-roots employees, but more importantly, in the high-level management. From the first store in China until now, KFCs talent localization strategy have never been changed and even enhanced. KFC cultivate and promote and use local talents, giving full play to their comparative advantages due to their more familiarity with policy environment and local market features. At present, KFC has employed eight general managers from Mainland Chinas total managers who are responsible sixteen markets in China respectively. Those senior management personnel who are directly responsible for the operation of restaurant such as operation manager, regional manager and Hall manager are recruited locally. Those local management personnel can better understand the local demand, master the local consumer psychology and consumption habits, quickly discover local market growth point, more accurately grasp the market pulse and timely make strategic adjustment (Caudron,1991), which helps KFC to win out competing against others. In order to better implement talent localization strategy, KFC creatively put forward the framework with great Chinese characteristics of double departments: the operation department, HR and training department. This framework has a nickname two HR departments. ChenYaqing, the operating training senior manager of Yum China introduced: the case that a special independent department is established from human resource training operations department is not common in the world. The importance of the Chinese market determines the necessity to do so. We can see from this the great determination of talent strategy of KFC. (5)Supplier management strategy: humanization KFCs raw materials are all provided by local enterprises, so KFCs rapid development also stimulates the development of various related raw material supply industries in China. Currently, about 95% of food and packing materials are provided by suppliers in China. Based on principle of common interests, KFC introduces local suppliers brand new management concepts and advanced technologies, and offers them active training programs and generous help especially for those suppliers who are sometimes in difficulty. Through this, KFC has formed strategic partners with local suppliers in China. Firstly, expanding the scale of the domestic suppliers. KFC took active measures to make its twenty five domestic suppliers who are distributed in the twenty seven cities and regions are now the most outstanding in industry. For example, Zhucheng Foreign Trade Corporation in Shandong province, being in relationship with KFC for more than five years has become the largest county foreign trade corporatio n. Secondly, localization of overseas suppliers. KFC has been actively encouraging foreign suppliers to enter into China to establish local factories. For the past few years, KFC have succeed in promoting seventeen products localization which originally have to be imported from overseas suppliers. KFC Continuously integrated suppliers around itself, and established a strategic cooperation partnership with them. The attitude KFC treated with suppliers reflected the humanistic concern and Chinese characters. 5. S.W.O.T analysis of Chinese fast food enterprises Taking KFC as a typical example of western style fast food enterprises, we have showed the competitiveness and competitive strategies they adopt. To compete successfully against with them, what strategies should our Chinese fast food enterprise adopt? To answer this question, an S.W.O.T analysis may be effective. And when it comes to analysis on external opportunities and threatens, we could also apply PEST analysis. 5.1 External Opportunities (O) 5.1.1 Economical factors: (1) Economy of China grows at high rate. Since the policy of Reform and Opening-up in 1978, Chinas government has constantly taken economic development as the center, persisting in Reform and Opening up. For a recent decade, Chinas economy increased at an average rate over 10%.(www.stats.gov.cn) Even during the Southeast Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 and financial crisis recently, under the impact of world economic shock , Chinas economic performance is the best among the world. (1)Industry has a huge potential for development. Although with peoples living standards improving, the proportion of the third industrys output to GDP is increasing, but compared with the western developed countries, China is still low in proportion of the third industry to GDP. While the third industry is a good way to increase employment, social wealth as well as peoples effective living standard, so there must be a huge potential for development of third industry in China. As part of the third industry, the output of the fast food industry in China has increased at average rate of 16%, even during bad times like the Southeast Asian Financial Crisis, it enjoyed the rate over 16% (www.stats.gov.cn). In fact, the national bureau of statistics in China considered the fast food industry as one of the industries with the greatest economic growth, which revealed that the fast food in China would become a promising industry in the future. 5.1.2 Political factors: (1)Great policy support. In order to support Chinas fast growth, in march of 1997, Foreign Trade Department in China issued à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  the Chain Stores Operating Normsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹, later à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Development Program of Fast Food Industry in Chinaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹in September of 1997, and à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  The Commercial Franchising Management Measuresà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹(for trial implementation) in November of 1997. All these documents pointed out the guiding principles, development target, the main task, organization in the implementation and measures. (2) Political stability The good investment environment, huge market and abundant tourism resources, attracted a large number of investors and tourists, thus making fast food become a indispensable need for businessman, tourists and other people who are occupied by outdoors activities. (4)Chinas entering into WTO promotes development of fast food industry. Firstly, the fast food industrys raw material costs would decline and the quality would be improved. According to the agreements between China and American, China would open part of its grain market after entering into WTO. China would import 30million tons grain with high-quality, accounting for about 6% of Chinas whole grain market. These imported grain included One thousand tons of wheat, seven hundred tons corn six hundreds tons of rice, five hundred tons of soybean meal, four hundred tons of soybean and three hundred and thirty tons of soybean oil, meanwhile some special breeds of certain fruit and meat .Because of the low price and good quality of import products, this will push domestic enterprises to reduce costs and improve quality. Secondly, it is helpful to expand the use of foreign capital and improve manufacturing processing equipments technological level. According the principle of national treatment, foreign investors will be treated as same as Chinese domestic enterprises. Further more, the Chinas legal policies are becoming more transparent, it is easier for foreign investors to well predict market risk and profit condition. We have great confidence that foreign investors will invest in fast food industry. This can solve domestic capital insufficient contradiction, also can improve food Industry processing technology and management level, to produce scientific and modern Chinese food. Thirdly, it is advantageous for Chinas fast food enterprises to compete in the international market. Under the framework of WTO, each members of WTO reduce tariff rate and eliminate barriers, and open services trade market. Our domestic fast food enterprises can enjoy national treatment, which helps to create opportunities for them to walk towards the world. Chinese food, especially the various cuisines, enjoy high reputation and consumers big welcome. If the traditional crafts with modern scientific technology can be perfectly combined, with good quality and reasonable price, Chinese fast food will be bound to succeed In the international market. Fourthly, it is helpful to accelerate the strategic reorganization of Chinese fast food enterprises. The large restaurant brand enterprise groups, with the establishment of fair market competition system, the competition among domestic fast food enterprises and between domestic fast food enterprises and foreign ones will tend to be more intense. After that, however, some large restaurant brand enterprise group, with the appropriate scale and regional across, will be formed. 5.1.3 Social factors: Although more young people love to enjoy western style fast food, most of adults still prefer Chinese fast food. It is no doubt that in the future, people will definitely pay more attention on diet health. And since Chinese people are rooted on their profound diet culture, it is not easy for them to shift away from tradition. Moreover, this advantages over western style fast food can be enhanced as long as Chinese fast food enterprises develop suitable strategies to assure the quality, tastes, service as well as to improve the management. 5.1.4 Technological factors: In fact, a great of the success of western style fast food should attributed to technological progress which also do good to Chinese fast food enterprises. Owing to more advanced and sophisticated cooking equipments, it costs less time to provide and offer Chinese food. Additionally, the cooking process can be divided into small pieces and each piece can be controlled, which ensures the finest quality of food and make standardization feasible. 5.2 External Threatens (T) (1) Fast expansion of western style fast food in China. In 1987 on November 12, the first KFC restaurant was established in Beijing .about 20years later in 2007, the chain stores of Yum KFC group in China has amounted about two thousand and one hundred. During the period of time , McDonalds, pizza hut, Japanese, Italian pizza all entered into China In succession, in order to share the huge Chinese consumption .not only did these western style fast food occupied consumption market, they also changed gradually the diet concept of Chinese people. (2) The competitive advantages of western style fast food enterprises are strengthened. Based on competition principles of fairness, openness, justification, the foreign enterprises in China usually implement localization strategy to reduce the cost. In China, however, there are many and serious defects in talent incentive mechanism and income distribution system, so the foreign enterprises with good training mechanism, and competitive compensation And scientific personnel management mode, will attract large quantities of outstanding management and professional talents. Until the end of 2000, the total KFC staff in China is 2.4 million, of them, More than 5,000 members are restaurants managers or function managers. During the early period time after KFCs entering in to China, the raw materials were fully imported abroad. But nowadays, being fully provided locally, resulting in KFCs operating costs further reduced, the competitive advantages further strengthen. (3) Competition between industries is intense. In the past, hotels and restaurants confined their consumption market to people with median or high income level. Because this market has been saturated, now the restaurants shift their attentions to a broader need of the public. Usually, in order to attract more consumers, the restaurants nowadays provide the food at a very reasonable price. Further more, to satisfy different tastes of different kinds of consumers, more varieties and flavors of food have been developed. More and more restaurants begin to operate their business in a chain and systematic way, which lowers the operation costs quite a lot. (4) A large number of potential entrants From the perspective of investment capital, the general financing volume is not very high. According to the à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Chinese Fast Food Industry Research Reportà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹, to invest one fast food store, the minimum investment capital requires 100 thousand Yuan, and the maximum investment capital is 1million Yuan. Usually, the former which need a smaller volume money are Chinese fast food chain enterprises, while the latter which need a larger volume of money tend to be western fast food chain enterprises. Investment above includes training fee and decoration expenses and so on. From the view of technology, the technologic barriers of fast food industry are not very high neither. From the view of the market situation, diet is an important competent of social activities for people and also serves as a main way for intercourse among people. Especially, the long history of thousands of years of the diet culture determines that the consumption market of fast food industry is huge. Factors like high return on investment, stable consumption market make fast food industry the investing hot, with a large number of investors in. (5) Diet culture changing. Over the world, it is impossible that the food demand structure of one country keep invariant, without being influenced by foreign food culture. This even applies to countries like China, France and Italy which all have a proud diet culture. It is inevitable that new varieties of food and cooking methods from other countries or regions will affect another nation food demand structure(Shone, Nobuhiro, Kaiser, 2000). The more open of one nation, the easier the food demand structure of itself tends to be affected by foreign food culture. Not only have Western fast Food culture promoted the development of Chinese fast food, but also have cultivated a certain group who have a preference for western fast food(Jussaume,2001). Since the youth are the target consumption market for KFC, the youth are mostly affected by western fast food culture. They think of eating western style fast food as a new and fashionable life style rather than simply satisfying their appetites. 5.3 Internal Strength (S) (1) A large number of varieties There are a large number of Chinese fast food varieties such as rice, noodles, dumplings, pancakes and so on, which are characterized by traditional national characteristics. It is rather difficulty for western fast food restaurants to offer such rich varieties of food. The diet culture with the history of five thousand years impresses every Chinese profound influence, which is the greatest advantage over western style fast food. (2) Flavours of diversification Due to Chinas vast territory and 56 ethnic groups in different regions, consumers in different regions have different diet habits. Even within the same region, the tastes vary across individuals. Although Western style fast food restaurants make some adjustment on tastes in different countries to satisfy the local taste, generally, the tastes of their food have not changed a lot for their slogan tastes the same over the world. (3) Moderate price China is still a developing country, in 2001, disposable income of urban residents per capita is 6860 Yuan. Price is still the major considering factor when they are planning to consume. The cost of western-style food consumption per capita each time is between 20yuan to 50yuan, which is still on the high side for general consumers. According to the statistical analysis, the average cost of Chinese fast food per capita each time is about 10yuan which is the consumption level that most Chinese people can reach. As a matter of fact, these people are the main consumption of fast food industry. (4) Loyal customers It is the cultural features of food consumption that assures the Chinese fast food enterprises stable and loyal customers. Food consumption is not only a mean which satisfies people the most basic physiological needs, but also cultural features by which a nation is distinguished from other nations. Whether you are one of the elders who are deeply rooted by prominent feature and traditional culture or of new trend-spotting generation, and whether you are one of the rich who pursuit life quality or of the low-income receivers who are mainly contented with physiological needs. As long as you are born in China, the diet culture is rather hard to change. Although other cultural features, such as the consumption idea, clothing, lifestyle is actually changing with the further development of Globalization, modernization. The Local feature makes the entry of the foreign enterprise into Chinese market more difficult than the entry into markets like financial market, insurance market, Consultin g and other services industry market. Compared with the enterprises into China, Chinese fast food enterprises have a objective advantage namely customer loyalty. 5.4 Internal Weakness (W) (1)The poor sanitary conditions in restaurants and instability of food quality The sanitary conditions of fast food industry is directly related to the health of customers. They are reflected in three aspects: sanitary conditions of the production of food processing, sanitary conditions of tableware and dinnerware and sanitary conditions of dining restaurant environment. The sanitary situation of most fast food enterprises in our country health situation is worrying, even if Equipped with the disinfection equipment according relevant regulations, the procedure of disinfection is often omitted when there are not enough dish plates. Chef and Staff are very in cleanliness, especially during summer. Such terrible sanitary conditions discouraged many customers from dining. KFC especially emphasis on internal cleansing, the company set rules about how to check the stores cleanliness. Items like food quality, cooking, cooking time and temperature and so on have to be evaluated by the following assessment: quality, service, health and value .the scores of the four asse ssments would decide whether you are eligible to join to apply for new stores. Chinese fast food restaurants are lack of quantitative criteria, because the chef cooks by his or her experience. It is difficult to guarantee quality of uniform standards, and food quality is not showing a great deal of stability, which has a negative effect on the inheritance of the traditional cooking and Chinese fast food track of modernization. Western-style fast food enterprises use advanced production equipment and technology, and strictly control the food-processing time, temperature, taste, which can prevent the food from the impact of human factors to ensure the quality stability. (3)Being Slow to provide food Summary of the main features of fast food is to provide catering services in the shortest possible time(Jekanowski, Binkley ,2001), thereby saving consumers time. For fast food enterprises, if they can not increase the service speed, it means that they are probably to lose their customers and market. It is estimated that the waiting time of Chinese fast food enterprises customers is a period of 15 minutes for 10, while KFCs is less than two minutes. (4) Marketing concepts left behind Food products include three parts: a core product to meet the appetite; the form of products of a delicious food, excellent environment, clean utensils; extension product of a satisfactory service. Chinese fast food enterprises are in the pursuit of foods colour, Smell and taste too much, and ignore the image of the restaurant, service norms, the waiting time, cleanliness of environment and extension of the form of products(Liu,2003). Therefore the overall product does not meet consumers expectations, resulting in failure in competition with Western-style fast food. The Chinese fast food enterprises are poor at brand awareness, people are more familiar with KFC an

The Lotus And The Nile :: Botany

The Lotus And The Nile The blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) belongs to the Nymphaeaceae (Water-Lily) family. The blue lotus has several common names including: Egyptian lotus, blue water lily, and sacred lily of the Nile. It should not be confused with the "blue lily" or Agapanthus africanus, a plant of an entirely different genus (Anonymous, 1999). Be careful also not to confuse it with the Nymphaea lotus, which is the "white lotus". Fossils of this plant have been dated back to the Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago. Amazingly, the fossils suggest that the blue lotus has not changed much. Other records indicate wide dispersal of this flower before the Ice Age (Edwards, 1998). It is important to first explain a few things about the nature of the blue lotus. The blue lotus or water-lily, is a floating aquatic plant that is known for it's colorful and aromatic flowers. The leaves are waxy, leathery and dark green with a reddish-purple color underneath (Edwards, 1998). The genus Nymphaea includes both tropical and hardy (cold-tolerant) species. There are also night-bloomers and day-bloomers. The tropical day- bloomers are the lotus that was used by the Egyptians (Edwards, 1998). The flowers of many species of lotus have the shocking habit of folding their petals and sinking beneath the water's surface during the night and resurfacing the next day to bloom again (Philbrick and Les, 1996). Many ancient cultures found the blue lotus to be of great use and of esteemed status. In Asia and Africa, the blue lotus symbolized immortality in recognition of the plant's ability to survive and resprout after long droughts, and the seed's ability to remain viable for many years (Edwards, 1998). In China it was regarded as a religious symbol, and a symbol of feminine beauty. Similarly in India, it was compared with the human female form, and in their legends they believe that Brahma, their creator of the universe, sprang from a lotus-like blossom (Edwards, 1998). The Japanese saw a representation of purity and the juxtaposition of good and evil, and the Buddhist's have a prayer mentioning the lotus, "Omi! Mani padme hum!" which is interpreted as, "Oh!, the jewel in the lotus flower!" (Edwards, 1998). The Greeks also admired the blue lotus. They associated the flowers with the mythical nymphs and beautiful maidens thought to inhabit the forests and mountains (Edwards, 1998). The people of Ancient Egypt (Kemet), used the blue lotus extensively in their art and in their everyday uses.

Misery and the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Essay -- The Great G

"No— Gatsby turned out all right in the end. It is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men." When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote these words in The Great Gatsby in 1925, he perfectly described the human struggle of the time. This was, by no means, accidental--for Fitzgerald wrote meticulously and very rarely did he leave a line unrevised. No— Fitzgerald knew what he was doing; he was, in two sentences, criticizing American society like no one else had. Oh!, and what that "foul dust" turned out to be: the foundation of our morality, our greatest aspiration and our heaviest of fetters, the American Dream. It is this ideal--which our society seems to have internalized--that renders all humans, not just Americans, miserable and empty. What makes The Great Gatsby the greatest American novel is not the lyrical, charming, and rapturous nature of Fitzgerald's prose style; no-- it is its tenacity, the courage of Fitzgerald to stare look America in the eyes and tell her that she is wrong, that she leads a meaningless life, that she must abandon her innate instincts in order to b e truly happy. It is this honesty, as is epitomized in Nick, that makes Gatsby such an amazing statement and such an enduring work of art. It is impossible to analyze The Great Gatsby without paying close attention to the context in which it was written. The Great Gatsby was written in between World War I and The Great Depression. The former created by an appetite for power and the latter created by an appetite for pleasure. It was this unappeasable appetite for pleasure that The Great Gatsby criticizes. Jay Gatsby is the greatest vi... ...te in protest, he was a rebel and criticized American society with tenacity. Gatsby was a miserable man. He is in despair, his love is fleeting him and he cannot find happiness without Daisy; he is condemned to be miserable-- all dreamers are. Gatsby criticizes materialism. Gatsby has known Melancholy for too long perhaps, to make himself happy. There is no stronger image in my mind than that of Gatsby walking around New York City, trying to find purpose, trying to find a new way to live, an alternate route toward happiness. Gatsby does not want to "be a root in the dark" but he cannot convince himself that he will be happy. Gatsby's aspirations are too idealistic for him to ever be happy, for him to rid his existence of misery. Gatsby, until he is satisfied, will walk around his existence utterly miserable; his mind will never romp the Earth like the mind of God.

The Steam Engine :: essays research papers fc

â€Å"In the never-ending search for energy sources, the invention of the steam engine changed the face of the earth.† (Siegel, Preface) The steam engine was the principal power source during the British Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The steam engine opened a whole new world to everyone. The steam engine maximized production, efficiency, reliability, minimized time, the amount of labor, and the usage of animals. The steam engine in all revolutionized the Eastern Hemisphere, mainly European society. What does revolutionize actually mean? It means that something such as the steam engine brought about a radical change in something, and this something is the European Society. The steam engine specifically brought about a radical change in work, transportation of goods, and travel. The invention of the steam engine revolutionized European society by enabling tasks to be done quicker, cheaper, and more dependably. The steam engine use throughout the several professions revolutionized numerous aspects of Western European Society. The first important use of the steam engine came in 1776. The steam engine was used to show the Cornish miners how successful it could be in removing the water from the mineshafts. This proved to be of great importance to the Cornish, because one of their biggest problems was the flooding of the mining shafts. (The Penetration of the Industry by Steam Power) The mine owners â€Å"worried†¦that the mines would have to be shut down unless water could be pumped out of the shafts.† â€Å"The engine successfully raised water from the bottom of deep mines.† (Siegel, 17) This saved the shutting down of the mines, which were essential to further the economy. Not only did the steam engine save the mines, it provided a method of mining that proved to be extremely quicker than the traditional techniques. One of the biggest incomes for the British was found in t heir textile industry. In the textile industry, the domestic system presented many problems for merchants. They had difficulty regulating standards of workmanship and maintaining schedules for completing work. Workers sometimes sold some of the yarn or cloth in their own profit. As the demand in cloth increased, merchants often had to compete with one another for the limited amount of workers available in manufacturing, which increased merchants’ costs. As a result, merchants turned increasingly to machinery, which was powered by the steam engine, for greater production and also turned to factories for central control over their workers.

Currant Legislation for Home Based Childcare Essay

LawI would like to provide you with the following up to date legislation impacting on home-based childcare to ensure that your children are provided with the best possible care whilst with me. Sex Discrimination Act (1975) This Act states that all children are not discriminated against on the grounds of their sex and such discrimination is eliminated. It promotes equal opportunities between children no matter of their sex. Race Relation Act (1975) Amended 2000 This Act states that all children are not discriminated against their race and ensure early years providers work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination and promote equal opportunities between children of different racial groups. Education Act (1981) This Act became law in 1983 and tried to provide adequate safeguards, rights and duties for all those concerned with the education of children with special educational needs and to ensure these children’s rights to be integrated into the life and work of the community. It also recognised parents’ rights regarding their children’s education. Public Health (Control of Disease) Act (1984) and Health Protection Agency Act (2004) All these legislations are focused on protecting people’s health, covering notification and exclusion periods for certain infectious diseases. Exclusions for children include exclusion from schools, places of entertainment or assembly. Education Reform Act (1988) The National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary state schools following the Education Reform Act 1988. Children Act (1989) This is the basis of the current child protection system in England and Wales and was introduced to consolidate and clarify previous legislation. It established the principle that a child’s welfare is paramount in any decisions made about their upbringing. It states that every effort should be made to preserve a child’s home and family links and also introduced the notion of parental responsibility. It details how local authorities and courts should act in order to protect the welfare of children. Education Act (1993) This Act is an education measure with the aim of making important changes to the education system in England and Wales. It has various chapters which give details on the responsibility for education, addressing children with special educational needs, setting out the requirements of school attendance and providing details in regard to admissions and exclusions. It also gives parents the right to ask for their child, which is under 2 years of age, to be formally assessed. Code of Practice for the identification and assessment of Children with Special Educational Needs (1994 revised 2001) This Code of Practice provides practical advice to educational settings, including Early Years settings, on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children’s special educational needs. Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulation (RIDDOR) (1995). Major injuries, which include fractures other than to fingers, thumbs or toes, amputation, dislocation, loss of sight (temporary or permanent) * Accidents resulting in over 3 day injure * Notifiable diseases * Dangerous occurrences * Gas incidents Food Safety & General Food Hygiene Regulation (1995) This Act is not currently applicable to registered childminders but acquiring a basic Food Hygiene Certificate is considered good practice. Food should be prepared and provided in a hygienic way. Safety controls are in place, maintained and reviewed. Food safety hazards are identifies by doing risk assessments and implementing appropriate solutions. Family Law Act (1996) This Act sets out guidance on safeguarding and promoting the child’s welfare. Disability Discrimination Act (1995) This Act states that it is illegal to treat disabled person less favourably than a non-disabled person. Settings are required to make reasonable adjustments to prevent disabled people being discriminated. Education Act (1997) This Act incorporates all previous Acts since 1944. It recognise the rights of parents regarding their children’s education and set a time frame on the legal process for identifying and assessing a child’s needs as set out in the Code of Practice. Code of Practice for First Aid (1997) The Code of Practice sets out standard practice and guidance for trained first aiders and gives tailored advice to show different people in industry what they need to do to meet their legal responsibilities for health and safety. Human Rights Act (1998) The Act incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Children are covered by this legislation although not specifically mentioned. Protection of Children Act (1998) The Act states that the Secretary of State shall keep a list of individuals who are considered unsuitable to work with children. Data Protection Act (1998) It relates to information held about an individual. This includes medical records, social services files, facts and opinions about an individual. Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight principles of good practice. T This Act introduced the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), a statutory framework that sets the standards for learning, development and care of children in the period between child’s birth and their fifth birthday. It is designed to ensure that children receive a good start in life and build a solid foundation to prepare them for school and life. The revised EYFS is effective from September 2013. Safeguarding in Child’s Welfare (15th April 2013) This guidance sets out how organizations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and how practitioners should conduct the assessment of children.