An Analysis of Social Construction as seen in Ibsens, A Dolls House free essay sample

An in-depth discussion on social construction with reference to Ibsens play. In this paper the author takes an in-depth look at social construction. After examining the definition of social construction the author discusses it in relation to romantic love, with particular reference to Ibsens, Nora. The author considers the actions and events in The Dolls House and what they tell us about the link between society and inner self. The paper concludes with a look at other metaphors within the play that also tell us something about social construction and finally focuses on the overall message that Ibsen sends throughout the play. From the paper: society gives us meaning of not only society, but also of ourselves, that our beliefs are a product of what we learn from society, and that through interacting with society we can change our perceptions.

The Therapy of Human Touch essays

The Therapy of Human Touch essays There is a contest going on between conventional and alternative methods of treating sicknesses. Conventional or traditional medicine relies on pills and other forms of mechanical intrusion into the ailing body. Alternative or holistic medicine aims at restoring the ailing bodys balance by filling up its depleted energy field. Opponents have come up with views of the Healing Touch method as mere superstition, which cannot be outwardly proved. But it continues to gather advocates among the public. The Healing or Therapeutic Touch is a method, which is believed to help restore the natural healing processes of the body by redirecting and re-balancing the bodys natural energy fields (Bruno 1999). Its purpose is to reduce pin an anxiety, promote relaxation and stimulate the bodys natural healing processes. It is considered the modern version of the ancient laying off of the hands, found in the Bible, Eastern philosophy, ancient Greek mythology, and Native American myth. It was developed and given the name by Dolores Krieger, a nursing professor at the New York University in 1972 (Bruno). The method does not necessarily require massage or body work (Bruno 1999). The practitioners hands are usually an inch away from the patients body and move or hover around it, feeling or reworking on it. The method draws from the Eastern concept that, like all things, body has a life-energy field, which extends from it. If a person is healthy, his energy flows freely and is in a balanced state. But if he is physically or psychologically ill, the energy is blocked and his energy becomes imbalanced and depleted. Practitioners say that they can tune in on the patients energy field and feel its state with their hands. They can then manipulate this invisible energy field and make it smooth by transmitting new energy into it from their own through their hands (Bruno). A typical session star...

Enterprise Finance Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Enterprise Finance - Coursework Example These shares are exceptionally risky. The advantages of ordinary shares are: 1) If there are good profits, dividends are paid at a higher rate. 2) Share value goes up in the stock market, increases profits. 3) Shares can be straightforwardly sold in the stock market. 4) Shareholders have a say in company management. 5) Capital raised by issuing of shares is not required to be paid back during company lifetime. 6) Regarding payment of dividends on shares the company is not liable. The demerits of ordinary shares are: 1) Uncertainty in dividend payment, shareholders get bonuses only when the company is making profits. 2) There is share prices speculation especially when bonus paid by the company is high. 3) Over-capitalization danger from miscalculation of long-term financial requirements. 4) There is a high degree of risks for the equity shareholders for instance, if the company is winding up, they are the last to be refunded. The other shares are preference shares. Preference shareho lders enjoy several rights over ordinary shareholders; they receive a bonus at a fixed rate and regularly, capital is given back in case of wounding up of the company this means they are paid before ordinary shareholders. Preference shares are safe comparing with ordinary ones. From the above information, we can now easily differentiate between equity and preference shares. In preference shares, issuing of shares is not compulsory compared to equity shares where issuing of the shares is compulsory. In preference shares, paying of bonus are done before equity shareholders while, in equity shares, the shareholders are paid only preference shareholders. In case of closing up of a company, preference shareholders are refunded their capital before the equity shareholders, while the equity... The disadvantages are: 1) Uncertainty: in order for a company to attract public to deposit their savings, it should have a credit rating that is high. Certain financial problems may arise from sudden deposits withdrawals. 2) Lack of security: there are no charges on the concerned assets by the public. Therefore, there is a risk in depositing savings with a company that is not very sound. 3) Obstruction of capital-market growth: lack of capital-market growth deprives the investor and the company good security benefits. This comes from more and more incoming deposits with the company hence less security investment. 4) Over–capitalization: this source of finance may lead to raising of more currency than is needed. This will lead a company to get involved in speculative activities or may be unable to put the funds to best use. The fifth long-term source is, borrowing from banks. This involves acquiring of loans from banks and financial institutions. Lending between a bank and organization is dependent on trust and understanding amongst the two. Banks give loans for more than a year. Banks give funds to small-scale units. Long-term borrowing from banks has some merits: 1) Flexible in nature this is seen when loans are repaid when the need is met. 2) Availability of finance for a definite period thus no burden. 3) Secrecy by banks on its clients’ financial operations. 4) Saves time and cost compared to shares and debentures. 5) No interference of internal affairs by the bank hence company control is retained by management. Demerits of borrowing from banks are as follows: 1) When borrowing, personal guarantee or assets pledge is required, and an organization cannot raise more loans on these assets.

3.1 Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

3.1 Assignment - Essay Example His purpose is to elaborate what are the actual factors that are hidden behind these acquisitions. In order to accomplish his purpose he appeals to his readers to realize that it is actually the decentralized personality of an individual that is the actual reason behind his violent acts and not mainly the association or training silently provided by the violence in computer games. He also appeals to computer games’ manufacturers and internet gurus not to pull out computer and video games from the markets but rather to make flexible internet rules guarding youngsters’ activities. In his essay, the author addresses the main idea against his thesis, the idea that it is only because of increasing influence of violent computer and video games that youngsters are getting violent in their practical lives as well. He refutes the argument by saying that all this hype is because video and computer games are being considered as escape goats for more serious reasons. Finally he con cludes by making the point that much more serious clauses are required to be discussed in order to explore the relationship between youngsters’ personalities and video

BOOK REVIEW Research required.Review Righteous Dopefiend by Philippe Essay

BOOK REVIEW Research required.Review Righteous Dopefiend by Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg - Essay Example These emotions were intensified by their situation, with addiction bringing them closer and farther away from each other. The work of Bourgois and Schonberg critically presented their findings of the conditions of the homeless community by linking image, words and theories. This is reflected clearly on their research methods and their unique style of presentation with the use of their field notes and photographs from their period of study. They did not only show the dopefiends’ struggle with life on the streets and with moral judgment but they also revealed their humanity through the same struggles. The authors aimed to present a critical presentation of the issue of addiction. They did not merely present what is happening, though, lest they be mistaken as simply intellectual voyeurs but they find the relationship between practice and theories (Bourgouis and Schonberg, p.297). They critically assessed the situation but they also looked for solutions through immediate policy options and specific local interventions, both short and long term, to reduce the suffering of their research subjects (Bourgouis and Schonberg, p.297). Their work also aimed to redress the institutional suffering of the homeless addicts and translate this to practical use for the betterment of the community and the moral economy. They delved deep into the situation, considering not their personal reasons for being doped but the structural position and ehtnographic differences within the community. With this, the researchers learned how the community treats each other and how the larger and more dominant com munity regards dopelessness and homelessness. With the use of participant observation and photo-ethnography, the researchers developed a unique way of presenting the human side of the dopefiend community of Edgewater. With the use photographs, they were able to present the emotions present in the everyday lives of the addicts. It also weaved a path for the

Market entry strategy for advancis medical

Market entry strategy for advancis medical In this report, I will be discussing about a pharmaceutical manufacturer called Advancis Medical, its products, marketing strategy and market planning needed for the company to enter a new market abroad. Organization Founded in 1979 and based in Nottingham UK, Advancis Medical is a pharmaceutical manufacturer which offers a wide range of wound care products that have good clinical efficacy and are easy to use and have superior performance. Holding around 125 employees, the values and mission of Advancis Medical is to design and manufacture dressings in order to manage the wound environment and achieve optimum wound healing by: Minimizing bacterial burden Creating a moist wound environment Leaving the wound as undisturbed as possible Achieving and acceptable cosmetic result for the healed wound (advancis.co.uk, online resource) Product and market character Advancis Medical offers a wide range of dressing products which can be categorized as follows: Activon medical Manuka honey dressings Activon Tube, Activon Tulle, Algivon, Actilite, Actibalm. Silfix soft silicone dressings Episil, Episil Absorbent, Silflex, Advazorb Border, Siltape, Advasil conform, Eclypse Adherent, Eclypse Adherent Sacral. Advanced wound care dressing Eclypse, Eclypse Boot, Advadraw, Advadraw Spiral, Advazorb Plus, Adva-co, Advasoft, Kikuhime. Advancis Medical has been able to make its product famous in the market. Recently this year, the company has walked away with the innovation award in Medlink East Midlands Innovation Competition. According to the sales and marketing director of Advancis Medical, the new products have had a fantastic reception in the market. Performance Advancis Medical distributes its product in various countries. They are Greece, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and 22 other countries as well. Advancis Medical strives for continuous improvement in the performance. The firm is committed to do something best, most complete, and most efficient and most timely way possible. Then it will try to think of ways to do it better the next time. The company measures its performance carefully, ensuring that integrity and respect for people are never compromised. It wishes to attract the highest-calibre employees, providing them with opportunities to develop to their full potential and to share in the success that comes from winning in the marketplace (advancis.co.uk). 2. International marketing planning International marketing is set of activity where the marketing of goods and services are carried out across national border. Having look from the UKs point of view, export activity seems to be the significant factor in international marketing activity. An international marketing planning comes from the firms corporate strategy and includes matters like product positioning, branding strategies, choice of target countries and methods needed to enter the new target market and so on (Lancaster G., et al., 2002). 2.1 Internal and External Analysis It is necessary to analyze the environment around the company to expand internationally. Here, I will be discussing about BCG analysis as an internal analysis. BCG (Boston Consulting Group) analysis is used to analyze their products and business line. The BCG analysis helps the company in allocating resources and acts as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product and strategic management. Source: (Bensoussan B.E., Fleisher C.S., 2008) Having look at the above chart, Stars are high growth businesses or products in markets where they are strong compared with the competition. In Advancis Medical, Activon Honey product acts like a star. They have high market share as well as high growth rate. Cash cows are low-growth businesses or products which has a relatively high market share. These units are mature and successful businesses with relatively little need for investment. Products like Eclypse, Eclypse Boot of Advancis Medical are cash cows. They need to monitored and need little investment. Question marks are units or products with low market share but which operate in higher growth markets. This means that they have potential, but may require substantial investment in order to grow market share among the competing and powerful competitors. As far as I am concerned, Advancis Medical has no specific products to match this unit. Dogs refer to products or business that have low relative share in low growth markets. Silf ix soft silicone dressings of Advancis Medical are the products that act as dogs. Performing an external analysis, PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) factors will be taken into account for Advancis Medical. Political: The industry has witnessed increased political attention due to the increased recognition of the economic importance of healthcare as a component of social welfare over the years. Political interest has also been generated because of the increasing social and financial burden of healthcare. UKs National Health Service debate is an example. Economic: In the decade to 2003, the pharmaceutical industry witnessed high value mergers and acquisitions. With a projected stock value growth rate of 10.5% (2003-2010) and Health Care growth rate of 12.5% (2003-2010), the audited value of the global pharmaceutical market is estimated to reach a huge 500 billion dollars by 2004. Majority of pharmaceutical sales originate in the US, EU and Japanese markets. Social: Good health is an important personal and social requirement and the unique role pharmaceutical firms like Advancis Medical play in meeting societys need. In recent times, the impact of various global epidemics e.g. SARS, AIDS etc has also attracted popular and media attention to the industry. The effect of the intense media and political attention has resulted in increasing industry efforts to create and maintain proper government-industry-society communications. Technological: Latest scientific and technological advances in science are forcing industry players to adapt ever faster to the evolving environments in which they participate. Scientific advancements have also increased the need for increased spending on research and development in order to encourage innovation (Johnson G, Scholes K, 2002) 2.2 SWOT Analysis of Advancis Medical Strength Advancis Medical listens to the issues and problems raised by clinicians and its customers and response accordingly by developing the correct and suitable products. Good marketing strength in major geographical areas. Recently, the company won an innovation award which reflects its strength in sales and marketing sector. Weakness Discontinuation of products in the latter stages of development leading to customer dissatisfaction. Pricing strategy which turns out to be comparatively expensive. Opportunities Emergence of integrated global markets and globalization for new products Increasing demand of anti-bacterial honey products like Activon medical manuka honey. Individual brand positioning that makes their product different in the market. Threats Increased competition in markets and cheaper alternative methods found in the markets can be a possible threat to Advancis Medical. Rising raw material and transportation costs which might increase the production cost of the company. (Petryna A., et.al., 2006) 2.3 Marketing goals and objectives Besides increasing sales and profit as a marketing goal, Advancis Medical has other marketing objectives. The company highly focuses on these following marketing objectives: Gaining preference on brands and services Patient Education Customer retention by giving quick response to their queries and requests. Complying with the rules and regulations set by government. Some major reasons for Advancis Medical to look up for the market internationally are listed as follows: The company needs a larger customer base to gain economies of scale. Advancis Medical wants to reduce its dependence on any single market. Due to the high competition in the home market, its profitable for the company to go global and sell their products. Because of the economic recession, some other foreign markets have higher profit opportunities than the domestic market. 2.4 Marketing Strategy Here, Ansoff Matrix will be focused as a marketing strategy for Advancis Medical. Ansoff matrix is a tool which helps the business to decide their product and market growth strategies. Market Penetration is a growth strategy where the business focuses on selling existing product in existing markets. IT helps in maintain or increasing the market share of current product. Product development is the strategy where a business aims to introduce new products into existing markets. Market development is growth strategy for a business where a company looks for a new market to sell its existing products. Here, Advancis Medical will be choosing this strategy, as the company is seeking to sell its product at an international market. Under this strategy, Advancis Medical can perform various activities to support the strategy by: Increasing the global market share by distributing its product to more geographical areas and centralized logistics. Expanding and or distributing products to china and other emerging markets. Improving international brand status and positioning through effective international marketing campaigns (Bennett R., Blythe J., 2002). Diversification is a growth strategy where a business launches and markets new product in new market. This is comparatively risky because the business is moving into markets in which it has little or no experience (tutor2u.net, online resource) 2.5 Market analysis and Market choice Advancis Medical as a pharmaceutical company can segment the market and plan its market analysis by categorizing its customer into walk in customer (who physically visit the distribution centre) and mail order customer (who order the product). Now once the market has been segmented, it is necessary to analyze which market to go. Basically market analysis involves matters like: Demographics such as age structure, religious groupings, average household size of that target market. Macroeconomic influences like fluctuation in GDP, unemployment rate, etc. Consumer behaviour on cultural attitudes, educational levels, average income and living standards. Market choice is a main strategic decision. This report is based on selling the product abroad and not in European countries, thus I will be focusing on Asian countries/market. China, India, Pakistan and Philippines are the four countries that will be taken into account. Out of four countries, one will be chosen for Advancis Medical to sell and distribute their products. Factors Country Political and Economic Trade Regulation Investment Climate Technological Social China 7 8 8 7.5 6 India 8 8 8.5 9 7.5 Pakistan 6 6 5.5 5.5 6 Philippines 5.5 6 6 5.5 6 The above values are considered out of 10 points. And having looked at the table, India is the target country for Advancis Medical to sell and distribute its product because it has the best factors out of these four countries. Source: (china-window.com; online resource accessed at 9th November 2010), (buyusa.gov; online resource accessed at 9th November 2010) (Ernst Young Private Limited, 2008) (Hahn N., 2008) (Gorrill J.R., 2007) 3. Market Entry Strategy Basically, market entry strategy is a planned method to deliver and or distribute the products in the target market. Introduction As it has been discussed earlier about market entry strategy, there are various methods to penetrate and enter a new market. The market entry strategy methods available to Advancis Medical are as follows: Exporting Indirect Exporting Direct Exporting Licensing Joint Ventures Direct Investment The traditional, normal and easy way to enter a foreign market is exporting which includes indirect and direct exporting. In indirect exporting, the company works through independent intermediaries. Indirect exporting has two advantages. It involves less investment and less risk because the company doesnt have to develop department for exporting, overseas sales force or any international contacts. Direct exporting includes exporting of products and its distribution through the channel of export agent. It is done in different ways: Domestic-based export division, overseas sales branch, travelling export sales division and foreign-based agents. Licensing is another simple way to do international marketing and penetrate the market. It is the method of foreign operation where a firm in one country gives permission to company of another country to use the manufacturing, processing, trademark and other skills provided by the licensor. Joint ventures can be defined as an enterprise where foreign investors may join with local investors and share ownership and control over the rights, operation and property. The ultimate way of getting involved in foreign market is direct investment which involves direct ownership of foreign-based manufacturing facilities (Kotler P., Keller K.L., 2006) Country Profile As it has been discussed earlier on heading 2.5 of this report, India has been chosen as the target country. India is a natural subcontinent covered by the Himalayas in the north, the Arabian Sea in the west, the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Indian Ocean in the south. It has a land frontier of 15,200km and a coastline of 7,517km. India is the second most populous country in the world with 1,130 million people in July 2008 (estimated).The literacy rate is 65% with a great degree of regional variation. Hindi is the official language of the country and English is used almost everywhere in India acting as an associate official language in business sector. India has a parliamentary system of government with two legislative bodies; the central government and the state government. The countrys currency is Indian rupee (INR). The countrys banking system is controlled and monitored by the Reserve Bank of India. Indias economy is rapidly rising in the global economy. So, it is very fruitf ul for organizations to export, invest or do joint venture in India (Ernst Young Private Limited, 2008). Analysis of market entry strategy and making choice Market entry methods Advantages Disadvantages Exporting Manufacturing is home based, so its less risky. Provides an opportunity to learn foreign market before investing. Less or lose control over the foreign sales Less possibility of knowing who the customers are and hence failure to offer what they really want. Licensing It is a good way to start in foreign business and a door to comparatively low risk relationship -Any of the both companies get most out of the effort they do. Capital wont be tied up in foreign operation The participation remains limited to specific product, process or length of agreement. The Licensor has less control over the licensee than it does over its own production and sales facilities. Potential returns from manufacturing and marketing might be lost. -This strategy requires considerable planning, findings of fact, investigation and translation. Joint Ventures Sharing of risk as it is partner with foreign company Joint financial strength Good strategy for firms that lack physical, financial or managerial resources to undertake the venture alone. The partners might not agree over policies, marketing and investments. It may be impossible to recover capital if needed. This kind of strategy might prevent MNCs from carrying out manufacturing and marketing policies globally. Direct Investment The firm can minimize its cost economies by cheap labour or raw materials, freight savings and incentives by foreign government. The company will have good image because it creates job opportunity in the host country. The firm can have full control over its investment and hence can develop marketing and manufacturing polices. The primary disadvantage of this strategy is the firm exposes itself to the risk like worsening markets and devalued currencies. Secondly, the firm might find it really expensive to reduce or close down its operations, because the host country needs substantial severance pay to the staffs. (Kotler P., Keller K.L., 2006) Every market entry strategy has certain pros and cons, and looking at the above table I personally would suggest Exporting strategy as a market entry method for Advancis Medical. Having considered exporting as a better strategy for the company, Advancis Medical can avoid much risk and maximize the profit. With this strategy, the company could get a better chance to know and analyze the market and if it looks favourable the firm can switch to other strategy accordingly. 4.1 Implementation It has been considered that Advancis Medical is going for exporting strategy, now it needs to look for a reliable distributor in India to sell and distribute its product. Advancis Medical needs to point out which product to distribute in India. The product named Activon Tube from Activon Medical Manuka Honey Dressing category is the best product that matches the needs of market. According to (Kotler P., Keller K.L., 2006), it has been argued that many manufacturing companies think that their job is done once the product leaves the factory. But they need to pay attention to how the product moves within the foreign market. They should be focused on the potential problem that might arise during the distribution of products to final users. The theory can be illustrated by the following diagram: Source: (Kotler P., Keller K.L., 2006) There is a potential distributor in India named AK Pharma Pharmaceutical Distributor. It is situated in a town called Karnataka and is a leading pharmaceutical distributor all over India. The company does more than 13000 products from 250 of Indian and Multinational companies and have a client base of over 1500 customers including hospitals, medical dental colleges, chemist druggist and doctors (akp.in; online resource). The strategy adopted by the company will follow the 4Ps of marketing in following way: Product: Medical product/medicine is a pharmaceutical product offered by all the pharmaceutical oil companies. It is difficult to offer customers a point of difference with medicine. However, Advancis medical does so by selling medicine as well as the bandages that is better and faster for wound healing. Price: With common products in pharmaceutical industry, prices between competitors are easily matched, which means its difficult to differentiate the product based on price. Advancis medical is constantly monitoring the price and if possible cut costs and make the price reasonable to compete in the market. Place: Advancis medical distributes its product in more than 30 countries. And is expanding globally which is a vital strength in the firms marketing strategy. Talking about Advancis medical in India, I believe its a perfect location for the company due to the countrys demographic factors which ensures the right number and qualities of products are supplied to various places. Promotion: This might include the company to do advertising, marketing through radios or carrying out loyalty programmes to drive sales volume and retain the customers (Bennett R., Blythe J., 2002). Hence, having an overall analysis in the report, it can be seen that Advancis Medical needs to follow an exporting strategy to India and sell and distribute the product to that targeted market.

Asperger?s Syndrome and Instructional Intervention Essay -- essays res

Asperger’s Syndrome and Instructional Intervention   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disability first identified in 1944 by Dr. Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician. However, since his paper was written in German and published during World War II, his findings were not well known in the United States and in other non-German speaking countries. In 1981, Dr. Lorna Wing, a British researcher, brought AS to the attention of the English-speaking world. In addition to summarizing Asperger’s findings, she also pointed out the similarities between AS and autism, raising the question: Are they the same disorder or two separate ones (Ozonoff, Dawson, & McPartland, 2002)? It was not until 1994 that the American Psychiatric Association included AS as a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; Myles, 2002). Although some debate exists among researchers, AS is considered part of the autism spectrum (Attwood, 1998). Autism is generally defined as having an impairment of both normal social interactions and communication (Out of the Deep Freeze, 2003). However, individuals with AS are often highly verbal (Gottlieb, 2003). Even though labeled high-functioning autism, AS may cause the greatest disability in adolescence and young adults when it comes to developing social relationships. People with AS desire social interactions, however they lack the appropriate social skills (Barnhill, 2002) and, in turn, have trouble interacting with people (Travis, 2003). They do not have the ability to read social cues and will often display socially and emotionally inappropriate behaviors: lack of empathy, one-sided interactions, pedantic and repetitive speech, and intense absorption in certain subjects (Attwood, 1998). Non-verbal communications skills are also impaired. These may include: limited use of g estures, clumsy body language, limited facial gestures, inappropriate expression, and peculiar, stiff gaze (Attwood, 1998). Additional characteristics of AS include literal thinking, poor problem-solving skills, poor organizational skills, and difficulty in discriminating between relevant and irrelevant stimuli (Myles & Simpson, 2002). Identifying an individual with AS usually does not occur until after the preschool years. The symptoms are not generally recognized ... ....nasponline.org/publications/cq313asperger_ss.html Gottlieb, S. (2003). US study shows 10-fold increase in autism over the past 20 years. British   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Medical Journal, 326, 71. Myles, B. S. (2002). Introduction to the special issue on asperger syndrome. Focus on Autism &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(3), 130-131. Myles, B. S., & Simpson, R. L. (2002). Asperger syndrome: An overview of characteristics. Focus on Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(3), 132-137. Out of the deep freeze. (2003). The Economist, 336, 71. Ozonoff, S., Dawson, G., & McPartland, J. (2002). A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High Functioning Autism. New York: Guilford Press. Safran, S. P., Safran, J. S., & Ellis, K. (2003). Intervention ABCs for children with asperger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  syndrome. Topics in Language Disorders, 23(2), 154-165. Travis, J. (2003). Autism advance. Science News, 163(14), 212-213. Watkins, C. E. (2000). Asperger’s disorder. Retrieve June 12, 2003 from Northern County Psychiatric Association Web site: http://www.baltimorepsych.com/aspergers.htm

Trends and Issues in Education

Future Needs Change Current Issues and Trends in Education Historically education has changed over the years to meet the needs of children, and their ever changing mold. Society and governance has changed over history to save children from abuse, starvation, and provide educational opportunities but has not completely succeeded in these areas within minority classes. The educational gap between whites, blacks, and Hispanics is astoundingly large. This gap extends to healthcare, gun violence, criminal activity, and poverty. Since 1979, gun violence has ended the lives of 110,645 children and teens in America† (â€Å"State of america's,† 2011). Gun violence is not a new issue to the United States. It can be dated back to the first presidential assassinations and the â€Å"old west†. Gun violence has escalated into religious and political assassinations up to school massacres starting with the Columbine shootings. The United States’ is not successfully helping our youth with gun prevention. In 1994 the federal government passed The Youth Handgun Safety Act which prevents juveniles from possessing firearms or ammunition.That same year they passed The Gun-Free Schools Act which prevents firearms on school campuses and requires LEA’s to a referral service of those students caught with a firearm (1996). Although the government has enacted these laws gun violence has escalated. According to The State of Americas Children â€Å"3,042 deaths of children and teens from gunfire in 2007 alone nearly equaled the total number of U. S. combat deaths in Iraq through July 2011 (3,480)† (â€Å"State of america's,† 2011 ). Their data also shows that 11 children or teens die daily from gun related problems.It also states that even though there are fewer black boys in America they are more likely to come into a fatal blow with a firearm. African American males are more likely to die from a gunshot blow than any natural cause of death ( 1996). The sad issue here is that most of these minorities are the product of poor communities. The need to feel important can be a huge determining factor for these young males, and their need to be accepted into a group. Intervention programs need to be more readily available for these poverty areas. Every 34 seconds a child is born into poverty† (â€Å"State of america's,† 2011). America has made significant advancements in technology, civility, and postmodernism but is still stuck in a time warp from the ‘70s when it comes to poverty. Today’s youth still face the poverty epidemic they faced 40 years ago. The demographic of poverty has changed due to the changing face of America, but the epidemic remains the same. Poverty affects a child’s educational performance and opportunities as well. The schools funds are rooted in property taxes.Most students of poverty live in areas with low property taxes and therefore school funding is low. Instead of th e government making sufficient shifts in funding to give intervention opportunities and professional development, the time warp remains. Teachers come into education unaware of the issues poverty throws on its children. The government has â€Å"tried† to solve the educational poverty issue with No Child Left Behind. This act hides behind the blanket of all children are equal, but the truth is they are not.If they were then all children would have the same opportunities. There would be programs in place for summer enrichment to help stop the loss of information they experience during the summer. Poverty also shows itself in the minority groups and their graduation success rate. In 2006–07, 7. 7 million students attended poverty schools 33 percent African American and 35 percent Latino (â€Å"Child poverty in,† 2006). Only half of the African American male population actually graduates high school. Poverty is the root that bears down to hold on to generation after generation.If society does not change its ways of informing families and students then our society is going to keep falling behind. In order to make minority groups more successful in education, we are going to have to inform them on the statics of graduation, what is needed to graduate, be able to identify at-risk students, and show them the next step, college. If students have a vision of what is next, they can envision themselves on that path. My personal experiences help me and inhibit me in my understanding of the future of our youth. The fact that I grew up in poverty helps me see the need for intervention.If I was not exposed to the interventions that my school had in place then I would not have had the visions for what I needed to be successful. The downfalls to the interventions were that they were only for those A students. I was exposed to the next step because I did well in school. My mother and father were not high school graduates but pushed and showed that education was important. Though I grew up in poverty, I lived in the suburbs. This inhibits me with gun violence to a certain sense. The only gun violence I was exposed to was the untimely death of a classmate because he was playing with a handgun.I am not familiar with street gun violence, the need to be in a gang or the readily available hand guns. This kept me from seeing the issue of inequality until I reached the classroom as a teacher. I became a teacher in ’07 in an inner city school. My familiarity with growing up in poverty helped me connect with my all black classes. I knew when they first saw this â€Å"white lady† they would feel no connection but that quickly changed. They figured out that we had more in common than they thought. I used my experiences of the unknown to keep them from having the same unknowns.I may have no idea of the fear they live in with constant gunfire in their streets at night, I do understand the long, dark path that they see in front of them with no light to guide them through the goals they have rooted in them. I try to provide a spark in the beginning that will eventually lead to an ever burning light that shows them there is no dark place, that success is theirs. They can do and be anything they strive to be. Diligence and will are the keys to success. As an educator I have to stay educated on the adverse society we live in and the proven strategies that will help me be successful to keep my students successful.Our future needs a change in education, in poverty, and in thought. Technology is a beautiful tool, but our country has its hands in the wrong pocket. Taking from education is only hindering our future economic success by filling our prisons and emptying our school desks. Gun violence is being used by our youth as a tool for change but this change is a life altering change in the wrong the direction. Having politicians without educational background guiding our educational realm will continue to lead it into a hurricane of destruction.References (2009). African americans and education. Retrieved from http://naacp. 3cdn. net/e5524b7d7cf40a3578_2rm6bn7vr. pdf Aldridge, J. , & Goldman, R. (2007). Current issues and trends in education. (2nd ed). Boston: Pearson Education. (2006). Child poverty in america. Retrieved from http://www. fightpoverty. mmbrico. com/facts/america. html (1996). Reducing Youth Gun Violence:, Retrieved from https://www. ncjrs. gov/pdffiles/redyouth. pdf (2011). State of america's children. Retrieved from www. childrensdefense. org

Fundamentals of Contract Law †Question and Answer

Fundamentals of Contract Law – Question and Answer Free Online Research Papers Fundamentals of Contract Law Question and Answer 1. Contract Law is the fundamental business legal subject. Not only is it obviously relevant to sales and purchase contracts but it also underlies employment contracts. The contract law sections explain the basics of what makes up a contract. The first two sections, Agreement and offer, and Acceptance, deal with the formation the making of contracts. Most people think that a contract must be a signed document. Although many business contracts take the form of a signed document, many do not. How many orders for goods and services are made by telephone or fax? When is the contract made? When the order is placed? When the goods arrive? When ordering goods or services on your own standard form contract is the contract made on your terms? What if your supplier accepts your order on their standard form contract? Now on whose terms is the contract made? 2. The certainty of terms? section deals with issues such as what is meant by ordering goods ?n the usual terms? From a regular supplier. What have you agreed with your supplier? Are there regular terms? Are there different terms depending on what the goods are? 3. The sections on Consideration and Variation of contracts are important and related features of English contract law. In most business contracts there is no difficulty in identifying? B>consideration? However, what if you want to vary the terms of the original contract? This you can only do if you enter into a new contract which varies the terms of the original contract. In this case very often ?b>consideration? is missing from the new agreement. If this is the case you will be bound by the original contract. E.g. If you order 400 kettles from a supplier and then discover that you only need 200 can you cancel? 200 kettles? Even if your supplier agrees can he later change his mind and make you take the whole 400? 4. The Privity of contract section is an area of law that has very recently been altered. This area of law deals with the type of situation where you buy a holiday from a travel company for you and your family. If the holiday does wrong? You can sue the travel company but can the members of your family sue the travel company? Another example. Assume that your company (Im assuming that your company is an incorporated company and therefore a legal person in its own right) enters into a contract with another company. Say that under one of the terms of that contract the other company agrees to pay some money to ?our?company and some money direct to you in your own personal capacity. What happens if the other company then refuses to pay you? Can you sue the other company? 5. This section deals with the terms of the contract in general. What do we mean by terms? of the contract? How important are they? Are they all of equal importance? Can you break some terms but not others? Are the penalties for breaking some terms less onerous than others? 6. The sections on Exemption clauses the common law, and the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, deal with the terms of the contract that limit or exclude liability for breach of contract. If the other party breaks a term of the contract can he escape liability because the contract contains a term which excludes his liability for that particular breach? 7. If a person sells you a second hand car and tells you that he has owned it from new and it later turns out that its been owned by 10 people what are your remedies? Has that persons statement be made a part of the contract ie was it a term of the contract? If it wasnt a term have you a remedy? 8. Does every breach of contract entitle the innocent party to treat the contract as at an end if he so chooses? What is the effect of penalty clauses? Part two: Agreement and offer Objective: When you have worked through this section you should be able to Appreciate the importance of the concept of agreement. Appreciate the importance of the intention of the parties. Distinguish between an invitation to treat and an offer. Suggested study time 4 hours Preliminary matters: The law of contract is the most important law subject you will ever study. It underpins all commercial law subjects and is even important to subjects such as criminal law. Definition of a Contract A contract is an agreement (usually between two persons) giving rise to obligations on the part of both persons which are enforced or recognised by law. Warning!! Since, for the most part, the law of contract is a common law subject do not take any definition you are given as the only definition. Treat the definitions as working definitions to help you analyse contract cases etc. NB The persons mentioned above are usually referred to as parties to the contract. NB Generally speaking, an agreement is made when one person accepts an offer made by the other. NB The offeror makes an offer to the offeree. Agreement: Time and time again you will be brought back to the fact that the fundamental basis of contract law is the agreement of the contracting parties. The thing that distinguishes the law of contract from other branches of law is that it does not lay down a number of rights and duties which the law will enforce. In other words the law of contract does not lay down a list of things that are legal or illegal, or things that must or must not be included in a contract. The law of contract consists of a number of limiting principles, subject to which the parties may create rights and duties for themselves which the law will uphold. The parties to a contract, in a sense, make the law for themselves: so long as they do not infringe some legal prohibition, they can make what rules they like in respect of the subject-matter of their agreement, and the law will give effect to their decisions. Eg If June says to Fred that he can buy her pen for 200 and he agrees there will be a legally enforceable contract between June and Fred. The fact that Fred may have been foolish in agreeing to buy a pen that is only worth? Is irrelevant the parties to the contract have agreed to the price of 200. Whereas it is generally true that agreement is reached when one person accepts the offer of the other person in other words there is an actual agreement between the two persons this is subject to whats known as the rule in Smith v Hughes. The rules in Smith v.Highes: The law is also concerned with the objective appearance of the agreement, as well as the actual fact, of agreement. Eg If Freda makes an offer to John and John says that he accepts the offer, but secretly he doesnt intend to accept the offer, there is in fact not an agreement. However, to an outside person there would appear to be an agreement. In other words objectively there appears to be an agreement between Freda and John. In such a case the court would say that there was an agreement between Freda and John. Apply the principle in the quote below, sometimes known as The Rule in Smith v Hughes, to the problem weve just looked at in the example above. Smith v Hughes (1871) Blackburn J: ?.. If, whatever a mans real intention may be, he so conducts himself that a reasonable man would believe that he was assenting to the terms proposed by the other party, and that other party upon that belief enters into the contract with him, the man thus conducting himself would be equally bound as if he had intended to agree to the other partys terms? /p> Offer-definition: Definition of an offer An offer is a proposition put by one person to another person made with the intention that it shall become legally binding as soon as the other person accepts it. An offer may be made to an individual, or a group of persons, or to the world at large: see Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co(1893). The Carbolic Smoke Ball Company published an advertisement which read ‘ £100 reward will be paid by the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company to any person who contracts the influenza after having used the ball three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions supplied with each ball.’  £1,000 is deposited with the Alliance Bank, showing our sincerity in the matter.’ Mrs Carlill used the smoke ball as directed but still caught the flu. She sued for the  £100. Bowen LJ: It was also said that the contract is made with all the world- that is, with everybody; and that you cannot contract with everybody. It is not a contract made with all the world. There is the fallacy of the argument. It is an offer made to all the world; and why should not an offer be made to all the world which is to ripen into a contract with anybody who comes forward and performs the condition? It is an offer to become liable to any one who, before it is retracted, performs the condition, and, although the offer is made to the world, the contract is made with that limited portion of the public who come forward and perform the condition on the faith of the advertisement. Offer or Invitation to treat: It can be very difficult to distinguish between an offer and an invitation to treat. Basically it depends primarily on the intention with which a statement is made. Definition of an invitation to treat An invitation to treat is said to be a statement made by one person asking the other to make the first person an offer. An invitation to treat is sometimes described as an offer to make an offer. This is not a very helpful way of describing an invitation to treat. If a proposition is made by one person with the intention that if the other party accepts that proposition there will then be a contract between them, then that proposition is an offer. If a proposition is made by one person with the intention that if the other party accepts that proposition there will not be a contract between them at that stage, then that proposition is an invitation to treat. Examples of invitation to treat: In the examples of invitations to treat that follow, consider carefully what proposition or factual situation made the court decide that it was an invitation to treat and not an offer. Carefully identify the particular elements of the facts of the cases that persuaded the courts that what was intended by one of the parties was an invitation to treat and not an offer. Goods on display in supermarket Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists Ltd (1953) Certain brand name medicines were displayed for sale in a self service store. The issue arose as to when and where the sale of the medicines took place. Was it when a customer put the medicines in her shopping basket or was it when she presented the goods to the cashier? The reason this was an important issue was because the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 s.18(1) provided that it was unlawful to sell such medicines unless the sale is effected by, or under the supervision of, a registered pharmacist.? If the sale took place when the customer put the medicines in her shopping basket the sale would not take place under the supervision of, a registered pharmacist?because no pharmacist was present at that time. If, on the other hand, the sale took place when the customer presented the goods to the cashier the sale would take place under the supervision of, a registered pharmacist?because a pharmacist was present at the checkout desk. Q When did the sale take place?(b) The sale took place when the customer put the medicines in her shopping basket. The sale took place when the customer presented the goods to the cashier Goods on display in window shop: Fisher v Bell (1960) A shopkeeper was convicted of offering for sale a flick knife contrary to the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 s.1(1); he had displayed the knife in his shop window. The shopkeeper appealed. Q What happened to him on appeal? (b) The shopkeeper was convicted of offering a flick knife for sale The shopkeeper was acquitted of offering a flick knife for sale. An advertisement can be an offer: An advertisement can sometimes be an offer BUT THIS IS VERY EXCEPTIONAL. Remember the thing that determines whether a statement is an offer or an invitation to treat is the intention of the party who makes the statement: our definition of an offer was an offer is a proposition put by one person to another person made with the intention that it shall become legally binding as soon as it is accepted by the other person.?So if a proposition, say an advertisement, is made with the intention that if acted upon the person making the advertisement will consider themself legally bound then the advertisement will be an offer and not an invitation to treat. In Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (above) the court held that in the particular unusual circumstances of the case that the Carbolic Smoke Ball Co had intended their advertisement to be an offer. Tender: A tender is an offer in response to an invitation to tender put out by a company. Generally a company who invites tenders is only making an invitation to treat and is not bound to accept any of the tenders. Example of tenders: Spencer v Harding (1870) Harding sent out a circular which stated we are instructed to offer to the wholesale trade for sale by tender the stock in trade of Messrs. G. Eilbeck Co. amounting as per stock-book to ?503 13s 1d, and which will be sold at a discount in one lot. Payment to be made in cash. The stock may be viewed on the premises, up to Thursday, the 20th instant, on which day, at 12 o?lock at noon precisely, the tenders will be received and opened at our offices.?Spencer claimed that the circular was an offer which he had accepted by submitting the highest tender. Q Hardings circular amounted to (b) A) A valid offer which Spencer had correctly accepted b) Nothing more than an invitation to treat and was, therefore, incapable of being accepted by Spencer. Failure to consider a tender: Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club Ltd v Blackpool Borough Council (1990) Blackpool Borough Council sent an invitation to tender to operate pleasure flights from Blackpool airport to the Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club Ltd (the club) and six other parties. The invitation to tender said that the Council do not bind themselves to accept all or any part of any tender. No tender which is received after the last date and time specified shall be admitted for consideration.?The club posted its tender in the town hall letterbox at about 1100 hrs on Thursday 17 March; this was an hour before the advertised deadline expired. The councils staff failed to empty the letterbox at 1200 hrs and as a result the tender was marked late and not considered by the council. The council then accepted the highest tender which was from Red Rose Helicopters. Later the council established that the clubs tender had been received in time and so they decided to declare the successful tender invalid and to reissue the invitation to tender. However, Red Rose Helicopters contended that its t ender had been accepted and that the council was contractually bound to proceed on that basis. The council decided to honour Red Rose Helicopters?tender. The club bought an action for damages against the council for breach of contract. The club argued that the council had warranted that if a tender was received in good time the council would consider it and that the council, having failed to consider its tender, was in breach of contract. Q Click on the appropriate number (a) Although Blackpool Borough Councils invitation to tender amounted to no more that an invitation to treat they were contractually bound to consider Blackpool and Fylde Aero Clubs tender.. Following Spencer v Harding Blackpool Borough Council was not contractually bound to consider Blackpool and Fylde Aero Clubs tender. Conclusions: You should now be able to Appreciate the importance of the concept of agreement. Appreciate the importance of the intention of the parties. Distinguish between an invitation to treat and an offer. If you have not mastered the above points you should review this section again. Training: Q. Which of the following is NOT an invitation to treat? A. An advertisement which states 1000 will be paid to anyone who fails to loose 4kg after using our Slimaid for 4 weeks as per the instructions printed on the box.0000 is lodged with our solicitors to show out confidence in the product. A display of goods in a shop window marked special Offer? Goods offered for sale in a newspaper. An application form for hire purchase. Research Papers on Fundamentals of Contract Law - Question and AnswerRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanTwilight of the UAWComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoThe Project Managment Office SystemMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesOpen Architechture a white paperIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalPETSTEL analysis of IndiaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductDefinition of Export Quotas

Research Methods Essays

Research Methods Essays Research Methods Essay Research Methods Essay Overview of various research methods When writing a Research Paper it is important to know different research methods. These methods help to gather and systematize the information and data In order to scientifically prove the validity of the work. Further will be explained ways how to collect the data. Research methods are divided In two big blocks: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative methods are those where results are explained In numbers, whereas qualitative methods define outcomes by what respondents answer. It Is more objective and more open, as results are not described by numbers, but rather as observations. To put both methods differences together: quantitative look more for statistical explanation, but qualitative are more in-depth. 1 Further will be in more detail explained methods that lay under quantitative and qualitative. There are many ways how to collect data for the research. One of them is doing experiments. It usually involves small amount of people who are doing some tests, for example, detecting how fast people read, what affects their reading skills and other objectives. This method is very in-depth and counted as qualitative as the behavior people is investigated in order to conclude some outcomes. One of the minuses of such methods is that it only researches small group of the society and does not give overall overview for all public. 2 Second type of methods is surveys. Surveys are conducted when a researcher wants quickly to gather a big amount of data. They have low cost, wide range of respondents, easy to conduct and systematize the results. Surveys are usually in a written form and they can be transferred to people in various ways- through e-mail, Web pages or questions can be asked in a person or through telephone call. This type also has few flaws- not all participants will answer to all questions, meaning they can skips some parts, it usually has a low return rate of answers and It also cannot present all society. 3 Third type of how to collect data for research Is to conduct a questionnaire. Questionnaire similarly to survey Is a method where Information Is gathered from a big amount of people and It Is analyses quantitatively and systematically. The pluses of such method are: easy and quick to fill In, easy to analyses the data and It Is easy to port the results. In questionnaires It Is Important to keep questions simple as people are usually lazy and not so eager to read long and complicated questions. A very good approach is to ask short answers and multiple choice answers for a quick response. It allows people just to circle the option and rapidly go to the next inquiry. For example, a question: How many hours do you sleep in a night? In a multiple placed a line where to write the number of hours. This shows how simply questions should be made. Moreover, questionnaires should not involve any sensitive topics, only general and common themes. Fourth type of research methods is interviewing people. It is not common to have yes/ no questions in this type, as the aim of it is to collect more in-depth data and have an open discussion with the respondent. Firstly, the interview has to be properly planned. It is relevant to create a pleasant atmosphere for a participant. If interview process will be chaotic and unplanned, researcher will not hear any true answers. For example, when interviewing a director of a bank. Researcher has to set a goal and objectives of the interview- what needs to be found out? Also it is important to come prepared not only with questions, but also materials which record the answers, such as paper, pencils or maybe a recorder. If a researcher wants to record the conversation with an electronic device a permission of the respondent has to be asked prior to the session. One of the drawbacks of recording an interview is that usually people are more thinking what they say and it can happen that half of the answers will be very short and lacking details, when purpose of the interview is getting deep explanation. 5 Fifth type of research method is observation. It can be an observation of a person or of some activity or some model. This method can include when over seeing what people do, what is their behavior, their relationship with others. Observation can also be on some cases or models, or even comparing two or more activities and making conclusions. This is more called analysis and is very detailed in its structure; therefore it is one of the qualitative methods. In conclusion, in this essay were described most popular research method types, which can be used almost by every chosen topic to investigate. Before choosing a epic it is important to consider what kind of data researcher wants to collect- quantitative or qualitative, because method aims differ. Surveys and questionnaires are used to collect quantitative and objective data, whereas interviews, experiments and observations are used to gather qualitative and subjective data. 2) Most suitable research methods for topic Marketing approaches in Real Estate companies in Riga In this research aim will be to explore what are the common marketing strategies which real estate companies utilize in Riga and what they aim at. Methods will be seed on three biggest real estate companies in Riga- Lotion, Arcos and Boer Hausa. Further will be explained most suitable research methods in order to achieve goal to get to know scheme of marketing in capital of Latvia. Impossible to do quantitative research methods. First of all, real estate companies do not present their marketing strategies, where they aim at the public, secondly the aim of research is to explore marketing strategies in depth, and therefore qualitative approaches will be used. Secondly, questionnaire and survey are given to a big amount of people, usually to a public. In this case, the goal is to get to know companies internal marketing strategies not to find out what society thinks about real estate advertising campaigns. Thirdly, quantitative methods would give numerical outcomes, meaning results will be expressed in numbers, whereas in this Research Paper the definitions of marketing strategies have to be explored. Therefore as defined above to reach the target qualitative methods must be used such as interviews and experiments. One of the qualitative approaches, which will be suitable for investigating real estate company marketing strategies, is interviews. This method will help researcher to have an insight into the companies policy and get more detailed view what is going on in the market of Latvia. The interview will be recorded either on recorder device or on the paper, which will help better to describe information in the Research Paper. Interviews will take place in real estate companies in Riga such as Lotion, Arcos, Boer Hausa and other enterprises. Marketing managers will be interviewed. If they will not be available, then discussion will be done with managers who are aware of companies marketing policy. By interviewing managers and professionals in arresting field who work in the companies, researcher will obtain very important and objective information of where these companies aim and how to they reach their target audience. Author will also try to collect information what are the most important target audiences and how to they get to them. It will promote a better understanding of each company policy and methods they use to maintain it. Therefore, main objective of the interview will be to find out what the society groups they focus on and what approaches they use to make them their customers. Second qualitative method will be used after having done the first one. In interview researcher will obtain information where companies publish their information and what parts of society they aim at. After this method, observation, comparison and analysis of these companies will be done. Here will be observed Web sites, magazines, radio and social media- everything where companies post and publish their information. It means that everything where real estate companies place their advertisements will be compared and analyzed through marketing theory.

CTV Building Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

CTV Building - Assignment Example The report produced by the Royal Commission had also officially identified the key players after the disaster. This report aims to evaluate the faults on the part of the key players and stakeholders leading to technical deficiencies in the design of the building. Gerald Shirtcliff was the CTV building’s site manager and he was later found to have faked his qualifications and therefore was not up to the mark. The head of the consultation firm, ARCL, Alan Reay was said to be â€Å"ultimately responsible† even though his designer and engineer David Harding was inexperienced in working with multi-storey buildings. This is because Reay had supervised Harding and therefore he was responsible for relying too much on the incompetent engineer. According to Reay, he thought that Harding being a registered engineer was eligible for the task. In reality Harding lacked the necessary experience and was also inexperienced to use the software Etabs with which the seismic testing of the building was done. Moreover, the Christchurch City Council was blamed for having issued a building permit despite the presence of structural weaknesses. The weaknesses were further deepened after the 2010 Christchurch earthquake and the Christchurch City Council had a very brisk assessment of the building. ... The boulders start breaking and falling on the streets and a chaos strikes. People start running here and there in confusion in order to protect themselves from the falling debris. The road starts to crush and bend as it the ground shakes (Wilson, 2012). These are the live moment experiences of Alex, a witness of the massive, life threatening earth quake that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand on 22nd February 2011. The earth quake had a magnitude of 6.3 units on the Richter scale and was extremely savage and disastrous. Figure 1. Tragic Aftermath. This picture shows the damaged building. The Press. (March 26, 2013). Tragic aftermath [Photograph]. Retrieved from The Canterbury Television building was huge and employed a large number of people including doctors, dentists, counselors, journalists, TV crews and the list goes on. The earthquake killed 115 people including international students enrolled in a language school that was also located inside the building. Search and rescu e teams from various countries such as United Kingdom and Japan flew to New Zealand in order to recover the dead bodies that had been buried deep inside the remains (Bryant, 2013). The CTV building had collapsed completely and there was little hope that anyone could have survived beneath it. Three critical factors caused its collapse, as described in a report released after the earthquake. Firstly, there was a violent horizontal ground shake that took place. Secondly, the columns were brittle and lastly, the layout of the structural walls was asymmetrical (International Business Times, 2012). Figure 2. A rescue worker walks through the rubble in central

'In your opinion, what are the key corporate governance issues Essay

'In your opinion, what are the key corporate governance issues presented in this case and why' - Essay Example The basic role of corporate governance deals with the governance process of the corporation as well as how the management relates with several parties that are interested in the operations of the corporation, namely; shareholders, employees, directors, customers, creditors and suppliers. Every organization desires to have a good corporate governance that is not out to only minimize the possible risks of fraud and failure but also to improve the economic performance and its investment climate. Such governance relates public savings, investment, integrity and market confidence making corporate governance an important inclusion in order to achieve financial stability and economic growth for a long time. The corporation in question is the Royal Dutch/Shell Group which has remained the third largest production and oil production in the world. The size of the corporation makes corporate governance an important factor as it employs more than 119, 000 employees in more than 145 countries (Ev ans, 2004). For decades, Shell/Royal Dutch has been keen to maintain a good position among the top most global corporations. Its corporate governance has mostly been interested in the stability of the corporation in relation to its operations and name. ... ation Governance Issues The declaration by Royal Dutch/Shell Group that it was facing inflated oil reserves and that it intended to downgrade approximately four billion oil and gas reserves resulted to a furor among industry analysts as well as its investors who came out strongly blaming the opaque and complex governance structure that was twin-board for the issues facing the group. Analysts and experts claimed that this type of structure lacked proper accountability as well as resulted to financial manipulations (Hanney, 2004). The main corporation issue facing the Royal Dutch/Shell Group is thus its governance structure that entailed a twin board. This structure is believed to have had several loopholes in its governance thus the several issues associated with the group. The consequent of the above was a series of turmoil for the group. The public announcement of reserves reduction claimed that the company was fond of blaming human failings through its top executives and not come u p with critics on the weaknesses of the structure of Shell (Malin, 2004). The reaction of the group following the mounting pressure from its investors was to institute reviews and recognize and appreciated that it had complicated the organization in unusual ways but still insisted that it is the same structure that had taken the group to the greatest heights for more than one hundred years thus is justified by the legal regimes and differing tax. The issues facing Shell are not just a problem of the group but an issue facing the international gas and oil industry. Royal Dutch/Shell Group Governance Structure The main issue facing the governance of the group goes up to some of its senior executives who recognize that the corporation reserves were overstated. In addition to this realization,